8/13/2004

10:00 PM
Logfile from GarouMUSH.

Converted Warehouse - Shadow's End(#3589RAJh)

Track lighting along the 30 foot skylighted ceiling in this spacious complex accents the smaller sconces along the walls every 10 feet or so, keeping the entire area adequately lit, even while allowing shadows to play in odd areas during the night. Over all, the entire effect is dark and post-modern in places, warm and inviting in others. On one side of the lower floor, a spiral staircase leads up to a mezzanine that stretches along one entire side of the place. Two suites with separate baths can be found there, nearly a perfect match to the two downstairs. One of the downstairs suites is larger than the rest, though all of them seem excellently appointed. The end of the apartment nearest the entrance contains a large rec room with a comfortable-looking sofa, several leather recliners and a high-end entertainment system. The other end of the apartment contains an impressive workout room, complete with free weights, and other assorted fitness equipment. The center of the lower floor contains an open kitchen area. A sprawling, dark-grey counter surrounds a set of expensive-looking burnished appliances. Charcoal grey carpeting covers the floor and huge, vertical blinds hang near the workout area, covering windows that stretch halfway to the ceiling and overlook the river.

Contents:
Lucas
Obvious exits:
Elevator

The television is on once again, but this time the Philodox is sitting on the couch before it. Turned on to the Olympics, he watches the taped ceremony played, but doesn't seem to be paying too much attention to the screen.

The Ahroun has been missing since early this morning, gone with no note or warning. Only now, quite late, does he return via the elevator. He thumps out of the thing with heavy steps, looking a bit strained, but it's mostly tiredness and not anger - which is always good news.

Kenneth doesn't seem to have noticed. Or, he doesn't say anything at first. Once Kazakhstan has passed on the screen, he looks behind him to the ahroun, a measuring gaze sizing up the other cub's condition. "D'ja go somewhere interesting?"

"Yeah, to piss off Natalie." Lucas responds as he makes his way for the couch the Philodox occupies and claims the one end of it. "I figured I'd tell her why I scratches the Glass Walkers off her list. She wasn't happy, but their kin still like me, so fuck her."

Kenneth turns his gaze from the TV with this new development. "Oh?" A rather impish smirk grows on him. "What'd you tell her?"

Lucas gives a disgruntled snort, but replies, "What I gave her was a little more sugar-coated, a little. Basically, I told her I felt they abandoned me. She and Josh picked me up, dumped me at the Mansion, and their kin had to teach me. They found Chaney, and as per Megan's rules, they dumped me out at the farm. Rules or no, Natalie only ever came to visit me once, and that's mostly because Emily wanted to see me, not that Nat wanted to make sure I was doing alright. I can take care of myself, but still, it kinda felt like a knife being stuck in me. 'Hi Lucas, see you're still alive. I got a new cub now, a lupus, isn't that wonderful?! So, I'm busy with her, so I probably wouln't get to check up on. Sorry. Have fun.' ...So, as if I didn't feel like shit enough that I didn't have a tribe, she just made me feel all the worse." He snorts, getting frustrated. "Fuck them. I didn't want anything to do with a tribe who can't even hold itself together."

Kenneth smiles in a way that is more like a wolf lifting its lips to snarl in distaste. "Yeah man. Fuck that shit. Even though I don't like Jarred or Cutter too much, better them than any of the other elders 'round here. That lupe can go chase her tail for all I care." The philodox leans back, watching Latvia go by on the screen. "What'd she say back?"

There's a twitch in the Ahroun's cheek, a faint growl, like he was thinking something but isn't saying it. "Natalie did what she always does. Huff, throw a fit, and stomp off. Jeremy told me Marcus is elder now, which is funny. That tribe is going to destroy itself from the inside, and I'm just going to sit back and watch."

Kenneth tilts his head slightly to one side. The halfmoon divides his attention between screen and ahroun. "Damn. Sounds like she doesn't know what she's doing much. So, who's Marcus?"

"A Philodox." Lucas says, "I ran across him just before I Changed, but he didn't seem to know what I was. His ego is going to make him hunchbacked one of these days, it's so big, but he can't use it worth shit. He tries to manipulate everyone he sees, and it's obvious what he's doing. Thinks he can win everyone over to him."

Kenneth lifts his chin with the mention of another philodox. "Sounds not much different from a few other elders. Should meet him sometime," he muses aloud. "I thought the Walkers were supposed to be all city-smart and shit. Seems like you and I got more brains about ourselves though, the way you talk about 'em. Natalie didn't strike me as real bright up in her attic when I met her. An' we saw Emily at the farm not long ago didn't we?"

Lucas nods his head, but doesn't linger on the subject of the Walker kinfolk. "Jarred and Cutter say the Fangs pose? I say the Glass Walkers, at least of this sept, are posing... and about to fall right on their overpadded asses if they keep up the way they're going. It would be amusing tho', to see who'd claim the city then."

Kenneth shrugs once. "Get, probably. Last I heard, Dillen was living at a place called Brownstone, 'long with Taslyn and Signe-rhya. But, go figure. Sounds like the Walkers are some real bitches. And if that one cub of theirs is their only hope, well.. they're pretty fucked."

Lucas nods his head, "She's not even a wolf, she's part dog." The word is nearly spit out, and the anger that flutters from the Ahroun indicated Chaney is a subject he holds in bitter regards. "And she's a fullmoon, too, tho' I think a strong wind would probably blow her over."

Kenneth sits up a little more, looking back to the fullmoon as a commercial comes on and the ahroun's demeanor changing for the worse. Eyes narrowing, he regards Lucas with an inquisitive eye. "What happened back in the barn, that one day?"

Lucas furrows his brows as he stops brooding long enough to regard Kenneth with a look of mild confusion. "What do you mean?" It would seem he's either forgotten or put the event out of his mind.

Kenneth must have a damn good memory, or holds grudges way too much. "That one day at the barn, when that lupe cub was punchin' at the bag. Saw you there, sittin' and sulkin'."

Lucas shrugs his shoulders, "Chaney isn't exactly someone I like being around. I think she tried to pull the same dominance shit on me as she did you, but I was ignoring her, so she went and punched the bag instead."

Kenneth huffs, a jerk of his head and turn back to the television indicating his evident remembrance of the loss. "Bitch," he growls out gruffly. "Doesn't matter though. Much as I think the Walkers are goin' and screwin' themselves up, we probably should be thinkin' about our own tribe. I been thinkin' of what to do after the Rite. Aside from goin' back to school." The cub glances sidelong at the ahroun. "I figure, since you were thinkin' of a pack, we could fix up one."

Lucas nods his head in silent agreement in regards to the Walkers. "I'm not gonna worry about school. I'm probably not gonna see 18 anyway, and I never went to school when I wasn't Changed, so why start now? But yeah... I think a pack would be good."

Kenneth narrows his eyes again. "Fuck that kind of thought. Not gonna be around at 18 years old? You better be around in 3 years or I'll fuckin' dig your body up an' piss on it." He sits up straight, looking the ahroun in the eyes. "Just cause you're an ahroun, you get to go headfirst and beat shit up. Doesn't mean you should die early. You see some of the elders 'round here. Look at the Get. They're past eighteen, they're ahroun, they're still ticking."

Lucas snorts as he eyes the tv with mostly disinterest. "I don't think a Get would know when he's dead, he'd be too pissed off." He looks back at the halfmoon and says, "Maybe I'll be around, maybe I wouln't. If I am, great, if I'm not... well, I hope I didn't look like an ass when I died." If anything, the Ahroun sounds rather resolved when it comes to the likelyhood of his death at an early age. Go down fighting.

"And that Reggie guy? He's an asshole, but he's still around," Kenneth adds in, finally turning his gaze back to the television. "I don't care if you go down fighting. But you pick your enemies when you do it, y'know? I didn't get the shit beat outta me by so many assholes without figuring that out. Jarred-rhya might not think the Get are more than a pawn to use, but they've proved themselves in a fight."

Lucas nods his head, "Yeah, I coulda been one, if I wanted. But I didn't." The Ahroun says dismissivly. "So, 'bout a pack, you got any ideas what to do? All that shit about the other caern falling makes me think we could use some more people ready to kick ass if it's needed."

Kenneth steps back onto the mental pathway of pack-thinking. "What about it? Pack's a pack. Much as it sounds like just a gang under wolf's clothing, seems like it's more than just that. I don't know yet. Jarred and Cutter don't seem like they're in any pack."

Lucas shakes his head, "Don't think they are. Sounds like most people wouldn't want them in their clubs. I know most of the packs have certain things they do, like defend the caern or I dunno, maybe wipe someone's ass... got me."

"Somehow I think they're like oil an' water," Kenneth remarks with a glance to the screen flickering again. "Maybe a pack that's around to conduct investigations. It seems like everyone 'round here's just waiting for the Wyrm to come to us. But no one's goin' out to really make sure what we've got is secure."

"Like a sort of First Alert pack?" Lucas says, "Sounds like it'd be a half guardian and half scout pack. Hmm, might be useful to have something like that here, 'specially since things are heating up and we could use the extra security."

Kenneth quirks a side of his lip up again, but faintly. "Somethin' like that. Or somethin' that actually gives a damn enough to check out what's around this city. Pick up the ball the Walkers are fumbling. The sept might not trust Shadow Lords, but we ought to shove that shit back down their throats by proving we can do shit they can't."

Lucas nods his head slowly, the wheels in his head turning. "That could go hand in hand with scouting and protecting. The Walkers are stumbling, and that leaves a big gap in the city's security. If they fall, someone will need to be there to patch the hole."

Kenneth nods in turn. "The Bone Gnawers might have the slumside covered, but that leaves open uptown. There's some bad shit downtown, but who knows what the heck is going on up there? I haven't heard nothin' about this sept doin' anything to make itself better aside from 'strengthening the wards'. Whatever the hell that'd mean. But if there's a Guardian pack like there should be for the caern, then there ought to be somethin' for the city too, don't you think? Or hell. We can go back an' forth. That's the scout half. We aren't ragabashes, though. But I am thinking somethin' more like, we slip in usin' our heads. Anyway, we just do what needs to be done."

Lucas nods his head in agreement, "The sept does seem to neglect the city, and if the Wyrm gets a good foothold here, it's just a short skip to the caern. If the Walkers can't protect the city like they claim to 'cause they're too busy fighting one another, and the Gnawers are too busy with their own dirt, then that leaves the city wide open. Easy pickings, provided we could get the right group with us."

Kenneth shrugs a shoulder, watching the speech going on, but not paying attention to it. "You got any ideas of who to ask then? Dillen's on my list."

"Dillen would be good to ask." Lucas says, crossing his arms across his chest. "There's Auggie and Miguel, but I don't know about them... Mara might be a possibility. A Strider would make an excellent scout, and she's also a Theurge."

Kenneth casts a minor glance at the ahroun. "That's what. Two ahrouns, two galliards, two theurges. And a halfmoon in a pear tree. Pretty good. Don't have a clue about ragabashes. Hell if I want one, if they're all like Todd or Flash."

Lucas snorts quietly, "One Theurge, Mara. There's that Bone Gnawer Raggie, Joey, but I never hear anything about her. Nah, I think if we're gonna scope the city, there shouldn't be too many of us, at least if we plan on doing any snooping. Less eyes, but more chance of sneaking up on any enemies we find, and with the right totem, you can fix being down a few sets of eyes."

Kenneth does his math again, and then shrugs again, this time the other shoulder. "One theurge. I don't think there can ever be /too/ many, so long as we all knew what we were doing, or at least knew where we all were. As far as totem goes... well I'm not gonna think about that yet. I don't know enough about spirits to say."

Lucas nods once, "Yeah. We don't even know what they're all up to, but ya know, we gave it some thought, at least. First we Rite, then we decide what we should do. Who knows, our Rite might give us an idea what we should be focusing on."

Kenneth nods slowly to agree silently on the ahroun's last words. "Maybe so." He stands up off the couch then, stretching out as languidly as a snake uncoiling. "I'm gonna head off to the shower. You stayin' to watch this?" He points to the TV screen.

Lucas shakes his head, "Nah, think I'm just gonna hit the sack. It's been a long day." He gets up off the couch, though with less grace, his neck giving a crack as he tilts it to one side. "Wanna grab pizza tommorow for lunch?"

Kenneth reaches down to pick up the remote and flips the TV off. "Yeah, sounds good t'me. Least we aren't payin' yet." He grins wryly, and then heads towards the stairs.

Lucas follows along the same path, a bit behind, and with a mumbled good night that's intermingles with a yawn, takes the turn into his room and shuts the door behind him.