It’s well past midnight when Decker comes by for his ‘dinner’. The lights in the kitchen are on, and the Modi is standing in the middle of the linoleum floor with a pot of reheated stew in one hand, a ladle in the other — eating directly out of the pot.
[Evan McCollach] Evan had kept hid patriols different each night. Sometimes edging the kinhouse, sometime movign around the parameter, sometimes being at his mate’s apartment. Tonight luck would have it that he came by the kinhouse, not so much because the kinhouse needed to be watch. But because it shouldn’t be ignored when no one is there.
But when he came across the house and noticed the light on, he decided to take a change of course. Visiting whoever would be at the house at this time of night. And when he sees Decker, eating directly out of the pot, he just give him a nod.
[AnneMarie Hoch] Fortunately, she’d already eaten, else she’d at least give a look toward her alpha eating out of the pot. She still has her clothing and such at the kinhouse – being as it’s the office building she owns. And her turtle is here. That would be why she comes downstairs, having heard – and felt – Decker arrive. She’s tugging at the bottom of her camisole, as if she’d just pulled it on. Her hair is damp, but as short as it is, it will dry quickly enough. Slacks and her boots complete the outfit for the evening, simple, understated, and elegant.
For a monster, anyway.
She heads toward the Kitchen, pausing in the doorway. A nod up, and across the whisper of Eagle’s wings. Tristan came by – said to let you know your laundry was done and put away.
[Decker] For a few seconds there’s no response. One might doubt the Modi even noticed his packmate’s presence in the midst of pigging out. Then he grunts, lowering the pot, dropping the ladle in with a clang. Wipes his hand across his mouth, leaving a streak of tomato-based stew on his cheek.
“Yer haunted-house chick’s still runnin’ around tha city.”
Casual. Offhand. He opens the fridge and dumps the pot of stew back in for the next unwary diner. Maybe Maya. Maybe one of the kin. Good, on totemphone. Was runnin’ outta places ta sleep.
[Evan McCollach] He moves towards the table as it seemed that originally Decker did not see him enter into the kitchen, but he has learned better of it. Decker constantly knew of his surroundings, it was apart of what made him such an errie warrior; strength, perception and common sense, a very dangerous combination.
And as AM stood in teh doorway, he nodded to her as well. It seemed like she was perpetually on patrol and seeing her stop, maybe even having showered was a rarity.
“Yes, she has been. Her sppok wouldn’t let her leave the city, caused a car accident to keep her from leaving Chicago.”
[AnneMarie Hoch] She glances toward Evan, and nods up, before moving toward the fridge a second after Decker closes it – not for the stew, but for a bottled beer. She cracks it open and takes a couple long swallows before she replies, though she has no voice to answer aloud.
And even then – it is only a sound. As if she were about to make a wisecrack, then though differently.
She arches a brow at the tale of some spook and haunted kin. News to her…
[AnneMarie Hoch] (thought even.)
[Decker] “Tell me sooner nex’ time. You pass that on ta Maya too. ‘s a reason I wanted her ass in Minnesota. She’s trouble ‘n I’m sick’a emptyheaded kinfolk runnin’ around causin’ trouble.”
He doesn’t glance toward Annemarie — but somehow senses her interest and unspoken question. The totemlink buzzes again. Not words this time but impressions, images: Evan at the haunted house, the unconscious kin girl, sending her off to Minnesota, her reappearance, some vague details about a mouthy ghost following her around.
“Ran inta her at a bar yesserday. She said somethin’ ’bout Fimbul wolves. Fuck’s that about?”
[AnneMarie Hoch] Though she is not an original Eagle, she and Decker have been packed longer then all the others that are left. Combined. She is not surprised by his notice, nor the quick explanation done in images. She nods her understanding of what was given, and settles to sit at the table, long legs crossing, and fingertips smoothing the soft material across her thighs.
It’s not often that she takes a moment’s pause, that she settles to sit. She is a woman on the move – and as the lowest ranked member, despite her long standing membership, she is on the streets more then anyone. Or so it often seems. And it is all done without complaint.
And, as usual. She listens.
[Evan McCollach] He nodded, he should have told Decker about the accident and that Kai did not leave Chicago once he found out. That was his own mistake.
“Yes I understand, as for the fimbul wolves….”
That he had to pause for a second. That was something that he was tryng to think about.
“I was following some tracker dogs into the woods, just outside The Ares territory when I came across a pair of Garou, I believe they were Glasswalkers if I am not mistaken. We took care of the pair of dogs. That was when I joined the other two in taking out some other dogs. But as we were doing so, the fimbul wolves pretty much ran over me to take them on. That was also when I came across Caleb, Gabriel, Llyod and Kemp. They must have summoned the fimbul wolves. I believe they used the power of the wolves to cleanse the kinwoman. It seemed she had a piece of tracker dog in her skin.”
[Decker] Decker’s suddenly seething. Hard to say how they can tell even before he speaks, even before he even bats an eyelash, but they can.
There’s a beat of silence. Then, a slow soft snort, something like a laugh.
“Three fuckin’ bloodless mutts ‘n that whinin’ excuse of’a Rotagar summoned up the Wolves’a Fenris?” — and he spits right on the kitchen floor, a vindictive, impulsive gesture. “Maelstrom bastards is gittin’ more outta line every fuckin’ day.”
[AnneMarie Hoch] She blinks as the names come out – and her surprise matches Decker’s, but she, of course, says nothing. Her ire doesn’t match his, but her opinion of the city and the Sept?
Matches completely. Fingers slide around the neck of her bottle, gathering condensation, before gripping to lift it to her lips again, and swallow half her bottle of beer.
[Evan McCollach] He does not responds so quickly to Decker’s response to the actions of the group. He was not Fernir and that left him a bit out of the loop, but he could thing along those lines. If a group of four were to call down Falcon so easily while the glorious spirit has never visited him, it would be a horrific blow to him.
He waits for Decker to think it over for a second, waiting for him to either say something or do something else before he thinks of responding.
[AnneMarie Hoch] The silence lingers, and a wry grin slides over her lips.
A beat. A pause. A swoop of Eagle’s feathers. Kind of makes one wonder how things would stand had we taken over instead of walked…
[Decker] Totemic: It wouldn’a been right.
There’s a long silence as he thinks, or broods. Head down, brow knit. Then Decker reaches back, plants his hands on the counter, and pulls himself up to sit perched on the edge like some thuggish gargoyle.
“A Fimbul wolf taught me to turn my blood ta venom. Know how he did it?” The moon is small and his anger is not so terrible as it could be. A faint smirk lights across his hard mouth. “He turned my blood ta venom. No warnin’, nothin’. He looked at me. His eyes was like ice, ‘r tha heart’a a weldin’ flame. It was like fire in my veins. No Gift could stop the hurtin’.”
The smirk fades. He looks up, anger rekindling, turning like a flame in his eyes. “Fimbul wolves is tha vanguards of Fenris’ own army. They’s tough, angry, ‘n they give no quarter. They ain’t puppy dogs ta be called down ta fix a kin.”
(Modi, your antikinism is showing.)
[Decker] (i’m jumping into the shower. 10 min!)
[AnneMarie Hoch] It would not have been right, says Silence, and she has no reply. Or rather, she has none she shares. Instead, as she is wont to do, she falls silent, and listens. It is something she does well – does better then most, does more then many of the Philodox of the sept who are charged with the same.
Blood to venom. There is a harsh respect in the ways of the Fenrir. It is harsh and you survive, or you die. You die with honor, or you simply are forgotten. That she agrees with the assessment of calling the Fimbul Wolves for a kin goes without question.
Though she’d wager – quietly and behind Decker’s back, of course – that Silence would call down Fenris himself to save Imogen. Some things are simply expected, and understood.
[Evan McCollach] Evan looked at the perched form of their Alpha, sitting there and thinking over the issue of the fimbul wolves and what they were used for. He could not image the thought of his blood being turned to vemon, the seering pain of it coursing through his veins. Such an act would seem to be even more bad ass than Decker.
And then his voice comes over the link they share.
Maybe it it not right, maybe it is. I have never met the fimbul wolves except when they trampled me. But to call down such an awesome spiritual presence as the vangaurd of the Fernir army to cleanse a kin, however thick her taint was.
[Decker] (back!)
The Modi shakes his head. “Whatever.” The one word serves to dismiss the matter. “Ain’t here ta bitch ’bout what some mongrel pups done. Y’all seen Alaric lately?”
[AnneMarie Hoch] She shakes her head. Truth be told, she hasn’t seen much of anyone. It is not by accident, but by design. For all the fact that the Eagles fly as one – they are lone much of the time. She is no different. It was pure accident that she was there when Tristan came by earlier.
[Evan McCollach] “No I have not seen Alaric at all.”
He rarely saw Alaric anyway, in fact he has only meet him twice if he remembers correctly and that was both just in passing. He didn’t know much about the kin man except maybe by name and sight.
[Decker] “Yeah well,” Decker comes off the counter and lands on the linoleum with a thump. “Run my rounds past tha kin couple times a week. Last few times I been by Alaric’s, ain’t seen him home, ain’t seen no lights on.
“Want tha two’a ya ta track’im down, make sure he’s in one piece.”
[AnneMarie Hoch] There’s a quirk of her brow again – but this time it’s ended with a slight nod of agreement. Tracking down the kin will at least give a different direction to be had in her patrols tomorrow.
She stands once again, and moves to the fridge, finishing off her beer and tossing it into the garbage on the way by. She grabs another one from the door, and then a package of raw meat. She bumps the door closed and heads toward the next room where there’s a corner that’s been transformed to hold her turtle, Sniper the Snapping Turtle. Who has a fondness for fingers, but will settle for raw meat. And she loves him like a child loves a puppy.
She sinks to a graceful crouch by the pen, where she can hear the other two and see them through the door, and goes about feeding her odd, not so little anymore, pet.
[Evan McCollach] He nodded in return to when Decker spoke about him and AM had to track down the lone kinfolk that seemed to get away from Decker. He was nto sure how exactly he would track him down, but he would do as he was asked, no errors this time.
“Understood.”
He looked back at the table and still thought about the issue that was brought up for the briefest second before it was passed over. The idea of returning to the Sept and Malestrom.
“May I ask, what wouldn’t be right about it? In your opinion, what wouldn’t be right about straightening out the Sept?”
[Decker] Decker had been about to leave. It was evident in his body language, which a packmate learns to read. He was ducking to fetch a beer from the fridge — one for the road — when Evan speaks.
There’s surprise there, though slight and subtle. He turns to the Philodox and unscrews the top of his beer with an easy, thoughtless twist.
“Tha timin’,” he says after a pause. “Tha reason. Tempers was hot. Tha Sept was divided. I done what I thought was right, ‘n I ain’t takin’ nothin’ back. But it was a Fenrir thing ta do. Not a Glass Walker, Coggie, Fianna ‘r Shadow Lord thing ta do. ‘n Balance without Fault repermanded me on it as Grand Elder.
“If I’da challenged ‘im then, I woulda challenged outta sheer insubord’nation.” Who’d have thought the modi even knew such large words. Maybe those crosswords were doing some good. “‘n then I woulda been steppin’ ta him jus’ like tha Shadow Lord idiots stepped ta me. Even if I’da won, tha Sept woulda hated me fer it. ‘n it woulda taken a river’a blood ta hold the Grand Eldership then.”
A shrug, as he knocks the beer back. “Toldja that when ya first axed me, y’know. Jus’ ain’t bothered ta explain much. Heh.”
[AnneMarie Hoch] It would have taken a river of blood, then.
She doesn’t look up from her feeding duties – she’s sacrificed her fingertips enough times, thank you. She simply asks. And now?
It’s simply curiosity, that much is clear in the negligent question. (Though, knowing her, there is no such thing.)
[Evan McCollach] He pauses and just waits. He did not need to ask questions when they were done for him. This was a measure of what was, what is and what could or will be. There are many things have changed and yet many things that have not. Decker’s purpose of leaving and the results of it.
[Decker] “Now,” Decker replies, “I ain’t innerested in tha Sept jus’ yet. Quit fishin’, AnneMarie.” There’s a hint of amusement even in his shutdown. “Gitcher ass outta cub camp, ‘n then maybe we’ll talk.”
[AnneMarie Hoch] There’s a look. Sharp, dast. And then nothing.
She drops the rest of the food into Sniper’s bowl, stands, brushes off her hands – and seconds later, there is nothing but the close of the front office door behind her.
[AnneMarie Hoch] (…Fast too. yeah.)
[Decker] (i was wondering what dast was… *LOL*)
[AnneMarie Hoch] (typo! *g*)
[Evan McCollach] He watched as Decker and AM conversed in a short manner and then stopped. He was not going to push the idea of returning to the Sept, not now, not yet. But he was here to advise and he was going to do so.
“You left to keep the Sept from dividing itself, if I understand you. Do you believe you have succeed in it?”
[Decker] Decker watches AM leave — not stomping, not slamming the door. She’s angry nonetheless. They could all feel it, as easily as they could feel their own emotions.
He lets her go. And since Evan didn’t seem quite finished, he leans back against the counter, his weight cantilevered to one foot, the beer bottle dangling from his fingers. A snort, “How tha hell do I know? Ain’t been back.”
[Evan McCollach] “I am sure you have at the very least spoken with some from the Sept. I know you have spoken with the Sandman and others. Did anyone you speak with every give you the feeling that you did the right thing?”
Yes it may be that those that have spoken with him would have continued to talk with him until the end of the city.
[Decker] Something very much like a sigh, exasperated and a little weary. “I ain’t axed ’bout tha Sept a’tall, Ev. I don’t — fuckin’ — care. Why don’tcha jus’ spit out whatcher gittin’ at — that I ain’t done tha right thing, ‘r what?”
[Evan McCollach] “Right or wrong is not what I am getting at here. You did as you believe you should to get your purpose done. To not care if your decision had any affect to your goal however is something I do care about.”
He looked down at the table.
“Your desire to return to the Sept is your own and there is no way to change your mind, I know that. You will come to that decision on your own.”
[Decker] “You care so much ’bout how they’s doin’, then go find out.” The Modi straightens up, tears a paper towel off the rack and wipes his face with it. Then, tossing it in the vicinity of the trash, he starts for the door. The rest of Evan’s words draw only a glance, sharp and fast, much as AnneMarie’s had been. Fenrir seemed to have a habit of doing that right before stomping out.
Decker, at least, bothers with a goodbye of sorts: “‘m goin’ back to tha dockhouse. Lemme know when ya find Alaric.”
[cricket] (Congrats at passing, Evan! *noogies him!, then kicks Damon* I just got home from work!!! So there. And I might play, so there again. And…yeah. )
to AnneMarie Hoch, Decker, Evan McCollach
[Decker] (well, my ass is going to bed! btw, i finally got around to moving Maya to the official packmates roster *LOL*)
to AnneMarie Hoch, cricket, Evan McCollach
[AnneMarie Hoch] (Yeah, congrats! Just don’t mention it to AM anytime soon. *grumps*)
to cricket, Decker, Evan McCollach
[cricket] (we will play tomorrow. *firm* you will enjoy it. And, *gasp* she’s one of them! Yeehah. *runs admire*)
to AnneMarie Hoch, Decker, Evan McCollach
[Evan McCollach] (Thank you. I worry that if Evan tells AM, he might find Sniper in his bed one night)
to AnneMarie Hoch, cricket, Decker
[AnneMarie Hoch] (A very valid worry. *L*)
to cricket, Decker, Evan McCollach
[Decker] (*LOL* i love how y’all are congratulating him right in front of me as if he’s beaten the big bad ST! >:!)
to AnneMarie Hoch, cricket, Evan McCollach
[Evan McCollach] He watches as Decker starts to leave the kitchen. It may have been a sore nerve that he nit, it may have just been a point that Decker didn’t want to look at, but more often than not it was the former.
“I will”
[AnneMarie Hoch] (ha. Fine then. Good job running the challenge, Damon! Was good one! Whoo! Way to make him sweat!…….. better?)
to cricket, Decker, Evan McCollach
[Evan McCollach] (*laughs* The Seven Claws challenge was harder than the Big old Slug/ Centipede. It made my brain hurt)
to AnneMarie Hoch, cricket, Decker
[Decker] (no, i meant! *LOL* y’all make it sound like i was TRYING to make him fail!!)
to AnneMarie Hoch, cricket, Evan McCollach
[cricket] (*whispers loudly, elbowing Evan and eyeing damon* good job beating the big bad ST, he’s a hard ass. :-) )
to AnneMarie Hoch, Decker, Evan McCollach
[Decker] (……and maybe it was, but so what! *ducks* at least evan earned his fosternhood proper. not like those heehaws that got it by challenging their buddies *grump*)
to AnneMarie Hoch, cricket, Evan McCollach
[cricket] *amused* Heehaws? I dare you to use that expression IC.
And, seriously, good job with the challenge, Dam. It was a hard one, but it was well done. :P
to AnneMarie Hoch, Decker, Evan McCollach
[Evan McCollach] (Evan would have accetped anything less.)
to AnneMarie Hoch, cricket, Decker
[Evan McCollach] (*Wouldn’t)
to AnneMarie Hoch, cricket, Decker
[Decker] (stop flattering me! i was totally not fishing for compliments! also, the last challenge — mediation — that was mei’s idea.
and, posted one more time to wrap it up. what gifts are you gonna buy first? *LOL*)
to AnneMarie Hoch, cricket, Evan McCollach
[Evan McCollach] (*ponders getting the Gift Stinging Blow and just screwing around with people while using it*)
[Decker] (you’ll get yourself killed *LOL*)
to AnneMarie Hoch, cricket, Evan McCollach
[cricket] Oh jeez, take a compliment when its given, damn it. *scowls at him* >:(
to AnneMarie Hoch, Decker, Evan McCollach
[Evan McCollach] (Damn your right, need Calm and Luna’s Armor First)
to AnneMarie Hoch, cricket, Decker
[Decker] Luna’s Armor should DEFINITELY be on your list *LOL* calm is pretty brutal too, but if you turn into one of those twink combat coggies i’ma kick your ass.
…or at least tell on you. *runs to tattle*
to AnneMarie Hoch, cricket, Evan McCollach
[Decker] Staredown is nice too… and Peace of the Counselor, though you’ll have to go to the Aetherial Realm to get that.
to AnneMarie Hoch, cricket, Evan McCollach
[cricket] anyhoo, i’ve turned the scene OOC, and said what i wanted to! now i’m off to write something for that theurge meeting whatsitcalledy thing. *beams* seeya later, peeps! *flits off*
to AnneMarie Hoch, Decker, Evan McCollach
[Evan McCollach] (Flame of the Wind Rider is a really sick gift, but no more Rage Across the Heavens Gifts, and it would have gone so well with Ice Dance *smirks*)
to AnneMarie Hoch, cricket, Decker
[AnneMarie Hoch] (grumbles. hates you all. takes st punished to the nines cub ass outa here.)
to cricket, Decker, Evan McCollach