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flint_garouSome lessons in manners.
4 January, 2012
The moon is in the waxing Gibbous (Galliard) Moon phase (70% full).
Emma gives a grin as the story finishes, nodding her approval. "Names mean a lot. Sometimes they mean more for us than they do for others. What's the other one?"
"Mmm. Well, thank you." The boy settles back into the couch, lips pursing once more. He takes a deep breath. "I don't mean what I'm saying, so please do not be offended."
Emma peers at the boy. "What don't you mean, and what should I not be offended by?"
There's the sound of the front door swinging open, and then shut, and the additional sound of muffled conversation from there, for a moment. "Yes, I know," Flint responds, reminded of the terms of the outing. "I will. Yes." The Glass Walker cub enters the living room slowly, detouring along the edges of the room a moment as he regards what's going on, a nod of greeting given to those already present.
The back door opens and closes next. The place is like one giant set of revolving doors. It's Norman this time, hair and shoulders wet with rain, which he shakes from the former to scatter over the floor. "Morning," he says shortly to those already inside, eyeing the lot of them.
Curiosity gets the better of April as she sees what she thought was a recently familiar face entering the house from the treeline. Following that curiosity, she makes her way through the front door of Edgewood, quietly shutting it behind her as she looks to join the group that appears to be gathering.
Suddenly gone quiet at the sound of the doors opening, Javid shrugs. "Uhm. It might sounded offensive… But maybe I should tell it another time…" The corners of his lips twitch as he glances at the new arrivals. "Hi."
Emma looks up as newcomers arrive, and nods to Javid. "Deal. And probably smart too." She turns then to nod at Norman, then look over the others, "Busy place."
"G'morning," Flint responds politely, making his way around the edge of the living room before going towards a couch near where Emma and Javid are. And it's then, when the cub turns around and sees April, that he does a quite visible double-take, halfway through sitting down, as if he's suddenly decided that maybe he doesn't need to sit down after all. A nod acknowledges April, but the boy continues walking around the couch before making his way towards the kitchen.
"Now there's no more Dancers to worry about," Norman says with a shrug, apparently in answer. "They knew where the house was. We killed 'em." He heads for the kitchen, and the sounds of food-preparation can be heard shortly afterwards.
Emma grunts. "Always a good thing to do. So," she looks around, "Who are all of you people?"
April knew she wasn't imagining things when it came to that familiar face! But her attention is divided as the mention of dancers spears her attention. Shaking her head, she moves towards the kitchen to follow the cub.
Javid sinks down into the couch, assuming a proper slouch, though his head remains up, his eyes flickering about the room.
Flint doesn't remain in the kitchen long at all, careful not to get in the way, before he emerges with a glass of juice and a few cookies and makes his way for the couch again. Half of the cub's gaze is kept on April, wary, but he nods to Emma. "Flint," he says. "Called Takes-It-All-In-Stride, Galliard cub." A pause, as the boy's attention wavers from the introduction as he sits down on the couch, attention paid to neither dropping the cookies nor spilling the juice. "Of the Glass Walkers."
Emma looks over toward the other she doesn't know, eyes landing on April, "And what about you?" The young woman is wearing black sweats and a grey tank top, which gives hints to a rather large swatch of ink on her back and shoulders that appears to be in the shape of a bird.
Flint receives a pinched smile from the Strider. "Bathroom," Javid announces and scrambles, booted feet and jutting arms, over the back of the couch.
"I should have known!" April exclaims as she comes around to stand near Flint's chosen seat. Her attention is focused solely on the cub now as she inches closer for a better look.
Flint looks up at April. "Hi, I should have known," he says, poking fun at her words with a faint grin, though he scoots himself to the other side of the couch, either uncomfortable with the close attention or offering April the seat.
Emma clears her throat. "Hey. If I ask a third time, given the moon, I am gonna get to the point of being very cranky." The Get female has pulled herself up off the chair and moves to intercept the attention between Walker cub and the girl.
Norman re-emerges, coming as far as the kitchen doorway, a bottle of beer in each hand. "Anyone?" he asks, holding one bottle up.
April glares towards Flint for a moment before blinking and looking back towards Emma. "Umm, sorry…" she murmurs, stepping back from the couch a little. "I'm April Rains, Shifting Briar, Fostern Theurge of the Black Furies."
Flint offers Emma a very, very grateful look, if only for shifting April's attention momentarily away from him. The last of the three cookies that the boy had emerged from the kitchen with disappears, and he busies himself with making sure he hasn't gotten crumbs on the couch or anything, attempting to make himself as small as possible.
"Thank you," offers the Ahroun in a terse voice. "Emma Mahler, Adren Modi of the Get of Fenris, called Heart-of-Fire." She glances over to Norman then and gives a desperate nod, "Please, yes."
Norman almost manages to hide his chuckle, and tosses the bottle gently over to Emma. "Norman Makes the Oath and Turns the Wheel, Godi of Fenrir's blood, Keeper at Yggdrasil's Root, son of Weasel," he introduces himself to those not already aware of that. "Any more for beer?"
April gives a small nod towards Emma before finally looking back to Flint. "I'll pass on the beer, but thank you." she states, a slow grin coming to her lips as she moves to sit on the couch in the spot that Flint opened up for her.
Flint looks up again, staring vaguely at the ceiling for a long moment, before his gaze comes to rest on April, wary. The boy draws up his knees to his chest, backing into his own corner of the couch.
Emma cracks the beer open and takes a big pull from it, though her attention is on the couch. "Something going on that I'm missing here?" She eyes Norman as well, perhaps to see if he's noticed it as well.
Norman seems to be tracking something across the room that nobody else can see at all. "S-sorry?" he says with a jump. "Did someone say something?"
April motions at the cub. "He didn't see anything in the tree that I had him climb the other day. I should have known he'd end up being a Glass Walker."
Flint backs into his corner of the couch a little further. "There wasn't anything in the tree," he says.
"Right. Okay then." With that Emma moves back toward Norman, apparently seeking less strangeness. She eyes the wet Get and chuckles, "Good workout?"
Norman returns to Planet Earth enough to bite the top off his beer and take a slug. "Need more combat practice," he grunts, and looks over to Flint. "What tree?"
"The park in town one night." April explains from where she sits on the couch near Flint. "Was looking at a couple spirits, particularly one in this tree. This bozo comes along so I figured I'd have him climb the tree to see what happens. He scared the spirit off though, of course."
Flint glares down at his lap for a moment, looking away from April. "About a week ago," Flint clarifies quietly. "The night before Kavi-rhya found me. Like I said, I didn't see anything up the tree."
"What were they doing on this side of the Gauntlet?" Norman wonders aloud. "One of them didn't look kind of like a newspaper, did it? Oh, and keep an out for the 'coon-spirit there, take it shinies, it's sometimes got useful information."
Emma looks between the two, "So when you say found you, you mean like found you and kidnapped you off to werewolf land Flint?"
No car tires crunch against the gravel or splash through a rut outside. But a look outside shows a wet and lanky figure huddled against the pacific northwest's choicest cuts of winter weather. Shoulders hunched a little and head ducked, the form cuts a path along the driveway toward the front door.
April eyes Flint a little more. "Shame you didn't have your first that night. Might have been even more fun," she states with a smile before looking back towards Norman. "Racoon already has three of my belt buckles in the past year. He's really friendly. And no, don't think this one looked like a newspaper, more like a hedgehog."
Flint ignores April's statement entirely in favour of answering Emma's question. "More or less," he says, with a shrug. "Less kidnapping," he adds, with a faint grin, "more, me not having anywhere else to go anyway, and then things got weird, yeah." That said, Flint's gaze lands on the window, and the approaching figure beyond it.
"In a tree? And I still wonder why they're in the realm and not in the Umbra. If you see them again, can you ask them?" Norman asks April, talking across Emma and Flint's conversation. "We've had a couple of disturbances stirring things up there. I sorted the first one out, but then I became Gatekeeper and it's left me less time to look into the second flare-up of activity. Not sure if anyone claims the Park right now… Mouse should know."
Emma hmms at this, and as the house fills up, she straightens and looks toward the kitchen. "Gotta love the fat moons. I'm bailing guys. I'll catch you later Norman? For the combat practice if you want."
April nods in agreement. "next time I'm there, if I see any, I'll be sure to question them and find out. That is," she glances at Flint, "If I can keep certain cubs from scaring them away with their clumsy tree climbing." A hand raises to give a small wave towards the departing Ahroun.
"Oh! I'd like that." Norman glances to Emma as he replies, then stops, and frowns, watching something invisible bounce along the floor.
A creak of the steps outside marks the new arrival at the porch, and it isn't long before the door opens with a sweep of cold, rainy air and an adolescent. The boy rakes fingers through damp hair as he pushes the door closed behind him, eyes lifting toward the sounds of conversation within the house.
"You suggested I climb the tree," Flint points out, with a bit of a frown, before his gaze seeks the entryway almost hopefully. "Not my fault."
"You're a cub, everything is your fault," Norman says, emerging from his minor trance long enough to make the deadpan comment.
April nods quickly in agreement once more. "And don't argue with your elders," she adds, looking quite smug.
Norman blinks himself back into the present, and glances towards the newcomer. "Do I know you?"
"You're not his elder," comes the boy's voice as he steps out of the mudroom and into the living area. "Just someone who outranks him who also takes an awful lot of pride in making mockery of anyone younger or of less rank than you." He glances toward Norman, offering a small shrug of a response. "Name's Devon, or Red-Hands. Cliath Ahroun, Glass Walker."
"Mockery?" Norman directs a dark look in Devon's direction, but it's through him and not at him. "If cubs are tested, it's nothing compared to what it's preparing them for. Morning, Devon. Beer?"
"Devon-rhya," the cub greets, with a definitively grateful tone and nod of his head, before there is a sideways glance towards April, not quite a complaint but definitely close.
April rolls her eyes. "You caught me. Though it's more I find it a little entertaining to see you boys try to make sense of things." she shakes her head and looks back towards Norman. "I'm wondering why the kinfetch, if there was one, didn't find me the night before with that one."
"City Umbra. Kinfetch." Norman shrugs a little. "They're only small spirits. Maybe it had to take the scenic route to avoid being eaten." He glances back at Devon, as though trying to figure out if he's seen the Walker before, and decides on an introduction anyway. "Norman Makes the Oath and Turns the Wheel. Godi of Great Fenrir's blood, Keeper of Great Yggdrasil's Root, Son of Weasel, Adren of the Hidden Walk."
"Yeah, well there's a point where it goes from just testing a cub's mettle to making one's self seem petty." Devon gives Norman a curious look over the offer, then shakes his head. "Thanks, no. Just here checking up on my tribe's cub."
Flint turns to April, though his gaze remains firmly in his lap for the moment. "Possibly," the boy offers, very calmly, "because the day you made me climb the tree was a perfectly good day." A pause. "And the next day wasn't."
Norman snaps his fingers with sudden thought. "Devon. Just past your Rite, yes?"
April gives a small shrug of her shoulders. "Either way," she states, looking back at the two Glass Walkers. "You're part of this now. So I'll lay off a little, I suppose."
Devon slants a glance toward April, watching her for a beat before nodding his thanks. "Yeah, few days ago," he continues, turning his attention back to Norman.
Flint relaxes a little from being as far into the corner of the couch as he can manage, more comfortable now that Devon is present, though his gaze is still wary every time that it comes to rest on April.
"Pretty mild, from what I saw," the Godi comments quietly as he tilts his head towards April and Flint, still looking at Devon. He continues, "if there's a Rite you want to learn, if I know it or Zosia knows it, either of us will teach it to you. No Chiminage needed. Not for the first one. It's good to spread that sort of knowledge around."
April hmphs as she hears the Gets words. "Part of my Chiminage to join the sept is to teach some rites. Still need to share one with someone to complete that." She says this while continuing to eye the cub on the couch with her.
Tipping his head forward slightly, Devon affects a bit of a nod toward Norman, understanding. Rather than continue prodding at the situation, however, he takes up the change of subject with a glance toward April. "Thanks for the offer. Something I know I should look into sooner rather'n later."
Norman takes another gulp of beer. "What do you both know already?" he glances to Flint too.
Flint glances, tentatively, at Devon, before turning a bit towards Norman to answer the question posed. "The history of the caern, and about our tribe, and the … the Impergium and the Veil," the boy pauses, taking a breath, before continuing on what almost seems to be a different thought than he had stopped on, "and Kavi-rhya has been teaching me about the Triat, and such." A pause, and Flint looks back to Devon again.
April shakes her head, "He means what rites have you been taught so far, if any. Though for you, Flint, I doubt you'd have learned any." Her gaze turns instead towards Devon. "You though, I wouldn't be surprised if Mouse has already begun teaching you things."
One or two of the things Flint mentions cause Norman to raise a surprised but approving eyebrow. "I meant Rites, but I'm happy to hear the Walkers are teaching their cubs history."
Devon offers a faint half-grin to Flint, shaking his head. "He's right where he should be with his learning Auspice," he says, glancing toward April. "For me, haven't learned anything Rite-related, yet. Lessons're mostly spent on full-moon stuff for me."
Flint glares at April full-on and at least seemingly unafraid, before turning to Norman and offering a grin. "I like history, and stories and such," the boy says. "And I like learning." Not that it wasn't obvious by the tone of his voice.
"Only full moon stuff? Sounds boring." April murmurs quietly, looking up towards Norman to let him take the lead on this.
The Get grins toothily at Flint, the first time any of the others have likely seen him smile. "I'm always happy to offer sparring practice," he says, adding, formally, "although it's up to the Glass Walkers whether they would grant me that honor, where one of their cubs was concerned. It would be more usual to turn to a Modi… that's an Ahroun. As for Rites, Feed the Earth. Bone Rhythms. Both could be useful for you, Devon," he suggests. "Artwork, if you have a craft of some kind that you practice. What are you offering to teach, April?"
"You know I'm not stepping in to save you if you aren't going to be civil," Devon asides to Flint, catching the look the cub directs at April. "Might go find one of those beers Norman-rhya's talking about and pretend I don't hear anything out here." He nods, listening to the Adren's suggestions, brows drawing together slightly. "I'd be interested to know more about them."
"Yes Devon-rhya," Flint says, under his breath. "I know." The boy watches Devon and Norman, ostensibly ignoring April for the moment as he offers Norman a nod. "Thank you," he adds, before falling quiet and staring at the empty juice glass in his hands.
April shrugs her shoulders after a moment of thought. "Most of my stuff involves spirits of some sort, though I think there is something I know that could benefit them." She glances around at the three before looking back to Norman. "Sand in Shoes would be good for them, for when they first go to the other side. Wouldn't do for those two to get lost their first time in."
Norman nods. "Yeah, that's true. Although cubs. Well. That's up to the Tribe. I guess they'll make sure they've got everything else down before trying for Rites."
"Rites difficult to learn," Devon asks, casting a glance between the two Theurges.
Flint looks over at Devon for a moment, head tilted to one side in the boy's usual expression of curiosity. Another half-glare is leveled at April, regardless of the warning Devon issued, but there's a grin accompanying it as well.
April waves off the question from the cliath. "They're only difficult if you don't apply yourself or if you're going for a difficult one." She shifts on the couch to better face Devon and takes her turn at ignoring Flint. "What we're offering are no where near the really difficult ones, but more something that'll give you a taste and that might help you."
"And really, the little ones are no less important," Norman adds. "If everyone in the Sept used Feed the Earth to thank and honor the spirits of the Bawn, every day, it would probably to do just as much to keep the land healthy and strong as performing the Moot Rite each month. But… well, you'll probably find some Rites suit you better than others. I found Feed the Earth easier than Dance of Lights. One's bleed and give. The other you have to meditate."
"Wasn't worried about how hard it might be," Devon says with a small shrug. "Just wondering what the challenge'd be. Curious is all." He pauses, slanting a look toward April as he shrugs again. "I'm interested in learning something new, from either of you."
Flint gets up from the couch without very much grace, enough to possibly disturb the Theurge in her seat. A nod of his head is given to the empty glass in his hands as he rises. "'Scuse me," he adds, making his way for the kitchen. The cub gets as far as the doorway, before turning to Norman. "What's so bad about meditation?" he asks, curious.
April grumbles a little at Flint's graceful standing. "Devon, this is where you'd have to make the decision and the effort. We've offered the lesson, you've got to decide who to ask and to actually do the asking."
"I didn't say it was bad," Norman replies, with a curious and increasing tension in his voice, his face going hard and blank. "But when you spent the first sixteen years of your life mostly getting beaten up? The whole idea of meditation is weird." He breaks off, and downs most of the rest of the beer without stopping.
Devon's brows lift slightly at the Fury, though rather than retort, he pushes his hands into his pockets and watches Flint go toward the kitchen. "Would you tell me what Feed the Earth and Bone Rhythms do, Norman-rhya?"
Flint nods at Norman's answer, a murmured apology following as he continues into the kitchen, followed soon by the telltale sounds of the refrigerator opening.
A muscle jumps in Norman's jaw. He glares at the bottle in his hand, breathing slowly and deliberately. After a long moment, he lifts his head and looks to April. "Why doesn't April here tell us? I don't know her skill as a crescent-moon yet, apart from what she's said earlier about a few city spirits. I'd like to hear what she says."
April repositions herself upon the couch, busying with smoothing out her dress a little as she falls silent. After a moment, her brows furrow as she looks across the room at something. Her name being spoken brings her back to the moment and she frowns towards Norman. "Oh, if I must." she mutters.
Devon moves to seat himself on the floor, legs folding in front of him and arms draped over his knees. Though he doesn't look at either Theurge directly, he's set himself so that he can see either with just a tick of his eyes.
Norman's mood darkens further. "You're the guest. And the Fostern. Set the youngsters a good example."
Flint emerges from the kitchen this time with a full glass of juice, and another handful of cookies, some of which are offered to Devon when the cub sits down. This time, not on the couch, but on the floor next to and a little bit behind Devon.
"I mean no disrespect." April mutters after a moment before looking towards Devon where he sits himself. "Feed the Earth allows you to give up a bit of your blood back to the earth in thanks or even as penance for something you've done. Like if you've cut down a tree, you could do this to say thank you." She glances towards Norman for just a moment as if to make sure he has no objections before going on. "Some Furies do a different version of it, sometimes, I think. As for the others, I've not seen it performed myself."
Devon looks at Flint and the proffered cookies, then tips his head toward Norman, an indication for where the cub should offer the treats first. After that his attention is on April, though a glance flicks to Norman when the Fury has finished speaking.
Flint nods very slightly to Devon, pushing himself easily to his feet to lean on a nearby and vacant couch, April once more ignored by the boy aside from her words. The cookies and juice are shuffled until the chocolate chip cookies, on their small plate, are offered to Norman, with a slight bow of his head.
"Feed the Earth can be used within other Rites," Norman adds, sounding a little less tight-wound than a moment ago, "where those taking part give their spiritual strength." He finishes the beer, and eyes Flint's offered plate with surprise. "Uh. Thanks." he takes a cookie. he doesn't eat it yet. "Bone Rhythms… is a spirit-Rite. Each type of spirit has its own rhythm. It's own drum-beat. If you play that rhythm, every day, you bring yourself closer to the spirit. You could learn the beat for Cockroach. If you have a pack, you could drum the rhythm for your Totem. I drum for Chimera, before I perform the Rites for the Moot and the Seasons. If you wanted to look for a spirit for a pack, you could drum for the spirit you wanted to join you." He gives a slight shrug. "Depends if you like drumming, or want to seek a pack totem. Sand In Shoes is another useful one." He looks back towards April.
"That drumming might be useful to make a spirit more cooperative." April muses quietly to herself before adding to the bit about Sand in Shoes. "Sand in Shoes lets you give yourself an aid in finding your way back from the near Umbra to the point that you entered. Kind of like an anchor for a ship will keep it from wandering too far away."
"If there's Chiminage involved," Norman says, relaxing with a short sigh, "I won't take away my own offer. If you learn from April too."
"Could be useful," Devon agrees with a small nod. "For any time you didn't have a mirror with you. Hell, they all could be useful." He pauses to point Flint toward April next with his plate of cookies. "If—" He pauses, glancing toward the Adren. "Right then. April-rhya, would you be willing to teach me Sand in Shoes?"
April narrows her eyes as she looks to Devon. "I suppose I'd be remiss if I didn't, now wouldn't I?" she asks back at him. A small grin coming to her lips as she says it. "Sure, I'll teach you."
Flint grumbles under his breath a bit and gives Devon a look, before returning to where he'd originally sat down near Devon. The cookies are put on a nearby coffee table after Flint's grabbed one, within easy reach of April, but not specifically offered.
Norman leans against the kitchen doorframe, examines the cookie as though he's never seen one before, looks up to nod to a point in mid-air somewhere in the middle of the room as though in answer to an unseen and unheard question, and then munches the thing in two bites. Other than that, he just listens.
Devon returns the look from the cub, a single brow lifting. His lips thin as they press into a line, expression darkening slightly with the small frown that comes into play when Flint sits again. "Awesome," he replies to April. "When do you want to start?"
April shrugs her shoulders, "We can start whenever you think you have time to step sideways with me sometime." Her eyes look towards Flint and then towards the plate of cookies before back to Devon. "Perhaps after you speak to him about being the low man on the totempole."
"Then find me when you're ready," Norman says. "April, we should see what we can swap, once you're a full member. I've got to go patrol." And he's off, stumping back out of the back door, calling "Gaia watch," back over his shoulder on his way.
Flint looks down at his lap. "Sorry, April-rhya," he says, quietly, reaching around without looking to push the plate of cookies a little further towards her.
April glances briefly at the Get who leaves, "Will do." she calls after him before fixing the other two with her gaze once more. "Oh, definitely a lot to learn, Flint. Especially about Black Furies." She lets out a small sigh then. "But yea, whenever you've time Devon and and when my pack doesn't need me, I'll teach you the rite."
"You need to know," Devon says, standing and looking at the cub, "that I spoke up because I felt she pushes too far sometimes with her comments. But I don't disagree with Norman in that cubs've got to have their pride tested. Nor am I going to stick my neck out if you're going to intentionally needle at someone who outranks you. Learn to pick your battles, Flint, or someone'll come along and kick your ass for it. And if I'm there, I'll look the other way." He watches the younger boy for a minute longer then nods to April. "Moon's getting big now. I can meet when it's at the top of its rise tonight."
Flint nods, having fallen silent once more for the entire time that Devon spoke. His gaze rests in his lap a moment longer, before he rises, going back to leaning against the couch that he'd been leaning on before. "Yes, Devon," he acknowledges, distracted for a moment by biting back whatever last comment he had had.
April shakes her head as she observes the cub. "I kind of hope that I get to be around when they really go in depth about the different tribes for him. Or have they already? Cause I know a lot of people who tend step more carefully around Furies."
Devon watches Flint silently, arms folding over his chest. "We treat them with respect here, too," he says quietly. "And in turn they respect us. Goes both ways; and I hope since I've asked you," he pauses, glancing toward April, "to chill a little on the smart ass commentary, that Flint here'll put aside his own snide ways before it lands him in trouble. If you'd like, April-rhya, I can leave a message for Kavi-rhya to talk to him."
Flint nods once more. "Yes Devon-rhya," Flint says again, before turning to April. "I'm sorry," he offers, before offering a very faint smile. "I suppose getting me to climb that tree probably was funny, anyway."
April gives a shake of her head. "I'm not about to tell her how to raise her cubs. Not a chance. She'll do it however she wishes." she states quickly before the words from Flint surprise her a little. "I'm sure a Ragabash would have done it better."
Devon shakes his head and heads toward the kitchen. "I'll meet you at the Caern ones it's full dark and the moon is up," he says over his shoulder. "Anything I need to bring?"
"I'm sure," Flint agrees quietly, before pushing himself the rest of the way to his feet to follow Devon, likely to suggest that they should, at some point, head back to the tenement.
"Just yourself and a mirror." April calls out towards Devon as he starts away. "Take care you two. Watch your step and try not to piss the spirits off, alright?"
4 January, 2012
The moon is in the waxing Gibbous (Galliard) Moon phase (70% full).
Emma gives a grin as the story finishes, nodding her approval. "Names mean a lot. Sometimes they mean more for us than they do for others. What's the other one?"
"Mmm. Well, thank you." The boy settles back into the couch, lips pursing once more. He takes a deep breath. "I don't mean what I'm saying, so please do not be offended."
Emma peers at the boy. "What don't you mean, and what should I not be offended by?"
There's the sound of the front door swinging open, and then shut, and the additional sound of muffled conversation from there, for a moment. "Yes, I know," Flint responds, reminded of the terms of the outing. "I will. Yes." The Glass Walker cub enters the living room slowly, detouring along the edges of the room a moment as he regards what's going on, a nod of greeting given to those already present.
The back door opens and closes next. The place is like one giant set of revolving doors. It's Norman this time, hair and shoulders wet with rain, which he shakes from the former to scatter over the floor. "Morning," he says shortly to those already inside, eyeing the lot of them.
Curiosity gets the better of April as she sees what she thought was a recently familiar face entering the house from the treeline. Following that curiosity, she makes her way through the front door of Edgewood, quietly shutting it behind her as she looks to join the group that appears to be gathering.
Suddenly gone quiet at the sound of the doors opening, Javid shrugs. "Uhm. It might sounded offensive… But maybe I should tell it another time…" The corners of his lips twitch as he glances at the new arrivals. "Hi."
Emma looks up as newcomers arrive, and nods to Javid. "Deal. And probably smart too." She turns then to nod at Norman, then look over the others, "Busy place."
"G'morning," Flint responds politely, making his way around the edge of the living room before going towards a couch near where Emma and Javid are. And it's then, when the cub turns around and sees April, that he does a quite visible double-take, halfway through sitting down, as if he's suddenly decided that maybe he doesn't need to sit down after all. A nod acknowledges April, but the boy continues walking around the couch before making his way towards the kitchen.
"Now there's no more Dancers to worry about," Norman says with a shrug, apparently in answer. "They knew where the house was. We killed 'em." He heads for the kitchen, and the sounds of food-preparation can be heard shortly afterwards.
Emma grunts. "Always a good thing to do. So," she looks around, "Who are all of you people?"
April knew she wasn't imagining things when it came to that familiar face! But her attention is divided as the mention of dancers spears her attention. Shaking her head, she moves towards the kitchen to follow the cub.
Javid sinks down into the couch, assuming a proper slouch, though his head remains up, his eyes flickering about the room.
Flint doesn't remain in the kitchen long at all, careful not to get in the way, before he emerges with a glass of juice and a few cookies and makes his way for the couch again. Half of the cub's gaze is kept on April, wary, but he nods to Emma. "Flint," he says. "Called Takes-It-All-In-Stride, Galliard cub." A pause, as the boy's attention wavers from the introduction as he sits down on the couch, attention paid to neither dropping the cookies nor spilling the juice. "Of the Glass Walkers."
Emma looks over toward the other she doesn't know, eyes landing on April, "And what about you?" The young woman is wearing black sweats and a grey tank top, which gives hints to a rather large swatch of ink on her back and shoulders that appears to be in the shape of a bird.
Flint receives a pinched smile from the Strider. "Bathroom," Javid announces and scrambles, booted feet and jutting arms, over the back of the couch.
"I should have known!" April exclaims as she comes around to stand near Flint's chosen seat. Her attention is focused solely on the cub now as she inches closer for a better look.
Flint looks up at April. "Hi, I should have known," he says, poking fun at her words with a faint grin, though he scoots himself to the other side of the couch, either uncomfortable with the close attention or offering April the seat.
Emma clears her throat. "Hey. If I ask a third time, given the moon, I am gonna get to the point of being very cranky." The Get female has pulled herself up off the chair and moves to intercept the attention between Walker cub and the girl.
Norman re-emerges, coming as far as the kitchen doorway, a bottle of beer in each hand. "Anyone?" he asks, holding one bottle up.
April glares towards Flint for a moment before blinking and looking back towards Emma. "Umm, sorry…" she murmurs, stepping back from the couch a little. "I'm April Rains, Shifting Briar, Fostern Theurge of the Black Furies."
Flint offers Emma a very, very grateful look, if only for shifting April's attention momentarily away from him. The last of the three cookies that the boy had emerged from the kitchen with disappears, and he busies himself with making sure he hasn't gotten crumbs on the couch or anything, attempting to make himself as small as possible.
"Thank you," offers the Ahroun in a terse voice. "Emma Mahler, Adren Modi of the Get of Fenris, called Heart-of-Fire." She glances over to Norman then and gives a desperate nod, "Please, yes."
Norman almost manages to hide his chuckle, and tosses the bottle gently over to Emma. "Norman Makes the Oath and Turns the Wheel, Godi of Fenrir's blood, Keeper at Yggdrasil's Root, son of Weasel," he introduces himself to those not already aware of that. "Any more for beer?"
April gives a small nod towards Emma before finally looking back to Flint. "I'll pass on the beer, but thank you." she states, a slow grin coming to her lips as she moves to sit on the couch in the spot that Flint opened up for her.
Flint looks up again, staring vaguely at the ceiling for a long moment, before his gaze comes to rest on April, wary. The boy draws up his knees to his chest, backing into his own corner of the couch.
Emma cracks the beer open and takes a big pull from it, though her attention is on the couch. "Something going on that I'm missing here?" She eyes Norman as well, perhaps to see if he's noticed it as well.
Norman seems to be tracking something across the room that nobody else can see at all. "S-sorry?" he says with a jump. "Did someone say something?"
April motions at the cub. "He didn't see anything in the tree that I had him climb the other day. I should have known he'd end up being a Glass Walker."
Flint backs into his corner of the couch a little further. "There wasn't anything in the tree," he says.
"Right. Okay then." With that Emma moves back toward Norman, apparently seeking less strangeness. She eyes the wet Get and chuckles, "Good workout?"
Norman returns to Planet Earth enough to bite the top off his beer and take a slug. "Need more combat practice," he grunts, and looks over to Flint. "What tree?"
"The park in town one night." April explains from where she sits on the couch near Flint. "Was looking at a couple spirits, particularly one in this tree. This bozo comes along so I figured I'd have him climb the tree to see what happens. He scared the spirit off though, of course."
Flint glares down at his lap for a moment, looking away from April. "About a week ago," Flint clarifies quietly. "The night before Kavi-rhya found me. Like I said, I didn't see anything up the tree."
"What were they doing on this side of the Gauntlet?" Norman wonders aloud. "One of them didn't look kind of like a newspaper, did it? Oh, and keep an out for the 'coon-spirit there, take it shinies, it's sometimes got useful information."
Emma looks between the two, "So when you say found you, you mean like found you and kidnapped you off to werewolf land Flint?"
No car tires crunch against the gravel or splash through a rut outside. But a look outside shows a wet and lanky figure huddled against the pacific northwest's choicest cuts of winter weather. Shoulders hunched a little and head ducked, the form cuts a path along the driveway toward the front door.
April eyes Flint a little more. "Shame you didn't have your first that night. Might have been even more fun," she states with a smile before looking back towards Norman. "Racoon already has three of my belt buckles in the past year. He's really friendly. And no, don't think this one looked like a newspaper, more like a hedgehog."
Flint ignores April's statement entirely in favour of answering Emma's question. "More or less," he says, with a shrug. "Less kidnapping," he adds, with a faint grin, "more, me not having anywhere else to go anyway, and then things got weird, yeah." That said, Flint's gaze lands on the window, and the approaching figure beyond it.
"In a tree? And I still wonder why they're in the realm and not in the Umbra. If you see them again, can you ask them?" Norman asks April, talking across Emma and Flint's conversation. "We've had a couple of disturbances stirring things up there. I sorted the first one out, but then I became Gatekeeper and it's left me less time to look into the second flare-up of activity. Not sure if anyone claims the Park right now… Mouse should know."
Emma hmms at this, and as the house fills up, she straightens and looks toward the kitchen. "Gotta love the fat moons. I'm bailing guys. I'll catch you later Norman? For the combat practice if you want."
April nods in agreement. "next time I'm there, if I see any, I'll be sure to question them and find out. That is," she glances at Flint, "If I can keep certain cubs from scaring them away with their clumsy tree climbing." A hand raises to give a small wave towards the departing Ahroun.
"Oh! I'd like that." Norman glances to Emma as he replies, then stops, and frowns, watching something invisible bounce along the floor.
A creak of the steps outside marks the new arrival at the porch, and it isn't long before the door opens with a sweep of cold, rainy air and an adolescent. The boy rakes fingers through damp hair as he pushes the door closed behind him, eyes lifting toward the sounds of conversation within the house.
"You suggested I climb the tree," Flint points out, with a bit of a frown, before his gaze seeks the entryway almost hopefully. "Not my fault."
"You're a cub, everything is your fault," Norman says, emerging from his minor trance long enough to make the deadpan comment.
April nods quickly in agreement once more. "And don't argue with your elders," she adds, looking quite smug.
Norman blinks himself back into the present, and glances towards the newcomer. "Do I know you?"
"You're not his elder," comes the boy's voice as he steps out of the mudroom and into the living area. "Just someone who outranks him who also takes an awful lot of pride in making mockery of anyone younger or of less rank than you." He glances toward Norman, offering a small shrug of a response. "Name's Devon, or Red-Hands. Cliath Ahroun, Glass Walker."
"Mockery?" Norman directs a dark look in Devon's direction, but it's through him and not at him. "If cubs are tested, it's nothing compared to what it's preparing them for. Morning, Devon. Beer?"
"Devon-rhya," the cub greets, with a definitively grateful tone and nod of his head, before there is a sideways glance towards April, not quite a complaint but definitely close.
April rolls her eyes. "You caught me. Though it's more I find it a little entertaining to see you boys try to make sense of things." she shakes her head and looks back towards Norman. "I'm wondering why the kinfetch, if there was one, didn't find me the night before with that one."
"City Umbra. Kinfetch." Norman shrugs a little. "They're only small spirits. Maybe it had to take the scenic route to avoid being eaten." He glances back at Devon, as though trying to figure out if he's seen the Walker before, and decides on an introduction anyway. "Norman Makes the Oath and Turns the Wheel. Godi of Great Fenrir's blood, Keeper of Great Yggdrasil's Root, Son of Weasel, Adren of the Hidden Walk."
"Yeah, well there's a point where it goes from just testing a cub's mettle to making one's self seem petty." Devon gives Norman a curious look over the offer, then shakes his head. "Thanks, no. Just here checking up on my tribe's cub."
Flint turns to April, though his gaze remains firmly in his lap for the moment. "Possibly," the boy offers, very calmly, "because the day you made me climb the tree was a perfectly good day." A pause. "And the next day wasn't."
Norman snaps his fingers with sudden thought. "Devon. Just past your Rite, yes?"
April gives a small shrug of her shoulders. "Either way," she states, looking back at the two Glass Walkers. "You're part of this now. So I'll lay off a little, I suppose."
Devon slants a glance toward April, watching her for a beat before nodding his thanks. "Yeah, few days ago," he continues, turning his attention back to Norman.
Flint relaxes a little from being as far into the corner of the couch as he can manage, more comfortable now that Devon is present, though his gaze is still wary every time that it comes to rest on April.
"Pretty mild, from what I saw," the Godi comments quietly as he tilts his head towards April and Flint, still looking at Devon. He continues, "if there's a Rite you want to learn, if I know it or Zosia knows it, either of us will teach it to you. No Chiminage needed. Not for the first one. It's good to spread that sort of knowledge around."
April hmphs as she hears the Gets words. "Part of my Chiminage to join the sept is to teach some rites. Still need to share one with someone to complete that." She says this while continuing to eye the cub on the couch with her.
Tipping his head forward slightly, Devon affects a bit of a nod toward Norman, understanding. Rather than continue prodding at the situation, however, he takes up the change of subject with a glance toward April. "Thanks for the offer. Something I know I should look into sooner rather'n later."
Norman takes another gulp of beer. "What do you both know already?" he glances to Flint too.
Flint glances, tentatively, at Devon, before turning a bit towards Norman to answer the question posed. "The history of the caern, and about our tribe, and the … the Impergium and the Veil," the boy pauses, taking a breath, before continuing on what almost seems to be a different thought than he had stopped on, "and Kavi-rhya has been teaching me about the Triat, and such." A pause, and Flint looks back to Devon again.
April shakes her head, "He means what rites have you been taught so far, if any. Though for you, Flint, I doubt you'd have learned any." Her gaze turns instead towards Devon. "You though, I wouldn't be surprised if Mouse has already begun teaching you things."
One or two of the things Flint mentions cause Norman to raise a surprised but approving eyebrow. "I meant Rites, but I'm happy to hear the Walkers are teaching their cubs history."
Devon offers a faint half-grin to Flint, shaking his head. "He's right where he should be with his learning Auspice," he says, glancing toward April. "For me, haven't learned anything Rite-related, yet. Lessons're mostly spent on full-moon stuff for me."
Flint glares at April full-on and at least seemingly unafraid, before turning to Norman and offering a grin. "I like history, and stories and such," the boy says. "And I like learning." Not that it wasn't obvious by the tone of his voice.
"Only full moon stuff? Sounds boring." April murmurs quietly, looking up towards Norman to let him take the lead on this.
The Get grins toothily at Flint, the first time any of the others have likely seen him smile. "I'm always happy to offer sparring practice," he says, adding, formally, "although it's up to the Glass Walkers whether they would grant me that honor, where one of their cubs was concerned. It would be more usual to turn to a Modi… that's an Ahroun. As for Rites, Feed the Earth. Bone Rhythms. Both could be useful for you, Devon," he suggests. "Artwork, if you have a craft of some kind that you practice. What are you offering to teach, April?"
"You know I'm not stepping in to save you if you aren't going to be civil," Devon asides to Flint, catching the look the cub directs at April. "Might go find one of those beers Norman-rhya's talking about and pretend I don't hear anything out here." He nods, listening to the Adren's suggestions, brows drawing together slightly. "I'd be interested to know more about them."
"Yes Devon-rhya," Flint says, under his breath. "I know." The boy watches Devon and Norman, ostensibly ignoring April for the moment as he offers Norman a nod. "Thank you," he adds, before falling quiet and staring at the empty juice glass in his hands.
April shrugs her shoulders after a moment of thought. "Most of my stuff involves spirits of some sort, though I think there is something I know that could benefit them." She glances around at the three before looking back to Norman. "Sand in Shoes would be good for them, for when they first go to the other side. Wouldn't do for those two to get lost their first time in."
Norman nods. "Yeah, that's true. Although cubs. Well. That's up to the Tribe. I guess they'll make sure they've got everything else down before trying for Rites."
"Rites difficult to learn," Devon asks, casting a glance between the two Theurges.
Flint looks over at Devon for a moment, head tilted to one side in the boy's usual expression of curiosity. Another half-glare is leveled at April, regardless of the warning Devon issued, but there's a grin accompanying it as well.
April waves off the question from the cliath. "They're only difficult if you don't apply yourself or if you're going for a difficult one." She shifts on the couch to better face Devon and takes her turn at ignoring Flint. "What we're offering are no where near the really difficult ones, but more something that'll give you a taste and that might help you."
"And really, the little ones are no less important," Norman adds. "If everyone in the Sept used Feed the Earth to thank and honor the spirits of the Bawn, every day, it would probably to do just as much to keep the land healthy and strong as performing the Moot Rite each month. But… well, you'll probably find some Rites suit you better than others. I found Feed the Earth easier than Dance of Lights. One's bleed and give. The other you have to meditate."
"Wasn't worried about how hard it might be," Devon says with a small shrug. "Just wondering what the challenge'd be. Curious is all." He pauses, slanting a look toward April as he shrugs again. "I'm interested in learning something new, from either of you."
Flint gets up from the couch without very much grace, enough to possibly disturb the Theurge in her seat. A nod of his head is given to the empty glass in his hands as he rises. "'Scuse me," he adds, making his way for the kitchen. The cub gets as far as the doorway, before turning to Norman. "What's so bad about meditation?" he asks, curious.
April grumbles a little at Flint's graceful standing. "Devon, this is where you'd have to make the decision and the effort. We've offered the lesson, you've got to decide who to ask and to actually do the asking."
"I didn't say it was bad," Norman replies, with a curious and increasing tension in his voice, his face going hard and blank. "But when you spent the first sixteen years of your life mostly getting beaten up? The whole idea of meditation is weird." He breaks off, and downs most of the rest of the beer without stopping.
Devon's brows lift slightly at the Fury, though rather than retort, he pushes his hands into his pockets and watches Flint go toward the kitchen. "Would you tell me what Feed the Earth and Bone Rhythms do, Norman-rhya?"
Flint nods at Norman's answer, a murmured apology following as he continues into the kitchen, followed soon by the telltale sounds of the refrigerator opening.
A muscle jumps in Norman's jaw. He glares at the bottle in his hand, breathing slowly and deliberately. After a long moment, he lifts his head and looks to April. "Why doesn't April here tell us? I don't know her skill as a crescent-moon yet, apart from what she's said earlier about a few city spirits. I'd like to hear what she says."
April repositions herself upon the couch, busying with smoothing out her dress a little as she falls silent. After a moment, her brows furrow as she looks across the room at something. Her name being spoken brings her back to the moment and she frowns towards Norman. "Oh, if I must." she mutters.
Devon moves to seat himself on the floor, legs folding in front of him and arms draped over his knees. Though he doesn't look at either Theurge directly, he's set himself so that he can see either with just a tick of his eyes.
Norman's mood darkens further. "You're the guest. And the Fostern. Set the youngsters a good example."
Flint emerges from the kitchen this time with a full glass of juice, and another handful of cookies, some of which are offered to Devon when the cub sits down. This time, not on the couch, but on the floor next to and a little bit behind Devon.
"I mean no disrespect." April mutters after a moment before looking towards Devon where he sits himself. "Feed the Earth allows you to give up a bit of your blood back to the earth in thanks or even as penance for something you've done. Like if you've cut down a tree, you could do this to say thank you." She glances towards Norman for just a moment as if to make sure he has no objections before going on. "Some Furies do a different version of it, sometimes, I think. As for the others, I've not seen it performed myself."
Devon looks at Flint and the proffered cookies, then tips his head toward Norman, an indication for where the cub should offer the treats first. After that his attention is on April, though a glance flicks to Norman when the Fury has finished speaking.
Flint nods very slightly to Devon, pushing himself easily to his feet to lean on a nearby and vacant couch, April once more ignored by the boy aside from her words. The cookies and juice are shuffled until the chocolate chip cookies, on their small plate, are offered to Norman, with a slight bow of his head.
"Feed the Earth can be used within other Rites," Norman adds, sounding a little less tight-wound than a moment ago, "where those taking part give their spiritual strength." He finishes the beer, and eyes Flint's offered plate with surprise. "Uh. Thanks." he takes a cookie. he doesn't eat it yet. "Bone Rhythms… is a spirit-Rite. Each type of spirit has its own rhythm. It's own drum-beat. If you play that rhythm, every day, you bring yourself closer to the spirit. You could learn the beat for Cockroach. If you have a pack, you could drum the rhythm for your Totem. I drum for Chimera, before I perform the Rites for the Moot and the Seasons. If you wanted to look for a spirit for a pack, you could drum for the spirit you wanted to join you." He gives a slight shrug. "Depends if you like drumming, or want to seek a pack totem. Sand In Shoes is another useful one." He looks back towards April.
"That drumming might be useful to make a spirit more cooperative." April muses quietly to herself before adding to the bit about Sand in Shoes. "Sand in Shoes lets you give yourself an aid in finding your way back from the near Umbra to the point that you entered. Kind of like an anchor for a ship will keep it from wandering too far away."
"If there's Chiminage involved," Norman says, relaxing with a short sigh, "I won't take away my own offer. If you learn from April too."
"Could be useful," Devon agrees with a small nod. "For any time you didn't have a mirror with you. Hell, they all could be useful." He pauses to point Flint toward April next with his plate of cookies. "If—" He pauses, glancing toward the Adren. "Right then. April-rhya, would you be willing to teach me Sand in Shoes?"
April narrows her eyes as she looks to Devon. "I suppose I'd be remiss if I didn't, now wouldn't I?" she asks back at him. A small grin coming to her lips as she says it. "Sure, I'll teach you."
Flint grumbles under his breath a bit and gives Devon a look, before returning to where he'd originally sat down near Devon. The cookies are put on a nearby coffee table after Flint's grabbed one, within easy reach of April, but not specifically offered.
Norman leans against the kitchen doorframe, examines the cookie as though he's never seen one before, looks up to nod to a point in mid-air somewhere in the middle of the room as though in answer to an unseen and unheard question, and then munches the thing in two bites. Other than that, he just listens.
Devon returns the look from the cub, a single brow lifting. His lips thin as they press into a line, expression darkening slightly with the small frown that comes into play when Flint sits again. "Awesome," he replies to April. "When do you want to start?"
April shrugs her shoulders, "We can start whenever you think you have time to step sideways with me sometime." Her eyes look towards Flint and then towards the plate of cookies before back to Devon. "Perhaps after you speak to him about being the low man on the totempole."
"Then find me when you're ready," Norman says. "April, we should see what we can swap, once you're a full member. I've got to go patrol." And he's off, stumping back out of the back door, calling "Gaia watch," back over his shoulder on his way.
Flint looks down at his lap. "Sorry, April-rhya," he says, quietly, reaching around without looking to push the plate of cookies a little further towards her.
April glances briefly at the Get who leaves, "Will do." she calls after him before fixing the other two with her gaze once more. "Oh, definitely a lot to learn, Flint. Especially about Black Furies." She lets out a small sigh then. "But yea, whenever you've time Devon and and when my pack doesn't need me, I'll teach you the rite."
"You need to know," Devon says, standing and looking at the cub, "that I spoke up because I felt she pushes too far sometimes with her comments. But I don't disagree with Norman in that cubs've got to have their pride tested. Nor am I going to stick my neck out if you're going to intentionally needle at someone who outranks you. Learn to pick your battles, Flint, or someone'll come along and kick your ass for it. And if I'm there, I'll look the other way." He watches the younger boy for a minute longer then nods to April. "Moon's getting big now. I can meet when it's at the top of its rise tonight."
Flint nods, having fallen silent once more for the entire time that Devon spoke. His gaze rests in his lap a moment longer, before he rises, going back to leaning against the couch that he'd been leaning on before. "Yes, Devon," he acknowledges, distracted for a moment by biting back whatever last comment he had had.
April shakes her head as she observes the cub. "I kind of hope that I get to be around when they really go in depth about the different tribes for him. Or have they already? Cause I know a lot of people who tend step more carefully around Furies."
Devon watches Flint silently, arms folding over his chest. "We treat them with respect here, too," he says quietly. "And in turn they respect us. Goes both ways; and I hope since I've asked you," he pauses, glancing toward April, "to chill a little on the smart ass commentary, that Flint here'll put aside his own snide ways before it lands him in trouble. If you'd like, April-rhya, I can leave a message for Kavi-rhya to talk to him."
Flint nods once more. "Yes Devon-rhya," Flint says again, before turning to April. "I'm sorry," he offers, before offering a very faint smile. "I suppose getting me to climb that tree probably was funny, anyway."
April gives a shake of her head. "I'm not about to tell her how to raise her cubs. Not a chance. She'll do it however she wishes." she states quickly before the words from Flint surprise her a little. "I'm sure a Ragabash would have done it better."
Devon shakes his head and heads toward the kitchen. "I'll meet you at the Caern ones it's full dark and the moon is up," he says over his shoulder. "Anything I need to bring?"
"I'm sure," Flint agrees quietly, before pushing himself the rest of the way to his feet to follow Devon, likely to suggest that they should, at some point, head back to the tenement.
"Just yourself and a mirror." April calls out towards Devon as he starts away. "Take care you two. Watch your step and try not to piss the spirits off, alright?"