Lyra nods, then sighs and lets both hands tug at Renee's ears gently. "Do you like boys yet? Or at all?" is the rather sudden topic change.

Sees-True pulls her head out of Lyra's grasp, before shifting into her birth form. "Ain't really thought about it. I ain't exactly what guys look for, ya know? So I don't worry 'bout it."

THUNK! Creeaak. The doors of the abandoned church echo the sound of some entering, and fast. That someone being Yi. She quickly shuts the doors behind her, breathing fast. Her breath is held, as she listens to the sounds outside.

Lyra's hands settle respectfully in her lap as Renee shifts- then the girl's pushed off the pew and on her feet, staring as the doors swing open and close and reveal a rather frazzled Yi. "(...What?)" is the confused greeting.

Renee jumps to her feet, lips pulling back and fingers twisted into claws.

Car tires from outside squeal past, followed by the doppler effect of the sound getting farther and farther. Yi breathes out, giggling all too giddly, as she turns from the doors to start down the center aisle. And she stops, promptly upon seeing the two girls. "Ah... hi." The raggie pushes some of her bangs away from her face, toning down the excited smile plastered upon it.

Lyra blinks. And blinks again. And glances over to Renee with a questioning expression that could be aptly named (not that she'd refer to it that way) as "What the hell just happened?" sort of look.

Renee's fingers give a little twitch, before they drop back down to her sides. "Alright. What the hell was that all about?"

Yi clears her throat politely, coming down the aisle a bit. "Just having some fun," she answers Renee, nodding once in greeting at Lyra.

Lyra wriggles her nose in a motherly sort of way, disapproving of any sort of fun that requires having cars chase you down narrow alleys...but no comment towards that is made by the philocub. Slowly, she sits on the edge of the pew again, hands in her lap. Her fingers hook and unhook almost nervously. "How're things?" she asks Yi.

Renee sits down on the pew with a soft thump, causing the old wood to creak threateningly. "If thats what ya think is fun. Jus' don' lead'em in here by mistake."

Stifling her laugh, Yi hops over a pew-arm and clumps both feet down on the wood. "Oh, not so much fun if you don't know why. Better than the kids doing drugs, right?" She pulls out a small bag of greenish brown plant material, setting it beside her on the pew. "I'm fine Lyra. It's just the start of the night too. So far so good. This stuff will sell ok."

Lyra quirks her head curiously at the bag, leaning over the back of her pew to poke at with one finger. "What is that?" she asks, incredulous. Her braids dangle over her back. "Drugs? -Yi-. You shouldn't be using those."

Renee quirks a grin. "I'll take some, if ya ain't set on sellin' it all. An' relax Lyra, its only pot. Ain't like its LCD, or somethin' hard like that."

Yi looks over at Lyra. "Using? I don't smoke it. I just re-sell it." Yi hoists the bag onto her knee, sitting upon the pew backing. "This is not even worth a week's food. Kind of poor quality, but those guys were scamming their buyers." She glances to Renee. "Probably taking a big risk for only 50 dollars worth."

Renee simply shrugs. "Lotsa people take risks for stupid reasons."

Lyra frowns, looking from Renee to Yi with a disbelieving expression. "Last time I checked, drugs were bad," she monotones. "Drugs are illegal, -and- they mess up normal people's heads. I thought we were supposed to be fighting corruption, not encouraging it." She shifts position a bit, sitting backwards on her knees on the pew.

Yi quirks her gaze, looking at Lyra. "Last time I checked, people did not care whether it was good or bad. Better that at least this little bag will not used up immediately. Quality control here."

Renee says "Ain't nothin' wrong with it, far as I am conserned. 'Bout the same as drinkin'. Little bit won't hurt ya. Atleas with this stuff."

The halfmoon isn't convinced, at all. "So because people are stupid, it's okay to take advantage of it? You're not selling it to Garou, it won't kill us. But it'll kill people, once they get addicted." She wriggles her nose again, curling wth her side against the pew. These seats were so uncomfortable.

Yi's chase rush fades, the continued chiding by the philocub souring the triumph of outwitting the gangers that had been in pursuit. She snorts, dropping the bag beside her on the pew again. "Have to make money somehow. I don't have the same advantages you might have. I do what -I- can to survive here."

"You're a stick in da mud sometimes, ya know that Lyra?" Renee rumbles.

Lyra blinks, then decides to ignore the both of them and go back to studying her hands...or this time, the frayed edges of her sleeves. "Nice weather we're having," she mumbles lowly. She's not upset, just annoyed and not up to pushing the subject anymore.

Yi shrugs a little, straightening her jacket around her awkwardly. "True. Winter's coming though. More rain, maybe even some snow up in the far mountains." She adjusts her collar. "So... did you clean up your apartment?" she asks the philocub, glancing up at her.

Renee slides off the bench and shifts into lupus. Crawling under the pew and laying down.

Lyra sighs, curling up more so that she can rest her forehead on the back of the pew. "Does -everyone- visit my house?" is the slightly muted, exasperated question. "No, -I- haven't even been there since I Fr- since. Bloody hell."

Yi again runs her fingers through her hair, though it's more of a habit than a functional gesture now. "I have not gone since... since a while," she thinks aloud. But something about Lyra's tone... "Something wrong there?" The no-moon leans a little dangerously, to have a glance at the galliard below.

Sees-True pokes her head out of under the pew. Its messed up. I think sh egot mad and took a chunk out of it.

"Nothing wrong," Lyra murmurs, waving one hand about to bat at the mere suggestion of wrongness. "Nothing is the matter. I'm tired. I'm dirty. Irritable because it's that-time-of-the-month and I'm not talking about the moon." A sigh, from the still curled up cub. She tilts her head a bit to glance at Renee with one of those pleading looks.

Yi purses her lips thoughtfully, but seems to just go with it. "Ah," she affirms. "Well, if you need money for repairs, just ask." She makes nothing more of it, instead thinking some more. "So what happened at the farmhouse?"

Sees-True ducks back under the bench. I'm going to take a nap.

Lyra waves at Renee halfheartedly. "I have a few names of Alphas- Mr. Smith for one, lucky me." A pause, and then a shrug. "I haven't gotten in touch yet, though. I came down to look for Anneka, but, nobody knows where she's staying. Do you?"

"Anneka? She moves around a lot. Sometimes stays at my flat, sometimes just sleeps out in the open." Yi drops her gaze. "John's a good man. You will get a lot of good advice from him." The ragabash looks back up. "And I'd help you find Sepdet-rhya, but you know. Striders."

At the 'John is a good man' comment, there is an explosive snort from beneath the pew.

Lyra frowns, although as she's curled Yi probably can't see it. "I watched Mr. Smith break Mr. Carter's nose for no good reason," she mumbles irritably. "He was worse than a bully, and threatened to kill me because I told him to stop. 'John is a good man' -indeed-." The teen rubs at the side of her face.

Yi looks down at the pew, but wets her lips and continues on. "He is good at what he does. Being an ahroun. Being tribe elder." Shrugging her jacket off, the ragabash folds it in front of her, slipping her hands inside the fabric to keep them warm. "Who is 'Mr. Carter'?

"A Warper." Lyra shifts a bit, sighing as she uncurls and stretches, cracking the kinks out of her much-abused spine. "I met him in the park one day, with Quentin. He has a nice computer named Aristotle. A real pal."

Yi glances away to avoid showing any sign of distrust. "A namebreaker," she murmurs. "I would be careful. There are stories that say namebreakers have sucked entire caerns try of power. Power is like their drug. But... there are some good ones out there." Were some good ones. Yi blinks, remembering Perrin.

Lyra doesn't see any sign of distrust, but does pick up on the odd name. "Mr. Carter's nice," she says defensively. "And why do you call them 'namebreakers'?"

"It is the name given to them, back home," Yi answers, turning her eyes to the philocub. "They know 'magic', just like we have knowledge of gifts because the spirits teach us them. The namebreakers though, they take the world and twist it to their own liking. The 'break' the 'name' of thing. But it has bad consequences sometimes, so I hear."

The philocub tilts her head, considering that. A quick look below the pew shows that Renee is asleep. Lyra glances back at Yi, looking thoughtful. "(That makes sense. He was telling me about his twin. Er. An avatar-thingy. Anneka knows more about it. But he got created by accident- not his fault,)" she's quick to point out. "(But the twin wants to do bad things.)"

Yi browfurrows, but obviously she's at least interested in what this avatar is. "(Bad things like what? Take drugs from drug users?)" A little jab there. The CantoGnawer slips down from the pew backing to sit beside Lyra.

A slightly defiant tilt of her head. "(Not as bad as selling them to white trash who belong in school,)" Lyra retorts. "(Warpers need energy. Mr. Carter could steal energy, but doesn't, because he's nice. But the twin wants to steal energy. He made an army to help him do it. He wants to give the energy to Carter, but Carter doesn't want it.)"

Yi coughs as a coverup. "(What about this 'army' then? Why doesn't Carter just tell his twin to get lost?)"

The hazel-eyed cub shrugs a bit, at a loss for a decent explanation. "(The twin can do magic too, and he's dangerous. You don't want somebody like that running around loose in the city. The army...I don't know what it's made of, quite. Aristotle or Annie would know. And we can't just kill the twin, because then Carter will die. And vice versa. And stuff would become very complicated.)" Lyra pauses. "(Stuff -is- very complicated.)"

Yi nods slowly, but blinking a few times to try and ponder out this new knowledge of sorts. "(So... he is connected with his twin. And if one is killed, the other will die. Is that right?)" She muses. "(But if you weakened one enough to the point that you could help the good twin defeat the evil twin, then all would be good. Or maybe that just is in the movies.)"

Lyra cracks a smile. "(Movies can be educational,)" she murmurs. "(Maybe that'd work, though, tell Carter. Or Aristotle.)" A grin. "(I love Aristotle, he's so nice. At first it was pretty strange, to talk to a machine? He's nice though.)"

"(But movies aren't real life,)" Yi notes. "(And you talked to a machine. In real life. Well, life is a stage...)" The ragabash shrugs again, hands fidgeting inside her jacket.

"(And all the men and women players...or something like that,)" Lyra finishes, smiling. The smile fades slowly, and she looks down at her ragged clothes. Certain Renee's already asleep, she murmurs, "(I had a fight with Quentin and Jeremy- Walker cub and Kin. I was really mad, and when I went back to my house, I...Frenzied. I mean, I think I did.)" A pause, and her fingers lace together tightly. "(I haven't been back there since.)"

Yi straightens a little, looking over to the cub. "(So that's why.)" She nods once, as if there was a suspicion, but it was confirmed. "(You want to go back there? What were you fighting about?)"

Lyra seems to shrink a bit. One hand reaches up to tug on her red scarf, pulling it tighter about her neck until she gets the feeling it's a noose- and all at once she lets go. "(Jeremy has his apartment rigged with many cameras, and I didn't know,)" she states simply. "(I was startled by that, and...mad that he was spying. Then he started yelling at me, and...and Quentin thought it was his fault. Then Jeremy came back, and Quentin was going to leave the apartment. I told him to talk to Jeremy, and I forced him to, and Jeremy yelled again.)" A pause, almost painful. "(He apologized, but some of those things. Really hurt. And then I left, and Quentin went to live with Miss Rhiannon.)" The halfmoon looks back at her hands again, which are grimy and in need of soap.

Yi listens to all this carefully, nodding about the spy cameras. But Quentin, and Jeremy, and the whole situation, well, something doesn't make sense. "(So, you were angry because Jeremy said he had cameras in his house. And Quentin thought Jeremy was angry at him, but Jeremy was angry at you instead. Or...)" Her hand comes up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "(Aiya. So complicated.)" She looks over towards the balcony at the side of the church. "(You were just visiting there?)"

The philocub's hands don't stop moving slowly, wringing in nervousness. "(Can you keep a secret?)" Lyra asks desperately. "(A real secret, never tell -anyone-. I...I need advice, and Renee can't give it, and Anneka isn't around, and-" She stops abruptly, biting her lower lip. Maybe it -is- just the-time-of-the-month, but she looks close to tears. "(Elder sister, I'm in real trouble.)"

Yi, as if sensing the nervousness, has to hold back her own tensions. Holding it is hard, given the moon riding high in her veins. She gazes at Lyra straight on now, her silence affirming just how quiet she can be in a serious situation.

Lyra shuts her eyes tight, as if holding back physical pain. "(I care about Quentin,)" she says slowly. "(A -lot-. We...we kissed, and Jeremy was spying on us, and th-that's why I was so upset.)" It all comes out as a quick rush of words, and she covers her face with her hands. "(I know I shouldn't have, because of the Litany...)" She's crying now, tears in her voice if not past her eyes. "(But...what am I going to do?)"

Yi drops her gaze down to the jacket folded up in her lap. Listening to the young girl cry, she goes over her own situations before. How was she to help? "(You do what you have to do,)" she says, after a long bit of silence on her part and sniffling on Lyra's part. "(You change it.)" She looks over at the philodox. "(It is not uncommon, to care deeply for someone. Another Garou, even. To care so deeply, you might think it is the kind of caring that makes you and the other unseparable.)" She pauses, wetting her lips and trying to think of what to say. "(I know I'm a no-moon, and you're a half-moon. So we are, in a way, opposites. I question, you support. But both of us are under the same kinds of restriction. But as my place of the questioner... I ask you this: Did the kissing lead to anything else?)"

Lyra's half-hearted sobs quiet as Yi speaks, and she rubs at her eyes furiously with her scarf, making them redder (itchy wool) but dryer, a bit. At Yi's question, she shakes her head firmly, face screwing up in tears again. "(N-no...we, we know we can't do that. I don't even think about it with him.)" She looks down, opens her palms to stare at them helplessly and then to turn that gaze on Yi. "(I'm happy to just be with him, to hold his hand and maybe get a kiss here-)" she taps her forehead "(-but Jeremy said we could be killed for doing that, as cliaths. And what if Mr. Salem found out? He'd hurt Quentin so much...I don't want to hurt Quentin, ever.)" She wraps her arms around herself tightly, tears edging down one side of her face, into her lips. "(I had boyfriends before, but not like this. They never made me so happy and so sad.)"

Yi unfurls the jacket from her, sweeping it over her to keep the cold away now that she's not running around. "(Some say the laws of the Sunset People are harsh,)" she murmurs. "(I could on occassion, agree. Lyra, you aren't alone in having kissed another Garou before.)" It's hard for even her to admit, dredging up the memory. But Yi says it. She's put it out there now, another wild card on the table.

The philocub is quiet for a few moments, listening for a comment from Renee...who is truly asleep, and thus not participating. "(I'm...not?)" is the timid question. Then Lyra shakes her head quickly. "(I know, because how else would there be Mama Kaz? But...once I'm Rited, or he's Rited, we can't ever be together at -all-.)" The last word is a sob, even thinking about that day a terrible thing.

Yi slowly takes in a deep breath, and sighs out. "(I told you about Jay before, haven't I? He was a Gnawer, fullmoon from this place, one of the first to help me settle here. It was... almost two years ago.)" She closes her eyes, remembering the face of her tribal brother. "(We were supposed to be in a pack. But it never really went well. Just too much wandering, I suppose.)" Yi opens her eyes again. "(But our bond with each other grew strong. So strong... I had to question what was I doing. Knowing the laws, though, I still gave in.)" She looks at Lyra and nods once. "(I know... I kissed him. That night. It was only a kiss,)" she says quietly. "(But it was much more. It was like saying... 'I love you'. But, we both knew. We couldn't be together, ever. Not in this life.)" The ragabash sighs quietly again. "(We decided then, that we would instead be brother and sister. It was the only other way to change. We would be 'elders together', he said. And I would have gladly accepted that role.)" She looks away, fingering at the material of her coat. "(So... you can't continue on like the way you think. You must re-evaluate your relationship with him, and change it to fit this life.)"

The brief glimpse into Yi's past surprises Lyra. A lot. She watches Yi with a glimmer of hope, which dies quickly after, disappointment clear on her face that there was no happy ending. "(I'm so lonely,)" she murmurs, rubbing at her face and only succeeded into making her cheek sticky with mingled tears and dirt. "(Why can't we just have that? Kissing, holding hands...it's not breaking the Litany. I don't want to...to..you -know-." Sixteen, and still shy. Oy. "(I don't know if we can ever go back to just being friends. We can't. It wouldn't be the same. We tried.)"

"(Because,)" Yi interjects, "(Even an innocent act of kissing can lead to problems far beyond if you had just Been with him. The guilt you feel now... it would be far worse. Imagine. Bringing a child of two Garou into this world. Is it not a cruel act? To subject a baby to punishment for the rest of his or her life, simply because the mother and father... were in love? All actions have consequences.)" The ragabash fiddles with the hem of her jacket. "(Because you are cubs now... it is barely tolerated. But, now is the time to rethink, while you can. While it is still young.)" She looks back at Lyra. "(You are more than just friends. Garou to Garou, you are brother and sister under Gaia.)"

"Bringing -any- child into this world would be cruel," Lyra bursts out bitterly, slipping into English for a moment. "(Let alone a metis, I wouldn't be able to stand the thought of making my children live like this. I hate it. I do feel gulity- only because Salem wouldn't understand. He'd hurt Quentin, and I'm afraid of that. But it's not breaking the Litany. It's not. It's -not-.)" She says it several times, as if repeating it would make it come true.

Ah, the pain of the philodox. Yi quietly watches the younger teenage girl, truly feeling sorry - if not guilty herself. "(When you become cliath,)" she makes note, "(Then you can argue with Salem the finer points of the laws.)"

Lyra allows herself the luxury of a few more tears. "(I...)" She hiccups, tries again. "(I know it can't be forever. We might even fall in love with different people anyway. But...)" A hard swallow, as another tear leaks out. One drops off her chin, into the scarf. "(Can't we have till one of us is Rited? Just a little time?)"

Yi lifts a finger, to point it at the philodox cub. "(So you -love- him then?" she questions her, brown eyes now searching out the other girl's green (and slightly reddish) ones. "(If you love him, you let him go.)" She drops the finger, to cease the rude boldness of the gesture. "(You tell him you care, but you tell him that this is not the way it will work. You both know. Or maybe he doesn't. But in either case, you make it clear between yourselves. This is how it is. You do not have to be separated. You can still be with each other, and care for one another, but you cannot ever go beyond that. You can even be a packbrother and packsister together, someday. When you are Rited, then there is nothing Salem can do to stop you and him from doing so. That, in itself, is freedom.)"

Lyra closes her eyes and lays her head on her arms over the back of the pew, wordless affirmation that yes, she loved him. "(It's not freedom. It's taunting us,)" she murmurs, eyes still closed. "(We know it can't work. We know. Just...just a -little- time. Can't we have that, at least? Let the Rite separate us...I can't do it myself. I -can't-.)" She opens her eyes a little, staring into the grain of the wood. "(It isn't fair.)"

"(Uncle would say, 'Fair is English for a carnival')," Yi intones. "(If you think you will be separated by a mere rite, then your bonds are not as strong as you think they are.)"

One hand reaches up to flick some dust away from the wood. "(But we'd know that the Rite would be it. We'd know there was a day it would have to end. We can love each other till then. Oh, God.)" Lyra closes her eyes again, covering them with her hand. "(Why...isn't there just any way?)" The question is probably rhetorical, or meant for Gaia.

"(What is love?)" Yi asks, equally rhetorical. "(Or as that song goes, 'Love will find a way'.)" The ragabash, despite all the pessimisstic talk, tries to give Lyra a reason to find a bit of cheer.

Cheer? There is no cheer to be found, at least not when you're sixteen and in love for the first time. Lyra just buries her face in her arms, crying again. "(Don't...don't -say- love will find a way. There isn't any way, and I know it, I...we...just want a little time. Just a little time.)" She sniffs, trying to stop her embarrassing display of emotion and then deciding she doesn't care. "(We're not like Aiyana and Jeremy, public and open. Even by ourselves, it was only...only...)" The philocub can't finish the sentence.

Yi picks up her jacket from around her shoulders, standing up from the pew and shrugging into it. "(Then I won't say that it will find a way. Because it doesn't. It's the person that does.)" The ragabash picks up the bag of pot as well, putting it in her pocket. "(You take all the time you need, Lyra. This isn't a race.)" She moves towards the center aisle, hands in her pockets.

Slowly Lyra sits up, the back of her hand rubbing at her eyes. Pointless, she looks so much more grungy now after her efforts to be clean. She watches Yi walk away and then looks down at the pew, not comforted much, if at all. "'Bye," she calls out unhappily. "And thank you."

Yi thinks a bit, and turns back before she leaves. She walks over to the sniffling philocub, and reaches down to give her a strong, close hug. "Be strong," she says quietly, before releasing and holding up a key on a ring. "This is the key to my apartment. Don't worry about going to your place, if you don't want to go back. You are always welcome. Ok?"

Lyra, while she doesn't say anything, returns the hug a little awkwardly. It's just as comforting to her as all of Yi's advice. She looks surprised at the ring, then nods and accepts it gingerly. "Thank you," she says again, blinking swollen, reddened eyes. "I'll have to go back to clean, eventually...but thank you." She pauses, uncertain if she should say it, but takes a deep breath. "I'm glad you're my elder sister."

Yi nods, giving her a small smile as her vote of confidence. "You don't have to clean it alone. Come find me later, and I will help you if you want." She brushes a stray bit of hair from the cub's face. "I am glad you consider me close enough to be a sister. I'll see you around, ok?"

Lyra nods too, trying to smile for Yi. It's nowhere near her usual sunny grin, but under the circumstances, it's the best she can do.

Yi finally dips her head once as a parting note, and turns from the cub. As she travels down the center aisle back towards the doors, the Canto-Gnawer pauses to look back, her hand on the handle, at Lyra. With a quiet outward breath, she pulls on the door and makes her exit, closing it behind her far more quietly than she first made her entrance. And from there, the no-moon again goes hunting in the night.

Lyra's smile fades as Yi leaves, but she doesn't go back to crying. Time enough in the morning for that... she lies down on the pew, shifting in place and curling up with her tail over her nose. A million jumbled unhappy thoughts race in her head, until sleep allows her a brief respite that, thankfully, is free of dreams.