Currently the moon is in the waxing Crescent Moon phase (28% full).
Currently in Saint Claire, it is a cloudy day. The temperature is 69 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the west at 3 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 30.07 and falling, and the relative humidity is 67 percent. The dewpoint is 58 degrees Fahrenheit (14 degrees Celsius.)
It is currently 20:46 Pacific Time on Tue Jul 24 2001.
Walker Safe House(#2832RAJ)
This small tenement building is a work that any interior decorator would be proud of. The building is somehow filled with light and space, despite the fact that the room is far from large. Mirrored surfaces and lush green potted plants are much in evidence - jarring only slightly with the video cameras that perch unobtrusively in various locations. A small sign on the wall lists the number of apartments upstairs as eight, though there are no names next to the apartment numbers. A very thick door leads downstairs, with no visible method of being opened - except a keypad next to it. A monitor is perched above the entrance, showing images from the hidden camera that watches the outside of the building.
The lobby branches off into what appears to be a small recreation room; for use only by residents and their guests. Much like the rest of the building, mirrors are prominent. There is a pool table set up in one half of the room, along with a small fridge for storing drinks and a cabinet for snackables. The remainder is dominated by a large home theater system, with an incredibly expensive-looking couch in front of it. The couch nearly screams out, 'Don't spill anything'. For those who might, there are also two matching side-chairs, and a bean-bag on the floor - far too close to the television to be good for anyone's eyes.
Quietly, John slips down into the rec room from his apartment. The Ahroun wears the usual neutral expression, but moves a little stiffly. Subdued and tired.
The TV is on in the rec-room, but the volume has been turned down very low, almost mute. Spins-in-Circles is laying on the couch, watching the television and looking quite tired.
John doesn't look at the cub, but instead heads straight for the fridge. In keeping with the mood, he keeps his voice soft. "You watching anything in particular?" The fridge is opened, and he pulls out a bottle of mineral water.
Spins-in-Circles lazily picks up her head as the ahroun speaks to her. Not seeing anything important. Spins has nothing to do.
John nods and gently unseals the bottle, before tipping it back and taking a few hard swallows. Wiping his mouth with his wrist, he looks over to the TV. Again, asking softly, "Do you mind if I put on some music, instead?" Starting to make his way towards one of the armchairs.
Watching John, Spins-in-Circles sets her head back down. Spins does not care. Not too loud. Spins head hurts a little.
"I wasn't planning on it." comes the reply. The television is switched off, and John crouches by the system to fiddle with the stereo for a few moments. The music starts very softly, and he actually turns it up a little, so it can be more properly heard. Bach. Suite 3. John stands, and moves to seat himself in one of the armchairs, stretching out a little, and taking another sip from the bottle.
Spins-in-Circles shifts into her breed form and sits up in her seat. "I didn't know you liked elevator music," she observes, "I figured you for more of a rock and roll type of guy."
John lets his head fall back into the chair and just exhales. The bottle of water hanging limply from one hand over the side of the chair. "More into techno and electronic grunge, myself." he murmurs. "'Elevator music' is calming, though. And I'm tired."
Corey comes downstairs as silently as he can manage, barefoot. He's about to enter the rec room when he sees it's already occupied and the entertainment center in use, and merely stands at the doorway to listen.
Dizzy brushes her hair back behind her ears with her hands, making it as decent looking as possible. "Well, I guess it is kind of calming."
There's a knock at the front door, timed suspiciously well with the growing aroma of pizza from the hallway outside. "Pizza guy's here..." shouts a rather feminine voice from behind the door.
John winces, having just sat down and starting to relax... "Gaia." he grumbles, before moving to get up out of the comfy armchair.
Corey waves at John once he's sure the ahroun can see him, uncertain how to tell an elder to sit and stay. He walks to the door himself, and asks, "All right, I'll need your name, rank and breakfast cereal number before you can pass this checkpoint."
"Not funny!" The new arrival replies from the other side of the door. "No pepperoni for you..."
Dizzy watches John and spots Corey as he nears the door. "Hey Core," she calls, "You order pizza?"
Cindy does stand outside, if viewed from the monitor, and she's holding three pizza boxes in her arms while staring at the door.
John sighs at the apparent stale-mate or Raggie obstinancy, and pulls himself from his chair to pace outside and stand behind Corey, peering at the monitor. "Gotta get that woman a key." he grunts, before turning back. "Let her in. Cindy. Walker Philo."
What Cindy doesn't notice is the man stalking up behind her, but he is obvious enough in the monitor. Roger creeps creepily behind Cindy and stands behind her but a foot back, silent and waiting like an unliving statue... but with less presence.
Cindy is totally oblivious to the man behind her. "Come on open up already!" She offers in a teasing voice, "Damned pizza's getting cold... I can't eat all three of 'em." She shifts her weight from one foot to the other and she never bothers to look behind her.
Dizzy walks up to and leans against the doorframe of the rec-room, glancing to see what at the door needs the attention of two garou. After seeing who's arrived she goes back to the couch to claim her seat.
Corey now displays some true Raggie obstinancy by pointing out Roger in the monitor. "Okay, now /this/ guy creeps me out." Before he tries anything more, he does get the door open and relieves Cindy of her burden. "Welcome, nice to meet you and all, and by the way, you have wonderful taste in stalkers." He takes the pizzas to the kitchen quickly.
Roger has a unsettling grin as this takes place and quickly sidesteps by Cindy to get inside the Safe house before his tribe sister. "Good morning." is all he says as he continues on his way inside.
John merely seats himself again, expressionless and trying to retain something of the quiet he was hoping to find in coming downstairs.
Dizzy hops up from her seat and quickly walks over to Corey and the pizzas, giving him a quick whisper and a knowing look, she returns to her seat.
Dizzy whispers "John knows about the Hops mess." to Corey.
Cindy offers Corey a crooked grin when she is relieved of her pizza boxes. "Ragabash I'm guessing?" As Roger passes by she nudges him with her elbow, "Hey Roger, what's shaking?"
Roger turns about in his pace and puts a finger to his lips, "Shhhh..." is all the sound he makes with a gentle smile to Cindy. He soon enough is on his way to the basement area.
Corey fumbles the boxes a moment at the whisper, but recovers and places them on the counter without destroying them too badly. He gives a quick nod to Cindy, then returns his attention to Dizzy. He gestures up at the apartments, then makes a swipe across his neck with an index finger, a questioning look at the other raggie all the while.
John eases back in the chair and lifts the bottle of mineral water to his lips to take a few more swallows. Grim and subdued.
Dizzy shrugs first, then shakes her head at her cubmate. She cups a hand behind her ear while mouthing the word 'Not heard.'
Cindy offers Roger a wink and she moves further in from the door. The two Ragabashes receive a brief glance and Cindy's grin widens. She begins to move towards John's chair.
Corey sighs and examines the box contents. "Okay, no pepperoni for me... I presume there /is/ sausage in one of these?"
Dizzy grins and reminds Corey, "First of the kill for the greatest in station, bud."
John relaxes back into his chair, raising one hand to massage at his temples with something of a stifled irritation. He takes another sip of the mineral water.
Corey jerks his head up and looks into the rec room. "Oh, right. John? Cindy? Can I get either of you a plate of this?" He's lowered his voice to stop interrupting the music.
A moment later Roger reappears with a small plastic cup containing a clear liquid that could be water, except it seems a bit too thick. Stepping over to John he kneels besides him in a comfortable position and offers the cup to the suffering Ahroun.
Cindy glances over to Corey and she holds up a single finger while nodding her head. She crouches down in front of John's chair, next to where Roger kneels. Her grin fades away from her face as she looks up at her tribesmate.
John frowns, straightening up in the chair, and looking over to Roger and the offered cup. He gives it a few sniffs, and tilts his head, looking at Roger. "What is that, and why do you want me to drink it?" he asks shortly. Cindy gets an odd look, too. "What? Do I look like I'm dying?" Asides from lines of tiredness about his face, and the generally subdued manner, he does in fact look fine and healthy.
Dizzy looks over to John, a tad concerned that the big, scary and super-healing ahroun needs of all this attention.
Sophia quietly descends the stairs, her nose stuck in a beat-up copy of the Tao Te Ching. She steps down slowly, so as not to fall, and is surprised to hear voices in the rec room. Specifically, she hears John say: "I'm dying?" She lets the book-holding hand fall to her side and turns the corner into the rec room, a curious expression on her face.
Corey quickly gets out a few plates (if there aren't any here he'll grab some from his own apartment) and dishes out a slice or two to each. He grabs three servings and walks slowly toward the elders, keeping aside for the moment until they decide what to do.
Roger just takes John's hand, opens it and places the cup inside of the recently opened hand. "No, not dying... but unnessisarily uncomfortable. Trust me, you've never had this stuff before and it does all the work of your standard store bought analgesics about twenty times better without the caffine."
Jeremy heads into the safehouse after opening up the door, stiffling a quiet yawn into his hand. Peering out at everyone from behind his glasses, he quirks a brow upwards, but stays silent. He heads over to them curiously, making more of a bee line towards Sophia.
Roger doesn't quite wait to see what John does with the meds before he heads back towards the basement.
John frowns a little more at the departing Roger, and appears greatly confused by the attention. He snorts at Cindy. "The irony of this is that I wanted somewhere quiet to relax and listen to a little music." He does eye the cup the consideringly, though, tilting it a little. A small sigh. "This might be handy, though." He starts to pull himself to his feet.
Sophia sets her book on the pool table and moves to stand beside Jeremy. She watches John intensely, not with concern, but rather with puzzlement. "Somethin' happen to you, Boss? Why's everybody fawning over you? You don't /look/ hurt."
Cindy rises to her own feet and she moves over to Corey, "Thank you." She takes one of the plates from him. A wink is offered to Jeremy and Sophia, and then the half-moon moves over to the couch.
Jeremy glances over to Cindy and offers her a quick smile and a wave, then steps a bit closer to Sophia, eyes intent upon the Ahroun. ".. Yah. um.. Whats wrong?" He asks.
Corey sets one of the plates in front of John, to do as he will with it. He gives the last plate to Dizzy, and goes back for another serving without saying a word. The question's been asked, his voice is useless at this point.
Sophia pages to the room: Any closer and Soph and Jer be standing on each other's feet. :P
Dizzy thanks Corey for the plate and motions for him to hurry with what he's doing and sit down. Just because the highest in station get the first of the kill does not mean that you have to wait on them as well.
What's wrong? Excess unwarranted attention and a latent fear of crowds, perhaps... John appears to be growing a little irritated, besides confused. He waves the plate away, muttering, "Someone else can have that." before looking up to Sophia and shrugging. "I don't know. Ask these people. I'm fine." He gives the cup in his hand a worried glance, and moves to put his mineral water back in the fridge.
Sophia swivels her attention to Cindy now. "Hmmm? Is he hurt or something, Rhya? What's all this about?"
"Looks like my half-sister treated you nicely." Cindy murmurs as she glances over to John again. "She's become quite the strong cliath since her rite, I bet the other Children of Gaia are proud of her. Did she fix you up fully, or are you still in pain from that night?" She offers Sophia a grin and shakes her head, "Not in the physical sense, I wouldn't know."
Jeremy clears his throat a bit and peers down at them, then shrugs. "He says he's fine, so.. he should be fine." He murmurs quietly to himself as he nudges Sophia with his hand lightly along her shoulder, then heads over to a vacant chair to flop down into.
Corey returns, offers plates to Sophia and Jeremy, and takes whatever's left to sit between couch and stereo. He does, however, set aside any pieces with pepperoni on them as belonging to those more worthy. Aside from the sound of his chewing, he remains noiseless.
Taking a slice of pepperoni off her own pizza, Dizzy carefully leans over the side of the couch and places it on Corey's slice. "What'cha gonna do now, huh?" She grins at her cubmate, daring him to eat it.
John, vindicated, gives the pizza a sniff, and then the cup he was handed. He looks thoughtfully to the staircase, as he replies to Cindy, "That was many, many nights ago, and she healed me well. I haven't felt the effects for a while, now. And Alicia shows promise, yes."
Slow, slow footsteps come down the stairs. Bare feet appear first, then grey sweatpants--the the hands that grip the railing tight. Rina moves stiffly, unsteadily, her bruised face eventually looking into the room.
"Good, good..." Cindy grumbles before taking a bite out of her pizza. Her gaze drifts to the staircase as Rina appears.
Sophia raises an eyebrow and looks down at Jeremy's hand and follows it with her eyes as Jeremy sits down. She takes the plate from Corey with a smile and faces John again, the eyebrow still cocked, but for a different reason. "So, lemme get this straight... everybody saw you sitting still, and thought you were about to keel over because you stopped moving?" Half a smile finds its way onto her face and stays there, stubborn. That is... until she sees Rina. She looks at John again, and suddenly, there's concern in her eyes. Or is it accusation?
Corey pauses and regards his pepperoni'd slice, and considers how the Litany applies to this situation. He finally comes up with something, and grinning, puts the piece of pepperoni back on Dizzy's plate. "Respect the territory of another. Ye shall take no action that causes my pizza to be violated." With that, he consumes the slice thus offended.
Rina steadies herself against the doorway with one hand. Her dark eyes, wide, show a flicker of uneasiness as she peers into the room: so many people.
John's already standing, and it's only a few quiet steps towards the kin girl before he's at her side, and offering an arm for her to lean on. He lifts the cup in his hand, and offers it to her. "What are you doing up? How're your ribs?" The Ahroun only has eyes for Rina, at the moment.
Cindy breaks into a fit of laughter as she listens to the cubs, though the laughter quickly subsides and she turns her attention back to the new arrival. The cliath swallows her food and licks her lips before asking aloud, "What happened to your face, Rina?"
Jeremy leans back a bit into the chair and glances over to them, one brow lifting upwards at the kin's beaten state. Biting upon his bottom lip, he simply remains silent.
Dizzy giggles and eats the pepperoni. "Your loss," she says with a grin.
Rina's voice is hoarse, unsteady. "O that this too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew..." Her dark eyes betray a hint of nervousness, sliding away from him, and then returning. "Hold you the watch tonight?"
She doesn't move to touch the cup he offers.
Corey turns his head to look at Rina... and stops, mid-mastication. He looks from Rina to John and back, then to Cindy, his cubmates and finally Jeremy. The question's plain on his face: what happened to her? And behind that the worry in his eyes asks, what can be done to help?
Cindy rises to her feet, paper-plate in hand, and she begins to move towards the door. "See you later, kids. Enjoy the pizza..." She casts a last glance towards John and Rina, and another to Jeremy and Sophia. She pauses in the doorway and looks over to Dizzy and Corey, "Hold up the fort, don't give John any slack."
Jeremy quirks a brow slightly at Rina's antics, then ums. ".. She doesn't look well.. she should get a doctor maybe."
John moves a little closer, again offering the cup. "Yeah. Shhh. I thought you were sleeping. I... just came down for a bit." The Ahroun gives a brief, respectful nod, and then looks back to the damaged kin. "You want to sit, or...? We can go back upstairs. I found a copy of the Tempest."
Dizzy mock-salutes Cindy, "Will do, Captain," and goes back to finishing her pizza.
Sophia follows Cindy to the door, opening it for her. "Do Not Suffer Thy People to Tend Thy Sickness," she says as a farewell.
Sepdet for once avails herself of a door, knocking at the house's front entrance.
Corey throws Cindy another salute, "Aye aye, sir." He keeps his attention on John and Rina, though.
Cindy offers Sophia a wink, "We're running out of tenants..." Her grin widens and she opens the door as Sepdet knocks.
==Sepdet==
A petite young woman of African descent with somber manners at odds with the glint in her dark eyes, Sepdet holds herself with a confidence beyond her bare nineteen years. She's bony and wiry as a desert plant, with dusky brown skin and black kinky hair barely wrestled into a manageable mane behind her thin shoulders.
Her clothes are scarce. The fawnskin haltertop she wears has been dappled with red ochre; denim leggings cut off below the knees are stained with darker and lighter shades of green, like sunlight through pine needles, and her belt is made of braided scraps of gray silk. Travel-calloused feet are bare.
A large suede beltpouch marked with an Egyptian star rests against one hip and a waterskin slung from one shoulder against the other. As always a handful of charms hang at her neck: a wooden cartouche, carved fish, a tiny curved blade, and a small beaded medicine wheel. A tattered raven feather is bound into a single braid behind one ear.
Sepdet smiles at Sophia faintly. "Evening. Time for me to drop in." She nods towards the interior of the house, holds up a stone with blood on it, then pops it into her beltpouch. "Do I interrupt?"
Jeremy glances over to the door and continues to remain quiet, his eyes darting about each Garou. He looks slightly twitchy now.
Trying to ignore John and Rina, Dizzy attempts to keep Corey's attention. "You want a slice of pepperoni now?
Sophia gestures widely for Sepdet to enter, inclining her head. "How kind of you to stop by, Rhya." She steps toward the rec room and turns back to face her. "Would you care for a slice of pizza? Or something to drink?"
Rina swallows, and takes the cup from him--cradling it in both hands, still leaning against the rec room doorway for support. She looks across to Corey, her brow furrowing slightly as she tries to explain. "If there were reason for these miseries, then into limits could I bind my woes; when Heaven doth weep, doth not the earth o'erflow?"
Sepdet's stance relaxes subtly as the door closes behind her. "Perhaps some water later, thank you," she tells Sophia, and casts around looking for the object of her journey tonight. The recital brings a bit more of a smile to her face, and she heads towards the human woman unhurriedly.
The younger nomoon, for his part, is trying not to act like traffic around the scene of a bad wreck. "Umm. No, thanks. Cindy made like the pepperoni nazi when I didn't get the door open in time." Corey turns his head to Dizzy. "No pepperoni for me. At least not from this batch." He blinks and looks at Rina again, furrowing his own brow. That... made sense.
Cindy raises an eyebrow as she spots the new arrival and she bows her head politely. "Hello, rhya. Pleasant to see you in the city..." She studies the elder Garou for a moment, then nudges Sophia with an elbow. "See you later, kid." The Philodox slips into the hallway and disappears from view.
John sighs, and lifts a hand to Rina's cheek, just brushing it lightly. He nods again at Cindy, then looks to Sepdet. "Rhya...?" He licks his lips. "She has cracked ribs, and..." he swallows. "Could you, uh?"
Dizzy watches as the young African woman moves through the room, a bit surprised that John called her Rhya. She nudges Corey and whispers to him.
Dizzy whispers "Do you know who that is?" to Corey.
Corey shakes his head and whispers back, flicking his gaze to the new arrival.
Jeremy shifts a bit nervously in his seat and gently clears his throat. Getting up, he heads into the lobby post haste.
Corey whispers "No idea, but even the cliaths seem impressed. On your toes, sis."
Dizzy nods to Corey and disposes of her plate into a nearby wastebasked. Folding her hands in her lap she quietly watches.
Sepdet meets the curious gazes of the others with a vaguely amiable expression as she crosses the room, but seems disinclined for speech. She dips her head in a succinct nod at John's query, coming to hover at his elbow and look over Rina with a sad little smile. "Excitement again, I see," she admonishes quietly. "Bad for your health. Can you sit or lie down somewhere?"
John inclines his head respectfully to Sepdet, and moves his arms around Rina so as to gently suggest that they move back upstairs. "Plenty of places. Come on, Rina." He leans down to whisper in her ear.
"Your spirits shine through you," Rina says quietly, watching Sepdet's face. She still holds a cup in both hands.
Sepdet's frown begins to return at Rina's apparent unrecognition, but she gives a little laugh at the words. "Oh, my. You've gotten bumped on the head so badly you sound like /me/. Yes, we'd better get her fixed up immediately, John." She offers a hand as needed, but of course leaves most of the escorting to him.
Corey slides out of the way of the elders, gets up and disposes of his own plate, then puts the leftovers into two boxes for later. He watches and listens carefully, and wonders silently to himself.
Sophia walks up beside Jeremy and very, very slowly reaches out to lay a hand on his shoulder. She motions toward the rec room with her head and walks in herself, nodding briefly to Sepdet as she goes.
Confused, Rina offers the cup back to John. She allows the two to shepherd her, but the quiet confusion remains.
John doesn't bothering for the Strider to follow, but instead just gently leads Rina back up the stairs to his apartment.
Sepdet shakes her head at Sophia with a wry grimace as she slips out of the room.
Once the elders are gone, Dizzy starts breathe again, not even realizing that she was indeed holding her breath. Turning to her roommate she asks in an overly apparent hushed voice, "Who _was_ that?"
Sophia smiles faintly, glancing in the direction of the stairs. "That was Sepdet-Rhya, a theurge of the Silent Striders. And Adren. A good teacher."
Corey waits to hear the answer too, though he's grabbed one of the boxes and looks ready to depart.
Jeremy turns around and follows after Sophia, taking a relaxing breath as he sweeps his bangs away from his face. He looks a bit better now that most of the Garou have left, at least the rageier ones.
"An Adren?" the elder ragabash asks in disbelief. "Geeze. That is insane."
Corey clears his throat. "Umm. Okay, refresh my memory... Adren?"
Sophia's frown is vague, but still present. "How do you mean?" She glances quickly at Corey and says, "Rank 3. Of 5. Cliath, Fostern, Adren, Athro, Elder." Her gaze returns to Dizzy, studying.
Dizzy is clearly in said state of disbelief. Amazed not only that she's just met someone who far outranks all of the elder garou she knows, but is clearly around her own age.
Jeremy flops down into a chair in the rec room. Reaching to his belt, he strips off his Clie' and turns it on, watching the LCD screen flare to life.
Corey nods and whispers thanks to Sophia, and goes to walk upstairs with one of the pizza-boxes, the other left for the women. A bit louder, he adds, "Good night, sibs. It's been an interesting night, for starting so quietly."
Sophia waves to Corey, then reverts her attention to Dizzy. "Why do you ask?"
Dizzy gets up from her seat, "Yeah, bed sounds like a good idea. Good night, Core." She turns to her roommate, yawning, "What about you?"
Corey runs upstairs with his prize, slowing only when he passes John's door.
"I only asked because eveyone else seemed to know who she was," Dizzy answers, heading for the stairs.
Sophia nods. "One remembers people of such high stature."
Dizzy yawns and waves before dissapearing up the stairs, "G'night, then."
Jeremy looks busy fiddling around with his small device, eyes squinting intently, his stylus pen moving along the icons.