Be A Garou. Be A Man.
5/9/2005
12:45 PM
Logfile from GarouMUSH.
Currently the moon is in the waxing New Moon phase (6% full).
Currently in Saint Claire, it is raining. The temperature is 53 degrees Fahrenheit (11 degrees Celsius). The wind is calm today. The barometric pressure reading is 29.64 and steady, and the relative humidity is 93 percent. The dewpoint is 51 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius.)
It is currently 12:21 Pacific Time on Mon May 9 2005.
Attic(#1437RA)
Low-ceilinged and dimly lit by a window set low in eastern wall just above the stairs, the attic is permeated with a strong, lingering scent of herbs and the sense of old power. The only furniture is a large bed on the western wall and a full-length mirror on the northern one. A large pile of second-hand sleeping bags, a stack of washed sheets, and a jumble of pillows occupies one corner, usable by the temporary inhabitants of the farmhouse. A single globed light bulb dangling from the peaked ceiling is the only source of light at night.
A steep stairway leads down from here, the door at the bottom opening on the eastern end of the hallway.
(Non-Garou, please "+view curse")
Contents:
Basil
NOTE: Current Farmhouse Residents (Updated: Jan 7)
Obvious exits:
STairway
Early in the morning, Yi came knocking on the Walker safehouse door looking, to say the least, not amused. "Let's go," she said to the Gnawer-to-be cub, indicating the still running Mystery Mobile left out on the streetside. As they both got in and drove off, the direction indicated the cliath was taking the two back to the farmhouse. An oppressive feeling of silence settled itself throughout the whole trip. Once the Mystery Mobile was parked farther off from the farmhouse than usual, the walk to the safehouse in the woods was also made in wordless quiet. After but a drink of water, Yi led the cub upstairs, and now the two of them are in the attic, sitting upon the large bed that lies against the western wall. Yi hasn't cracked a smile this whole time, face remaining stoic. She waits now, not even beginning to imagine how to start this off. Her eyes fall upon the cub, unblinking, and somehow, simmering as well.
Basil doesn't say a word and climbs into the car, avoiding looking at Yi. Then again by the look on his face, he doesn't want to appear to look at much of anything. His head hangs limply to one side, resting against the car's window for the entire length of the trip. The cub's body protest itself to Basil on the walk back to the house, but despite walking in a zombie like shuffle, he stumbles his way to the house with his mentor and friend. He follows her like a lost puppy, up the stairs and into the attic he calls home. His boats come off with a dull thump-thump and he's soon sitting on the bed in front of Yi, looking down into her lap. "... I'm. I... " He isn't quite sure what he really wants to say, his hair sliding down in front of his face.
Yi remains seated rather straight, a subconscious expression of her higher ranked and dominant existence over the cub. "I would have expected this from a full-moon," Yi says simply first, filling in the silence. Her words are devoid of any real emotion, and she looks away from the cub to the far east wall of the attic. "Tell me first, where you were. And only, where you were."
Basil doesn't lift his gaze at all, and his low, near whispering croak of a voice matches how he looks. "Harbor Park. Near a bit of trees." His fingers drift down to his feet, pulling his socks off bit by bit.
"And who was there with you?" Yi continues, seemingly ignorant of the croaking whispers.
"... Masao was." His voice seems to quiver when he mentions the girl's name.
Mentioning Masao draws a bit of a reaction from the ragabash. Yi breathes in deeply and then exhales slowly, the way one does before receiving Bad News. "And what happened? Slowly. Don't point fingers. Just say what happened."
Basil takes in a long, drawn out breath before his lips part again, remaining open as if to speak with no words coming. A few seconds later, he begins. "Bums that saw the fight the night before came after us. I tried to get us to run. Masao wanted to stay. Things got hot, bums attacked. I stabbed another one. Saw another Werewolf. Changed and choked her out. The other bum died. I found out the girl I loved was a Werewolf." All of this is droned out like it was coming from an ancient tape deck, a book on tape read by a man with no emotion. Yet some comes through at the end again, his voice shaking on the last few words.
Yi slowly blinks through the report, lips drawing into a thin line. "Hm," is all that she says at first. Then, "How did you end up in the Walkerhouse?"
"A Kin came across us. Said he was with the Walkers. Wanted to take Masao alone, I wouldn't let him. Threw the corpse of the hobo in the water, went with the Kin, ended up in the house." He stops again, his brows furrowing for a moment before easing out again.
Yi, on mention of kin, browlifts. "Was it Jeremy?" she asks, though not really expecting the cub to know who she's talking about. The ragabash waves that off just as quickly with a motion of her hand, indicating Basil need not answer that question. "Who killed the homeless one?"
"No. It was some guy named Jedi. Said he was with the Walkers." He doesn't catch the movement of her hand, but soon states flatly back at Yi. "I did." His exhaustion, physically and mentally help him keep a poker face and near flat voice when he says this, shifting uncomfortably.
Yi takes the cub's words, though doesn't state any deeper thoughts that might be running through her. "So in other words, you have succeeded in turning much of the streets of St. Claire against you for what you've done." The ragabash states this almost like matter-of-fact. "You attacked two humans, and killed a third. Humans that we... as Bone Gnawers... are supposed to watch over and protect." Here she stands, turns, and looks down at the cub. Her eyes narrows. "Such turns the wheel. Maybe you are paying for your karma from another life," she says slowly, considering. "If you were in my position, Basil," she remarks with a turn away, "What would you have yourself do to make up for this?"
Basil says "They attacked me." Basil says quietly. "I didn't have a choice. I couldn't have left Masao with them alone. Should I have let them beat me until I snapped and killed them all?" His voice isn't so much one of back talking as much as he's searching for an answer. "Karma. Karma... I was always nice and good before." He turns and slumps back-first onto the bed, his eyes blankly staring up at the ceiling. "I did nothing to deserve this." He closes his eyes for a moment, hollowly smiling as they open again. "I lost my mother when I turned Garou, and she was all that mattered. I found someone that made me feel like I was in Eden. Now I can never be with her, and I've seen that her pretty body is just as torn and scarred as your's. When I tried to sleep, the park scene played again in my head, all twisted and bloodier. I dreamt of wondering what kind of hell Masao has and will suffer, and know I can never comfort her like I once did." His words are slow and deliberate, yet lack anything save for an undercurrent of sadness. "What else do I have left to give?"
Yi turns, somehow her eyes simmering once more. "Didn't have a choice?" The ragabash walks over so that her face looms over the cub's. "You /always/ have a choice," the no-moon argues. "Always. You are /Garou/, Basil, not a human. You have been beaten far worse than any human could possibly do to you, and healed from it. You think yourself so weak that you can't take a few punches and kicks from hungry homeless people? Don't count yourself so pathetically, warrior." The ragabash turns away, pacing off to a few feet farther from the bed. "Our ways will always be different from that which you knew before. Do not think that your loss is the greatest in the world, Basil. You lost your mother when you were Garou? I lost mine before I even knew. I was betrayed by those I cared most about. I lost my one and only friend and sister to me when I first changed. I have been felt love for those I could never love. I have lost so many, too. You feel like you have lost your friend forever? She is still alive isn't she? She is Garou too, isn't she?" Yi's words come quicker, hotter. "You whine like a dog, Basil. A dog who shits in its bed and then wonders sadly why the place he sleeps in stinks. And then, demands its owner to clean its bed for it." She turns around, arms crossing, eyes hard. "You deny your responsibility, and blame it on Fate? Do you think you will be let off because you are a cub? That is dogshit Basil. Be a Garou. Be a bloody man."
Basil says "I don't believe in fate. And I don't believe in God. Not anymore." He looks over at her after her speech, shaking his head. "I know there are others that have suffered more. But that doesn't make this hurt any less. She's still alive, but she'll... She'll never be my Luna again." He turns his gaze to the side, looking off at a wall. "I'm not a man. I'm a boy. And I'm not a Garou. I'm a cub. I know I'm... I'm a disappointment to you and Olga both. That I'm a bad Gnawer. I know it already, so you don't need to tell me. I just want my mother or Masao to be with me so bad right now, or to wake up. Christine was right. We are damned."
Yi storms over, face once more being shoved into the view of the cub. Then, without any more warning, the ragabash's hands are reaching down and grabbing his shirt so as to jerk him upright.
Basil doesn't even react when that happens, his neck having just enough stiffness to not fall backwards. His light body hardly resist at all, hanging from the support of his shirt. His eyes just watch her, fully expecting to be hit but lacking the energy or will to do anything.
Shoving her face in, Yi's eyes stare hard into the cub's. For a long time, all she does is stare unblinkingly. In those dark brown pools, anger so primal that there is nothing human about it. Then the ragabash shoves Basil back down onto the bed, turning away and walking to the wall with the small attic window. Her eyes stare outside at the rain that falls. She goes silent, for now.
Basil doesn't disturb Yi's silence for a long time before he gets up, looking down into his lap, sitting in the center of his bed. "I didn't want any of this... And I didn't want to hurt anyone. I don't mean... " He forces himself to get up to his feet, his eyes resting on the back of Yi's feet. "For a while, I knew what it was liked to feel love. For the first time... Something I never thought I'd have. Now I'm afraid... Afraid of whats inside me. What it could do. The things Olga said. Yi, I'll tell you a secret. Like the bird. But only if you swear to keep it a secret. Do you swear?"
"I swear /nothing/," Yi spits out angrily, turning around. "I will not swear or promise anything to a pitiful shit who thinks his relationship with another is only that whether or not he has the opportunity to worm inside her pants! A weakling, who has no sense of courage or hope! A mere /pup/ whose eyes are blind and his ears deaf!" She's yelling. Then it cuts off, as she turns back to the window and glares outside.
Basil laughs when she speaks but it's short lived. "It was never about that. It was never about... Sex. I thought of it. But I loved her. I just liked being with her. Holding her. Kissing her. I can't have love with another Garou. It's forbidden. And I won't break that rule no matter how pitiful I get." He slumps down into a seat near Yi. "I haven't got any hope. Your right about tha. But I stood up for the person I loved, and I used what you taught me to take down another cub."
Yi whirls around at the laugh, her expression finding nothing funny in this situation. "I DON'T CARE if you can't hold and kiss her!" she shouts with such a fury that the wolven equivalent would be terrifying, and moves away from the cub as he gets anywhere near her. "I regret teaching you anything, you stupid whining boy," the ragabash snarls, not looking at Basil.
Basil stands up from his spot on the wall and walks towards his sleeping bag, shaking his head. "And I was a fool for thinking you were my friend. Or that any of my 'friends' would... " He shrugs his shoulders and slides down to his knees. "Call me what you want. It's all true. I was stupid to think I'd ever be anything but alone." He puts his head down on a pillow, his body going limp, the boy trying to sleep but just not finding it.
Yi stiffly walks back to the door that leads to the stairs, jerking it open. "You really are stupid. Masao belongs to /Gaia/. Not /You/. She is NOT you pet, your girl, your Anything. She is Garou, chosen of Gaia. You... you are just a selfish fool who thinks of no one but himself." The ragabash snarls again, the sound too wolven for a human's throat, before slamming the door behind her.
[Later on in the day...]
Currently the moon is in the waxing New Moon phase (8% full).
Currently in Saint Claire, it is raining lightly. The temperature is 55 degrees Fahrenheit (12 degrees Celsius). The wind is calm today. The barometric pressure reading is 29.68 and rising, and the relative humidity is 94 percent. The dewpoint is 54 degrees Fahrenheit (12 degrees Celsius.)
It is currently 18:33 Pacific Time on Mon May 9 2005.
Odeon - Lobby(#4049RJ)
The Odeon's lobby is testament to a faded and perverted glory. The deep crimson carpet is thick in places but in others stubbly as velveteen, and the rich pattern of tangling flowers is everywhere marred by dark stains. The walls are clothed in kingly purple tatters of wallpaper, and covered with faded posters featuring women and men in various states of undress, posing with various degrees of tastelessness, and screaming out titles like "Male Service", "Bang Bang: a Sexual Explosion", and "A Slip of Her Tongue" in garish lettering. There's no light in the room but what comes in from the street, and during the day the actresses look grey and ghoulish, and the bright reds and purples of the room faded and dusky; and at night, the place might as well be covered in thick black paint.
Immediately in front of the entrance is dull matte turnstyle which no longer turns, where once tickets were taken. To the right are a pair of doors which some joker has labelled "Pimps" and "Hos" with red spraypaint: these are the washrooms. To the left are a pair of doorways which lack actual doors, and opposite is a grand set of boarded doors which lead into the theatre proper.
Please check +view for further description.
Contents:
Olga(#4061PJceq)
Obvious exits:
Upstairs THeatre Street
The loud sputter of the Mystery Mobile is amongst the traffic noises outside of the Odeon. The lupe kin and Squeaks likely have come to recognize the engine's pseudo-rhythmic turnover, as the Gnawer ragabash's junkcar powers off not far from the entrance. Yi makes her way into the Odeon not long after, and unfortunately she's looking rather cross tonight. Her eyes scan the lobby first, looking for Olga.
Olga is in the theatre, as evidenced by the lack of any noise coming from it. Usually Yi might expect a squealed greeting from the tiny mule back there but tonight there's nothing: she's behaving herself, tonight, for fear of immediate reprimand. Behind the thick double doors the two Gnawers sit, Olga in her great Glabro and Squeaks clambered awkwardly up on her lap, barely able to fit. The metis has in her clumsy clawed hands a marker, and Olga is laboriously trying to teach her the glyphs for her introduction, by the fractured light of a pair of candles.
Yi, not immediately finding anyone in the lobby, proceeds on further into the theatre as a usual checkup procedure. And there she finds the two, only with her having to squint and adjust to the lack of light. "Olga?" The ragabash proceeds on, down the aisle closer to the pair. "Ah, good. I need to speak with you," she notes, her voice tailored but not devoid of latent irritation in it.
Olga and Squeaks both look up, the former staying where she is and the latter scampering forward with the tick of claws to plaster herself across the Ragabash's legs in a hug. ~Three!~ she excitedly proclaims the other's name. Olga herself, once the bundle of fur and claws has left her lap, stands up with a sigh and a stretch, working out the kinks her back with her fingers. "What'sa matter now?" she asks, not without amusement and not without annoyance.
Yi swings herself closer, to the point that she's beside the two and plops down enough to share the candlelight. Squeaks gets a bit of a smile, as Yi does greet the metis by her name in the Mother's Tongue too. Turning back to the elder however, she sighs outwardly. "Basil has made quite a few mistakes out in the city..." she starts to say. "There was this girl he found, and seems to have developed a bond with her. Only, she is a lost cub, and she Firsted last night in the park. Killed one man, I believe, but more importantly Basil threw the body in the river." Her hand comes up, tiredly rubbing the side of her face.
"I heard about that, yeah," Olga says, without any readable change in her expression though the candles' dim light doesn't reveal much. There's a change on her face though as she looks up at Yi, her eyes harden to display something not too far from worry, and her lips twitch. "But I didn' know - the girl, her name's Masao? She looks like a tranny or something?"
Yi blinks a couple times, not expecting Olga to have heard so quickly. Then again... "No, no. She is... small. Kind of short. Kind of looks like she could be a boy if she wore the right clothing," the ragabash clarifies, but her gaze flickers to the candles and the small flames, watching them dance. "It is not that, but..." Yi sighs, frustrated. "I took Basil back to the farmhouse. Maybe... I lost my temper too far with him." Her eyes squint, then open again. "But, Olga, they don't understand. Neither of them. Christine... she thinks she's human still. Basil, he is starting towards Harano if he continues on his line of thinking."
Olga answers tersely, sharply, protectively, "Christine's gettin' by." She looks away, down at Squeaks, who returns her gaze for a few seconds before slowly looking away herself, as if she'd done something wrong, but not caring so much about guilt as about punishment. The mule crawls over to Yi's lap like she's seeking protection or comfort. She listens to Yi's words but there's obviously something else tugging at her thoughts. "Basil just got out into the city too soon. He obviously wasn' ready. I'm sure you didn't say nothing to 'im that didn't need to be said." And then, without any preamble, she asks the question which's digging into her mind. "Did they fuck? Basil and this new cub?"
Yi allows Squeaks into her lap, albeit with the heavy crinos babe, it's a bit more than she usually expects to be sitting in her lap. The ragabash tolerates though. Not mentioning Christine, Yi clears her throat and shakes her head. "I don't think so. But Basil certainly feels like he had fallen for her. A cruel turn of his fate, indeed." She sighs though. "I warned him... but still, he does this. I think I will have to go around tonight, see if any of them are sharing stories around the fires that are stranger than usual."
"I talked to 'im just a couple days ago," Olga answers simply, pulling herself away. "I told 'im Garou and normal people don't get on. Even those who can stomach you for a while'll go mad or leave if you're around long enough. I told him he should have his fun when he could get it, that he could hang out with 'er but they could never be a family. That's what I told 'im. He was pissed."
Squeaks gets to play with the various wrinkles on the ragabash's shirt as Yi shakes her head again. "He still does not realize the harm he has done. Hopefully the girl is not too scared right now," she says, admitting her worries. "Though I do not like that she was taken to the Walker house."
Olga answers that, too, quickly, like she had had the same disagreement, "She'll get taken to the farmhouse in the next couple days, so Nat said at least." She's quiet then and again she watches Squeaks, who steadfastly doesn't look back at the Theurge, steadfastly keeps her eyes on her new best friend's shirt. Reaching over, Olga takes up one of the candles and holds it to her lips: she gives a quick frustrated puff and the room goes darker, now, light diminished in favour of economy. "What're you recommending, Yi?" she asks, more quietly now, as if in respect to the dark.
Yi blinks a couple of times as her vision adjusts, for a moment not answering. Squeaks can still feel the ragabash's hands on her, firmly making sure none of those claws are coming her way in any kind of roughhousing. "There's not much that can be done- except to wait until the streets are calmer. I want Basil to stay at the farmhouse now, though. If the new cub is brought to the farmhouse, I don't know what his reaction will be, but he will have to deal with this."
"She will be brought to the farmhouse. Don' care if it's awkward for them, better than having her stuck at the roach hotel, eh?" Olga asks roughly, her voice grim and decisive. "Yeah, you're right, Basil's gotta stay out of the city, for a couple months at least if not more. I hear there's a big mess at Harbor Park - wouldn' surprise me if there's cops there already - and there's a body gonna be found eventually. Don't wanna take any chances of anybody recognizing him, or the girl."
Yi nods a few times more, with slow and measured movement. "It is for the best," she says evenly, less frustrated but still concerned. "And in opposite, Christine... wants to come back to the city. She says, she wants to speak with a Christian leader of some church... a priest." The ragabash rubs at her temple with a finger, having the feeling of a headache come on.
Olga asks, again in that quiet candlelit voice, "She does, does she?" There's consideration in her tone, not, to be fair, so much like she's considering the idea, but more like she's trying to pin down the reason behind it. "I wonder if there's any Gnawers not too far off who're Christian, or, well, mostly Christian, who we could bring in to talk to 'er? Might be an idea, I guess."
"Maybe," Yi notes, somewhat subdued now that she's coming off some kind of frustration level from before. "Or, you think Cass might have been at some time? Or Simon? I.. don't know." She shakes her head. "But those two need some lessons about hard life. And I think Basil has discovered for himself the beginnings of them." She looks over to the theurge, or in her general direction. "I only hope that we aren't the only two left here for long. This job is getting to be rather tiring."
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