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flint_garouZipperpulls are fantastic.
18 January, 2012
The moon is in the waning Crescent (Theurge) Moon phase (33% full).
Mid-morning finds the Edgewood house fairly quiet. There are two inhabitants in the kitchen though, one leaning on the counter and the other sitting on it. A blonde haired young woman is sipping from a water bottle while handing Cheerio's off to the darker haired toddler perched on the countertop. A soggy cereal bit is removed from the child's mouth and innocently handed back to the adult who, with a soft laugh, shakes her head and says simply, "You eat it."
The front door of Edgewood opens to admit two visitors, namely Kevin and Flint. Kevin has a determined look on his face, the picture of a Man With A Mission, as he strides inside and looks around to see who's about, holding the door open for Flint to enter in his wake.
The cub grins, half a skip to his step that calms a little as he actually enters the house. Flint pauses, letting Kevin close the door behind them, and shaking the snow off of his jacket and hair. Mostly, to try and get said snow on Kevin, in fact.
Emma gives a little glance over her shoulder as the front door opens, but she keeps her focus on the baby on the counter. A little "Ennh" can be heard, followed by another, more insistent but still gentle. "No, that's Zoe's. You already got it soggy, I don't want that. Yucky." Finally mom wins, as is evidenced by a pleased, "Thank you." One final pull from the water bottle finishes it off and the sound of crunching plastic can be heard.
Kevin doesn't even seem to notice the snow on his shoulders — or the extra helping of it that Flinty adds surreptitiously. He glances into the living area, sees it empty, then turns when he hears the voice from the kitchen. He takes one step in that direction, then comes to a dead stop, frowning. "Hello?" he calls out, sounding unsure of himself.
Flint lingers a half step behind the ragabash. There's quiet humming coming from the cub, a half-strain of melody that fades off after a moment.
One hand stays at baby's side to keep it safely stooped on the counter, but the woman otherwise turns around to greet the newcomer into the house. When she sees who it is, she ends up caught in an open-mouthed pause. A grin fills in until it blows up into a wide smile. "Hey Kevin. You look good." The little one behind her holds out another soggy Cheerio as if offering it to the new face in the room.
"Kee-rist. Emma. It is you!" Kevin's face changes to an enormous grin. "Bloody hell! It's been years!" He looks as if for two pins he'd run over to the scary Get ahroun and hug her like a kitten.
Flint just waves a little to the Ahroun, a faintly sillier expression yet offered to the baby on the counter.
Emma grins wider, pulling the baby down and setting her on the floor so she can turn and nod at the Walker. "Come on ya big softie. It beats the welcome KL gave me." She closes the distance and offers an open arm, giving Flint a nod as she catches sight of him too. The little one on the floor opts for putting said Cheerio back in mouth so she can use the cabinet doors to pull herself upright.
Kevin pounces on Emma and gives her a bear hug. "Why, what the hell did she do when she saw you? Faint? Oh… this is Flint, by the way, he's my cub. Er, my tribe's cub. Introduce yourself, Flint."
Flint leans on the kitchen doorframe, thumbs loosely in the pockets of his jeans. "Yessir," he asides to Kevin, grinning a bit, before turning and shifting to be able to see Emma as he introduces himself, even if his gaze remains mostly on the kitchen floor. "Flint, Takes-It-All-In-Stride, Galliard cub. Nice t' meet you again." Yes, again.
Emma returns that hug pretty fiercly. "God it's good to see you. The number of faces that are familiar to me here is dishearteningly low. And KL invited me to the backyard for a fist-romp of course." She laughs at this and steps back to look the other over. "Walker's treating ya good I take it?" Flint gets her attention then, "We met when I first rolled back in to town. But for practice sake', Emma Mahler, Heart of Fire Forges the Stone Spirit, Adren Modi of the Get." At this point, tiny tot has made her way closer and is using Kevin's leg as a means to get back up from crawling to standing. "Oh. And that, is Zoe."
Kevin beams down at Zoe. "Aww, she's a sweetie! How old is she? Yeah, the Grand Roach of the Universe has finally smiled on me a bit. I'm Adren now, as well, would you credit it? It feels so weird."
Flint grins a bit more, relaxing a little, and nods to Emma. "Pretty dang good and all," he responds, turning to look down. "Hi Zoe," he says, half-crouching and making another goofy face.
The baby seems to love the adventure of new faces and voices, and when Flint drops to crouch she quickly forgets Kevin to reach out at the goofy faced cub. Emma gives the answer for her, "Just shy of ten months now. Stealing her away from grandma while I can. And yeah, ok, maybe showing her off a bit. Just wanna make sure she gets lots of time around us." She tips her head at Kevin, "Well done there Kev. Grats! You're not gonna pull any freaky weaver-tech-fu on me are you? Oh hey! Speaking of. I might need some help."
"Would I do such a thing?" Kevin says, looking innocent. "And my help is yours whenever you need it. Actually you can help me and Flint as well, come to think of it, can't she, Flinty?"
Flint makes another goofy face, carefully reaching to steady the toddler in her attempts to get at him. There's a nod in response to Kevin without the cub's attention actually going away from Zoe, as well. "In fact, yep."
Emma gives a little half shove at the Walker's shoulder. "Yes. I'd expect no less actually. And sure, what's up?" She looks between the two, eyes dipping down to watch the sprog without any real show of concern in her features. Zoe, for her efforts, is rewarded with a new plaything, and she steps forward to grab hold of whatever item of clothing or appendage of Flint's is most easily reached.
"Dreams," Kevin explains simply, pulling an iPad out of his shoulderbag and passing it to Flint. "The whole sept, or pretty much the whole sept, has been having them. I'm going round collating who's been dreaming what and seeing if any patterns emerge, or if things start to make sense when viewed in a particular way, yeah? Have you been having dreams? Come to think of it, what brought you back here in the first place?"
Flint takes advantage of the fact that zipperpulls attached to jackets are fantastic, fantastic toys for little ones, letting Zoe try and move it up and down a bit, his attention going to taking the iPad. It's balanced on one knee for a moment before the cub simply sits crosslegged on the floor. Attention is, for the moment, divided equally enough between iPad and toddler, iPad turned on and the memo file brought up.
Emma moves to take a seat, grinning a little. "I heard about the dream Owen had, and I mentioned it to Mouse. Told her what I thought it meant- not that I'm good at that sort of thing. But, me personally. I've had no dreams. Which is pretty nice considering that last time I was a regular here, I had issues having too many. I came back because, mostly, well because of her." A nod given to Zoe, who at the moment is just thrilled with her new toy. "Didn't want her raised up in a Fury dominant Sept. And my folks are in the area so, it made sense to come home."
Kevin scratches his head through his mass of tousled locks. "Hmm. None yourself, but Owen did… what was Owen's dream?" He gestures to Flint to take notes on this. "I haven't spoken to Owen about this yet."
Flint taps at the screen of the iPad a few times as they talk, attentive enough. Really, though, most of the cub's attention is on playing with Zoe, the goofy faces shifting every so often.
Emma shrugs, "Well I'd come back to hearing about them already, so I don't think I was in the area. Are other folks coming back and having had the dreams elsewhere? As for Owen, he had the hilltop, four seasons, directions thing. The swamp, the snow, the flowery meadow… and the talking mouse." Zoe looks from zipper to … ooooh shiny things. Like a puppy suddenly noticing a squirrel, the toddler is zoned in on the iPad and sticky fingers start reaching.
"Ah. Right. That one. Camille, the Gnawer, had that," Kevin notes. "I think I need to talk to Owen. Oh! Did he wake up with a scar on his chest, after this dream, do you know? …Zoe, if you break my iPad I shall break you," he adds conversationally.
Flint carefully keeps the iPad away from the toddler for a moment, one arm keeping the toddler at arm's length just long enough to turn off the iPad and hand it back to Kevin. "Still taking notes," the boy says, grinning as he makes yet another silly face to distract Zoe from the iPad going away, "I'll put it in after, and all?"
Zoe is about to whine at the lack of reaching when those words from Kevin float up, she looks to the other and then back to mom and, finally, with a bit of a pouty lip, drops to her butt to find some other thing to play with. Mom doesn't seem at all bothered by Kevin's warning to the girl, instead just grinning a little as she watches Flint with her. "I can get her out of your hair if you want." To Kevin she thinks, "Ya know I think he did. A scar on his chest. Maybe. Ah shit I'm bad at remembering. Have you found any patterns at all yet?"
"No," Kevin has to confess. "Except that everyone who had that four-seasons dream also seems to have ended up with the scar. Owen's the third, that I know of. And you're only the second adult garou who reports having had none at all."
Flint shakes his head at Emma, turning back to tickle Zoe a little now that the iPad is safe. "I dun need to write it down, I'll remember for later no problem," he says.
Emma gives a nod to both, "I know Mouse wanted to talk more to him, because what I relayed was all sketchy and vague. Course, one Get Ahroun to another, you're not looking at good odds when it comes to spirity details. How long ago was the most recent dream to be discovered?"
Kevin has to have a think about that one. "A week? Maybe more? I'm not sure. What do you reckon, Flint?"
Flint looks up again for a moment. "I have a feeling, each individual dream, all around the same time?" Brows furrow. "I'd guess they were all the same night more or less. Just like the ark dream, seemed to all be just about the same night."
Emma looks to Flint as he mentions the timing. "Yeah, probably before I got back into town. I hope that I don't get any though, I really don't wanna go back that route." Zoe lets out a squeak and then pulls herself up by means of yanking on his sleeve. Once up, she looks over to Emma with a, "Mama."
"Well. We all have dreams. I've been telling people not to just go assuming that every dream they have is a significant portent of the End Of All Things," Kevin points out, reaching down to help Zoe achieve an upright position. "As Dr Freud said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, you know?"
Flint grins a little, also helping Zoe upright, before looking up at Emma. "I'll pass on an additional weird dream myself," Flint says, "since the ark one was weird and nagging enough."
Emma nods to Kevin, "Sky is falling and all of that. I just get the feeling that while whatever's coming is major, it's not the whole, end life as we know it doomsday thing either. But. Ahroun. I tend to think simply when it comes to stuff like that." Zoe's call gets Emma moving in her direction, though all she does is grab the sippy cup from the counter and offer it to her grabby little hands.
Kevin laughs drily. "Yeah. And I'm a Ragabash, so I don't take anything at face value. I still think the theory that the ark dream means we're all going to have to up sticks and move to a new caern is disconcertingly plausible."
Flint shrugs a bit. "I dunno," the boy says, quiet for the most part. "I just wish I had enough pieces to make it make sense, I hate puzzles."
Emma nods emphatically to Flint. "Pieces or not, I hate 'em. I like targets not puzzles." Zoe settles onto the floor with the cup, eyes raising up to watch mom with an almost mischievous glint to them. "My thought when Owen told me about his, was that the wheel was turning again. Since that's what this place was based on. All the crappy stuff in the woods is just Gaia telling us that this place isn't for us anymore. Our time here is done, but not our time completely. Like, not the whole gonna die thing. Just a, Hey move forward. This place is shutting down."
"Yeah, that theory," Kevin nods to Emma. "But it is only a theory. Flint's right. We need more pieces of the puzzle. And this is why I'm doing the rounds trying to grub up some more of them. I mean, what if a Red Talon had a dream? Do you think they'd place any significance upon it, or bother telling anyone? Or even the Wendigo, maybe. I want to quiz as many of the sept as I can get to stand still and talk to me."
Emma grins at that, nodding. "Makes good sense. So you plan to hit up everyone then. Hah, man that's a chore. So, ok, what else have you been up to? And who else from back when is around still. I got you, Salem, KL, Jamethon of course, Bas… uh Slug. Bug." The last is said with a hint of annoyance. "Who else?"
Feet thump lightly against the porch in what could imply an effort to clean shoes of whatever was picked up outside. Seconds later the door opens, bringing a swirl of snow and cold air, and a frosty looking Ahroun. Devon, after pushing the door closed behind him, tugs off his wet shoes and begins peeling out of his jacket, snow still clinging futilely to the shoulders and his hair. Still tugging his arms free, the boy begins moving from mudroom to living area.
Kevin's face goes rather stony. "Slug wasn't around back in your day." He says this one sentence, and then his mouth closes with the force and finality of a snare trap.
Flint looks away from the conversation. Politely not listening, really, and a nod is given from his spot on the kitchen floor when the cub spies Devon's entrance.
Emma looks over at Kevin, a tighter line of annoyance. "Ohhh no no no. Don't go there with me. That shit pisses me off. Whatever he did to his name and whatever else … he still came from the same womb, met the same people, and has a history that was shared with them. Fucking rite isn't a damned etch-a-sketch that clears the whole board as if nothing previous ever existed and it pisses me the hell off when people treat it like it does." Zoe slurps at the sippy cup, eyes on mom as a more intense tone seems to fill the conversation on both sides.
A glance angles toward the kitchen when the conversation reaches his ears. Devon, expressing reconsideration, nods absently to Flint while his gaze shifts to Emma, then Kevin. A touch of wary curiosity enters the mix when he spies the baby on the floor. With deliberate caution, he drapes his jacket over the back of a chair in passing, moving into the kitchen doorway.
Kevin doesn't seem to notice the arrival of Devon. He's too busy taking umbrage at Emma. "Go there? Have you got sunstroke from the Amazon? What Slug may once have done and who he may have been are not the point. He is a different person, now. Yes, he is. And if you say he's not, I suggest you go and try telling Jack Salem your opinion, and you'd better bloody well guard with your left when you do."
Flint is not listening even more, now. A half turn, and Flint faces Devon in the kitchen doorway, a bit more of a nod given.
Emma shakes her head, "I get that." Her words are tight. "And whatever they've done to find their rebirth or whatever the hell else they wanna call it is fine. But you said it like I should treat him like I don't even know who is, or was, and I don't buy that one. I've had that come up before, and if Gaia could grant me one wish, it'd be to knock that person so far for a loop that he wakes up babysitting his great grandkids." A huff follows and then, interrupted by a hiccup from Zoe, she seems to let it drop. A second hiccup follows and it warrants the Get woman to pick the baby up and put it to shoulder, patting at her back. "Sorry," is offered to Kevin then.
The hiccup from Zoe comes just at the psychological moment to distract Kevin from a further counterblast at Emma, and the second or two it distracts him for is enough to give him second thoughts. He takes a deep breath and releases it. "Okay. It's your opinion and I respect it even if it's not mine. I'm not going to get into a barney with you the first day I see you after five years. Pax?" He dredges up a smile for Emma, then another one for Devon and Flint which looks apologetic.
Another, very guarded look is shared with Flint, even as Devon raises one shoulder in a shrug. He's silent throughout the exchange, maintaining his post in the doorway to the kitchen. When the tension seems to fade, thanks to a couple of hiccups, he raises a hand to salute Kevin, two fingers touching his brow then lifting away slightly.
Flint just nods, pushing himself to his feet now that the almost argument and tension has diffused. The boy's gaze finds the ceiling, and the floor, occasionally flicking back to his tribemates cautiously.
The front door opens—quietly enough, but not so quiet as not to be noticed—and a young woman pushes in. Emma aside, to those who would recognize her, they might find her coat more familiar than she is. Her growth spurt has long finalized, the awkwardness of adolescence has vanished, and even though her hair is an unevenly cut mess and she has never ever bothered with makeup, she looks pretty damned decent. Part of that might be because certain…features…are currently being hidden by her battered green coat, which is all buttoned up in the front.
Emma looks to Kevin and throws him a grin. "We've done worse, right? Just have had a bad experience with that sort of thing before. But, I got no issue with Slug. We met up, shot the shit, shared a laugh or two and that's that." A few more hiccups follow from Zoe, still tucked to Emma's chest and shoulder as hand pats continue. Devon is noticed then and the other gets a nod and a "Hey" before she turns back to Kevin. "So who are ya running with these days? And speaking of running. I think I might have you beat now, if you're up for eating a little of my dust one of these mornings."
Devon returns the nod, almost absent in gesture. His hands tuck into his pockets as he leans back slightly, giving a glance toward the door. Even Morgan is granted a nod, polite but reserved, and a step is taken to put him into the kitchen and out of the doorway.
"Oh, Slug is a good guy," Kevin says. "But then, Basil was a good guy, ya know? I'm in Vendetta still… was that my pack when I last saw you? Basil was in that, but he quit. These days it's just me and Reggie the Uktena, and Chris now he's back from England." And at that opportune moment another ex-member of Vendetta shows up and interrupts Kevin. "Jeez! Morgan! Ain't seen you in a dog's age. How're things?"
Morgan is in the process of undoing the top button of her coat at the call, and she brightens faintly, eyebrows raising. "Hello! Things—" she hesitates, eyeing Emma. "Things are fine. In pack with Jacinta now. Heartwood, under Old Tree."
Flint looks up again, another nod given in greeting to Morgan when the cub notices her entrance.
From outside the building, the sound of a car pulling up can be heard shortly after Morgan arrives. A minute or so passes and then the door is swung open again. A tall, well built man steps across the threshold and glances about with quiet confidence. His right arm twitches spasmodically as he glances around those present, his face lighting up as he catches Kevin and Morgan present. "'Sup, dudes?" He asks of the room in general, lifting the twitching arm in salute to all present.
Little eyes are full of wonder as they take in all these new faces, and so many of them are male too! Zoe bounces in the arms of the female holding her and lets out an excited squeal, hiccups all but forgotten even though another sneaks out. Emma looks at the two most recently entered, a nod given to them in general, but a more focused attention is put on the metis.
Devon again looks past the doorframe when the door opens again, and Chris earns the same as had everyone else. A nod, and a slight lifting of his shoulders.
The crowding in the room has Flint giving Kevin a sidelong glance, before going to reclaim the heretofore put aside iPad, holding it carefully as he does so. "I'm going to go upstairs and work on the list and write down everything, yeah? If… if that's okay with you, Kevin-rhya." The cub waits a moment for approval from the ragabash, giving Devon and then everyone else a nod on his way out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
"Yeah, catch you in a few," Kevin tells Flint, before yet another person arrives. This one makes Kevin give a yelp. "Chris! There you are. Been looking for you, have you been out prowling your old haunts? Did you get my e-mail?"
18 January, 2012
The moon is in the waning Crescent (Theurge) Moon phase (33% full).
Mid-morning finds the Edgewood house fairly quiet. There are two inhabitants in the kitchen though, one leaning on the counter and the other sitting on it. A blonde haired young woman is sipping from a water bottle while handing Cheerio's off to the darker haired toddler perched on the countertop. A soggy cereal bit is removed from the child's mouth and innocently handed back to the adult who, with a soft laugh, shakes her head and says simply, "You eat it."
The front door of Edgewood opens to admit two visitors, namely Kevin and Flint. Kevin has a determined look on his face, the picture of a Man With A Mission, as he strides inside and looks around to see who's about, holding the door open for Flint to enter in his wake.
The cub grins, half a skip to his step that calms a little as he actually enters the house. Flint pauses, letting Kevin close the door behind them, and shaking the snow off of his jacket and hair. Mostly, to try and get said snow on Kevin, in fact.
Emma gives a little glance over her shoulder as the front door opens, but she keeps her focus on the baby on the counter. A little "Ennh" can be heard, followed by another, more insistent but still gentle. "No, that's Zoe's. You already got it soggy, I don't want that. Yucky." Finally mom wins, as is evidenced by a pleased, "Thank you." One final pull from the water bottle finishes it off and the sound of crunching plastic can be heard.
Kevin doesn't even seem to notice the snow on his shoulders — or the extra helping of it that Flinty adds surreptitiously. He glances into the living area, sees it empty, then turns when he hears the voice from the kitchen. He takes one step in that direction, then comes to a dead stop, frowning. "Hello?" he calls out, sounding unsure of himself.
Flint lingers a half step behind the ragabash. There's quiet humming coming from the cub, a half-strain of melody that fades off after a moment.
One hand stays at baby's side to keep it safely stooped on the counter, but the woman otherwise turns around to greet the newcomer into the house. When she sees who it is, she ends up caught in an open-mouthed pause. A grin fills in until it blows up into a wide smile. "Hey Kevin. You look good." The little one behind her holds out another soggy Cheerio as if offering it to the new face in the room.
"Kee-rist. Emma. It is you!" Kevin's face changes to an enormous grin. "Bloody hell! It's been years!" He looks as if for two pins he'd run over to the scary Get ahroun and hug her like a kitten.
Flint just waves a little to the Ahroun, a faintly sillier expression yet offered to the baby on the counter.
Emma grins wider, pulling the baby down and setting her on the floor so she can turn and nod at the Walker. "Come on ya big softie. It beats the welcome KL gave me." She closes the distance and offers an open arm, giving Flint a nod as she catches sight of him too. The little one on the floor opts for putting said Cheerio back in mouth so she can use the cabinet doors to pull herself upright.
Kevin pounces on Emma and gives her a bear hug. "Why, what the hell did she do when she saw you? Faint? Oh… this is Flint, by the way, he's my cub. Er, my tribe's cub. Introduce yourself, Flint."
Flint leans on the kitchen doorframe, thumbs loosely in the pockets of his jeans. "Yessir," he asides to Kevin, grinning a bit, before turning and shifting to be able to see Emma as he introduces himself, even if his gaze remains mostly on the kitchen floor. "Flint, Takes-It-All-In-Stride, Galliard cub. Nice t' meet you again." Yes, again.
Emma returns that hug pretty fiercly. "God it's good to see you. The number of faces that are familiar to me here is dishearteningly low. And KL invited me to the backyard for a fist-romp of course." She laughs at this and steps back to look the other over. "Walker's treating ya good I take it?" Flint gets her attention then, "We met when I first rolled back in to town. But for practice sake', Emma Mahler, Heart of Fire Forges the Stone Spirit, Adren Modi of the Get." At this point, tiny tot has made her way closer and is using Kevin's leg as a means to get back up from crawling to standing. "Oh. And that, is Zoe."
Kevin beams down at Zoe. "Aww, she's a sweetie! How old is she? Yeah, the Grand Roach of the Universe has finally smiled on me a bit. I'm Adren now, as well, would you credit it? It feels so weird."
Flint grins a bit more, relaxing a little, and nods to Emma. "Pretty dang good and all," he responds, turning to look down. "Hi Zoe," he says, half-crouching and making another goofy face.
The baby seems to love the adventure of new faces and voices, and when Flint drops to crouch she quickly forgets Kevin to reach out at the goofy faced cub. Emma gives the answer for her, "Just shy of ten months now. Stealing her away from grandma while I can. And yeah, ok, maybe showing her off a bit. Just wanna make sure she gets lots of time around us." She tips her head at Kevin, "Well done there Kev. Grats! You're not gonna pull any freaky weaver-tech-fu on me are you? Oh hey! Speaking of. I might need some help."
"Would I do such a thing?" Kevin says, looking innocent. "And my help is yours whenever you need it. Actually you can help me and Flint as well, come to think of it, can't she, Flinty?"
Flint makes another goofy face, carefully reaching to steady the toddler in her attempts to get at him. There's a nod in response to Kevin without the cub's attention actually going away from Zoe, as well. "In fact, yep."
Emma gives a little half shove at the Walker's shoulder. "Yes. I'd expect no less actually. And sure, what's up?" She looks between the two, eyes dipping down to watch the sprog without any real show of concern in her features. Zoe, for her efforts, is rewarded with a new plaything, and she steps forward to grab hold of whatever item of clothing or appendage of Flint's is most easily reached.
"Dreams," Kevin explains simply, pulling an iPad out of his shoulderbag and passing it to Flint. "The whole sept, or pretty much the whole sept, has been having them. I'm going round collating who's been dreaming what and seeing if any patterns emerge, or if things start to make sense when viewed in a particular way, yeah? Have you been having dreams? Come to think of it, what brought you back here in the first place?"
Flint takes advantage of the fact that zipperpulls attached to jackets are fantastic, fantastic toys for little ones, letting Zoe try and move it up and down a bit, his attention going to taking the iPad. It's balanced on one knee for a moment before the cub simply sits crosslegged on the floor. Attention is, for the moment, divided equally enough between iPad and toddler, iPad turned on and the memo file brought up.
Emma moves to take a seat, grinning a little. "I heard about the dream Owen had, and I mentioned it to Mouse. Told her what I thought it meant- not that I'm good at that sort of thing. But, me personally. I've had no dreams. Which is pretty nice considering that last time I was a regular here, I had issues having too many. I came back because, mostly, well because of her." A nod given to Zoe, who at the moment is just thrilled with her new toy. "Didn't want her raised up in a Fury dominant Sept. And my folks are in the area so, it made sense to come home."
Kevin scratches his head through his mass of tousled locks. "Hmm. None yourself, but Owen did… what was Owen's dream?" He gestures to Flint to take notes on this. "I haven't spoken to Owen about this yet."
Flint taps at the screen of the iPad a few times as they talk, attentive enough. Really, though, most of the cub's attention is on playing with Zoe, the goofy faces shifting every so often.
Emma shrugs, "Well I'd come back to hearing about them already, so I don't think I was in the area. Are other folks coming back and having had the dreams elsewhere? As for Owen, he had the hilltop, four seasons, directions thing. The swamp, the snow, the flowery meadow… and the talking mouse." Zoe looks from zipper to … ooooh shiny things. Like a puppy suddenly noticing a squirrel, the toddler is zoned in on the iPad and sticky fingers start reaching.
"Ah. Right. That one. Camille, the Gnawer, had that," Kevin notes. "I think I need to talk to Owen. Oh! Did he wake up with a scar on his chest, after this dream, do you know? …Zoe, if you break my iPad I shall break you," he adds conversationally.
Flint carefully keeps the iPad away from the toddler for a moment, one arm keeping the toddler at arm's length just long enough to turn off the iPad and hand it back to Kevin. "Still taking notes," the boy says, grinning as he makes yet another silly face to distract Zoe from the iPad going away, "I'll put it in after, and all?"
Zoe is about to whine at the lack of reaching when those words from Kevin float up, she looks to the other and then back to mom and, finally, with a bit of a pouty lip, drops to her butt to find some other thing to play with. Mom doesn't seem at all bothered by Kevin's warning to the girl, instead just grinning a little as she watches Flint with her. "I can get her out of your hair if you want." To Kevin she thinks, "Ya know I think he did. A scar on his chest. Maybe. Ah shit I'm bad at remembering. Have you found any patterns at all yet?"
"No," Kevin has to confess. "Except that everyone who had that four-seasons dream also seems to have ended up with the scar. Owen's the third, that I know of. And you're only the second adult garou who reports having had none at all."
Flint shakes his head at Emma, turning back to tickle Zoe a little now that the iPad is safe. "I dun need to write it down, I'll remember for later no problem," he says.
Emma gives a nod to both, "I know Mouse wanted to talk more to him, because what I relayed was all sketchy and vague. Course, one Get Ahroun to another, you're not looking at good odds when it comes to spirity details. How long ago was the most recent dream to be discovered?"
Kevin has to have a think about that one. "A week? Maybe more? I'm not sure. What do you reckon, Flint?"
Flint looks up again for a moment. "I have a feeling, each individual dream, all around the same time?" Brows furrow. "I'd guess they were all the same night more or less. Just like the ark dream, seemed to all be just about the same night."
Emma looks to Flint as he mentions the timing. "Yeah, probably before I got back into town. I hope that I don't get any though, I really don't wanna go back that route." Zoe lets out a squeak and then pulls herself up by means of yanking on his sleeve. Once up, she looks over to Emma with a, "Mama."
"Well. We all have dreams. I've been telling people not to just go assuming that every dream they have is a significant portent of the End Of All Things," Kevin points out, reaching down to help Zoe achieve an upright position. "As Dr Freud said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, you know?"
Flint grins a little, also helping Zoe upright, before looking up at Emma. "I'll pass on an additional weird dream myself," Flint says, "since the ark one was weird and nagging enough."
Emma nods to Kevin, "Sky is falling and all of that. I just get the feeling that while whatever's coming is major, it's not the whole, end life as we know it doomsday thing either. But. Ahroun. I tend to think simply when it comes to stuff like that." Zoe's call gets Emma moving in her direction, though all she does is grab the sippy cup from the counter and offer it to her grabby little hands.
Kevin laughs drily. "Yeah. And I'm a Ragabash, so I don't take anything at face value. I still think the theory that the ark dream means we're all going to have to up sticks and move to a new caern is disconcertingly plausible."
Flint shrugs a bit. "I dunno," the boy says, quiet for the most part. "I just wish I had enough pieces to make it make sense, I hate puzzles."
Emma nods emphatically to Flint. "Pieces or not, I hate 'em. I like targets not puzzles." Zoe settles onto the floor with the cup, eyes raising up to watch mom with an almost mischievous glint to them. "My thought when Owen told me about his, was that the wheel was turning again. Since that's what this place was based on. All the crappy stuff in the woods is just Gaia telling us that this place isn't for us anymore. Our time here is done, but not our time completely. Like, not the whole gonna die thing. Just a, Hey move forward. This place is shutting down."
"Yeah, that theory," Kevin nods to Emma. "But it is only a theory. Flint's right. We need more pieces of the puzzle. And this is why I'm doing the rounds trying to grub up some more of them. I mean, what if a Red Talon had a dream? Do you think they'd place any significance upon it, or bother telling anyone? Or even the Wendigo, maybe. I want to quiz as many of the sept as I can get to stand still and talk to me."
Emma grins at that, nodding. "Makes good sense. So you plan to hit up everyone then. Hah, man that's a chore. So, ok, what else have you been up to? And who else from back when is around still. I got you, Salem, KL, Jamethon of course, Bas… uh Slug. Bug." The last is said with a hint of annoyance. "Who else?"
Feet thump lightly against the porch in what could imply an effort to clean shoes of whatever was picked up outside. Seconds later the door opens, bringing a swirl of snow and cold air, and a frosty looking Ahroun. Devon, after pushing the door closed behind him, tugs off his wet shoes and begins peeling out of his jacket, snow still clinging futilely to the shoulders and his hair. Still tugging his arms free, the boy begins moving from mudroom to living area.
Kevin's face goes rather stony. "Slug wasn't around back in your day." He says this one sentence, and then his mouth closes with the force and finality of a snare trap.
Flint looks away from the conversation. Politely not listening, really, and a nod is given from his spot on the kitchen floor when the cub spies Devon's entrance.
Emma looks over at Kevin, a tighter line of annoyance. "Ohhh no no no. Don't go there with me. That shit pisses me off. Whatever he did to his name and whatever else … he still came from the same womb, met the same people, and has a history that was shared with them. Fucking rite isn't a damned etch-a-sketch that clears the whole board as if nothing previous ever existed and it pisses me the hell off when people treat it like it does." Zoe slurps at the sippy cup, eyes on mom as a more intense tone seems to fill the conversation on both sides.
A glance angles toward the kitchen when the conversation reaches his ears. Devon, expressing reconsideration, nods absently to Flint while his gaze shifts to Emma, then Kevin. A touch of wary curiosity enters the mix when he spies the baby on the floor. With deliberate caution, he drapes his jacket over the back of a chair in passing, moving into the kitchen doorway.
Kevin doesn't seem to notice the arrival of Devon. He's too busy taking umbrage at Emma. "Go there? Have you got sunstroke from the Amazon? What Slug may once have done and who he may have been are not the point. He is a different person, now. Yes, he is. And if you say he's not, I suggest you go and try telling Jack Salem your opinion, and you'd better bloody well guard with your left when you do."
Flint is not listening even more, now. A half turn, and Flint faces Devon in the kitchen doorway, a bit more of a nod given.
Emma shakes her head, "I get that." Her words are tight. "And whatever they've done to find their rebirth or whatever the hell else they wanna call it is fine. But you said it like I should treat him like I don't even know who is, or was, and I don't buy that one. I've had that come up before, and if Gaia could grant me one wish, it'd be to knock that person so far for a loop that he wakes up babysitting his great grandkids." A huff follows and then, interrupted by a hiccup from Zoe, she seems to let it drop. A second hiccup follows and it warrants the Get woman to pick the baby up and put it to shoulder, patting at her back. "Sorry," is offered to Kevin then.
The hiccup from Zoe comes just at the psychological moment to distract Kevin from a further counterblast at Emma, and the second or two it distracts him for is enough to give him second thoughts. He takes a deep breath and releases it. "Okay. It's your opinion and I respect it even if it's not mine. I'm not going to get into a barney with you the first day I see you after five years. Pax?" He dredges up a smile for Emma, then another one for Devon and Flint which looks apologetic.
Another, very guarded look is shared with Flint, even as Devon raises one shoulder in a shrug. He's silent throughout the exchange, maintaining his post in the doorway to the kitchen. When the tension seems to fade, thanks to a couple of hiccups, he raises a hand to salute Kevin, two fingers touching his brow then lifting away slightly.
Flint just nods, pushing himself to his feet now that the almost argument and tension has diffused. The boy's gaze finds the ceiling, and the floor, occasionally flicking back to his tribemates cautiously.
The front door opens—quietly enough, but not so quiet as not to be noticed—and a young woman pushes in. Emma aside, to those who would recognize her, they might find her coat more familiar than she is. Her growth spurt has long finalized, the awkwardness of adolescence has vanished, and even though her hair is an unevenly cut mess and she has never ever bothered with makeup, she looks pretty damned decent. Part of that might be because certain…features…are currently being hidden by her battered green coat, which is all buttoned up in the front.
Emma looks to Kevin and throws him a grin. "We've done worse, right? Just have had a bad experience with that sort of thing before. But, I got no issue with Slug. We met up, shot the shit, shared a laugh or two and that's that." A few more hiccups follow from Zoe, still tucked to Emma's chest and shoulder as hand pats continue. Devon is noticed then and the other gets a nod and a "Hey" before she turns back to Kevin. "So who are ya running with these days? And speaking of running. I think I might have you beat now, if you're up for eating a little of my dust one of these mornings."
Devon returns the nod, almost absent in gesture. His hands tuck into his pockets as he leans back slightly, giving a glance toward the door. Even Morgan is granted a nod, polite but reserved, and a step is taken to put him into the kitchen and out of the doorway.
"Oh, Slug is a good guy," Kevin says. "But then, Basil was a good guy, ya know? I'm in Vendetta still… was that my pack when I last saw you? Basil was in that, but he quit. These days it's just me and Reggie the Uktena, and Chris now he's back from England." And at that opportune moment another ex-member of Vendetta shows up and interrupts Kevin. "Jeez! Morgan! Ain't seen you in a dog's age. How're things?"
Morgan is in the process of undoing the top button of her coat at the call, and she brightens faintly, eyebrows raising. "Hello! Things—" she hesitates, eyeing Emma. "Things are fine. In pack with Jacinta now. Heartwood, under Old Tree."
Flint looks up again, another nod given in greeting to Morgan when the cub notices her entrance.
From outside the building, the sound of a car pulling up can be heard shortly after Morgan arrives. A minute or so passes and then the door is swung open again. A tall, well built man steps across the threshold and glances about with quiet confidence. His right arm twitches spasmodically as he glances around those present, his face lighting up as he catches Kevin and Morgan present. "'Sup, dudes?" He asks of the room in general, lifting the twitching arm in salute to all present.
Little eyes are full of wonder as they take in all these new faces, and so many of them are male too! Zoe bounces in the arms of the female holding her and lets out an excited squeal, hiccups all but forgotten even though another sneaks out. Emma looks at the two most recently entered, a nod given to them in general, but a more focused attention is put on the metis.
Devon again looks past the doorframe when the door opens again, and Chris earns the same as had everyone else. A nod, and a slight lifting of his shoulders.
The crowding in the room has Flint giving Kevin a sidelong glance, before going to reclaim the heretofore put aside iPad, holding it carefully as he does so. "I'm going to go upstairs and work on the list and write down everything, yeah? If… if that's okay with you, Kevin-rhya." The cub waits a moment for approval from the ragabash, giving Devon and then everyone else a nod on his way out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
"Yeah, catch you in a few," Kevin tells Flint, before yet another person arrives. This one makes Kevin give a yelp. "Chris! There you are. Been looking for you, have you been out prowling your old haunts? Did you get my e-mail?"