[Janis] It's a clear night out, stars splash across the sky above the skyline of the Cabrini, twinkling like a treasure trove of tiny diamonds. One or two are in constant motion, airplanes that could be mistaken for shooting stars or ufo... Some of those stars were planets or satellites that roamed just outside the earth's atmosphere. The Rotagar watched them from the roof as she collects her resolve, digging deep down inside her gut to summon up the courage to face the courage to seek out the Jarl.
Kora, though, only a rank above her was impressive to behold - she reminded Janis of her Uncle who shared the birth moon as the Skald, and he was frightening. She clears her throat, pulling at the fiery tendrils of hair that run across her face, escaping the loose knot of hair at the base of her scalp.
With silent steps, the Rotagar climbs down from the belfry, back into the warmth of the church to seek out the Alpha of the Last Watch.
[Kora] The relative warmth of the church. The vast, lofty spaces of the sanctuary are nearly as cold inside as without. The stone walls keep out the winter wind, though, and repairs or tarps over the largest holes in the roof keep out most of the wet - rain, storms, thundersnow - now. Janis exits the belfry as Kora enters the church. The huge wooden doors swing silently on their well-oiled hinges, cutting a band of orange light across the dark stone floors. Though there is no breeding about her to define her from a distance, to the sharp sweep of someone's feral senses, Kora's figure is still distinctive. Pregnancy, advancing, makes it so.
Inside the doors, Kora tips her head back to dislodge the heavy hood covering the crown of her pale head, the tips of her ears. Strips off gloves as she walks, and begins unwinding a long, hand-knitted scarf. Fair Isle patterned, that, made of hand-carded lambswool. Both scarf and gloves are tossed over a chair in the scattering of derelict couches and easy chairs near the front of the sanctuary, and Kora begins unbuttoning her winter coat with one hand while lifting the lids of the remnant pizza boxes with the other. She looks up, as Janis crosses the cold stone floor. Offers the Rotagar the ghost of a smile, the edge of it, evident in the dim light every from a distance.
"Janis." Quiet, her voice, a certain richness, though her accent is plainspoken, broadly American. The English of cable news and suburban high schools rather than anything regional. "Evening."
[Janis] Janis was very much in touch with her wolf, the primal side of her mind more active than her human self at times. She angles her head down, earlobe and then chin brushing across her shoulder as she looks in the direction of the door open that her ears had picked up first. She runs a hand over her face, catching the red tendrils of hair to tuck it behind her ears.
Her steps are light on the stone floor; quick-paced and agile as her path seems to be crossing with Kora's sooner than she had anticipated when she had summed up the courage to go seek her out. Kora's distinctive form swims across her vision, instantly, Janis looks at the Skald's swelling stomach, a wan of a soft smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
"Kora..." she stops abruptly at the greeting, dipping her head down in a tiny bow, "Sorrow-rhya, I was just coming down from the belfry to look for ye.'" her brogue is not difficult to understand, it accentuates her speech more than hinders her English. "If ye 'ave a moment, I'd enjoy a chat with ye, I 'ave questions that I wanted to ask."
She is apprehensive, not wanting to seem too eager, but neither was she shy. It's a controlled mannerism as she shows the Skald respect where it is do. Kora will read it in the posture that Janis keeps, her head bowed and turned, eyes never quite fully meeting hers, her portion of her throat exposed - submissive.
[Kora] (Per + Linguistics: what part of Ireland!
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 4, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6) Re-rolls: 3
[Kora] "I think I found the fresh one," the Skald remarks, thumbing open one of the top-two pizza boxes. There's a sharp, brief wash of the savory scent of the cooling pizza in the bright, cold air before whatever had steam had built up in the cardboard dissipates around them. "Sausage and pepperoni, looks like."
Then she's quiet, dark eyes reflective in the shadows, a moving gleam across the surface as she studies the Janis, her own head canted with considering - an answering gesture, just as feral as the subtle signs of reserve and respect evident in Janis' posture, the sweep of her head.
A twist of her generous mouth, just upward at the rightmost corner, the sort of expression that could easily curl into a deeper smile. "Yeah, sure," the Skald replies, sliding a hand underneath the fresh(er) box, picking up a pint of chocolate milk alongside. "Grab yourself a beer if you want one, and C'mon," she continues, with a gesture toward the couches. "Have a seat."
With that invitation, she carries pizza box and milk over to her favorite couch and sits, tucking a leg underneath her torso, tossing the open pizza box on a tottering, three-legged coffee table. "What's on your mind?" she says, when both are settled.
[Janis] Janis' interest perks as Kora mentions the pizza that still remains. She had broken into the pizza boxes earlier, scavenged enough to appease her growling belly and left the remains for the others. Now, she waits for Kora to take the choicer box before stepping up to the tables to pick through the leftovers.
She compiles a few difference slices into a box, tucking it under her right arm and palms two beers to bring along with her to the couches. Her boots leave a quiet echo in her wake as she looks through the abundance of seating, she sets the box and bottles down on the floor, walking over to another couch to pull two of the cushions from it, pacing back to drop them on the cold floor in front of Kora's favorite couch and flops down on. Her legs crossing underneath her thighs as she reached for the box.
"We never got to talk about what 'appened with me and my former pack. I can only assume yer aware of what's been going on since Eli rescued as I spoke with yer brother. Charming lad, Bone-Writer is."
She smirks at this, the corners of her mouth curling into a small reflection of the thin crescent moon that lingers over their heads. Snippets of it caught through the patches in the tattered roof.
"Since then, I 'ave time to reconcile my issues with reasoning from the kin. Linus told me of the city's plight, its enemy... 'Tis not good for a wolf to be alone, I 'ave been swallowing a lot of things in the past week..." a pause, sucking in a deep breath, her eyes cut down to stare at the pizza box in her lap before lifting up to meet Kora's.
"I want an opportunity to try out with Last Watch." There is a seriousness in the quiet disposition of the Rotagar, one born from hours of private conversations with herself and hearing the opinions of others. Kora will notice the subtle edge of emotion when Janis mentions Eli, the fondness that shows in her eyes or the small twisting smile that grows without Janis realizing it was there. Whatever the male kin had spoken to the Garou, it seems to have affected her decision to approach the subject.
[Kora] "I heard part of the story. From Linus and from Eli," Kora returns, pulling up a free leg to sit cross-legged on the couch. It's warmer here, the glow of the space heaters banished a fair portion of the chill from the stone hall, and the couches are dotted with blankets that smell - for the most part - relatively fresh. The subtle scent of earth-friendly phosphate-free detergents suffused in the fabrics. She's serious now, dark eyes on Janis' face, studying the Rotagar with a quiet awareness, watching not just her expression, but the way the electric glow of the heaters frames her face; the way muscles move beneath her skin. " - beginning with Eli finding and freeing you, more or less."
A brief twist of her mouth. "Ending with the visit paid him by Joey and Hunter." The results of which are obvious. Eli's moved into the Church; and brought Janis back with him. The twist fades, the Skald sobers, her low voice a quiet background note. "I'd like to hear the story of your pack, though. If you've a mind to tell it."
Quiet again, the pale-headed creature nods once as Janis remarks that she has had to swallow much in the last few weeks; and then once more, when she observes that wolves were not meant to run alone.
"If you talked to Linus and you still want to join us - " the humor there is subtle, bound up with a quiet irony. Kora is well aware of her brother's opinion of both the Sept and their place within it. "I'd be honored to have you run with us. You've already been taking up patrols, yeah? Step one. And you've met all my packmates, yeah? I think - " a moving pause, mouth pressed firmly together in consideration. Then another twist of her mouth, dark, gleaming eyes alive with the clear memory of loss. "Standing here, strong, after losing your pack - I think you already know what Hermodr expects of us. That strength of purpose in the darkest hour. In the last fucking days, until Ragnarok and beyond."
[Janis] A twitch of her nose when her nostrils flare to breath in a scent, or when the beer and pizza finally assault the olfactory glands in her brain, to the arch of a red eyebrow that rode up or down over brown eyes work the muscles in her face. Much of it hides behind the untamed red tendrils that fight to be free of its restraints, to frame the pale contours of her features.
Like Kora, Janis had no pure breeding, there was nothing regal about her bone structure, nor did it hint of the luscious ancestry of long ago Valkyries that flew across war torn battlefields. She rolls her shoulders forward at one point, becoming relaxed in the presence of the Skald, weathering Kora's scrutiny and expressions with raptured interest. A small sense of pride sparks in eyes when the Jarl tells Janis how strong she stands after her experiences.
She inclines her head in a bow, hands picking at the cold pizza, tearing it to pull it into her mouth to chew and swallow, but it doesn't hold her attention for long, neither does the beer.
Her voice is clear as she speaks, "Rebel's Yell was our pack name, we drove under the moonlight into the sunrise and across Umbra and the roads of the United States, both dirt and cement pathways. Just three cliaths in an old muscle car flying the banner of General Lee. Cecil Stone-thrower was alpha and Juju Bee our beta and theurge. They were Gnawers that I met when I was living in the Carolinas when I was sixteen. I ran away from 'ome and we all went up to New York to join the Sept of the Green with dreams of being pack mates and fighting the good fight. Bunch'a 'opeless romantics we were, kids."
Janis sucks in a deep breath, even now the pain of their memories surfaces, her eyes crinkling up at their corners, her face flattening into a scowl. "My first change came in New York, word got to my mother, who in turned called my Uncle in Ireland. Harrowing~Guillotine 'e's called from the Sept of the Dark Hart, he's a frightening Skald. Anyway, I trained under 'im, gained my first deed name which got changed when I returned back to the States to the one I go under currently.
"My folks are kinfolk, my mother's native born Dubliner, my father and brother served as Naval officers during their time. I was a bit of a military brat, which bred that rebellious streak in me. But that's a different story... We came to Chicago on our way to California, Jason my brother lives here in Chicago with 'is wife. When we made a pitstop along the Riverfront for Juju to take a piss we were jumped by the Fomori. I could 'ave sworn there was pure breed amongst one of them, a kin perhaps."
Janis reaches for the beer, kissing it to her lips as she takes a long swallow to wet her throat and then continues her story, "Cecil fell first, Juju and I were overpowered by our wounds and their strength, we took as many as we could. We were taken to an auto shop, I was unconscious in a cage whilst they tortured and killed Juju for information we didn't 'ave. When I woke up, Eli found me."
[Kora] "You'll have your vengeance," Kora promises, a note of steel in her low voice. "For Cecil Stone-Thrower and Juju Bee, make no mistake there." She is sitting rather more straight now, a certain intensity in her eyes, listening - closely, head canted, her food and drink forgotten in her hands. As the story continues, the Skald shifts sideways, unfolding her legs, finding the cold stone floor with her boots, like she needs to be connected to the goddamned earth for this. Once, then twice, she makes a fist, but otherwise her features are nearly seamlessly still, just the glittering light of her dark eyes on Janis' features as she tells the story.
"We'll start with the site where Eli found you and work from there. I'd say they wouldn't be arrogant enough to stay there knowing you were rescued, by the cursed ones are sometimes just that arrogant. If not there: we'll hunt them whereever they've taken refuge, put them in the ground and howl the fact of it loud enough that your packmates will hear it in their homelands, yeah?"
[Janis] Janis nods her head in agreement, shifting on the cushions to move the box of pizza out of her lap. "I would like that for them, Sorrow-rhya, 'tis the least they deserve."
She looks from the Skald, tilting her eyes to study the beer in her hands, and then slides them back up to focus on Kora. She watches the Skald, committing her image to memory, her scent drawn in with a flair of nostrils. Janis swallows as her throat ripples, finding her voice has grown a little quiet.
"Sorrow-rhya, may I speak of Eli?" she is uncertain how Kora will respond to her question of the kin, "He is of yer protection as all kin are under the Jarl. He's a good man, albeit a bit brash at times when 'is 'ead isn't on straight. I disapproved of the way Joey spoke of 'im like 'e were a pile of dog shite to be scraped off 'er boot. She paid me little kind as well, calling me a stray. I'd not be 'ere because of 'im... I owe Eli that much gratitude."
[Kora] When Janis asks to speak of Eli, Kora's dark eyes sharpen with interest on the Rotagar. There's something attenuated about the interest, a certain watchfulness backgrounded by something deeper. The flash of the wolf in her; that animal interest, keen and sure.
Then she continues; and Kora's pale head cants. She nods once, grimaces a half-moment later. Straightens her shoulders near the end, and replies, "Eli came to see me, too. I had much the same story from him. That Joey and Hunter treated him as if he were a child and insulted you in his house. I understand that they claimed his old home as territory, and felt justified because he was in their territory." Here, Kora offers a narrow, one-shouldered shrug. "Though he said that this was the first time they had been to see them.
"They treated you - and he - poorly. For that, I'm sorry. I think they also behaved foolishly. Had he stayed in their territory, Eli could've been an asset to them. Instead, they drove him out. A foolish consistency, there. If either of you have further problems with them, let me know."
[Janis] "Defiance lost that wild card that Eli could 'ave dealt them. With Last Watch, 'e makes a better ally and asset to 'elp, I know. I 'ave watched 'im around the church. 'e wants to set up a place for halfway place for others if they need it, so we aren't endangering the church and compromising the pack's safety."
Janis understands the wolf in expressed in Kora; her own rides close to the skin at times. Her nature leaning more towards feral instincts than human logic, but tonight? Tonight she speaks with a human reasoning, trying not to let her emotions and feral instincts get in the way.
Her tongue darts out to wet across her bottom lip, still tasting the beer. She sets the bottle down, rubs her hands across her thighs anxiously, "Sorrow-rhya, it is my 'opes that I can continue to work with this kin, to stay with Eli as I feel I owe 'im a debt for what's 'e's done. I know our kin 'ave a duty that's expected of 'im, but it's - " Janis sucks in a deep breath, releasing out quickly through her nose, "I do carry a strong fondness for 'im, there's a desire to seek yer permission to take 'im as my own when ye'd deem it so."
"Newly arrived to the city, it's foolish to just challenge ye for the rights to claim Eli for myself."
[Kora] "Are you asking my permission to court him?" returns the Skald, her attention sharpening on Janis again. Except for that hint of attentiveness - the faint narrowing of her dark eyes, the twist of her mouth, the upward lilt of pale brows - her expression is still, her mouth neutral now, her tall frame still. "Or are you challenging for him now?"
[Janis] "I am seeking yer permission to court him, Sorrow-rhya."
Her head lifts, brown eyes shining as they meet the sharp attention of the alpha female in front of her. Her shoulders straighten a bit, face angling to tilt as she sits still upon the cushions. Not a muscle twitching to move, her breath held in anticipation.
[Kora] Sorrow offers a quiet snort, the quiet mask of her pale face breaking into a brief, curving sort of smile. The sort that finds expression in the fine skin around her eyes longer than it remains on her mouth. She's still half-smiling, something withheld in the expression, when she tells Janis, "You have it, then."
[Janis] Kora can see the tightness in Janis' body as she waited. When she hears the answer, when permission is granted - she is relieved. The corners of her mouth pulling back into a silly grin that makes her appear young and girlish for a second. She tries to quickly compose herself, to not look so foolish and giddy, bowing her head in a deep nod to Kora.
"Thank ye."
A low rumbling purr echoes softly in the base of her throat, rising up somewhere from inside her chest - it's content. She reaches for the box of pizza and the beer. Her eyes lifting to peer at Kora with a smile, "If I 'aven't worn ye out too much, rhya, I would love to 'ear one of yer stories."
It's request - she sits like an eager pup before her mentor wanting anxiously to hear glorious passionate tales that the Skalds were infamous for... it would be a fine way to spend the remainder of the night to get to know the woman that would be her alpha.
[Kora] "Let me tell you about Truth-in-Frenzy-rhya, yeah?" Kora begins, sitting back into the couch. "He was an Adren of your moon, Jarl of the tribe when I arrived. Packed under the Eagles for years with Silence-rhya, but left them when they left the Caern. Fought to raise Maelstrom, and fought for Maelstrom ever since." Quiet, there, Kora pulls in a breath, the note a somber one after Janis' giddiness. It is the first story she tells though, Sorrow. Almost always the first story she tells.
She draws in a deep breath-exhales, all at once, pulled back into herself by memory, and begins, reciting in a quiet, insistent voice, sure and metered as the doubled beat of a hear, resonant as a drum.
"I remember a warrior, Alpha, Jarl, shadow-grinned.
The Caern-raiser, the bane-slayer, Odin’s son.
The firm kernal of courage; the heart
of the maelstrom. The bright limb and the blooded
hand of Fenris - who stood over a roaring sea
of corpses, now spent his last breath
in darkness. The foundling lost no more,
who offered fires to the outliers. The fool who
nourished the wise. The shadow who stood
first in battle when even full moons
quailed. Gone now with the daughter
of the mists, the swan-blooded, the slaughter
maiden to dwell in the house of the gods
until Ragnarok come.
He treads the Hel-way and returns, raging."
Kora, though, only a rank above her was impressive to behold - she reminded Janis of her Uncle who shared the birth moon as the Skald, and he was frightening. She clears her throat, pulling at the fiery tendrils of hair that run across her face, escaping the loose knot of hair at the base of her scalp.
With silent steps, the Rotagar climbs down from the belfry, back into the warmth of the church to seek out the Alpha of the Last Watch.
[Kora] The relative warmth of the church. The vast, lofty spaces of the sanctuary are nearly as cold inside as without. The stone walls keep out the winter wind, though, and repairs or tarps over the largest holes in the roof keep out most of the wet - rain, storms, thundersnow - now. Janis exits the belfry as Kora enters the church. The huge wooden doors swing silently on their well-oiled hinges, cutting a band of orange light across the dark stone floors. Though there is no breeding about her to define her from a distance, to the sharp sweep of someone's feral senses, Kora's figure is still distinctive. Pregnancy, advancing, makes it so.
Inside the doors, Kora tips her head back to dislodge the heavy hood covering the crown of her pale head, the tips of her ears. Strips off gloves as she walks, and begins unwinding a long, hand-knitted scarf. Fair Isle patterned, that, made of hand-carded lambswool. Both scarf and gloves are tossed over a chair in the scattering of derelict couches and easy chairs near the front of the sanctuary, and Kora begins unbuttoning her winter coat with one hand while lifting the lids of the remnant pizza boxes with the other. She looks up, as Janis crosses the cold stone floor. Offers the Rotagar the ghost of a smile, the edge of it, evident in the dim light every from a distance.
"Janis." Quiet, her voice, a certain richness, though her accent is plainspoken, broadly American. The English of cable news and suburban high schools rather than anything regional. "Evening."
[Janis] Janis was very much in touch with her wolf, the primal side of her mind more active than her human self at times. She angles her head down, earlobe and then chin brushing across her shoulder as she looks in the direction of the door open that her ears had picked up first. She runs a hand over her face, catching the red tendrils of hair to tuck it behind her ears.
Her steps are light on the stone floor; quick-paced and agile as her path seems to be crossing with Kora's sooner than she had anticipated when she had summed up the courage to go seek her out. Kora's distinctive form swims across her vision, instantly, Janis looks at the Skald's swelling stomach, a wan of a soft smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
"Kora..." she stops abruptly at the greeting, dipping her head down in a tiny bow, "Sorrow-rhya, I was just coming down from the belfry to look for ye.'" her brogue is not difficult to understand, it accentuates her speech more than hinders her English. "If ye 'ave a moment, I'd enjoy a chat with ye, I 'ave questions that I wanted to ask."
She is apprehensive, not wanting to seem too eager, but neither was she shy. It's a controlled mannerism as she shows the Skald respect where it is do. Kora will read it in the posture that Janis keeps, her head bowed and turned, eyes never quite fully meeting hers, her portion of her throat exposed - submissive.
[Kora] (Per + Linguistics: what part of Ireland!
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 1, 4, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 10, 10 (Success x 3 at target 6) Re-rolls: 3
[Kora] "I think I found the fresh one," the Skald remarks, thumbing open one of the top-two pizza boxes. There's a sharp, brief wash of the savory scent of the cooling pizza in the bright, cold air before whatever had steam had built up in the cardboard dissipates around them. "Sausage and pepperoni, looks like."
Then she's quiet, dark eyes reflective in the shadows, a moving gleam across the surface as she studies the Janis, her own head canted with considering - an answering gesture, just as feral as the subtle signs of reserve and respect evident in Janis' posture, the sweep of her head.
A twist of her generous mouth, just upward at the rightmost corner, the sort of expression that could easily curl into a deeper smile. "Yeah, sure," the Skald replies, sliding a hand underneath the fresh(er) box, picking up a pint of chocolate milk alongside. "Grab yourself a beer if you want one, and C'mon," she continues, with a gesture toward the couches. "Have a seat."
With that invitation, she carries pizza box and milk over to her favorite couch and sits, tucking a leg underneath her torso, tossing the open pizza box on a tottering, three-legged coffee table. "What's on your mind?" she says, when both are settled.
[Janis] Janis' interest perks as Kora mentions the pizza that still remains. She had broken into the pizza boxes earlier, scavenged enough to appease her growling belly and left the remains for the others. Now, she waits for Kora to take the choicer box before stepping up to the tables to pick through the leftovers.
She compiles a few difference slices into a box, tucking it under her right arm and palms two beers to bring along with her to the couches. Her boots leave a quiet echo in her wake as she looks through the abundance of seating, she sets the box and bottles down on the floor, walking over to another couch to pull two of the cushions from it, pacing back to drop them on the cold floor in front of Kora's favorite couch and flops down on. Her legs crossing underneath her thighs as she reached for the box.
"We never got to talk about what 'appened with me and my former pack. I can only assume yer aware of what's been going on since Eli rescued as I spoke with yer brother. Charming lad, Bone-Writer is."
She smirks at this, the corners of her mouth curling into a small reflection of the thin crescent moon that lingers over their heads. Snippets of it caught through the patches in the tattered roof.
"Since then, I 'ave time to reconcile my issues with reasoning from the kin. Linus told me of the city's plight, its enemy... 'Tis not good for a wolf to be alone, I 'ave been swallowing a lot of things in the past week..." a pause, sucking in a deep breath, her eyes cut down to stare at the pizza box in her lap before lifting up to meet Kora's.
"I want an opportunity to try out with Last Watch." There is a seriousness in the quiet disposition of the Rotagar, one born from hours of private conversations with herself and hearing the opinions of others. Kora will notice the subtle edge of emotion when Janis mentions Eli, the fondness that shows in her eyes or the small twisting smile that grows without Janis realizing it was there. Whatever the male kin had spoken to the Garou, it seems to have affected her decision to approach the subject.
[Kora] "I heard part of the story. From Linus and from Eli," Kora returns, pulling up a free leg to sit cross-legged on the couch. It's warmer here, the glow of the space heaters banished a fair portion of the chill from the stone hall, and the couches are dotted with blankets that smell - for the most part - relatively fresh. The subtle scent of earth-friendly phosphate-free detergents suffused in the fabrics. She's serious now, dark eyes on Janis' face, studying the Rotagar with a quiet awareness, watching not just her expression, but the way the electric glow of the heaters frames her face; the way muscles move beneath her skin. " - beginning with Eli finding and freeing you, more or less."
A brief twist of her mouth. "Ending with the visit paid him by Joey and Hunter." The results of which are obvious. Eli's moved into the Church; and brought Janis back with him. The twist fades, the Skald sobers, her low voice a quiet background note. "I'd like to hear the story of your pack, though. If you've a mind to tell it."
Quiet again, the pale-headed creature nods once as Janis remarks that she has had to swallow much in the last few weeks; and then once more, when she observes that wolves were not meant to run alone.
"If you talked to Linus and you still want to join us - " the humor there is subtle, bound up with a quiet irony. Kora is well aware of her brother's opinion of both the Sept and their place within it. "I'd be honored to have you run with us. You've already been taking up patrols, yeah? Step one. And you've met all my packmates, yeah? I think - " a moving pause, mouth pressed firmly together in consideration. Then another twist of her mouth, dark, gleaming eyes alive with the clear memory of loss. "Standing here, strong, after losing your pack - I think you already know what Hermodr expects of us. That strength of purpose in the darkest hour. In the last fucking days, until Ragnarok and beyond."
[Janis] A twitch of her nose when her nostrils flare to breath in a scent, or when the beer and pizza finally assault the olfactory glands in her brain, to the arch of a red eyebrow that rode up or down over brown eyes work the muscles in her face. Much of it hides behind the untamed red tendrils that fight to be free of its restraints, to frame the pale contours of her features.
Like Kora, Janis had no pure breeding, there was nothing regal about her bone structure, nor did it hint of the luscious ancestry of long ago Valkyries that flew across war torn battlefields. She rolls her shoulders forward at one point, becoming relaxed in the presence of the Skald, weathering Kora's scrutiny and expressions with raptured interest. A small sense of pride sparks in eyes when the Jarl tells Janis how strong she stands after her experiences.
She inclines her head in a bow, hands picking at the cold pizza, tearing it to pull it into her mouth to chew and swallow, but it doesn't hold her attention for long, neither does the beer.
Her voice is clear as she speaks, "Rebel's Yell was our pack name, we drove under the moonlight into the sunrise and across Umbra and the roads of the United States, both dirt and cement pathways. Just three cliaths in an old muscle car flying the banner of General Lee. Cecil Stone-thrower was alpha and Juju Bee our beta and theurge. They were Gnawers that I met when I was living in the Carolinas when I was sixteen. I ran away from 'ome and we all went up to New York to join the Sept of the Green with dreams of being pack mates and fighting the good fight. Bunch'a 'opeless romantics we were, kids."
Janis sucks in a deep breath, even now the pain of their memories surfaces, her eyes crinkling up at their corners, her face flattening into a scowl. "My first change came in New York, word got to my mother, who in turned called my Uncle in Ireland. Harrowing~Guillotine 'e's called from the Sept of the Dark Hart, he's a frightening Skald. Anyway, I trained under 'im, gained my first deed name which got changed when I returned back to the States to the one I go under currently.
"My folks are kinfolk, my mother's native born Dubliner, my father and brother served as Naval officers during their time. I was a bit of a military brat, which bred that rebellious streak in me. But that's a different story... We came to Chicago on our way to California, Jason my brother lives here in Chicago with 'is wife. When we made a pitstop along the Riverfront for Juju to take a piss we were jumped by the Fomori. I could 'ave sworn there was pure breed amongst one of them, a kin perhaps."
Janis reaches for the beer, kissing it to her lips as she takes a long swallow to wet her throat and then continues her story, "Cecil fell first, Juju and I were overpowered by our wounds and their strength, we took as many as we could. We were taken to an auto shop, I was unconscious in a cage whilst they tortured and killed Juju for information we didn't 'ave. When I woke up, Eli found me."
[Kora] "You'll have your vengeance," Kora promises, a note of steel in her low voice. "For Cecil Stone-Thrower and Juju Bee, make no mistake there." She is sitting rather more straight now, a certain intensity in her eyes, listening - closely, head canted, her food and drink forgotten in her hands. As the story continues, the Skald shifts sideways, unfolding her legs, finding the cold stone floor with her boots, like she needs to be connected to the goddamned earth for this. Once, then twice, she makes a fist, but otherwise her features are nearly seamlessly still, just the glittering light of her dark eyes on Janis' features as she tells the story.
"We'll start with the site where Eli found you and work from there. I'd say they wouldn't be arrogant enough to stay there knowing you were rescued, by the cursed ones are sometimes just that arrogant. If not there: we'll hunt them whereever they've taken refuge, put them in the ground and howl the fact of it loud enough that your packmates will hear it in their homelands, yeah?"
[Janis] Janis nods her head in agreement, shifting on the cushions to move the box of pizza out of her lap. "I would like that for them, Sorrow-rhya, 'tis the least they deserve."
She looks from the Skald, tilting her eyes to study the beer in her hands, and then slides them back up to focus on Kora. She watches the Skald, committing her image to memory, her scent drawn in with a flair of nostrils. Janis swallows as her throat ripples, finding her voice has grown a little quiet.
"Sorrow-rhya, may I speak of Eli?" she is uncertain how Kora will respond to her question of the kin, "He is of yer protection as all kin are under the Jarl. He's a good man, albeit a bit brash at times when 'is 'ead isn't on straight. I disapproved of the way Joey spoke of 'im like 'e were a pile of dog shite to be scraped off 'er boot. She paid me little kind as well, calling me a stray. I'd not be 'ere because of 'im... I owe Eli that much gratitude."
[Kora] When Janis asks to speak of Eli, Kora's dark eyes sharpen with interest on the Rotagar. There's something attenuated about the interest, a certain watchfulness backgrounded by something deeper. The flash of the wolf in her; that animal interest, keen and sure.
Then she continues; and Kora's pale head cants. She nods once, grimaces a half-moment later. Straightens her shoulders near the end, and replies, "Eli came to see me, too. I had much the same story from him. That Joey and Hunter treated him as if he were a child and insulted you in his house. I understand that they claimed his old home as territory, and felt justified because he was in their territory." Here, Kora offers a narrow, one-shouldered shrug. "Though he said that this was the first time they had been to see them.
"They treated you - and he - poorly. For that, I'm sorry. I think they also behaved foolishly. Had he stayed in their territory, Eli could've been an asset to them. Instead, they drove him out. A foolish consistency, there. If either of you have further problems with them, let me know."
[Janis] "Defiance lost that wild card that Eli could 'ave dealt them. With Last Watch, 'e makes a better ally and asset to 'elp, I know. I 'ave watched 'im around the church. 'e wants to set up a place for halfway place for others if they need it, so we aren't endangering the church and compromising the pack's safety."
Janis understands the wolf in expressed in Kora; her own rides close to the skin at times. Her nature leaning more towards feral instincts than human logic, but tonight? Tonight she speaks with a human reasoning, trying not to let her emotions and feral instincts get in the way.
Her tongue darts out to wet across her bottom lip, still tasting the beer. She sets the bottle down, rubs her hands across her thighs anxiously, "Sorrow-rhya, it is my 'opes that I can continue to work with this kin, to stay with Eli as I feel I owe 'im a debt for what's 'e's done. I know our kin 'ave a duty that's expected of 'im, but it's - " Janis sucks in a deep breath, releasing out quickly through her nose, "I do carry a strong fondness for 'im, there's a desire to seek yer permission to take 'im as my own when ye'd deem it so."
"Newly arrived to the city, it's foolish to just challenge ye for the rights to claim Eli for myself."
[Kora] "Are you asking my permission to court him?" returns the Skald, her attention sharpening on Janis again. Except for that hint of attentiveness - the faint narrowing of her dark eyes, the twist of her mouth, the upward lilt of pale brows - her expression is still, her mouth neutral now, her tall frame still. "Or are you challenging for him now?"
[Janis] "I am seeking yer permission to court him, Sorrow-rhya."
Her head lifts, brown eyes shining as they meet the sharp attention of the alpha female in front of her. Her shoulders straighten a bit, face angling to tilt as she sits still upon the cushions. Not a muscle twitching to move, her breath held in anticipation.
[Kora] Sorrow offers a quiet snort, the quiet mask of her pale face breaking into a brief, curving sort of smile. The sort that finds expression in the fine skin around her eyes longer than it remains on her mouth. She's still half-smiling, something withheld in the expression, when she tells Janis, "You have it, then."
[Janis] Kora can see the tightness in Janis' body as she waited. When she hears the answer, when permission is granted - she is relieved. The corners of her mouth pulling back into a silly grin that makes her appear young and girlish for a second. She tries to quickly compose herself, to not look so foolish and giddy, bowing her head in a deep nod to Kora.
"Thank ye."
A low rumbling purr echoes softly in the base of her throat, rising up somewhere from inside her chest - it's content. She reaches for the box of pizza and the beer. Her eyes lifting to peer at Kora with a smile, "If I 'aven't worn ye out too much, rhya, I would love to 'ear one of yer stories."
It's request - she sits like an eager pup before her mentor wanting anxiously to hear glorious passionate tales that the Skalds were infamous for... it would be a fine way to spend the remainder of the night to get to know the woman that would be her alpha.
[Kora] "Let me tell you about Truth-in-Frenzy-rhya, yeah?" Kora begins, sitting back into the couch. "He was an Adren of your moon, Jarl of the tribe when I arrived. Packed under the Eagles for years with Silence-rhya, but left them when they left the Caern. Fought to raise Maelstrom, and fought for Maelstrom ever since." Quiet, there, Kora pulls in a breath, the note a somber one after Janis' giddiness. It is the first story she tells though, Sorrow. Almost always the first story she tells.
She draws in a deep breath-exhales, all at once, pulled back into herself by memory, and begins, reciting in a quiet, insistent voice, sure and metered as the doubled beat of a hear, resonant as a drum.
"I remember a warrior, Alpha, Jarl, shadow-grinned.
The Caern-raiser, the bane-slayer, Odin’s son.
The firm kernal of courage; the heart
of the maelstrom. The bright limb and the blooded
hand of Fenris - who stood over a roaring sea
of corpses, now spent his last breath
in darkness. The foundling lost no more,
who offered fires to the outliers. The fool who
nourished the wise. The shadow who stood
first in battle when even full moons
quailed. Gone now with the daughter
of the mists, the swan-blooded, the slaughter
maiden to dwell in the house of the gods
until Ragnarok come.
He treads the Hel-way and returns, raging."
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