11/6/2004

Currently the moon is in the waning Crescent Moon phase (38% full).

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:
Jarred
Lucas
Obvious exits:
Elevator

The sparring goes on for a good ten, fifteen minutes before the phone interrupts the two Garou. It's probably a good time for a break anyway, and Lucas tugs off the gloves and sets them aside before heading for the kitchen to get himself a glass of water.

All the commotion down below wakes the sleeping philodox, and you know what they say about sleeping dogs. A low disatisfied growl emits from the top of the stairs before the halfmoon clumps his way down, a lion's mane of hair hastily combed through with thick Glabro fingers. He seems to be walking a bit better though.

Lucas downs one glass of water in nearly one mouthful, and a second nearly as fast before he pauses to regard Kenneth. "Well, good morning, Sleeping Beauty." The ahroun drawls, some of his previous twitchy tension relieved, but not all. He has a good store of it.

Kenneth gurgles out a half-snarl at the ahroun's name for him. The halfmoon is anything but a beauty when he wakes. ~Evening to you too, Prince Charming.~ Though his tone is dumbed down a fair amount by grogginess, those who have lived with him know just how dangerous he is when he's like this. Sparing a look over at the ahroun's worked out physique, he narrows an eye. ~What was going on?~

Lucas rolls his shoulders and gestures over to the elder on the phone. "Sparring." He replies and sucks down some more water. "Talked to Dillen last night, he says hi."

Kenneth narrows his other eye at mention of the Get. ~What did you tell him?~ he asks. Or rather, demands... in that not quite so subtle fashion.

"Nothing, don't get your panties in a twist." Lucas says with a snort. "Told him we fought vampires and you got the worse end of the deal. That was that."

Kenneth snorts. ~I wasn't twisting anything,~ he rumbles with a rub and cracking of his neck to both sides. ~And? Is he still up for the pack?~

"Very much. He's all fired up to try and be alpha, but he wouln't admit it." Lucas remarks with a lazy smirk. "He wants us all to get together and talk, practice together. Hell, he even wants us all to play bunk mates in an apartment or something. Says he's rooting for either Volcano or the Badb as totem."

"Christ he is fancy," Kenneth gruffly comments with a shake of his head, switching to a more comfortable human tongue. "Where the hell are we going to find a volcano around here? Unless you plan on takin' trips to Mt. Saint Helens."

Lucas chuckles, "Be one hell of a hike, that's for sure, but not a bad place to go. I was eyeing earthquake myself, but Boar strikes me just as well. Bull would be nice, but the last thing I need is more Rage and less control over it. I'd hate to be biting your heads off for having nicer shoes than me."

Kenneth shrugs an uninterested shoulder. "I ain't a theurge. We're better off thinking of what we're gonna do first. What we can get to side with two Lords and a Get in the first place."
Lucas hms in the back of his throat. "More what'd choose us. No guarentee we'd get the totem we set out for."

"Exactly," Kenneth rumbles with a move for the kitchen, hand once again sweeping his unruly hair back. "But if he wants to take a trip down to the volcano, we better make sure we're not steppin' in on anyone's territory down there."

Lucas nods his head, "Course, someone is bound to be looking over the area. First, tho', us three need to get together and see what we plan on doing as a pack. If we're gonna be located here in the city, a totem like volcano might not be a great idea, unless there's one lurking under St. Claire's somewhere. That'll be one hell of a spirit to come calling to help you out."

Kenneth has to grin at that. "Hell yeah it would. We could open up one crazy can of asskicking with a totem that deals in natural disasters." But, the philodox thinks some more. "But I hate to think what they expect outta us for their help."

Lucas shrugs up his shoulders. "Guess we'll just have to ask someone who might know. But I'll pay about any price to have something that powerful backing me up. Volcano, Earthquake, Twister... makes for one hell of an introduction to say you're under a disaster's watch."

Kenneth rubs his thick hand along his chin. "Maybe," he muses in thought as he closes the refridgerator door, having extracted a soda out of it. "Better find a theurge to talk to."

Lucas sighs quietly as he rubs his hand against the back of his neck. "Which means we'll probably have to head bawnside to find someone, or someone to talk to who knows the resident totem-master. I gotta go plaster a sticky note to Dillen's door, tell him when we're good to meet up."

"An' we can probably find someone at the farmhouse for it," Kenneth concurs, briefly pausing in thoughts to achieve mastery over the bottle in hand. "Well I'm up for a trip outta here too."

"Mm, guess I'll pass word to Dillen on the way out, then, he can meet us out there." Lucas says, then adds. "Maybe I'll give ol' Josh an ulcer while I'm out there, for shits and giggles."

Kenneth chuckles lowly, draining a cool quarter of his drink before speaking up again. "Wonder what that Wendigo-wannabe is up to," he muses aloud.

Lucas shakes his head, "Who knows, I don't go out there unless I have to. But this time, we need to find someone who might know. So, when do you wanna go?"

Jarred returns from his phone call, shaking his head slowly. "Fucking brokers. One wonders why I pay them at all if I'm the one making all of the hard calls..."

Kenneth turns at the sound of the elder's return, bottle lowering as he considers the ahroun. "When I'm done healing," he murmurs, eyes fixed on Jarred to gauge the elder's mood tonight.

Lucas nods his head to Kenneth's response then looks over to Jarred with the twitch of a frown as he shifts his shoulders back.

Jarred glances over to Lucas. "Get some of that energy out, or are you still strung tighter than an un-spun top?" To Kenneth, he smiles blandly. "Evening, Kenneth. Are you two discussing your upcoming pack?"

Kenneth nods faintly to acknowledge the elder's suspicions as correct. "Now that we can Do Something about things around here, first thing would be to get ourselves a pack, wouldn't it?" he asks rhetorically. "Least, if you go by what Kipling says about wolves and packs..."

Lucas then moves his shoulders in a shrug. "For now, I'll run it out later." He murmurs in response as he crosses his arms, looking to Kenneth as he speaks, and then back to Jarred. "Wouldn't happen to know someone knowledgable in the more foreign totems, would you?"

Jarred thinks. "You might get some better information from Cutter, come to think of it. Or possibly from Megan, though I'm loathe to send anyone to that megolomaniac for information..."

Kenneth quickly tenses at mention of Megan. "That bitch..." he starts to growl, but stops himself with a quick bite of his tongue. "I mean, Megan-Rhya... doesn't like me too much. But we're better off goin' to Cutter-Rhya in the first place."

Lucas frowns very carefully at that, seeming to share some of Kenneth's feeling, but mentions, "Only thing good she did was give me a choice. Otherwise, I'd be stuck as a Walker and probably, in the end, every bit as crazy as Josh for it."

Jarred snorts a bit at that. "Josh is a fine enough garou. Each of us harbor some fragment of insanity within us. Josh's problem, as yours was, is his tribe. They are all certifiable and more deceitful and unworthy than the other tribes claim of any Shadow Lord. At least we're honest about our dishonesty." He smirks.

Kenneth appreciates the elder's humorous note with a fleeting smirk and a chug of the rest of his soda, complete with a puff of satisfied air afterwards. "I don't remember much of Natalie, but if she's what a Walker is supposed to be, then I'm fuckin' glad you chose this one Lucas."

"Hah! Marcus is worse." Lucas shakes his head. "When Natalie was throwing her tantrum, she told me to watch my back with my new 'friends'. Marcus actually tried to get me to be his lackey before I had my Change, once he found out I was Garou, he seemed to take an instant dislike to me - and likewise. Only ones I can get along with in that tribe are the kin, and they end up trying their damndest not to run from me."

Jarred shrugs. "All of the other tribes are flawed, you two. The sooner you simply accept that and stop looking for scattered pockets of worth among them, the better of you will be. If you assume everyone is beneath you, you are then liberated enough to make decisions for and about them with less remorse and reluctance."

"That might be, but I don't want to underestimate their abilities," Kenneth rumbles, not meaning to be challenging but possibly coming across as such. "Last time I underestimated..." The halfmoon trails there, displeasure making his face color a shade darker.

Jarred says "Don't confuse competence for worth. No matter how smart or brave or innovative another garou is, if they aren't a Shadow Lord, they are inferior. No other tribe demands as much from their cubs and wolves."

"Oh I'm not saying they aren't, I know the other tribes are flawed. Hence, why I didn't join them." Lucas says. "Always helps to have someone who will tell you the inner soap operas currently going on in their tribes."

Had he glasses, Kenneth might have pushed them up the bridge of his nose. But instead, he looks for the recycle bin and sets the bottle down. "Well then, I think we're all on the same page about 'em, just on a different line."

Jarred turns to Lucas. "Have you two decided who will be Alpha?"

"I will." Comes the perfectly synched answer from the two Cliath, leaving them both looking, but not looking, at each other at the end of it. Bookends indeed.

Kenneth, despite his condition, apparently sees each new day as a new opportunity. Sharp teeth tips show as he smirks in a way that shows just how understanding of he and Lucas' answer is.

Jarred looks at Lucas, then at Kenneth. "Well done. It takes real balls to claim the Alphaship. His lip twitches every so slightly in amusement at his own words to Kenneth, but he bites hard on his cheek and overcomes the urge. It is gratifying to see that neither of you will stand for Dillen claiming that position. I'd expect no less."

Lucas chuckles, though it borders on something vaguely sinister and amused at the same time. Seems this isn't the only time the issue has been argued. "Unfortunatly, the Get has no idea what he's getting into and wouldn't admit he expects to be Alpha. Good fighter, bad liar. He nearly slipped last night and claimed the spot, then recovered to save his own ass by saying 'to the best man'."

Jarred nods. "As it should be. A Shadow Lord should not lead if he's not the best. But best doesn't always mean strongest. There is ingenuity to consider, cunning, manipulation, trickory. These can all be aides to strength, as much or moreso then the muscle upon your frames."

Kenneth seems to fall silent with the elder's words. A narrowed gaze goes to Lucas briefly - a contemplative gaze. "To the best Garou," he modifies, giving a short nod to his fellow cliath as something of a glove being taken off.

"Besides, Get or no, claiming Alphaship over two Lords sounds like a death wish to me." Then Lucas looks to Kenneth with a look bordering on annoyance. "Well, I can't say to the best woman, can I?"
Jarred coughs to hide a snicker.

Kenneth turns to face the ahroun. "Still got my balls," he retorts rather cheerfully with a smile that is too 'nice' to be called sincere.

"Then you're still a man unless there's something you're not telling me, Ken." Lucas adds on bluntly in the face of the smile, the nickname purposeful and probably referring to parts being molded out of plastic and badly defined.

Jarred grins and slaps the Philodox on the shoulder. "Don't mind Lucas. He's just jealous because you're twice the man without manhood that he is with." He grabs a glass of water.

Kenneth's shoulder twitches under the slap, not expecting the sudden seemingly friendly gesture. But not even Lucas' jab can offset the philodox. "Oh you know that I wouldn't keep secrets from you, Baby," he pokes back, prodding the ahroun in the shoulder with a finger.

Lucas puffs up like a cat cornered next to a full bathtub by an owner with a bar of soap. "Hey! I'm not done sparring you yet." The ahroun barks out, mostly in jest. Mostly. Best watch the finger, Kenneth, might get bitten off. Now it's the fullmoon's turn to look irate.

Jarred just smirks and sips at his water. "I'm confident you will both work this out to everyone's satisfaction."

Kenneth knows not to push the ahroun too far. Nodding to the elder's words, he withdraws his finger back as he lets his hand fall to his side, turning to make his way out of the kitchen. "Don't worry 'bout it, Lucas," he says, trying to conceal the limp that comes from walking with a still healing crotch. "When the time comes 'round the leader of the pack will take his rightful place."

"Yeah." Mutters Lucas, looking both angry and even vaguely dissapointed. Talks of challenges, alphaship, his own lack of seriously fighting recently, and just what seems to be the general antsyness of the full moon tonight and not a drop of blood to show for it. How dissapointed. If he had hackles in this from, they'd make him resemble a most unusual porcupine, but he's forced to resort to tightening up his shoulders, which makes for a much less impressive display of pissyness.

This bit of pissyness is not lost on the elder, who calmly (irritatingly so) sips his water and smirks at the Ahroun. "I'm willing to take care of the rest of that aggression if you're so inclined... punk."

Clearing his throat of some unseen excess phlegm, Kenneth just continues limp-walking on until he reaches the bottom of the stairwell. "At least it's not a full moon tonight," he notes aloud, but to himself. The philodox's interest turns upon the ahroun expectantly.

It seems to leave Lucas in a bit of a dillema, who stands there and broods under his own little black cloud in indescision. Finally, he huffs out a breath and says, "Sure. Better than walking around town..." He trails off there, leaving the 'and potentially devour poor pedestrians' off.