Currently the moon is in the waxing Crescent Moon phase (22% full).

Whispering Pines - Henderson's

This is a not-so-typical college student dwelling. It consists of one large main area, a smaller bedroom with its own little bathroom and a small kitchen. The main room is all too neat for a college student. There is the usual assortment of entertainment items: TV, Stereo, VCR, and a couple of video game systems. Beside that is also a small stand containing an electric guitar and small amp. The rest of the furniture is simple, a large chair and couch, both brown to match the carpet. A wide window at the far end of the room lets in large amounts of sunlight during the day. Along the opposite wall is a bookcase. Predicitably enough, the bookcase is filled with books, and on top of it there are several pictures of Tom and his family, though oddly enough, there are no pictures of him in the past five years, not even a high school graduation pictures.

Contents:
Alicia

Obvious exits:
Out

*Knock knock.*

Alicia heads out of the kitchen, wiping her hands off on her jeans. The smell of pancakes is in the air and there is a lull of music playing from the speakers in the living room when she pulls the door open, offering a quick smile to whoever is behind it.

It's not a five-headed dragon; at least, not today. No, instead it's a Walker Elder standing there with a white paper bag. "Morning. I brought doughnuts."

Alicia blinks her eyes, a bit surprised. "...Oh. Hey Natalie." She says, stepping to the side to let the Walker in. "I just got done making pancakes. I can always put those in the microwave for Tom. Whats up?" She asks, a smile broadening across her lips.

Natalie steps inside and unzips her leather coat as she looks around. "He's not in? Nah, 'course he isn't." She offers the bag, waggling it temptingly. "Who wants pancakes when you have jelly doughnuts, though?" Her Minnesotan accent drawls lovingly over the 'oh' sounds. "Plus I got not one, but /two/ Bavarians."

Alicia closes the door behind you and chuckles. "Tom is never in." She notes softly with a lift of her brow, reaching out to take the bag. "Pancakes can not compete with Bavarians." She agrees, flopping down onto the couch and picking up a remote, turning the volume of the speakers down. "So what I do ya for? Or is this a social call?" She asks with a smile.

"Social call," Nat answers immediately, tucking her hands into her jacket pockets as soon as they're unladen. "Wanted to come by, see how you were doing and stuff."

"Oh, thanks." Alicia says with a genuine grin. "I'm feeling a lot better. I took a very long nap after beating the bag again in the barn for a bit and relaxed." She explains. "I think I've been burning myself out and stressing on the fact I'm packless. I'm.. kinda.. clingy I guess you can say, when it comes to family. I have the need to mother the hell out of my friends. Not being able to do that is driving me nuts, which is why I'm constantly at the farm cooking. I guess its just a way of feeling needed."

Natalie says, "What happened to Megan's pack? She still looking? Or are you not interested?"

"Um.. Well, I'm interested, and yet I'm not." Alicia explains. "Megan and I are two different Garou. She's very traditional, and I'm not... I'm also a warrior at heart and I love getting out to the city and kicking a dent in the Wyrm's forehead. She mentioned she wants a communication pack."

Natalie considers, her head cocked to one side. "A pack to keep the lines of communication open between the city and Caern," she declares, sounding rather like she's quoting. "Yup. Well, what about the rest of the Walkers? Quentin's gone again, but there's still Leala and Tony." "--And Cat."

Alicia teases you. "And Josh. But.. gah.. Quentin is gone again? What a dipshit. He spends more money on plane tickets due to his ADD than anyone I know. Did he take off cuz' Salem left or something?"

Natalie thins her lips at the dig, but doesn't rise to the bait. Instead it's, "Yup, first plane out Sunday morning. He didn't say anything except 'Good luck, you'll need it'. And I had hopes, too. He's - he was normal."

Alicia laughs. "You are kidding, right? Quentin, normal? He's a walking pervert with an itch in his pants." She says with a shake of her head, grinning. "He flirts with me constantly." She looks wry. "I know what you mean tho', he is a good Garou and never really had any drama, save the whole Leonard thing during that kinfolk incident. Um..." She pauses. "Long story, not sure if you heard it."

Natalie says, "This is me, not having a clue." She glances about, then asks plaintively, "D'you mind if I sit?"

Alicia blinks and nods, patting the spot on the couch next to her. "Sure. Geez, don't need to ask, just go ahead and flop down." She says with a laugh.

Natalie doesn't need any more coaxing to sit. "...So? What's the story of Quentin, Leonard, and the kinfolk? Give!"

"Well, there was this kinfolk named Sarah, right? Who was a total bullheaded bitch from what I heard. She was telling the Walker's that Leonard was beating her up and tying her to trees and starving her. Leo kept denying it and was saying he never touched her, save self defense when she tried to strike him." Alicia begins. "So, shit hit the fan and she came to the Walkers for help and salvation. Salem stepped up to the plate and hid Sarah in the city with Quentin, and well... you can imagine what happens there. The two started flirting... la-dee-dah. Well, Leonard got furious, right? He started going off on respecting the territory of another, and Salem was all.. Respect those beneath ye. So... Leo comes to the city, picks a fight with Salem, and gets banned from the city." The Galliard says, her voice rising a bit on excitement in hope to drive the speaker's adrenaline some. "The Garou didn't know what to make of that. At the time, we were going through Sept Leader management and Andrea was on her way out and Sal' was on his way up. Could Salem ban a Garou from the city? The answer is No, because that'd mean the entire city belonged to Salem, but... then again, no one wanted to argue with him, right?" She says, relaxing back. "So, guess what Leo did?" She waits for you to nearly say... 'what'? before blurting out. "He kidnapped Jeremy."

"...He did what?" [Natalie]

Alicia nods her head as she leans back. "Jeremy was driving down the road and saw Leo on the street. So, he offered to drive him back home, not knowing what happened. From what we were all told, Leo went Crinos on Jeremy at the farmhouse, bashed his head in and then dug a ten foot hole out in the fricking mountains and buried him in nothing but his underware and a bottle of water."

Natalie's gone from intent listening to disbelieving, and straight on to bemused. "Jer never said anything about that. But that must've gone over like a ton of bricks, huh? So what happened to this Leonard? Thomas rip his neck out?"

"Oh man... Well.. Sal' got on the phone and called me and Renee up. This was when Ren' an Jer was having a thing an we didn't know it, right? So... with the help of Aiyana and Kaz Ears-To-The-Ground, we all took off to the mountains to track him down. I had a hella time using Questin Stone out there. So, we track and track and track and loe and behold... We get buried in a fucking rock slide. Sal' went nuts. He knew Leo dropped those rocks on us and tried to kill us. Tween' him and Kaz, I never heard that much swearing in my life."

Natalie represses a snort. Of course, she can do that. She wasn't there.

"So we finally find Jeremy curled up in this hole." Alicia says with a nod. "He wasn't looking so good, he was freaked out, totally. I mean.. he started yelling and shit when we got too close to this hole. Renee had to shift to crinos to get him out cuz he was so far down deep." She says with a soft huff. "After we got him cleaned up, we took him to the next moot and judged. It was ruled that Salem shouldn't have banned Leo from the city, and Leo never shoulda did what he did to Jeremy, duh. Sarah took off on her own will and asked for help, she wasn't kidnapped by Salem, but.." She trails off. "Leonard did something dispicable. So, he was asked to leave the Sept for a month and then return to pay penance to Jeremy for what he did."

"...And did he? What happened, anyway? And when?"

Alicia shrugs. "I don't know if he made it up to Jer or not. He took off for a month tho' and came back, acting like nothing happened." She pauses. "Well, that was until Renee showed off the Metis cub to everyone during a moot, claiming that Kaz found it." She lets out a soft sigh. "Leonard found out from Yi that the cub was hers and that the pack of Rat was hiding the secret of Renee's charaching. She and Craig bumped fuzzies before his first change. No one knew he was a Garou. Salem protected the secret for Renee's safety and the fact she had come so far to get where she was at." She lightly grunts. "So, I stepped up for Craig and Renee and lost my voice for a month with the Jackal Rite. Leonard got himself a nice pat on the back and soon, everyone forgot he stuffed Jer down a hole."

Something in that narrative catches Nat's attention. "...Jackal? Is that why Salem? - huh."

Alicia nods her head slowly. "That was why all of us lost our voice and Renee was Satired. She went from Fostern to Cliath and left the city. Megan didn't want to do it, but she had to, ya'know? She's the Alpha." She says softly.

Nataliejust shrugs, trying to let this all settle in. "...All right. So where's this Leonard now? He still going after Jeremy?"

Alicia shakes her head. "This is almost a year or so ago, as far as the beating of Jer part goes." She thinks. "Um... early 2003 I believe. Currently, Leo of all places, is on his Fostern challenge. He vowed he'd come back a Fostern, or not at all. Well... it's been a month."

Natalie guesses, "And he had a month to complete it?"

Alicia shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know all the details. I believe he challenged um.." She thinks. "...Jarred..." She says slowly.

"Jarred," Nat repeats. "Another one I haven't met. Man, either I have to spend more time out in the woods - no thank you - or we need a moot, or something. Or a phone tree."

Alicia nods her head slightly. "Jarred is the other Fostern Galliard here. Kinda like my arch nemesis or some shit, at least thats the way he puts it." She says quietly, almost as if afraid the Shadow Lord would hear her. "He's paranoid. Thinks everyone is out to get him, so in return, he acts like a complete dick and treats people like shit. Does a lot of.. snide.. subtle insulting. He knows how to piss someone off to the point they snap." She murmurs. "He knows how to make someone feel like shit."

Natalie says, "Sounds like a real charmer. What Tribe? The name sounds familiar, but I can't place it. ...Oh! How many Fostern do we have around here, anyway? You, Jarred, Signe, um..."

"Shadow Lord." Alicia says with a smirk on her face. "Um.. we got Seeker, Eamon, me, Signe, Jarred and.. Cutter."

Natalie echoes, "Seeker? What Tribes and auspices?" She makes a show of digging into one pocket and eyeing the other Galliard. "Don't make me get out the rusty pliers of conversation, girl."

Alicia smirks slightly. "Eamon is a Ragabash Fianna. Seeker is an Ahroun Strider. Cutter is a Theurge Shadow Lord, Jarred is a Galliard Lord, you know what Sig's and I am."

"...Nice and spread out," is Nat's commentary. "No Fostern for the Walkers or the Gnawers, though. No... no oomph in the city." "--City tribes," she amends, with a tilt of her head toward the Gaian. "Huh."

Alicia grins slightly. "Unless you count me." She says. "I know us Coggies aren't.. city tribes, but I am city." She admits.

"That's why I said city tribes. You could count Signe as city too, by that reckoning. But. It's not good for us to be so weak." Nat shifts her weight, not settling back into the couch. Thinking. "...Got a question for you, Alicia. Hypothetical."

"Shoot." Alicia says, shifting about to face you more easier, leaning into the cushions of the couch.

Natalie doesn't look over, finding it easier to study the far wall. "I... I know I'd get smacked down for this if I brought it up formal, so. 'M I ready for Fostern, do you think?"

Alicia shakes her head. "I don't think so, Nat'." She says softly. "You gotta jump through hoops here to even be considered for it in this Sept, and Megan is hard core 'bout that, ya'know?" She lets out a breath. "You may have proved yourself back home, but in the eyes here, you gotta do that 'again'. Unless you can pull off quite a nice Galliard perfomance in convincing 'em. Things you should do first is definitly get yourself established here in the city and the Sept. Gotta finish up your Chim, and show the Garou that you have stepped up and secured safety here, at least in your area and territory." She thinks for a moment. "Don't try and put too much on your plate at once Nat. It's ganna drive ya nuts. I did that for awhile and lost my head in all the responsibility."

Natalie looks over in surprise. "But my Chiminage is finished. Has been for oh, couple weeks now? Haven't you been over to see it?" She turns thoughtful. "...All right, security. That I can probably manage with Sig's pack, even if I'm not Alpha. I don't have to be Alpha, just show I know what the hell I'm doing. If I could pull off Elder that'd help too, but who the hell knows what's going on with that."

Alicia blinks her eyes. "Oh, I... haven't been over. Congrats on the green house then." She says with a big grin.

Natalie ftts and waves off the compliment, though she smiles. "Thanks. Yeah, 'Cat said something about finding a gift to fill it. So I'm not sure if I should head out to the garden and pick some stuff up, or not. Right now it's got one shelf and a lonely pot of dirt in there."

Alicia giggles. "I can bring some plants over. I got a few that I've been planning to stick out on the bawn as it is. Groundskeeper an all."

Natalie says, "Sure, that'd be great." She looks out the window, then at her watch and grimaces. "Cripes. I've got another interview set up at noon, and I am not looking forward to it, you know?"

Alicia bobs her head and grins. "I wouldn't know. I got a doctor for a husband." She says, standing up. "Thanks for the donuts and coming over." She says with a smile. "Please do so more often. Us city Galliards gotta stick together." She says with a wink.

Natalie snorts as she stands. "Yeah, well, you don't have Leala pissing and moaning about how she's only a wallet, oh woe, poor her. Dammit, she think I like lying around watching my tools rust?"

Alicia grins slightly. "Ah, well... maybe she just needs to feel appreciated, ya'know?" she clasps the Walker on the shoulder and gives it a squeeze. Reaching over and opening up the door, she bobs her head to you. "I'm going to be out at the Caern most of the day and should trickle home around ten or so. Catch you later, k'?"

Natalie trails after obediently. Good dog. "Sure, Alicia. Glad you're feeling better. And give Tom at least the option of Bavarian, all right?" She's halfway out the door before she stops, turns back. "...You must've put plans to move to Kents Crossing on hold, huh? Since the Russians who knew about you are dead?"

Alicia nods her head with a smile. "Yup. I had Tom stay with a friend for a few nights, but now that its cleared up, at least some of it, I can feel better at staying home."

Natalie checks down then hall, then nods. "Good. I've got to talk to Jer, see what he's doing about his Doctor's appointment, and then I think we should see about throwing a party for Boris' son." The reason for her sudden lapse into covert appears just then, one of Alicia's neighbors who heads past with a basket of laundry.

Alicia nods his head. "Well, tell Jer to feel better and what not, and I'll make sure to get the candles for the kid's cake." She says, saluting the Walker.

Natalie's grin is all teeth; the neighbor picks up his steps as he passes the door, suddenly looking less sanguine about this whole 'laundry' thing. "Will do. Walk safe."

Alicia bobs her head and steps back in, closing the door. The sound of two latches can be heard, clicking into place. Not as paranoid as Jeremy, but enough to at least feel safe.

[End of log]