Yeah, no kidding.
Friday, 6 July 2012 13:40![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flint_garouI don't know them.
6 July, 2012
The moon is in the waning Full (Ahroun) Moon phase (83% full).
Alexandra has been in contact with Flint via their pack link—she wanted to make sure Nieve was there before dropping by—so even before the security systems confirm it, her packmate would know exactly who was at the door. After locking up her bike, she unties a wrapped bundle from the cargo rack and carries it to the door with her.
Flint is in fact, leaning on the wall by the door, and then moves to open the door and let Lex in, waiting for the door to shut again before greeting her with a half-hug, briefly. "Hey," he murmurs. "Good to. See you." There's a grin over to Nieve, before Flint returns to his customary perch on the couch, getting out of the way of the conversation.
The Adren is plopped down in the sitting area. Rather than sitting like a mature, adult person might, she's got her back to one arm of the chair, legs hooked over the other, dreadlocks shaken free and almost touching the ground. "Hola, prima. 'sup?"
Alexandra offers a smile and an "Afternoon. Good to see you, too. Both of you." She looks to the Adren, then, and asks, "Two things, really. First, has Flint had a chance to tell you about the results of our scouting mission into the sewers, Nieve-rhya? If not, I want to help get the word out on that. Second, and why I asked him if you were here specifically, I have a favor I'd like to discuss with you."
Flint looks over at Alexandra, shakes his head once.
Pack> Flint is less tense than he's been over the past few days. "Haven't," he says over the link. "Kinda. Words, right now. Fuck words."
"Not yet, no. Favour first, an' then explanation?" Nieve suggests. "An' by favour, I'm sure you mean trade of skills, si?" She digs out her cigarettes and lighter, sparking up and inhaling slowly. "What's th' deal?"
Alexandra nods. "A trade, yes, though I'm not sure what would be most appropriate or that would be useful to you." She opens up the bundle to reveal two very large shards of what appear to be some kind of crystal. "Flint and I were participants in the Great Hunt. Pattern spiders had been holding a powerful bane, but had apparently been corrupted by it as well. The bane's flesh was covered in flame, and it burned to the touch, making our natural weapons difficult to use against it. Since that wasn't a good approach, I grabbed shards of the creature's prison to use against it like daggers, and they proved to be quite effective, and I helped to kill the bane with them. I wanted to find out about possibly having them made into an actual pair of daggers." Daggers for a crinos, obviously—they'd be more akin to short swords for a homid at their current size.
Pack> Alexandra says "I'll fill her in, then. You can add details as you see fit."
Nieve looks at the crystal shards, extending one hand and beckoning, to better examine the material. "S'gonna need t'be tempered, so it don't break when bein' worked," she observes thoughtfully. "An' best way t'do it without breakin' any off 'cept for shapin' would be to clad the handles with metal. S'doable, certainly."
Pack> Flint says "Thanks. I. I let Kavi know. But, that's pretty much, it."
Alexandra says, "And they should probably be cleansed, first, given what they were before I picked them up. I was going to ask Nik about that part, but he left for New York before I had the chance. I want to help in making them as much as I can—it's only right that I help to make something that I'm going to take into battle—but I don't know anything about carving crystal or metalwork or any of the rest."
Flint takes a bit of a visible interest in the methods of doing that the theurge mentions, though it's outside his usual realm of craft.
"Cleansin' is a good idea, an' I can do that also," Nieve acknowledges mildly. "We'll need t'use th' Vault for the metalworkin' stuff, if you're partakin' as well. Nik's already granted me occasional use, so that ain't an issue territory-wise. M'gonna suggest you figure out what metal you'd want for the handles, an' find some pipes of it, maybe so big around." She makes a circle of her finger and thumb to indicate the diameter of the pipe needed.
Alexandra asks, "Is there a specific type of metal that would be best? And would we be able to attach wood as well for a better grip?" She looks to Flint, then, "Because if we can do that, I'd like to ask you to help me find the right kind of wood and carve something special for them."
Flint grins at Alexandra. "I. Always," he responds to that part, before glance goes back to Nieve to see what Nieve thinks of the idea.
"Metal an' wood are usually one or th' other," Nieve replies slowly. "For weapon hilts, anyhow. Metal usu'ly gets wrapped in fabric or leather. But, wooden scabbard or sheath, that's entirely dif'rent."
Flint nods, considering what Nieve has said. "I. I've seen, sometimes," Flint says. "Wooden hilts banded, with metal. And with. With metal for the rivets. For. Integrity. But. I. I don't know how it… would work, with. W-with the crystal." That said, Flint goes silent again.
Alexandra says, "I didn't know you could make a sheath out of wood. I thought those were always leather or something similar." Nieve currently sits sprawled out in one of the chairs, Flint sits on the couch, while Alexandra stands nearby, holding out two very large shards of crystal for Nieve to inspect.
Gaze shifting sidelong to Flint, Nieve notes, "Ain't no disrespect to you, Flint. You've got a good hand with the wood. But, I ain't so good at only doin' half the work. S'all.. in my head, all the pieces. If I ain't makin' all the pieces, it don't all fit together right. S'that make sense?" Probably not to anyone else, but. "M'happy t'do you some fancy rivets if y'want, or inlay, but nothin' composite."
Flint grins at the Theurge, a moment. "I. Kinda yeah, makes perfect sense. You. You've got a better hand, on. On the overall concept, I've never. Made anything like that, seen it. But not done. I. I wouldn't know how to. With the crystal, anything. Not for. For this. I. Sheath, however… when. We'll talk?" When the moon is smaller and the galliard's got his words about him a little bit more.
There's a hastening of footsteps down the stairs, not quite running. Definitely someone moving faster than a normal walk toward the lobby from the upper floors.
Alexandra agrees, "You're the expert, so pure metal it is. And yeah, when we get to the sheath…" she cuts off, then, at the sound of hurried footfalls on the stairs, looking up to see both who it is and if there might be some problem.
There's neither shouting nor snarling, so Nieve remains right where she is, legs draped over the arm of the chair she's sat in. "S'up to th' wielder. S'gonna cost blood an' sweat from you, Alexandra. If you're goin' to work on this with me, I need dedication." Her gaze does track towards the stairs, though.
Flint turns in his spot on the couch to look at the security monitor, then points out to Nieve as Devon's figure crosses the camera's view inside the stairwell. The galliard's silent for the moment other than that, though.
No screaming or snarling or yelling. This time. Though when Devon does skitter out from the stairwell, he does look a little unnerved. He makes a small effort to cover it, jamming his hands into his pockets before looking at the others within the lobby.
Pack> Flint is tense a little, which leaks over the packlink.
"Blood and sweat I can do," Alexandra promises. "Barring obligations to the sept or to my pack, I'll be at your disposal for the duration." While she doesn't offer the other Ahroun a wave, given her arms being full, she does greet him with, "Oh, hey, Devon."
"More?" Nieve asks Devon simply, not going into any detail about more what, exactly. Alexandra gets a sidelong nod, but her attention is now on the newest arrival.
Flint nods greeting to Devon, the movement a little bit short. "Hey Dev," he says. "You 'kay?" Even if he knows what the answer probably is.
Pack> Flint sends a note of caution across the packlink. "Something has been. Up, with Devon. So you know. I'll. Explain, later. But."
"Uh…" Devon half way frowns, first at Alexandra before giving her a small nod, then at Nieve and Flint. "Hey… Yeah. I'm alright." He doesn't go into detail, offering the Shadow Lord a small shrug for an explanation instead.
Alexandra likewise doesn't ask, although she gives a faint nod to Flint for no apparent reason. With Nieve's attention turned to Devon, now, she begins to wrap the crystal shards back up in the blanket they were wrapped in. "Now that there's more people here, shall I fill you in on what's been going on down in the sewers?"
"Sure." Nieve nods to Alexa's suggestion, motioning for Devon to sit down somewhere if he's staying, to hear the report as well.
Flint nods in response, a little bit absently, and pulls his knees to his chest while he sits there.
Devon looks at Alexandra again, then angles a glance toward Flint. He lets out a short breath and shakes his head slowly, while making his way to sit on the floor in front of Nieve's chair.
Alexandra moves over to the couch, finally, resting her bundle on her lap once she takes a seat. "All started a few weeks ago when some guy came out of a bar and popped a manhole cover across the street from a bar. There were three giant mutant rats—maybe half, three quarters the size of a wolf—waiting to come out. One of my kinfolk immediately started shooting at the rats, so the guy got away while I moved to cover her and the Fianna kin who was with her. She killed one, I kicked the other two back into the sewers, and then we put the manhole cover back on, but not before hearing that there were a lot more of them moving around down there. Before Unfettered had a chance to put together a scouting party, somebody comes up to Ky with a map of the sewers and a note with some nests and a few other dangers detailed, signed 'the Queen of the Sewers'. We went down there after that—the information was good, even if we don't know who it was from yet. It's pretty bad down there—the rat nests have dozens in them, and there was a giant rat somewhere inside the nest that we only heard. The rats have some kind of toxin under their skin, and we don't heal it or their bites quickly, but bright light will disorient them. Flint talked the slugs out of being aggressive with his gift, but they're acidic and vulnerable to salt. Ky did heal up after at least a short exposure to it, although the acid might have gotten bad after a while."
"An' who is spearheadin' dealin' with this?" Nieve asks mildly. "Your pack? What's th' next plan to handle the rest?"
Flint settles a little when Alexandra sits down next to him, and nods once. "We are," he affirms, quietly.
Devon pulls his hands from his pockets as he sits, draping his forearms across his knees. "Where… did this happen?"
Alexandra says, "Unfettered has been looking into it so far, but if we're going to clean these things out, it's going to take more than just the three of us. So far, we've been focusing on making sure we know what we're up against when the clearing team goes in. I'm assuming a more senior Ahroun than me will probably take charge for the clearing mission, but if not, then yeah, I'm going to start looking for volunteers to hit the nests." She gives an approximate location of the area they scouted for Devon, then looks to Flint, "You have your copy of the map handy, by chance? That'll make things easier. Mine's back at the Vault."
Flint shakes his head, and gets up, heading for the office. "I can. I can draw out the sewers map, though," he says. "It. Won't take more than, five, ten minutes."
"Try speakin' to Emma or Topsy, they're both city-wise," Nieve suggests as per a more senior ahroun. "Or any of the Gnawers, like Ears or Slug. Not ahroun, but good in a fight."
Devon nods his agreement to Nieve's suggestions. "Any one of those would be good for heading up a cleaning team."
Flint disappears into the office, the door shutting behind him.
The group of Garou are all seated in the lobby area. Alexandra is seated on the couch, Nieve is sprawled out in one of the chairs, and Devon is seated on the floor in front of Nieve. The Shadow Lord says, "Also worth mentioning that there are vampires in the city. A couple of them attacked one of our kin, but she got away and got to the Vault. Ky and I went back to where she was attacked and killed them, but they were obviously pretty freshly dead, and didn't act smart enough to have been able to stay hidden for any length of time. When I listened in on what had happened before in the area, about the only thing I got was a woman giggling. I'm guessing she was probably the one who made them."
Pack> Flint indicates, over the link, that he's going to stay in the office while he draws out the map.
"I'm aware of the leeches. Had some dealin' with 'em in Albaquerque an' St Louis." There's a faint undertone of a growl in Nieve's voice. "Fuckers."
Devon looks up when Flint leaves for the office, frowning after the Galliard. When the office door closes, he tilts his head and glances up at Nieve, then returns his attention to the Shadow Lord. "You try 'listening' anywhere nearby where you found the two leeches? Alleys or… wherever?"
The door from the stairwell opens just as the conversation turns to vampires, and Kavi, who steps out first, stops almost immediately. He glances back, once, but then his focus turns sharply to the conversation.
Ex nearly runs right into Kavi's back, drawing herself up short only at the very last moment. She makes a growly, grumbly noise, and then tries to poke around him, so that she can peer at those in the lobby. Her eyes are narrowed; there's clearly a foul temper hovering over her already. Fat moons.
Alexandra shakes her head. "Just inside the warehouse, since that seemed to have been where they'd set up shop. The odds of getting anything from outside was a lot lower, and I wanted to get back and make sure Alice had been able to get in touch with my dad to get checked out."
"Might be something worth trying anyway," Devon suggests as he glances toward the stairwell, hearing the door open again. He frowns just a little when Kavi appears, then a little more when his gaze touches on Ex, a definite shadow of wariness settling in. He turns away again, setting his chin to his forearms.
Pack> Flint is the source of another echo of tension across the packlink when he looks at the monitors inside the office. "Damnit. The girl's Ex," he tells Alexandra. "The other is Kavi-rhya."
Kavi looks back again and then releases the door as he steps closer to the seating area. "Where was this?" he asks, and then casts an apologetic look to the cub behind him.
Pack> Alexandra replies, "Ah, the cub I've heard so many wonderful things about." Sarcasm comes across quite well over the packlink, it turns out.
Ex stalks in behind Kavi like a thunderous shadow in the shape of a young woman. Her eyes flick to Devon, and narrow, and then Alexandra likewise. There's a stoop to her shoulders, and she seems to be holding her head lower than usual.
Pack> Flint says, "Yes. The one, yeah. I. I'll be out in a minute."
Alexandra answers, "A warehouse that's a couple of blocks from the Vault. Leeches on the streets and giant mutant rat nests and acidic slugs in the sewers. Ah, the many joys of city life." The cub that's with Kavi gets a brief glance and a faint nod.
The sound of the copy machine comes from behind the shut office door, and then Flint emerges into the lobby again. "Hi, Kavi-rhya," he says. He's got about five sheets of paper in one hand, and crosses back over towards Alexandra.
"Industrial area," Devon puts in for clarification in a quieter sort of tone. He doesn't look toward Kavi or Ex again, and after speaking he tips his head to press his lips against his arms.
Kavi nods at something in Alexandra's explanation. "Fidelity— We cleared a lot of slugs from the sewers near here. We've kept them clear, but. They could be related. Fire… was very effective." He swallows, a frown tugging at his lips, and he looks toward Ex. "Do you…? I need to know more about the vampires, before we go downstairs."
"What are they?" Ex asks, flatly, still eyeing Devon and Alexandra.
Flint sits back down on the couch, next to Alexandra, setting the papers on the coffee table, one folded into his sweatshirt pocket. The galliard's drawn a reasonable reproduction of the sewer map they were given, nest locations marked, and he gestures towards the papers for Devon, Nieve, and Kavi.
Pack> Flint says "Introduce yourself proper, I guess. It. It can't hurt?"
Devon takes a couple of pages when it's offered toward him and Nieve, passing one off to the theurge while he studies the drawing. He twists around slowly, looking at Ex again when the cub voices a question. "…What am I? …What do I look like? What are you?"
Alexandra says "I don't know a lot. When Ky and I killed the two of them, the bodies were still very fresh, so I know they hadn't been dead long. They didn't seem to be smart enough to have stayed low-profile for any length of time, either—they didn't even talk to each other, just hissed and made some clicking noises. I listed to what had happened in the past in the warehouse they were at, but all I got from it was what sounded like a woman giggling with the two of them in the background—so I'm guessing she made them and left them there." At the cub's question, she asks Kavi, "Shall I introduce myself to her, or do you need to take her downstairs right away?"
Kavi draws in a breath, slow, tense, as Alexandra describes the encounter. Devon gets a brief, focused look, and then the galliard turns back to Alexandra. "This is Ex," he says with a tip of his head toward the woman. "She's just starting to learn. She's… been through a lot, to get here. She's under Glass Walker protection, for now."
Ex shifts her gaze back to Devon, and shows her teeth. "I'm a fucking caged animal. Watch out, I bite."
Flint makes a bit of a face to his lap, pulling his knees to his chest again.
Devon, unfazed by the show of teeth and even the look from Kavi, cracks a humorless grin. "And I might be insane and have Rage issues. Welcome to the club, Ex."
Alexandra tells Ex, "Alexandra Morgan, called Seeks the Raging Water to Silence Her Strike, Cliath Ahroun of the Shadow Lords and alpha of the pack Unfettered, in service to Merlin."
Flint sits up a little. "Alexandra's a friend of mine," he tells Ex. For what little good that might do. "Unfettered is the. The pack I'm in."
Kavi watches Ex as Alexandra makes her introduction, and adds. "Merlin the bird. It's the spirit connected to their pack, like Skokiaan, the sphinx is for mine. And Shadow Lords are… another tribe." Then he turns back to the others again. "There was a vampire. Last summer. I. I thought she was dead. A girl. She giggled, and. They found other young vampires she'd made. If she's not dead? If it's the same one? She… She had the power to do things to your mind." He casts a brief glance to Devon, but then looks back to Alexandra. "She made it… It was like the things you were afraid of, were real. Sometimes memories. Sometimes fears."
Flint glances between Kavi, and Devon, tensing a little as the elder galliard speaks.
Ex snorts. "Not a club member," she says, with her shoulders hitching even higher. "Kavi's showing me how to kill shit and turn into a monster when I want to, though." Her eyes flick to Alexandra, and her forehead wrinkles. She starts to open her mouth, but both Flint and Kavi seem to settle most of it before she can say anything. Her mouth briefly closes. Briefly. "Bonkers."
Devon glances toward Kavi, jaw tightening for a moment. But when Ex speaks again, he returns his attention to her. "Pretty sweet, isn't it? Killing shit? Turning into a monster to kill worse monsters?"
Alexandra frowns faintly. "I knew about their mind control, but that's…even worse, in its own way. Did you find any way of defending against it? And how long does it take to wear off?" To Ex, she just nods. "Yeah. It does get pretty bonkers. I saw them pull an evil spirit out of someone my second day. But there are good parts, too."
Flint furrows his brow a little further. "Like has been?" he asks the elder Galliard. "How do you… fix it? It. It could be the same one, or. Or another, with. With similar ability and." There is a pointed glance at Devon.
Pack> Flint explains, a little more. "Devon's been. Seeing, monsters. No one else sees. Which, well. Crazy."
Pack> Alexandra says "And he's an Ahroun…during the full moon. That's not a good combination."
Kavi's gaze tics to Devon, a narrowing around his eyes, a look of warning. When he refocuses on Alexandra, he gives a small shake of his head. "It seemed like… sometimes it just lasted a few minutes, and other times… I didn't know what it was, at first, but one of the times Solsiva was affected, it lasted several days. I don't know if there's a way to fix it, directly? Jack— He just seemed to shake it off. But the others? It faded after a while."
Pack> Flint says "No kidding."
"Yeah," Ex says, her tone bizarrely casual. "I think I ate a few people. That was real fun."
Flint looks up at Kavi. "How long's a while?" Then Flint pushes to his feet and takes a few steps over to speak a little more quietly to the elder Galliard. Flint is very quiet, tone worried. "We found Devon last week and. It's still."
Devon makes a face, no feigning needed for the disgust at Ex's comment. "Soylent Green is not meant to be eaten," he points out, shaking his head. "So bad for the figure. Really. Stick to pizza and donuts."
Alexandra listens to the exchange between Devon and Ex, but doesn't involve herself in it. Instead, her attention remains primarily on Kavi. "So it might be worthwhile to have talens that protect us from fear made, assuming we're able to track her down. Changing the subject a bit, have you ever heard of anyone who called herself the Sewer Queen?"
Kavi shakes his head at the question from the Shadow Lord. "Fidelity has focused on the sewers and tunnels around here. But. Solsiva and Lefty, Jacey and the others, they made some maps when they were chasing the vampires, last summer. I might be able to find those. They went all over." Though he glances to Flint, he doesn't seem to have anything to offer in response.
"Squeamish?" Ex asks Devon. Accuses, really. "What, you just leave them lying around, rotting? Flies laying eggs in their mouths and maggots crawling in their brains? What'd you even go and kill them for, then?"
Flint starts humming, and not the usual quiet humming, but the melody to a Neil Young song, as if he's quite purposefully ignoring the cub.
"Necessity," Devon answers. "Just the bad ones. The ones that couldn't be helped. Then burn them. Eat any of them and you're no better off than the bad ones."
Pack> Flint is, in fact, squeamish, and there's a mental grimace. "Damn cub."
Alexandra says, "That would be very helpful. I hadn't known about any vampires in the sewers last year, and we haven't seen any signs of any down there this time, though we didn't know it was a significant risk, either. We'll keep our eyes open when we do more scouting and when the clearing missions start."
Ex turns her head and stares at Flint.
Kavi nods to Alexandra, but his attention is pulled to the cub and the two Walker cliath. To the galliard, he says, softly but clearly, "Flint, don't. Leave if you need to, but. Don't." Then he looks to Ex, and he studies her for a moment, and when he does speak, his voice is much softer still. "You don't need to test us. You don't need to push them, to find out how far they'll go." Even though the words are for Ex, there's a glance toward Devon, including him, as well.
Flint looks, at the office and the stairwell, before he moves to lean against the couch. He does silence, though the tension is visible in his posture.
Pack> Alexandra seems more amused than squeamish, but she does note, "Well, I don't know about you, but I just lost my craving for Chinese take-out."
Devon looks up at Kavi when he speaks, brows pinching together. After a moment he lets out a sigh and shakes his head, then returns his chin to resting on his arms.
Pack> Flint has no appetite left. Emphasis on no.
Ex's mouth twitches, followed by a deeper frown, but she does look back to Kavi. "Why?"
Alexandra stays quiet rather than butt in on internal tribal matters, though it's clear that she's listening to the exchange with some interest.
Pack> Ky peers curiously.
Pack> Flint grumbles, and there's a sense of the galliard's working to control himself. "Ex insisted on. Pushing. Also, just because I've. Seen, dead bodies. Does not mean, discussion of them is. Welcome."
Pack> Ky says "And here I was going to invite you guys over for beef stroganoff."
Pack> Flint almost groans, over the packlink, though the humour is appreciated.
Kavi catches the corner of his lip between his teeth, his attention now reserved for Ex. "Because the moon is still full. Because you already know how much power your words have. Because you can… find other ways to use that power, if you want to. This? You already know the answer. You already know what will happen. You don't need to do it, anymore."
Flint leans against the couch now, and it seems that the younger galliard is calm again for the moment, though peering off into the distance, and there's a snort of amusement at something as he glances over to Lex.
Ex shrugs. "I don't know them." She jerks her chin toward Devon and Alexandra.
Devon's eyes angle back toward Kavi, watching the adren.
Alexandra continues her silence, though she shares a grin with Flint at about the same time as his snort of amusement and glance her way. It seems she's in on the joke, whatever it may be.
Pack> Ky says, "Should I make chicken yakisoba instead?"
Pack> Flint mimes queasiness, a little, before the more usual leaking of the struggle for control comes back. "Thought's appreciated, though?"
Kavi frowns, casting a disapproving look toward Flint at the sound. He refocuses then on the cub and considers her response. After a beat, he nods. "That's true. There are some things you do know, though. You do know that they're garou. You do know that the moon is still full. You do know that if you try, you can make them angry, and if they're angry enough, they might lose control. You can… find out more about them if you keep that part in mind. Because there's only so much you can learn, once you make someone angry. Even if they never lose control."
It's on that last 'control' from Kavi that Ex seems to focus more on Alexandra. Her forehead starts to wrinkle. And then in the very next moment she's in crinos and lunging at the Shadow Lord. There's no stiffening, no roar to announce the sudden shift from 'look' to 'attack'.
Devon slams into Crinos himself as soon as Ex moves, launching up from the couch to tackle and take the cub off her line of attack.
Alexandra is started by the sudden attack, although not so much that she doesn't blur up to crinos to meet it, the large blanket-wrapped bundle tossed over toward the couch even as she she's bringing up the other hand—palm open and flat, as opposed to ready to rake with claws—to strike at the cub assuming she makes it past Devon.
Flint isn't far behind Devon in crinos, and there's a baring of teeth and aggressive posturing that's more unintentional than intentional even as he, too, moves to stop Ex, though he doesn't get in the way of his packmate.
Bridge Builder shifts along with the rest, coming up behind the cub to grab hold and keep her from reaching her target. ~Don't hurt her!~ he growls as he moves.
Between all of the far, far more experienced and better trained Garou, Rogue stands no chance whatsoever of holding up, despite her fury; which is considerable. Her eyes roll, she snaps and froths and claws at anything in front of her, but she's brought down fast and hard between Kavi and Devon, with an assist from Alexandra.
Red-Hands shows little fear of the teeth and claws, reaching in to clamp his hands around her muzzle and keep her held while Bridge Builder handles the talking part.
The younger galliard forces himself to step back, too many people too close and Requiem is quite obviously keeping a handle on his own Rage.
Seeks-Raging-Water looks over at her packmate. ~Does the cub understand the Mother's Tongue yet?~
~No,~ Bridge Builder answers, but that's all he offers as the rest of his focus going to bringing the cub under control, by taking her to unconsciousness. His blows are solid and well placed, intended to take her down quickly and efficiently, without causing more actual harm than necessary.
Rogue struggles furiously, and now there's noise, strangled snarls and shrieks squeezing their way out from the jaws Devon is holding shut. Kavi's work is quick, however, and she's out fast. She shrinks back to homid, limp and, thankfully, still fully clothed.
Red-Hands pushes the cub toward Kavi once she goes limp. Then, panting, returns himself to homid. He looks up at the elder Galliard, then starts for the stairs with a kind of haste different from that he'd entered with.
The younger galliard crouches by the couch, and then shifts back to homid, though he seems like he's still working to control himself.
With two Garou successfully working to restrain the cub, the Shadow Lord Ahroun doesn't attempt to join in, instead returning to her birthform, letting out a breath. "Well, it's nothing if not exciting around here."
Pack> Alexandra radiates surprise first, followed by a surge of anticipation, and the faintest hint of disappointment as the melee ends almost as quickly as it began.
Pack> Flint says "Frenzy."
Pack> Ky offers faint amusement.
Pack> Flint continues, a little wryly, "Cubs frenzy. Happens."
Pack> Alexandra says "Obviously. Almost a pity she's unconscious, though, so I can't give her a grade on her test."
Bridge Builder cradles the cub in his arms as he rises, still breathing heavily. For a moment more he simply stands, working to control his own breathing as he looks down at the woman he holds. Slowly, he slips down from crinos to glabro, and looks to the members of Unfettered. "Whatever… Whatever you shared? Whatever secret joke it was? I'm sorry for this, for her. She still— But it's like whispering. When you do that? And it… If you wouldn't whisper in front of someone else? If it would be rude to whisper? It's rude to share your private thoughts where we can see." He readjusts his burden and turns to carry her up the stairs.
Flint nods, to Kavi. "I'm sorry," he says, quietly. "I. Yeah." A pause, and he nods. "Yes, Kavi-rhya."
Devon takes the stairs two at a time, the sounds of his shoes on the steps fading as he climbs upward and further from the lobby.
Alexandra's expression turns to a frown, but she neither disagrees nor argues, whatever her opinion might be. As Kavi gathers the cub and goes upstairs, she gathers the bundle she'd tossed onto the couch and re-secures it. "I should go as well. People trying to kill you is generally a hint that you've overstayed your welcome a bit."
Flint nods once at Lex. "I'm. Gonna go, calm down and. Punch stuff, a while." The galliard heads for the elevator.
6 July, 2012
The moon is in the waning Full (Ahroun) Moon phase (83% full).
Alexandra has been in contact with Flint via their pack link—she wanted to make sure Nieve was there before dropping by—so even before the security systems confirm it, her packmate would know exactly who was at the door. After locking up her bike, she unties a wrapped bundle from the cargo rack and carries it to the door with her.
Flint is in fact, leaning on the wall by the door, and then moves to open the door and let Lex in, waiting for the door to shut again before greeting her with a half-hug, briefly. "Hey," he murmurs. "Good to. See you." There's a grin over to Nieve, before Flint returns to his customary perch on the couch, getting out of the way of the conversation.
The Adren is plopped down in the sitting area. Rather than sitting like a mature, adult person might, she's got her back to one arm of the chair, legs hooked over the other, dreadlocks shaken free and almost touching the ground. "Hola, prima. 'sup?"
Alexandra offers a smile and an "Afternoon. Good to see you, too. Both of you." She looks to the Adren, then, and asks, "Two things, really. First, has Flint had a chance to tell you about the results of our scouting mission into the sewers, Nieve-rhya? If not, I want to help get the word out on that. Second, and why I asked him if you were here specifically, I have a favor I'd like to discuss with you."
Flint looks over at Alexandra, shakes his head once.
Pack> Flint is less tense than he's been over the past few days. "Haven't," he says over the link. "Kinda. Words, right now. Fuck words."
"Not yet, no. Favour first, an' then explanation?" Nieve suggests. "An' by favour, I'm sure you mean trade of skills, si?" She digs out her cigarettes and lighter, sparking up and inhaling slowly. "What's th' deal?"
Alexandra nods. "A trade, yes, though I'm not sure what would be most appropriate or that would be useful to you." She opens up the bundle to reveal two very large shards of what appear to be some kind of crystal. "Flint and I were participants in the Great Hunt. Pattern spiders had been holding a powerful bane, but had apparently been corrupted by it as well. The bane's flesh was covered in flame, and it burned to the touch, making our natural weapons difficult to use against it. Since that wasn't a good approach, I grabbed shards of the creature's prison to use against it like daggers, and they proved to be quite effective, and I helped to kill the bane with them. I wanted to find out about possibly having them made into an actual pair of daggers." Daggers for a crinos, obviously—they'd be more akin to short swords for a homid at their current size.
Pack> Alexandra says "I'll fill her in, then. You can add details as you see fit."
Nieve looks at the crystal shards, extending one hand and beckoning, to better examine the material. "S'gonna need t'be tempered, so it don't break when bein' worked," she observes thoughtfully. "An' best way t'do it without breakin' any off 'cept for shapin' would be to clad the handles with metal. S'doable, certainly."
Pack> Flint says "Thanks. I. I let Kavi know. But, that's pretty much, it."
Alexandra says, "And they should probably be cleansed, first, given what they were before I picked them up. I was going to ask Nik about that part, but he left for New York before I had the chance. I want to help in making them as much as I can—it's only right that I help to make something that I'm going to take into battle—but I don't know anything about carving crystal or metalwork or any of the rest."
Flint takes a bit of a visible interest in the methods of doing that the theurge mentions, though it's outside his usual realm of craft.
"Cleansin' is a good idea, an' I can do that also," Nieve acknowledges mildly. "We'll need t'use th' Vault for the metalworkin' stuff, if you're partakin' as well. Nik's already granted me occasional use, so that ain't an issue territory-wise. M'gonna suggest you figure out what metal you'd want for the handles, an' find some pipes of it, maybe so big around." She makes a circle of her finger and thumb to indicate the diameter of the pipe needed.
Alexandra asks, "Is there a specific type of metal that would be best? And would we be able to attach wood as well for a better grip?" She looks to Flint, then, "Because if we can do that, I'd like to ask you to help me find the right kind of wood and carve something special for them."
Flint grins at Alexandra. "I. Always," he responds to that part, before glance goes back to Nieve to see what Nieve thinks of the idea.
"Metal an' wood are usually one or th' other," Nieve replies slowly. "For weapon hilts, anyhow. Metal usu'ly gets wrapped in fabric or leather. But, wooden scabbard or sheath, that's entirely dif'rent."
Flint nods, considering what Nieve has said. "I. I've seen, sometimes," Flint says. "Wooden hilts banded, with metal. And with. With metal for the rivets. For. Integrity. But. I. I don't know how it… would work, with. W-with the crystal." That said, Flint goes silent again.
Alexandra says, "I didn't know you could make a sheath out of wood. I thought those were always leather or something similar." Nieve currently sits sprawled out in one of the chairs, Flint sits on the couch, while Alexandra stands nearby, holding out two very large shards of crystal for Nieve to inspect.
Gaze shifting sidelong to Flint, Nieve notes, "Ain't no disrespect to you, Flint. You've got a good hand with the wood. But, I ain't so good at only doin' half the work. S'all.. in my head, all the pieces. If I ain't makin' all the pieces, it don't all fit together right. S'that make sense?" Probably not to anyone else, but. "M'happy t'do you some fancy rivets if y'want, or inlay, but nothin' composite."
Flint grins at the Theurge, a moment. "I. Kinda yeah, makes perfect sense. You. You've got a better hand, on. On the overall concept, I've never. Made anything like that, seen it. But not done. I. I wouldn't know how to. With the crystal, anything. Not for. For this. I. Sheath, however… when. We'll talk?" When the moon is smaller and the galliard's got his words about him a little bit more.
There's a hastening of footsteps down the stairs, not quite running. Definitely someone moving faster than a normal walk toward the lobby from the upper floors.
Alexandra agrees, "You're the expert, so pure metal it is. And yeah, when we get to the sheath…" she cuts off, then, at the sound of hurried footfalls on the stairs, looking up to see both who it is and if there might be some problem.
There's neither shouting nor snarling, so Nieve remains right where she is, legs draped over the arm of the chair she's sat in. "S'up to th' wielder. S'gonna cost blood an' sweat from you, Alexandra. If you're goin' to work on this with me, I need dedication." Her gaze does track towards the stairs, though.
Flint turns in his spot on the couch to look at the security monitor, then points out to Nieve as Devon's figure crosses the camera's view inside the stairwell. The galliard's silent for the moment other than that, though.
No screaming or snarling or yelling. This time. Though when Devon does skitter out from the stairwell, he does look a little unnerved. He makes a small effort to cover it, jamming his hands into his pockets before looking at the others within the lobby.
Pack> Flint is tense a little, which leaks over the packlink.
"Blood and sweat I can do," Alexandra promises. "Barring obligations to the sept or to my pack, I'll be at your disposal for the duration." While she doesn't offer the other Ahroun a wave, given her arms being full, she does greet him with, "Oh, hey, Devon."
"More?" Nieve asks Devon simply, not going into any detail about more what, exactly. Alexandra gets a sidelong nod, but her attention is now on the newest arrival.
Flint nods greeting to Devon, the movement a little bit short. "Hey Dev," he says. "You 'kay?" Even if he knows what the answer probably is.
Pack> Flint sends a note of caution across the packlink. "Something has been. Up, with Devon. So you know. I'll. Explain, later. But."
"Uh…" Devon half way frowns, first at Alexandra before giving her a small nod, then at Nieve and Flint. "Hey… Yeah. I'm alright." He doesn't go into detail, offering the Shadow Lord a small shrug for an explanation instead.
Alexandra likewise doesn't ask, although she gives a faint nod to Flint for no apparent reason. With Nieve's attention turned to Devon, now, she begins to wrap the crystal shards back up in the blanket they were wrapped in. "Now that there's more people here, shall I fill you in on what's been going on down in the sewers?"
"Sure." Nieve nods to Alexa's suggestion, motioning for Devon to sit down somewhere if he's staying, to hear the report as well.
Flint nods in response, a little bit absently, and pulls his knees to his chest while he sits there.
Devon looks at Alexandra again, then angles a glance toward Flint. He lets out a short breath and shakes his head slowly, while making his way to sit on the floor in front of Nieve's chair.
Alexandra moves over to the couch, finally, resting her bundle on her lap once she takes a seat. "All started a few weeks ago when some guy came out of a bar and popped a manhole cover across the street from a bar. There were three giant mutant rats—maybe half, three quarters the size of a wolf—waiting to come out. One of my kinfolk immediately started shooting at the rats, so the guy got away while I moved to cover her and the Fianna kin who was with her. She killed one, I kicked the other two back into the sewers, and then we put the manhole cover back on, but not before hearing that there were a lot more of them moving around down there. Before Unfettered had a chance to put together a scouting party, somebody comes up to Ky with a map of the sewers and a note with some nests and a few other dangers detailed, signed 'the Queen of the Sewers'. We went down there after that—the information was good, even if we don't know who it was from yet. It's pretty bad down there—the rat nests have dozens in them, and there was a giant rat somewhere inside the nest that we only heard. The rats have some kind of toxin under their skin, and we don't heal it or their bites quickly, but bright light will disorient them. Flint talked the slugs out of being aggressive with his gift, but they're acidic and vulnerable to salt. Ky did heal up after at least a short exposure to it, although the acid might have gotten bad after a while."
"An' who is spearheadin' dealin' with this?" Nieve asks mildly. "Your pack? What's th' next plan to handle the rest?"
Flint settles a little when Alexandra sits down next to him, and nods once. "We are," he affirms, quietly.
Devon pulls his hands from his pockets as he sits, draping his forearms across his knees. "Where… did this happen?"
Alexandra says, "Unfettered has been looking into it so far, but if we're going to clean these things out, it's going to take more than just the three of us. So far, we've been focusing on making sure we know what we're up against when the clearing team goes in. I'm assuming a more senior Ahroun than me will probably take charge for the clearing mission, but if not, then yeah, I'm going to start looking for volunteers to hit the nests." She gives an approximate location of the area they scouted for Devon, then looks to Flint, "You have your copy of the map handy, by chance? That'll make things easier. Mine's back at the Vault."
Flint shakes his head, and gets up, heading for the office. "I can. I can draw out the sewers map, though," he says. "It. Won't take more than, five, ten minutes."
"Try speakin' to Emma or Topsy, they're both city-wise," Nieve suggests as per a more senior ahroun. "Or any of the Gnawers, like Ears or Slug. Not ahroun, but good in a fight."
Devon nods his agreement to Nieve's suggestions. "Any one of those would be good for heading up a cleaning team."
Flint disappears into the office, the door shutting behind him.
The group of Garou are all seated in the lobby area. Alexandra is seated on the couch, Nieve is sprawled out in one of the chairs, and Devon is seated on the floor in front of Nieve. The Shadow Lord says, "Also worth mentioning that there are vampires in the city. A couple of them attacked one of our kin, but she got away and got to the Vault. Ky and I went back to where she was attacked and killed them, but they were obviously pretty freshly dead, and didn't act smart enough to have been able to stay hidden for any length of time. When I listened in on what had happened before in the area, about the only thing I got was a woman giggling. I'm guessing she was probably the one who made them."
Pack> Flint indicates, over the link, that he's going to stay in the office while he draws out the map.
"I'm aware of the leeches. Had some dealin' with 'em in Albaquerque an' St Louis." There's a faint undertone of a growl in Nieve's voice. "Fuckers."
Devon looks up when Flint leaves for the office, frowning after the Galliard. When the office door closes, he tilts his head and glances up at Nieve, then returns his attention to the Shadow Lord. "You try 'listening' anywhere nearby where you found the two leeches? Alleys or… wherever?"
The door from the stairwell opens just as the conversation turns to vampires, and Kavi, who steps out first, stops almost immediately. He glances back, once, but then his focus turns sharply to the conversation.
Ex nearly runs right into Kavi's back, drawing herself up short only at the very last moment. She makes a growly, grumbly noise, and then tries to poke around him, so that she can peer at those in the lobby. Her eyes are narrowed; there's clearly a foul temper hovering over her already. Fat moons.
Alexandra shakes her head. "Just inside the warehouse, since that seemed to have been where they'd set up shop. The odds of getting anything from outside was a lot lower, and I wanted to get back and make sure Alice had been able to get in touch with my dad to get checked out."
"Might be something worth trying anyway," Devon suggests as he glances toward the stairwell, hearing the door open again. He frowns just a little when Kavi appears, then a little more when his gaze touches on Ex, a definite shadow of wariness settling in. He turns away again, setting his chin to his forearms.
Pack> Flint is the source of another echo of tension across the packlink when he looks at the monitors inside the office. "Damnit. The girl's Ex," he tells Alexandra. "The other is Kavi-rhya."
Kavi looks back again and then releases the door as he steps closer to the seating area. "Where was this?" he asks, and then casts an apologetic look to the cub behind him.
Pack> Alexandra replies, "Ah, the cub I've heard so many wonderful things about." Sarcasm comes across quite well over the packlink, it turns out.
Ex stalks in behind Kavi like a thunderous shadow in the shape of a young woman. Her eyes flick to Devon, and narrow, and then Alexandra likewise. There's a stoop to her shoulders, and she seems to be holding her head lower than usual.
Pack> Flint says, "Yes. The one, yeah. I. I'll be out in a minute."
Alexandra answers, "A warehouse that's a couple of blocks from the Vault. Leeches on the streets and giant mutant rat nests and acidic slugs in the sewers. Ah, the many joys of city life." The cub that's with Kavi gets a brief glance and a faint nod.
The sound of the copy machine comes from behind the shut office door, and then Flint emerges into the lobby again. "Hi, Kavi-rhya," he says. He's got about five sheets of paper in one hand, and crosses back over towards Alexandra.
"Industrial area," Devon puts in for clarification in a quieter sort of tone. He doesn't look toward Kavi or Ex again, and after speaking he tips his head to press his lips against his arms.
Kavi nods at something in Alexandra's explanation. "Fidelity— We cleared a lot of slugs from the sewers near here. We've kept them clear, but. They could be related. Fire… was very effective." He swallows, a frown tugging at his lips, and he looks toward Ex. "Do you…? I need to know more about the vampires, before we go downstairs."
"What are they?" Ex asks, flatly, still eyeing Devon and Alexandra.
Flint sits back down on the couch, next to Alexandra, setting the papers on the coffee table, one folded into his sweatshirt pocket. The galliard's drawn a reasonable reproduction of the sewer map they were given, nest locations marked, and he gestures towards the papers for Devon, Nieve, and Kavi.
Pack> Flint says "Introduce yourself proper, I guess. It. It can't hurt?"
Devon takes a couple of pages when it's offered toward him and Nieve, passing one off to the theurge while he studies the drawing. He twists around slowly, looking at Ex again when the cub voices a question. "…What am I? …What do I look like? What are you?"
Alexandra says "I don't know a lot. When Ky and I killed the two of them, the bodies were still very fresh, so I know they hadn't been dead long. They didn't seem to be smart enough to have stayed low-profile for any length of time, either—they didn't even talk to each other, just hissed and made some clicking noises. I listed to what had happened in the past in the warehouse they were at, but all I got from it was what sounded like a woman giggling with the two of them in the background—so I'm guessing she made them and left them there." At the cub's question, she asks Kavi, "Shall I introduce myself to her, or do you need to take her downstairs right away?"
Kavi draws in a breath, slow, tense, as Alexandra describes the encounter. Devon gets a brief, focused look, and then the galliard turns back to Alexandra. "This is Ex," he says with a tip of his head toward the woman. "She's just starting to learn. She's… been through a lot, to get here. She's under Glass Walker protection, for now."
Ex shifts her gaze back to Devon, and shows her teeth. "I'm a fucking caged animal. Watch out, I bite."
Flint makes a bit of a face to his lap, pulling his knees to his chest again.
Devon, unfazed by the show of teeth and even the look from Kavi, cracks a humorless grin. "And I might be insane and have Rage issues. Welcome to the club, Ex."
Alexandra tells Ex, "Alexandra Morgan, called Seeks the Raging Water to Silence Her Strike, Cliath Ahroun of the Shadow Lords and alpha of the pack Unfettered, in service to Merlin."
Flint sits up a little. "Alexandra's a friend of mine," he tells Ex. For what little good that might do. "Unfettered is the. The pack I'm in."
Kavi watches Ex as Alexandra makes her introduction, and adds. "Merlin the bird. It's the spirit connected to their pack, like Skokiaan, the sphinx is for mine. And Shadow Lords are… another tribe." Then he turns back to the others again. "There was a vampire. Last summer. I. I thought she was dead. A girl. She giggled, and. They found other young vampires she'd made. If she's not dead? If it's the same one? She… She had the power to do things to your mind." He casts a brief glance to Devon, but then looks back to Alexandra. "She made it… It was like the things you were afraid of, were real. Sometimes memories. Sometimes fears."
Flint glances between Kavi, and Devon, tensing a little as the elder galliard speaks.
Ex snorts. "Not a club member," she says, with her shoulders hitching even higher. "Kavi's showing me how to kill shit and turn into a monster when I want to, though." Her eyes flick to Alexandra, and her forehead wrinkles. She starts to open her mouth, but both Flint and Kavi seem to settle most of it before she can say anything. Her mouth briefly closes. Briefly. "Bonkers."
Devon glances toward Kavi, jaw tightening for a moment. But when Ex speaks again, he returns his attention to her. "Pretty sweet, isn't it? Killing shit? Turning into a monster to kill worse monsters?"
Alexandra frowns faintly. "I knew about their mind control, but that's…even worse, in its own way. Did you find any way of defending against it? And how long does it take to wear off?" To Ex, she just nods. "Yeah. It does get pretty bonkers. I saw them pull an evil spirit out of someone my second day. But there are good parts, too."
Flint furrows his brow a little further. "Like has been?" he asks the elder Galliard. "How do you… fix it? It. It could be the same one, or. Or another, with. With similar ability and." There is a pointed glance at Devon.
Pack> Flint explains, a little more. "Devon's been. Seeing, monsters. No one else sees. Which, well. Crazy."
Pack> Alexandra says "And he's an Ahroun…during the full moon. That's not a good combination."
Kavi's gaze tics to Devon, a narrowing around his eyes, a look of warning. When he refocuses on Alexandra, he gives a small shake of his head. "It seemed like… sometimes it just lasted a few minutes, and other times… I didn't know what it was, at first, but one of the times Solsiva was affected, it lasted several days. I don't know if there's a way to fix it, directly? Jack— He just seemed to shake it off. But the others? It faded after a while."
Pack> Flint says "No kidding."
"Yeah," Ex says, her tone bizarrely casual. "I think I ate a few people. That was real fun."
Flint looks up at Kavi. "How long's a while?" Then Flint pushes to his feet and takes a few steps over to speak a little more quietly to the elder Galliard. Flint is very quiet, tone worried. "We found Devon last week and. It's still."
Devon makes a face, no feigning needed for the disgust at Ex's comment. "Soylent Green is not meant to be eaten," he points out, shaking his head. "So bad for the figure. Really. Stick to pizza and donuts."
Alexandra listens to the exchange between Devon and Ex, but doesn't involve herself in it. Instead, her attention remains primarily on Kavi. "So it might be worthwhile to have talens that protect us from fear made, assuming we're able to track her down. Changing the subject a bit, have you ever heard of anyone who called herself the Sewer Queen?"
Kavi shakes his head at the question from the Shadow Lord. "Fidelity has focused on the sewers and tunnels around here. But. Solsiva and Lefty, Jacey and the others, they made some maps when they were chasing the vampires, last summer. I might be able to find those. They went all over." Though he glances to Flint, he doesn't seem to have anything to offer in response.
"Squeamish?" Ex asks Devon. Accuses, really. "What, you just leave them lying around, rotting? Flies laying eggs in their mouths and maggots crawling in their brains? What'd you even go and kill them for, then?"
Flint starts humming, and not the usual quiet humming, but the melody to a Neil Young song, as if he's quite purposefully ignoring the cub.
"Necessity," Devon answers. "Just the bad ones. The ones that couldn't be helped. Then burn them. Eat any of them and you're no better off than the bad ones."
Pack> Flint is, in fact, squeamish, and there's a mental grimace. "Damn cub."
Alexandra says, "That would be very helpful. I hadn't known about any vampires in the sewers last year, and we haven't seen any signs of any down there this time, though we didn't know it was a significant risk, either. We'll keep our eyes open when we do more scouting and when the clearing missions start."
Ex turns her head and stares at Flint.
Kavi nods to Alexandra, but his attention is pulled to the cub and the two Walker cliath. To the galliard, he says, softly but clearly, "Flint, don't. Leave if you need to, but. Don't." Then he looks to Ex, and he studies her for a moment, and when he does speak, his voice is much softer still. "You don't need to test us. You don't need to push them, to find out how far they'll go." Even though the words are for Ex, there's a glance toward Devon, including him, as well.
Flint looks, at the office and the stairwell, before he moves to lean against the couch. He does silence, though the tension is visible in his posture.
Pack> Alexandra seems more amused than squeamish, but she does note, "Well, I don't know about you, but I just lost my craving for Chinese take-out."
Devon looks up at Kavi when he speaks, brows pinching together. After a moment he lets out a sigh and shakes his head, then returns his chin to resting on his arms.
Pack> Flint has no appetite left. Emphasis on no.
Ex's mouth twitches, followed by a deeper frown, but she does look back to Kavi. "Why?"
Alexandra stays quiet rather than butt in on internal tribal matters, though it's clear that she's listening to the exchange with some interest.
Pack> Ky peers curiously.
Pack> Flint grumbles, and there's a sense of the galliard's working to control himself. "Ex insisted on. Pushing. Also, just because I've. Seen, dead bodies. Does not mean, discussion of them is. Welcome."
Pack> Ky says "And here I was going to invite you guys over for beef stroganoff."
Pack> Flint almost groans, over the packlink, though the humour is appreciated.
Kavi catches the corner of his lip between his teeth, his attention now reserved for Ex. "Because the moon is still full. Because you already know how much power your words have. Because you can… find other ways to use that power, if you want to. This? You already know the answer. You already know what will happen. You don't need to do it, anymore."
Flint leans against the couch now, and it seems that the younger galliard is calm again for the moment, though peering off into the distance, and there's a snort of amusement at something as he glances over to Lex.
Ex shrugs. "I don't know them." She jerks her chin toward Devon and Alexandra.
Devon's eyes angle back toward Kavi, watching the adren.
Alexandra continues her silence, though she shares a grin with Flint at about the same time as his snort of amusement and glance her way. It seems she's in on the joke, whatever it may be.
Pack> Ky says, "Should I make chicken yakisoba instead?"
Pack> Flint mimes queasiness, a little, before the more usual leaking of the struggle for control comes back. "Thought's appreciated, though?"
Kavi frowns, casting a disapproving look toward Flint at the sound. He refocuses then on the cub and considers her response. After a beat, he nods. "That's true. There are some things you do know, though. You do know that they're garou. You do know that the moon is still full. You do know that if you try, you can make them angry, and if they're angry enough, they might lose control. You can… find out more about them if you keep that part in mind. Because there's only so much you can learn, once you make someone angry. Even if they never lose control."
It's on that last 'control' from Kavi that Ex seems to focus more on Alexandra. Her forehead starts to wrinkle. And then in the very next moment she's in crinos and lunging at the Shadow Lord. There's no stiffening, no roar to announce the sudden shift from 'look' to 'attack'.
Devon slams into Crinos himself as soon as Ex moves, launching up from the couch to tackle and take the cub off her line of attack.
Alexandra is started by the sudden attack, although not so much that she doesn't blur up to crinos to meet it, the large blanket-wrapped bundle tossed over toward the couch even as she she's bringing up the other hand—palm open and flat, as opposed to ready to rake with claws—to strike at the cub assuming she makes it past Devon.
Flint isn't far behind Devon in crinos, and there's a baring of teeth and aggressive posturing that's more unintentional than intentional even as he, too, moves to stop Ex, though he doesn't get in the way of his packmate.
Bridge Builder shifts along with the rest, coming up behind the cub to grab hold and keep her from reaching her target. ~Don't hurt her!~ he growls as he moves.
Between all of the far, far more experienced and better trained Garou, Rogue stands no chance whatsoever of holding up, despite her fury; which is considerable. Her eyes roll, she snaps and froths and claws at anything in front of her, but she's brought down fast and hard between Kavi and Devon, with an assist from Alexandra.
Red-Hands shows little fear of the teeth and claws, reaching in to clamp his hands around her muzzle and keep her held while Bridge Builder handles the talking part.
The younger galliard forces himself to step back, too many people too close and Requiem is quite obviously keeping a handle on his own Rage.
Seeks-Raging-Water looks over at her packmate. ~Does the cub understand the Mother's Tongue yet?~
~No,~ Bridge Builder answers, but that's all he offers as the rest of his focus going to bringing the cub under control, by taking her to unconsciousness. His blows are solid and well placed, intended to take her down quickly and efficiently, without causing more actual harm than necessary.
Rogue struggles furiously, and now there's noise, strangled snarls and shrieks squeezing their way out from the jaws Devon is holding shut. Kavi's work is quick, however, and she's out fast. She shrinks back to homid, limp and, thankfully, still fully clothed.
Red-Hands pushes the cub toward Kavi once she goes limp. Then, panting, returns himself to homid. He looks up at the elder Galliard, then starts for the stairs with a kind of haste different from that he'd entered with.
The younger galliard crouches by the couch, and then shifts back to homid, though he seems like he's still working to control himself.
With two Garou successfully working to restrain the cub, the Shadow Lord Ahroun doesn't attempt to join in, instead returning to her birthform, letting out a breath. "Well, it's nothing if not exciting around here."
Pack> Alexandra radiates surprise first, followed by a surge of anticipation, and the faintest hint of disappointment as the melee ends almost as quickly as it began.
Pack> Flint says "Frenzy."
Pack> Ky offers faint amusement.
Pack> Flint continues, a little wryly, "Cubs frenzy. Happens."
Pack> Alexandra says "Obviously. Almost a pity she's unconscious, though, so I can't give her a grade on her test."
Bridge Builder cradles the cub in his arms as he rises, still breathing heavily. For a moment more he simply stands, working to control his own breathing as he looks down at the woman he holds. Slowly, he slips down from crinos to glabro, and looks to the members of Unfettered. "Whatever… Whatever you shared? Whatever secret joke it was? I'm sorry for this, for her. She still— But it's like whispering. When you do that? And it… If you wouldn't whisper in front of someone else? If it would be rude to whisper? It's rude to share your private thoughts where we can see." He readjusts his burden and turns to carry her up the stairs.
Flint nods, to Kavi. "I'm sorry," he says, quietly. "I. Yeah." A pause, and he nods. "Yes, Kavi-rhya."
Devon takes the stairs two at a time, the sounds of his shoes on the steps fading as he climbs upward and further from the lobby.
Alexandra's expression turns to a frown, but she neither disagrees nor argues, whatever her opinion might be. As Kavi gathers the cub and goes upstairs, she gathers the bundle she'd tossed onto the couch and re-secures it. "I should go as well. People trying to kill you is generally a hint that you've overstayed your welcome a bit."
Flint nods once at Lex. "I'm. Gonna go, calm down and. Punch stuff, a while." The galliard heads for the elevator.