[Jackson Montgomery] "Jesus." He chews on his lower lip. "You okay?"
[Bronwyn Montgomery] "It could have been much worse for me. Father...." She glances up, then back down. He knows as well as she does what kind of influence the man has.
[Jackson Montgomery] "...was pretty pissed, I imagine." He reaches out and settles his hand over hers.
"I'm sorry."
[Roman Turner] Overcast with the feel of possible rain in the air, warm enough to go without a jacket today. Chestnut hair blew back from a youthful face, settling in a ruffled mess as he shouldered open the door of the little cafe to enter a world of smells. He didn't seem to notice anyone or thing as he headed for the counter, finger combing hair out of his eyes. Except for the stiff new jeans, he looked like any other kid in the city. Those jeans and blue tee that stretched across his shoulders. The only odd thing was the click of boot heels as he walked up to place an order while reaching to a back pocket for his wallet.
"I'd like one of them iced coffee things."
[Bronwyn Montgomery] She snorts quietly. "What are you sorry for? I'm the one that made the choice."
[Rain McKellar] It's a little cafe in the middle of Lake View, which is not the usual sort of place that the Family rounded up by chance, by accident, happenstance -- call it what you will -- but there's a young man with a pleasant accent at the counter, and a pair of siblings at a window table, and a songbird rocking down the street. They're converging, the Unicorns, and not for a war council or a dressing down.
Jackson catches Rain's attention as she passes the window. It's warm enough that her taupe raincoat hangs open, and the shirt beneath is a dark, alligator-green. Jeans. Shoes that keep out the puddle-wet. No scarf. No annoyingly cheerful hat. A messenger bag that's still becoming familiar rather than seeming old hat. The smile she's sporting, though, is pleasantly cheerful. She taps on the glass, waves to the siblings, and then heads down a bit to push in through the front door, bringing the smell of rain-wet pavement and the city sounds in with her.
Rain sidles up beside Roman, bumps him with her shoulder, glances over out of the corner of her eye and grins a "Hey, there." Like everything was right in the world and the last time they'd spoken hadn't been quarreling at all.
"Can I get a mocha, please?" she asks, when it's her turn to order.
[Jackson Montgomery] He looks chastised by Bronwyn and pulls his hand back, looking away. That allows him to see Roman and Rain, and his back straightens. "Family, six o' clock," he says quietly to his sister as he puts on a friendly smile for the two, waving.
[Roman Turner] It was a glance over to Rain and a pleasant enough smile that shown for the moment as he replied in a voice most here called an accent. To him, he didn't hear the twang, didn't here the drawn out syllables.
"Howdy Rain. Nice day, ain't it? I think Spring done decided to come 'round."
Somewhere in the back of his head he noticed he'd outgrown the woman in the past year.
"I've got her's too."
Given to the server as he counted out a few more bills before taking his drink and turning towards the room in general.
"Well lookie here. There's Jackson with......someone."
A gaze the shade of faded denim fixed on Brownyn like sighting down a barrel before firing.
[Bronwyn Montgomery] The change is nearly unnerving in it's speed and completeness. The Prom Queen makes her appearance as easily as a switch going off, and the woman's posture changes to something regal, and any trace of worry is snuffed from her eyes.
Her gaze follows where Jackson indicated, and she recognizes his small friend from the other day. It's Roman that gets her attention though, and he seems to be taken in and sized up in one quick glance.
So this is the child that she'll be answering to. Roman is given one of her camera ready smiles that means nothing but certainly seems friendly to anyone looking on. She's able to speak through it from years of practice, low enough so that her words can't reach beyond Jackson.
"Father's sense of cruelty runs deeper than I'd realized."
[Rain McKellar] "I think so," she agrees, still smiling broadly. Warmly. "And thank you," she adds, when he picks up her coffee. It's not quite warm enough yet for Rain to ask for hers iced, so when it comes she wraps her fingers around the mug to let the warmth seep in.
She casts her attention toward the table of Montgomeries, and then back to Roman. "Mmm, that's Bronwyn. His sister, very good at the whole watching and judging thing. I take you've not met yet, right? Y'wanna go say hi?" she asks, giving him the option to beg out of formal introductions in a sleepy cafe but still tipping her head in that direction, making it obvious that she was perfectly happy with heading on over.
[Jackson Montgomery] "That's Roman. Tribe Elder."
He keeps the words quiet too. Family trait. "What'd he do?"
[Bronwyn Montgomery] "Do you think for a second that he didn't know who our elder was before he agreed to let me come here?"
[Roman Turner] "How long she been here?"
No one had mentioned another Goggie in town, there'd been no word of introduction at the Caern. Maybe it was a casual visit without the formalities of letting the Sept know she was passing through? As soon as he asked Rain the question, he grunted.
"Yep, sure do."
He stepped towards the sibling's table like a large cat stalking through the grass. Roman moved with a natural grace despite those boots of his and those stiff Wranglers that belonged in a Rodeo.
"Well howdy Jackson. Rain her tells me this here is your sister."
[Bronwyn Montgomery] This is her hell.
The smile is turned up, hair tossed just so. She is, at least outwardly, completely composed. A hand is offered, palm down as if there is a clear expectation of social deference.
"Roman, is it? What a pleasure to meet you. Bronwyn Montgomery."
[Jackson Montgomery] He opens his mouth to say hi, and then Bronwyn speaks up and Jackson just gives a smile in greeting to the Ragabash.
[Rain McKellar] How long she been here?
"Couple days," Rain says; she's not exactly sure, but she makes it sound very nonchalant and easy. There's a roll of her shoulder, too, to emphasize that it wasn't really the crux of her conversation with the siblings earlier in the week.
Then they're walking toward the table. Or Rain is. She saunters. She's happy. Roman stalks. Rain notices this and curls her mouth into a patiently amused smirk. She approaches Jackson's side of the table. Rests a hand on the blade of his shoulder to say hello when she gets there. Offers him a warm and effusive smile and then glances at a free seat at their table, as if asking for permission.
[Roman Turner] At 17, his carriage was one of Rank. Posture said sit up and take notice at the moment despite the face he'd taken to dressing somewhat like the locals today. Something had changed with Roman since the last time Jackson had seen him. He looked the same, perhaps a little taller, a little fuller. There were the same mottled finger-like scars reaching up from the neck of his shirt along his neck towards his jaw. Same blue-gray eyes as before. The change was something more profound, an added depth to the look he gave.
He took the offered hand, turning it to a straight out arm pumping shake.
"Howdy Bronwyn. Ya doing a short visit or ya planning on joining the party and staying a spell? I ain't heard tell ya arrived."
[Roman Turner] ((Please excuse typos, typing with a splinted hand))
[Jackson Montgomery] "She just arrived a couple days ago," he says, looking to Roman. He gives a little smile. "Gotta give her a little bit of a grace period, right?"
[Bronwyn Montgomery] Something about how he says her name grates on her, almost as much as the manhandling of her hand into some kind of cowboy handshake. This is her Elder though, so she resists the urge to wipe her hand with a napkin when it's released.
"I hadn't decided yet. Though I'd certainly be open to discussing why it may be beneficial to stay." Beneficial for who isn't quite implied.
[Rain McKellar] Her glance toward the chair had not been followed by a nod from her kinsman, or anyone pushing it out with their foot, no outward indication that Rain was welcome to intrude on the family tete-a-tete, so she stays a bit to the side and just a hair behind Jackson's chair, sips at her mocha, and waits out the introductions with as easy a posture as she can maintain.
Maybe to passersby or other patrons, they're just one pair of friends happening upon another, bunching up for a moment to catch up and destined to separate soon and head out on their own paths.
[Roman Turner] "I ain't here to play recruited. Either ya know your manners or ya don't. Or ya know them and prefer to ignore your upbringing. Ain't my cause. If ya plan to stick around, best make yourself known. I reckon ya staying with your brother? If not and ya need a place to stay, I can offer a few."
His smile was as pleasant as they came, coating the firm undertones. He wasn't missing the Fang-like attitude.
[Jackson Montgomery] He blinks, frowning. Roman's tone is a complete 180 from what Jackson's seen from him before, and it clearly catches him off-guard. He straightens a little bit, going quiet.
[Rain McKellar] Jackson straightens a little bit, and Rain glances to him, then down. She adjusts her stance so she'd be in the other kin's line of sight, easily within distance to incidentally reach over and make contact, but doesn't assume he needs that either. Both kin are quiet; Rain's infectious grin is absent, tamped down to a respectfully hesitant smile that lifts only the corners of her mouth.
[Bronwyn Montgomery] "I am well aware of my obligations" There's the patient tone that she took with Jackson before, designed to make the recipient feel as if a line has been crossed.
"It seems as if perhaps you were not made privy to my arrival, for whatever reason." A shortcoming, perhaps. Certainly not hers.
She stands, as if what she's saying now is only a formality to a course of action already decided on. "Perhaps we should step outside for a moment, where we can speak privately"
[Roman Turner] He waved towards the door, indicating she should lead the way. Then turned a smile on Jackson and Rain that was a little more heart-felt.
"Y'all welcome to step outside if ya want with us."
To Bronwyn he said.
"Lead on. I imagine when ya checked in somewhere it weren't with them that would pass word. Happens all the times, I'm right sure."
[Roman Turner] (howdy)
to Kora
[Bronwyn Montgomery] And lead she does, striding to the door with another flip of her hair. It pushes open and she moves into the sunshine of early spring which contrasts with her darkening expression.
[Jackson Montgomery] He takes a breath and then looks at Rain. A little nod is given, as if in confirmation of something, and he rises to go follow them.
[Kora] (hey! :) )
to Roman Turner
[Rain McKellar] Rain cuts a quick look from Roman to Jackson at that invitation. If the other kin shows any indication of rising, she'll set her mocha down on the table and head out with them. She makes sure to catch a server's attention before they all wander out, though.
"We'll be right back," she says. "Please don't clear the table."
Then the songbird heads out, hands in pockets, to stand beside Jackson and witness the formalities.
[Kora] dude, when did Roman get so RUDE. o.o heh.
to Rain McKellar
[Rain McKellar] I know, right?
Rain wasn't fibbing! He's been insufferable lately.
to Kora
[Roman Turner] The sun came and went today. Extreme thunderstorms were in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow with scattered showers throughout the day today. For a moment the sun came out to touch Bronwyn, even as Roman went towards the shadows, stepping between buildings before turning to face her.
"Now, I reckon ya checked in with the Sept since ya say ya aware of your obligations. I reckon someone done told ya they'd let me know and told ya about me. In case that was missed. I'm Roman Turner. Fate to the Nation. Fostern of your Tribe and ironic as it seems. " Here there was a wry little twist of his lips. "Tribal Elder here in this city. I know for some of greater years it might be hard to believe, but sure enough, I done earned my rank the hard way like everyone else. In case ya didn't hear, I'm also a New Moon. Now..."
The grin returned, crinkling his eyes at the corners.
"...your turn."
[Bronwyn Montgomery] Her fiery, fiery hell.
The girls on the Miss America stage have nothing on how she stands just so, smiles just so, answers just so...
"Bronwyn Montgomery, known as Sees the Soul by deed, daughter of Fist of Stone, sister to Dove's Wrath. And Jackson, of course." Her eyes flicker to her brother, then back to Roman. "Half moon."
[Kora] There's a bookstore across the street. Small, the windows cramped full of old volumes. It's warmer today, and though there's no sun on this side of the street - not precisely, not at the moment, just a watery spring light - the windows gleam with that light, murky, reflected back toward the street.
The front door swings open, a tinny note from the bell hanging from the frame merges with the ambient street noise, and a quite pregnant young woman walks out. That's the most prominent thing about her from a distance. She pauses on the stoop, holding the door open for a stranger heading in who is no longer sure he wants that leather-bound volume of Byron he saw in the window.
These things just are.
He's not sure why.
A small bag dangles from her index finger, the contents slap against her thigh as she slides her hands into the front pockets of worn jeans. the waistband below the swell of her stomach. Pale hair gleams against the shadows of this side of the street as she steps down from the stoop, watching the Children of Gaia exit coffee shop in a line.
She thinks, absurdly, of ducklings.
[Roman Turner] "Ah, well then, and your rank I can guess at, even though ya done seemed ta forget it. As a Judge, ya should be able to tell what I say is truth. Right? Well, maybe."
He was after all a Ragabash with could muddy the lines of truth and misdirection. Kora he felt, on the edge of his mind he felt her nearness and knew she'd either join them or not. Lately she'd been crankier than two cats tied together ta the tail.
[Bronwyn Montgomery] "I have not forgotten it." It's just a sore point. A raw wound, ripped open twice this afternoon.
[Rain McKellar] The last little duckling in the row is the shortest. She is the only one without blood that sings. From a distance, she is the least likely to grown up into an elegant swan -- unless the book Kora has purchased is a child's tale, a parable about the Ugliest things and the Beauty they hold.
But Rain is also the one least invested in the goings on. She's the one freed to look up and around, to subtly take in their surroundings, to be watchful of how their presence pushes the tides of pedestrians astray. On one side of the street was this caucus of Rage. On the other, the Skald.
It's a subtle thing, slight enough to not interfere with the proceedings at hand. Rain's chin lifts in greeting, her attention is momentarily closer to the bookstore than here. It holds, longer than is just coincidental, and then she turns back to the duck pond, and the Ragabashery, and the tension.
[Roman Turner] "No? Hmm, just must of forgotten to mention it in your introduction there. No problem."
He touched the base he wanted to with those words and moved on as if it mattered not.
"I guess ya know Rain. And I gotta tell ya, Jackson your brother is a fine fella. I'd do near anything for him. If ya not staying with him, I'd welcome ya to stay a bit with myself and my Pack if ya need a place to sleep. Ain't much and we're a mixed bunch. Got us a Fenrir Jarl as our Alpha and we even got a Fianna in the mix. Offer stands."
[Jackson Montgomery] He stands nearby, frowning as he crosses his arms over his chest. He has a touch more of that same demeanor that Bronwyn's carrying about him now that he normally does...touches of Silver Fang-esque in the otherwise Gaian attitude.
He looks about to speak up at one point, when Roman lays out what should have happened, but the conversation moves quickly along and he stays quiet.
[Bronwyn Montgomery] The irritation over the reprimand is tempered by a flood of relief. Her secret, it would seem, is safe within the elders of the tribe.
"I am indeed staying with Jackson, yes. Thank you though. I appreciate the offer, and will certainly keep it in mind should circumstances change."
[Rain McKellar] Rain fidgets with her phone in her pocket, and makes sure not to elevate her line of sight to be dangerously close to making eye contact with either True. Her stance looks casual enough to the casual observer, but the lines of her shoulders, mouth and eyes are tight.
[Roman Turner] "Fine and dandy. Ya should know things are dangerous in the city here. The Sept is at war and lately things done gotten a bit more active. Find someone what can tolerate ya, someone ya fit with and consider packing up with them. There's none of us meant to be lone wolf."
Now he looked towards Jackson and Rain again.
"Bring her by the church some day and we'll grill out some thing."
Formalities were over it seemed and he was finished here.
"Y'all take care."
[Kora] Certainly out of earshot, there across the street. More to the point, there's nothing to mark her as Fenrir or Garou to Bronwyn from such a distance. No breeding, no fine blood. No obvious war axes. No battle braids. Nothing except for the steadiness of her regard from a distance. The way crowds shift to move around her.
When the last little duckling in the row lifts her chin by way of greeting, the pregnant blonde returns it just as subtly; a canting sweep of her head, wolf life, enough to shift the weight of pale blond hair coiled at the nape of her neck. Then she takes a long step between the cars, enough to clear the current of runoff running gleaming through the stormsewer, floating with all manner of detritus.
She glances both ways, and starts across the street. No matter how long her legs, there's still that pregnant woman waddle to her gait.
[Bronwyn Montgomery] Done and done. She doesn't volunteer this though, of course.
"It was so nice to meet you." She can't force her tongue to add the Rhya at the end. It will take some time for her to swallow the bitter pill, and accept the boy as who he is.
[Kora] mind you, he wasn't that bad in the end. hah.
to Rain McKellar
[Rain McKellar] Rain glances up when their Elder's attention is brought to bear on his kinfolk again, her chin tips up most of the way but she's still glancing at least partly through her eyelashes at him. It's one part submission, and another part being unused to his newfound height.
Rain's thinner smile flexes, warms a little, and she nods in assent to his request. They'll get together. They'll grill something. (Hopefully not something the Fenrir just killed and dragged in.) The way her mouth bends indicates she thinks this is a good, or at least passingly positive, idea.
But the tension doesn't recant, not yet. And it takes a moment for her to find her voice and chime out a mostly-pleasant, nowhere near as sunny, "Bye, Roman" before he leaves.
[Jackson Montgomery] He puts on a polite smile for Roman and nods. It's polite, but perhaps not quite as warm as it has been previously. It could be that there's something about those in charge acting like it that hits his past and creates distance, or the fact that their association has simply been more informal. Maybe it's just because of the tension that immediately sprung up between Roman and his sister. For whatever reason, he is absolutely polite and even a little friendly, but somethings just a bit faded.
"Have a good Saturday, Rhya. I'll talk to you later."
[Janis Ian] The Rotagar appears in the doorway, exiting the cafe that the Gaians circle around. Her hips nudges the door open, hand on the bar as she pushes it halfway, sidestepping with the preternatural grace of a predator. Her head angling slightly to sniff at the wind, she blinks, brown eyes cutting across the faces that born recognition. The door shuts quietly behind her, she raises a hand to touch her temple, tilting a two-fingered salute to Rain in greeting as she passes the Coggie kin.
A small bag rustles in her other hand, some bakery goodies inside wrapped in wax paper. She doesn't stay to linger and make conversation, leaving Roman's kin to themselves. Janis slipping off to chase Roman's shadow, and to move off towards the blond Skald she defers to as Alpha.
[Roman Turner] He chuckled with a glance back at Bronwyn just before stepping out of the alley to go meet Kora.
"Chaffs a bit, don't it?"
A full smile was given to both Rain and Jackson, adding to Jackson.
"I'm still Roman, Jackson, though your politeness was appreciated. Y'all take care."
He slowed when he became aware of Janis, waiting for her to fall in step with him as they went to intercept Kora.
"Howdy Janis."
[Bronwyn Montgomery] He has no idea.
She can and will challenge though, the very moment she gets her rank back. For now though, she turns her attention back to her brother, who no doubt understands the situation far better than he would have an hour ago.
"Shall we go back inside and eat? Rain, will you be joining us dear?"
[Janis Ian] "Afternoon, Roman." the rumble of her brogue carries a vague cheerfulness that is often lost on Janis, the corners of her lips twitching into a half-grin that reflects a grinning moon. She slides her head to the side, looks back once again at the Gaians that they are leaving behind, and says nothing about them.
She easily keeps a pace or two behind and to the side of Roman, following the Gaian as his shadow would. She swings her eyes back to Kora, gaze scrutinizing, red furrowing inward slightly to crease the smooth skin of her forehead.
[Rain McKellar] Janis, too, gets a lift of her chin in greeting as the Rotagar passes. It seems to be the safest show of comraderie with the non-Gaian packmates and the Fenrir that inhabit the church. Except Melody. One should always run, at the soonest opportunity, from Melody.
"I asked them to hold your table," Rain says, to Bronwyn, with a smile that is still just a little constrained. The kinswoman understands the tension of the last few minutes, if not the whole of its underpinning reasons. "So they shouldn't have cleared it."
Isn't she just the most helpful little thing?
Rain's glance slides past Bronwyn for a moment, as if verifying that the Ragabash did indeed head away from the cafe and not mysteriously sneak back into it.
"I'd like that," she answers, to the invitation. "If you two don't mind, that is. I'm sure you've got plenty to catch up on." Incrementally that warmth is coming back. It's effusive, infectious, and unlike the Prom Queen Grin, it's wholly genuine.
[Jackson Montgomery] Roman tells Jackson that it's okay to still call him Roman. Whether that ship has sailed or not though, time will tell. He nods to the man as he departs, then looks back to Bronwyn and leans against her a bit.
"Yeah, let's go in." He looks at Rain and smiles. It's an easier smile now. "C'mon. You know I don't mind."
[Kora] Once she gains the sidewalk, Kora starts walking in the direction her packmates are taking. She's a good ten feet ahead, but her pace is slower than that taken by the pair of no-moons. In odd moments, she catches a glimpse of herself reflected in the glass of some shop window - as now, when she cuts a glance back over her shoulder, not to gauge their presence (Roman she can feel), but simply to place them in context of the street, or perhaps to watch the strange Garou with that enduring steadiness that characterizes her. Dark eyes in a pale face, a levelness in the daylight few can match.
Soon enough, her direct line of sight is interrupted not by strangers, but by the no-moons. Strangers would never come that close to her, even when she is bathed in bright sun, the clean, sharp lines of her features softened by the weight of pregnancy, her generous mouth neutral - which means, still somehow curved: the Mona Lisa's subtle smile, that.
"New blood?" quietly, to Roman as he and Janis gain her side. The look drops away from the Children of Gaia, then. She turns and continues walking past the coffee shop.
[Bronwyn Montgomery] "Of course not, Rain." She likely doesn't mean it to sound as condescending as it comes out, and she gestures for Jackson to open the door.
[Rain McKellar] Bronwyn probably doesn't mean it as condescendingly as it comes out, and if she can hear the note in her own voice it may surprise her that the kinfolk has little to no reaction to it.
She waits until the siblings have headed in to follow behind them, unless Jackson insists on holding the door for her. She waits until they've reclaimed their seats, shrugging out of her coat and slinging the messenger bag across the back of a free chair before settling in and drawing her coffee toward her, almost like a talisman against the tension.
"Um, so that's Roman..." she says, into the awkwardness at the table. It makes no apologies, excuses or judgments. Just a and that's our Cousin. Rain sips at her mocha; it's a more tolerable temperature now.
[Roman Turner] "Yep, one that ain't been to the Caern or made herself known to the Sept I reckon. Ain't heard word through channels about her and that's her duty, though she seems to think everyone should know about her for some reason."
He shrugged, a faint lifting of one tee shirt covered shoulder and changed the subject.
"How ya feeling today?"
[Bronwyn Montgomery] "He seems lovely." She is a society girl, and things that are displeasing are always lovely.
She sips at her plain iced tea, watching Jackson more than Rain now.
[Janis Ian] Janis tips her head down in a slight dip to Kora, her long gait slowing down instantly, shifting to move away from Roman and more towards Kora, flanking the other side that Roman does not stand on. She shifts the small bakery back in her hand, fingers now curling around the thin paper handle.
She still bears no connection to their totem, a prospective member, so she takes her queues visually; her eyes watching Kora and Roman as they speak.
[Janis Ian] (back = bag)
[Roman Turner] "Her name was Bronwyn and seems she's Jackson's older sister. Well..."
He frowned slightly.
"...Maybe older? Looked and acted older. Hard to tell with the bitterness seeping from her. Bless her heart."
A term used to cover anything from Damn that is one ugly baby. to You smell like you bathe in skunk piss. It was used to cancel out anything that might be taken negative.
[Jackson Montgomery] "He seems like he's been replaced with a pod person." He frowns, taking a seat again. "I don't remember him having laid out any ways of making it public how he wanted introductions handled. Hell, when I was looking into other places, some of our family in other cities didn't even care if you stopped by to say hello to them for a couple weeks. He should lay that stuff out in an official capacity so things like this don't happen more. I don't think people know what to expect in the transition from his predecessor to him."
He sighs and picks up his coffee and takes a sip. "Sorry. I'm...in a mood, I guess. Ignore me."
[Kora] Roman asks how a Fenrir is feeling; that earns him a look - dark eyed, direct, accompanied by a wry twist of her mouth. It is a look that says: really, you are asking how a Fenrir is feeling. and is accompanied by an expressive lift of pale brows above her steady gaze. She flickers that look briefly toward Janis. Solidarity, maybe. Or this is what packing with Coggies gets you. There's a quiet affection touching the wryness.
At least he hadn't tried to hug her.
This, as they say, is progress.
"I think that's par for the course," says Kora quietly, hands still in her pockets, walking. "Maybe it's an urrah thing. Those Walkers would probably only get pissed if she was using their wifi without permission." She neatly sidesteps the question about how she's feeling, then. "Talked to Lukas last night, though. About the work on the docks, yeah? I think the doc's going to get the kin together. Until they have a plan, though, he wants you to hold off on any further monkeywrenching."
[Rain McKellar] She glances between the siblings, rolling her fingertips against the side of her mug in a steady tapping cadence. This a moment of consideration, thinking, and then Rain shrugs and keeps her comments noncomittal.
"Well, at least you can find him. I never did meet Lila before she went..."
There's nothing defensive in the words; Rain isn't overly pleased about the show of politics or dominion. She sips at her mocha again and leans over to nudge Jackson a bit with her elbow.
"An' I don't mind your moods. We're artists, remember?" she says, lilting the word, infusing it with a wry self-aware humor as if it would absolve them of their highs and lows and render them merely mortal somehow. "We're supposed to be moody."
She quirks a grin to Bronwyn, too, to let the Philodox know this much is in jest.
[Bronwyn Montgomery] "I had assumed that when Father made the arrangements, he had alerted all parties, not simply Mr, Haynes' contemporary in the city."
She had assumed that a lot of information would be passed on, though this seems to not be the case.
"It is my fault for waiting to be sought out when they were ready for me."
[Roman Turner] He was Ragabash. It was like breathing for him to stir shit, to test folks by needling any way he could. It was also in his nature to lie like there was no tomorrow. Like when he said someone looked good in something he thought was ugly as something the dog barfed up. Kora mentions monkeywrenching and he just fell in with.
"Don't mention it. Done."
With a vague wave of his hand. He was still thinking about how he'd tested Jackson's sister and the interaction that had brought. Interesting enough to keep that vague look on his face.
[Janis Ian] "No monkey wrenching, hmm..." it seems she had missed out on whatever fun Roman was having with the construction site. She shares a brief glance with Kora, arching a red eyebrow at the pregnant Skald, and then frowns gently. Her gaze dropping to the other's belly with a hidden expression of concern. She may have wanted to ask the same question as Roman, but she doesn't, less Kora school her the same way as she did him.
"Since we can't really do any retaliation against them fer the moment, did ye 'ave a mind to watch'em, keep an eye on'em?"
[the fuzz] [*looks forlorn* ]
[Jackson Montgomery] He frowns when Bronwyn takes the blame, but lets it go. Rain's comment draws a grin from him.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I can be moody if I damn well want to. Thanks for the license to do so." He winks at her, his good humor returning a fair amount. Easy to frustrate, easy to relax. That's the way of the Gaian film student.
[Rain McKellar] Things seem to be coming back to an equilibrium fairly quickly. Jackson is relaxing, which puts Rain a bit more at ease. Bronwyn isn't carrying her frustrations forward -- whether that's because she's over it, or because she's plotting someone's inevitable undoing remains to be seen -- so Rain's happy to let whatever misgivings she has go, too.
"So, ah, what were you two up to before we dropped in on you?" she asks, trying to gently right the conversation to something lighter, she hoped. And Rain quietly takes responsibility for Roman wandering over, in that statement, subtly and indirectly, in case Bronwyn needed a target for her remaining ire.
A ready scapegoat; Rain could be that.
[Nash] Don't ask what he's doing in this part of town. It's a nice day for a drive, or a walk, or a bike ride, and tens of thousands of people are out doing just that today, taking advantage of the warm weather despite the fact that there isn't much in the way of brilliant sunlight. It isn't stopping people from wearing shorts and sandals, the youth from allowing their jeans to hang down around the backs of their thighs as gravity combines with lack of common sense.
Nash comes walking out of the distance, his long hair and wiry build identifying him to those who know him already, his breeding to those who don't; to both groups, his drawling admonition to one skateboarding kid who nearly bowls into him is more than audible.
"Learn how to drive, Short Round!" he hollers, goodnatured despite the decibel level of his advice, and waits for a break in traffic before he scoots across the street. It's well into the sixties and he's still wearing boots and dark jeans and a button-down shirt with long sleeves.
He's from Alabama. This still qualifies as Fucking Cold.
[Bronwyn Montgomery] "Just getting lunch." She reaches across the table to rest her fingers on Jackson's hand for a moment before giving Rain her full attention.
Attention that is without any malice, despite the irritation that's clear in her eyes. "I'm glad that you dropped in. We can get to know each other better.
[Rain McKellar] "Uhoh, Miss Bronwyn," Rain says, leaning back a bit in her chair and holding her hands up playfully with mock concern. "With a smile like that, them's fightin' words," she teases, trying to help lighten the mood at the table a bit.
The songbird's smile shifts to something sideways canted, amused and unafraid despite her apparent protests. It only takes a moment before her hands come down again, and Rain settles a bit more.
"What is it you want to know?" she asks, either baiting the Philodox or falling right in step with her plans.
[Jackson Montgomery] [[Mental note: When you work from home, turn your work-related messengers to invisible. It makes your off-time much more off.]]
He smiles at the touch from Bronwyn, moreso when she's talking with Rain. He's staying quiet for the moment, sipping his coffee and letting the two get to know each other a bit.
[Kora] Janis glances at Kora's stomach; the Skald either fails to notice or deliberately ignores the hidden concern. The solicitousness makes her shoulders stiffen, though mostly she swallows back the underlying defensiveness such questions flare in her; the spark of instinct. Of lupine dominance and submission. Her generous mouth pulls briefly flat across her teeth but she makes no show of them, and the expression soon settles back into a natural curve.
"Hard not to keep an eye on them, since they're on our doorstep." Kora's voice is low; but there's a subdued anger beneath it. The first touch of passion. How many has she buried, there, in the sandy, sodden soil under the flat, bare sky at the lake's edge.
It's nearly a year.
She never forgets.
"Right now," she returns, glancing across at the pair of them. "We're letting the kin take the lead. See if there's some pull they can bring to bear, some pressure that'll get this resolved. I'd like you to go to whatever meeting the doc gets organized, though," this to Roman first, a touch of her dark eyes on the no-moon's face. "Could be there are ways that you could give the kin a hand, I'm not sure. Seems a natural pairing, though."
Kora sees Nash from a distance. Raises her hand by way of greeting. The sun glazes her pale hair with light and there's no mistaking her. Not pregnant like that. Not by a long shot.
Then she looks back to Janis. They're walking, more slowly than most. "That's a good point, though," thoughtful. Musing, the irritation pulled out of her by the thoughtfulness. "Would be wise at this point to have an organized watch on them, day and night. Hidden, yeah? but 24-7. Log their comings and goings, their suppliers. See who comes at three a.m. and who comes at broad daylight. Get to know the rhythm of the shifts, all that.
"You two should get the other no-moons together, look into setting up that sort of hidden surveillance. Get volunteers, take shifts. Keep a log that you can give to the kin. The more we know, the better off we are."
[Bronwyn Montgomery] "What made you decide to become a musician?" It's a loaded question, and she well knows it.
[Rain McKellar] It's a loaded question, but certainly not an unfamiliar one. Rain sits back in her chair, rests her fingertips on the edge of the table. She isn't afraid to look up at the Philodox, but she certainly doesn't make eye contact. Someone has trained this kinswoman to be cautious. Very careful.
"It's one of the first things I was good at," Rain explains, her voice slipping into the easy, low cadence of storytelling. Had Gaia marked her differently, it's possible the girl would have made a striking Galliard. As it is, her voice is unaided by Breeding; it's naked, its strength is clear on its own. "And it gave me a good way out of a bad place.
"I started playing as a kid. My brother and I learned guitar together, shared the same six-string, but he didn't really have the heart for it or the ear. After a while that guitar was just mine. A little while longer and I left home with it."
She smiles.
"I just never stopped playing, or singing, or making what I could from it, y'know?"
[Jackson Montgomery] He smiles and nods at Rain's words. It's probably easy for Bronwyn to see where the friendship between her brother and the songbird grew...they got into their arts in somewhat similar ways, and they're of similar temperaments. Rain may come from a deeply different background than the Montgomeries, and he's certainly more casual and a bit less stuck-up than he was at home as a result, but at their core, they're very similar.
[Roman Turner] "I'll get in touch with the doctor."
His attention had drifted towards the on coming Nash when Kora lifted her hand towards him. For just a second Roman stepped in close enough to ask low voiced of Kora. "Ya know him?" Then the space between them was back. She'd been so damned cranky lately she might as well have a force field around her. Every night he prayed the child would be healthy and he prayed just is hard that it would soon be over with, the sooner the better. Calls home had told him that it wasn't going to get better till after the child came and sometimes it even got worse then. Like a blessing and cursed mixed, talk about unfair jokes.
"Between Janis and I, we should be able to reach some of the other New Moons and see what we can do."
[Janis Ian] "I don't mind speaking to the other no moons whilst Roman tends the meetings, we can keep in touch as we go, there isn't I'm doing at the moment 'sides patrols."
It was a good point, to keep track of the comings and goings. They could figure out watch the workers to see what they did and how close to the caern they were treading. She wrinkles up her nose, pulls the little bag of bakery goods up, opening it as she peers down into the bag, a hand dipping inside to part the wax paper and peers down at the donut holes inside.
"There needs to be a new No Moon Elder. Joey is gone bye-bye." she extends the bag out to Kora first to see if she wanted any, and then to Roman.
[Bronwyn Montgomery] That friendship is what saves the girl. Normally, she would have torn into her by now, questioning the decision, asking if there isn't something more useful that she could be doing with her time.
None of this comes forward though. Instead she just nods, and sips at her tea. "That's nice for you."
[Roman Turner] He slipped a hand in to the offered bag, snagging a doughnut hole which he popped in his mouth to talk around as he chewed.
"Folk seem to come and go like the weather around here."
[Nash] [GOD DAMN IT IS REALLY HARD TO TYPE WITH A STARBUCKS EMPLOYEE STANDING RIGHT BEHIND YOU AND BLATANTLY STARING AT YOUR SCREEN BITCH I CAN SEE YOUR REFLECTION IN MY SCREEN]
Well, he'd better stop and say 'Hi.'
Nash trots up onto the sidewalk, his eyes drifting between the three Garou before he jerks his head in a nod. He has a toothpick in one side of his mouth, which seems to be a bit of foresight on his part; Kora won't suffer any adverse effects from inhaling cigarette smoke, and it's unlikely her unborn child would, either, but he'll be damned if he'll be the person to test out that theory.
"Afternoon," he says, dispensing the greeting between Kora and Janis and Roman just about equally though he's never seen Roman before in his life. If he's comfortable standing with Kora, he has to be at the very least Kinfolk. He doesn't stop to ask, nor does he just invite himself into the congregation; he's heading in the opposite direction as the three of them and looks like he's just going to keep right on moving if he isn't halted.
His right arm is still bandaged, the pattern and padding of it visible beneath his shirt though the sleeve is cuffed down. He is still protectively holding it against his midsection; the damn thing is healing faster than it would if he were human, but as anyone who saw him the night of the meeting at the Brotherhood can attest, he was royally messed up to start out. He still has a ways to go.
[Kristen Burke] ((Where is everyone/is this open?))
[Rain McKellar] It's a mixed blessing that Bronwyn does not air her inner thoughts with Rain. On one hand, it's always nice to have one's life choices go unquestioned. On the other, it gives them no opportunity to better understand each other.
"It's nice enough," she says, offering Bronwyn a less nuanced smile that the Philodox casts her way. Maybe that invites further questions; it certainly doesn't seem to turn them away. She sips at her mocha and admits: "I'm trying to turn it into something more stable, here, but you mostly need schoolin' for that, so it isn't easy."
They are from very different worlds, Bronwyn and Rain. The assumptions they make about one another may not be sound. And it isn't even just the pretty mean girl and the sweet naive girl clashing across a lunch table at high school. They're so different it's hard to even find common ground, besides that they both care about Jackson. That they're family, by Tribe.
[Jackson Montgomery] [[Jackson, Bronwyn, Rain in a cafe near the window. The rest of them are out on the street somewhere-ish.]]
[Janis Ian] Janis hadn't considered that the tall, leggy blond kinfolk never met Roman, she was certain Nash had come to the Church enough to know everyone under Last Watch. The bag rustles in her hand as Roman takes one of the donut holes, she kept it held out for Kora, simply waiting as they walked to see if she'd accept one. Only then, does the bag pull back to her midsection, her own hand diving inside to separate the wax paper to pull one out and pop the little ball of glazed cake into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully.
Brown eyes sweep across Nash, she regards his injured arm and wrinkles her nose, Janis offers him a smile as he greeted them, "Hey, Marlboro Man, how's the wrangling up anymore lost girls lately?"
[Jackson Montgomery] "You have the talent," he quips, speaking up now. His admiration for Rain's musical skills is genuine, that much is simple to see. He turns his attention to his sister, touching her hand.
"Seriously, she really is good."
[Kora] Kora makes a low noise in the back of her throat when Janis says there should be a new no-moon elder. "You don't need a Shadow Lord to enshrine a leader to know when to lead and when to follow. You just do it." There's a brief, supple touch of aspersion there. "In the time I've been here, I've seen them do - nothing. Just change hats and give themselves titles, yeah?" Otherwise, her opinion regarding the auspice counsel goes largely unspoken.
A glance at Roman when he leans close and asks her if she knows him. The direct look and brief nod is answer enough. Quiet, she supplies, " - kin," dropping the word between then like a stone in clear, cool water.
"Just show up at the meeting. Mostly to listen, you know? Let them take the lead, brainstorm. I'm thinking you could be helpful in their plans though. Planting evidence or - " a narrow-shouldered shrug. "Slipping in and out of someplace, yeah?"
Nash comes up, and doesn't linger, but Kora detains him briefly with a glance. "Doc's gonna be working on the stuff by the docks, yeah? She's going to have a meeting, soon. I'd like you to attend."
AND THEN: "Shit, I gotta pee." - she makes her exit. (Sorry, guys, gotta go!)
[Bronwyn Montgomery] "It could have been much worse for me. Father...." She glances up, then back down. He knows as well as she does what kind of influence the man has.
[Jackson Montgomery] "...was pretty pissed, I imagine." He reaches out and settles his hand over hers.
"I'm sorry."
[Roman Turner] Overcast with the feel of possible rain in the air, warm enough to go without a jacket today. Chestnut hair blew back from a youthful face, settling in a ruffled mess as he shouldered open the door of the little cafe to enter a world of smells. He didn't seem to notice anyone or thing as he headed for the counter, finger combing hair out of his eyes. Except for the stiff new jeans, he looked like any other kid in the city. Those jeans and blue tee that stretched across his shoulders. The only odd thing was the click of boot heels as he walked up to place an order while reaching to a back pocket for his wallet.
"I'd like one of them iced coffee things."
[Bronwyn Montgomery] She snorts quietly. "What are you sorry for? I'm the one that made the choice."
[Rain McKellar] It's a little cafe in the middle of Lake View, which is not the usual sort of place that the Family rounded up by chance, by accident, happenstance -- call it what you will -- but there's a young man with a pleasant accent at the counter, and a pair of siblings at a window table, and a songbird rocking down the street. They're converging, the Unicorns, and not for a war council or a dressing down.
Jackson catches Rain's attention as she passes the window. It's warm enough that her taupe raincoat hangs open, and the shirt beneath is a dark, alligator-green. Jeans. Shoes that keep out the puddle-wet. No scarf. No annoyingly cheerful hat. A messenger bag that's still becoming familiar rather than seeming old hat. The smile she's sporting, though, is pleasantly cheerful. She taps on the glass, waves to the siblings, and then heads down a bit to push in through the front door, bringing the smell of rain-wet pavement and the city sounds in with her.
Rain sidles up beside Roman, bumps him with her shoulder, glances over out of the corner of her eye and grins a "Hey, there." Like everything was right in the world and the last time they'd spoken hadn't been quarreling at all.
"Can I get a mocha, please?" she asks, when it's her turn to order.
[Jackson Montgomery] He looks chastised by Bronwyn and pulls his hand back, looking away. That allows him to see Roman and Rain, and his back straightens. "Family, six o' clock," he says quietly to his sister as he puts on a friendly smile for the two, waving.
[Roman Turner] It was a glance over to Rain and a pleasant enough smile that shown for the moment as he replied in a voice most here called an accent. To him, he didn't hear the twang, didn't here the drawn out syllables.
"Howdy Rain. Nice day, ain't it? I think Spring done decided to come 'round."
Somewhere in the back of his head he noticed he'd outgrown the woman in the past year.
"I've got her's too."
Given to the server as he counted out a few more bills before taking his drink and turning towards the room in general.
"Well lookie here. There's Jackson with......someone."
A gaze the shade of faded denim fixed on Brownyn like sighting down a barrel before firing.
[Bronwyn Montgomery] The change is nearly unnerving in it's speed and completeness. The Prom Queen makes her appearance as easily as a switch going off, and the woman's posture changes to something regal, and any trace of worry is snuffed from her eyes.
Her gaze follows where Jackson indicated, and she recognizes his small friend from the other day. It's Roman that gets her attention though, and he seems to be taken in and sized up in one quick glance.
So this is the child that she'll be answering to. Roman is given one of her camera ready smiles that means nothing but certainly seems friendly to anyone looking on. She's able to speak through it from years of practice, low enough so that her words can't reach beyond Jackson.
"Father's sense of cruelty runs deeper than I'd realized."
[Rain McKellar] "I think so," she agrees, still smiling broadly. Warmly. "And thank you," she adds, when he picks up her coffee. It's not quite warm enough yet for Rain to ask for hers iced, so when it comes she wraps her fingers around the mug to let the warmth seep in.
She casts her attention toward the table of Montgomeries, and then back to Roman. "Mmm, that's Bronwyn. His sister, very good at the whole watching and judging thing. I take you've not met yet, right? Y'wanna go say hi?" she asks, giving him the option to beg out of formal introductions in a sleepy cafe but still tipping her head in that direction, making it obvious that she was perfectly happy with heading on over.
[Jackson Montgomery] "That's Roman. Tribe Elder."
He keeps the words quiet too. Family trait. "What'd he do?"
[Bronwyn Montgomery] "Do you think for a second that he didn't know who our elder was before he agreed to let me come here?"
[Roman Turner] "How long she been here?"
No one had mentioned another Goggie in town, there'd been no word of introduction at the Caern. Maybe it was a casual visit without the formalities of letting the Sept know she was passing through? As soon as he asked Rain the question, he grunted.
"Yep, sure do."
He stepped towards the sibling's table like a large cat stalking through the grass. Roman moved with a natural grace despite those boots of his and those stiff Wranglers that belonged in a Rodeo.
"Well howdy Jackson. Rain her tells me this here is your sister."
[Bronwyn Montgomery] This is her hell.
The smile is turned up, hair tossed just so. She is, at least outwardly, completely composed. A hand is offered, palm down as if there is a clear expectation of social deference.
"Roman, is it? What a pleasure to meet you. Bronwyn Montgomery."
[Jackson Montgomery] He opens his mouth to say hi, and then Bronwyn speaks up and Jackson just gives a smile in greeting to the Ragabash.
[Rain McKellar] How long she been here?
"Couple days," Rain says; she's not exactly sure, but she makes it sound very nonchalant and easy. There's a roll of her shoulder, too, to emphasize that it wasn't really the crux of her conversation with the siblings earlier in the week.
Then they're walking toward the table. Or Rain is. She saunters. She's happy. Roman stalks. Rain notices this and curls her mouth into a patiently amused smirk. She approaches Jackson's side of the table. Rests a hand on the blade of his shoulder to say hello when she gets there. Offers him a warm and effusive smile and then glances at a free seat at their table, as if asking for permission.
[Roman Turner] At 17, his carriage was one of Rank. Posture said sit up and take notice at the moment despite the face he'd taken to dressing somewhat like the locals today. Something had changed with Roman since the last time Jackson had seen him. He looked the same, perhaps a little taller, a little fuller. There were the same mottled finger-like scars reaching up from the neck of his shirt along his neck towards his jaw. Same blue-gray eyes as before. The change was something more profound, an added depth to the look he gave.
He took the offered hand, turning it to a straight out arm pumping shake.
"Howdy Bronwyn. Ya doing a short visit or ya planning on joining the party and staying a spell? I ain't heard tell ya arrived."
[Roman Turner] ((Please excuse typos, typing with a splinted hand))
[Jackson Montgomery] "She just arrived a couple days ago," he says, looking to Roman. He gives a little smile. "Gotta give her a little bit of a grace period, right?"
[Bronwyn Montgomery] Something about how he says her name grates on her, almost as much as the manhandling of her hand into some kind of cowboy handshake. This is her Elder though, so she resists the urge to wipe her hand with a napkin when it's released.
"I hadn't decided yet. Though I'd certainly be open to discussing why it may be beneficial to stay." Beneficial for who isn't quite implied.
[Rain McKellar] Her glance toward the chair had not been followed by a nod from her kinsman, or anyone pushing it out with their foot, no outward indication that Rain was welcome to intrude on the family tete-a-tete, so she stays a bit to the side and just a hair behind Jackson's chair, sips at her mocha, and waits out the introductions with as easy a posture as she can maintain.
Maybe to passersby or other patrons, they're just one pair of friends happening upon another, bunching up for a moment to catch up and destined to separate soon and head out on their own paths.
[Roman Turner] "I ain't here to play recruited. Either ya know your manners or ya don't. Or ya know them and prefer to ignore your upbringing. Ain't my cause. If ya plan to stick around, best make yourself known. I reckon ya staying with your brother? If not and ya need a place to stay, I can offer a few."
His smile was as pleasant as they came, coating the firm undertones. He wasn't missing the Fang-like attitude.
[Jackson Montgomery] He blinks, frowning. Roman's tone is a complete 180 from what Jackson's seen from him before, and it clearly catches him off-guard. He straightens a little bit, going quiet.
[Rain McKellar] Jackson straightens a little bit, and Rain glances to him, then down. She adjusts her stance so she'd be in the other kin's line of sight, easily within distance to incidentally reach over and make contact, but doesn't assume he needs that either. Both kin are quiet; Rain's infectious grin is absent, tamped down to a respectfully hesitant smile that lifts only the corners of her mouth.
[Bronwyn Montgomery] "I am well aware of my obligations" There's the patient tone that she took with Jackson before, designed to make the recipient feel as if a line has been crossed.
"It seems as if perhaps you were not made privy to my arrival, for whatever reason." A shortcoming, perhaps. Certainly not hers.
She stands, as if what she's saying now is only a formality to a course of action already decided on. "Perhaps we should step outside for a moment, where we can speak privately"
[Roman Turner] He waved towards the door, indicating she should lead the way. Then turned a smile on Jackson and Rain that was a little more heart-felt.
"Y'all welcome to step outside if ya want with us."
To Bronwyn he said.
"Lead on. I imagine when ya checked in somewhere it weren't with them that would pass word. Happens all the times, I'm right sure."
[Roman Turner] (howdy)
to Kora
[Bronwyn Montgomery] And lead she does, striding to the door with another flip of her hair. It pushes open and she moves into the sunshine of early spring which contrasts with her darkening expression.
[Jackson Montgomery] He takes a breath and then looks at Rain. A little nod is given, as if in confirmation of something, and he rises to go follow them.
[Kora] (hey! :) )
to Roman Turner
[Rain McKellar] Rain cuts a quick look from Roman to Jackson at that invitation. If the other kin shows any indication of rising, she'll set her mocha down on the table and head out with them. She makes sure to catch a server's attention before they all wander out, though.
"We'll be right back," she says. "Please don't clear the table."
Then the songbird heads out, hands in pockets, to stand beside Jackson and witness the formalities.
[Kora] dude, when did Roman get so RUDE. o.o heh.
to Rain McKellar
[Rain McKellar] I know, right?
Rain wasn't fibbing! He's been insufferable lately.
to Kora
[Roman Turner] The sun came and went today. Extreme thunderstorms were in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow with scattered showers throughout the day today. For a moment the sun came out to touch Bronwyn, even as Roman went towards the shadows, stepping between buildings before turning to face her.
"Now, I reckon ya checked in with the Sept since ya say ya aware of your obligations. I reckon someone done told ya they'd let me know and told ya about me. In case that was missed. I'm Roman Turner. Fate to the Nation. Fostern of your Tribe and ironic as it seems. " Here there was a wry little twist of his lips. "Tribal Elder here in this city. I know for some of greater years it might be hard to believe, but sure enough, I done earned my rank the hard way like everyone else. In case ya didn't hear, I'm also a New Moon. Now..."
The grin returned, crinkling his eyes at the corners.
"...your turn."
[Bronwyn Montgomery] Her fiery, fiery hell.
The girls on the Miss America stage have nothing on how she stands just so, smiles just so, answers just so...
"Bronwyn Montgomery, known as Sees the Soul by deed, daughter of Fist of Stone, sister to Dove's Wrath. And Jackson, of course." Her eyes flicker to her brother, then back to Roman. "Half moon."
[Kora] There's a bookstore across the street. Small, the windows cramped full of old volumes. It's warmer today, and though there's no sun on this side of the street - not precisely, not at the moment, just a watery spring light - the windows gleam with that light, murky, reflected back toward the street.
The front door swings open, a tinny note from the bell hanging from the frame merges with the ambient street noise, and a quite pregnant young woman walks out. That's the most prominent thing about her from a distance. She pauses on the stoop, holding the door open for a stranger heading in who is no longer sure he wants that leather-bound volume of Byron he saw in the window.
These things just are.
He's not sure why.
A small bag dangles from her index finger, the contents slap against her thigh as she slides her hands into the front pockets of worn jeans. the waistband below the swell of her stomach. Pale hair gleams against the shadows of this side of the street as she steps down from the stoop, watching the Children of Gaia exit coffee shop in a line.
She thinks, absurdly, of ducklings.
[Roman Turner] "Ah, well then, and your rank I can guess at, even though ya done seemed ta forget it. As a Judge, ya should be able to tell what I say is truth. Right? Well, maybe."
He was after all a Ragabash with could muddy the lines of truth and misdirection. Kora he felt, on the edge of his mind he felt her nearness and knew she'd either join them or not. Lately she'd been crankier than two cats tied together ta the tail.
[Bronwyn Montgomery] "I have not forgotten it." It's just a sore point. A raw wound, ripped open twice this afternoon.
[Rain McKellar] The last little duckling in the row is the shortest. She is the only one without blood that sings. From a distance, she is the least likely to grown up into an elegant swan -- unless the book Kora has purchased is a child's tale, a parable about the Ugliest things and the Beauty they hold.
But Rain is also the one least invested in the goings on. She's the one freed to look up and around, to subtly take in their surroundings, to be watchful of how their presence pushes the tides of pedestrians astray. On one side of the street was this caucus of Rage. On the other, the Skald.
It's a subtle thing, slight enough to not interfere with the proceedings at hand. Rain's chin lifts in greeting, her attention is momentarily closer to the bookstore than here. It holds, longer than is just coincidental, and then she turns back to the duck pond, and the Ragabashery, and the tension.
[Roman Turner] "No? Hmm, just must of forgotten to mention it in your introduction there. No problem."
He touched the base he wanted to with those words and moved on as if it mattered not.
"I guess ya know Rain. And I gotta tell ya, Jackson your brother is a fine fella. I'd do near anything for him. If ya not staying with him, I'd welcome ya to stay a bit with myself and my Pack if ya need a place to sleep. Ain't much and we're a mixed bunch. Got us a Fenrir Jarl as our Alpha and we even got a Fianna in the mix. Offer stands."
[Jackson Montgomery] He stands nearby, frowning as he crosses his arms over his chest. He has a touch more of that same demeanor that Bronwyn's carrying about him now that he normally does...touches of Silver Fang-esque in the otherwise Gaian attitude.
He looks about to speak up at one point, when Roman lays out what should have happened, but the conversation moves quickly along and he stays quiet.
[Bronwyn Montgomery] The irritation over the reprimand is tempered by a flood of relief. Her secret, it would seem, is safe within the elders of the tribe.
"I am indeed staying with Jackson, yes. Thank you though. I appreciate the offer, and will certainly keep it in mind should circumstances change."
[Rain McKellar] Rain fidgets with her phone in her pocket, and makes sure not to elevate her line of sight to be dangerously close to making eye contact with either True. Her stance looks casual enough to the casual observer, but the lines of her shoulders, mouth and eyes are tight.
[Roman Turner] "Fine and dandy. Ya should know things are dangerous in the city here. The Sept is at war and lately things done gotten a bit more active. Find someone what can tolerate ya, someone ya fit with and consider packing up with them. There's none of us meant to be lone wolf."
Now he looked towards Jackson and Rain again.
"Bring her by the church some day and we'll grill out some thing."
Formalities were over it seemed and he was finished here.
"Y'all take care."
[Kora] Certainly out of earshot, there across the street. More to the point, there's nothing to mark her as Fenrir or Garou to Bronwyn from such a distance. No breeding, no fine blood. No obvious war axes. No battle braids. Nothing except for the steadiness of her regard from a distance. The way crowds shift to move around her.
When the last little duckling in the row lifts her chin by way of greeting, the pregnant blonde returns it just as subtly; a canting sweep of her head, wolf life, enough to shift the weight of pale blond hair coiled at the nape of her neck. Then she takes a long step between the cars, enough to clear the current of runoff running gleaming through the stormsewer, floating with all manner of detritus.
She glances both ways, and starts across the street. No matter how long her legs, there's still that pregnant woman waddle to her gait.
[Bronwyn Montgomery] Done and done. She doesn't volunteer this though, of course.
"It was so nice to meet you." She can't force her tongue to add the Rhya at the end. It will take some time for her to swallow the bitter pill, and accept the boy as who he is.
[Kora] mind you, he wasn't that bad in the end. hah.
to Rain McKellar
[Rain McKellar] Rain glances up when their Elder's attention is brought to bear on his kinfolk again, her chin tips up most of the way but she's still glancing at least partly through her eyelashes at him. It's one part submission, and another part being unused to his newfound height.
Rain's thinner smile flexes, warms a little, and she nods in assent to his request. They'll get together. They'll grill something. (Hopefully not something the Fenrir just killed and dragged in.) The way her mouth bends indicates she thinks this is a good, or at least passingly positive, idea.
But the tension doesn't recant, not yet. And it takes a moment for her to find her voice and chime out a mostly-pleasant, nowhere near as sunny, "Bye, Roman" before he leaves.
[Jackson Montgomery] He puts on a polite smile for Roman and nods. It's polite, but perhaps not quite as warm as it has been previously. It could be that there's something about those in charge acting like it that hits his past and creates distance, or the fact that their association has simply been more informal. Maybe it's just because of the tension that immediately sprung up between Roman and his sister. For whatever reason, he is absolutely polite and even a little friendly, but somethings just a bit faded.
"Have a good Saturday, Rhya. I'll talk to you later."
[Janis Ian] The Rotagar appears in the doorway, exiting the cafe that the Gaians circle around. Her hips nudges the door open, hand on the bar as she pushes it halfway, sidestepping with the preternatural grace of a predator. Her head angling slightly to sniff at the wind, she blinks, brown eyes cutting across the faces that born recognition. The door shuts quietly behind her, she raises a hand to touch her temple, tilting a two-fingered salute to Rain in greeting as she passes the Coggie kin.
A small bag rustles in her other hand, some bakery goodies inside wrapped in wax paper. She doesn't stay to linger and make conversation, leaving Roman's kin to themselves. Janis slipping off to chase Roman's shadow, and to move off towards the blond Skald she defers to as Alpha.
[Roman Turner] He chuckled with a glance back at Bronwyn just before stepping out of the alley to go meet Kora.
"Chaffs a bit, don't it?"
A full smile was given to both Rain and Jackson, adding to Jackson.
"I'm still Roman, Jackson, though your politeness was appreciated. Y'all take care."
He slowed when he became aware of Janis, waiting for her to fall in step with him as they went to intercept Kora.
"Howdy Janis."
[Bronwyn Montgomery] He has no idea.
She can and will challenge though, the very moment she gets her rank back. For now though, she turns her attention back to her brother, who no doubt understands the situation far better than he would have an hour ago.
"Shall we go back inside and eat? Rain, will you be joining us dear?"
[Janis Ian] "Afternoon, Roman." the rumble of her brogue carries a vague cheerfulness that is often lost on Janis, the corners of her lips twitching into a half-grin that reflects a grinning moon. She slides her head to the side, looks back once again at the Gaians that they are leaving behind, and says nothing about them.
She easily keeps a pace or two behind and to the side of Roman, following the Gaian as his shadow would. She swings her eyes back to Kora, gaze scrutinizing, red furrowing inward slightly to crease the smooth skin of her forehead.
[Rain McKellar] Janis, too, gets a lift of her chin in greeting as the Rotagar passes. It seems to be the safest show of comraderie with the non-Gaian packmates and the Fenrir that inhabit the church. Except Melody. One should always run, at the soonest opportunity, from Melody.
"I asked them to hold your table," Rain says, to Bronwyn, with a smile that is still just a little constrained. The kinswoman understands the tension of the last few minutes, if not the whole of its underpinning reasons. "So they shouldn't have cleared it."
Isn't she just the most helpful little thing?
Rain's glance slides past Bronwyn for a moment, as if verifying that the Ragabash did indeed head away from the cafe and not mysteriously sneak back into it.
"I'd like that," she answers, to the invitation. "If you two don't mind, that is. I'm sure you've got plenty to catch up on." Incrementally that warmth is coming back. It's effusive, infectious, and unlike the Prom Queen Grin, it's wholly genuine.
[Jackson Montgomery] Roman tells Jackson that it's okay to still call him Roman. Whether that ship has sailed or not though, time will tell. He nods to the man as he departs, then looks back to Bronwyn and leans against her a bit.
"Yeah, let's go in." He looks at Rain and smiles. It's an easier smile now. "C'mon. You know I don't mind."
[Kora] Once she gains the sidewalk, Kora starts walking in the direction her packmates are taking. She's a good ten feet ahead, but her pace is slower than that taken by the pair of no-moons. In odd moments, she catches a glimpse of herself reflected in the glass of some shop window - as now, when she cuts a glance back over her shoulder, not to gauge their presence (Roman she can feel), but simply to place them in context of the street, or perhaps to watch the strange Garou with that enduring steadiness that characterizes her. Dark eyes in a pale face, a levelness in the daylight few can match.
Soon enough, her direct line of sight is interrupted not by strangers, but by the no-moons. Strangers would never come that close to her, even when she is bathed in bright sun, the clean, sharp lines of her features softened by the weight of pregnancy, her generous mouth neutral - which means, still somehow curved: the Mona Lisa's subtle smile, that.
"New blood?" quietly, to Roman as he and Janis gain her side. The look drops away from the Children of Gaia, then. She turns and continues walking past the coffee shop.
[Bronwyn Montgomery] "Of course not, Rain." She likely doesn't mean it to sound as condescending as it comes out, and she gestures for Jackson to open the door.
[Rain McKellar] Bronwyn probably doesn't mean it as condescendingly as it comes out, and if she can hear the note in her own voice it may surprise her that the kinfolk has little to no reaction to it.
She waits until the siblings have headed in to follow behind them, unless Jackson insists on holding the door for her. She waits until they've reclaimed their seats, shrugging out of her coat and slinging the messenger bag across the back of a free chair before settling in and drawing her coffee toward her, almost like a talisman against the tension.
"Um, so that's Roman..." she says, into the awkwardness at the table. It makes no apologies, excuses or judgments. Just a and that's our Cousin. Rain sips at her mocha; it's a more tolerable temperature now.
[Roman Turner] "Yep, one that ain't been to the Caern or made herself known to the Sept I reckon. Ain't heard word through channels about her and that's her duty, though she seems to think everyone should know about her for some reason."
He shrugged, a faint lifting of one tee shirt covered shoulder and changed the subject.
"How ya feeling today?"
[Bronwyn Montgomery] "He seems lovely." She is a society girl, and things that are displeasing are always lovely.
She sips at her plain iced tea, watching Jackson more than Rain now.
[Janis Ian] Janis tips her head down in a slight dip to Kora, her long gait slowing down instantly, shifting to move away from Roman and more towards Kora, flanking the other side that Roman does not stand on. She shifts the small bakery back in her hand, fingers now curling around the thin paper handle.
She still bears no connection to their totem, a prospective member, so she takes her queues visually; her eyes watching Kora and Roman as they speak.
[Janis Ian] (back = bag)
[Roman Turner] "Her name was Bronwyn and seems she's Jackson's older sister. Well..."
He frowned slightly.
"...Maybe older? Looked and acted older. Hard to tell with the bitterness seeping from her. Bless her heart."
A term used to cover anything from Damn that is one ugly baby. to You smell like you bathe in skunk piss. It was used to cancel out anything that might be taken negative.
[Jackson Montgomery] "He seems like he's been replaced with a pod person." He frowns, taking a seat again. "I don't remember him having laid out any ways of making it public how he wanted introductions handled. Hell, when I was looking into other places, some of our family in other cities didn't even care if you stopped by to say hello to them for a couple weeks. He should lay that stuff out in an official capacity so things like this don't happen more. I don't think people know what to expect in the transition from his predecessor to him."
He sighs and picks up his coffee and takes a sip. "Sorry. I'm...in a mood, I guess. Ignore me."
[Kora] Roman asks how a Fenrir is feeling; that earns him a look - dark eyed, direct, accompanied by a wry twist of her mouth. It is a look that says: really, you are asking how a Fenrir is feeling. and is accompanied by an expressive lift of pale brows above her steady gaze. She flickers that look briefly toward Janis. Solidarity, maybe. Or this is what packing with Coggies gets you. There's a quiet affection touching the wryness.
At least he hadn't tried to hug her.
This, as they say, is progress.
"I think that's par for the course," says Kora quietly, hands still in her pockets, walking. "Maybe it's an urrah thing. Those Walkers would probably only get pissed if she was using their wifi without permission." She neatly sidesteps the question about how she's feeling, then. "Talked to Lukas last night, though. About the work on the docks, yeah? I think the doc's going to get the kin together. Until they have a plan, though, he wants you to hold off on any further monkeywrenching."
[Rain McKellar] She glances between the siblings, rolling her fingertips against the side of her mug in a steady tapping cadence. This a moment of consideration, thinking, and then Rain shrugs and keeps her comments noncomittal.
"Well, at least you can find him. I never did meet Lila before she went..."
There's nothing defensive in the words; Rain isn't overly pleased about the show of politics or dominion. She sips at her mocha again and leans over to nudge Jackson a bit with her elbow.
"An' I don't mind your moods. We're artists, remember?" she says, lilting the word, infusing it with a wry self-aware humor as if it would absolve them of their highs and lows and render them merely mortal somehow. "We're supposed to be moody."
She quirks a grin to Bronwyn, too, to let the Philodox know this much is in jest.
[Bronwyn Montgomery] "I had assumed that when Father made the arrangements, he had alerted all parties, not simply Mr, Haynes' contemporary in the city."
She had assumed that a lot of information would be passed on, though this seems to not be the case.
"It is my fault for waiting to be sought out when they were ready for me."
[Roman Turner] He was Ragabash. It was like breathing for him to stir shit, to test folks by needling any way he could. It was also in his nature to lie like there was no tomorrow. Like when he said someone looked good in something he thought was ugly as something the dog barfed up. Kora mentions monkeywrenching and he just fell in with.
"Don't mention it. Done."
With a vague wave of his hand. He was still thinking about how he'd tested Jackson's sister and the interaction that had brought. Interesting enough to keep that vague look on his face.
[Janis Ian] "No monkey wrenching, hmm..." it seems she had missed out on whatever fun Roman was having with the construction site. She shares a brief glance with Kora, arching a red eyebrow at the pregnant Skald, and then frowns gently. Her gaze dropping to the other's belly with a hidden expression of concern. She may have wanted to ask the same question as Roman, but she doesn't, less Kora school her the same way as she did him.
"Since we can't really do any retaliation against them fer the moment, did ye 'ave a mind to watch'em, keep an eye on'em?"
[the fuzz] [*looks forlorn* ]
[Jackson Montgomery] He frowns when Bronwyn takes the blame, but lets it go. Rain's comment draws a grin from him.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I can be moody if I damn well want to. Thanks for the license to do so." He winks at her, his good humor returning a fair amount. Easy to frustrate, easy to relax. That's the way of the Gaian film student.
[Rain McKellar] Things seem to be coming back to an equilibrium fairly quickly. Jackson is relaxing, which puts Rain a bit more at ease. Bronwyn isn't carrying her frustrations forward -- whether that's because she's over it, or because she's plotting someone's inevitable undoing remains to be seen -- so Rain's happy to let whatever misgivings she has go, too.
"So, ah, what were you two up to before we dropped in on you?" she asks, trying to gently right the conversation to something lighter, she hoped. And Rain quietly takes responsibility for Roman wandering over, in that statement, subtly and indirectly, in case Bronwyn needed a target for her remaining ire.
A ready scapegoat; Rain could be that.
[Nash] Don't ask what he's doing in this part of town. It's a nice day for a drive, or a walk, or a bike ride, and tens of thousands of people are out doing just that today, taking advantage of the warm weather despite the fact that there isn't much in the way of brilliant sunlight. It isn't stopping people from wearing shorts and sandals, the youth from allowing their jeans to hang down around the backs of their thighs as gravity combines with lack of common sense.
Nash comes walking out of the distance, his long hair and wiry build identifying him to those who know him already, his breeding to those who don't; to both groups, his drawling admonition to one skateboarding kid who nearly bowls into him is more than audible.
"Learn how to drive, Short Round!" he hollers, goodnatured despite the decibel level of his advice, and waits for a break in traffic before he scoots across the street. It's well into the sixties and he's still wearing boots and dark jeans and a button-down shirt with long sleeves.
He's from Alabama. This still qualifies as Fucking Cold.
[Bronwyn Montgomery] "Just getting lunch." She reaches across the table to rest her fingers on Jackson's hand for a moment before giving Rain her full attention.
Attention that is without any malice, despite the irritation that's clear in her eyes. "I'm glad that you dropped in. We can get to know each other better.
[Rain McKellar] "Uhoh, Miss Bronwyn," Rain says, leaning back a bit in her chair and holding her hands up playfully with mock concern. "With a smile like that, them's fightin' words," she teases, trying to help lighten the mood at the table a bit.
The songbird's smile shifts to something sideways canted, amused and unafraid despite her apparent protests. It only takes a moment before her hands come down again, and Rain settles a bit more.
"What is it you want to know?" she asks, either baiting the Philodox or falling right in step with her plans.
[Jackson Montgomery] [[Mental note: When you work from home, turn your work-related messengers to invisible. It makes your off-time much more off.]]
He smiles at the touch from Bronwyn, moreso when she's talking with Rain. He's staying quiet for the moment, sipping his coffee and letting the two get to know each other a bit.
[Kora] Janis glances at Kora's stomach; the Skald either fails to notice or deliberately ignores the hidden concern. The solicitousness makes her shoulders stiffen, though mostly she swallows back the underlying defensiveness such questions flare in her; the spark of instinct. Of lupine dominance and submission. Her generous mouth pulls briefly flat across her teeth but she makes no show of them, and the expression soon settles back into a natural curve.
"Hard not to keep an eye on them, since they're on our doorstep." Kora's voice is low; but there's a subdued anger beneath it. The first touch of passion. How many has she buried, there, in the sandy, sodden soil under the flat, bare sky at the lake's edge.
It's nearly a year.
She never forgets.
"Right now," she returns, glancing across at the pair of them. "We're letting the kin take the lead. See if there's some pull they can bring to bear, some pressure that'll get this resolved. I'd like you to go to whatever meeting the doc gets organized, though," this to Roman first, a touch of her dark eyes on the no-moon's face. "Could be there are ways that you could give the kin a hand, I'm not sure. Seems a natural pairing, though."
Kora sees Nash from a distance. Raises her hand by way of greeting. The sun glazes her pale hair with light and there's no mistaking her. Not pregnant like that. Not by a long shot.
Then she looks back to Janis. They're walking, more slowly than most. "That's a good point, though," thoughtful. Musing, the irritation pulled out of her by the thoughtfulness. "Would be wise at this point to have an organized watch on them, day and night. Hidden, yeah? but 24-7. Log their comings and goings, their suppliers. See who comes at three a.m. and who comes at broad daylight. Get to know the rhythm of the shifts, all that.
"You two should get the other no-moons together, look into setting up that sort of hidden surveillance. Get volunteers, take shifts. Keep a log that you can give to the kin. The more we know, the better off we are."
[Bronwyn Montgomery] "What made you decide to become a musician?" It's a loaded question, and she well knows it.
[Rain McKellar] It's a loaded question, but certainly not an unfamiliar one. Rain sits back in her chair, rests her fingertips on the edge of the table. She isn't afraid to look up at the Philodox, but she certainly doesn't make eye contact. Someone has trained this kinswoman to be cautious. Very careful.
"It's one of the first things I was good at," Rain explains, her voice slipping into the easy, low cadence of storytelling. Had Gaia marked her differently, it's possible the girl would have made a striking Galliard. As it is, her voice is unaided by Breeding; it's naked, its strength is clear on its own. "And it gave me a good way out of a bad place.
"I started playing as a kid. My brother and I learned guitar together, shared the same six-string, but he didn't really have the heart for it or the ear. After a while that guitar was just mine. A little while longer and I left home with it."
She smiles.
"I just never stopped playing, or singing, or making what I could from it, y'know?"
[Jackson Montgomery] He smiles and nods at Rain's words. It's probably easy for Bronwyn to see where the friendship between her brother and the songbird grew...they got into their arts in somewhat similar ways, and they're of similar temperaments. Rain may come from a deeply different background than the Montgomeries, and he's certainly more casual and a bit less stuck-up than he was at home as a result, but at their core, they're very similar.
[Roman Turner] "I'll get in touch with the doctor."
His attention had drifted towards the on coming Nash when Kora lifted her hand towards him. For just a second Roman stepped in close enough to ask low voiced of Kora. "Ya know him?" Then the space between them was back. She'd been so damned cranky lately she might as well have a force field around her. Every night he prayed the child would be healthy and he prayed just is hard that it would soon be over with, the sooner the better. Calls home had told him that it wasn't going to get better till after the child came and sometimes it even got worse then. Like a blessing and cursed mixed, talk about unfair jokes.
"Between Janis and I, we should be able to reach some of the other New Moons and see what we can do."
[Janis Ian] "I don't mind speaking to the other no moons whilst Roman tends the meetings, we can keep in touch as we go, there isn't I'm doing at the moment 'sides patrols."
It was a good point, to keep track of the comings and goings. They could figure out watch the workers to see what they did and how close to the caern they were treading. She wrinkles up her nose, pulls the little bag of bakery goods up, opening it as she peers down into the bag, a hand dipping inside to part the wax paper and peers down at the donut holes inside.
"There needs to be a new No Moon Elder. Joey is gone bye-bye." she extends the bag out to Kora first to see if she wanted any, and then to Roman.
[Bronwyn Montgomery] That friendship is what saves the girl. Normally, she would have torn into her by now, questioning the decision, asking if there isn't something more useful that she could be doing with her time.
None of this comes forward though. Instead she just nods, and sips at her tea. "That's nice for you."
[Roman Turner] He slipped a hand in to the offered bag, snagging a doughnut hole which he popped in his mouth to talk around as he chewed.
"Folk seem to come and go like the weather around here."
[Nash] [GOD DAMN IT IS REALLY HARD TO TYPE WITH A STARBUCKS EMPLOYEE STANDING RIGHT BEHIND YOU AND BLATANTLY STARING AT YOUR SCREEN BITCH I CAN SEE YOUR REFLECTION IN MY SCREEN]
Well, he'd better stop and say 'Hi.'
Nash trots up onto the sidewalk, his eyes drifting between the three Garou before he jerks his head in a nod. He has a toothpick in one side of his mouth, which seems to be a bit of foresight on his part; Kora won't suffer any adverse effects from inhaling cigarette smoke, and it's unlikely her unborn child would, either, but he'll be damned if he'll be the person to test out that theory.
"Afternoon," he says, dispensing the greeting between Kora and Janis and Roman just about equally though he's never seen Roman before in his life. If he's comfortable standing with Kora, he has to be at the very least Kinfolk. He doesn't stop to ask, nor does he just invite himself into the congregation; he's heading in the opposite direction as the three of them and looks like he's just going to keep right on moving if he isn't halted.
His right arm is still bandaged, the pattern and padding of it visible beneath his shirt though the sleeve is cuffed down. He is still protectively holding it against his midsection; the damn thing is healing faster than it would if he were human, but as anyone who saw him the night of the meeting at the Brotherhood can attest, he was royally messed up to start out. He still has a ways to go.
[Kristen Burke] ((Where is everyone/is this open?))
[Rain McKellar] It's a mixed blessing that Bronwyn does not air her inner thoughts with Rain. On one hand, it's always nice to have one's life choices go unquestioned. On the other, it gives them no opportunity to better understand each other.
"It's nice enough," she says, offering Bronwyn a less nuanced smile that the Philodox casts her way. Maybe that invites further questions; it certainly doesn't seem to turn them away. She sips at her mocha and admits: "I'm trying to turn it into something more stable, here, but you mostly need schoolin' for that, so it isn't easy."
They are from very different worlds, Bronwyn and Rain. The assumptions they make about one another may not be sound. And it isn't even just the pretty mean girl and the sweet naive girl clashing across a lunch table at high school. They're so different it's hard to even find common ground, besides that they both care about Jackson. That they're family, by Tribe.
[Jackson Montgomery] [[Jackson, Bronwyn, Rain in a cafe near the window. The rest of them are out on the street somewhere-ish.]]
[Janis Ian] Janis hadn't considered that the tall, leggy blond kinfolk never met Roman, she was certain Nash had come to the Church enough to know everyone under Last Watch. The bag rustles in her hand as Roman takes one of the donut holes, she kept it held out for Kora, simply waiting as they walked to see if she'd accept one. Only then, does the bag pull back to her midsection, her own hand diving inside to separate the wax paper to pull one out and pop the little ball of glazed cake into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully.
Brown eyes sweep across Nash, she regards his injured arm and wrinkles her nose, Janis offers him a smile as he greeted them, "Hey, Marlboro Man, how's the wrangling up anymore lost girls lately?"
[Jackson Montgomery] "You have the talent," he quips, speaking up now. His admiration for Rain's musical skills is genuine, that much is simple to see. He turns his attention to his sister, touching her hand.
"Seriously, she really is good."
[Kora] Kora makes a low noise in the back of her throat when Janis says there should be a new no-moon elder. "You don't need a Shadow Lord to enshrine a leader to know when to lead and when to follow. You just do it." There's a brief, supple touch of aspersion there. "In the time I've been here, I've seen them do - nothing. Just change hats and give themselves titles, yeah?" Otherwise, her opinion regarding the auspice counsel goes largely unspoken.
A glance at Roman when he leans close and asks her if she knows him. The direct look and brief nod is answer enough. Quiet, she supplies, " - kin," dropping the word between then like a stone in clear, cool water.
"Just show up at the meeting. Mostly to listen, you know? Let them take the lead, brainstorm. I'm thinking you could be helpful in their plans though. Planting evidence or - " a narrow-shouldered shrug. "Slipping in and out of someplace, yeah?"
Nash comes up, and doesn't linger, but Kora detains him briefly with a glance. "Doc's gonna be working on the stuff by the docks, yeah? She's going to have a meeting, soon. I'd like you to attend."
AND THEN: "Shit, I gotta pee." - she makes her exit. (Sorry, guys, gotta go!)
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