[Dominion Estate]

The cameras show Natalie striding up the driveway at a brisk walk, the Galliard looking as though she'd rather walk through a brick wall than around it. She's deliberately careful with the door - closing it behind her with the extra-gentleness that bespeaks of pissed-off Garou. She's been exercising enough to bring a light sheen of sweat to her face. Nat wipes her face with the back of one arm as she heads for the kitchen, not paying much attention to the rest of the house.

Natalie's entrance, though quiet, still manages to distract Leala from the work in front of her. She looks up from the laptop screen that she had been silently examining and cranes her neck around the room, catching Natalie as she moves off into the kitchen. The Elder does not look happy. Leala pauses a moment to consider the wiseness of pursuing the Galliard, and then shuts the laptop and sets it aside. Quietly, she makes her way to the kitchen.

The Elder does indeed look less than happy. She stands in the refrigerator door pouring orange juice into a glass, then tosses the empty carton toward the sink. When it bounces off the edge and falls to the floor she swears softly, letting the fridge door close as she first crosses to set her juice on the table, then retreat to the sink for a sponge.

Leala observes Natalie for a few moments before speaking. "Having a bad day?" Leala asks quietly, standing against the wall of the doorway leading into the kitchen, arms folded across her chest. She has a look of mild concern on her face, fearing it might have something to do with Boris and the Russians.

Natalie looks over her shoulder, then nods and returns to tidying up the juice spill. "Having a bad packmate, is more like it." She straightens, carton in hand, tosses the sponge back into the sink. "Though I think I can keep hold of myself long enough to give you your Challenge, if you still want it." Her look at the Ragabash says clearly that she thinks the Ragabash is insane for pressing it.

"I do," Leala says simply, though she is slightly unnerved by the Galliard's current mood. She tries to hide her nervousness, but her body which was relaxed a moment ago, tenses slightly.

Natalie says, "Right." She flaps a hand toward the table, herself slipping onto the chair near her juice. "Sit or stand, s'all the same to me. What do you know of Joshua?"

Leala takes a seat across from the Elder, and thinks for a moment before replying. "Truthfully, I haven't had all that much interaction with him. Jeremy and I cubnapped him from the park. At that time, he was a terrified kid who wouldn't even speak to us. He was afraid of everything, particularly Salem. Since then, I've heard that he's gone back and forth from being locked in the tower to the farmhouse, to the Bawn. He's dressing military style, and doing this whole 'O captain' thing. He seems a bit paranoid and some of the information that I've gotten from him has been distorted. Whether these distortions are intentional manipulations of the truth on his part or misinformation, I don't know. Also, I've heard bits and pieces about this crazy wolf-spirit thing." Leala shakes her head at this point, as if she's not certain what to make of that last statement.

Natalie huhs to herself past a mouthful of juice. "Well, he's a nutcase. Your challenge is to determine what to do with him." She sets the glass down, placing her palms flat against the table. "I booted him from the mansion a couple of days after his Rite because he doesn't act like a Walker. Salem's encouraged him to rethink his Tribe - he hates the City. Megan says he's a Walker until he renounces. Well, he's done that, in front of the Ritemaster. Salem, however, is of the mind that unless we use Rite of the Lone Wolf on him - or he's adopted by another tribe - he's still a Walker. So. You have from now until the next full moon to make your decision and justify it in front of three Elders. One will be Megan, one an Elder of your choosing, and one of mine. If he gets himself killed or adopted by another tribe between now and then..." She lifts a shoulder, lets it drop, "That's fine. Then it's merely a hypothetical situation."

Leala ponders the Galliard's statement for a moment and then nods. "I accept this challenge." She adds, "Joshua has renounced us then? What tribe does he want to belong to?"

Natalie offers the Ragabash a tight smile. "I don't know." She clearly thinks it's Leala's question to answer. "I can tell you he doesn't think very highly of either the Gnawers or the Gaians." She and Leala are sitting back in the kitchen, on either side of the table. Nat's got a glass of orange juice.

Leala nods again, accepting that she'll have to hunt down the scamp and find out for herself. "Even if he wants to be a lone wolf," Leala says solemnly, "he's still family, and that may be the deciding fact." She shrugs now, lost in thought. After a few minutes, she adds, "I hope you settle your pack issues. Well, if there's nothing else, I should probably get back to work."

"Well, if the Fury has her way I'll be hanging from the nearest tree by my intestines," Nat reports calmly, filling those same intestines with more juice. "But thank you. I'll get you the name of my choice within the next day or two. If you need it before then, just let me know."

Anthony emerges through the tower door, wriggling out of his sweatshirt and tossing it aside before heading back to the kitchen. He looks mildly sweaty and his hands and jeans are blotched with grease and rust, a telltale sign of what he's been doing for most of the morning.

"It will probably be a couple of days at least," Leala says. "Sounds like the pack is off to a great start." A grimace plays across her face. "But at least you have a pack. It has been a long time since Synthesis disbanded and I need to find a new pack myself." She nods to Tony as he enters the kitchen.

"Anthony." The Galliard nods to Tony as well. "We're out of OJ, sorry." She looks back at Leala. "Well, Megan's looking for pack members. Alicia might be as well, though she looked pretty tempted by Megan's offer."

"'Sokay," Tony replies, rubbing his forearm on his forehead absentmindedly as he heads towards the sink, starting to wash his hands. "What's this about packs?" he asks, looking back over his shoulder at Natalie and Leala.

Leala nods. "Perhaps I will contact her then. Or maybe I should organize a Ragabash pack."

Natalie says, "Just chatting." She shifts in her chair to follow Tony. "Oh - Signe and the rest of us packed last night, under Wolverine. You never got back to me"

Anthony turns off the faucet, then dries his hands on his shirt. "Oh, congratulations," Tony replies as he heads towards the refridgerator now. "Under Wolverine? Huh. I really wouldn't fit in that pack, now."

Natalie shrugs and finishes off her juice. "Maybe, maybe not. Wolverine decided the best test for us was to kill an insane Gaian, two kinfolk, and eleven little girls."

Leala raises an eyebrow, but remains silent, not having anything worthwhile to add.

Anthony winces slightly at the body count. "Sounds like fun," Tony replies. "Sorry for not getting back to you about it, though --" His apology is interrupted suddenly, and Tony twists to lean against the fridge, bringing the palm of his hand up against his forehead.

Natalie's lips press together; she growls under her breath, disgusted. "Oh yes, lots. I..." His sudden move cuts her off, brings her to ask solicitously, "You all right?"

At Natalie's comment, Leala looks over to examine Anthony, head cocked questioningly.

"Uh... yeah, I guess," Tony says, standing up straight again and rubbing his forehead confusedly. "It just kinda felt... like, I dunno, like my brain was... I dunno, but it hurt." He pops the fridge door open, grabbing an apple. "But it doesn't hurt now. Weird."

Natalie glances back at Leala, her eyebrows arched. Her unspoken comment - if there is one - remains untranslated as she returns to Anthony. "Huh. You been doing anything... strange lately? Reason I'm asking is 'cause there's a Fianna who was Tainted, and now apparently she doesn't know who she is, or some such."

Leala returns the glance with some concern, then turns to Tony. "Yeah, maybe you should get looked at by a Theurge. Just to be on the safe side."

"Uh... no, not really," Anthony replies, looking down at the apple thoughtfully. "I heard about her, uh, Taslyn or something, right? But, uh, this is the first time this happened, I think. If it happens again I'll talk to someone about it. Maybe I just... pulled a muscle or something."

"In your head?" Leala asks, looking skeptical.

"Only Ahrouns get to have muscles in place of brains," Nat chimes in, but she settles back into her chair. "All right, Tony, have it your way. I won't make you get checked out. Same time, though, I want you to tell me soon as it happens again, even if you have to wake me up, a'right?"

"Presuming he still knows who you are," Leala mutters under her breath, but grins slightly.

"If it happens again," Tony says, taking a bite of the apple finally.

"If," Nat agrees, watching him a moment longer as if expecting a goddess to spring from his forehead. "Huh. Either of you have any news you need passed along; anything I should know?"

"Nothing specific. I want help out with the Boris thing in any way I can, but I haven't had any news about it. Not even sure what Jeremy found when he went a-hackin'," Leala says. "So, when you guys are getting rolling with that, let me know and I'll be there."

Anthony chokes down his mouthful of apple. "Ehh, not really," he replies. "Though yeah, I'd like to know what Jeremy found out, too."

Natalie says, "He's still sorting through everything, last I heard. But sure, 'course I will. Umn... Let's see." She stands, crossing to place her glass in the dishwasher, then to the fridge for an apple of her own. "Let me know if I'm telling you stuff you already know. There's two factions in the Russian mob, and they both want Salem dead. Not the rest of us mind, just him. There's the normal sort, and the bionic invisible guy. Said invisible dude - who I'm assuming is Boris - claims to have a psychic link to Salem."

"Actually, the invisible dude is Aleksandr," Leala says softly. "Boris is the spider-guy. Who can keep it all straight?" Her comment is off-hand, but there's tension in her voice.

"There are two groups?" Tony asks, taking a seat at the table and leaning back a little in his chair. "Are they allies? Or do they just both happen to be Russian?"

Natalie's head swivels to Leala first. "'Scuse? Well crap, that's something no one's bothered to tell me. OK, invisible dude is Alex. That'd be Ironsides, or whatever. Gotcha." Tony's question is shrugged at. "Again, y'got me. No one tells me anything; I'm just the Elder and a Galliard." She manages to stalk off most of her bad mood in the trip back and subsequent flop into her chair. "So back to what I do know. Konstantin's apparently been encouraged to kill Salem for some time. Current plan is for him - them - to lure Alex to a warehouse. Then all the Indians in the world are gonna ride right down on him. I believe Havoc's gonna be part of that ass-whupping. After Alex is killed, Salem's gonna fake his death and then skip town. And that's all I know."

"Hrm... and what about the doctor? He seems like an important piece of this puzzle," Leala says, frowning. "Are we just letting him skip town?"

"And then what about that Boris guy? How're we gonna deal with him?" Tony adds.

Natalie wrinkles her nose at Leala, but keeps her voice level. "That's on Jeremy's plate. Again, last I heard he was going to call the Cuban police about the doctor. He has travel dates and flight numbers. Anything more, you need to talk to him."

Leala sighs. "There's just something that bugs me about that doctor. Why would he be working with them?" She sits back down to let her frustration simmer a bit.

"For the cash, probably," Anthony replies, folding his arms. "Or maybe for the willing test subjects."

Natalie sets her apple - untouched - on the table, then carefully folds her fingers around the table's edge. She watches her fingers as she does, as if her fingernails will bring her the information she seeks. "I don't know, and I don't know, in that order. If you two will remember, I stepped down from doing any planning about the Russians. It was... made quite clear to me that my efforts weren't appreciated. So. I suggest you talk to Salem or Jeremy, or possibly Signe for your answers. I've told you what I do know."

Leala looks at her own fingernails, which are no more informative than Natalie's. "This really should have been a team effort. But I guess Salem, being the target, would want to be in control of the situation."

Anthony, meanwhile, takes a break from being nosy to finish his apple.

Natalie says, "If there's nothing else...?"

Leala shakes her head. "Not that I can think of. I'm teaching Valoran the gift Blur of the Milky Eye. He didn't say what he needed it for, but I presume that's not a problem."

"Hrm? Oh. No, nothing else," Tony agrees with a nod.

Natalie looks up sharply, her self-pity broken by Leala's statement. "Oh, you are? ...No, no that's fine. He's... Silver Fang, right? I think I've seen him about, but I don't think we've met."

Leala nods. "He is. He's the Silver Fang Elder."

Natalie grunts as she stands, catching up her apple once more. "Well. I think I'm going to take my pissy mood and my lunch out to the greenhouse. I heard Cat say something about getting plants for it, yes?" She drops the Ragabashii a single nod for farewell before heading out to the back yard.

[End of log]