[Roman Turner] He wandered back out of the woods to the clearing where the fire and food was. Yeah, maybe he was off petting his monkey, or maybe he'd been seeing a man about a horse. God only knew what he'd been up to and likely she would blush in telling if God only deemed to speak to them.
[Helen Moore] She takes a back seat to it now, content to stand with the other women and listen to them talk. Her gaze drifts from one to the other and occasionally across the gathered. She doesn't have anything to contribute yet, but takes in the beginnings of a tale with an arched eyebrow and curiousity.
[Victor Oseragighte] He needed to be free for a time. Sometimes you just had to get away from the city. He could not know he would find kindred spirits here, even ones he knew. He was drawn initially by the smell of cooking meat, and then voices. Familiar voices, some of them. He did not foresee that either.
[Simon] He laughs a little when he hears Colt's appraisal of the woman."You sound like a fuckin' infomercial man. Are you trying to sell her? Cause it sounds to me, looks to me as if you might have actually wanted to bump into her and if that's the case then maybe you should walk your ass over there and chat her up. If she's mad at you for something... Open the conversation by apologizing."He grins to Lukas and nods then looks back to Colt."Go on man I will live without your powerful arms wrapped around me to keep me warm for one night."He winks to Cole before lifting the bottle of rum to his lips and tipping it back. His eyes pop open and he hisses as he tries to catch his breath before standing and heading over towards the food.
"So where the fuck is everyone?"He asks Lukas."And why is it everyone who is here who has a mate is here without their mate?"He asks with a bit of a grin forming on his face. That was an odd thing to see especially considering how possessive Garou could be. Possessive on one side and predatory on the other.
[Roman Turner] "So..."
He cleared his throat, once more glad for the dark.
"Might pretty night Miss Helen."
He spoke up from the side as he stepped up next to Helen.
"What happened to that pretty dress from the other night and your hat wearing fella?"
[Moira] She groans inwardly, closing her eyes, raising her left hand to bring fingers up to pinch the bridge of her nose, remembering that night all to well. "Dear God, don't remind me of it..." She sighs, dropping her hand to rest on her shoulder, tapping the fingers of her other hand on the beer bottle perched on a denim-clad hip.
"I took lessons with John for a few month over Christmas after that happened. He and Joss were rather insistent that I learned. I nearly dropped the damn pistol at the firing range a few times, hate them so much. I haven not had to use mine yet."
She clears her throat, "Let's hope there isn't a repeat of something like that this year..." She doesn't mention how they would not have Lonna with them to worry over as well. She falls silent, her eyes drifting away as she glances over at Roman as he came over to speak to Helen. Moira takes a step back, the corners of her mouth peeling back in a wide smirk.
[Helen Moore] There's a small knot in her stomach, not quite a jolt as Roman came up nearby. That passes easily and she glances towards him with a smile, and maybe just a faint flush - she's glad for the dark, too. "Hey Roman," he's easy to greet, familiar, "Colt said you were running around here somewhere."
"Trance? I suppose he's somewhere in the city. I really don't think this is his sort of thing." She knew he was a Glass Walker, and could be wrong, but... well, this wasn't her sort of environment either. Helen just liked gatherings, parties, and the like. "And what's wrong with jeans?" No dresses tonight.
[Roman Turner] "I liked the dress, it fit mighty nice. I mean, it was pretty and hugged your as...as I was saying."
He rushed on.
"It's a mighty nice night, don't ya just think?"
[Drew Roscoe] "You know I'd be more than happy to help teach too. I go to the range at least once a week to keep sharp."
She kept the spit spinning for some time, until the meat was leaking fat into the fire that sizzled when it hit the flames and embers. She'd glance over to Roman when he reappeared, smile and wave a little, then check the cellphone she had tucked into her shorts pocket, perhaps looking for the time or a text message that she had received.
Either way, the girl wiped her hands on a napkin, took her beer, and held it in the air in kind of a farewell.
"I'm headin' back to the truck for a little bit. Someone text me if Joe rears his ugly head, huh?"
With goodbyes and clarifications out of the way, she'd take one of the almond pastries that the woman with super short blonde hair, the one that vanished as immediately as she had appeared, had left, then head back out of the clearing toward the parking lot, taking care to make sure everyone got a wave, even the gentlemen hovering around the campfire, even if her socialization with them had been more limited.
[Colt Montgomery] ~he saw Roman heading back to camphe grinned and finished the beer, the fire was hot, he was wondering how the food was coming along, his belly growling, he nudged Simon as he headed over to where the kin were~ "Howdy Fate, ya take care of that" ~he could tell the kid was taken with Helen, listening to their conversation, he waved at Drew as she headed off, he hoped Joe showed up too
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] There's a flash of a grimace across the Ahroun's face. He shifts his seat, one large hand coming up to paw over his mouth. A moment later his brow clears.
"I can't speak for everyone else," he says, "but Dani&+269;ka is in New York." He stands as well, dusting the seat of his jeans off as he heads for the food himself.
[Victor Oseragighte] Despite recognizing voices, he does not immediately come out into the open, treading in his wolf self, giving himself over for a time to the half he discovered only after the first change. He does not know, after all, if he is welcome here. A bark of introduction is sounded, to see if he should venture forth.
[Helen Moore] "I think I feel the same way about them as you do, Moira." She wasn't big on guns either, it seemed.
Roman had her laughing quietly, and she shook her head with a grin spread across her lips. He was young and for some reason the way he said it sounded very different to say some forty year old lech at a nightclub might say it. It had to do with that Southern charm, she suspects. "It is a nice night. A little warm, though."
Drew got a small wave of goodbye, and Helen debated whether or not she'd actually take up the offer. Time would tell, she could muse over it for awhile.
[Moira] Moira lifts a hand to wave at Drew, finally lifting up the bottle to open it. "I'll keep an eye on the food."
The Fenrir kin steps back and away, fading into the background as Helen is distracted by Roman. She makes her way over to the food table again, hunting around for a plate and begins to pile it up with food from the dishes that were brought. Once filled, she finds a vacant chair, pulling it off to the side to watch the fire and sits down to eat.
[Roman Turner] He touched the brim of his hat with a nod to Drew as she wandered off. Not entirely sure which woman to look at first, though far as he knew, Helen here was the only unattached, not likely to get him killed, female there. So like a moth to the flame, he was going to stick around for a little bit just so he could see her assets close up.
Colt came over and spoke and got a big ole grin.
"Oh, everything came out just fine and dandy. I was just complimenting Miss Helen here on the dress she wore the other night. I ain't quite seen nothing like it 'cept on cable."
[Asha Singh] There's an answering bark, out in the darkness. The sharp scent of a female wolf, someone at the edges of the gathering. Lukas can feel his packmate, out there, just outside the ring of fire, the way her feral mind backgrounds their totemic connection that suggests, too, the form she's in. The connection is sharpened by their proximity.
[Simon] He nods at Lukas and his smile grows."Nice girl, make sure to tell me when she's back in town."He says with a nod of his head. He grabs hold of a plate and begins assembling his food."So how has your pack been?"He then adds curiously to Lukas, associating with his elder. It's not a crime is it?
When Moira joins them his smile brightens just a little, it was twisted by the slightest hint of mischief. His eyes flicker over her as he begins assembling his plate."Moira, your night is treating you well I trust?"He asks her in a pleasant enough tone. At least he was being civil that was certainly a good start!
[Asha Singh] Got you a rodent. - is Asha's greeting. - and someone doofus is out here barking like he wants to come in. Maybe you should bark back? Hopeful thought. Asha would like to see the ever-compased Lukas bark in humanskin.
to Lukas Wyrmbreaker
[Victor Oseragighte] He ventures forward now, tentative, scenting the air as he does, ears pricked and alert, a stocky but fairly average example of the North American timber wolf, from his gray coat to his orange eyes.
[Colt Montgomery] ~Colt stood right next to Roman, two cowboys and one good lookin Fianna kin, this could be a cable show in itself, though Helen knew him better than that, he really wanted to know why she was so pissy with him the other night, he totally missed it~ "Yes, Miss Moore makes any outfit look good, no problem... in fact... I think if she traded in those hiking boots for some cowboy boots, and I offered her my hat.. she's be all cowgirl" ~he had missed seeing the woman in her sexy dress, but he was able to see it through Roman's explanation~
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "I will," Lukas says, and, "We've been well, thank you."
No more detail there, either -- Moira passes, plate piled with food; Simon greets her, and Lukas's pale eyes flick her way as well. He's busy heating his own plate. Mostly meat. Potatoes, too. Some green beans. Not much in the way of leafy-greens.
His eyes go distant for a moment; there's a private little smile at the edges of his mouth. He laughs under his breath, and then rather abruptly turns from the food tables to shout into the night:
"There's food, fire and company here! You're welcome to join!"
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] Lukas, ever the partypooper: How's that for barking?
to Asha Singh
[Roman Turner] "No, no, she has to have Daisy Dukes with the boots and hat. Ain't the same with jeans wouldn't ya agree Colt?"
If he kept this up he was going to need another walk. Though he had the biggest shit eating smile on his face.
[Helen Moore] "Okay boys," she holds up her hand a little as if to ward them off as they both gang up on her, but she's smiling, "let's talk less about my dresses, shall we? You both look like vultures right now, and neither of you have offered me a drink." If they were going to talk about her assets like she was some girl on cable, then she would take somewhat advantage of that, or at least call them out on being asses.
[Moira] Moira can feel the wandering eyes of the Shadow Lord easily enough, a dark brow crooking up in his direction as he pretends to play civil with her. She scoots her chair off to the side so she could see Simon better while he talked to her. The flick of his gaze would take in the casual attire the woman wore, denim shorts with flat-soled boots and a camisole. She had brought a hoodie with her that was wrapped around her waist in case she took on a chill.
The faint lines of blue henna painted woad markings stain bare skin, running in patterns of twisted lines and spirals, celtic knotwork along her shoulders, back and upper arms, disappearing under her clothing.
She balances the plate of food easily on her lap, after crossing one knee over the other. The beer nestled somewhere. "My night is good so far, Simon, how about yours? Dateless as usual I gather... then again, your boyfriend isn't here either." She waggles her eyebrows at him, "I'm not sure if Karl is going to make it or not."
[Asha Singh] BOO.
to Lukas Wyrmbreaker
[Colt Montgomery] ~he chuckled, his own grin had gone lopsided~ "well ya should meet Cara.. she's always wearing daisy dukes and boots..." ~Helen was right, she stood there without a drink, that would need to be remedied, he knew she liked wine, she wasn't much of a beer drinker~ "I can fetch ya some vino" ~he reluctantly headed off to find a bottle of wine, one that she probably had brought, he'd return a short time later and offer it up to her, having given Helen and Fate a lil time to continue the flirting or whatever, he was all smiles once again~
[Marni] Yeah, like there was any doubt that the perpetually hungry gnawer would miss out on free food... There's no telling how long she's been here, or when she really arrived, unless someone hears the grumbling of her belly as she appears near the food table, and goes about piling a plate high.
She's eating for two, after all.
Only once she's managed to snag enough to keep her briefly satiated, only then does she actually look up and search out who's here, and who she might want to actually speak too. That's when she realizes Lukas is at the table. A little grin, a slight shrug, and she finishes making her plate.
[Victor Oseragighte] The wolf emerges from shadows into the firelight, changing as he does so. He looks a bit off tonight, his clothes clearly not his own; a pair of green cargo shorts a bit too tight on him, a gray t-shirt entirely too long for his stocky frame. It is evident to anybody there that he is wearing borrowed clothes, and there are any number of reasons why a Garou would be doing so.
[Asha Singh] Victor approaches wearing his wolf skin. Asha does not.
Instead, somewhere in the shadow of the woods, away from the heat of and light of the bonfire: wolf becomes wolf-girl. For anyone close to the edges of the of clearing: a sensation of mass, and of then, air displaced. Asha is dark skinned and dark eyed and black-haired, all in sharp contrast both to the fur she wears in her feral form (gleaming, white) and the crisp white blouse she wears tonight over skinny black jeans and strappy little sandal better suited to kicking off underneath your table at the club before dancing than to walking into a clear with a bonfire and animal-men and animal-women whistling a tonal song under your breath and carrying someting
- dead.
By its tail.
[Asha Singh] You want it cooked? pause, or are you eating it raw?
to Lukas Wyrmbreaker
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] Ever-unruffled: I couldn't bear to eat such a wondrous gift as a rodent. I'm going to have it stuffed and put on display in the middle of Kate's loft. She won't mind, right?
to Asha Singh
[Roman Turner] "There ya go, ole Colt is gonna get ya a drink and I won't compare dresses with ya or nothing. Though correct me if I'm wrong about this."
He leaned closer to Helen just so he could smell her while whispering.
"Ain't Cara his Packmate which makes her True?"
There was no way on earth he was going to drool over forbidden fruit because his grand pappy would rise from the grave and kick his ass up between his shoulder blades.
Suddenly Victor came out of the woods, then a woman he didn't recall who was dragging something dead along.
"Well dang, I should'a brought something dead. I saw a possum about a half mile down the road that looked like it weren't dead so long."
[Helen Moore] It was amusing that the shorter Roman had to lean up to whisper to the taller woman. She was five foot ten in flat shoes. At least he had a few more years left of growth spurts.
She smelled like perfume, clinging to clean clothes that has never seen this sort of wilderness since it came off the production line, and somewhere underneath it like warm, scented, pure bred female. Her brows raised at the question which had her shoulders lifting in a subtle shrug.
"I don't know. I've never met her."
[Helen Moore] Helen didn't bring wine but water. But whatever was offered, beer, water or wine, had been taken from Colt with a small smile. "Thank you." She could have gotten it herself, but since they were ogling, it served them right. Taking a sip from it, she let her gaze drift over to Victor and Asha as Roman mentions dead possums, killing any sort of appetite that she may have had. She wisely stops from commenting.
[Colt Montgomery] ~Colt offered Helen a water bottle and a beer after all, he hadn't found wine, he was still quite the gentleman, he'd missed the whole conversation the two had, he did think it was quite odd, the much smaller boy whispering up to her, but none the less, he took his place once more, He was damned near a foot taller than Roman, from behind, he could be mistaken for Colt's son, jeans, cowboy hats~ "Here ya go darlin, two for the price of one, I know ya don't care much for beer, but thought ya might make an exception, no fun drinkin alone, least for me"
[Victor Oseragighte] His mouth quirked into a smile at Roman's comment, thinking that he himself was half dead earlier, so that probably counts. He is still a bit tentative about moving fully into the circle, not certain he belongs there quite yet. The aroma of cooking meat, though, is intoxicating, and settles his mind, drawing him further to nod silently to those present. With such smells in the air, one would have to be very close to him to pick up the distinctive coppery odor of blood.
[Asha Singh] I'll get another one for your to have stuffed. Or really, you could eat the INSIDES Asha suggests, gleaming. He can see that now, even from a distance, the way her black eyes gleam as she cuts him a look across the clearing. snce you only ned the OUTSIDES for stuffing.
to Lukas Wyrmbreaker
[Roman Turner] Helen's response wasn't anything he could play off of so she got a...
"Me either."
And then a cricket chirping moment arrived as he stood there trying to think of something else to say.
[Colt Montgomery] ~Colt offered Helen a water bottle and a beer after all, he hadn't found wine, he was still quite the gentleman, he'd missed the whole conversation the two had, he did think it was quite odd, the much smaller boy whispering up to her, but none the less, he took his place once more, He was damned near a foot taller than Roman, from behind, he could be mistaken for Colt's son, jeans, cowboy hats~ "Here ya go darlin, two for the price of one, I know ya don't care much for beer, but thought ya might make an exception, no fun drinkin alone, least for me"
[Helen Moore] Laughing softly, she took the beer as well as the water bottle. "I can agree with that. Nobody likes drinking alone." Even though she enjoyed a bottle of wine herself over a weekend period, drinking and working from home. It's a sad state of affairs when a Fianna kin is resorted to that. She'd made up for it during the week. Boy had she.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] You can tell which werewolves have totemic links to their packmates easily enough. They're the ones that tend to occasionally space out. They're the ones that get strange expressions on their faces for no good reason at all. Right now, Lukas is one of them: bemusement chases disgust across his face, and then -- right as he's about to haul a huge cut of steak directly to his mouth with his fingers -- he bursts into laughter.
"Marni," he says suddenly, "I've got a question for you. If you had a choice between ribeye steak and a rodent from the woods, which would you pick?"
[Simon] He grins back at her."Dateless but never lonely..."He adds back to Moira as he leans in."My boyfriend? You are speaking of your mate? I am sorry to hear if you suspect I've turned his eye, but then again I could certainly understand what he saw in me. Strength, courage, a charming smile... And if you ask me I'm damn good in bed."He winks back at her."So I mean if I have accidentally managed to steal your mate away I do apologize but I can't be held responsible for actions that were not even my doing can I?"He asks her curiously."Besides I am afraid I would have to break his poor heart if in fact I had drawn his attention for I have eyes only for my work... And the occasional dalliance on the side."He grins back at her and looks down realizing he has filled his plate completely.
[Marni] She blinks as Lukas speaks, and takes a moment to look around, as she finishes chewing the bit of meat she'd been in the process of shoving into her maw as fast as she could chew. A thick swallow, and she wrinkles her nose.
"Well, that ain't somethin ya can answer straight up. How's the steak cooked, how old is it, and so on. Then, there's the rodent. I ain't any too happy to eat Rats, that's like bitin off my own foot, ya know? So depends on the rodent. And MOST of all, it depends on how fuckin' hungry I am at the moment. Right now? I'm all for steak, but I sure as hell wouldn't look any gift food in the mouth... not as hungry as I been lately."
"that answer ya question?" She knows it doesn't really - but just grins and takes another bite.
[Colt Montgomery] "Cheers to the Summer Solstice" ~he saw Marni appear, and gave her a wave!
[Moira] Moira listens to Simon, taking in bites of food from her plate and a swallow of beer to help it go down better. She crooks an eyebrow at him, listening with feigned interest, the corners of her mouth curling back into a brief smile.
"You are so full of shit, Simon." She laughs then, shaking her head at him, "Dateless you are likely to always be with that kind of talk, but then again, as you say. You are like a man married to only his work, blood and carnage are your meat and potatoes, so therefore, it becomes your lover as well."
She shrugs, "I am not worried about you breaking Karl's heart. I just say that with how well you two seem to get along, bosom buddies and the sort."
[Marni] She grins as Colt waves at her, and winks at him in return - calling out a "Hey cowboy!" between bites. She really is huuuungry.
[Victor Oseragighte] His eyes slide sideways at the mention of a particular name, and he speaks it aloud. "Marni." He studied her, having not really had a chance to speak with her despite being told about the Bone Gnawer by both Karl and Mama. He gravitates slowly toward the offered food, pausing to look at Lukas, silently asking to speak with his stance.
[Mama Ankle-Biter] "Bad Shadow Lord, no Scooby-Snacks for Mr. Wyrmbreaker. Rats are not a delicacy." the slow lazy drawl of the small bleach blond Gnawer appears behind the tall Ahroun, her head canting to the side as she fixes a wide blue-eyed gaze up at him. Bleach blond curls bounce along shoulders and frame her cherub face in a frizzy halo.
All 5'3 of Mama Ankle-Biter seems to magically appear, or not really, she just pops into existence from the other side, swinging a longing gaze at the food table. She wets her mouth with her licks, like wolf licking its chops and the lupus-born immediately takes up a plate, piling it on with various cuts of meat (and meat only) that becomes too heavy for the plate to hold. She starts to slurp the cuts of meat down, swallowing more than chewing, eating with a voracious appetite for such a small thing that might put a black hole to shame.
[Roman Turner] "Well, I'm gonna head back to town."
He lifted his voice and with a wave to the gathering called.
"Y'all have a great night and thanks for the hospitality!"
[Asha Singh] "Hey!" - Colt and Roman and Helen are interrupted briefly by a diminutive wolf-girl interested in drinking something other than water. This is Asha: her clothing cost more than the downpayment on a new car, less than the downpayment on a new house. Her black har was styled sometime in recent memory, and well, by skilled hands, though the effect has been undermined by her decision to play Great White Hunter in Tekakwithwa Woods, and now the mane of her black hair is WINDBLOWN rather than [i]windblown[i].
And she is carrying something dead by its tail. It's not an oppossum, all gleaming white and hairless tail. It's not a rat, and it's not a squirrel. It is something small, darkfurred. " - where'd you get the beer?" She lingers by the trio just long enough to get directions to the motherlode of alcohol, then vamooses, skedaddles. Finds: the cooler of beer, opens it, and pulls out three between the fingers of her right hand. It's like a beer commercial. Or would be, were she five inches taller, two years older, and wearing 90% less clothing than she is now.
So: not so much like a beer commercial.
[Asha Singh] Did you bring a blender?
to Lukas Wyrmbreaker
[Asha Singh] Asks Asha, innocently holding three beers in one hand.
to Lukas Wyrmbreaker
[Colt Montgomery] ~he looked from Marni to Roman~ "You take care Fate... We'll be in touch, tell sparrow howdy" ~his attention back to Helen~ "So ya think ya can do me a favor... maybe let me in on why you were so disappointed in me" ~he was rather curious~ "I'd like to appoligize for my actions"
[Helen Moore] "You know, Colt, that was awhile ago now. I'd rather not get back into it," she says, looking to him directly. Asha had been given directions to the cooler when she came over and asked, which wasn't too far from where they were standing as it were. But now she looks back to Colt again, beer mostly untouched in her hand. "But thank you anyway. You don't need to apologize." Especially for something he doesn't know he did wrong.
[Simon] He can't help but grin back as she speaks. His eyes wander down to the pile of meat and the potatoes on his plate before drifting back to her."If you are suggesting that I make love to my plate I must reluctantly decline. As enticing and exciting a show as that might be I am not about to embarrass Lukas with such inappropriate behavior!"He was being playful, those eyes still glimmering as the firelight reflects off them. He settles the bottle of rum on the table and settles into his seat.
"You're right though... Karl and I do work together well. It's cause we see things similarly, I don't see too much in the way of man on man action as a result."He grabs a potato from his plate and takes a bite from it."At the very least you can trust that as long as there is breath left in me I will make sure your man gets home to you every night. Well unless he does something stupid. In which case his ass can die in a fire I'm not gettin' my ass killed for an idiot."He says before taking another bite from his potato. This shit is awesome!
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "You know, I concur completely," Lukas says to the pair of Gnawers, pops a potato wedge in his mouth, and heads over toward Asha.
"I'll have you know," he says as he closes the distance, "I've just consulted with Marni and Mama Anklebiter, who as Bone Gnawers should be considered the resident authority on unusual gastronomy. They informed me that this steak," he points at the thick slab of medium-rare goodness on his plate, "is preferable to rodent meat. However, Marni reminds me that what's wasted in summer might be wanted in winter.
"So," with the air of a professor of philosophy coming to some grand conclusion, "I think we should eat it."
He shifts his plate to his left hand, reaching out the grasp the thing by the tail with the other, lifting it into the firelight. "As the ranking Garou here, I suppose the first of the kill goes to me. But as a mighty, shining Silver Fang, surely the second of the kill goes to you, Asha.
"What do you say? Shall we split it?" A glance around, all innocence. "Unless you fine wolves and kin care to share our kill."
[Moira] "I would think the wily mind of a No Moon would not need an ahroun of your ..." a pause, grasping for words, she plucks up a piece of meat tossing it in her mouth and chews before continuing, "Capabilities, Simon, would need to pull Karl's ass out of the fire. He isn't stupid, and I know he is smarter than he might appear."
She shakes her head as Simon makes references to making love to his plate, it makes Moira laugh aloud. "I was not referring to the food on your plate, you silly man. I meant what you do, the killing - fighting. You are rather bloodthirsty for a Shadow Lord. But not nearly as bad as a Fenrir."
[Mama Ankle-Biter] "Ya should dig'a hole in ya backyard, Wyrmbreaker, and give the poor thing a proper burial! Its too big to flush down the toilets at that bro'hood. Mama done tried already."
Chuckling, the little Gnawer finds a spot on the ground, shifting slightly as she goes back to devouring the meat on the plate. A greasy-fingered wave wiggle at Victor in passing when she catches his eyes.
[Marni] Marni grins at Mama, and then follows her Alpha when she moves to a quiet place to continue eating, flopping down on the ground beside her to attack her own meal.
[Victor Oseragighte] Mama Ankle-Biter herself arrives then, and he waivers a moment before he heads fir her instead, walking up with his carefully measured gait and leaning down to whisper. The wave prompts a small smile beforehe murmurs, "should I mention what happened? Seems... festive." That thick aroma of meat was getting to him, making his stomach rumble again already, the strain of healing earlier still on him a little.
[Mama Ankle-Biter] Mama smiles up at Victor warmly, tilting her head all the way to look up at him. She shakes her head, causing a few curls to fall into her eyes. "Go and get'cha something to eat first, baby. Ya look famished and ya stomach's gone eat itself right up. There's plenty of meat to spare, come back and sit with Marni and me, we can discuss what'cha did then."
She makes a gentle shooing sound, pointing over at the table. A side-glance to Marni, leaning over to sniff at her plate, she raises an eyebrow and then looks down at her own, and shrugs. She shifts in the dirt until she could lean up against the other Gnawer.
[Simon] He grins back at Moira."Well I should hope not, I think a little more highly of Karl than that."He says as he settles back in his chair."You haven't really seen me in action yet. Give it time, I'll make sure to live up to your approval one of these days."He winks and then turns his attention towards the others gathered around them.
"Doesn't really matter what we do or think or say... Sooner or later we all come home in Body Bags."He says with a smile on his face."I'm Betting Karl will avoid that fate a bit longer than many Fenrir. I just wanted to reassure you that your mate had someone watching his back."
[Asha Singh] "The head is the best part," Asha refuses to be non-plussed when Lukas offers/threatens to share her kill. Instead, she flashes him this wide, potentially terrifying smile, smile up at him, all white teeth and black eyes, and flops the corpse into his hand. " - because of the brains?" eyeing him, passingly, just to make she he understands that he brains are a delicacy he should absolutely have the honor of enjoying as the first among the Garou assembled.
"So you should have that. Are we gonna have it raw? Or like, are you gonna have to cook it?" The corpse is still warm, and flops obligingly as Asha holds it out to her Alpha. "Hey - did you ever read that book where a bunch of kids eat worms every day for like a bazillion days on a bet?"
Then, frowning down at her right hand, with the three beers clasped between her fingers, Asha holds them up and out, offering them to Lukas obligingly. "You want a beer? I can get another if you do."
[Moira] Moira chews thoughtfully on her food as she listens, squinting at Simon with something he says. She swallows, taking a sip of her beer to wash the aftertaste of cooked meat down. She runs her tongue over her teeth, and along the inside of her left cheek.
"You are correct, Simon, I have not seen you in action. I do not get to see many werewolves in battle as I do not tend to get stuck in the middle of them." She snorts softly at his comment on body bags, "As long as Karl comes home to me alive in some fashion, I am perfectly capable of putting him back together no matter how severe the wounds."
Her chest rises and falls slowly, shifting in the chair to get more comfortable, "Why would you want to live up to my approval?"
[Victor Oseragighte] He offers a grateful smile before he slips past her and over to the meat supply. Rather than go for something cooked, he selects a slab yet to experience the caress of the flame, good and fresh and bloody, and carries it back with him to drop down beside Mama Ankle-Biter and Marni and tear in as if he were starving.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "I have never," Lukas intones, "read that book."
He studies the carcass, then. Maybe he's trying to make sure it really is fresh. Rather than, say, roadkill.
"I'll take the brains. But the guts are pretty awesome too. So you should have that." Beat. "All of them. And the kidneys too. I call dibs on the liver though. We can split the heart, because I'm generous like that."
Another.
"Or we can do as Mama suggests and give this fellow a proper burial. He can be our sacrifice to the season."
[Marni] Dark eyes flick toward Moira and Simon, tipping her head slightly. She doesn't interrupt though, intent on her meal. She shifts her weight slightly so that she's leaning against Mama too, comfortably huddled together in mutual support.
She grins up at Victor when he joins them, and simply keeps eating - while she turns her gaze back toward Lukas and Asha and their kill/sacrifice.
[Karl Holds the Line] There is no rustle of brushes to betray the Rotagar. No crackling of leaves underfoot. One moment, the forest seems empty, all wildlife long since having fled the area flooding with rage. And then the Norse Fenrir is stepping out of the treeline, stopping to glance around and to the fires before starting forward with a slow roll of his shoulders.
[Simon] He shrugs his shoulders."Not really a goal of mine personally or anything, I'm just figuring sooner or later you'll have no choice is all."He says with a nod. He reaches down to lift his meat to his lips and take a bite watching Lukas still as well as the others. He was curious as to how he would handle all this.
[Mama Ankle-Biter] The presence of pack brings a comforting feeling to Mama Ankle-Biter. It calms the constant flutter of her thoughts which beats rapidly like the wings of a hummingbird. Aspects of the totem's characteristics seems to affect each member under its banner differently - with Marni: it's hunger. Karl - his movement, and Ankle-Biter: the way she processes thought. The small woman snorts out a breath air, lifting an eyebrow up at Victor as he rejoins them. She grins, twitching her nose at the scent of raw meat. Her stomach growling, despite the pile of devoured cooked meat she just inhaled.
"So, what happen with that pretty boy ya fished out of the fountain earlier?" this to Victor.
[Asha Singh] "Me either," Asha replies, amicably, as she opens one of the three beers she has claimed as her own, still holding the other two, concerned though perhaps not convinced thatsomeone might come along and take them away. "My cousin Naima did, though. She tried to gross me out about it when we were eight. So I got cook to make samosas and I stuffed her samosa full fo worms instead of potato."
Asha pauses, studying her kill with a critical eye, taking an overlong draught of her beer, tipping her dark head back, black hair swinging. "Since you'e sharing," she says, "I've got dibs on the eyeball."
The carcass is fresh. He can see her the marks of her teeth in the unfortunate little creature's neck. " - though if you want to give him to summer, I'm good with that."
[Moira] Moira frowns at the Shadow Lord as he starts to confuse her. She wasn't drunk yet and the beer hadn't made her thoughts fuzzy enough to not think clearly. She finishes her plate of food and the beer, starting to stand up.
"You didn't answer my question, Simon, and what do you mean I will have no choice. No choice for what?"
[Victor Oseragighte] "Before or after," he asked after swallowing a mouthful of his meal, large enough that his cheeks had bulged. He wipes away a bit of blood from his lips before speaking again. "We were sitting. Talking. Then suddenly Adrian's in the fountain drowning at the end of the man's hand and I am being bowled over by the other one. All got a bit.... red for a while after that," he admitted softly.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "That, Asha, is completely disgusting." Lukas thinks for a moment. "When I was about six I made my future mate fall out of an oak tree. That's about the best I've got."
Then, taking a last bite of steak, he bends down to set his plate aside.
"Summer can have something else," he says, his eyes gleaming, his grin gleaming -- and then stretching wide and toothy as he starts to shapeshift. "Let's eat it."
A pair of Ahrouns, a Silver Fang and a Shadow Lord, playing at brinksmanship: the outcome was nearly inevitable.
[Mama Ankle-Biter] "So, let me get this straight. Ya and this... kin." tilting her head at Victor as she looks him over, "Were in the park talking, chatting and then all of sudden some Spirals showed up and decided to drown him and kill you?"
She blinks, running her thumb across her bottom lip, blond eyebrows knitting into a small frown, "Why did they want to do that, and what did ya do with him after me leaving?"
[Marni] Her eyes are on Lukas and Asha, but her attention is on Victor and the story he tells mama. Multitasking at it's best - as she's still emptying her plate at a rate that would make the biggest man gag and give up any attempt at keeping up with her...
[Karl Holds the Line] ”Someone told me there was going to be a celebration here, but it seems more like a graveyard.”
Spoken loud enough to carry as he angles towards Simon and Moira. A glance and a nod towards the other group as he does. Priorities after all.
“Bone-Grinder, don’t tell me you are trying to put the moves on my woman? Even I cant save you from her if she takes offense you know.”
Said with a grin to the shadowlord ahroun as he goes to wrap an arm around Moira.
[Simon] He laughs at Moira's question and his attention is pulled back to her."That's the million dollar question now isn't it? What exactly do I mean?"He asks her before giving a soft little laugh. He parts his lips and gently taps a canine with his tongue, a sign he was thinking if she had taken the time to read his cues in previous conversations.
"We don't always get our time to shine. I mean many do... We all stand around and puff and cheer and celebrate even the death of another of our kind. Victory, honor, and courage... These things are all beautiful and we center our society around them so much that we often miss the greater picture."He says with a smile."The quickest way to win a war... Is to end it."He says with a nod of his head and lifting the bottle of rum her direction and using it to wash his food down.
There is a sharp breath drawn in and a wince of his eyes. But he smiles soon enough and peeks up at Karl."I think your mate is more worried that I might be trying to make a move on you."He says with a laugh."I was wondering when you would show."
[Victor Oseragighte] "Drown him," he corrected her. "They were there for him. Adrian thinks it is related to some of them that he killed or was around when they were killed. I was just... wrong place. Wrong time. For them. Got lucky. Almost didn't."
[Moira] "Men!" She snorts out indignantly, shaking her head. A shudder runs across her spine as the broil of rage doubles, encasing her from the front and behind as Karl comes up to her, stealing an arm around her. She looks down at Simon, lips pursed into a thin line as she listens to him ... lecture.
"I am not worried one bit about you putting any moves on me, Simon, you couldn't reach first base even if you tried."
[Karl Holds the Line] ”Well, someone had to do their duty to the caern.”
Said with a chuckle to Simon.
“Patrol ran into some trouble so took a little longer then expected, but I am here now. As for making a move on me… No touchy feely until at least you buy me dinner, those are the rules.”
He turns his gaze to Moira, offering his mate a warm smile before he nuzzles her temple for a moment.
“Yes, we are horrible creatures.”
[Mama Ankle-Biter] "Yeah, you were pretty lucky..." She clucks her tongue against the roof of her mouth in thought, quirking an eyebrow at Victor. "What did ya do with the boy after Mama left?"
[Moira] "Yes, you all are. The bane of my existence." This she growls out at Karl, tilting her head to look back at the Rotagar, sighing as Moira leans back against him. She rolls her eyes up, looking up at the night sky as Simon and Karl flirt with each other in front of her. She bumps against the Fenrir holding her, dropping a hand to his arm and unwinds it from around her waist, stepping out of his grasp to sidle away and off to throw the plate and empty bottle away.
Moira moves off to a cooler to fetch a new one for herself and one for Karl, before returning back to them.
[Asha Singh] Asha rolls her eyes in Lukas' general direction, but there's a momentary shrewdness as her eye level on his. Still, she snorts in the end. "That's not even gross. When I was nine I stabbed all the fish in the pond at our estate in Sussex with my pata and put fish eyeballs in the shoes of my mother, my governess," there is a list. It becomes singsong as she tries to remember it all, "my etiquette instructor, Thomas, the cook, the undermaid, the chatelaine, and my fencing instructor. I didn't do anything to the chai-wallah, though."
She continues, companionably, her voice deepening as she begins to shift.
"I liked him."
--
And so: they shift. Either Lukas thinks he is calling Asha's bluff or vice versa. Neither will give up, however.
- and Asha, she's not bluffing.
"I GOT DIBS ON EYEBALLS."
- she growls, before speech is no longer possible. Then, finally lupine, gleaming silver, brilliant under the moon, the beast seizes the unfortunate muskrat in her jaws and holds out the other half for Lukas to seize. The first of the kill to the greatest in station.
[Simon] He grins at Moira's comment then looks up at Karl."Did that sound like she was challenging me to you? Cause you know if I didn't respect your claim over your mate I might have to respond to her challenge!"He says before grinning back to Moira."Right cause we totally are out to destroy you. I am sorry to admit but it would be a shame to destroy such a lovely kin. Your tribe would never let me live it down, and I don't think Karl would ever speak to me again."
[Mama Ankle-Biter] Mama looks up towards Lukas and Asha as they discuss the portions of the kill. She tilts her head to the side, arching a blond brow. "If any of ya had real gumption. Mama thinks Lukas should eat it in homid, unless he's too chicken to really savior the taste of a trash delicacy."
[Victor Oseragighte] "Kept watch on him back to his home. He loaned me some clothes, then headed somewhere else to spend the night. Think he was nervous to stay at his own place. He's safe, though," he assured the Gnawer, going silent again, subdued, as he tore off another mouthful and chewed.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "No," his own voice is sliding from smooth to rough, from human to bestial, "I was a pretty good kid."
The truth is he was a wild brat. The truth is he shrieked and ran and slid and knocked about; the truth is they wouldn't recognize him, his pack, if they saw him the way he was. He's grown into a very controlled, very stoic man. Man-wolf. That's the thing, though. The way he is now, being wild would be dangerous. Or lethal.
Just look at those teeth when he achieves lupus form. He bites down on the front half of the muskrat and bones crunch and grate. His paws plant and his muscles bunch; with jerks and twists, he and his packmate pull and heave and rip at the carcass until it tears open, tears apart, comes apart with strings of meat and viscerae dangling, still warm. Feral now, the black wolf growls low at Mama Anklebiter, more instinctive warding than any real reply.
My food. Mine.
He sinks down on his belly, putting a paw over the morsel, and starts tearing heartily at the organ-meats in the body cavity. True to his word, Asha soon gets a chunk of flesh spat in her direction: half a heart. And a little later, when the brainpan is licked clean: the rest of the skull, grotesque and crushed, eyeballs dimly agleam beneath a fold of torn skin. Yummy!
[Karl Holds the Line] ”Well, then it is a good thing that you do Simon. I hate cleaning up the mess after her kills. Do you know how long it takes to get the blood cleaned from the walls? It is a pain, I tell you.”
Moira slips away and Karl glances after her, watching the sultry kin move away with an appreciative smile for a moment before catching himself and looking back to Simon.
“But that reminds me. I could use your assistance with something Simon. I need a partner.”
He does not make it sound as if it was for dancing, but doesn’t offer more detail than that for the time being.
“Thank you Moira.”
He accepts the beer from his mate with a smile, opening it to take a sip.
“Now… Beer settled. Why is no one fighting yet? You could think we were discussing politics or something. It is not any kind of real celebration until we offer some blood to the spirits of summer after all.”
[Mama Ankle-Biter] Mama nods her head, nudging the quiet Marni with her shoulder. She starts to pull herself up from the ground, glancing down at her empty plate. "Hmm, done good then, seeing him home. Not much else ya can do. Will have to let his tribe know what went down, but that won't be problem."
She gestures to the tables, "Gone to get more cooked meat to eat like a civilized human!" this shouted over to the pair of wolves that devour the muskrat. She looks on at them, shaking her head and twitching her nose. The growl that rumbles from the black wolf raises her hackles and the theurge turns to visually engage the wolf. Blue eyes fixed on him.
[Simon] He looks back at Karl and he nods his head."If you need me I am there... But if it involves me in a dress or any other women's clothing then I am gonna need cash up front."He adds with a bit of a chuckle.
[Simon] He then hears mention of Blood and shrugs his shoulders."Well why don't you go spill some blood? You've got three Ahrouns to choose from right here."
[Marni] She blinks as she's nudged, and grins sheepishly up at Mama. She's cleaned her plate, and could likely do another, but for the fact that she's suddenly sleepy, too. She hides a yawn behind her hand, and lazily watches the proceedings as she pats her belly, and simply does her best to stay awake and not miss a thing.
[Moira] Moira bumps her hip into Karl's eying him up and down with a furrow of her eyebrows. She slips around him, resuming her seat in the chair. Her eyes drift back to Simon, becoming tight lipped as she wiggles in the chair to get more comfortable. Moira rolls her eyes again, leaning her elbow down on the arm of the chair, hand cupping her cheek as she leans on it. Fingers thrum on the side of the bottle, looking between the two of them.
[Asha Singh] Black and white. There are words for that: chiaroscuro. They are like painted in the palette of some 1940s Noir film or some grade-school riddle: black and white and red. Lukas begins to tear apart the corpse of the unfortunate muskrat, and Asha - whose name is Other in this form, wholly inhuman, snaps and growls, hackles rising in support of her Alpha's warning to Mama.
Lukas licks the brainclean clean and heaves organ meat and the skull at her in quick succession. The Silver Fang downs the glistening viscera without hesitation, and without a second thought. Her black lips peel back from her sharp front teeth as she tongues at the eyeballs in their sockets, pushes at them until they disloge and come away far enough for her to grasp them with her teeth and gobble them down.
[Victor Oseragighte] He swallows and laughs silently at Lukas antics once he rises to Mama's taunts, shaking his head. He is reminded, though, by them of his own hunger, and tears away another chunk, grateful for this sustenance. Softly he adds to his earlier account, "the man was strong. He knocked me senseless for a few when I was in warform and frenzying. Definitely more dangerous than the other. Packmates, I believe. He called her 'sister.'"
[Karl Holds the Line] ”You are right of course. Leave it to the Fenrir to start the celebration.”
He takes a healthy swig of his beer, then looks over to the others.
“I will be right back.”
He brushes his hand over Moiras shoulder, then steps towards the other group, where MArni, Mama and the Unbroken sit with Victor. A glance to Lukas and Asha with their ‘feast’ as he approaches.
“Wyrmbreaker-rhya, k&+257;lar&+257;tri-yuf. Swallow-yuf.”
Greeting those three that are not his bonded pack. They have already received his touch through their shared bond.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] Briefly, both wolves of the Unbroken are baring teeth at Mama Anklebiter. Briefly, the two Alpha lock eyes, blue to blue, fixed, the Shadow Lord clearly capable of taking it one step further into true challenge territory.
The fire isn't there between them, though. The tension and intent. Wyrmbreaker doesn't rise. Anklebiter doesn't lean forward to strengthen her stare. A moment passes, and then unremarked, the Fosterns turn away from each other: the wolf-shaped homid and the human-shaped lupus. Wyrmbreaker's tongue laves his muzzle as he watches his packmate gobble down the eyeballs. His tongue licks in and out a few more times, and then his eyes, icy-pale, startling against the pitchblack fur of this form, flick up to Karl.
"Holds the Line."
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] Did you know, the mental connection reopens, they eat brain-burgers in Texas? Battered and deep-fried. I hear it's about 1800% of your daily requirement of cholesterol.
to Asha Singh
[Victor Oseragighte] He grew quiet and still when he sensed that what had begun as jest could become more. It was his moon, and that put him on edge, even moreso after the events of earlier. Matters of the law, of dominance and hierarchy, he was keenly attuned to, on a level that still sometimes surprised himself. Victor only remembres to breathe when the potential Challenge does not materialize, finally nodding respectfully to Karl, though he keeps a wary eye on Wyrmbreaker.
[Asha Singh] I'll send Thomas, Asha replies, To get you one if you've a hankering.
to Lukas Wyrmbreaker
[Karl Holds the Line] ”It has come to my attention that you need a Fenrir to start the celebration properly. I don’t have a skald to set it up, but I am thinking we should have an Holmgång to honor the spirits.”
His own very pale blue eyes equally matching wyrmbreaker’s. Glacial pale and cold.
“Who is up for it?”
[Asha Singh] (Asha would do it! Damon has my permission to NPC her if he wants.)
[Victor Oseragighte] Unfamiliar with the Fenrir's terms, he cants his head quizzically, not needing to speak a single word to ask the man what he is talking about, at least if Karl is perceptive enough.
[Asha Singh] (and Kora was here ages ago. so pretend she's around too. PRETEND.) (liz goes poof.)
[Helen Moore] She takes a back seat to it now, content to stand with the other women and listen to them talk. Her gaze drifts from one to the other and occasionally across the gathered. She doesn't have anything to contribute yet, but takes in the beginnings of a tale with an arched eyebrow and curiousity.
[Victor Oseragighte] He needed to be free for a time. Sometimes you just had to get away from the city. He could not know he would find kindred spirits here, even ones he knew. He was drawn initially by the smell of cooking meat, and then voices. Familiar voices, some of them. He did not foresee that either.
[Simon] He laughs a little when he hears Colt's appraisal of the woman."You sound like a fuckin' infomercial man. Are you trying to sell her? Cause it sounds to me, looks to me as if you might have actually wanted to bump into her and if that's the case then maybe you should walk your ass over there and chat her up. If she's mad at you for something... Open the conversation by apologizing."He grins to Lukas and nods then looks back to Colt."Go on man I will live without your powerful arms wrapped around me to keep me warm for one night."He winks to Cole before lifting the bottle of rum to his lips and tipping it back. His eyes pop open and he hisses as he tries to catch his breath before standing and heading over towards the food.
"So where the fuck is everyone?"He asks Lukas."And why is it everyone who is here who has a mate is here without their mate?"He asks with a bit of a grin forming on his face. That was an odd thing to see especially considering how possessive Garou could be. Possessive on one side and predatory on the other.
[Roman Turner] "So..."
He cleared his throat, once more glad for the dark.
"Might pretty night Miss Helen."
He spoke up from the side as he stepped up next to Helen.
"What happened to that pretty dress from the other night and your hat wearing fella?"
[Moira] She groans inwardly, closing her eyes, raising her left hand to bring fingers up to pinch the bridge of her nose, remembering that night all to well. "Dear God, don't remind me of it..." She sighs, dropping her hand to rest on her shoulder, tapping the fingers of her other hand on the beer bottle perched on a denim-clad hip.
"I took lessons with John for a few month over Christmas after that happened. He and Joss were rather insistent that I learned. I nearly dropped the damn pistol at the firing range a few times, hate them so much. I haven not had to use mine yet."
She clears her throat, "Let's hope there isn't a repeat of something like that this year..." She doesn't mention how they would not have Lonna with them to worry over as well. She falls silent, her eyes drifting away as she glances over at Roman as he came over to speak to Helen. Moira takes a step back, the corners of her mouth peeling back in a wide smirk.
[Helen Moore] There's a small knot in her stomach, not quite a jolt as Roman came up nearby. That passes easily and she glances towards him with a smile, and maybe just a faint flush - she's glad for the dark, too. "Hey Roman," he's easy to greet, familiar, "Colt said you were running around here somewhere."
"Trance? I suppose he's somewhere in the city. I really don't think this is his sort of thing." She knew he was a Glass Walker, and could be wrong, but... well, this wasn't her sort of environment either. Helen just liked gatherings, parties, and the like. "And what's wrong with jeans?" No dresses tonight.
[Roman Turner] "I liked the dress, it fit mighty nice. I mean, it was pretty and hugged your as...as I was saying."
He rushed on.
"It's a mighty nice night, don't ya just think?"
[Drew Roscoe] "You know I'd be more than happy to help teach too. I go to the range at least once a week to keep sharp."
She kept the spit spinning for some time, until the meat was leaking fat into the fire that sizzled when it hit the flames and embers. She'd glance over to Roman when he reappeared, smile and wave a little, then check the cellphone she had tucked into her shorts pocket, perhaps looking for the time or a text message that she had received.
Either way, the girl wiped her hands on a napkin, took her beer, and held it in the air in kind of a farewell.
"I'm headin' back to the truck for a little bit. Someone text me if Joe rears his ugly head, huh?"
With goodbyes and clarifications out of the way, she'd take one of the almond pastries that the woman with super short blonde hair, the one that vanished as immediately as she had appeared, had left, then head back out of the clearing toward the parking lot, taking care to make sure everyone got a wave, even the gentlemen hovering around the campfire, even if her socialization with them had been more limited.
[Colt Montgomery] ~he saw Roman heading back to camphe grinned and finished the beer, the fire was hot, he was wondering how the food was coming along, his belly growling, he nudged Simon as he headed over to where the kin were~ "Howdy Fate, ya take care of that" ~he could tell the kid was taken with Helen, listening to their conversation, he waved at Drew as she headed off, he hoped Joe showed up too
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] There's a flash of a grimace across the Ahroun's face. He shifts his seat, one large hand coming up to paw over his mouth. A moment later his brow clears.
"I can't speak for everyone else," he says, "but Dani&+269;ka is in New York." He stands as well, dusting the seat of his jeans off as he heads for the food himself.
[Victor Oseragighte] Despite recognizing voices, he does not immediately come out into the open, treading in his wolf self, giving himself over for a time to the half he discovered only after the first change. He does not know, after all, if he is welcome here. A bark of introduction is sounded, to see if he should venture forth.
[Helen Moore] "I think I feel the same way about them as you do, Moira." She wasn't big on guns either, it seemed.
Roman had her laughing quietly, and she shook her head with a grin spread across her lips. He was young and for some reason the way he said it sounded very different to say some forty year old lech at a nightclub might say it. It had to do with that Southern charm, she suspects. "It is a nice night. A little warm, though."
Drew got a small wave of goodbye, and Helen debated whether or not she'd actually take up the offer. Time would tell, she could muse over it for awhile.
[Moira] Moira lifts a hand to wave at Drew, finally lifting up the bottle to open it. "I'll keep an eye on the food."
The Fenrir kin steps back and away, fading into the background as Helen is distracted by Roman. She makes her way over to the food table again, hunting around for a plate and begins to pile it up with food from the dishes that were brought. Once filled, she finds a vacant chair, pulling it off to the side to watch the fire and sits down to eat.
[Roman Turner] He touched the brim of his hat with a nod to Drew as she wandered off. Not entirely sure which woman to look at first, though far as he knew, Helen here was the only unattached, not likely to get him killed, female there. So like a moth to the flame, he was going to stick around for a little bit just so he could see her assets close up.
Colt came over and spoke and got a big ole grin.
"Oh, everything came out just fine and dandy. I was just complimenting Miss Helen here on the dress she wore the other night. I ain't quite seen nothing like it 'cept on cable."
[Asha Singh] There's an answering bark, out in the darkness. The sharp scent of a female wolf, someone at the edges of the gathering. Lukas can feel his packmate, out there, just outside the ring of fire, the way her feral mind backgrounds their totemic connection that suggests, too, the form she's in. The connection is sharpened by their proximity.
[Simon] He nods at Lukas and his smile grows."Nice girl, make sure to tell me when she's back in town."He says with a nod of his head. He grabs hold of a plate and begins assembling his food."So how has your pack been?"He then adds curiously to Lukas, associating with his elder. It's not a crime is it?
When Moira joins them his smile brightens just a little, it was twisted by the slightest hint of mischief. His eyes flicker over her as he begins assembling his plate."Moira, your night is treating you well I trust?"He asks her in a pleasant enough tone. At least he was being civil that was certainly a good start!
[Asha Singh] Got you a rodent. - is Asha's greeting. - and someone doofus is out here barking like he wants to come in. Maybe you should bark back? Hopeful thought. Asha would like to see the ever-compased Lukas bark in humanskin.
to Lukas Wyrmbreaker
[Victor Oseragighte] He ventures forward now, tentative, scenting the air as he does, ears pricked and alert, a stocky but fairly average example of the North American timber wolf, from his gray coat to his orange eyes.
[Colt Montgomery] ~Colt stood right next to Roman, two cowboys and one good lookin Fianna kin, this could be a cable show in itself, though Helen knew him better than that, he really wanted to know why she was so pissy with him the other night, he totally missed it~ "Yes, Miss Moore makes any outfit look good, no problem... in fact... I think if she traded in those hiking boots for some cowboy boots, and I offered her my hat.. she's be all cowgirl" ~he had missed seeing the woman in her sexy dress, but he was able to see it through Roman's explanation~
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "I will," Lukas says, and, "We've been well, thank you."
No more detail there, either -- Moira passes, plate piled with food; Simon greets her, and Lukas's pale eyes flick her way as well. He's busy heating his own plate. Mostly meat. Potatoes, too. Some green beans. Not much in the way of leafy-greens.
His eyes go distant for a moment; there's a private little smile at the edges of his mouth. He laughs under his breath, and then rather abruptly turns from the food tables to shout into the night:
"There's food, fire and company here! You're welcome to join!"
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] Lukas, ever the partypooper: How's that for barking?
to Asha Singh
[Roman Turner] "No, no, she has to have Daisy Dukes with the boots and hat. Ain't the same with jeans wouldn't ya agree Colt?"
If he kept this up he was going to need another walk. Though he had the biggest shit eating smile on his face.
[Helen Moore] "Okay boys," she holds up her hand a little as if to ward them off as they both gang up on her, but she's smiling, "let's talk less about my dresses, shall we? You both look like vultures right now, and neither of you have offered me a drink." If they were going to talk about her assets like she was some girl on cable, then she would take somewhat advantage of that, or at least call them out on being asses.
[Moira] Moira can feel the wandering eyes of the Shadow Lord easily enough, a dark brow crooking up in his direction as he pretends to play civil with her. She scoots her chair off to the side so she could see Simon better while he talked to her. The flick of his gaze would take in the casual attire the woman wore, denim shorts with flat-soled boots and a camisole. She had brought a hoodie with her that was wrapped around her waist in case she took on a chill.
The faint lines of blue henna painted woad markings stain bare skin, running in patterns of twisted lines and spirals, celtic knotwork along her shoulders, back and upper arms, disappearing under her clothing.
She balances the plate of food easily on her lap, after crossing one knee over the other. The beer nestled somewhere. "My night is good so far, Simon, how about yours? Dateless as usual I gather... then again, your boyfriend isn't here either." She waggles her eyebrows at him, "I'm not sure if Karl is going to make it or not."
[Asha Singh] BOO.
to Lukas Wyrmbreaker
[Colt Montgomery] ~he chuckled, his own grin had gone lopsided~ "well ya should meet Cara.. she's always wearing daisy dukes and boots..." ~Helen was right, she stood there without a drink, that would need to be remedied, he knew she liked wine, she wasn't much of a beer drinker~ "I can fetch ya some vino" ~he reluctantly headed off to find a bottle of wine, one that she probably had brought, he'd return a short time later and offer it up to her, having given Helen and Fate a lil time to continue the flirting or whatever, he was all smiles once again~
[Marni] Yeah, like there was any doubt that the perpetually hungry gnawer would miss out on free food... There's no telling how long she's been here, or when she really arrived, unless someone hears the grumbling of her belly as she appears near the food table, and goes about piling a plate high.
She's eating for two, after all.
Only once she's managed to snag enough to keep her briefly satiated, only then does she actually look up and search out who's here, and who she might want to actually speak too. That's when she realizes Lukas is at the table. A little grin, a slight shrug, and she finishes making her plate.
[Victor Oseragighte] The wolf emerges from shadows into the firelight, changing as he does so. He looks a bit off tonight, his clothes clearly not his own; a pair of green cargo shorts a bit too tight on him, a gray t-shirt entirely too long for his stocky frame. It is evident to anybody there that he is wearing borrowed clothes, and there are any number of reasons why a Garou would be doing so.
[Asha Singh] Victor approaches wearing his wolf skin. Asha does not.
Instead, somewhere in the shadow of the woods, away from the heat of and light of the bonfire: wolf becomes wolf-girl. For anyone close to the edges of the of clearing: a sensation of mass, and of then, air displaced. Asha is dark skinned and dark eyed and black-haired, all in sharp contrast both to the fur she wears in her feral form (gleaming, white) and the crisp white blouse she wears tonight over skinny black jeans and strappy little sandal better suited to kicking off underneath your table at the club before dancing than to walking into a clear with a bonfire and animal-men and animal-women whistling a tonal song under your breath and carrying someting
- dead.
By its tail.
[Asha Singh] You want it cooked? pause, or are you eating it raw?
to Lukas Wyrmbreaker
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] Ever-unruffled: I couldn't bear to eat such a wondrous gift as a rodent. I'm going to have it stuffed and put on display in the middle of Kate's loft. She won't mind, right?
to Asha Singh
[Roman Turner] "There ya go, ole Colt is gonna get ya a drink and I won't compare dresses with ya or nothing. Though correct me if I'm wrong about this."
He leaned closer to Helen just so he could smell her while whispering.
"Ain't Cara his Packmate which makes her True?"
There was no way on earth he was going to drool over forbidden fruit because his grand pappy would rise from the grave and kick his ass up between his shoulder blades.
Suddenly Victor came out of the woods, then a woman he didn't recall who was dragging something dead along.
"Well dang, I should'a brought something dead. I saw a possum about a half mile down the road that looked like it weren't dead so long."
[Helen Moore] It was amusing that the shorter Roman had to lean up to whisper to the taller woman. She was five foot ten in flat shoes. At least he had a few more years left of growth spurts.
She smelled like perfume, clinging to clean clothes that has never seen this sort of wilderness since it came off the production line, and somewhere underneath it like warm, scented, pure bred female. Her brows raised at the question which had her shoulders lifting in a subtle shrug.
"I don't know. I've never met her."
[Helen Moore] Helen didn't bring wine but water. But whatever was offered, beer, water or wine, had been taken from Colt with a small smile. "Thank you." She could have gotten it herself, but since they were ogling, it served them right. Taking a sip from it, she let her gaze drift over to Victor and Asha as Roman mentions dead possums, killing any sort of appetite that she may have had. She wisely stops from commenting.
[Colt Montgomery] ~Colt offered Helen a water bottle and a beer after all, he hadn't found wine, he was still quite the gentleman, he'd missed the whole conversation the two had, he did think it was quite odd, the much smaller boy whispering up to her, but none the less, he took his place once more, He was damned near a foot taller than Roman, from behind, he could be mistaken for Colt's son, jeans, cowboy hats~ "Here ya go darlin, two for the price of one, I know ya don't care much for beer, but thought ya might make an exception, no fun drinkin alone, least for me"
[Victor Oseragighte] His mouth quirked into a smile at Roman's comment, thinking that he himself was half dead earlier, so that probably counts. He is still a bit tentative about moving fully into the circle, not certain he belongs there quite yet. The aroma of cooking meat, though, is intoxicating, and settles his mind, drawing him further to nod silently to those present. With such smells in the air, one would have to be very close to him to pick up the distinctive coppery odor of blood.
[Asha Singh] I'll get another one for your to have stuffed. Or really, you could eat the INSIDES Asha suggests, gleaming. He can see that now, even from a distance, the way her black eyes gleam as she cuts him a look across the clearing. snce you only ned the OUTSIDES for stuffing.
to Lukas Wyrmbreaker
[Roman Turner] Helen's response wasn't anything he could play off of so she got a...
"Me either."
And then a cricket chirping moment arrived as he stood there trying to think of something else to say.
[Colt Montgomery] ~Colt offered Helen a water bottle and a beer after all, he hadn't found wine, he was still quite the gentleman, he'd missed the whole conversation the two had, he did think it was quite odd, the much smaller boy whispering up to her, but none the less, he took his place once more, He was damned near a foot taller than Roman, from behind, he could be mistaken for Colt's son, jeans, cowboy hats~ "Here ya go darlin, two for the price of one, I know ya don't care much for beer, but thought ya might make an exception, no fun drinkin alone, least for me"
[Helen Moore] Laughing softly, she took the beer as well as the water bottle. "I can agree with that. Nobody likes drinking alone." Even though she enjoyed a bottle of wine herself over a weekend period, drinking and working from home. It's a sad state of affairs when a Fianna kin is resorted to that. She'd made up for it during the week. Boy had she.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] You can tell which werewolves have totemic links to their packmates easily enough. They're the ones that tend to occasionally space out. They're the ones that get strange expressions on their faces for no good reason at all. Right now, Lukas is one of them: bemusement chases disgust across his face, and then -- right as he's about to haul a huge cut of steak directly to his mouth with his fingers -- he bursts into laughter.
"Marni," he says suddenly, "I've got a question for you. If you had a choice between ribeye steak and a rodent from the woods, which would you pick?"
[Simon] He grins back at her."Dateless but never lonely..."He adds back to Moira as he leans in."My boyfriend? You are speaking of your mate? I am sorry to hear if you suspect I've turned his eye, but then again I could certainly understand what he saw in me. Strength, courage, a charming smile... And if you ask me I'm damn good in bed."He winks back at her."So I mean if I have accidentally managed to steal your mate away I do apologize but I can't be held responsible for actions that were not even my doing can I?"He asks her curiously."Besides I am afraid I would have to break his poor heart if in fact I had drawn his attention for I have eyes only for my work... And the occasional dalliance on the side."He grins back at her and looks down realizing he has filled his plate completely.
[Marni] She blinks as Lukas speaks, and takes a moment to look around, as she finishes chewing the bit of meat she'd been in the process of shoving into her maw as fast as she could chew. A thick swallow, and she wrinkles her nose.
"Well, that ain't somethin ya can answer straight up. How's the steak cooked, how old is it, and so on. Then, there's the rodent. I ain't any too happy to eat Rats, that's like bitin off my own foot, ya know? So depends on the rodent. And MOST of all, it depends on how fuckin' hungry I am at the moment. Right now? I'm all for steak, but I sure as hell wouldn't look any gift food in the mouth... not as hungry as I been lately."
"that answer ya question?" She knows it doesn't really - but just grins and takes another bite.
[Colt Montgomery] "Cheers to the Summer Solstice" ~he saw Marni appear, and gave her a wave!
[Moira] Moira listens to Simon, taking in bites of food from her plate and a swallow of beer to help it go down better. She crooks an eyebrow at him, listening with feigned interest, the corners of her mouth curling back into a brief smile.
"You are so full of shit, Simon." She laughs then, shaking her head at him, "Dateless you are likely to always be with that kind of talk, but then again, as you say. You are like a man married to only his work, blood and carnage are your meat and potatoes, so therefore, it becomes your lover as well."
She shrugs, "I am not worried about you breaking Karl's heart. I just say that with how well you two seem to get along, bosom buddies and the sort."
[Marni] She grins as Colt waves at her, and winks at him in return - calling out a "Hey cowboy!" between bites. She really is huuuungry.
[Victor Oseragighte] His eyes slide sideways at the mention of a particular name, and he speaks it aloud. "Marni." He studied her, having not really had a chance to speak with her despite being told about the Bone Gnawer by both Karl and Mama. He gravitates slowly toward the offered food, pausing to look at Lukas, silently asking to speak with his stance.
[Mama Ankle-Biter] "Bad Shadow Lord, no Scooby-Snacks for Mr. Wyrmbreaker. Rats are not a delicacy." the slow lazy drawl of the small bleach blond Gnawer appears behind the tall Ahroun, her head canting to the side as she fixes a wide blue-eyed gaze up at him. Bleach blond curls bounce along shoulders and frame her cherub face in a frizzy halo.
All 5'3 of Mama Ankle-Biter seems to magically appear, or not really, she just pops into existence from the other side, swinging a longing gaze at the food table. She wets her mouth with her licks, like wolf licking its chops and the lupus-born immediately takes up a plate, piling it on with various cuts of meat (and meat only) that becomes too heavy for the plate to hold. She starts to slurp the cuts of meat down, swallowing more than chewing, eating with a voracious appetite for such a small thing that might put a black hole to shame.
[Roman Turner] "Well, I'm gonna head back to town."
He lifted his voice and with a wave to the gathering called.
"Y'all have a great night and thanks for the hospitality!"
[Asha Singh] "Hey!" - Colt and Roman and Helen are interrupted briefly by a diminutive wolf-girl interested in drinking something other than water. This is Asha: her clothing cost more than the downpayment on a new car, less than the downpayment on a new house. Her black har was styled sometime in recent memory, and well, by skilled hands, though the effect has been undermined by her decision to play Great White Hunter in Tekakwithwa Woods, and now the mane of her black hair is WINDBLOWN rather than [i]windblown[i].
And she is carrying something dead by its tail. It's not an oppossum, all gleaming white and hairless tail. It's not a rat, and it's not a squirrel. It is something small, darkfurred. " - where'd you get the beer?" She lingers by the trio just long enough to get directions to the motherlode of alcohol, then vamooses, skedaddles. Finds: the cooler of beer, opens it, and pulls out three between the fingers of her right hand. It's like a beer commercial. Or would be, were she five inches taller, two years older, and wearing 90% less clothing than she is now.
So: not so much like a beer commercial.
[Asha Singh] Did you bring a blender?
to Lukas Wyrmbreaker
[Asha Singh] Asks Asha, innocently holding three beers in one hand.
to Lukas Wyrmbreaker
[Colt Montgomery] ~he looked from Marni to Roman~ "You take care Fate... We'll be in touch, tell sparrow howdy" ~his attention back to Helen~ "So ya think ya can do me a favor... maybe let me in on why you were so disappointed in me" ~he was rather curious~ "I'd like to appoligize for my actions"
[Helen Moore] "You know, Colt, that was awhile ago now. I'd rather not get back into it," she says, looking to him directly. Asha had been given directions to the cooler when she came over and asked, which wasn't too far from where they were standing as it were. But now she looks back to Colt again, beer mostly untouched in her hand. "But thank you anyway. You don't need to apologize." Especially for something he doesn't know he did wrong.
[Simon] He can't help but grin back as she speaks. His eyes wander down to the pile of meat and the potatoes on his plate before drifting back to her."If you are suggesting that I make love to my plate I must reluctantly decline. As enticing and exciting a show as that might be I am not about to embarrass Lukas with such inappropriate behavior!"He was being playful, those eyes still glimmering as the firelight reflects off them. He settles the bottle of rum on the table and settles into his seat.
"You're right though... Karl and I do work together well. It's cause we see things similarly, I don't see too much in the way of man on man action as a result."He grabs a potato from his plate and takes a bite from it."At the very least you can trust that as long as there is breath left in me I will make sure your man gets home to you every night. Well unless he does something stupid. In which case his ass can die in a fire I'm not gettin' my ass killed for an idiot."He says before taking another bite from his potato. This shit is awesome!
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "You know, I concur completely," Lukas says to the pair of Gnawers, pops a potato wedge in his mouth, and heads over toward Asha.
"I'll have you know," he says as he closes the distance, "I've just consulted with Marni and Mama Anklebiter, who as Bone Gnawers should be considered the resident authority on unusual gastronomy. They informed me that this steak," he points at the thick slab of medium-rare goodness on his plate, "is preferable to rodent meat. However, Marni reminds me that what's wasted in summer might be wanted in winter.
"So," with the air of a professor of philosophy coming to some grand conclusion, "I think we should eat it."
He shifts his plate to his left hand, reaching out the grasp the thing by the tail with the other, lifting it into the firelight. "As the ranking Garou here, I suppose the first of the kill goes to me. But as a mighty, shining Silver Fang, surely the second of the kill goes to you, Asha.
"What do you say? Shall we split it?" A glance around, all innocence. "Unless you fine wolves and kin care to share our kill."
[Moira] "I would think the wily mind of a No Moon would not need an ahroun of your ..." a pause, grasping for words, she plucks up a piece of meat tossing it in her mouth and chews before continuing, "Capabilities, Simon, would need to pull Karl's ass out of the fire. He isn't stupid, and I know he is smarter than he might appear."
She shakes her head as Simon makes references to making love to his plate, it makes Moira laugh aloud. "I was not referring to the food on your plate, you silly man. I meant what you do, the killing - fighting. You are rather bloodthirsty for a Shadow Lord. But not nearly as bad as a Fenrir."
[Mama Ankle-Biter] "Ya should dig'a hole in ya backyard, Wyrmbreaker, and give the poor thing a proper burial! Its too big to flush down the toilets at that bro'hood. Mama done tried already."
Chuckling, the little Gnawer finds a spot on the ground, shifting slightly as she goes back to devouring the meat on the plate. A greasy-fingered wave wiggle at Victor in passing when she catches his eyes.
[Marni] Marni grins at Mama, and then follows her Alpha when she moves to a quiet place to continue eating, flopping down on the ground beside her to attack her own meal.
[Victor Oseragighte] Mama Ankle-Biter herself arrives then, and he waivers a moment before he heads fir her instead, walking up with his carefully measured gait and leaning down to whisper. The wave prompts a small smile beforehe murmurs, "should I mention what happened? Seems... festive." That thick aroma of meat was getting to him, making his stomach rumble again already, the strain of healing earlier still on him a little.
[Mama Ankle-Biter] Mama smiles up at Victor warmly, tilting her head all the way to look up at him. She shakes her head, causing a few curls to fall into her eyes. "Go and get'cha something to eat first, baby. Ya look famished and ya stomach's gone eat itself right up. There's plenty of meat to spare, come back and sit with Marni and me, we can discuss what'cha did then."
She makes a gentle shooing sound, pointing over at the table. A side-glance to Marni, leaning over to sniff at her plate, she raises an eyebrow and then looks down at her own, and shrugs. She shifts in the dirt until she could lean up against the other Gnawer.
[Simon] He grins back at Moira."Well I should hope not, I think a little more highly of Karl than that."He says as he settles back in his chair."You haven't really seen me in action yet. Give it time, I'll make sure to live up to your approval one of these days."He winks and then turns his attention towards the others gathered around them.
"Doesn't really matter what we do or think or say... Sooner or later we all come home in Body Bags."He says with a smile on his face."I'm Betting Karl will avoid that fate a bit longer than many Fenrir. I just wanted to reassure you that your mate had someone watching his back."
[Asha Singh] "The head is the best part," Asha refuses to be non-plussed when Lukas offers/threatens to share her kill. Instead, she flashes him this wide, potentially terrifying smile, smile up at him, all white teeth and black eyes, and flops the corpse into his hand. " - because of the brains?" eyeing him, passingly, just to make she he understands that he brains are a delicacy he should absolutely have the honor of enjoying as the first among the Garou assembled.
"So you should have that. Are we gonna have it raw? Or like, are you gonna have to cook it?" The corpse is still warm, and flops obligingly as Asha holds it out to her Alpha. "Hey - did you ever read that book where a bunch of kids eat worms every day for like a bazillion days on a bet?"
Then, frowning down at her right hand, with the three beers clasped between her fingers, Asha holds them up and out, offering them to Lukas obligingly. "You want a beer? I can get another if you do."
[Moira] Moira chews thoughtfully on her food as she listens, squinting at Simon with something he says. She swallows, taking a sip of her beer to wash the aftertaste of cooked meat down. She runs her tongue over her teeth, and along the inside of her left cheek.
"You are correct, Simon, I have not seen you in action. I do not get to see many werewolves in battle as I do not tend to get stuck in the middle of them." She snorts softly at his comment on body bags, "As long as Karl comes home to me alive in some fashion, I am perfectly capable of putting him back together no matter how severe the wounds."
Her chest rises and falls slowly, shifting in the chair to get more comfortable, "Why would you want to live up to my approval?"
[Victor Oseragighte] He offers a grateful smile before he slips past her and over to the meat supply. Rather than go for something cooked, he selects a slab yet to experience the caress of the flame, good and fresh and bloody, and carries it back with him to drop down beside Mama Ankle-Biter and Marni and tear in as if he were starving.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "I have never," Lukas intones, "read that book."
He studies the carcass, then. Maybe he's trying to make sure it really is fresh. Rather than, say, roadkill.
"I'll take the brains. But the guts are pretty awesome too. So you should have that." Beat. "All of them. And the kidneys too. I call dibs on the liver though. We can split the heart, because I'm generous like that."
Another.
"Or we can do as Mama suggests and give this fellow a proper burial. He can be our sacrifice to the season."
[Marni] Dark eyes flick toward Moira and Simon, tipping her head slightly. She doesn't interrupt though, intent on her meal. She shifts her weight slightly so that she's leaning against Mama too, comfortably huddled together in mutual support.
She grins up at Victor when he joins them, and simply keeps eating - while she turns her gaze back toward Lukas and Asha and their kill/sacrifice.
[Karl Holds the Line] There is no rustle of brushes to betray the Rotagar. No crackling of leaves underfoot. One moment, the forest seems empty, all wildlife long since having fled the area flooding with rage. And then the Norse Fenrir is stepping out of the treeline, stopping to glance around and to the fires before starting forward with a slow roll of his shoulders.
[Simon] He shrugs his shoulders."Not really a goal of mine personally or anything, I'm just figuring sooner or later you'll have no choice is all."He says with a nod. He reaches down to lift his meat to his lips and take a bite watching Lukas still as well as the others. He was curious as to how he would handle all this.
[Mama Ankle-Biter] The presence of pack brings a comforting feeling to Mama Ankle-Biter. It calms the constant flutter of her thoughts which beats rapidly like the wings of a hummingbird. Aspects of the totem's characteristics seems to affect each member under its banner differently - with Marni: it's hunger. Karl - his movement, and Ankle-Biter: the way she processes thought. The small woman snorts out a breath air, lifting an eyebrow up at Victor as he rejoins them. She grins, twitching her nose at the scent of raw meat. Her stomach growling, despite the pile of devoured cooked meat she just inhaled.
"So, what happen with that pretty boy ya fished out of the fountain earlier?" this to Victor.
[Asha Singh] "Me either," Asha replies, amicably, as she opens one of the three beers she has claimed as her own, still holding the other two, concerned though perhaps not convinced thatsomeone might come along and take them away. "My cousin Naima did, though. She tried to gross me out about it when we were eight. So I got cook to make samosas and I stuffed her samosa full fo worms instead of potato."
Asha pauses, studying her kill with a critical eye, taking an overlong draught of her beer, tipping her dark head back, black hair swinging. "Since you'e sharing," she says, "I've got dibs on the eyeball."
The carcass is fresh. He can see her the marks of her teeth in the unfortunate little creature's neck. " - though if you want to give him to summer, I'm good with that."
[Moira] Moira frowns at the Shadow Lord as he starts to confuse her. She wasn't drunk yet and the beer hadn't made her thoughts fuzzy enough to not think clearly. She finishes her plate of food and the beer, starting to stand up.
"You didn't answer my question, Simon, and what do you mean I will have no choice. No choice for what?"
[Victor Oseragighte] "Before or after," he asked after swallowing a mouthful of his meal, large enough that his cheeks had bulged. He wipes away a bit of blood from his lips before speaking again. "We were sitting. Talking. Then suddenly Adrian's in the fountain drowning at the end of the man's hand and I am being bowled over by the other one. All got a bit.... red for a while after that," he admitted softly.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "That, Asha, is completely disgusting." Lukas thinks for a moment. "When I was about six I made my future mate fall out of an oak tree. That's about the best I've got."
Then, taking a last bite of steak, he bends down to set his plate aside.
"Summer can have something else," he says, his eyes gleaming, his grin gleaming -- and then stretching wide and toothy as he starts to shapeshift. "Let's eat it."
A pair of Ahrouns, a Silver Fang and a Shadow Lord, playing at brinksmanship: the outcome was nearly inevitable.
[Mama Ankle-Biter] "So, let me get this straight. Ya and this... kin." tilting her head at Victor as she looks him over, "Were in the park talking, chatting and then all of sudden some Spirals showed up and decided to drown him and kill you?"
She blinks, running her thumb across her bottom lip, blond eyebrows knitting into a small frown, "Why did they want to do that, and what did ya do with him after me leaving?"
[Marni] Her eyes are on Lukas and Asha, but her attention is on Victor and the story he tells mama. Multitasking at it's best - as she's still emptying her plate at a rate that would make the biggest man gag and give up any attempt at keeping up with her...
[Karl Holds the Line] ”Someone told me there was going to be a celebration here, but it seems more like a graveyard.”
Spoken loud enough to carry as he angles towards Simon and Moira. A glance and a nod towards the other group as he does. Priorities after all.
“Bone-Grinder, don’t tell me you are trying to put the moves on my woman? Even I cant save you from her if she takes offense you know.”
Said with a grin to the shadowlord ahroun as he goes to wrap an arm around Moira.
[Simon] He laughs at Moira's question and his attention is pulled back to her."That's the million dollar question now isn't it? What exactly do I mean?"He asks her before giving a soft little laugh. He parts his lips and gently taps a canine with his tongue, a sign he was thinking if she had taken the time to read his cues in previous conversations.
"We don't always get our time to shine. I mean many do... We all stand around and puff and cheer and celebrate even the death of another of our kind. Victory, honor, and courage... These things are all beautiful and we center our society around them so much that we often miss the greater picture."He says with a smile."The quickest way to win a war... Is to end it."He says with a nod of his head and lifting the bottle of rum her direction and using it to wash his food down.
There is a sharp breath drawn in and a wince of his eyes. But he smiles soon enough and peeks up at Karl."I think your mate is more worried that I might be trying to make a move on you."He says with a laugh."I was wondering when you would show."
[Victor Oseragighte] "Drown him," he corrected her. "They were there for him. Adrian thinks it is related to some of them that he killed or was around when they were killed. I was just... wrong place. Wrong time. For them. Got lucky. Almost didn't."
[Moira] "Men!" She snorts out indignantly, shaking her head. A shudder runs across her spine as the broil of rage doubles, encasing her from the front and behind as Karl comes up to her, stealing an arm around her. She looks down at Simon, lips pursed into a thin line as she listens to him ... lecture.
"I am not worried one bit about you putting any moves on me, Simon, you couldn't reach first base even if you tried."
[Karl Holds the Line] ”Well, someone had to do their duty to the caern.”
Said with a chuckle to Simon.
“Patrol ran into some trouble so took a little longer then expected, but I am here now. As for making a move on me… No touchy feely until at least you buy me dinner, those are the rules.”
He turns his gaze to Moira, offering his mate a warm smile before he nuzzles her temple for a moment.
“Yes, we are horrible creatures.”
[Mama Ankle-Biter] "Yeah, you were pretty lucky..." She clucks her tongue against the roof of her mouth in thought, quirking an eyebrow at Victor. "What did ya do with the boy after Mama left?"
[Moira] "Yes, you all are. The bane of my existence." This she growls out at Karl, tilting her head to look back at the Rotagar, sighing as Moira leans back against him. She rolls her eyes up, looking up at the night sky as Simon and Karl flirt with each other in front of her. She bumps against the Fenrir holding her, dropping a hand to his arm and unwinds it from around her waist, stepping out of his grasp to sidle away and off to throw the plate and empty bottle away.
Moira moves off to a cooler to fetch a new one for herself and one for Karl, before returning back to them.
[Asha Singh] Asha rolls her eyes in Lukas' general direction, but there's a momentary shrewdness as her eye level on his. Still, she snorts in the end. "That's not even gross. When I was nine I stabbed all the fish in the pond at our estate in Sussex with my pata and put fish eyeballs in the shoes of my mother, my governess," there is a list. It becomes singsong as she tries to remember it all, "my etiquette instructor, Thomas, the cook, the undermaid, the chatelaine, and my fencing instructor. I didn't do anything to the chai-wallah, though."
She continues, companionably, her voice deepening as she begins to shift.
"I liked him."
--
And so: they shift. Either Lukas thinks he is calling Asha's bluff or vice versa. Neither will give up, however.
- and Asha, she's not bluffing.
"I GOT DIBS ON EYEBALLS."
- she growls, before speech is no longer possible. Then, finally lupine, gleaming silver, brilliant under the moon, the beast seizes the unfortunate muskrat in her jaws and holds out the other half for Lukas to seize. The first of the kill to the greatest in station.
[Simon] He grins at Moira's comment then looks up at Karl."Did that sound like she was challenging me to you? Cause you know if I didn't respect your claim over your mate I might have to respond to her challenge!"He says before grinning back to Moira."Right cause we totally are out to destroy you. I am sorry to admit but it would be a shame to destroy such a lovely kin. Your tribe would never let me live it down, and I don't think Karl would ever speak to me again."
[Mama Ankle-Biter] Mama looks up towards Lukas and Asha as they discuss the portions of the kill. She tilts her head to the side, arching a blond brow. "If any of ya had real gumption. Mama thinks Lukas should eat it in homid, unless he's too chicken to really savior the taste of a trash delicacy."
[Victor Oseragighte] "Kept watch on him back to his home. He loaned me some clothes, then headed somewhere else to spend the night. Think he was nervous to stay at his own place. He's safe, though," he assured the Gnawer, going silent again, subdued, as he tore off another mouthful and chewed.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] "No," his own voice is sliding from smooth to rough, from human to bestial, "I was a pretty good kid."
The truth is he was a wild brat. The truth is he shrieked and ran and slid and knocked about; the truth is they wouldn't recognize him, his pack, if they saw him the way he was. He's grown into a very controlled, very stoic man. Man-wolf. That's the thing, though. The way he is now, being wild would be dangerous. Or lethal.
Just look at those teeth when he achieves lupus form. He bites down on the front half of the muskrat and bones crunch and grate. His paws plant and his muscles bunch; with jerks and twists, he and his packmate pull and heave and rip at the carcass until it tears open, tears apart, comes apart with strings of meat and viscerae dangling, still warm. Feral now, the black wolf growls low at Mama Anklebiter, more instinctive warding than any real reply.
My food. Mine.
He sinks down on his belly, putting a paw over the morsel, and starts tearing heartily at the organ-meats in the body cavity. True to his word, Asha soon gets a chunk of flesh spat in her direction: half a heart. And a little later, when the brainpan is licked clean: the rest of the skull, grotesque and crushed, eyeballs dimly agleam beneath a fold of torn skin. Yummy!
[Karl Holds the Line] ”Well, then it is a good thing that you do Simon. I hate cleaning up the mess after her kills. Do you know how long it takes to get the blood cleaned from the walls? It is a pain, I tell you.”
Moira slips away and Karl glances after her, watching the sultry kin move away with an appreciative smile for a moment before catching himself and looking back to Simon.
“But that reminds me. I could use your assistance with something Simon. I need a partner.”
He does not make it sound as if it was for dancing, but doesn’t offer more detail than that for the time being.
“Thank you Moira.”
He accepts the beer from his mate with a smile, opening it to take a sip.
“Now… Beer settled. Why is no one fighting yet? You could think we were discussing politics or something. It is not any kind of real celebration until we offer some blood to the spirits of summer after all.”
[Mama Ankle-Biter] Mama nods her head, nudging the quiet Marni with her shoulder. She starts to pull herself up from the ground, glancing down at her empty plate. "Hmm, done good then, seeing him home. Not much else ya can do. Will have to let his tribe know what went down, but that won't be problem."
She gestures to the tables, "Gone to get more cooked meat to eat like a civilized human!" this shouted over to the pair of wolves that devour the muskrat. She looks on at them, shaking her head and twitching her nose. The growl that rumbles from the black wolf raises her hackles and the theurge turns to visually engage the wolf. Blue eyes fixed on him.
[Simon] He looks back at Karl and he nods his head."If you need me I am there... But if it involves me in a dress or any other women's clothing then I am gonna need cash up front."He adds with a bit of a chuckle.
[Simon] He then hears mention of Blood and shrugs his shoulders."Well why don't you go spill some blood? You've got three Ahrouns to choose from right here."
[Marni] She blinks as she's nudged, and grins sheepishly up at Mama. She's cleaned her plate, and could likely do another, but for the fact that she's suddenly sleepy, too. She hides a yawn behind her hand, and lazily watches the proceedings as she pats her belly, and simply does her best to stay awake and not miss a thing.
[Moira] Moira bumps her hip into Karl's eying him up and down with a furrow of her eyebrows. She slips around him, resuming her seat in the chair. Her eyes drift back to Simon, becoming tight lipped as she wiggles in the chair to get more comfortable. Moira rolls her eyes again, leaning her elbow down on the arm of the chair, hand cupping her cheek as she leans on it. Fingers thrum on the side of the bottle, looking between the two of them.
[Asha Singh] Black and white. There are words for that: chiaroscuro. They are like painted in the palette of some 1940s Noir film or some grade-school riddle: black and white and red. Lukas begins to tear apart the corpse of the unfortunate muskrat, and Asha - whose name is Other in this form, wholly inhuman, snaps and growls, hackles rising in support of her Alpha's warning to Mama.
Lukas licks the brainclean clean and heaves organ meat and the skull at her in quick succession. The Silver Fang downs the glistening viscera without hesitation, and without a second thought. Her black lips peel back from her sharp front teeth as she tongues at the eyeballs in their sockets, pushes at them until they disloge and come away far enough for her to grasp them with her teeth and gobble them down.
[Victor Oseragighte] He swallows and laughs silently at Lukas antics once he rises to Mama's taunts, shaking his head. He is reminded, though, by them of his own hunger, and tears away another chunk, grateful for this sustenance. Softly he adds to his earlier account, "the man was strong. He knocked me senseless for a few when I was in warform and frenzying. Definitely more dangerous than the other. Packmates, I believe. He called her 'sister.'"
[Karl Holds the Line] ”You are right of course. Leave it to the Fenrir to start the celebration.”
He takes a healthy swig of his beer, then looks over to the others.
“I will be right back.”
He brushes his hand over Moiras shoulder, then steps towards the other group, where MArni, Mama and the Unbroken sit with Victor. A glance to Lukas and Asha with their ‘feast’ as he approaches.
“Wyrmbreaker-rhya, k&+257;lar&+257;tri-yuf. Swallow-yuf.”
Greeting those three that are not his bonded pack. They have already received his touch through their shared bond.
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] Briefly, both wolves of the Unbroken are baring teeth at Mama Anklebiter. Briefly, the two Alpha lock eyes, blue to blue, fixed, the Shadow Lord clearly capable of taking it one step further into true challenge territory.
The fire isn't there between them, though. The tension and intent. Wyrmbreaker doesn't rise. Anklebiter doesn't lean forward to strengthen her stare. A moment passes, and then unremarked, the Fosterns turn away from each other: the wolf-shaped homid and the human-shaped lupus. Wyrmbreaker's tongue laves his muzzle as he watches his packmate gobble down the eyeballs. His tongue licks in and out a few more times, and then his eyes, icy-pale, startling against the pitchblack fur of this form, flick up to Karl.
"Holds the Line."
[Lukas Wyrmbreaker] Did you know, the mental connection reopens, they eat brain-burgers in Texas? Battered and deep-fried. I hear it's about 1800% of your daily requirement of cholesterol.
to Asha Singh
[Victor Oseragighte] He grew quiet and still when he sensed that what had begun as jest could become more. It was his moon, and that put him on edge, even moreso after the events of earlier. Matters of the law, of dominance and hierarchy, he was keenly attuned to, on a level that still sometimes surprised himself. Victor only remembres to breathe when the potential Challenge does not materialize, finally nodding respectfully to Karl, though he keeps a wary eye on Wyrmbreaker.
[Asha Singh] I'll send Thomas, Asha replies, To get you one if you've a hankering.
to Lukas Wyrmbreaker
[Karl Holds the Line] ”It has come to my attention that you need a Fenrir to start the celebration properly. I don’t have a skald to set it up, but I am thinking we should have an Holmgång to honor the spirits.”
His own very pale blue eyes equally matching wyrmbreaker’s. Glacial pale and cold.
“Who is up for it?”
[Asha Singh] (Asha would do it! Damon has my permission to NPC her if he wants.)
[Victor Oseragighte] Unfamiliar with the Fenrir's terms, he cants his head quizzically, not needing to speak a single word to ask the man what he is talking about, at least if Karl is perceptive enough.
[Asha Singh] (and Kora was here ages ago. so pretend she's around too. PRETEND.) (liz goes poof.)
