Flint Madden (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
flint_garou) wrote2012-07-17 01:15 pm
flint_garou) wrote2012-07-17 01:15 pm
Cub. Fury cub. Oh fuck.
Cannot stay here.
17 July, 2012
The moon is in the waning New (Ragabash) Moon phase (9% full).
Flint's walking along the grass, nearer the edge of the lake and further from the various gatherings of people in the park. One earbud is in, one drapes over the shoulder of his sweatshirt, and his attention is as much on his cell phone as it is on where he's going. Enough attention is paid to not trip, fall, or run into things, and not much more.
Looking pretty much like just another member of the public, Tristan is out on the close-mown grass playing with a toddler: fairer-haired even than himself, with pink ribbons strongly suggesting the young child is a girl. An older woman stands further off, with a buggy. More discretely but at a similar distance is a blocky man in a dark suit and a crewcut. The really observant might spot another man in normal street clothes, somewhat further away, with a headpiece, pretending to read a newspaper.
A particular red-haired girl enters the park again this afternoon carrying a brown bagged lunch. Her steps are slower today, and while the presence of earbud wires is noticeable, she's not dancing just now. Her eyes are on the statue in the lake as she makes her way toward a nearby bench, moving to take a seat on it indian style. Given the slightly cooler temps today, she's got her Green Lantern hoodie on as well.
Flint spots the bodyguard first, continuing along the waterside and then eventually putting his phone back in his pocket, all the way and away. Then he spots Tristan, and another moment passes for recognition. Direction changes to angle towards a polite approach within Tristan's line of sight.
The little girl giggles and squeals as Tristan swings her up and around, and then starts squirming as the kin spots Flint and stops in mid-twirl. His eyes dart towards the suited man for a fraction of a second, and he stops the girl's squirming by tucking her onto his hip, tugging at one of her golden locks to keep her attention. His expression is mostly neutral, slightly questioning, when he looks back at the Walker. The redhead with the bag lunch doesn't yet seem to have gained his attention.
Harper settles in and starts moving to undo her lunch- some kind of sub sandwich it would seem. Her head bobs lightly as she digs in for her first bite, and… well, it's double-double meat and a nearby border collie has caught scent of it judging by the sudden nose up, ears tilted, frantic eyed look the dog has.
Flint pauses in the approach some distance away, and a very slight smile grows in his expression to watch the interaction between kinsman and toddler. There's another pause, though, before Flint approaches to within the distance of conversation, far enough away for personal space all around. "I um. Hi," he starts, glancing towards the slight commotion of the excited dog at the peripheral of his vision. "It. The other day, I. I'm. Sorry about your office."
Tristan is plainly wary—something which wasn't nearly so obviously reflected in his demeanour at their last meeting—but it's caution and alertness, not fear, or else he's a good actor. He probably doesn't even realise that he's turned slightly aside so that the little girl is somewhat hidden from Flint by his own torso, the movement seems not to be deliberate. After a pause, he gives a smile and a nod of his head. "Apology accepted," he says, without any audible reservation. "I don't remember being introduced?" Harper is still outside his notice. Whether the bodyguard have spotted her? They've probably spotted most everybody.
The sound of a barking dog follows, the excitement turning the frisbee chasing border collie to the prospect of food. He bolts toward the girl on the bench, all leaps and intent until… well something seems to cause a rather quick change of mind in the pooch. Even before his owner can call out a sharp, "Bentley, no!" the dog has screeched to a stop and turned ears down to scuffle away. The girl is caught rather confused by this, lips wrapped around her sub and eyes curiously watching the crazy dog run off.
Flint shakes his head, slowly. "No. I. I don't think, we did." That's almost a half-comment, and then Flint glances about the park again, more that there's no one save those who are with Tristan in earshot of the teen's quiet tone. "Flint," the teen offers. "Cliath galliard, Glass Walker." There's a polite nod of his head with the introduction.
Pack> Flint notes his approximate location in the park, after a moment, mostly distracted.
Alexandra arrives at the front of the park, taking a few minutes to lock up her bike before starting toward Tiger Lake, moving as if she knows precisely where she's headed.
Tristan spares a swift glance for the barking dog, before copying Flint in checking their surroundings. "Tristan Steele," he says, an introduction all in itself. "Silver Fang kin. Hus… ah, mate of Zosia Sulkowski."
The dog hurries back to 'mom' tail tucked and eyes shifting nervously behind him to look at the sub-eating girl. Harper just shrugs up a shoulder at the woman, who is already apologizing for the incident. "No problem really. He didn't get all that close. Nice frisbee catching though." An awkward nod and smile and off goes the woman, leading the dog by the collar. Harper continues to eat her lunch and people watch the park. Women with their children, jogging men, dogs and frisbees, corporate lunch goers and the rest.
Flint looks distinctly weirded out for a moment at the usage of the word 'mate', then he nods. "Nice to, um. Nice to meet you. Without the, the. Uh. Circum— circumstances, and all." There's a tiny hint of a grin.
Despite the forgiveness given, a trace of irritation does pass across the kin's face momentarily. despite that, there's nothing but mild friendliness when he replies. "I'm sure that won't happen again, and glad to meet you too, Flint." Tristan doesn't spare any more attention beyond Flint for the moment, and the older woman with the buggy seems to mostly be watching the child he's holding. The same cannot be said of the bodyguard, who are quietly and competently doing their jobs.
Alexandra comes down one of the paths from the plaza. While she spies Flint talking with a group of strangers a short distance further on—and sends him a mental greeting via their packlink—she stops at Harper's bench before she gets to them. "Boo!"
Harper startles quite a bit at the sudden Boo! and turns to catch her sandwich before it hits the ground. Heart pounding, she looks back and manages a grin. "Geez. Dang A-dra, you scared the heck outta me." A pause. "Man! Heh, what's up?" She re-situates the sub and then looks back to the lake briefly, eyes squinting before she shakes her head and focuses on the other girl.
Flint's attention is off in space for a moment, with Tristan getting a distracted nod. "Of course it won't," he assures. Lex—and where Lex has stopped—get a glance as well, and Flint pulls up the zipper of his sweatshirt a bit further against the wind.
Alexandra teases, "You're making it way too easy, you know. I wasn't even trying to sneak up on you," as she joins Harper on the bench. Then, in answer to the question, "Meeting up with a friend of mine, but it looks like he's busy talking to people. And you looked like you could use some company. Everything okay?"
"I should keep in touch more, I suppose," Tristan comments to Flint, without any real connection to the conversation so far. "I would recognise more faces."
Harper forces up one of her big smiles, nodding. "Yeah totally. Just, well a dog nearly tried to steal my sammie, but I think I gave him a more fierce scowl than I expected to. Turned right around. Or maybe he didn't like the pickle smell once he got closer. I dunno." She chuckles. "You hungry? Want some?"
There is then, on the far side of the path, a shout of 'Hey Stop!' from a young teen boy, wiry built and with a slew of books spread out on his picnic blanket. Next to him are two females; pretty, popular, dressed in fashion's finest. One of them is holding his book just out of reach, while the other dumps out his bookbag. Another cry of, "Please, stop!" goes up just as the girl holding the book flings it into the lake. This sends the lad scurrying after it, "That's not… m-mine!"
Flint nods. "It. It happens," Flint says in return, and then his attention is turned to the scuffle by the lake, and Flint grimaces. "Pardon?" he asks Tristan, before stepping several steps in that direction, and he takes a deep breath, glances at Alexandra.
Pack> Flint says, "Gonna tell them to. Knock it off. Back me up?"
"Quit it," Flint says when he's close enough, voice a good three steps in volume above his usual, enough to be heard, enough to be almost, almost forceful. "You two quit it, right now."
Pack> Alexandra says, "You got it."
Alexandra frowns as she looks over at Harper after the exchange and the sight of the book going flying. "C'mon. Let's go get them to leave him alone. You're good with talking, and you're older than me, so maybe that'll help." And with that, she starts over toward the two girls, ending up not far behind Flint by the time he confronts them.
It takes Tristan several beats to bring himself up to speed on the situation, as Flint abruptly breaks off their conversation. After a blink or two, his 'huh?' expression clears. He sets the little girl down on her feet and sends her running off with a grin towards the nanny. Then he tucks his hands into his pockets and strolls over towards the two girls, a perfect balance between boyish charm and expensive suavity, who doesn't follow fashion because fashion follows him. If he catches Flint's eye he gives a near-imperceptible shake of his head and the ghost of a wink. Then he smiles at the girls, the million-watt smile that is not unknown to gossip media readers. Lex and Harper, however, may prove to be additional unknown variables in whatever plan he has.
Harper is already up on her feet as the issue starts to grow. She nods, "Yeah. I hate girls like that." Then, with another squint of her eyes and a turn of her head, she looks toward the waterline. "I'll catch up…" and with that, the red-haired girl is on a run straight toward the lake and not the trio of teens.
The gangly boy is clearly overwhelmed by the situation as he runs toward where his thrown book is teetering on the shore line of the water. The girls are laughing, at least until Flint comes up. One of them seems, momentarily remorseful, but the other just laughs. "Aw, one nerd coming to the rescue of another." The shorter, quieter of the two, elbows her friend and nods toward the approaching Tristan.
Tristan continues to stroll closer to the girls, a picture of relaxed confidence. The two bodyguard exchange resigned glances and start subtly manoeuvring into a position.
Flint doesn't appear at all phased by the insults, and there's no hint of the temper that rose in the last argument that Harper and Tristan witnessed. But Tristan gets a glance, and a half raised eyebrow of question, before Flint backs off to help pick up the books that are scattered.
Alexandra starts to say something, but noticing the shorter girl's nod, turns to look and spies the approaching Tristan. While she's got no idea who he is, he's an adult and his intervention could very well be less problematic than her own. With a quick glance at Flint, she too takes a step back to begin gathering scattered books and toys.
The two girls quickly change their tone once they've been interrupted. One looks to Flint and takes an akward step back, but it's the more bold of the girls that addresses Tristan. "Tommy's a classmate. We're just teasing him a bit for studying over summer. You know how it goes." Tommy seems to think differently as he fishes the sopping wet book out of the water. "Y-you ruined the library's book. Just, j-just to be mean." But then he blinks, and looks back toward the gathered. "Katie…!"
Past the picnic spot, just down hill a ways, is the reason for Tommy's new reaction. As a pink ball goes rolling down the dock hanging over the water, so too does it's apparent owner. A small whip of a toddler girl with bouncy pigtails. The ball tips into the water, and without a second of thought, so too does the girl. Three moments later there is the sight of one more person aiming for the water, running the dock and jumping in off the end in a rush: Harper.
"I'll let you in on a secret," Tristan says, voice low and confiding as he addresses the girls. He leans a little closer. "Kicking puppies makes people look really unattractive." he straightens, hands in pockets still, voice returning to conversational tones. "Sign of underconfidence, apparently. Personally, I tend to think it's a good idea to be nice to potential accountants. A little kindness, and not only will they be eating out of your hand, but they can make your money into more money." Whatever he might have said next is stopped as he catches sight of the toddler's peril and Harper's heroics. He winces slightly and catches the bodyguards' look, giving a nod. The one in the suit rolls his eyes in resignation and starts towards the water at a run that has a speed entirely at odds with his rather lumbering appearance.
Flint looks up at Tristan for a moment, until the toddler goes tipping into the water. Alexandra gets nudged, a gentle shove in the direction of the water despite that there are people already responding, and then Flint stands, turns towards the girls. "Next time," he says, the words slow, deliberate, and without nearly as much of the stammer from the usual conversation, "think about the potential… consequences, of your actions. Don't just think that, because you consider yourself above someone, you can do. Whatever the hell, you want. Because there are always consequences."
Alexandra starts to look worried when Harper dives in after the toddler. Unlike her packmate, she completely ignores the two girls and begins to move briskly toward the lake. Not likely to arrive before the girl is out of the water, she can at least be ready to help afterward, if needed.
The girls seem someone chastised by Tristan and his quick lecture on social economics, but it's the sudden sound of water splashing that really gets their attention. The smaller one gasps, and gives a more sincere, "Oh god," to the situation. The other, now chastised by Flint, wars between regret and stubborn superiority. And then, she does the unthinkable… she grabs at her friends wrist and bolts to make a getaway.
In the water, the toddler goes under and so too does Harper. The amount of flailing quickly grows to be a dome of splashing water and struggles. The end of the dock is apparently deep enough that there's no chance to touch bottom for the 5'5" dancer. The kid goes under, then so too does the girl, and for a half moment, there's silence… Then the small blond-haired girl, crying in fear erupts from the water, held up by two hands that stick out of the water while the rest of Harper remains submerged.
Tristan glances to his other bodyguard and gives a significant look to the girls, then the lake, then towards the one in street clothes, who promptly starts talking into a headset. The other bodyguard, meanwhile, has shed his jacket (yes, he has muscles) and reached the buoyancy-ring station at the water's edge. The man tugs the ring free, clears the rope, and throws the floatation device neatly and accurately towards the toddler and Harper, to land up close but not hit them.
Flint doesn't move to actually interrupt the two from fleeing, but he does take a step after them, shoulders squared, chin jutting up and the barest, faintest, restrained hint of rage colouring his voice. "There are always consequences," Flint repeats, one hand clenching into a fist, unclenching, and he turns away, back to Tristan.
Alexandra reaches the shore of the lake as the ring is being thrown to Harper. With the bodyguards having things under control, she simply waits for the two of them to be safely back on land.
Alexandra, already being at the shore, doesn't wait on the bodyguard once it becomes clear that Harper is the one in trouble, now. He'll be busy pulling in the ring with the toddler, and that's seconds that her friend might not have. With speed that could pass for merely remarkable, although Flint and Tristan would likely recognize as almost assuredly being rage-fueled, the Ahroun is in the water and moving to help Harper.
The ring is hauled in, complete with little girl clinging to it. Tommy has rushed over as well, full of anxious worry for his little sister. The water where the rescue took place remains a furious churning of struggles, but there is no emergence of Harper. There is a far more panicked sound muffled by the water itself, and as Alexandra jumps in and reaches out to pull up the floundering girl, it becomes evident the truth of her statement. She's stuck on something. As that help grabs hold of her though, Harper's panic tips into hysterics and there is a renewed fervor of flailing and struggling. The very arms that reach out to help her are met with pain as a sharpness tears at them … a sharpness that might be far more familiar to Lex than one would guess: claws. A heavy body slams against the Fury and then a raggedly torn green hoodie floats upwards as the commotion seems to still slightly. After another half moment, a black-furred head clearly belonging to the canid family is erupting above the water level, and a seriously fearful doggy paddle is taking it… well away from people and toward the far side of the lake. Ears pinned flat and whites of the eyes showing.
Pack> Alexandra lets out a startled exclamation of surprise and pain, though at least that also helps confirm that she's alive and (reasonably) well, with all the newfound confusion in the water.
Flint watches what happens in the water, and then there's a renewed groan. "Oh, fuck," Flint mutters, crossing over to catch up with Tristan, still cursing under his breath. "Space. Can you?" he asks, gesturing to the remaining area of the dock and other areas where there might be witnesses to be dealt with, and then Flint's quick to pull off his sweatshirt, keys and wallet and phone and anything that might be water-sensitive piled on top of it before the boy steels himself and lowers himself into the water. There's a moment where Flint just sinks under, before he rises again, and swims towards where the cub is, trying to keep track of her.
Pack> Ky pulls out of distraction to impress questioning concern.
Pack> Alexandra is clearly distracted by what's going for her physically, but does manage: Friend of mine. Just firsted. In Phoenix Park.
Pack> Ky says "You okay? Need help?"
"Upstream," Tristan hisses to Flint as the boy disrobes and sheds electronics. "Back of ther building. I'll tell Lucien to open the door." Indulging in an uncharacteristic few moments of cursing as he peers after Harper's furry head, he pulls out his cellphone and starts another round of security alerts. Rabid dog, this time. "Animal Control is already on site," apparently, the 'information' imparted with complete assurance to the unseen listeners. After a few moments the casually-dressed bodyguard melts into the bushes, headed towards the restaurant, and the suit-clad one keeps the the attention of the small crowd around the toddler, leading the group up the slope away from both lake and restaurant. Tristan picks up Flint's stuff and then heads for the bullied nerd, aiming to sling a friendly arm around his shoulders and steer him towards Katie, incidentally blocking his view of the lake.
Alexandra swims after her, sticking with homid once it becomes clear that Harper is almost assuredly in a fox frenzy and isn't heading toward the shore with more people. She'll intervene if she needs to protect someone, but for now she'll just stick relatively close and let the cub get back to land.
All things considered, the trio of garou and kin have a surprisingly good handle on this daylight debacle. The panicked black 'dog' continues its hurried paddle toward the far side of the lake, moving slowly and clumsily. Tommy, guided by those in authority, is reunited with is small sister and hugs into her, letting the guards and security do what they must to herd them to … well, wherever they need to go to get situated. Even the books are forgotten by the boy at this point. As Flint enters the water as well, it becomes apparent to the fleeing wolf that she's being followed, and her direction becomes easily manipulated by those who swim behind her, herding her in slow, water-delayed motion, like a stray lamb pulled from the flock.
Pack> Flint is a little vague on Ky's question. "Back room, restaurant. Private room we can, Tristan said, we can use."
Flint continues to herd her towards the far shore, then shakes himself off and grumbles when they're out of the water, looking over at Alexandra. "Knock her out?" he asks. "Easier, than."
Alexandra shifts up as far as glabro. There's pretty nasty rakes on one of her arms, though thankfully they were wild swings and their impact was blunted by being underwater. "I'll get her off her feet, you go for the KO and I'll join in," Alexandra agrees.
Pack> Alexandra says, "If you can track down Nik, that would be the most helpful. No fetch, but we'll bring her back to the Vault while we figure out who she goes to. Hopefully Nik can get her out to Edgewood tonight."
Pack> Flint doesn't manage to contain the slight snarl at this, discontent and entirely untrusting.
The wolf pulls herself out of the water at the shoreline just twenty yards or so from where Flint has emerged. It blocks her escape that way, and then there is Lex coming in from the other side. It's the quickest of fur-shakes that the female wolf gives and then she's heading in a still panicked rush toward the only open path: upstream along the waterfall path and toward the back of the restaurant. Now though, they get a good look at the lupine; black fur, strong shoulders, thick mane and full tail. As a human, there was something likeable about her but now it's clear… this girl has breeding. Strong breeding. And it screams Black Fury.
Pack> Flint lets out another curse over the packlink. "Fury. Fuck."
Pack> Ky says, "Nik's in New York, keep her upstairs in the Vault and we'll make arrangements to get her to Edgewood from there."
Pack> Alexandra says, "Nik's back as of a couple of days ago. He's probably been helping get Maia settled in with the girl that'll be taking care of her."
There's a nod, and Flint runs after the cub, coordinating with Alexandra along their plan of action, though he waits until the girl is actually down to snap into crinos and deliver a heavy blow to knock her out.
Pack> Ky says, "Nice of him to let me know."
Pack> Flint steadies himself, anyway. "Tristan can, help us get her to, to Edgewood."
Pack> Ky says, "That would be better than bringing her to the Vault."
Pack> Flint says, "More people. Can. Can find one, of her tribe. NOT APRIL."
Pack> Alexandra says, "Yeah, it would. You can meet us out there, if you'd like?"
Pack> Ky says, "I ought to be able to get away."
There is a profound sigh of relief from Flint when they get into the private room at the back of the restaurant, more relief that Harper hasn't woken up yet. Flint shrinks back down to homid and sets Harper down, before moving to take the things that are his that Alexandra was handed. She was also handed a set of rather unremarkable clothing from spare clothing around, that should more or less fit Harper. And then Flint goes over to the door of the room, another few minutes spent in quiet conversation with the person, before he shuts the door, looks back to Alexandra. "Tristan is. One of his people, is. Going to be here in a few, to. To give us a ride to Edgewood. Once. Once she's up, and."
Alexandra remains seated beside Harper, to make sure that the first thing she sees upon waking is a familiar face. It's going to be weird enough for her no matter what. "Good. The sooner we get her out there, the better."
"Unnggh," is the first sign of stirring that Harper gives to those present. A hand comes up to her head as she tries to blink the darkness away, eyes slowly opening as she works to gather her surroundings. "Uh… hello?"
Flint nods again. "Yes," Flint agrees. There's silence from the galliard otherwise, though, as he towels off sodden clothing and re-dons the sweatshirt. Everything is tucked into exterior pockets, cell phone, keys, wallet, knife… except the roll of duct tape that was procured, which Flint sets around his wrist.
Alexandra reaches out to give her hand a squeeze. "Hey. How're you feeling? You helped save the little girl. Not such a great idea to jump in the water when you can't swim, though. And sorry about the clothes—they're what the gift shop had, but at least they're dry, right?"
Harper looks over at the familiar voice. "Oh right. The little girl. She's ok?" As she moves to sit up she winces again, "I don't remember much after that. And yeah, I didn't think it'd be that deep…" she turns around to catch sight of Flint and another curious gaze follows, "Where am I? How come the cops and paramedics aren't here?"
Flint fidgets with the roll of ducttape, and there's a kinda rather deferential nod to Alexandra as he moves over to stand behind his packmate. "It. The girl's fine," he assures, words quiet, and once more fairly hesitant.
Pack> Flint says, "Sooner the better, yes."
Alexandra says, "She was scared, but thanks to you that's all, and she's back with her brother now. You flipped out and took off once you were out of the water, though, and then you passed out, which is why we're in here. This is Flint, by the way."
Pack> Ky says, "Note left on the door, gotta check in with the gang, though."
Pack> Flint says, "Stay safe."
Harper looks up to Flint and then back to Lex, eyes narrowing as if something were starting to not sit right. "I remember him. He was the one arguing with that older girl who was being all bitchy." Still, she rubs at her forehead again, a shake of denial following. "God, I can't remember anything after grabbing her … and, and there was something that snagged my pants. It was holding me under the water. That's it."
Flint finally stops fidgeting, arms crossing over his chest. "It. Yeah, I'm…" Just then there's a knock on the door, and he looks to Lex, though there's nothing said aloud.
Pack> Flint says, "Ride's here, I think. I'm starting to owe Tristan bigtime."
Alexandra asks, "Do you mind if we take you to my dad? He's a doctor, and I'd really be more comfortable if he took a look at you." She's dried off as best she can, but she's still pretty wet. Even so, she pulls out a small wallet and shows Harper a business card—Morgan Family Practice, Dr. Julian Morgan, MD—though she keeps her thumb over the address.
"Um." There is plenty of hesitation there. "Where? I mean, I feel okay, with the exception of the headache and not remembering half of what happened…" That brings a frown to Harper though, and she sighs, "If it's close. I guess."
Alexandra says, "Just because you feel fine doesn't mean you didn't inhale more water than you coughed up. It's not too far, don't worry. On the outskirts of town. You can call someone from there. I'd have you call them now, but…" and with that, she pulls out a phone from her pocket, "…you nearly drowned, and it looks like my phone did drown when I jumped in after you."
Flint nods, once. "Ack, Lex," he adds, with a bit of a wince when she brings out her phone. "Anyway, this way? The. We have a ride. Tristan—the guy who owns this place, the. The one who interfered, in, in the fight?" he tells Harper, "is a. A family friend of mine." Close enough as explanations go. "And he. He got someone to. To give us a ride, there." He tips his head towards the door and starts there, though he waits for both of them to follow.
Pack> Flint says, "My phone's okay. But… we. She's got breeding, her parents are. Probably kinfolk. But, let that be, for. For the Furies to deal with?"
Pack> Alexandra says "I figured it was—but she doesn't need to know that. Right now I just want to get her to Edgewood without another frenzy. We can tell her a little more of the truth once we're not in public and there are other Garou around."
Pack> Flint makes a small, mental affirmative noise. Yeah. I. Get her birthdate, and I can Dedicate the clothes to her. I'd. Rather, sooner. Than later, and. Ducttape doesn't hurt like some ways do, so it's… less like to. To scare her.
Harper looks between the two of them once more and lets out a resigned sigh. "On one condition. You," she points at Flint, "Go first, and give me that duct tape you're holding onto. It's creeping me out."
Pack> Ky, jokingly apprehensive, "…Do I want to know what you're doing to the girl?"
Pack> Flint snorts. "Dedication! It uses ducttape!"
Pack> Ky says, "Really…"
Flint looks to Alexandra for a moment, then looks at Harper. "If. If when I ask for it, back? You give it to me." The counter-condition is offered, quietly.
Pack> Flint says, "Really."
Alexandra laughs. "He won't ask for it back before we get there, though, don't worry. Now c'mon, let's get going."
Flint nods and hands the roll of ducttape over to Harper, then leading them both out to where the car waits for them.
The three go outside to find Tristan's car not far away. The man himself is too busy doing damage control after a near-drowning and a first change to accompany them, but he has made the arrangements with his driver, who's waiting with the back door open. Once the three are inside, the trip out to Edgewood is relatively quick. Outskirts of town was something of an understatement, however—they're beyond Kent Crossing, and the house they pull up to is very clearly not a doctor's office.
Harper had been pretty quiet during the ride, and her hand on the roll of duct tape was putting Flint's fidgeting performance to the test. As they loom down the long drive of the house they're headed toward, she casts a look at Lex. "The only reason, I am not bolting out of this car right now, is because I find it really hard to believe an eighth grader is a serial killer, or … or even associated with one. But, I am not liking this so much right now. And, I want to call for a ride."
The car—and it's a fairly damn nice car not meant for rough gravel or dirt roads—rolls into the very top of the Edgewood driveway and then halts. The door on Harper's side, should she try it, has been child-locked, which the door on Alexandra's side of the back seat hasn't. Flint is in the front, with the driver. He looks out the window at the meadow, and shakes his head. "Sorry, Harper," he offers. "That. Isn't, not. Not yet. But. We're not serial killers, or. Or any of that." And then Flint does get out of the car, which is at idle and in park, but not turned off. The driver isn't particularly keen to hang around once he's gotten the Garou out of his car.
As they approach Edgewood, but before they get out of the car, Alexandra replies, "Sorry. I did lie to you about going to see my dad. It seemed like the best way to get you to come with us without freaking out. He's right, though, you're not in any danger. I know this is going to sound weird, but if we left you back there, right now everyone else would be in danger from you."
Watching from the forest concealment on the side of the drive are two pairs of wolf eyes. Once the car passes along, nice as it is, the elder wolf looks to the younger and then moves from their waiting spot. The wolves move to run alongside the car until it finally comes to a stop where the driver parks it. Shifting Briar then pads around to stand before the car where she sits on her haunches and waits. Don't you love wolves that sit there before a car with people getting out of it who watch as if lording over an impromptu audience?
Pack> Alexandra spies the two wolves, and clearly recognizes one of them. "Best behavior," she tells Flint. "Even if she is, to borrow from Harper, kind of a bitch."
Twitch follows the elder wolf, sticking close to her flank until they're well away from the road. Then, all pretense aside, she starts investigating the vehicle itself. A wet nose leaves smudges and smears over the doors and tires in quick scrutiny before she sidles, puppy like, back to Shifting Briar's side.
"Ok so not serial killers, just ya know, con artists who lure me out to crazy back woods houses with …" and then there's that wolf. "W-what? What are you talking about and why is there a … a wolf? Dude, don't go out there!" Harper announces with a show of odd concern for her would be con artists.
Pack> Flint responds, "She smirks, I will wipe that smirk off her face." Pauses. "Even if she is Fostern. She treats those, under her. Like shit if. If they're male. And. No."
Flint doesn't close the door behind him just yet, and ducks back in to look at Harper. "Patience," he chides her. "Getting there. Also, when's. When's your birthday? I. I need to know." And then he closes the door, but still doesn't open the door for Harper. Instead, he looks from one wolf, to the other. "Homid," he says. "Stop freaking the girl out. Homid. Right now, please." The request is polite enough, but snappish.
Pack> Flint says, "Don't let Harper out of the car until at least April-rhya is. Is in homid. I don't recognise the other."
Pack> Alexandra says, "If she smirks, you can challenge her and wipe the smirk off her face AWAY from the cub. All I ask is that you don't make things harder on her than it already will be."
Pack> Flint calms himself. "Okay."
Shifting Briar looks from the car to Flint and back for a moment before giving a look towards the wolf next to her. Stay as you are and keep beside me. This one will be freaked and scared. Her eyes look back to Flint before her form shifts quickly up through the forms to Homid. April stands there where the wolf was, arms crossed.
Flint crosses his arms back, but there is at least a deferential tip of his head to bare his throat to the Fury for a moment, before Flint points at Twitch. "She shifts too."
Alexandra tells Harper, "It's safe, I promise. But things are about to get really crazy for you from here on in." She pauses briefly as she shoots a firm look at Flint, then back to Harper. "C'mon. Let's get out of the car." In no small part so the driver can get to safety in case there is another frenzy.
Flint sighs and takes one step backwards, opening the door on Harper's side of the car for Harper to get out.
Twitch shoulders against April's hip. She lets out a soft whine as her ears fold back a little, though her tail sweeps the ground. Just pup. Twitchy pup. She half crouches, padding toward the car, chest and belly lowering close to the ground while she stretches her neck to sniff at the new people.
The sudden changing of forms is quite likely the last thing Harper expected, and her reaction is at first, sheer shock. She scoots away from that open door quite impressively and then looks to the driver, "Please get me out of here. Please. I swear I will find a way to pay you whatever you want if you get me out of here."
April rolls her eyes as she shakes her head. "When she'd gone through Dedication, I'll have her stand beside me, until then, I think you have introductions to do," she replies flatly. Her eyes eyes look down towards Twitch for a moment before snapping back to the one refusing to get out. "If you don't get out of the car soon, I don't think you're going to like what happens," she calls out, amusement creeping back into her voice a little.
Alexandra sighs. "Sorry about this." Whether it's to the driver or Harper is far less certain, but the Shadow Lord grabs Harper from behind and pulls her out of the vehicle from the other side with the strength of her glabro form. If she's going to fox frenzy again, far better that she do it away from the kin and his vehicle. "Go!" This, definitely to the driver, who doesn't seem terribly concerned about open doors as he starts driving, knowing full well what could well happen at any moment.
The moment that Harper's out of the car and both doors are closed again, the driver leaves, in a fair hurry. Flint moves, then, taking up a position between April and Twitch, and Alexandra and Harper. "No threats," Flint states, voice flat, hard. "No threats, April-rhya." Flint then peers at Twitch, and sighs, lacing his voice with the gift of Beast Speech. "Please back up a bit? Give Harper some. Some space. She's new to this." The words for the wolfborn cub are a lot kinder than the words April.
Twitch's ears lift up at Flint's words, though it doesn't stop her approach. However, she does keep her distance of the girl, instead investigating Flint rather thoroughly, with sniffing and snuffling, even trying to put paws on his chest and sniff at his neck and face.
There's fear in her eyes again as this all starts playing out, and as April offers her comment to her, there's sudden recognition. Eyes go wide and she points at the girl just as Alex manages to pull her out the other door. She lands roughly on her rear and then flips around to stand up, breath coming fast. "You're the one from the park! The one being a royal bitch to him!" She announces this to April while her eyes, and pointing finger, move to Flint. "Why did you bring me here?!" she growls out with more frustration. "And you!" she turns to scold Lex too, and finds the girl now in Glabro.
Pack> Flint winces, mentally, and there's a small mental rising of anger.
Pack> Ky says, "I can sell you some stuff that'll mellow you out, man."
April rolls her eyes at Flint, watching as Twitch investigates the man thoroughly. The outburst from the new face though brings her attention back to Harper. "You say Bitch, I say standing my ground and not letting some pup walk over me. Something you'll learn all about." She steps forward then to place herself next to Flint. "I am April Rains, Rited Shifting Briar. Fostern Theurge of the Black Furies, child of Grandmother Tree of the Heartwood Pack." She keeps her arms crossed as she looks expectantly at the girl. "And you are?"
Pack> Flint says, "I need to get out of here, Lex. Or I will kill her."
Alexandra says, "Because you're one of us. The reason you have that fuzzy spot in your memory is because you changed for the first time, and you lost control. If you hadn't been in the water, you might have killed someone. If you'd changed just a little bit sooner, you might have killed the little girl you were trying to save. You were lucky, but just as importantly, that little girl and her big brother were lucky. Until you learn to control it, you're a danger to everyone around you." She looks away briefly to offer a tense nod to Flint.
Pack> Alexandra says, "Go. I'll stay with Harper until she's calmed down some."
Flint tolerates Twitch's investigation, until April gets within arm's reach, and there is a tense, angry baring of his teeth at the Fostern. It's entirely hostile, with a muttered growl, and then Flint pushes Twitch down and off of him, taking a few steps away, that turns to more steps away, as he turns for the road. And it's quickly, at an all-out run that doesn't leave room for anyone to stop him.
Twitch drops onto her paws when she's pushed, crouching almost aggressively and actually vocalizing a growl of her own. Warning rests in the sound, however she doesn't pursue Flint in his departure. She shakes herself out when the boy gains the road and, as if nothing untoward had happened, approaches Alexandra to treat her with the same curious nosing.
"No." She firmly admits this, "I am not one of you." She shakes her head and points a finger back at April, a scowl forming. "Especially not like her. I don't know what you are talking about. I half think I must be in a coma and dreaming this up right now. Because… because this is not real." As Flint turns and makes a mad dash, it ends up being contagious, and the red-haired teen turns to follow him, moving in a panicked scramble to try and gain full speed as quickly as she can.
April sighs as the girl takes off after the lad. "This is why we don't have guys around when we bring in cubs," she states more to herself than anything. Shifting back down to Lupus, she takes off after the girl, careful to keep her distance by a few feet as she seeks to come up to the side of the fleeing girl.
The boy shifts to lupus as he reaches the road, and it's in time to hear April's comment, and there is a feint and charge for the Fury, a show of teeth to her, before Requiem darts into the woods and away. Very quickly so.
Pack> Requiem is going to go home, he indicates over the link. He cannot stay here.
17 July, 2012
The moon is in the waning New (Ragabash) Moon phase (9% full).
Flint's walking along the grass, nearer the edge of the lake and further from the various gatherings of people in the park. One earbud is in, one drapes over the shoulder of his sweatshirt, and his attention is as much on his cell phone as it is on where he's going. Enough attention is paid to not trip, fall, or run into things, and not much more.
Looking pretty much like just another member of the public, Tristan is out on the close-mown grass playing with a toddler: fairer-haired even than himself, with pink ribbons strongly suggesting the young child is a girl. An older woman stands further off, with a buggy. More discretely but at a similar distance is a blocky man in a dark suit and a crewcut. The really observant might spot another man in normal street clothes, somewhat further away, with a headpiece, pretending to read a newspaper.
A particular red-haired girl enters the park again this afternoon carrying a brown bagged lunch. Her steps are slower today, and while the presence of earbud wires is noticeable, she's not dancing just now. Her eyes are on the statue in the lake as she makes her way toward a nearby bench, moving to take a seat on it indian style. Given the slightly cooler temps today, she's got her Green Lantern hoodie on as well.
Flint spots the bodyguard first, continuing along the waterside and then eventually putting his phone back in his pocket, all the way and away. Then he spots Tristan, and another moment passes for recognition. Direction changes to angle towards a polite approach within Tristan's line of sight.
The little girl giggles and squeals as Tristan swings her up and around, and then starts squirming as the kin spots Flint and stops in mid-twirl. His eyes dart towards the suited man for a fraction of a second, and he stops the girl's squirming by tucking her onto his hip, tugging at one of her golden locks to keep her attention. His expression is mostly neutral, slightly questioning, when he looks back at the Walker. The redhead with the bag lunch doesn't yet seem to have gained his attention.
Harper settles in and starts moving to undo her lunch- some kind of sub sandwich it would seem. Her head bobs lightly as she digs in for her first bite, and… well, it's double-double meat and a nearby border collie has caught scent of it judging by the sudden nose up, ears tilted, frantic eyed look the dog has.
Flint pauses in the approach some distance away, and a very slight smile grows in his expression to watch the interaction between kinsman and toddler. There's another pause, though, before Flint approaches to within the distance of conversation, far enough away for personal space all around. "I um. Hi," he starts, glancing towards the slight commotion of the excited dog at the peripheral of his vision. "It. The other day, I. I'm. Sorry about your office."
Tristan is plainly wary—something which wasn't nearly so obviously reflected in his demeanour at their last meeting—but it's caution and alertness, not fear, or else he's a good actor. He probably doesn't even realise that he's turned slightly aside so that the little girl is somewhat hidden from Flint by his own torso, the movement seems not to be deliberate. After a pause, he gives a smile and a nod of his head. "Apology accepted," he says, without any audible reservation. "I don't remember being introduced?" Harper is still outside his notice. Whether the bodyguard have spotted her? They've probably spotted most everybody.
The sound of a barking dog follows, the excitement turning the frisbee chasing border collie to the prospect of food. He bolts toward the girl on the bench, all leaps and intent until… well something seems to cause a rather quick change of mind in the pooch. Even before his owner can call out a sharp, "Bentley, no!" the dog has screeched to a stop and turned ears down to scuffle away. The girl is caught rather confused by this, lips wrapped around her sub and eyes curiously watching the crazy dog run off.
Flint shakes his head, slowly. "No. I. I don't think, we did." That's almost a half-comment, and then Flint glances about the park again, more that there's no one save those who are with Tristan in earshot of the teen's quiet tone. "Flint," the teen offers. "Cliath galliard, Glass Walker." There's a polite nod of his head with the introduction.
Pack> Flint notes his approximate location in the park, after a moment, mostly distracted.
Alexandra arrives at the front of the park, taking a few minutes to lock up her bike before starting toward Tiger Lake, moving as if she knows precisely where she's headed.
Tristan spares a swift glance for the barking dog, before copying Flint in checking their surroundings. "Tristan Steele," he says, an introduction all in itself. "Silver Fang kin. Hus… ah, mate of Zosia Sulkowski."
The dog hurries back to 'mom' tail tucked and eyes shifting nervously behind him to look at the sub-eating girl. Harper just shrugs up a shoulder at the woman, who is already apologizing for the incident. "No problem really. He didn't get all that close. Nice frisbee catching though." An awkward nod and smile and off goes the woman, leading the dog by the collar. Harper continues to eat her lunch and people watch the park. Women with their children, jogging men, dogs and frisbees, corporate lunch goers and the rest.
Flint looks distinctly weirded out for a moment at the usage of the word 'mate', then he nods. "Nice to, um. Nice to meet you. Without the, the. Uh. Circum— circumstances, and all." There's a tiny hint of a grin.
Despite the forgiveness given, a trace of irritation does pass across the kin's face momentarily. despite that, there's nothing but mild friendliness when he replies. "I'm sure that won't happen again, and glad to meet you too, Flint." Tristan doesn't spare any more attention beyond Flint for the moment, and the older woman with the buggy seems to mostly be watching the child he's holding. The same cannot be said of the bodyguard, who are quietly and competently doing their jobs.
Alexandra comes down one of the paths from the plaza. While she spies Flint talking with a group of strangers a short distance further on—and sends him a mental greeting via their packlink—she stops at Harper's bench before she gets to them. "Boo!"
Harper startles quite a bit at the sudden Boo! and turns to catch her sandwich before it hits the ground. Heart pounding, she looks back and manages a grin. "Geez. Dang A-dra, you scared the heck outta me." A pause. "Man! Heh, what's up?" She re-situates the sub and then looks back to the lake briefly, eyes squinting before she shakes her head and focuses on the other girl.
Flint's attention is off in space for a moment, with Tristan getting a distracted nod. "Of course it won't," he assures. Lex—and where Lex has stopped—get a glance as well, and Flint pulls up the zipper of his sweatshirt a bit further against the wind.
Alexandra teases, "You're making it way too easy, you know. I wasn't even trying to sneak up on you," as she joins Harper on the bench. Then, in answer to the question, "Meeting up with a friend of mine, but it looks like he's busy talking to people. And you looked like you could use some company. Everything okay?"
"I should keep in touch more, I suppose," Tristan comments to Flint, without any real connection to the conversation so far. "I would recognise more faces."
Harper forces up one of her big smiles, nodding. "Yeah totally. Just, well a dog nearly tried to steal my sammie, but I think I gave him a more fierce scowl than I expected to. Turned right around. Or maybe he didn't like the pickle smell once he got closer. I dunno." She chuckles. "You hungry? Want some?"
There is then, on the far side of the path, a shout of 'Hey Stop!' from a young teen boy, wiry built and with a slew of books spread out on his picnic blanket. Next to him are two females; pretty, popular, dressed in fashion's finest. One of them is holding his book just out of reach, while the other dumps out his bookbag. Another cry of, "Please, stop!" goes up just as the girl holding the book flings it into the lake. This sends the lad scurrying after it, "That's not… m-mine!"
Flint nods. "It. It happens," Flint says in return, and then his attention is turned to the scuffle by the lake, and Flint grimaces. "Pardon?" he asks Tristan, before stepping several steps in that direction, and he takes a deep breath, glances at Alexandra.
Pack> Flint says, "Gonna tell them to. Knock it off. Back me up?"
"Quit it," Flint says when he's close enough, voice a good three steps in volume above his usual, enough to be heard, enough to be almost, almost forceful. "You two quit it, right now."
Pack> Alexandra says, "You got it."
Alexandra frowns as she looks over at Harper after the exchange and the sight of the book going flying. "C'mon. Let's go get them to leave him alone. You're good with talking, and you're older than me, so maybe that'll help." And with that, she starts over toward the two girls, ending up not far behind Flint by the time he confronts them.
It takes Tristan several beats to bring himself up to speed on the situation, as Flint abruptly breaks off their conversation. After a blink or two, his 'huh?' expression clears. He sets the little girl down on her feet and sends her running off with a grin towards the nanny. Then he tucks his hands into his pockets and strolls over towards the two girls, a perfect balance between boyish charm and expensive suavity, who doesn't follow fashion because fashion follows him. If he catches Flint's eye he gives a near-imperceptible shake of his head and the ghost of a wink. Then he smiles at the girls, the million-watt smile that is not unknown to gossip media readers. Lex and Harper, however, may prove to be additional unknown variables in whatever plan he has.
Harper is already up on her feet as the issue starts to grow. She nods, "Yeah. I hate girls like that." Then, with another squint of her eyes and a turn of her head, she looks toward the waterline. "I'll catch up…" and with that, the red-haired girl is on a run straight toward the lake and not the trio of teens.
The gangly boy is clearly overwhelmed by the situation as he runs toward where his thrown book is teetering on the shore line of the water. The girls are laughing, at least until Flint comes up. One of them seems, momentarily remorseful, but the other just laughs. "Aw, one nerd coming to the rescue of another." The shorter, quieter of the two, elbows her friend and nods toward the approaching Tristan.
Tristan continues to stroll closer to the girls, a picture of relaxed confidence. The two bodyguard exchange resigned glances and start subtly manoeuvring into a position.
Flint doesn't appear at all phased by the insults, and there's no hint of the temper that rose in the last argument that Harper and Tristan witnessed. But Tristan gets a glance, and a half raised eyebrow of question, before Flint backs off to help pick up the books that are scattered.
Alexandra starts to say something, but noticing the shorter girl's nod, turns to look and spies the approaching Tristan. While she's got no idea who he is, he's an adult and his intervention could very well be less problematic than her own. With a quick glance at Flint, she too takes a step back to begin gathering scattered books and toys.
The two girls quickly change their tone once they've been interrupted. One looks to Flint and takes an akward step back, but it's the more bold of the girls that addresses Tristan. "Tommy's a classmate. We're just teasing him a bit for studying over summer. You know how it goes." Tommy seems to think differently as he fishes the sopping wet book out of the water. "Y-you ruined the library's book. Just, j-just to be mean." But then he blinks, and looks back toward the gathered. "Katie…!"
Past the picnic spot, just down hill a ways, is the reason for Tommy's new reaction. As a pink ball goes rolling down the dock hanging over the water, so too does it's apparent owner. A small whip of a toddler girl with bouncy pigtails. The ball tips into the water, and without a second of thought, so too does the girl. Three moments later there is the sight of one more person aiming for the water, running the dock and jumping in off the end in a rush: Harper.
"I'll let you in on a secret," Tristan says, voice low and confiding as he addresses the girls. He leans a little closer. "Kicking puppies makes people look really unattractive." he straightens, hands in pockets still, voice returning to conversational tones. "Sign of underconfidence, apparently. Personally, I tend to think it's a good idea to be nice to potential accountants. A little kindness, and not only will they be eating out of your hand, but they can make your money into more money." Whatever he might have said next is stopped as he catches sight of the toddler's peril and Harper's heroics. He winces slightly and catches the bodyguards' look, giving a nod. The one in the suit rolls his eyes in resignation and starts towards the water at a run that has a speed entirely at odds with his rather lumbering appearance.
Flint looks up at Tristan for a moment, until the toddler goes tipping into the water. Alexandra gets nudged, a gentle shove in the direction of the water despite that there are people already responding, and then Flint stands, turns towards the girls. "Next time," he says, the words slow, deliberate, and without nearly as much of the stammer from the usual conversation, "think about the potential… consequences, of your actions. Don't just think that, because you consider yourself above someone, you can do. Whatever the hell, you want. Because there are always consequences."
Alexandra starts to look worried when Harper dives in after the toddler. Unlike her packmate, she completely ignores the two girls and begins to move briskly toward the lake. Not likely to arrive before the girl is out of the water, she can at least be ready to help afterward, if needed.
The girls seem someone chastised by Tristan and his quick lecture on social economics, but it's the sudden sound of water splashing that really gets their attention. The smaller one gasps, and gives a more sincere, "Oh god," to the situation. The other, now chastised by Flint, wars between regret and stubborn superiority. And then, she does the unthinkable… she grabs at her friends wrist and bolts to make a getaway.
In the water, the toddler goes under and so too does Harper. The amount of flailing quickly grows to be a dome of splashing water and struggles. The end of the dock is apparently deep enough that there's no chance to touch bottom for the 5'5" dancer. The kid goes under, then so too does the girl, and for a half moment, there's silence… Then the small blond-haired girl, crying in fear erupts from the water, held up by two hands that stick out of the water while the rest of Harper remains submerged.
Tristan glances to his other bodyguard and gives a significant look to the girls, then the lake, then towards the one in street clothes, who promptly starts talking into a headset. The other bodyguard, meanwhile, has shed his jacket (yes, he has muscles) and reached the buoyancy-ring station at the water's edge. The man tugs the ring free, clears the rope, and throws the floatation device neatly and accurately towards the toddler and Harper, to land up close but not hit them.
Flint doesn't move to actually interrupt the two from fleeing, but he does take a step after them, shoulders squared, chin jutting up and the barest, faintest, restrained hint of rage colouring his voice. "There are always consequences," Flint repeats, one hand clenching into a fist, unclenching, and he turns away, back to Tristan.
Alexandra reaches the shore of the lake as the ring is being thrown to Harper. With the bodyguards having things under control, she simply waits for the two of them to be safely back on land.
Alexandra, already being at the shore, doesn't wait on the bodyguard once it becomes clear that Harper is the one in trouble, now. He'll be busy pulling in the ring with the toddler, and that's seconds that her friend might not have. With speed that could pass for merely remarkable, although Flint and Tristan would likely recognize as almost assuredly being rage-fueled, the Ahroun is in the water and moving to help Harper.
The ring is hauled in, complete with little girl clinging to it. Tommy has rushed over as well, full of anxious worry for his little sister. The water where the rescue took place remains a furious churning of struggles, but there is no emergence of Harper. There is a far more panicked sound muffled by the water itself, and as Alexandra jumps in and reaches out to pull up the floundering girl, it becomes evident the truth of her statement. She's stuck on something. As that help grabs hold of her though, Harper's panic tips into hysterics and there is a renewed fervor of flailing and struggling. The very arms that reach out to help her are met with pain as a sharpness tears at them … a sharpness that might be far more familiar to Lex than one would guess: claws. A heavy body slams against the Fury and then a raggedly torn green hoodie floats upwards as the commotion seems to still slightly. After another half moment, a black-furred head clearly belonging to the canid family is erupting above the water level, and a seriously fearful doggy paddle is taking it… well away from people and toward the far side of the lake. Ears pinned flat and whites of the eyes showing.
Pack> Alexandra lets out a startled exclamation of surprise and pain, though at least that also helps confirm that she's alive and (reasonably) well, with all the newfound confusion in the water.
Flint watches what happens in the water, and then there's a renewed groan. "Oh, fuck," Flint mutters, crossing over to catch up with Tristan, still cursing under his breath. "Space. Can you?" he asks, gesturing to the remaining area of the dock and other areas where there might be witnesses to be dealt with, and then Flint's quick to pull off his sweatshirt, keys and wallet and phone and anything that might be water-sensitive piled on top of it before the boy steels himself and lowers himself into the water. There's a moment where Flint just sinks under, before he rises again, and swims towards where the cub is, trying to keep track of her.
Pack> Ky pulls out of distraction to impress questioning concern.
Pack> Alexandra is clearly distracted by what's going for her physically, but does manage: Friend of mine. Just firsted. In Phoenix Park.
Pack> Ky says "You okay? Need help?"
"Upstream," Tristan hisses to Flint as the boy disrobes and sheds electronics. "Back of ther building. I'll tell Lucien to open the door." Indulging in an uncharacteristic few moments of cursing as he peers after Harper's furry head, he pulls out his cellphone and starts another round of security alerts. Rabid dog, this time. "Animal Control is already on site," apparently, the 'information' imparted with complete assurance to the unseen listeners. After a few moments the casually-dressed bodyguard melts into the bushes, headed towards the restaurant, and the suit-clad one keeps the the attention of the small crowd around the toddler, leading the group up the slope away from both lake and restaurant. Tristan picks up Flint's stuff and then heads for the bullied nerd, aiming to sling a friendly arm around his shoulders and steer him towards Katie, incidentally blocking his view of the lake.
Alexandra swims after her, sticking with homid once it becomes clear that Harper is almost assuredly in a fox frenzy and isn't heading toward the shore with more people. She'll intervene if she needs to protect someone, but for now she'll just stick relatively close and let the cub get back to land.
All things considered, the trio of garou and kin have a surprisingly good handle on this daylight debacle. The panicked black 'dog' continues its hurried paddle toward the far side of the lake, moving slowly and clumsily. Tommy, guided by those in authority, is reunited with is small sister and hugs into her, letting the guards and security do what they must to herd them to … well, wherever they need to go to get situated. Even the books are forgotten by the boy at this point. As Flint enters the water as well, it becomes apparent to the fleeing wolf that she's being followed, and her direction becomes easily manipulated by those who swim behind her, herding her in slow, water-delayed motion, like a stray lamb pulled from the flock.
Pack> Flint is a little vague on Ky's question. "Back room, restaurant. Private room we can, Tristan said, we can use."
Flint continues to herd her towards the far shore, then shakes himself off and grumbles when they're out of the water, looking over at Alexandra. "Knock her out?" he asks. "Easier, than."
Alexandra shifts up as far as glabro. There's pretty nasty rakes on one of her arms, though thankfully they were wild swings and their impact was blunted by being underwater. "I'll get her off her feet, you go for the KO and I'll join in," Alexandra agrees.
Pack> Alexandra says, "If you can track down Nik, that would be the most helpful. No fetch, but we'll bring her back to the Vault while we figure out who she goes to. Hopefully Nik can get her out to Edgewood tonight."
Pack> Flint doesn't manage to contain the slight snarl at this, discontent and entirely untrusting.
The wolf pulls herself out of the water at the shoreline just twenty yards or so from where Flint has emerged. It blocks her escape that way, and then there is Lex coming in from the other side. It's the quickest of fur-shakes that the female wolf gives and then she's heading in a still panicked rush toward the only open path: upstream along the waterfall path and toward the back of the restaurant. Now though, they get a good look at the lupine; black fur, strong shoulders, thick mane and full tail. As a human, there was something likeable about her but now it's clear… this girl has breeding. Strong breeding. And it screams Black Fury.
Pack> Flint lets out another curse over the packlink. "Fury. Fuck."
Pack> Ky says, "Nik's in New York, keep her upstairs in the Vault and we'll make arrangements to get her to Edgewood from there."
Pack> Alexandra says, "Nik's back as of a couple of days ago. He's probably been helping get Maia settled in with the girl that'll be taking care of her."
There's a nod, and Flint runs after the cub, coordinating with Alexandra along their plan of action, though he waits until the girl is actually down to snap into crinos and deliver a heavy blow to knock her out.
Pack> Ky says, "Nice of him to let me know."
Pack> Flint steadies himself, anyway. "Tristan can, help us get her to, to Edgewood."
Pack> Ky says, "That would be better than bringing her to the Vault."
Pack> Flint says, "More people. Can. Can find one, of her tribe. NOT APRIL."
Pack> Alexandra says, "Yeah, it would. You can meet us out there, if you'd like?"
Pack> Ky says, "I ought to be able to get away."
There is a profound sigh of relief from Flint when they get into the private room at the back of the restaurant, more relief that Harper hasn't woken up yet. Flint shrinks back down to homid and sets Harper down, before moving to take the things that are his that Alexandra was handed. She was also handed a set of rather unremarkable clothing from spare clothing around, that should more or less fit Harper. And then Flint goes over to the door of the room, another few minutes spent in quiet conversation with the person, before he shuts the door, looks back to Alexandra. "Tristan is. One of his people, is. Going to be here in a few, to. To give us a ride to Edgewood. Once. Once she's up, and."
Alexandra remains seated beside Harper, to make sure that the first thing she sees upon waking is a familiar face. It's going to be weird enough for her no matter what. "Good. The sooner we get her out there, the better."
"Unnggh," is the first sign of stirring that Harper gives to those present. A hand comes up to her head as she tries to blink the darkness away, eyes slowly opening as she works to gather her surroundings. "Uh… hello?"
Flint nods again. "Yes," Flint agrees. There's silence from the galliard otherwise, though, as he towels off sodden clothing and re-dons the sweatshirt. Everything is tucked into exterior pockets, cell phone, keys, wallet, knife… except the roll of duct tape that was procured, which Flint sets around his wrist.
Alexandra reaches out to give her hand a squeeze. "Hey. How're you feeling? You helped save the little girl. Not such a great idea to jump in the water when you can't swim, though. And sorry about the clothes—they're what the gift shop had, but at least they're dry, right?"
Harper looks over at the familiar voice. "Oh right. The little girl. She's ok?" As she moves to sit up she winces again, "I don't remember much after that. And yeah, I didn't think it'd be that deep…" she turns around to catch sight of Flint and another curious gaze follows, "Where am I? How come the cops and paramedics aren't here?"
Flint fidgets with the roll of ducttape, and there's a kinda rather deferential nod to Alexandra as he moves over to stand behind his packmate. "It. The girl's fine," he assures, words quiet, and once more fairly hesitant.
Pack> Flint says, "Sooner the better, yes."
Alexandra says, "She was scared, but thanks to you that's all, and she's back with her brother now. You flipped out and took off once you were out of the water, though, and then you passed out, which is why we're in here. This is Flint, by the way."
Pack> Ky says, "Note left on the door, gotta check in with the gang, though."
Pack> Flint says, "Stay safe."
Harper looks up to Flint and then back to Lex, eyes narrowing as if something were starting to not sit right. "I remember him. He was the one arguing with that older girl who was being all bitchy." Still, she rubs at her forehead again, a shake of denial following. "God, I can't remember anything after grabbing her … and, and there was something that snagged my pants. It was holding me under the water. That's it."
Flint finally stops fidgeting, arms crossing over his chest. "It. Yeah, I'm…" Just then there's a knock on the door, and he looks to Lex, though there's nothing said aloud.
Pack> Flint says, "Ride's here, I think. I'm starting to owe Tristan bigtime."
Alexandra asks, "Do you mind if we take you to my dad? He's a doctor, and I'd really be more comfortable if he took a look at you." She's dried off as best she can, but she's still pretty wet. Even so, she pulls out a small wallet and shows Harper a business card—Morgan Family Practice, Dr. Julian Morgan, MD—though she keeps her thumb over the address.
"Um." There is plenty of hesitation there. "Where? I mean, I feel okay, with the exception of the headache and not remembering half of what happened…" That brings a frown to Harper though, and she sighs, "If it's close. I guess."
Alexandra says, "Just because you feel fine doesn't mean you didn't inhale more water than you coughed up. It's not too far, don't worry. On the outskirts of town. You can call someone from there. I'd have you call them now, but…" and with that, she pulls out a phone from her pocket, "…you nearly drowned, and it looks like my phone did drown when I jumped in after you."
Flint nods, once. "Ack, Lex," he adds, with a bit of a wince when she brings out her phone. "Anyway, this way? The. We have a ride. Tristan—the guy who owns this place, the. The one who interfered, in, in the fight?" he tells Harper, "is a. A family friend of mine." Close enough as explanations go. "And he. He got someone to. To give us a ride, there." He tips his head towards the door and starts there, though he waits for both of them to follow.
Pack> Flint says, "My phone's okay. But… we. She's got breeding, her parents are. Probably kinfolk. But, let that be, for. For the Furies to deal with?"
Pack> Alexandra says "I figured it was—but she doesn't need to know that. Right now I just want to get her to Edgewood without another frenzy. We can tell her a little more of the truth once we're not in public and there are other Garou around."
Pack> Flint makes a small, mental affirmative noise. Yeah. I. Get her birthdate, and I can Dedicate the clothes to her. I'd. Rather, sooner. Than later, and. Ducttape doesn't hurt like some ways do, so it's… less like to. To scare her.
Harper looks between the two of them once more and lets out a resigned sigh. "On one condition. You," she points at Flint, "Go first, and give me that duct tape you're holding onto. It's creeping me out."
Pack> Ky, jokingly apprehensive, "…Do I want to know what you're doing to the girl?"
Pack> Flint snorts. "Dedication! It uses ducttape!"
Pack> Ky says, "Really…"
Flint looks to Alexandra for a moment, then looks at Harper. "If. If when I ask for it, back? You give it to me." The counter-condition is offered, quietly.
Pack> Flint says, "Really."
Alexandra laughs. "He won't ask for it back before we get there, though, don't worry. Now c'mon, let's get going."
Flint nods and hands the roll of ducttape over to Harper, then leading them both out to where the car waits for them.
The three go outside to find Tristan's car not far away. The man himself is too busy doing damage control after a near-drowning and a first change to accompany them, but he has made the arrangements with his driver, who's waiting with the back door open. Once the three are inside, the trip out to Edgewood is relatively quick. Outskirts of town was something of an understatement, however—they're beyond Kent Crossing, and the house they pull up to is very clearly not a doctor's office.
Harper had been pretty quiet during the ride, and her hand on the roll of duct tape was putting Flint's fidgeting performance to the test. As they loom down the long drive of the house they're headed toward, she casts a look at Lex. "The only reason, I am not bolting out of this car right now, is because I find it really hard to believe an eighth grader is a serial killer, or … or even associated with one. But, I am not liking this so much right now. And, I want to call for a ride."
The car—and it's a fairly damn nice car not meant for rough gravel or dirt roads—rolls into the very top of the Edgewood driveway and then halts. The door on Harper's side, should she try it, has been child-locked, which the door on Alexandra's side of the back seat hasn't. Flint is in the front, with the driver. He looks out the window at the meadow, and shakes his head. "Sorry, Harper," he offers. "That. Isn't, not. Not yet. But. We're not serial killers, or. Or any of that." And then Flint does get out of the car, which is at idle and in park, but not turned off. The driver isn't particularly keen to hang around once he's gotten the Garou out of his car.
As they approach Edgewood, but before they get out of the car, Alexandra replies, "Sorry. I did lie to you about going to see my dad. It seemed like the best way to get you to come with us without freaking out. He's right, though, you're not in any danger. I know this is going to sound weird, but if we left you back there, right now everyone else would be in danger from you."
Watching from the forest concealment on the side of the drive are two pairs of wolf eyes. Once the car passes along, nice as it is, the elder wolf looks to the younger and then moves from their waiting spot. The wolves move to run alongside the car until it finally comes to a stop where the driver parks it. Shifting Briar then pads around to stand before the car where she sits on her haunches and waits. Don't you love wolves that sit there before a car with people getting out of it who watch as if lording over an impromptu audience?
Pack> Alexandra spies the two wolves, and clearly recognizes one of them. "Best behavior," she tells Flint. "Even if she is, to borrow from Harper, kind of a bitch."
Twitch follows the elder wolf, sticking close to her flank until they're well away from the road. Then, all pretense aside, she starts investigating the vehicle itself. A wet nose leaves smudges and smears over the doors and tires in quick scrutiny before she sidles, puppy like, back to Shifting Briar's side.
"Ok so not serial killers, just ya know, con artists who lure me out to crazy back woods houses with …" and then there's that wolf. "W-what? What are you talking about and why is there a … a wolf? Dude, don't go out there!" Harper announces with a show of odd concern for her would be con artists.
Pack> Flint responds, "She smirks, I will wipe that smirk off her face." Pauses. "Even if she is Fostern. She treats those, under her. Like shit if. If they're male. And. No."
Flint doesn't close the door behind him just yet, and ducks back in to look at Harper. "Patience," he chides her. "Getting there. Also, when's. When's your birthday? I. I need to know." And then he closes the door, but still doesn't open the door for Harper. Instead, he looks from one wolf, to the other. "Homid," he says. "Stop freaking the girl out. Homid. Right now, please." The request is polite enough, but snappish.
Pack> Flint says, "Don't let Harper out of the car until at least April-rhya is. Is in homid. I don't recognise the other."
Pack> Alexandra says, "If she smirks, you can challenge her and wipe the smirk off her face AWAY from the cub. All I ask is that you don't make things harder on her than it already will be."
Pack> Flint calms himself. "Okay."
Shifting Briar looks from the car to Flint and back for a moment before giving a look towards the wolf next to her. Stay as you are and keep beside me. This one will be freaked and scared. Her eyes look back to Flint before her form shifts quickly up through the forms to Homid. April stands there where the wolf was, arms crossed.
Flint crosses his arms back, but there is at least a deferential tip of his head to bare his throat to the Fury for a moment, before Flint points at Twitch. "She shifts too."
Alexandra tells Harper, "It's safe, I promise. But things are about to get really crazy for you from here on in." She pauses briefly as she shoots a firm look at Flint, then back to Harper. "C'mon. Let's get out of the car." In no small part so the driver can get to safety in case there is another frenzy.
Flint sighs and takes one step backwards, opening the door on Harper's side of the car for Harper to get out.
Twitch shoulders against April's hip. She lets out a soft whine as her ears fold back a little, though her tail sweeps the ground. Just pup. Twitchy pup. She half crouches, padding toward the car, chest and belly lowering close to the ground while she stretches her neck to sniff at the new people.
The sudden changing of forms is quite likely the last thing Harper expected, and her reaction is at first, sheer shock. She scoots away from that open door quite impressively and then looks to the driver, "Please get me out of here. Please. I swear I will find a way to pay you whatever you want if you get me out of here."
April rolls her eyes as she shakes her head. "When she'd gone through Dedication, I'll have her stand beside me, until then, I think you have introductions to do," she replies flatly. Her eyes eyes look down towards Twitch for a moment before snapping back to the one refusing to get out. "If you don't get out of the car soon, I don't think you're going to like what happens," she calls out, amusement creeping back into her voice a little.
Alexandra sighs. "Sorry about this." Whether it's to the driver or Harper is far less certain, but the Shadow Lord grabs Harper from behind and pulls her out of the vehicle from the other side with the strength of her glabro form. If she's going to fox frenzy again, far better that she do it away from the kin and his vehicle. "Go!" This, definitely to the driver, who doesn't seem terribly concerned about open doors as he starts driving, knowing full well what could well happen at any moment.
The moment that Harper's out of the car and both doors are closed again, the driver leaves, in a fair hurry. Flint moves, then, taking up a position between April and Twitch, and Alexandra and Harper. "No threats," Flint states, voice flat, hard. "No threats, April-rhya." Flint then peers at Twitch, and sighs, lacing his voice with the gift of Beast Speech. "Please back up a bit? Give Harper some. Some space. She's new to this." The words for the wolfborn cub are a lot kinder than the words April.
Twitch's ears lift up at Flint's words, though it doesn't stop her approach. However, she does keep her distance of the girl, instead investigating Flint rather thoroughly, with sniffing and snuffling, even trying to put paws on his chest and sniff at his neck and face.
There's fear in her eyes again as this all starts playing out, and as April offers her comment to her, there's sudden recognition. Eyes go wide and she points at the girl just as Alex manages to pull her out the other door. She lands roughly on her rear and then flips around to stand up, breath coming fast. "You're the one from the park! The one being a royal bitch to him!" She announces this to April while her eyes, and pointing finger, move to Flint. "Why did you bring me here?!" she growls out with more frustration. "And you!" she turns to scold Lex too, and finds the girl now in Glabro.
Pack> Flint winces, mentally, and there's a small mental rising of anger.
Pack> Ky says, "I can sell you some stuff that'll mellow you out, man."
April rolls her eyes at Flint, watching as Twitch investigates the man thoroughly. The outburst from the new face though brings her attention back to Harper. "You say Bitch, I say standing my ground and not letting some pup walk over me. Something you'll learn all about." She steps forward then to place herself next to Flint. "I am April Rains, Rited Shifting Briar. Fostern Theurge of the Black Furies, child of Grandmother Tree of the Heartwood Pack." She keeps her arms crossed as she looks expectantly at the girl. "And you are?"
Pack> Flint says, "I need to get out of here, Lex. Or I will kill her."
Alexandra says, "Because you're one of us. The reason you have that fuzzy spot in your memory is because you changed for the first time, and you lost control. If you hadn't been in the water, you might have killed someone. If you'd changed just a little bit sooner, you might have killed the little girl you were trying to save. You were lucky, but just as importantly, that little girl and her big brother were lucky. Until you learn to control it, you're a danger to everyone around you." She looks away briefly to offer a tense nod to Flint.
Pack> Alexandra says, "Go. I'll stay with Harper until she's calmed down some."
Flint tolerates Twitch's investigation, until April gets within arm's reach, and there is a tense, angry baring of his teeth at the Fostern. It's entirely hostile, with a muttered growl, and then Flint pushes Twitch down and off of him, taking a few steps away, that turns to more steps away, as he turns for the road. And it's quickly, at an all-out run that doesn't leave room for anyone to stop him.
Twitch drops onto her paws when she's pushed, crouching almost aggressively and actually vocalizing a growl of her own. Warning rests in the sound, however she doesn't pursue Flint in his departure. She shakes herself out when the boy gains the road and, as if nothing untoward had happened, approaches Alexandra to treat her with the same curious nosing.
"No." She firmly admits this, "I am not one of you." She shakes her head and points a finger back at April, a scowl forming. "Especially not like her. I don't know what you are talking about. I half think I must be in a coma and dreaming this up right now. Because… because this is not real." As Flint turns and makes a mad dash, it ends up being contagious, and the red-haired teen turns to follow him, moving in a panicked scramble to try and gain full speed as quickly as she can.
April sighs as the girl takes off after the lad. "This is why we don't have guys around when we bring in cubs," she states more to herself than anything. Shifting back down to Lupus, she takes off after the girl, careful to keep her distance by a few feet as she seeks to come up to the side of the fleeing girl.
The boy shifts to lupus as he reaches the road, and it's in time to hear April's comment, and there is a feint and charge for the Fury, a show of teeth to her, before Requiem darts into the woods and away. Very quickly so.
Pack> Requiem is going to go home, he indicates over the link. He cannot stay here.