1/14/2005

11:14 AM
Logfile from GarouMUSH.

Regan Avenue East, Downtown
Red brick buildings rise, some of them crumbling from disrepair and disuse, others patched together by repairs. Graffiti covers some of the walls near street level, some rude, most crude, but the occasional drawing is meant for a lighter-hearted reaction. The graffiti becomes a colorful, almost gaudy mural at the western end of the district, an announcement of the Regan Hope Project's presence. Trash litters the majority of the gutters, from Harbor Park in the east across to just before the Regan Hope Project's domain, where the trash is less prevalent and the buildings less run-down. Small shops with apartments in the floors above them span a block here and corners there: delis, second-hand clothes, textiles, small restaurants, a grocery store. Sandwiched between the buildings are weed-choked empty lots.
Contents:
Joey
Obvious exits:
Harbor Park The Gunbarrel Abandoned Lot Empty Lot Pizza Parlor Regan Hope Project North South West

[look Joey]
     A dark haired teenager with the beginnings of maturity in her eyes. She stands at a modest 5'2" and is of average build; neither skinny as a twig, nor plump in any fashion. A line of fading freckles saddles over her nose, blending in with the darker hue of her skintone. Her hair has a natural wave to it and hangs down past her shoulders, and her eyes are a rather plain brown.
     She often has a bounce to her step and a smile on her face. Her eyes are warm and filled with a look of contentment and happiness, though also quite alert of her surroundings.

Cloudy and cold, but people have work to do. This goes for Joey as well, who is lounging about on one of the curbs with another homeless looking person. The man she sits beside is sucking on a banana peel and talking with her, evident by Joey's head nods. She herself, when placed next to the man, doesn't look like a homeless waif, as she has her clean jeans and coat on todya.

Kenneth exits the Pizza Parlor, popular hotspot for local homeless to sit around and beg for change and yet refuse the food. Usually, these people are beneath even Kenneth's notice on a day like this. But, as he approaches the spot where Joey and the man sit, he spares them a glance that turns into a flicker of recognition for the Gnawer girl. The grip he has on his personal pizza box looks just a bit tighter afterwards- barely noticeable.

Joey is used to watching the ins and outs of the parlor, and so upon inspection of the most recently regurgitated patron, she balks. Her whole posture tenses, to no notice of her conversation partner. She looks a lot like a rabbit caught by the scent of a fox. Scared to death, and yet unable to run.

Kenneth continues to walk, getting ever closer and closer. The pizza box steams merrily and without care in the below freezing weather, and probably looks more tempting for the heat it provides than the nourishment inside - to the homeless man anyway. "Yo bud, spare any cha...nge?" Kenneth's gaze settles upon the homeless man, black and cold. He then shifts that gaze to Joey. A hand peels from the side of the box, and stuffs into the side of his pocket. "Should ask her," he replies with a nod towards the Gnawer, "But then again, maybe she's not as reliable." All said with a straight face, he looks from man to Gnawer and back. In the vicinity of the Rage, the homeless man says nothing.

Joey stares up at the other for only the briefest moment before a more submissive nature drops her gaze to her own lap. A second of thought and she stands up, looking down to the banana peel munching man. "He don't got no change for you Marley. I'll see ya around." For all intents and purposes, she looks as if she is just going to walk away from the Shadow Lord - or perhaps it's just to spare poor Marley any trauma.

Kenneth stares at both like his position is somewhere more up in the clouded sky than right next to them on the sidewalk. Then, he pushes on away from the two but at a slightly slower pace. Marley, once Kenneth has passed a couple of slabs of sidewalk away, turns to Joey and whispers, "Didja see the look on that kid's face? Christ, he prolly got hit as a kid. What a tightwad." But with the look of submission on Joey's expression and the feeling of the Curse starting to pass, Marley looks befuddled, sliding a thumb over the limp peel.

Joey gives a nod to the man, "Yah, could say that. Just stay clear of him okay?" She slips her hands into her pockets and moves after the ShadowLord in either a moment of complete courage, or foolishness. "You might as well get your piece out at me now, there's a lot going on and the last thing I need is to be looking over my shoulder worrying about folks on my own side."

Kenneth stops as he is spoken to, turning to look over his shoulder before turning back around. "I don't got anything to say to you," he replies stiffly, eyes staring out like black stones. Clearly though, he probably recognizes that Lucas and Dillen had quite a bit to say.

Joey maintains her rather mouselike attitude with him, despite the very bold move she has made. "Yah alright, that's probably true. And I'm sorry about how things turned out, but everyone's gotta follow what they believe is right. I wanna know that I don't have to worry about watching my back with you. If you're that sore about things, then we can take care of it now, get it outta your system, whatever."

Kenneth sucks in a breath, only to let go in an annoyed sigh. "Fine," he says with a turn towards the nearest alleyway. "We'll get this 'out of my system'." And he heads down one space between buildings, not even stopping to look if there are other people within. The pizzabox crunches lightly with the pressure of his grip.

Joey takes in a deep breath and follows after dutifully, like a child waiting for the paddle. She follows him into the alley and looks around, her gaze curious as she awaits to see what's going to happen. Once they are settled in the back of the alley, she just stands there, looking at him.

Kenneth looks around at the bricks making up the dead end, nose wrinkling a bit at the putrid smell of someone having pissed in a corner. Then he turns to face the Gnawer. "I ain't gonna hit you," he says plainly. "And I ain't gonna lie to you. Back there, when you talked about worry about 'folks on my own side', I had to hold in a laugh. Your side? I wonder which side you're on." The halfmoon sets his pizza box down on top of a nearby crate. "You ran. Lucas can't eat shit now, and Dillen's neck looks like cooked spaghetti when he turns around too fast. And for what? For You. What I wanna know is what the fuck you were thinking, getting into a war pack, if you were just gonna back out at the last second?"

Joey looks down, "I told Lucas and Dillen from the very beginning it wouldn't work. They pushed, they said they'd need a scout, the person who looks ahead and gets the info. I can do that.. I think." She drops her voice lower, "They acted like they really wanted me in the pack, and god knows that I wanted to be in one. But I also know that the statement made about who belonged wasn't just a test. It was a command. I couldn't have fit in with that choice, maybe with another, but not that..." She sighs, "You think it was easy to turn down what's probably my only chance at getting into a pack?"

"You turned down what was /a/ chance to get /involved/," Kenneth modifies. "I didn't say much about you back then because I don't judge unless you give me a reason. The last Bone Gnawer I ran into cut my face up," he traces some now invisible cuts and flays, "And then had the nerve to run from that responsibility. The last ragabash I ran into, stole my fuckin' headphones that my dead father gave me, probably buried it in the woods and pissed on 'em like they were a piece of shit. And now? Now the next Gnawer ragabash I come into contact with doesn't even know when she's got a good thing goin'. What the fuck am I supposed to think about your kind? You tell me." He takes a step forward, arms folding over his chest.

Joey takes a step back, shrugging. "That we're a bunch of no good worthless pieces of junk I guess." She swallows hard now, looking down. "The ones you talk about though, they're different... they're not me. I don't do stuff intentional like that." Steam comes from her breath as she speaks, her tongue licking at dry lips. "You guys chose to fight for me, when it was clear I had to fight for myself. You can't make a lion out of a mouse- I know my place, and it wasn't under Fenris. It would have been stupid..."

"Yer damn right it would've been," Kenneth snaps back, brow squinching from withheld anger. "You didn't even lay a hand on the guys that were cuttin' up a tree with a chainsaw. I'd hate to see what you'd be like when the Wyrm comes knockin' on our door." He looks off, shaking his head and growling a sigh out. "But fuck it, Joey. Fuck the whole pack shit alright? Lucas took his piece, Dillen's probably said whatever the fuck he wanted to say, and me... I just don't give a damn. Really, I don't." He turns his eyes back. "How old are you Joey?"

Joey shrugs, "Seventeen.. I guess." She looks down, almost as if the verbal onslaught is more painful to her than a physical one.

Kenneth arches his brows up. He hadn't expected that answer. "Seventeen? You're seventeen?" Turning away again he looks skywards in disbelief. "Christ. You're older than I am." The Shadow Lord takes in another breath and coughs out from the stink that assails his nostrils when he does. "Ugh," he grunts, rubbing his nose with a hand. It seems like his diatribe is on a temporary ebb. Looking back down to the girl, he asks, "So you're a couple years older 'n I am, but you sure as hell don't act like it. You know, you'd maybe be a junior in high school by now. And I bet you could even pull it off, since all you'd need was better clothes and half a brain." Walking back over to the pizza box, he picks it up and starts to walk towards the girl. "I was gonna be a sophmore before all this shit happened. Now I can't ever take a piss standing up, all because I'm a fuckin' werewolf who's gotta have a hand in 'saving the world from the forces of evil'." The box gets shoved towards the Bone Gnawer, like a gift that can't be refused. "Take it."

Joey looks at the box, taken off guard by it. She takes it, it's instinct really. "But.." she starts, stopping when the tone registers with her. "Thanks," she then offers, lowly spoken. To the school comment, all she adds is, "Yah maybe. Probably not though." She sighs, "Least you know you belong somewhere. Anywhere is better than not belonging." Then she shuts up, just to stand there and stare at the steaming pizza box, her stomach growling louder than her voice ever growls.

"Do I?" Kenneth queries rhetorically, letting go of the pizza box. "All I know is, I could die at any time, in any way, and maybe even in a way where my body's gonna be a fine red mist. When I think about it that way, this shit like 'not being in a Fenris pack'... really doesn't matter." He steps back, scrutinizing the girl. "So you do what you gotta do. Strength of the wolf is in the pack, and the pack in the wolf and all that Kipling crap. But what he said holds true."

Joey brings the box closer to her, though her eyes wont raise to look at the other. "Yah I know, I know." She shrugs a little bit and just gives another nod. "T-thanks." After a moments pause, she looks up shyly, "Can I go now?" Food calls.

Kenneth nods. "I was just gonna bring the pizza back to lord it over Lucas," he shrugs, "but no big deal. It's Jarred's money anyway." He looks beyond to the alley mouth. "Don't get me wrong. I'm not bein' 'nice' here. I still don't think I can trust you. But at the moment... we got bigger things to deal with, like a human gang that's got silver and knows about werewolves."

Joey nods firmly at this, "Yah I know, is why I wanted to square away with things, as best as I could." She looks the box over, "Well alright. I'm gonna go now- uh thanks for not hitting me." Then without another word, she takes the pizza box and hurries off, scuttling towards another alley.

Kenneth watches the Gnawer skitter away and shakes his head again. It's after she disappears, that he starts to make his way to the mouth of the alley and head back to the Shadow's End, pizza-less.