[Maija] She had had the afternoon off, which resulted in a run-in with Kemp and Imogen, the former of which walked her all the way home, with no expectations. He even dumped Gina’s leftovers on her doorstep instead of taking them back himself. He complains everyone is trying to feed him – and it’s something Maija understands quite well. Just because she’s thin, they expect her to welcome their attempts to fatten her up.
Her boss is the worst of them all. Not only is Big Bob her boss, but he’s also her landlord, and that means when there’s ribs that need disposing off – they tend to fill her fridge. She hasn’t eaten so well in years. And she’s as thin as ever.
The Family BBQ closes at 11, and she’s helped with clean-up and stocking, so that everything is ready for the next day. She lets herself out of the front door, locking up behind her, with a big bag of fragrant and still warm BBQ ribs in a to go bag in hand.
There is no discernable breeding in the young girl – and she seems well used to sticking to the shadows, and doing her best to fade into the background. She still has her apron on, stained with the day’s work, under a dingy oversized gray hoodie. It’s still damp from earlier, and her hood is down. It’s not such a long walk to her apartment, after all.
In fact, the 10 seconds it takes to get to her stoop are spent fishing her cigarettes out of her pocket, and instead of heading upstairs she settles to sit on her stoop, bending her head to her hands, where she shelters the flame and sets fire to tobacco and paper, inhaling deeping of that first well needed drag, exhaling a slow grayish plume as her battered bic is tucked away again.
[Chloe Abernathy] Chloe was ass up in the trashcan for the time being.
“Bounty of the city,” she murmured.
On a good day, Chloe Abernathy smelled like garbage. Good garbage. Rich people garbage. Rich people garbage smelled good, because they threw out all sorts of things, like flowers that were yet to be past their prime and clothes that were so last season. Today, however, was not a good day. Today, Chloe Abernathy smelled like garbage. Wet garbage. News print and barbecue ribs.
She pulled back, and the smile on her dirt-stained face was triumphant. She held what looked like a take out bag from Maija’s restaurant. She tore back some of the paper and inspected the contents. It was soggy, and smelled like newsprint.
Chloe had a lot in common with the barbecue. She inhaled the smell of cigarette smoke and ill-gotten leftovers.
“People throw away the craziest stuff,” she said.
[Maija] The noise in the alley catches her attention, and her hand slips into the roo pocket of her hoody, surrounding something there. She doesn’t move at first, taking a slow drag off her cigarette, and exhaling the same. Calm. She stretches out her arm to flick the ashes to the side, and then…
“Who’s there?”
She doesn’t get up – she’s within reach of her own door, and can be inside and locked up in a flash…
[Chloe Abernathy] “Oh- sorry! Didn’t mean to scare you! Just talking to myself!”
The theurge called back, and she waved. Back and forth, pleasant and polite.
“I’m.. uh…. did you want a name?”
[Maija] She blinks, as the voice is… uh. Friendly. And smiling. and polite. She keeps her hand in that pocket, and shakes her head. “Ain’t scared.” She asks if she wants a name, and Maija snorts. It’s almost a sound of amusement, though it doesn’t last nearly long enough.
“I guess. If ya want leftovers – I gotta bunch here still warm.”
[Chloe Abernathy] “Pschyah I do!” she called back.
There was a place where garou could stay. The people at the Brotherhood of Thieves would cloathe you, would feed you, would keep you bathed and warm if you needed, but as far as Chloe was concerned? She didn’t need it. Not when the city would provide, and not when it did provide.
Sher stopped, and instead of throwing her current bounty away, the Bone Gnawer slung the backpack back around and carefully tucked it away for future eating.
“You have some pretty good trashcans, I think I like this place.”
[Maija] She reaches behind her for the bag of still warm leftovers – a bunch of ribs, and side dishes too, including the best cole slaw this side of Chicago. She sets it on the edge of the stoop, and runs her fingers through her hair, pushing it back out of her face, and letting it fall free again. IN that quick view, it’s clear she’s tired, but not much else. Her eyes are dark, so dark the sky itself seems trapped in them, and she reaches behind her to pull her hood up. She doesn’t pull it down to hide her face, but she’s not giving a good look, either.
“Ain’t bad. They send me home with leftovers most every night.” She isn’t quite on edge, but she’s not at ease either. There might be an offer in there, but it’s not overtly obvious. Maija isn’t in the habit of sharing with dumpster diving strangers, but she’s not stingy either. Time will tell which side of the equation Chloe falls on.
[Chloe Abernathy] “I’m Chloe,” she offers.
She takes the food and quietly finds herself pawing through it. The Bone Gnawer took one of the spare ribs between her fingers and sat herself down beside Maija. She was rather likeable, and something about her demeanor was easygoing. Chloe nodded, and took a bite of ribs.
“… you’re nice, thanks.”
[Maija] “Maija.” Mi-yah. She’s used the name for three years, and now it is finally hers, official. It still gives her a shot of contentment when she uses it. Slender fingers, pale and cold, lift her cigarette to her lips, and she takes another drag. On exhale, she’s careful to blow it away from Chloe. Polite that way.
Chloe says she’s nice, and there’s that brief snort of amusement once again, but she doesn’t say anything about it, just nods, slightly. “Yeah.” It is sort of a ‘you’re welcome’. If you stretch it a bit. She has no accent to speak of – a little bit of nowhere and everywhere, mingled with really bad grammar.
Maija likely isn’t much older than Chloe, though she’s withdrawn and moody, guarded and careful. Bout now she’s wishing she had that Joint from Gina again. The cigarette will have to do. “Ain’t seen ya round afore…”
[Chloe Abernathy] Chloe doesn’t mean to growl at her food, but she does. It’s a sound like a puppy chewing on a shoe. A very good, tasty shoe with barbecue sauce.
“Oh, I just came home,” she tells Maija. She is many things, but right now she is a dirty young woman, not much younger than Maija, but wisened by the road. Maija was no slouch, though.
“I can’t remember the last time I was here. Cities change so fast,” she says. It’s a conversational thing. “You’re alright, Maija.”
[Maija] She arches a brow, slightly at that. “Ya think so, huh.” She doesn’t really argue, but she doesn’t agree either. She’s not what most people would call alright, not by a long shot. She’s more along the lines of ‘stand-off-ish bitch’ and ‘fundamentally fucked up’ or even ‘scarred and broken’. But ‘alright’?
Maybe.
“Welcome home, then.”
Chloe’s rage tingles at the back of her neck, a mere trickle when compared to some, when compared to Kemp earlier when he walked her home. It’s just enough to keep her guarded, careful.
[Chloe Abernathy] “You gave me food,” she said, “you know this is how you pick up strays, right?”
She takes another bite of barbecue ribs. She leans back against the nearest flat surface and gives a sigh of contentment. She doesn’t eat like she’s starving. On the contrary, she eats like she’s actually enjoying her food. this was warm stuff, this was good stuff. This was better than what she’s eaten in a year.
She stops.
“Want one?”
[Maija] That gets an actual bit of laughter from the too-thin girl. “S’what they say.” She takes a final drag, and flicks the butt of the cigarette into the gutter. It dies a swift death in the puddle there, and Maija slides her hand into the roo pocket of her hoodie again, and leans forward slightly, curling against her knees to keep her core warm. Her hands are cold – but that’s not unsual. They always are.
When asked if she wants one, she shakes her head with a slight smirk, that doesn’t last very long. “Nah. S’all yers. Big Bob keeps tryin t’feed me ribs on a daily basis. Says I ain’t got no ass an’ they’ll fix that.” Little does Big Bob know, she won’t ever have an ass – there is no fixing a Gnawer’s appetite and high metabolism.
[Chloe Abernathy] “Aw, c’mon, you can’t have no ass. You don’t have a concave ass, so s’far as I’m concerned? You have an ass, Maija.”
chomp. Rip. chew chew, swallow.
“I’m nothin’ but ass, it doesn’t do anything but grow and… well… be an ass,” she admits between bites. She glances sidewards at Maija. They could be about the same age, though the theurge is hard to gage. Literally, she was unsure herself. Chloe assumes that she’s legal and goes on.
“In Des Moines, some Turkish guy thought I was too skinny. Had a bigger friend, though? looooved to see her carry out his groceries. Somethin’ about big women doin’ heavy lifting got him all riled. It was weird.”
[Maija] She just shakes her head, chuckling. “Ain’t no accountin for taste, I guess. Different strokes, different folks, an’ all that shit.”
She is legal, but just barely, and in more ways than one, though Chloe wouldn’t know that – and is likely younger than Maija still.
“Iowa, huh? Drove thru there once with a trucker friend a mine. Ain’t stop though – we was on a time crunch.” There’s a twinge of loss, of longing, but it’s covered well enough.
[Chloe Abernathy] She looked at Maija, and her eyes studied the bit of Maija’s face that she could see. Chloe took a few more bites of food, and she stacked the bones up next to her in a lovely little pile. The redhaired Bone Gnawer licked her fingertips, and inspected her quietly.
“Y’miss yer friend?” a pause.
“Sorry, shouldn’ta asked.”
[Maija] She lets the smile slide across her face, though there’s no mirth in it, no happiness. It falls away soon enough as she sighs. “Yeah. I followed’im here couple years after that – lookin for a friendly face for a change, an’ right after I done got here, he got killt.”
She suddenly finds a spot on the cement walk before her rather interesting, and sighs softly. “Jus’ bout everyone I make friends with in this fuckin’ city leaves or gets dead.” She chuckles softly, though there’s little mirth there, still. “Might wanna not sit so close – just in case.”
[Chloe Abernathy] “Rats are hard to kill, Maija. You’re stuck with me.”
A cheeky smile.
Bite. Bite. Chew. Swallow hard
[Maija] “He was a rat too.”
But she nods slightly, and tries to push it away again. It ain’t good to concentrate on all she’s lost – it’s too much, an’ it takes too long. “Guess it’s a good thing I work for Big Bob, in that case, huh?” Her humor is dry, subtle, but there. Kind of funny that she was bragging just hours ago that she was a damn good cook too – to a Fenrir that makes grilled cheese with an iron.
An iron!
[Chloe Abernathy] She snorted.
“Y’know? Maybe that’s for the best… ribs are good, but the barbecue sauce needs a little more pep.”
A pause.
“I thought I saw a bottle of tobasco in the dumpster, maybe that’ll perk it up.”
[Maija] She shakes her head, and chuckles. “Franks hot sauce. That’s th’shit – much better’n Tabasco. I’ll make sure t’swipe a bottle for ya tomorrow.”
She nods after a pause, and gestures to the dumpster. “If I ain’t outside, I’ll make sure it’s by th’back wheel there, so’s it don’t get lost.”
[Chloe Abernathy] “You don’t gotta… City will provide,” she said with a slight grin. There was absolute faith in the statement. The City would provide, and this much she knew.
“Why you bein’ so nice?”
[Maija] “It will. By me makin sure ya gotta bottle. Big Bob ain’t gonna worry me none about it.”
She has faith in the statement, and Maija… well, Maija ain’t got much to have faith in. She’s got a bunch of books, a plan, and a new name. She has a couple people she knows, an’ a bunch she ain’t trust as far as she kin throw’em. She’s gotta past that’s left her broken, an guarded – way guarded.
Chloe asks why she’s so nice, an’ she shakes her head. “Jus’ payin it forward.” Wasn’t so long ago she was eatin outa dumpsters too.
[Chloe Abernathy] “Gotcher back, Maija.”
It was hard to get rid of a Bone Gnawer. It was hard to get rid of Chloe, especially when you have shown her some kindness. Maija has lived a life full of twists and turns and secrets.
“I’ll pay it forward.”
[Maija] As far as folks go – so far Chloe ain’t too bad. She ain’t demanding they go upstairs, that she move in, that she do anything. In fact, she’s just settled there, sitting comfortable like, an’ eatin ribs. It’s hard to get rid of a Bone Gnawer – Maija’s testament to that herself. This city has done everything it can to break her further – and here she is. Still standing.
Well. Sitting. For another minute maybe. “Good. Karma likes it that way. Bout time for me t’head in though. Ya gotta warm place t’sleep?”
[Chloe Abernathy] “I got a few places lined up, but some of ’em are kinda crowded. I’m good.”
She nods solidly, and the redhead pulled herself to her feet. True to form, she really did have quite a bit of junk in the trunk. Not unproportional, but more like a vaguely adorable pear. She crouches to pick up her bones- those, too, end up being put into her backpack.
[Maija] She nods, slightly, and stands herself – she really is painfully thin. She nods to the door behind her. “If yeh get cold- buzz. I’ll let ya in.”
She digs her keys out of her pocket, and slides them into the lock, and looks back at Chloe. “Was good t’meet ya, Chloe. Ya take care.”
[Chloe Abernathy] ooc: thank you for the scene, Lessa! I had a lot of fun!