[Max] Some people went to Grant Park for the chance to get away for a few minutes from the bustle of their daily lives. People might stroll casually down the center-strip and chat with friends, or merely ponder the snow-covered landscape. Some would sit with quiet contentment on park benches.
Max was not one of those people. If he was outside, he wasn’t sitting still. Case in point, tonight he was running, as was frequently the case. He’d been running for a good couple of hours already, leaving a trail of city blocks in his wake as he left his (soon to be former) apartment in bronzeville and meandered closer to the center of the city. Now he was cutting through the park, keeping a swift but steady pace as his feet pounded the ground. It was fairly warm for February, and his core temperature was kept high from the activity, so his clothing was standard athletic fare, and minimal: a pair of loose silver track pants and a white hooded sweatshirt with the logo for the UW Athletic Department on the back.
[Marni] Marni has her own reasons for being in the park – and they’re USUALLY not exactly on the up ‘n’ up. Today, however, she’s sitting on a random park bench, her legs folded up under her criss cross applesauce, her backpack in her lap, and a book braced on top as she loses herself in the world of heroes and villains, chewing absently on a very large soft pretzel that she dips periodically into a small container of cheese, licking the salt and cheese off her fingers in between bites.
[Indira] Indira goes to Grant Park because right now, it’s full of snow. Back at the Brotherhood she has people to play sports with, people to throw a ball around with and chase, but here in the park there are large expanses of snow that aren’t already torn up.
So that’s how the Bone Gnawer is dealing with post-chestburster stress. She’s building a snowman, patting down its round sides and its head and making it smile. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have a scarf or a hat of any kind to adorn it with, but it seems to be coming along nicely anyway.
[Connor] Connor hasn’t really had much of a chance to see some greenery since he came to the sixty. He’s heard of some nearby woods but he’s pretty sure you need a car to get there and thats one thing he doesnt have right now. Truth be told, he hadn’t needed one back home either but had learned to drive just in case.
With the woods out of the question, Connor’s natural choice was Grant Park. It was as good a stretch of green as could be found in the city (even if the ‘green’ was technically ‘white’ right now because of snow) but it still wasn’t quite what he was after. You could still hear the city noise. Traffic, distant music, people talking, hell, even the sound of shoes on the pavement made enough noise because of how many people there were. But you had to make do with what you got.
Connor wandered through the park, noting a familiar-looking Gnawer on a nearby bench. He smiles and approaches.
[Max] Funny how sometimes the universe seemed to push people into converging all in one place for no immediately apparent reason, only to offer up that reason once said parties had all arrived. (Or maybe that was just how it worked in their universe.) If Max had wanted to call a pack meeting, all he’d needed to do was send the message out along the totem link, and Indira and Marni would have heard him. Point in fact, he’d been thinking of doing just that, after he was done with his run, but then… there they were.
How terribly convenient.
The Modi slowed his pace as he came to a gradual halt by Indira, who was… building a snowman. For a long moment, Max just looked at this scene oddly, as if the other Ahroun had decided to don a tutu and become a ballerina. (Oh, if his old pack could see him now.) After a moment, he laughed. “Indira Kamble. Warrior of the Nation. Defeater of mighty Wyrm creatures. Builder of snowmen.”
And she wasn’t the only one among them who was present, either. A quick glance to where Marni had settled on the bench further up, and Max hollered out, “Hey Marni! I was just thinkin’ about you guys! I found us a house!” Indira would witness a rather large grin of achievement on the Modi’s face, and somehow, like all of his grins, it looked just a bit dangerous. Like the way a wolf might smile before eating you. Max jogged over to where Marni sat, and he glanced up to note the approaching stranger with some curiosity.
“Friend of yours?”
[Marni] If she notices Connor’s approach, she makes no note of it – no indication at all. Not until shes finished the chapter she’s currently devouring, that is. But she doesn’t quite get to do that, because Max is yelling and she jerks her head up and that grin of hers – that bouncy happy, delighted grin – slides over her lips. “SERIOUSLY?! HOW COOL!!! WHERE?”
And then he’s jogging her way, and she looks around, and finds Connor heading her direction to. She waves at him and waves him over, before she grins at Max. “That’s Connor – the one that fought those spirals with me the other day, the ones that were goin’ after Moira and Adrian.” A beat. “He’s cool.”
[Indira] “Best fuckin’ snowman -ever,-” Indira tells Max, grinning in a manner that says that she doesn’t find it so unusual at all. An Ahroun of the Nation she might be, but her life is many things other than War. She’s about to ask him to join her, about to contemplate a snowball (because damn, the boy needs to loosen up) but then he yells Marni’s name across the park and her head turns.
He found a packhouse, Max yells, and moments later the pink-haired girl is jogging after him in the other Gnawer’s direction. “Hey, Marni,” she grins, flushed beneath her dark skin, brown eyes trailing in Connor’s direction. “Huh,” she says. “I ain’t seen him before. Not that that’s so unusual, I guess.”
[Connor] Connor comes to a halt beside Marni’s bench and grins at her, before turning his attention to the man that just jogged over. He was the same height as Connor but stronger of build. Ahroun says his brain. Fenrir say his senses, and pure enough of blood for me t’tell easy enough. Marni makes an introduction of sorts and Connor nods respectfully to the man. He has no desire to repeat the incident with Hatchet which was, quite frankly, awkward and weird. But Connor suspected that might just be Hatchet.
The young woman who had been building the snowman joins them and Connor realises she’s Garou too. Undoubtedly a Gnawer. They’re Pack, he thinks. It’s in the way they move, the way they are with each other. There’s a bond there thats plain to see for those who know what it looks like.
“Connor the Fireblood,” he re-introduces himself, primarily paying attention to the Fenrir he assumes is Alpha. “Moon Dancer of Stag’s Children. Nice t’meet ya.”
[Max] Marni asked where the house was, and Max glanced back to make sure Indira was following before offering up a response. “It’s on West 53rd, over in Back of the Yards. Not exactly a mansion, but it’ll do, and the houses over there are selling real cheap right now.” And real cheap was about all that he could afford on his own.
Indira took his teasing without faltering a beat, which was a good sign. Chances were, if she’d decided to pelt him with a snowball, they would have both ended up in the snow, and Connor would have gone temporarily ignored in favor of competition. Max… seldom passed up a good opportunity to tackle someone. Lucky then, perhaps, that he had not been thus distracted. (At least, not yet.)
And then, there was Connor. Marni offered a casual introduction, then the Fianna gave him a full one. Max took in the information, then grinned another of those patented predatory smiles of his. “Well if Marni likes you, you must be alright. Max Brenner. Stands in Defiance. Cliath Modi and alpha of Spitfire.” Connor had been correct in his assumptions. Max projected certain things about himself quite clearly, as was no surprise, given what he was.
“Guess I should thank you for stickin’ up for my kin while I wasn’t there to do the job myself.”
[Marni] She snorts. “I live in an alley in a box – it’s clearly a mansion.” She grins up at him and reaches over to slap her hand across his belly with a grin. “Hiya..” for Indira, even as Connor gives a more full introduction for himself.
“Of course I like him. HE cuddles.” It’s a jab at her Alpha, of course, all in good fun… specially as she hasn’t cuddled with Connor either. Yet. She shoves her book back into her backpack and winks up at Connor. She’s hoping the meeting goes well, of course as she thinks he’ll fit in fine. Time will tell…
[Indira] “Fuckin’ score. I like Back of the Yards, lots of good people out that way,” Indira says cheerfully. One can assume Gnawer Kin, naturally. “Guess I’ll be movin’ my shit out of the Brotherhood, maybe. Or maybe I’ll jus’ come an’ hang out when I feel like it.”
Connor gets a friendly, open grin and she offers a hand for him to shake. “Nice ta meet you. I’m Indira Kamble. Going Down. Cliath Ahroun an’ Bone Gnawer.”
[Connor] “Think nothin o it,” he says, smiling genuinely at Max while shaking Indira’s hand. “Always a pleasure to lay some Spirals to rest anyway. And I wouldn’t leave young Sticks here t’fend fer hersself. Truth be told though, she did more damage than me!” He chuckles and looks down at Marni fondly. He remembers the way she fought and his compliment was no lie.
Indira seems pleasant enough for the smile she gives him and the friendly handshake. But then, Connor has yet to meet an unfriendly Gnawer. Max is the one that holds his attention most. The Alpha. The man’s body language sings of strength, of the predator, of pride. But he seems to genuinely like the others of his Pack, which makes him a lot les stuffy than most of the Fenrir Connor has met since coming to the city. He meets Max’s gaze and holds it. It’s clearly not a challenge, just a weighing up of one another, a judging of character.
[Max] Max eyed Marni ruefully for a moment. It was a long gaze, and somewhat glowering of character. As if to say: I’m a Modi. Modi do not cuddle. He bore the playful slap to his stomach without complaint though. Beneath the fabric of his clothes, his body was hardened muscle, and so that slap would meet with resistance. (No perceivable gut to be found here.)
“Chica, I bought us a house we we could live in it. Course you’re movin’ in. Both of you.” He tossed that over his shoulder at Indira as if it seemed like the most obvious thing in the world. Packs lived together. End of discussion. He’d never known the transient life of a Bone Gnawer. What it was like to call a cardboard box your home. By their standards, Max probably lived like a Prince.
And indeed, the Modi was significantly less stuffy than many of his tribe-mates, though Marni and Indira would still find him slightly insufferable at times. (Such was the difference in tribal perspective.) He still burned with the prickly intensity that all of his tribe and auspice possessed – of that there was no mistaking – but with Max, you were just as likely to get a grin and a hefty pat on the back as you were a snarl and a fight. It all depended on the situation, really. He chuckled when Connor spoke of Marni’s battle prowess, crossing his arms loosely over his chest. “Course she did.” And he always knew it, too. Which was why he’d packed with them to begin with.
Connor met Max’s gaze. Sized him up. And the Modi… looked right back. Max’s eyes were a golden shade of hazel. Almost yellow at times, and very lupine. And he never, never backed down from a direct gaze. “You got a pack, Fireblood?”
[Marni] She meets Max’s gaze without flinching, that little grin completely un-dampened by his apparent glower. in fact, she actually sticks her tongue out at him, and chuckles.
“I did.” she grins up at Connor – it’s not pride that she says it, it’s simply an acknowledgment of his compliment. And the fact that she fights like a rabid chihuahua on crack – and had the advantage of noticing things weren’t on the up n up before others.
Good thing Marni’s cute, huh? She might be insufferable otherwise.
[Indira] Indira grins. Her grip on Connor’s is solid and firm, around the wrist; a warrior’s handshake. It’s also very cold; the only thing she has on her hands is a pair of leather gloves, fingerless and wet with melted snow. She doesn’t have a coat at all, just a black hoodie that she’s thrown over several other shirts.
And then a big grin at Marni. “We gotta get in a fight together sometime. Would’ve figured you’d be a badass.” She doesn’t hunt after glory, and that’s a fact, but she’s still an Ahroun. She enjoys it, and it is and will always be part of how she gauges other people. Max tells her she will be moving into the pack house and she just nods, with that same big grin.
A look over to Connor when Max asks about his pack. They’re still a very young group, and she’s glad to have one – but she watches the Fireblood for a moment. Because she, at least, has ideals she wants to keep in mind.
[Connor] Connor’s face twists into a small half-smile as Max asks if he has Pack. He knows Marni well enough to know that she’ll stand by him in a fight. Indira is nice enough so far. The fact she was building a snowman shows a sense of playfulness that Connor can appriciate. And she has a firm handshake. That goes a long way. As for Max, he radiates strength, confidence and a tolerance, hell even a genuine liking, of his packmates. If this question is leading where Connor thinks it is, it’s a pleasing thought indeed.
“No,” he replies,with that little smile. “I’ve not. Been lookin fer one though.”
[Max] Marni was quick to appreciate anyone who didn’t have too much of a stick up their ass, and Max… well, Max wanted loyalty and strength. He’d already said as much. The Modi would put up with a lot to have a solid, reliable bunch at his side in a fight. Indira though… well, she was always the one with the most on her agenda. Had been the one to ask the most questions when Max had asked them to form the pack to begin with. She seemed to be easing herself into the role of second in command without consciously considering it, which was how these things often worked out. Only time would tell, though – as the pack spent more time together, and as they (hopefully) incorporated new members.
“We follow Volcano. Strong, fiery, and passionate. I bet a Galliard of Stag’s could get behind that.” Max grinned knowingly. “And hell, I’d love a gibbous moon. How else am I supposed to get famous?” But he was teasing there. Or, well, at least partially, and he gave Indira a friendly little elbow to the ribs as he said it. “Going Down’s on a personal quest to save the city, so we’re helpin’ her. I guess I better let her interrogate you before I try and do any recruiting.”
[Marni] She grins up at Indira. “Of course. The dude wanted to mess up my hair. No way was I letting THAT fly!” Like anything could tame those curls of hers, anyway. They’ll fight together sooner than later, most likely, as there’s always something to be done. And Marni looks forward to it.
And she simply listens and wait to see what questions Indira will have for Connor. For Marni’s part, she’s very easy going, but she and Connor have spilt the enemies blood together. She wants him in. She will, of course, defer to the others. She’s not vying for second in command, just a coherent and happy pack.
[Indira] Indira laughs when Max elbows her in the ribs. “I ain’t gonna call it a personal quest,” she says, sheepish. Plucking at the hair on the back of her neck and suddenly self conscious. “But, like. I had this thing where I talked ta some spirits an’ realized that we’re s’posed ta be doin’ more than jus’ tearin’ shit down an’ killin’ the Wyrm, an’ we oughta be givin’ back ta the city. Protectin’ people. An’…that’s part a what I want from a pack.”
She doesn’t say that it’s what she wants the pack to be about. Because she is not the Alpha, and she does not – nor does she seem to have any desire to – contest Max for the role. Indira is a follower, and a good one.
“So, I mean. What are you hopin’ ta get from a pack, I guess?”
[Connor] “Volano, eh?” said Connor. “I’ve not met him misself but yer right, he sounds like a fella I can get used to!”
“Alright,” he says with a nod. “Assumin I pass the interview I’ll follow yeh and write yer saga.” He winks and turns to Indira to await her questioning. He doesn’t mind a little interrogation. After all, the Pack bond was a sacred one. He wouldn’t expect them to let him into it without checking him out first.
“What I want from a pack,” he replies. “Is a sense o place. A loyalty and fellowship. Somethin more than just comrades-in-arms or good mates. The true pack bond. Blood for blood.”
“Beyond that I guess I want t’feel like I’m makin a difference in this war. Protectin those that need it, teachin others to do the same, upholdin the Litany and doin everythin possible to stop the comin end.”
Connor pauses, realising he’s just let his mouth run and delivered quite a speech. But it’s all been true, every word.
“Sound’s like propaganda but it’s spoke wi’true feelin,” he said with a small nod, meeting Indira’s eyes to show the truth of his words.
[Max] Connor spoke, and Max listened. Finally, he glanced at Marni and Indira to gauge their reactions.
“Never back down. Never show fear. And always stand by your pack. If you can do that, and if you can put up with my arrogant Modi ass tellin’ ya what to do, then you just might fit in. Course, I may need to test ya now and then. See if you’re worth your salt.” But if Connor was a true Fianna, then a little friendly fighting probably wasn’t something that he was stranger to.
“What do you say, ladies? Can we stand some more testosterone?” Max smirked as he looked between them. Gaia knew he had more than enough to go around on his own.
[Marni] Can they stand some more testosterone.. “OH PLEASE OH PLEASE OH PLEASE OH PLEASE…”
And she ducks, because she knows she should get a swat for that. She grins and nods. “Connor’s cool with me.”
[Indira] This is a new role for Indira to be stepping into. Her brother was the Alpha of her pack back home, and she is only four months out of her Rite of Passage. Knows-Nothing spoke of his ideals often, and for quite some time she didn’t really understand them. Didn’t really understand why they were important.
So some of that discomfort naturally comes through. “I think we’re all lookin’ for a pack that’s like family,” she says, with a glance toward Marni and Max for confirmation. After all, she’s heard Max say as much. “An’ as for the rest, well, yeah…that soun’s a lot like what I want. Jus’…tryin’ ta do the right thing. Not forgetting about the people the Nation doesn’t care about, too. ‘Cause, I mean, there’s Kin an’ stuff an’ it seems like some Garou here don’t care.”
She speaks these words without hesitation. Someone has to say them. And then she looks back at Max and grins. “Hey, if -he- cuddles, I don’ mind some more testosterone aroun’ here.”
[Marni] That? makes Marni laugh out loud, and she lifts a hand for Indira to five. “Up top, mah sistah!”
[Connor] Connor grinned. Never back down. Never show fear. Always stand by your pack. Those were rules he could live his enitre life by without need to change. And being tested every now and then was par for the course.
Marni made him chuckle with her plea for more testosterone and Indira mentions the need to protect kin, which Connor can definately get behind given his love-life right now.
“Reckon I can stand those rules,” he said with a grin, holding out his hand to seal the deal.
“Boss.” he added.
[Indira] Indira laughs and hi-fives Marni, watching Connor offer his hand to Max with the same broad grin that she hasn’t stopped.
[Max] Max pinched the bridge of his nose briefly and closed his eyes, muttering something that sounded a lot like: fenrisisgonnakickmeouttathedamntribe.
But beneath all the teasing, they were a family. A very young one yet, but the bond was there. The very fact that this living embodiment of war could exist in the midst of a couple of gnawer girls who seemed to have an unhealthy preoccupation with cuddling was testament to how genuinely protective he felt of them.
The girls approved. And Connor accepted the terms they’d all set out for him. Everyone knew by now that Max was the type of guy who preferred to settle things quickly and directly. So when Connor held out his hand and called him boss, he grinned wolfishly and reached out the grasp the Fianna’s hand with his own. It was a warm grip, and iron-strong. Max yanked Connor forward and gave him a rough but friendly pat on the back. “Nice to have you, brother.”
After releasing the Fianna to get some of the sensation back in his hand, Max pondered. “Good thing the house has four bedrooms. Come on, you guys should see the place.”
[Thank you for the scene guys! I need to run cause David desperately needs me to go to the store for him, but if you’re still here when I get back we can talk pack stuff and who-gets-what-room and all that! ^_-]
[Connor] ((I’ve gotta go too. Waaay past my bedtime. Thanks for the scene guys!))
to Indira, Marni
[Marni] ((sounds like a good wrap to me. Thanks for the scene! :) )
[Indira] ((Thanks for the RP, guys, and good night!))