[Roman Turner] He was back at the Church, hammering away at the framing work he had started earlier. His shadow danced wildly, thrown across the ceiling by the trouble light he'd set up. Hammer blows rang out with little pauses between and the occasional sound of a board bouncing off the floor.
[Sorrow] Some quiet, cloudy evening, the streets wet with rain. Half the streetlights on this block are blown out. The citydoesn't bother to replace them, since no one lives here. No one worth while anyway. Kora's shadows are long, and the street dark. The entrance to the Church is cast in faintly orange light. Kora takes the stone steps two at a time and pushes open the big wooden doors framing the interior.
Ambient light sweeps in through the stained glass windows and the holes in the roof and gallery, legacy of an old fire. The front doors swing open, then, and Kora whistles, low. She has bags in her hand, and a pizza box. The smell is fresh and savory. "Roman! - " she calls out, when she get inside. "Dinner!"
[Roman Turner] He came in from further back in the church, dressed in faded carpenter jeans, complete with a hammer in the loop that bounced against his hip. He wore a tee that said "I" a heart and then "Chicago."
"Well howdy, I wondered when ya would get home. Ya done missed all the company today."
He sniffed, smile widening.
"Food, I was hoping ya'd come bearing gifts."
[Night's Reprieve] [mind if I drop in?]
[Sorrow] (Feel free!)
[Sorrow] "Pizza," Kora says, lifting up the cardboard box from some local joint. " - and beer." She explains further, lifting up the bag which swings from her index finger. " - and deep fried cheese. I couldn't resist."
Quickly depositing the pizza box and cold beer on one of makeshift tables set up just inside the door, close to the old holy water fonts, underneath the choir loft, she glances up at Roman returns, comes back into focus. Her features are lost in shadow, really - but the lean shadow of her tall frame is still clear in the ambient light. That sense of space, expansiveness above them lingers.
"Dig in," she tells Roman, as she goes searching for one of the handful of coolers they keep. For herself, she pull a bottle of water from inside, slick with melted ice, then starts settling the bottles of beer - Goose Island IPA - into the slurry of ice and water, leaving one out for Roman. "What company did I miss?"
[Roman Turner] He grabbed one of the bottles of beer, twisted the top off and half drained it before speaking.
"First that Miss Sooney (sune) came by and helped nail some boards. While she was here, two of your Tribe turned up. Miss Cigney and Night's Reprieve. They were shook up over a challenge Night's Reprieve issued to Many Tongues over calling Miss Cigney a name."
He tucked in to a slice of pizza, pausing long enough to chew a mouthful.
[Night's Reprieve] He had been by earlier in the day, Kora was not around at that point. Much discussion was had, mainly drama, mainly bad drama. Information was gathered and shared along with advice and questions. It was a very busy day for the Keeper, one that apparently was not over yet. He had seen Cigney at least most of the way home before he had to head back to the Caern to take care of a few things, go see his cousin at the broho. Get some food, get something to drink (Gaia knows he needed it) and clean himself up a bit before he decided to check in at the church one last time for the day. It's never good to go to sleep with bad thoughts, better to air them.
With that in mind he makes his way into Cabrini, alone this time. He's there only a few minutes after Kora herself arrives, though when he pushes his way through the wooden doors he's unaware of that fact.
He sees the two of them Kora, Roman and he stops at the entrance way.
"Evening, thought I might check in one last time for the day."
[Roman Turner] He looked towards the door as the new arrival stepped in to their Pack House. And the first thing he did was stuff the rest of that slice of pizza in his mouth to wash down with the rest of the first bottle of beer. Where he came from, more company meant less food and beer, so ya had to be fast.
[Sorrow] "Miss Suney?" Kora asks. Roman digs into the pizza and drinks half a bottle of beer at a go, and Kora gives him this shifting sort of half-smile. " - easy, tiger," she remark, underneath her breath really, her voice low and faintly amused. " - gotta make that six-pack last all night." While Roman tucks into the pizza, Kora opens her bottled water and unrolls the last of the bags, paper-white, translucent with grease, full of fresh-fried mozzarella.
The treats have cooled on the walk, but the scent of the deep fryer is sudden and pungent as she opens the bag, makes some back-of-the-throat noise like pleasure, and digs in.
Night's Reprieve walks in, while she has a mouthful of cheese. She licks the crumbs from the breading off her lips, swallows the first half quickly, " - yuf, she says in response to Night's Reprieve. "Roman said you were by earlier. Something about Cigney and - " at this point it sinks in, and Kora flashes a faint, frowning look toward Roman. "The kin-eater."
Then, never forgetting the mandates of hospitality, she tips her head toward the tables. "Pizza and beer, there's plenty, and you're welcome to join us."
[Roman Turner] He snagged another slice of pizza and a beer, making himself at home in the plastic lawn chair.
"Well howdy Yuf."
That was a lot easier than Night's Reprieve was to say.
"I was just telling Kora about ya coming by and hadn't gotten in to the twisted story fully. I'll leave that up to yourself now. Come take a load off."
[Night's Reprieve] He steps in closer, heads across the room and leans against a wall but he doesn't move to take their pizza or beer.
"Already ate thanks anyway" a grin.
He lets his hands dangle loosely at his side. "Yeah, bastard should learn to keep his mouth shut." In response to the statement about the kin-eater. "Though to be honest I'm more concerned about the supposed Fire-Claws incident."
[Sorrow] The walls are rough-cut limestone, old and hand hewn, the sanctuary bult in the 19teens, in the Neo-Gothic style. Now, the place is a ruin and has been abandoned for twenty years or more, when the congregation dwindled to no more than a handful of locals from the warren of cheap apartments in the area, aging quickly and dying off even more quickly.
The roof is patchy, the building surrounded by a heavy growth of opportunistic weeds and trees left to their own devices for twenty years. The building smells like green and stone, like water and shadow and dust - and pizza, and beer now.
Kora grabs a second plastic lawn chair, and sits near her bag of treats. Her water bottle rests on the surface of the table, slick, gleaming with moisture from the slurry of ice and water in the coolers. "Well," she says, with a winging look toward Roman, then back to the Godi. There's a stillness to her features, made dramatic by the shadow. "Pick a story and start, one of you, yeah?"
[Roman Turner] "Seems to be more his story than mine. I was only end on the hearing part. About how Wahya called Miss Cigney names, then Night's Reprieve issued challenge and it's been set for next weekend. Then it was brought up that this Fire-Claws person was giving Miss Sooney trouble or something and turns out he's part of Nigth Reprieve's Pack and so he said he would deal with that. Right?"
He looked at Night with that.
[Night's Reprieve] He nods his head, crosses his arms over his chest.
"Right, I will have the Forseti in my pack find out the truth from Fire-Claws and will figure it out from there. I hope it isn't like Miss Sune said it was though, that would be most unfortunate."
[Roman Turner] "I thought ya wanted to bring up about Fenrir Kin staying away from China town too, just in case?"
He folded a slice of pizza in half and took a bite, talking around it.
"Ya know, not just cause this Fire-Claws jumped the Fianna Kin, but because ya fear for them because of Many Tongues and his threats of his Elder, and what not?"
[Night's Reprieve] He laughs.
"One thing at a time Fate, he's right though Sorrow. I think it would be best for the Fenrir to stay out of China Town until this little dispute is settled."
[Sorrow] "Let's start again," Kora says, abandoning her meal now. One of the sticks is half-eaten, the rest are left to cool in their bag. Instead, she uncaps her bottle of water and tips it back, drinking away a mouthful before clearing her throat. Her spine is curved against the back of the plastic lawn chair, and there's a certain way her voice echoes in the familiar space, the acoustics of the building, the way voices were meant to ring in such places, abandoned or not.
Her attention is direct, her fine features still, her dark eyes touching on Roman before turning to her tribesmate. " - and tell me the story from beginning to end. We'll start with Cigney and the kin-eater."
[Night's Reprieve] "An uktena kin had something to tell me about Cigney, some event that I was unaware of. Apparently the event she wanted to speak of was this Fire-Claws incident, but regardless. I went down to China Town to talk to her, there was quite a congregation of Garou and kin there. A ragey little hateful Wendigo that I've never seen before and Cigney. Wahya showed up, started mouthing off about our tribe. Things got a little heated, he called Cigney some names.
He should of been made to bleed right then and there and it would all be over and done with. But it was public, it was their territory. A challenge was the only way. That's about it."
[Roman Turner] "He got what he wanted, he got to sling mud and got one of ya to challenge him so he could set the terms. In truth, it was a right smart move on his part. I ain't had much interaction with Lupus born, but seems they got some surprises to them."
He stood, stretched and licked the crumbs from his lips.
"I need to visit the facilities, please excuse me."
[Roman Turner] ((I really need to sleep. Sorry. Thanks for the play))
[Sorrow] "We have working facilities, now - " Kora tells Night's Reprieve, when Roman has disappeared into the warren of hallways in the old meeting rooms adjacent to the sanctuary of the church, where those facilities must lie. " - thanks to him. When I first packed with Kemp-rhya," musing, lingering, thoughtful really, a counterpoint to the straight-forward story Night's Reprieve tells, " - he lived in a storage locker, and Joe and Thomas claimed territory in an old junk yard in Bronzeville. We started the hunt for a packhouse. All I wanted was a working shower. All Kemp wanted was a - "
She glances up, her features wreathed in memory. And chooses to complete the thought in a manner that is rather more respectful of the dead.
" - well, facilities." That half-smile lingers, then, but stills on her mouth. "What did the Uktena kin have to tell you about Cigney and Fire Claws?"
[Night's Reprieve] He relaxes when she begins to speak, not that he wasn't relaxed before, but his shoulders droop and his head leans against the cold stone. Kemp just wanted a place to shit? Don't we all Kemp, don't we all. When she's done he speaks.
"Nothing, I didn't get the chance. I found out about it from Sune. Apparently he physically assaulted the Fianna. Cigney just happened to be there at the time I think."
[Sorrow] "Did I hear Roman correctly, that Fire Claws is now your packmate?"
Her head is tipped back, here, the thick knot of her pale hair skims the curving line of the cheap plastic chair in which she half-reclines, her long legs sprawled out before her, the heels of her boots on the polished marble - filthy with age, with the passage of time, the finish fading - floor. Her chin is tipped up, her expressive mouth still settled into that concise half-smile. The bottle of water is held loosely in her left hand, slick with moisture, damp enough that the odd drop distends from the plastic, elongates and falls to the ground.
The light in the place is uncertain - the orange light from the city's ambient glow fills the upper third of the structure, and cuts in in long, banded lines on the first floor. Most of the pews are gone, a tumbled ruin of splintered wood, but some remain, unbolted from the floor, dragged haphazardly across the stone and the marble. Their voices are dampened by the choir loft, which is a dark shadow directly above them, and Kora is quiet enough, easy now.
"Bonded true to your totem?" She waits long enough for a moment's confirmation. Then, "I want the full story when you know it."
[Night's Reprieve] He pushes away, stands up straight and nods his head.
"He is, and you will hear the full story as soon as I know it. Though I would appreciate it if you left me to deal with him."
There's a pause while he just watches her and then
"What do you think of the challenge? What would you have done?"
[Marred Valor] They aren't able to communicate through their totem. The Godi doesn't have a cell phone. It makes tracking him down when whispers about challenges and kin assault start sweeping across the city. Fortunately for Night's Reprieve...his cousin is both smarter than he looks and persistent. If he had to guess - and he did - the Godi would be hanging around Fenrir territory right about now. So that's where he starts looking. His travels take him to the church claimed by the Jarl's pack. There's a knock on the front door when the visitor arrives, but he doesn't wait for a response before just letting himself in.
"Hellooo?" he croons.
[Sorrow] Night's Reprieve pushes himself away from the wall, stands up straight. She cannot see his expression any longer, not even the ghost of it, for his features are wreathed in shadow. What is remarkable about the building is the sense of silence. The heavy stone walls dampen the sounds of the city's, and the veritable forest of trashy locust trees and quick growing vines outside filter out the rest.
There are crickets still, outside, in among the fireweed and the locusts, among the virginia creeper and the ivy and the morning glory, the dandelions and the crabgrass and the blue tick grass and the clover, the wild blackberries and the vining cherokee rose.
"You're his Alpha," she returns, quiet. "disciplining him is your right and your responsiblity. And Miss Sooney - " she says, this half-smile for Roman's pronunciation, or perhaps the title he gives her. " - is Fianna kin, not Fenrir. If he harms one of our kin without provocation, though, I will take it out of his hide."
She looks up, then, toward the door, the shadow there. And calls out, " - come in."
The doors are heavy wood, banded iron. The interior is quiet, darker closer to the doors than it is deeper in the sanctuary. The place smells of dust and green and cool, old stone.
And fresh-sawn wood.
And blood.
And pizza.
--
"I think," her dark eyes flicker over Night's Reprieve, then back to his packmate, entering the church, then back to his face. " - the challenge was perfectly reasonable. Though your first instinct was correct. If the insult he offered required action, he should have been made to bleed.
"I would have done it immediately. Taken him to the umbra, or - to the challenge circle in the Caern then and there. Resolved the matter perhaps informally, and quickly. Though," she pauses, her chin lifted. "I wasn't there. I don't know the insult he offered, or the circumstances. Had I been there, it is entirely possible I would have acted as you did."
[Night's Reprieve] His head turns, peers towards the door through that thick darkness lingering in the air until he can just make out the face of his cousin. The Godi smiles in the dim light. It's always good to see family, even if they are obnoxious, rude and generally annoying.
"Took you long enough Rain-Man, come meet the Jarl."
And Night's Reprieve leans back against that cold stone, his arms returning to cross over his chest. He does not introduce them to each other, you never know exactly what an individual wants to say about themselves in a particular situation. Best to leave them to it. He does have something to say to Sorrow though while his cousin crosses the room.
"I wish I could have found a way to punish him right then and there, but he is a coward of the worst kind. He hides where he knows no punishment can be dealt to him in the heat of the moment. He speaks boldly where he can hide behind the skirt-tails of his elder and the veil. A challenge was the only way I could think of to see him pay for his words."
[Sorrow] transcript!
to Sorrow
[Marred Valor] The Forseti walks through the church with a strange sort of reverence after his greeting outburst. He's older than he looks, his boyish face and lanky build making him seem like he isn't even old enough to buy cigarettes. He wears boots and jeans and a t-shirt made to look vintage. It advertises some breakfast cereal or another. Even with the moon getting fat overhead he doesn't seethe with Rage. He actually seems rather calm...if obnoxious. And rude. And generally annoying.
He folds his arms over his chest as he stops beside his alpha. Gathers from the conversation that they're discussing the kin eater. "Speaking of his words," the young man says. His accent gives away his home...he's from Louisiana, like his cousin. Just without the Cajun influence. "I've asked about 50 different people and gotten 50 different answers, cous. The hell'd he say to you?"
[Kora] (grumble! brb!)
[Sorrow] (better. sorry, it stopped refreshing and I had to log back in, then forgot my name. :) )
[Sorrow] There is a sort of echoing nod-up from Kora, her dark eyes swing from the Forseti to the Godi, and linger there. The gesture is mostly evident in the movement of her pale face in the darkness, a change in the shadows around her, thrown off by the flickering solar latern tucked up underneath the salvaged tables underneath the choir loft.
"I'd like to know that, too." Quiet, easy, direct, her head is canted aslant, just so, the weight of her hair a heavy knot that twisted away haphazardly so that it has movement of its own. To Marred Valor as he walks further in, she gestures toward the pizza box and the coolers. "There's pizza and beer. And fried cheese."
Now cold, mind.
Her brow draws close, then. Closer, the shifting expression barely suggested in the shadows, except in the way it changes the shape of her mouth, pulls the corners in.
"Then," she returns quietly, "I think you did the best thing under the circumstances. Some cowards are hardly worth the insult to your claws." The echo is dampened here, but still present. "Though of course, we can also ensure that the Sept knows of his cowardice, after."
There is another pause, quiet - before she asks, "Who was his elder? Who allowed this to go on?"
[Sorrow] Okay. Since I need to go sleep, assume Kora invites them to stay for beer and pizza, and listens quietly until you want rid of her, at which point she will go off to do something else. :) but I gotta sleep. so late for me!
to Marred Valor, Night's Reprieve
[Sorrow] Some quiet, cloudy evening, the streets wet with rain. Half the streetlights on this block are blown out. The citydoesn't bother to replace them, since no one lives here. No one worth while anyway. Kora's shadows are long, and the street dark. The entrance to the Church is cast in faintly orange light. Kora takes the stone steps two at a time and pushes open the big wooden doors framing the interior.
Ambient light sweeps in through the stained glass windows and the holes in the roof and gallery, legacy of an old fire. The front doors swing open, then, and Kora whistles, low. She has bags in her hand, and a pizza box. The smell is fresh and savory. "Roman! - " she calls out, when she get inside. "Dinner!"
[Roman Turner] He came in from further back in the church, dressed in faded carpenter jeans, complete with a hammer in the loop that bounced against his hip. He wore a tee that said "I" a heart and then "Chicago."
"Well howdy, I wondered when ya would get home. Ya done missed all the company today."
He sniffed, smile widening.
"Food, I was hoping ya'd come bearing gifts."
[Night's Reprieve] [mind if I drop in?]
[Sorrow] (Feel free!)
[Sorrow] "Pizza," Kora says, lifting up the cardboard box from some local joint. " - and beer." She explains further, lifting up the bag which swings from her index finger. " - and deep fried cheese. I couldn't resist."
Quickly depositing the pizza box and cold beer on one of makeshift tables set up just inside the door, close to the old holy water fonts, underneath the choir loft, she glances up at Roman returns, comes back into focus. Her features are lost in shadow, really - but the lean shadow of her tall frame is still clear in the ambient light. That sense of space, expansiveness above them lingers.
"Dig in," she tells Roman, as she goes searching for one of the handful of coolers they keep. For herself, she pull a bottle of water from inside, slick with melted ice, then starts settling the bottles of beer - Goose Island IPA - into the slurry of ice and water, leaving one out for Roman. "What company did I miss?"
[Roman Turner] He grabbed one of the bottles of beer, twisted the top off and half drained it before speaking.
"First that Miss Sooney (sune) came by and helped nail some boards. While she was here, two of your Tribe turned up. Miss Cigney and Night's Reprieve. They were shook up over a challenge Night's Reprieve issued to Many Tongues over calling Miss Cigney a name."
He tucked in to a slice of pizza, pausing long enough to chew a mouthful.
[Night's Reprieve] He had been by earlier in the day, Kora was not around at that point. Much discussion was had, mainly drama, mainly bad drama. Information was gathered and shared along with advice and questions. It was a very busy day for the Keeper, one that apparently was not over yet. He had seen Cigney at least most of the way home before he had to head back to the Caern to take care of a few things, go see his cousin at the broho. Get some food, get something to drink (Gaia knows he needed it) and clean himself up a bit before he decided to check in at the church one last time for the day. It's never good to go to sleep with bad thoughts, better to air them.
With that in mind he makes his way into Cabrini, alone this time. He's there only a few minutes after Kora herself arrives, though when he pushes his way through the wooden doors he's unaware of that fact.
He sees the two of them Kora, Roman and he stops at the entrance way.
"Evening, thought I might check in one last time for the day."
[Roman Turner] He looked towards the door as the new arrival stepped in to their Pack House. And the first thing he did was stuff the rest of that slice of pizza in his mouth to wash down with the rest of the first bottle of beer. Where he came from, more company meant less food and beer, so ya had to be fast.
[Sorrow] "Miss Suney?" Kora asks. Roman digs into the pizza and drinks half a bottle of beer at a go, and Kora gives him this shifting sort of half-smile. " - easy, tiger," she remark, underneath her breath really, her voice low and faintly amused. " - gotta make that six-pack last all night." While Roman tucks into the pizza, Kora opens her bottled water and unrolls the last of the bags, paper-white, translucent with grease, full of fresh-fried mozzarella.
The treats have cooled on the walk, but the scent of the deep fryer is sudden and pungent as she opens the bag, makes some back-of-the-throat noise like pleasure, and digs in.
Night's Reprieve walks in, while she has a mouthful of cheese. She licks the crumbs from the breading off her lips, swallows the first half quickly, " - yuf, she says in response to Night's Reprieve. "Roman said you were by earlier. Something about Cigney and - " at this point it sinks in, and Kora flashes a faint, frowning look toward Roman. "The kin-eater."
Then, never forgetting the mandates of hospitality, she tips her head toward the tables. "Pizza and beer, there's plenty, and you're welcome to join us."
[Roman Turner] He snagged another slice of pizza and a beer, making himself at home in the plastic lawn chair.
"Well howdy Yuf."
That was a lot easier than Night's Reprieve was to say.
"I was just telling Kora about ya coming by and hadn't gotten in to the twisted story fully. I'll leave that up to yourself now. Come take a load off."
[Night's Reprieve] He steps in closer, heads across the room and leans against a wall but he doesn't move to take their pizza or beer.
"Already ate thanks anyway" a grin.
He lets his hands dangle loosely at his side. "Yeah, bastard should learn to keep his mouth shut." In response to the statement about the kin-eater. "Though to be honest I'm more concerned about the supposed Fire-Claws incident."
[Sorrow] The walls are rough-cut limestone, old and hand hewn, the sanctuary bult in the 19teens, in the Neo-Gothic style. Now, the place is a ruin and has been abandoned for twenty years or more, when the congregation dwindled to no more than a handful of locals from the warren of cheap apartments in the area, aging quickly and dying off even more quickly.
The roof is patchy, the building surrounded by a heavy growth of opportunistic weeds and trees left to their own devices for twenty years. The building smells like green and stone, like water and shadow and dust - and pizza, and beer now.
Kora grabs a second plastic lawn chair, and sits near her bag of treats. Her water bottle rests on the surface of the table, slick, gleaming with moisture from the slurry of ice and water in the coolers. "Well," she says, with a winging look toward Roman, then back to the Godi. There's a stillness to her features, made dramatic by the shadow. "Pick a story and start, one of you, yeah?"
[Roman Turner] "Seems to be more his story than mine. I was only end on the hearing part. About how Wahya called Miss Cigney names, then Night's Reprieve issued challenge and it's been set for next weekend. Then it was brought up that this Fire-Claws person was giving Miss Sooney trouble or something and turns out he's part of Nigth Reprieve's Pack and so he said he would deal with that. Right?"
He looked at Night with that.
[Night's Reprieve] He nods his head, crosses his arms over his chest.
"Right, I will have the Forseti in my pack find out the truth from Fire-Claws and will figure it out from there. I hope it isn't like Miss Sune said it was though, that would be most unfortunate."
[Roman Turner] "I thought ya wanted to bring up about Fenrir Kin staying away from China town too, just in case?"
He folded a slice of pizza in half and took a bite, talking around it.
"Ya know, not just cause this Fire-Claws jumped the Fianna Kin, but because ya fear for them because of Many Tongues and his threats of his Elder, and what not?"
[Night's Reprieve] He laughs.
"One thing at a time Fate, he's right though Sorrow. I think it would be best for the Fenrir to stay out of China Town until this little dispute is settled."
[Sorrow] "Let's start again," Kora says, abandoning her meal now. One of the sticks is half-eaten, the rest are left to cool in their bag. Instead, she uncaps her bottle of water and tips it back, drinking away a mouthful before clearing her throat. Her spine is curved against the back of the plastic lawn chair, and there's a certain way her voice echoes in the familiar space, the acoustics of the building, the way voices were meant to ring in such places, abandoned or not.
Her attention is direct, her fine features still, her dark eyes touching on Roman before turning to her tribesmate. " - and tell me the story from beginning to end. We'll start with Cigney and the kin-eater."
[Night's Reprieve] "An uktena kin had something to tell me about Cigney, some event that I was unaware of. Apparently the event she wanted to speak of was this Fire-Claws incident, but regardless. I went down to China Town to talk to her, there was quite a congregation of Garou and kin there. A ragey little hateful Wendigo that I've never seen before and Cigney. Wahya showed up, started mouthing off about our tribe. Things got a little heated, he called Cigney some names.
He should of been made to bleed right then and there and it would all be over and done with. But it was public, it was their territory. A challenge was the only way. That's about it."
[Roman Turner] "He got what he wanted, he got to sling mud and got one of ya to challenge him so he could set the terms. In truth, it was a right smart move on his part. I ain't had much interaction with Lupus born, but seems they got some surprises to them."
He stood, stretched and licked the crumbs from his lips.
"I need to visit the facilities, please excuse me."
[Roman Turner] ((I really need to sleep. Sorry. Thanks for the play))
[Sorrow] "We have working facilities, now - " Kora tells Night's Reprieve, when Roman has disappeared into the warren of hallways in the old meeting rooms adjacent to the sanctuary of the church, where those facilities must lie. " - thanks to him. When I first packed with Kemp-rhya," musing, lingering, thoughtful really, a counterpoint to the straight-forward story Night's Reprieve tells, " - he lived in a storage locker, and Joe and Thomas claimed territory in an old junk yard in Bronzeville. We started the hunt for a packhouse. All I wanted was a working shower. All Kemp wanted was a - "
She glances up, her features wreathed in memory. And chooses to complete the thought in a manner that is rather more respectful of the dead.
" - well, facilities." That half-smile lingers, then, but stills on her mouth. "What did the Uktena kin have to tell you about Cigney and Fire Claws?"
[Night's Reprieve] He relaxes when she begins to speak, not that he wasn't relaxed before, but his shoulders droop and his head leans against the cold stone. Kemp just wanted a place to shit? Don't we all Kemp, don't we all. When she's done he speaks.
"Nothing, I didn't get the chance. I found out about it from Sune. Apparently he physically assaulted the Fianna. Cigney just happened to be there at the time I think."
[Sorrow] "Did I hear Roman correctly, that Fire Claws is now your packmate?"
Her head is tipped back, here, the thick knot of her pale hair skims the curving line of the cheap plastic chair in which she half-reclines, her long legs sprawled out before her, the heels of her boots on the polished marble - filthy with age, with the passage of time, the finish fading - floor. Her chin is tipped up, her expressive mouth still settled into that concise half-smile. The bottle of water is held loosely in her left hand, slick with moisture, damp enough that the odd drop distends from the plastic, elongates and falls to the ground.
The light in the place is uncertain - the orange light from the city's ambient glow fills the upper third of the structure, and cuts in in long, banded lines on the first floor. Most of the pews are gone, a tumbled ruin of splintered wood, but some remain, unbolted from the floor, dragged haphazardly across the stone and the marble. Their voices are dampened by the choir loft, which is a dark shadow directly above them, and Kora is quiet enough, easy now.
"Bonded true to your totem?" She waits long enough for a moment's confirmation. Then, "I want the full story when you know it."
[Night's Reprieve] He pushes away, stands up straight and nods his head.
"He is, and you will hear the full story as soon as I know it. Though I would appreciate it if you left me to deal with him."
There's a pause while he just watches her and then
"What do you think of the challenge? What would you have done?"
[Marred Valor] They aren't able to communicate through their totem. The Godi doesn't have a cell phone. It makes tracking him down when whispers about challenges and kin assault start sweeping across the city. Fortunately for Night's Reprieve...his cousin is both smarter than he looks and persistent. If he had to guess - and he did - the Godi would be hanging around Fenrir territory right about now. So that's where he starts looking. His travels take him to the church claimed by the Jarl's pack. There's a knock on the front door when the visitor arrives, but he doesn't wait for a response before just letting himself in.
"Hellooo?" he croons.
[Sorrow] Night's Reprieve pushes himself away from the wall, stands up straight. She cannot see his expression any longer, not even the ghost of it, for his features are wreathed in shadow. What is remarkable about the building is the sense of silence. The heavy stone walls dampen the sounds of the city's, and the veritable forest of trashy locust trees and quick growing vines outside filter out the rest.
There are crickets still, outside, in among the fireweed and the locusts, among the virginia creeper and the ivy and the morning glory, the dandelions and the crabgrass and the blue tick grass and the clover, the wild blackberries and the vining cherokee rose.
"You're his Alpha," she returns, quiet. "disciplining him is your right and your responsiblity. And Miss Sooney - " she says, this half-smile for Roman's pronunciation, or perhaps the title he gives her. " - is Fianna kin, not Fenrir. If he harms one of our kin without provocation, though, I will take it out of his hide."
She looks up, then, toward the door, the shadow there. And calls out, " - come in."
The doors are heavy wood, banded iron. The interior is quiet, darker closer to the doors than it is deeper in the sanctuary. The place smells of dust and green and cool, old stone.
And fresh-sawn wood.
And blood.
And pizza.
--
"I think," her dark eyes flicker over Night's Reprieve, then back to his packmate, entering the church, then back to his face. " - the challenge was perfectly reasonable. Though your first instinct was correct. If the insult he offered required action, he should have been made to bleed.
"I would have done it immediately. Taken him to the umbra, or - to the challenge circle in the Caern then and there. Resolved the matter perhaps informally, and quickly. Though," she pauses, her chin lifted. "I wasn't there. I don't know the insult he offered, or the circumstances. Had I been there, it is entirely possible I would have acted as you did."
[Night's Reprieve] His head turns, peers towards the door through that thick darkness lingering in the air until he can just make out the face of his cousin. The Godi smiles in the dim light. It's always good to see family, even if they are obnoxious, rude and generally annoying.
"Took you long enough Rain-Man, come meet the Jarl."
And Night's Reprieve leans back against that cold stone, his arms returning to cross over his chest. He does not introduce them to each other, you never know exactly what an individual wants to say about themselves in a particular situation. Best to leave them to it. He does have something to say to Sorrow though while his cousin crosses the room.
"I wish I could have found a way to punish him right then and there, but he is a coward of the worst kind. He hides where he knows no punishment can be dealt to him in the heat of the moment. He speaks boldly where he can hide behind the skirt-tails of his elder and the veil. A challenge was the only way I could think of to see him pay for his words."
[Sorrow] transcript!
to Sorrow
[Marred Valor] The Forseti walks through the church with a strange sort of reverence after his greeting outburst. He's older than he looks, his boyish face and lanky build making him seem like he isn't even old enough to buy cigarettes. He wears boots and jeans and a t-shirt made to look vintage. It advertises some breakfast cereal or another. Even with the moon getting fat overhead he doesn't seethe with Rage. He actually seems rather calm...if obnoxious. And rude. And generally annoying.
He folds his arms over his chest as he stops beside his alpha. Gathers from the conversation that they're discussing the kin eater. "Speaking of his words," the young man says. His accent gives away his home...he's from Louisiana, like his cousin. Just without the Cajun influence. "I've asked about 50 different people and gotten 50 different answers, cous. The hell'd he say to you?"
[Kora] (grumble! brb!)
[Sorrow] (better. sorry, it stopped refreshing and I had to log back in, then forgot my name. :) )
[Sorrow] There is a sort of echoing nod-up from Kora, her dark eyes swing from the Forseti to the Godi, and linger there. The gesture is mostly evident in the movement of her pale face in the darkness, a change in the shadows around her, thrown off by the flickering solar latern tucked up underneath the salvaged tables underneath the choir loft.
"I'd like to know that, too." Quiet, easy, direct, her head is canted aslant, just so, the weight of her hair a heavy knot that twisted away haphazardly so that it has movement of its own. To Marred Valor as he walks further in, she gestures toward the pizza box and the coolers. "There's pizza and beer. And fried cheese."
Now cold, mind.
Her brow draws close, then. Closer, the shifting expression barely suggested in the shadows, except in the way it changes the shape of her mouth, pulls the corners in.
"Then," she returns quietly, "I think you did the best thing under the circumstances. Some cowards are hardly worth the insult to your claws." The echo is dampened here, but still present. "Though of course, we can also ensure that the Sept knows of his cowardice, after."
There is another pause, quiet - before she asks, "Who was his elder? Who allowed this to go on?"
[Sorrow] Okay. Since I need to go sleep, assume Kora invites them to stay for beer and pizza, and listens quietly until you want rid of her, at which point she will go off to do something else. :) but I gotta sleep. so late for me!
to Marred Valor, Night's Reprieve
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