Revelations

[renferret]

Briari's Penthouse Suite over the City(#602RJ)Morning comes to St. Claire and sunlight filters through the large windows of the seventh story penthouse tucked away in the upper-end district. From this height, there is a gorgeous view of the city, which at times can go unappreciated from all the gloom and doom. The living room is brightly painted white with a soft white carpet. Along the walls are large framed posters of golden age super heroes. Batman. Green Arrow. Spider Man. Captain America. Cloak & Dagger. Wonder Woman. Most of them have autographs from the original artists as well. Light lavender colored furniture is tastefully placed about the room strategically. The kitchen is a wide open concept with verde butterfly colored granite countertops and cherry colored cabinets. Stainless steel appliances complete the ensemble. From the kitchen is a large deck with a hot tub where one can relax and still see the sights of the city.

 

The Master bedoroom is down the hall from the guest bedroom, but one would be hard pressed to tell the rooms apart. They are massive! The major difference is the guest room does not have a bathroom, which is right across the hall. The guest room is bare of most decoration save for a large bed, a large oak dresser and a beige throw rug on the ground.

Contents:

Briari

<OOC> Briari barkbark.'

<OOC> Briari says "Blue spent the night I take it?"

<OOC> Mouse says "Yes, though he may not have slept."

 

It is early in the morning and the master bedroom door creeps open to reveal Briari in a pair of pajama pants and a half shirt with a Power Puff Girl's face on the front of it. Her hair is pulled back into a pony tail as she ambles out into the living room in wolf slippers that 'arf' with each step. She looks tired as she aims for the kitchen.

 

Rather than take one of the bedrooms, Blue appears to have commandeered the chair he was sitting in for the night. He's awake, if in full lounge, idling flipping through various channels as she comes out. "Morning, princess. Your friend left last night, didn't sound like he was gonna come back here soon."

 

Briari rubs at her face with the palm of her hand. "Hey, heh. You stayed. Annnd you did not kill me in my sleep ... or test the door knob which I have electrocuted. Neat." She says with a grin to him. "You want breakfast?"

 

"Isn't that a fire hazard?" Blue asks, though the question seems rhetorical as he doesn't wait for an answer. "Sure, but I gotta confess, I've been raiding your fridge all night." If so, he's been pretty clean about it. The kitchen is spotless. "Probably don't have room for anything big."

 

"I am pretty sure /you/ are a fire hazard. What'd you eat?" Briari asks as she opens up her fridge to stare at the three shelves of energy drinks, then pulls out a drawer to take out some bacon and eggs.

 

"Toast," Blue replies. "Some juice. Sampled the bacon. Made myself a sandwich."

 

"Geez, I must have been blacked out if I didn't smell bacon." Briari says as she takes a pan out of a cupboard then starts to turn the heat on the stove. "So, how did those spirals find you, Blue? Are they working for the Queen?"

 

"Well, they sure didn't look friendly, did they?" Blue ruffles his own already rather ruffled looking hair. "Maybe it was this. Gonna have to cut it." He sounds regretful.

 

"No, they did not look friendly, but I do recognize the pug faced guy as one of the guys that was at the club you were spinning at. At least the description passed on by the team." Briari says as she gives a twitch of her nose, then leans in to bump his shoulder. "Going to have to cut what>"

 

Blue frowns. "Really? I don't remember him." He seems to mull this over for a moment before remembering that she asked a question. "Huh? Oh, my hair. Too recognizable if they've got my number already. Besides, they're looking for 'Blue' right? Blue haired guy is too obvious."

 

"So why not dye your hair black?" Briari says with a smirk. "I have hair dye in the bathroom you can use." She says as she cracks some eggs into the frying pan, listening to them sizzle. "Or even brown. Brown fits in a lot better into crowds. It is a primary hair color based upon genetics."

 

"I dunno," Blue says, "I think you're just trying to get me naked in your bathroom." He puts the remote down on one of the chair arms and grins at Briari while lounging half upside-down.

 

"You need to get naked to dye your hair? What? Is the rest of your body hair blue or something?" Briari says with a smirk over her shoulder to him, then steps on her foot, causing her slipper to 'arf'.

 

<OOC> Briari laughs. What is his appearance and charisma score?

<OOC> Mouse says "Let's say...high. He's a very good looking dude. Charisma probably speaks for itself."

<OOC> Briari laughs. Weak willed Briari and cute boys. Poor socially awkward comic geek.

 

"I'm not telling," Blue says brightly.

 

Briari squints her eyes at him, then gives a slight snort as she looks back to her eggs. "I do not have that problem."

 

"Besides," Blue continues. "If I drip dye all over my shirt, that's gonna give it all away, isn't it?"

 

"I am starting to think /you/ just want to get naked. I don't care if you do. My shower can fit like five people and has about ten jets, a remote control, bench, and a TV. By all means, dye your hair and take a shower." Briari laughs as she flips the eggs on to a plate, then settles the bacon into the pan.

 

"Maybe in a bit," Blue muses. "When you get tired of my manly scent."

 

There is a loud snort from Briari. "Do you even use deodorant?"

 

Blue adopts a look of mock offense. "Princess, do you think I just go around letting everyone smell my manly scent?" He lowers his voice. "...Do you think me a whore?"

 

"Seeing how I first saw you doing the walk of shame from some random girl's house on the first day of tracking you around the city, yes, you are a whore." A sly smile tugs upon Briari's lips as she puts the bacon on a plate, then places it on the table next to the eggs.

 

Blue pauses a moment, and his smile briefly falters. "...Guilty," he announces, after the moment passes. "Walk of shame requires shame, princess. She's a nice girl. Cute kid too."

 

"Yeah? So you've seen her again and even remember her name?" Briari say as she sits down at the table with a spare plate and scoops some eggs and back on to it.

 

"I remember her name," Blue says seriously. "But why're we talking about her? Nice girl, like I said. Isn't anyone that should interest you."

 

"Maybe I am jealous." Briari says, then pops a bite of egg into her mouth for a quick few chews.

 

"Princess," Blue says, "I got enough love for everyone. I'm leaving after this whole mess is done, remember? Can't be anything permanent for me here. Besides. You think any human woman can compete with you?" He smiles this time, rather than grin. "I just don't want to push. You've got those rules."

 

"Ha. I know you are only flirting with me because it amuses you. You're a crafty Galliard. You also know you are smoking hot, and you enjoy using it to your advantage. Physical characteristics can be as much a weapon as tooth and fang." Briari says as she takes another bite of her eggs. "Also, Bender would call Claire princess in The Breakfast Club and he never meant it as a term of endearment." She points out with the fork towards him. "You going to join me or what?"

 

Blue eases off of his chair in an unhurried fashion, but when he comes over to Briari he ignores the food and instead gets rather...close. No manly stink, as it turns out, just a pleasant sort of musk. Deodorant must still be working. "This isn't a movie, Briari," he says quietly, as he reaches past her to get a plate. "And you're beautiful, so don't sell yourself short."

 

Old Spice or Axe? Briari shrugs her shoulders upwards as she stabs the eggs again with her fork. "I am not beautiful. I suppose that if I was to rate myself against other girls in an unbiased manner I would say on a scale of one to ten I may be a six point two, which is slightly above average, but I am not beautiful. I leave words like that for Jolie or Crawford."

 

"What is that?" Blue says, with a slight laugh to his voice. "You've got a numerical scale? That's so Glass Walker." He moves away from her, though he's still quite close, within touching distance, as he dishes himself up some eggs. "Beauty," he says, fetching a fork, "is subjective. There isn't any such thing as unbiased."

 

"... Yeah, my entire life involves spreadsheets, variables, intervals, arrival patterns, averages. It's how I think. I could have a PHD in higher level math." Briari says with a chuckle as she glances up at him, chewing on her lip a bit. "I am only just now getting used to the social game. So, your friends on the inside, are they your packmates? Is that why you're worried about them?"

 

"I'm worried about them because it'll be really nasty if they get found out," Blue replies. "Like I told your friend, they know the risks, but that doesn't mean I can't want them to come out of it alright, you know?" He moves a forkful of eggs toward his mouth, but doesn't take a bite yet. "Is that hard to imagine? Someone like me worrying about someone else?"

 

"No, I am just trying to figure out your game plan and mission. Is your friends on the inside there to interrupt the Queen's power? Was that your mission from Renegade?" Briari asks as she finishes off the eggs, then moves on to the bacon.

 

Blue puts the fork down and gives Briari a quizzical look. "You think Renegade gave me a mission too?"

 

"From what you told me, the Queen hates Renegade and she wants to take over Seattle. Renegade obviously kicked her ass out. So, if Renegade was smart, he would plant spies inside her army, because I am sure a popular guy like him would not want the new girl stealing all of his bat eared disposable bad guys he could be using instead to attack us with. It makes him look like a chump she can steal all those foot soldiers. So, it would make sense for him to try and figure out how to take her down easier, create chaos from within. Very ragabashy." Briari says as she leans in to bump her shoulder to his. "You are far too good looking and charismatic to want to get involved in something like this on your own and risk damaging that handsome face of yours. So the best assumption is you are following orders, /or/, maybe you want to see both of them taken out and step up yourself, just like the Hellfire pack once tried."

 

Blue fairly barks a laugh. "Hah! Hellfire pack. Speaking of chumps, am I right?" He takes his plate of eggs back to the chair and flops casually into it again. "It's not a bad analysis, if kind've simple. But you know what, I'm taking issue with my presumed vanity here. There are things more important than having a pretty face and keeping it. Besides. Scars can be sexy, especially among our kind. So," he takes a bite. "Whether any of that is right or wrong, what's it really matter?"

 

"You are always doing that." Briari points out to him as she takes her plate to the sink and washes it off. "You deflect constantly. I could tell you why it matters to me, but then you would deflect again, because you enjoy probing me for information."

 

"And you're always doing that," Blue points out, though there's still a hint of a smile around his features. "Telling me what I feel or why. I'm interested in what you think. I haven't probed you." A brief grin. "I could if you wanted."

 

"Well, that would mean I would get to see what color the rest of your body hair is, unless you're the type to keep his shirt on the entire time." Briari fires back at him with a grin, then snags as Red Bull from the fridge and cracks it open. "So, what's the deal then? Do you work for Ren or are you a solo act? You obviously are getting something out of it. It really would help for me to know."

 

"I'm me," Blue replies. "Look, even if I told you, would you really believe me? You keep questioning what I /have/ told you, and that, Princess, has been the truth. If I thought it was actually important, sure, I'd let you know. But you already know Renegade'll benefit from Queenie falling off her perch."

 

"You have told me what you want me to hear, but you haven't really answered the more poignant questions I have asked you. It is a fairly simple yes or no question. Do you work for Renegade? Are you on a mission?" Briari asks.

 

"No," Blue says, "and obviously, yes."

 

Briari furrows her brow for a moment. ".... It has also been brought up that you may very well be Renegade."

 

Blue gives a snort of laughter. "What?"

 

Briari twitches her lips upwards. "Renegade is an incredibly powerful ragabash. What better way to fuck with the Queen if not doing it in person. No one knows what he looks like." She reaches up and unties her hair. "I already disputed that though. I know you are not Renegade."

 

Blue rests his chin on his hand. "Yeah?" he asks. "What's your argument?"

 

"Because I can track anyone, anywhere, and every time I track Renegade, it takes me hours outside of St. Claire, onward to Seattle." Briari says as she focuses for a moment on Renegade's name as she utilizes her gift.

 

"I gotta wonder just when was the last time you did that," Blue muses, as Briari brings her gift to bear. There's a moment as she concentrates in which Blue's calm smile seems suddenly less pleasant, less safe, because like a bold beacon in her mind, her Gift is telling her that Renegade is right here, in her front room, roughly ten feet away. He's looking at her, still smiling, not eating the eggs. "Remember when you told me how good you were at playing chess?"

 

Blinking her eyes slowly, Briari stares at him for a moment, then reaches up to rub her nose gently. "Yeah, I remember. I'm pretty good at chess."

 

"The trouble with chess," Blue/Renegade says, "is that every piece on the board moves in predictable patterns. You always know what move an individual piece is going to make, so the real trick of the game is distracting your opponent so that they don't notice when you're making an important move. I don't play chess very much. I'm sure you'd win." He brings a finger to his lips. "So. What's your next move?"

 

Taking in a deep breath, Briari glances at him, then glances upwards to the ceiling for a moment, then back down to him and shrugs her shoulders slightly. "Well, I am trying my best to not shit myself. Because I really don't want my packmates to find my dead body with shit in my pants. Especially not these very expensive pajama bottoms. No one should shit in Kate Spade's winter collection." She gives another pause. ".. Can I at least .. uh ... have a final phone call and tell my dad I love him? We don't say it to each other often, mostly because he was a very rich sperm donor for my deceased mother, but I want him to.. you know... know..."

 

"I'm flattered," Blue/Renegade says, sounding sincere. "But, Briari, if I wanted to kill you, why would I wait until now?" He sets the plate of eggs aside and stands up. "No phone calls, not just yet. You should probably try to calm down a little first. I'd rather we all had our tempers under control before any of that. It's too bad though. I liked Blue."

 

"I'm actually.. uh... pretty calm.. all things concerning." Briari says as she takes a few steps back as he rises upwards. "I mean .. if I get killed by the hive leader of Seattle, I think that would look pretty sweet on my obituary. You can get killed by a bee sting these days."

 

Blue/Renegade holds up a finger. "So, since phone calls are out, and last phone calls aren't necessary, what's your move? Personally, I don't see why anything has to change. We both want to topple the Queen. I have, no offense, no actual interest in your little plot of land out here, so once that's done, I'm gone. Out of your hair." He grins. It's still that easy-going Blue grin. "Or your friends could try to murder me instead."

 

"I don't really have a lot of moves right now." Briari admits as she gives a wiggle of her fingers. "You can obviously kill me, probably with laser beam eyes or something. I don't know what to do ... this is way outside of my pay scale. What rank /are/ you by the way?"

 

He laughs, with a note of surprise. "Oh, Briari," Blue/Renegade says, sounding fond. "You need to stop trying to fit the world into numbers. Alright. Make your phone calls. I'll listen. Don't worry about what you say, I promise the only thing that will anger me is if you or one of your fellow Garou decides to tell the Queen I'm here. And if you do that, I will simply abandon you. No more me, but no more inside information." He gestures. "Go ahead."

 

"I am pretty sure none of us is going to stroll up to the tower, knock on the door, ask to see the "Queen", and then bargain with the bitch." Briari says as she continues to stand in place, giving a shift of her jaw. "... What do you really look like?"

 

"You don't like this face any more?" Blue/Renegade asks. "Tell you what. Get me into contact with..." a pause. "...Thane. A safe meeting for all of us. And I'll show you."

 

"Oh, no, I love that face. Seriously, you were going to get a kiss out of me until .. you know.. I found out you're the boogie man." Briari says with a quick grin to him, which flickers away slowly. "Which totally sucks because you're so good at flirting and uh ... no guy has ever.. you know.. anyways, this is not the time to self-deprecate. I don't know if I should put you in the same room as Thane. That would probably be a terrible chess move." She sighs softly. "Man, why couldn't you just be a super hot foot soldier? I was really digging our relationship. I had this idea of us being Skype buddies down the line and keeping in touch and stuff."

 

Blue/Renegade says, "We still can, you know. I don't have any rules about it. It's your side that gets prudish." He half leans, half sits on the arm of the chair and crosses his arms loosely over his chest. "If you were going to do that anyway, what's stopping you now that you know my secret identity?" He glances to the side. "Ask him. Let's find out."

 

"You gotta admit though, I've put in a lot of leg work to get to where I'm at now with you. I'm a pretty dope ragabash. Got any tips, you know, seeing how you're the master and all?" Briari says as she turns and heads for her kitchen. "I need another Red Bull, you want one too?"

 

"You have done good work," Blue/Renegade agrees. "And, no, but...I feel like you should get some kind of something for all of this. Come here. Forget who I really am for just a moment, before the whole mask falls. You won't regret it."

 

"Ha. I'm already regretting even coming to St. Claire by via Harry Potter Owl." Briari opens the fridge and takes out a Red Bull, one with a blue wrapper, then cracks the top to take another slurp. "I wish Owl would have dropped me off in Hawaii, where I think their biggest problem is Rokea and high prices of milk." She glances over at him for a moment, flicking her finger along the tab of her can.

 

Blue/Renegade gestures toward the space in front of him, but he makes no move to close the distance himself. "Maybe Owl wanted you to meet me. You never know. Spirits are strange, it's hard to understand their motives." A small smile touches his lips again. "You want to be rid of all these problems, I take it? That's not the first time you've said something like that."

 

"Owl was saving me from an exploding moon bridge." Briari says as she shrugs her shoulders upwards. "I have as much problems as the next person does. I'm not looking to do the great dance with you if that's your offer. If you want me to talk to Thane, I'll do it, but I'm not sure what he'll say."

 

"My offer's a kiss," Blue/Renegade says. "No more, no less. We can dance if you like, but the Dance you're talking about? Well, that's one you have to do yourself. I've got no interest in pushing you. Not even any interest in inviting you. If you want it...you know how to get it. As for Thane, yes. Let's just find out what he says. I want to hear it, it'll be fun."

 

"Ha. Well, I'm totally not going to kiss you now." Briari says as she heads past him to her purse, then opens it up to slide her phone out. "Sides', rules and all, right?" She says as she starts to dial a number.

 

"Not my rules," Blue/Renegade says lightly. "You let me know if you change your mind before I go." That said, he quiets, looking with interest toward her phone.

 

<OOC> Mouse says "He meant it when he said he'd listen. Spiders Song."

 

To (Thane, Mouse), Briari pages: Hi Thane. Renegade is in my living room and he wishes to speak with you.

 

From afar, to (Briari, Mouse): Thane responds rather blandly, as if even trying to sound surprised would just be too much effort. "Requisite I Told You So. Well, go ahead and put him on."

 

To (Mouse, Thane), Briari pages: I'm glad you sound concerned for my well-being. I am sure he is listening in because he seems to be frustratingly able to one-up me every step of the way. I am putting you on speaker. For quality purposes, this call will be monitored."

 

Briari hands the phone over to him with a wrinkle of her nose.

 

Blue/Renegade smiles as he takes the phone.

 

You paged (Briari, Thane) with '*doesn't particularly sound like the Alpha of a powerful Hive, he sounds like someone about Briari's age* Hello, there. We've been having a great chat and some eggs. I'd invite you, but they'd be cold before you got here, I bet.'.

 

To (Thane, Mouse), Briari pages: In the background, Briari can be heard, "I can make more eggs." She sounds displeased.

 

To (Briari, Mouse), Thane pages: I've eaten worse than cold eggs but I'll pass. Now some well aged whiskey and a cheeseburger and I might be inclined. So, I take it you've kept up on the recent happenings?

 

You paged (Thane, Briari) with 'Ah, see? She'll even make more. And not as well as I'd like. I was present during the shooting, but I've been here ever since. Catch me up?'.

 

To (Mouse, Thane), Briari pages: Hey, are you even a DJ? I think /that/ will be pretty much the worst part of this whole fucking thing. You promised me a mixtape. If you were just letting Pandora stream the entire time you were in the club, that would be disappointing." Come Briari's complaining voice which seems further away as she has walked away. "I'm getting dressed."

 

From afar, to (Briari, Mouse): Thane gives all the verbal impression of a man kicking his feet up on the table. "Oh, let's see. That ambush we'd heard was coming from the Queen came. Couple dozen in all; your sorts, some regular fomori, and we caught sight of one of the wraiths. Sounds like the word 'pigs' was used entirely too much last night which makes me figure the two groups were related. Killed a few of them, we got out. Typical Tuesday.

 

You paged (Thane, Briari) with 'Don't mind her," the male voice says, "she's still adjusting. Wonderful girl you have, by the way. And you figure right. I got word of something happening just in time to get to the site. No communication since. Since that leak of my name it's been teeth pullingly difficult to get any calls. I don't blame you, considering the circumstances you were apparently under, but I'm afraid if it happens again my part here is done."'.

 

To (Briari, Mouse), Thane pages: She's a smart girl." Remarks the Lord, "She's spoken highly of you. I'd had some hunches for awhile now that might be you - well done, by the way - but I'm sure you understand why I had to do it. Nothing personal. I will say listening to them screech when someone mentions your name is pretty enjoyable to see. So, I'm sure this wasn't meant as just a social meet and greet. What's on your mind?

 

You paged (Thane, Briari) with 'Well, that, to start with. If she gets wind that Renegade is here, it will be funny, but it won't actually help you. She's likely to pull her forces back to the tower and call for reinforcements. Although I wouldn't rule out that she's called for them anyway. These Beast of War guys, once they get a whiff of blood in the air, well... Beyond that, I fully intend to continue on as we have. I need assurances. You can lie of course, but I'm not the one trying to take over your home. Quite frankly, I'm perfectly happy to go back to Seattle once this mess is cleaned up, or sooner if I'm pushed. I see no reason why our relationship should change beyond being a bit more direct.'.

 

To (Briari, Mouse), Thane pages: Of course she has, because Murphy's Law. So, I quash rumors of you being you, which isn't terribly hard minus one or two and I can work with that. Right now we both have someone more important to take care of, so no need to crowd the battlefield unnecessarily. I'm perfectly fine with that. So I take it you still plan to have us be the muscle and you the brains?

 

You paged (Thane, Briari) with 'A chuckle. "You're both. This is your fight. I'm merely providing some extra assistance, and the extent is entirely up to you. I don't plan to make a personal appearance, if that's what you want to know."'.

 

Briari heads back out of the bedroom dressed in a pair of expensive snug skinny jeans and a button down shiny blue blouse with a black flannel tied about her waist. It seems she even took a really brief shower. As she heads past him, she gives him a bump of the shoulder, then heads to her closet to pop it open.

 

To (Briari, Mouse), Thane pages: Oh I didn't figure you would." Thane says with the impression of a shrug. "Good for you that I'm not using my normal phone. Well, we have a large camp of assorted unpleasantries between us and the Queen. Now, she and her forces could come right to us and we save some walking. Or, we have to come to her.

 

Blue/Renegade gives Briari a grin before he responds to Thane.

 

You paged (Thane, Briari) with 'I don't think she'll be coming either. You might have to go get her. She prefers giving the orders.'.

 

From afar, to (Briari, Mouse): Thane sighs through the receiver. "Of course not. Which brings up the question of where to approach. We know her wraiths can cross into the Umbra. Suspicions are that's where she is to, but so far we haven't been able to see in to determine that."

 

You paged (Thane, Briari) with 'I don't know. The umbra seems reasonable. Then again, she can almost certainly cross as she likes too.'.

 

To (Briari, Mouse), Thane pages: Oh yes. Now, we know some of your people were still in there. Any luck getting them out? We had intended on giving you a courtesy warning before we came marching in, just so you could warn them to keep out of the crossfire and be ready to bail.

 

You paged (Thane, Briari) with 'If you tell me when it's happening, I can try to assure that they're well out of your way. Beforehand? We lose any eyes inside, limited as they may already be. Besides. They might even be able to make things easier for you.'.

 

Briari continues to rustle through the closet, which seems it could be probably be another bedroom. Off the wall she takes a compound bow off, as well a satchel of arrows. "You know of any tricks that can get us to see through the blacked out windows? I have this thumb drive that has supposedly given me full remote access to their computer systems. From there, I can probably access their surveillance system and then use their own cameras to see inside. It's all software."

 

To (Mouse, Thane), Briari pages: You know of any tricks that can get us to see through the blacked out windows? I have this thumb drive that has supposedly given me full remote access to their computer systems. From there, I can probably access their surveillance system and then use their own cameras to see inside. It's all software."

 

You paged (Briari, Thane) with 'Nope. But a blacked out window is still just a window.'.

 

To (Briari, Mouse), Thane pages: Fair enough. And yes, that drive. It was from someone I had on the inside. Checked a few times and is squeaky clean from all reports. We're going to need to move quick before she keeps us too busy to act. So what's the extend of what you're willing to do and any other costs I should know about? Since we're being honest.

 

You paged (Thane, Briari) with 'Information. Sabotage. I can also make an effort to convince her forces to come with me if you manage to bring her down, rather than scatter all over your city. They won't all come, of course, but I can be very convincing.'.

 

Briari shuffles the bow in her hands and puts it down on the coffee table, as well as the bow, then slips another phone out of her back pocket and starts to play a round of Angry Birds Star Wars.

 

To (Briari, Mouse), Thane pages: So we take out your enemy for you, you don't get your claws dirty, and you get some new minions in the process. Good turn out for you if it works. Fine. I don't turn away deals with devils on silly matters like principles. These wraiths are nasty but easy enough to kill if their communication is disrupted. Something went wrong with them the last time they tried to come after us. They freaked out, broke down, and we tore them apart without any effort at all. If we can replicate that, we can cut a path easy right to her. I just don't know what happened.

 

You paged (Thane, Briari) with 'That's unfortunate. I suppose, then, finding out what happened would be a good first step.'.

 

To (Mouse, Thane), Briari pages: So, those three spirals that came after us last night. Were those your packmates pretending to come after you so that you can get closer to me?" Briari's voice comes out from a few feet away.

 

To (Briari, Mouse), Thane pages: Yes it..." Thane pauses, grunting out a noise at Briari's question. "But yes, that will make a large difference in the plans. Any way you can help try and divert some of their attention to buy us time to work out the how and the when? Plans were to set up a false safehouse, use my normal phone to draw them since she's tracking it. Could use some help in making it look convincing.

 

You paged (Thane, Briari) with 'Oh, Briari, we were already close. Mm. Tracking it? I wasn't aware she had that ability without her pet mage. What sort of help were you thinking of?'.

 

To (Briari, Mouse), Thane pages: Whatever's within your power. I can have my people work on figuring out the panic switch on the wraith's, but there's too much pressure on us right now. We need to move her forces off our front door and out of our way. If we can draw them to this safehouse, that'll buy us some extra time - particularly if we rig the damn place to blow or something equally final - and save us from a direct fight to save lives for the fight that matters. Then while the Queen's having a fit and gathering her next round, we figure out how to cripple her forces and move in on the Tower.

 

To (Thane, Mouse), Briari pages: Another call starts to come through on Briari's phone. The contact name is a poop emoji.

 

To (Thane, Mouse), Briari pages: See! I told you. He deflects everything you ask him. He's a real pro."

 

You paged (Briari, Thane) with 'Hrm. I'll see what I can do. Briari, you...seem to have another caller.'.

 

Briari glances over at the incoming call, then reaches over and taps the voice mail button to send it off.

 

Briari pages: A text message comes through: Call me. People are asking about Blue.

 

To (Briari, Mouse), Thane pages: When doesn't she have another caller?" Thane snorts. "You can reach me on this number. It's a burner but it functions and I know She hasn't gotten ahold of it."

 

Blue/Renegade shows Briari the message as he answers.

 

You paged (Thane, Briari) with 'Duly noted. Well. I think I'll let you go then, unless there was anything else?'.

 

Briari glances over at it, then lets out a soft breath as she shrugs her shoulders upwards helplessly.

 

To (Briari, Mouse), Thane pages: Just if one of the Eater's followers stop by, who last I knew was calling herself Sows-the-Truth, watch out." Thane remarks, "She's an incredible bitch."

 

You paged (Thane, Briari) with 'I'll keep that in mind. Toodles for now. *click*'.

 

Blue/Renegade hands off the phone with a small grin.

 

Briari reaches out and takes her other phone, then slips it into her pocket. She gives him a grin back in return. "Feel better?"

 

"Much," the man replies. "But I imagine you'd prefer I left now."

 

Briari shrugs her shoulders upwards. ".. No, I don't care if you stay. I mean .. you haven't tried to chew on my skull yet." She says a bit glumly. "Was really hoping that we'd be friends actually, you know .. me and Blue." Her shoulders lift upwards. "I'm pretty progressively minded. Figured it would be neat to have a friend on the other side who was actually ... sane .. "

 

Blue/Renegade's grin doesn't entirely fade. "I still don't see why that's any different now. We can be friends still. Especially if you're still inviting me to stay. That's awful nice of you."

 

"Dude, you're like the most powerful Spiral on the west coast according to folk lore and rumor and the Internet. Why would you want to be friends with me for?" Briari says with a blow of her blonde hair to the side of her face. "I would so ruin your credibility with the boys at the bar."

 

Blue/Renegade shrugs. "Why not? If I'm supposedly that powerful, who's going to give me shit about it?" He scoots off the arm of the chair and flops back into the chair itself. "Doesn't that actually make it easier?"

 

"Well, if we're going to be friends, can you stop deflecting my annoying questions now that all of our cards are on the table and facing upwards? I think I've earned it, seeing how I have helped you knock the mage off and introduced you to my Alpha." Briari says as she straightens up on the chair she settles into. "You gotta understand, it's how my brain works. I have to micromanage information all the time, question it, make sense of it."

 

"You're forgetting what I said," Blue/Renegade replies. "The world's more than just numbers. People too. And a lot of it isn't going to let you make sense of it no matter what you want. Some things? They're safer for you not to know."

 

"I want to know about the spirals chasing us, because I know where they are at right now. I have their location and plans are put into motion to take them out. So, if you were playing me last night and you have any emotional attachment to them, you should let me know so I can call off the really thirsty for war Get of Fenris who are going to splatter their brains across the walls." Briari says as she folds one leg over the other.

 

Blue/Renegade leans back, with his hands behind his head, and crosses his ankles. "I don't know who they were," he says seriously.

 

Briari gives a slow nod of her head. "Then why not take them out yourself? You are obviously powerful enough to probably smite all three of them. Why not remove that loose end since they got eyes on you?"

 

"In broad daylight?" Blue/Renegade asks. "Or do you mean now? Because you're the one who knows where they are."

 

Briari shrugs her shoulders again. "I don't know, you want to?" She asks curiously with a raise of her brow.

 

"If you're willing to share." Blue/Renegade shrugs. "But, truth is, that's not really how I like to work."

 

"No? These guys got eyes on you which they can bring back to the witch. You don't think taking them out may be of some value?" Briari asks as she tilts her head.

 

Blue/Renegade shakes his head. "Wouldn't they have already told her? In which case, I change my hair. Maybe grow a beard. I'd be more worried about you. They saw you too, after all."

 

"Then I will just lay low. I'm not too worried. If they come out here, I have several escape plans I can execute. I follow Otter. We're slippery." Briari giggles as she gives a glance about. "What about your pack? What are they like?"

 

"Do I have to have a pack?" Blue/Renegade asks. "I guess it's a fair guess." He sits up a little. "They aren't like me."

 

"I'm still trying to figure out if I even know what you're like." Briari says as she rubs her chin with her palm. "You care about them?"

 

"Sure," he replies. This time, his fingers thread together over his chest. "What, did your teachers tell you that we weren't capable of that? 'Course we are. We're Garou, just like you. Love, fear, anger...it's all part of living. That doesn't change just because you're on the other side, does it?"

 

"Defensive much? I just asked if /you/ cared about your pack." Briari says with an upward tick of her lips. "And 'sure' is a flippant answer." She ponders for a moment, then says, "I'm only asking questions so I /can/ understand. You gotta realize, I have barely seen combat. I have never fought a spiral. I fight with warrants, spreadsheets and pivot tables. But I have hundreds of hours of video on you guys from war packs. I seen what you guys can do. The things you say. Always rape this, and rape that. I will eat your spleen and kill your mom! It's not really you know... poetry."

 

"I'm a flippant kind've guy," Blue/Renegade replies. "You've noticed that by now, right? Anyway, you realize that's not exactly all that different from what your bunch says in battle, right? Or...well, I guess if you haven't done much fighting, maybe you don't. Listen some time." He laughs. "Of course, most of us, on both sides, aren't very good at saying clever things anyway."

 

"... yeah. I suppose that is true. Perhaps. I am a Corporate Wolf. We are above such vulgarity." Briari sips her Red Bull again. "We mostly defeat the Wyrm with money, lawyers and bullets. Lots, and lots of bullets. I suppose some of our lawyers can be quite foul mouthed."

 

Blue/Renegade starts to say something, but he stops. There's a bit of a frown to his features now, slightly pursed lips.

 

"Oh, come on, don't be like that." Briari says as she taps her foot against his.

 

He spreads his arms to the side. "Look, I don't want to depress you, a'ight? You keep digging, trying to figure me out, but you aren't going to like the answer. So I haven't been saying. You'd find it upsetting."

 

Briari squints her eyes at him for a moment, then lets out a sigh as she slips her phone out of her pocket. She peers down at it, then sighs again as she types out a text and sends it off.

 

Blue/Renegade tilts his head in question.

 

"I swear, Slug is like a clingy boyfriend. I had my phone in DND mode and he called me five times and left me about ten texts. He's pretty mad I didn't answer him." Briari says as she shrugs and tucks it into her pocket. "I told him I can't talk and he should talk to Thane. I'll put that in the Alpha's hands, that way, I don't rat you out. So I'm still the good guy here."

 

Blue/Renegade gives her the same double thumbs up he gave Slug last night. "That's your choice. My concern is the Queen finding out. Of course, I don't mind being your little secret." He grins. "...Or your big secret?"

 

"You're a pretty big secret. I don't want to cause mass hysteria in the Sept." Briari says as she thumbs her phone a few times. "Come on, what rank are you? At least let me know if I can win the office pool."

 

"Briari," he says, still lounging. "Tell me something. What do you want to do? Right now, just off the top of your head, no analyzing it. What do you want to do most in this moment?"

 

"I want you to tell me what rank you are since you lied to me the last time." Briari says seriously to him as she chews the inside of her cheek.

 

Blue/Renegade sighs. "And this time? How do you know I'll tell the truth? Either I give you something that you can use against me later, or I lie again. I don't want to lie to you again. Besides, that's not what I asked. I asked what do you want to /do/?"

 

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Briari says, "I don't want to /do/ anything. I just want to talk to you. This is a once and a lifetime chance for me. I have the freaking hive leader of Seattle in my living room and I feel like I /should/ be asking you these questions. Stuff the Galliards may sing about later down the line. That stuff is important. What can we possibly use against you if we know your rank?"

 

"It gives you an idea of how powerful I am," Blue/Renegade responds, serious as well. "Or how powerful I'm not." A beat. "...So you're asking because you want to be able to talk yourself up. Get some songs sung, mm?" There's a flash of a grin and he suddenly, quickly stands up. "You're building your resume." This isn't said in an accusatory fashion, but more of the light, laughter laden tone that Blue seems so fond of.

 

Briari rubs a hand along her face, then sighs out. "Fine, whatever, don't tell me then." She says in a disappointed tone.

 

"I notice you didn't deny it," Blue says, with a crinkle around his eyes. "Look, I'm asking you because I think you've got a bit of a block that it might help to remove. I think you don't really ever just /do/ something because you want to. Not without overthinking the hell out of it. It's nice. It's freeing. Garou don't do it enough."

 

"I don't care about my resume." Briari says after a few moments with a sigh. "I just ... I care about data. Information." Her shoulders drop. "I just ... like to know stuff to know stuff. I hate being in the dark about something. It makes me uncomfortable."

 

To (Briari, Mouse), Brings-the-Pack pages: Mind a mage intruding via a scrying effect?

 

Blue lowers his voice a little. "How many times I've walked the dark road doesn't tell you anything meaningful. Your friend asked what it was like. The only thing I could tell him was that it was like you. Not you, you, but a general you. You meet yourself in there. It's not pleasant, because it's true, and then you learn to accept what you see, and you move on, and the world is different. You learn things in there, Briari. But they're not things that you want to know. The truth isn't happy, or comforting."

 

You paged (Brings-the-Pack, Briari) with 'Nope!'.

To (Mouse, Brings-the-Pack), Briari pages: Sure.

 

"You're talking like you're trying to protect me or something." Briari says as she peers upwards at him from behind her bangs. "I don't want to know what you did to get where you're at. I'm not /that/ curious. I don't enjoy nightmares. But I am curious to what your magic number is."

 

<OOC> Brings-the-Pack says "And if you can detect magic, there is suddenly disturbance in the force."

 

"That's because I am trying to protect you," Blue says, serious again. He's a very good looking young man, perhaps Briari's age, with a shock of bright blue hair to match his name. Creative. At the moment he's standing up right next to a comfortable looking chair. "They're dangerous things to know. People who know them are dangerous people. Why do you think so many go insane?"

 

"I don't know, I don't question one's insanity. I figure the brain is broken and something just helps give it a nudge in the right direction." Briari is sitting on a chair, dressed in jeans and a blouse and not imprisoned or injured. "I suppose I can rationalize everything back to science."

 

Blue shakes his head. "No, no, the truth is, we're all a lot closer to crazy than we like to think. Especially people like us, but everyone's vulnerable. The only way you hold on is if you're smart. Strong minded. Clever. Maybe a bit lucky too." He grins a little, though it's passing. "You need to be careful."

 

From afar, Brings-the-Pack turns on ye old Mind 2 lie detectorino. Resists the rising urge to strangle all garou.

 

You paged Brings-the-Pack with 'He's lying, to a degree, about that whole 'you're safe if you're smart' from going crazy thing. Nick probably doesn't need magic to know that, although he knows Blue knows it.'.

 

"I am overly careful." Briari says with a grin on her face as she hops back up, chugs the rest of her Red Bull, then heads to the kitchen to drop off the can. "Or at least I try to." She stares down at the phone in her hand for a moment, squinting her eyes. She taps a few times on the screen, then hits send. "You going to be okay if you take off? Stupid question I'm sure."

 

"Is that a hint?" Blue asks, with yet another brief grin. "No way to know. We'll just have to find out."

 

"Well, you aren't paying rent!" Briari laughs softly. "I don't think you're worried at all, huh?"

 

Blue replies, "I don't worry much, even if there's something to worry about. Not if something's beyond my control anyway. I mean...why? Life's short. Shorter for us. We should enjoy ourselves."

 

You paged Brings-the-Pack with 'Bunch of mostly-true's, but there's definitely a sense of deliberateness about him.'.

 

"Yeah, well, with those three assholes sniffing about for you, I figure you'd be a little bit worried." Briari says as she glances at her phone and sends another text. "I assured Slug I'm okay. Figured if he was really worried he wouldn't have left last night."

 

"But you know where they are," Blue points out. "Unless you'd let them ambush me." His tone is teasing. "Besides, you get to where I am, you get a little used to always being in danger."

 

"Yeah, I know where they are at currently because their address got texted to me, but I don't know where they are this moment. I need their names, or nick names or something for it to work like that." Briari says as she shrugs. "But, just be careful, okay?"

 

Blue strokes the sides of his mouth for a moment with thumb and forefinger. "Of course. I mean, if you're really that worried..." He sighs. "If you're that worried, go ahead and give me the address. I'll have it taken care of. No mess. No Garou stubbed toes."

 

From afar, Brings-the-Pack dumps the Mind 2. Powers up Entropy 1, Spirit 1 (sensing change/wyrm), Life 1, and Time 2 on Briari to see if, over the course of the next day, she's in significant danger of physical harm or tainting.

 

"Whaaaat? And steal our glory? Come on bro." Briari says with a giggle as she scribbles it down, then hands it over to him. "Just text me later tonight, okay?"

 

Long distance to Brings-the-Pack: Mouse thinks. The answer he gets is...fuzzy. There doesn't seem to be any deliberate action that will cause it, but it's not an impossibility either.

 

Blue takes the paper, glances at it, then tucks it into a pocket. "Just warn anyone hanging out there to go get a pizza or something," he suggests. "I don't want people getting caught in any crossfire."

 

"Sure, I don't think any of us can really afford to get whacked chasing down crumbs." Briari says with a nod, then heads to the door and unlocks it, giving it a gentle tug open to the expensive looking hallway. "So, last question before you go."

 

Blue pulls up his collar a little and heads for the door, though he looks toward Briari as he's about to exit. "Mm?"

 

"Are you really a DJ?" Bri asks with a cat like grin.

 

He gives her a grin and a wink. "When I feel like it." And heads out.