Farmhouse: Kitchen and Dining Room

Homey is the first word to come to mind when looking at the farmhouse's kitchen. Dark, wood-paneled wainscoting covers the walls to about waist height, dark beige wallpaper continuing to the ceiling. Twin refrigerators occupy the north wall, facing the large six-burner stove on the south. The kitchen counter runs the length of the eastern wall, broken only by the double-basin sink. Cabinets run above and below the counter and a twin-pane window is set in the wall above the sink. A small pantry is set into an alcove alongside the refrigerators, presumably holding the deep freezer as well as shelves of dry goods.

Some twelve feet above the floor, a large chandelier hangs from the ceiling, lighting the dining room and casting long shadows over the bar to the kitchen. A long table occupies the center of the dining room, three chairs setting along each side, and one on each end. On the west wall, a large window looks out on the trees alongside the western pasture. Set into the north wall is a large cabinet, its glass doors closed on shelves containing a full compliment of fine china and glassware as well as a few decorative nicknacks. On the east, a wide bar separates the dining room from the kitchen.

An opening in the southern wall allows passage to the front entryway of the house, while a sliding glass door in the kitchen opens to a clearing behind the house.

Contents:
Ashley
Olga
Joey

Obvious exits:
Hallway/Living Room Back Door

Olga watches Ashley closely as she speaks, a slight look of confusion entering her face and leaving nearly as quickly, forehead tensing. She lets silence hang there a moment, and then she inclines her head, lips tightening as she considers a reply. "Thank y'," she answers the other Theurge blankly, sincerely. "You got every right to advise me s' long as Jo's still Lost, and I appreciate the help. I'm gonna go make sure she knows the Litany, all of it, 'fore the moot tonight; I'd invite y' along but she's scare to death of you," Olga admits with a small, almost guilty grin. "Which," Olga adds after a bit of thought, "might prove useful later; but not now." Olga gives Ashley another nod, taking a half-step backwards, and she repeats, "Thanks."

Ashley nods her head and grins. "You tell someone you'll cut their fingers off for every wrong answer they give you, then suddenly they get smart over night." She says, then heads for the fridge again.

Olga cradles her orange juice in a hand, offering Ashley a weak smile before departing down the hallway, and mounting the stairs with heavy thumping footsteps up towards the attic.

Natalie pushes the back door open as Olga disappears upstairs, the quiet shush of the door lost in the Gnawer's heavy footsteps. "...Morning," she greets her pack sister, frowning at nothing in particular. "Who was that just went upstairs?"

"That was Olga and Joey." Artemis says as she leans into the fridge after yanking out a bottle of water. She appears smug for some reason.

Natalie grunts and shoves the back door closed. "Huh. That girl still stuck out here? Hasn't she gotten the lowdown from every damn tribe yet? Or has Megan decided that she needs to get the skinny from vampires and mages now too?"

Ashley shrugs her shoulders. "I dunno. I was teaching her some things but Olga is all protective of her and shit. I don't even care honestly." She says with a smirk. "Did you see Aubrey run out there crying by the way?"

Natalie narrows her eyes at the other woman, but shakes her head. "No," she answers flatly. "I didn't."

Natalie unbends enough to add, "At least, I don't think I did. Who's Aubrey?"

"Aubrey is this Fianna Theurge, a real ditz. She tries to be hard core one second, then buckles the next. She's been giving me the eyeball the past couple of weeks cuz she thinks I'm a bitch, so I stepped up to her." Artemis says with a shrug. "She told me she outranked me, and I gave her a reality check, told her she doesn't outrank me just because she is the Alpha of some pack that has like what? Three members or something? She's a Cliath, like me, and unless I'm in her pack, she doesn't outrank me. Her response was.." She clears her throat. "Fuck you!" She grins. "Then she storms out the door, going on an on about respecting other people." She makes a 'blah blah' motion with her hand.

Natalie listens politely, or at least with enough of a veneer of politeness that she can fake it. "Huh." She crosses to the fridge to open it and hang on the door. "...Damn, no OJ? Sucks."

"There is apple juice in there if that helps any." Artemis says with a slight grin on her face, dropping the subject.

"Hate apple juice." Nat snarls at the offending fridge, then closes the door again to lean against it, arms folded. "...So how come you haven't Challenged for Fostern?" she asks, just as if there were no intervening days between their last conversation.

Ashley shrugs. "I was going to, until my mentor died. I could very well go back to the Golden Wyld and challenge for Fostern if I wanted to, but, I don't." She says. "Among Furies I could be an Athro, among the other Garou, it's obvious I got a lot to learn. The Garou here are different, and I'm finding it challenging at best. I am... a very task, detail oriented Garou. I'm set in my ways and I need to learn to loosen up I suppose, work with others better, put away my tribal predjudices, and then go from there."

Natalie says, "Huh. ...So you gonna try, or what?"

Ashley shrugs. "To get along with others or challenge for Fostern?" She asks with a laugh.

Natalie jerks her head to the side, as if to pop her neck. "Well, since doing one can lead to the other... Both. I asked Alicia - you met her? Child of Gaia elder? - about it, and eh. I dunno. Back home you didn't have to do so damn much to be considered Fostern. It wasn't like you had to organize half the sept for a sing-along. You just had to be not stupid."

"I suppose I can give it a shot. I figure if you and I can get along, the others should be a piece of cake." Artemis says with a flash of a grin. "I know what you mean though. In the old lands, I was a dedicated guardian for four years. I lived most of my life as a lupus, teaching others, fighting the Wyrm when called upon and being a good soldier. That'd earn you easy rank for being dedicated to your post." She grins. "So, what shall we do to get the others to see us as Fostern, since I believe you seem to have high expectations as well."

Natalie mimes throwing something at her and snorts. "In the old lands. Listen to us, we sound like a pair of whiny immigrants. "In the old lands...! When I was a cub...!" Cripes, if you go on about how you had to walk to your Rite of Passage uphill both ways in the snow..."

Ashley laughs sharply. "No, my Rite of Passage involved luring banes of toxins and poisons to their death." She says with a shake of her head. "I do see where you are going. I suppose I feel old. Four years a Garou is like.. what, fourty two in dog years? Its a hard, long life we lead."

Natalie says, "Coming up on five, myself," as she leans back against the fridge again. Hope no one's trapped inside. "And if it's seven dog years per human, it'd be twenty-eight. Or thirty-five. And then you get nutcases like Joshua... ech. I'm not gonna talk about the bastard today." She kicks back lightly against the enameled surface. "...I think a good part of having people take us seriously is Havoc doing a good job. We're all cliaths, save Signe. If we can manage to not screw up, that'll be a help."

Ashley nods her head with a grin. "Killing the Wyrm is a easy way of showing that you can't screw up. I also believe that they take the roles of our auspice quite seriously here. Ahrouns are to be the fighers. Theurge's need to be the spirit seers, and Galliards gotta pass along the info and mesmerize us with their stories. I don't think Glory alone will fly in their eyes here."

"...Yeah. I gotta get a PDA, or something. Maybe a voice-activated recorder." The Galliard's foot thumps against the fridge door again. "It'd also be kinda nice to be able to walk away from a fight, instead of be carried away, you know? If my stories always end with, "...And that's when I was knocked unconscious," it's not gonna do good things for my rep. So." She jerks her chin at her packmate again. "So what are you gonna do?"

Ashley shrugs her shoulders with a grin. "First of all.. I may take a stab at claiming Fury dominance here." She says. "I should step up and take it from Helen. Not that I have anything against the girl, she just doesn't have much in the way of broad horizons. She is too relaxed for a New Moon." She says. "I'm going to talk to Megan and Signe and see what I can do as a Theurge here, besides teach other Garou Rites. I'm going to work with James as well as I promised in payment of my battle axe, and hopefully gain insight on what the spirits are like here. He is going to be a Fostern soon, so... getting in his good graces, despite being a Get, would be useful. As far as your fighting talents go, can I offer you an opinion?"

Natalie's eyes narrow, but she nods. Dubiously, perhaps, but it's a nod. "...Sure."

"You got to keep your eye on your opponent. I noticed that you tend to have wandering eyes." Artemis says, holding up a finger, letting it draw from left to right, staring at you, seeing if they'd follow. "I think sometimes you just don't 'see' it coming, and that may be your downfall. You are a good fighter, you just need to keep your head up."

Natalie's eyes do indeed follow the finger - left, anyway. Her chin comes up defensively. "...Yeah? Huh. Some people've told me that I wouldn't see a bus coming if I was walking across the street. ...Hell." She pushes off the fridge to sulk to the table, a foot hooking a chair free. "Signe said she wouldn't spar... no, that's not it. Signe said she wasn't, no, didn't want to fight 'friendlies' now that she's under Wolverine. ...Maybe I'll see about sparring lessons from, I dunno, Owen or something."

Ashley shrugs her shoulders. "Owen? From what I hear, you'd be better off with Signe." She grins slightly. "He's no slouch either, I'd wish you all the luck in the world if you stepped in the barn with him."

"What do you hear?" Nat counters.

"Well, James sure seems to like him. From what I heard, Owen has been here for a long time, and just got back into town. He's known for his Glory and is quite respected, despite being a total asshole." Artemis says. "He's a real ass kicker in battle from what others have murmured. Even I planned on not pissing him off."

Natalie slouches down to kick a chair out. "Yeah? Well, I'm not planning on calling his mother ikthya, I just want sparring lessons. Who better to learn from than a frothy Fostern Ahroun Get? Sure it'll be hard, but it'd be good."

Nodding her head, Artemis agrees. "It will be good, that's for sure. Maybe I can tag along with you?" She offers. "Just in case, ya'know. He flips out on you and starts pounding your face into the ground?"

Natalie snorks. "...Yeah, 'cause nothing will gather Glory for the Get quite like snapping and accidentally killing your students. You want to come along, Ash... Artemis, you ask him yourself."

"Mm.. alright." Artemis says as she slips her hands into her pockets.

Nat's quiet for a minute or so, studying the other woman. "...You know our Theurge? Cat?"

"I don't know him per'say, but I know the name at least." Artemis says.

Natalie says, "Yeah, he's not exactly Mr. Personality. Anyway, I was hoping I could talk to him about going through the Umbra, but he's still, well... off somewhere. So lemme ask you instead: you up for running a little sight-seeing? I haven't been through since I got here, and I'm starting to get itchy."

"Sure, I can if you want to." Artemis says as she offers a nod to the Walker. "I like the Umbra here. Its calm."

Natalie drops her a satisfied nod. "Cool. I'd suggest tonight, only things are gonna be hairy. What about... crap, I dunno. When is good for you?"

Ashley shrugs her shoulders slightly. "Anytime is good for me, honestly." She says. "Tomorrow night."

Natalie thinks for a few before slowly nodding. "...That could do. Depending on what happens at the Moot and revel, of course. Hell, the way my luck's been running, I'll end up with more battle scars than Thomas."

"At least the scars will be respected and as a Galliard, you can beef up the stories a bit to soften the blow, eh'?" Artemis says with a chuckle in her throat.

"Ah," Nat says, holding up a restraining hand, "You forget. All my stories end with, "And that's when I was knocked unconscious," remember?"

"That is why you are going to work on that with Owen, right?" Artemis says with a grin.

Natalie smirks faintly. "Of course. That's where half of my scars are going to come from too."

"True." Artemis grins. "I think I need to learn the healing gift soon for our pack."

Natalie says, "That would be damn useful, yeah. I wouldn't mind learning it, but I think my chances of that are about as good as me discovering that Martha Stewart really is Fomori."

Ashley chuckles. "Well. I was thinking that the more stupid stuff we poke our nose into, the more such talents are going to be needed."

Natalie folds her arms over her chest and considers the far wall thoughtfully. Wallpaper or paint? ...No, wait. "Well, we've got three Ahroun already. I suppose I should look into leanring Mindspeak or something - two-way radios would work, but if they're not Dedicated... and plus, I dunno if I could see some of you settling down to use them."

"I"m not good with toys or anything mechanical." Artemis says with a honest grin on her face. "I'd end up breaking it and costing someone money."

"So there you are." Nat tilts her head toward the Fury. "I'm not exactly Miss Deep Pockets; I'm saving up for a decent punching bag so I don't have to keep hauling my butt out where when I want to work out."

Nodding her head, Artemis asks. "So you plan on getting a job in the city and working for money?"

"I've got a job... sort of. I've tried out most of the contractors in town and they won't hire me long term. But a couple of them've said they'd toss some extra stuff my way, or bring me on for a day or two." She smiles beatifically and opens her hands, palms up. "That'll only increase as the season heats up. So while I'm not raking in the big bucks, I'm doing all right. Thinking about skiving out of the mansion and finding my own place. It was all right when Salem was Elder, but now Leala's practically pissing on every corner."

Ashley nods her head. "How are you taking the loss? You are going to challenge her at a later date?" She asks carefully.

Natalie ehs. "Maybe. I want to settle in here a bit more before I do. I still think I'm a better Elder than she is, but give her enough rope, you know? Who knows, maybe she'll surprise the hell out of everyone and shape up. I'm not expecting it though. She made this big deal out of how she wanted to get all the Walkers together for a mini-moot before tonight's real deal." She lets silence and a small tight smile answer the question of if it happened.

"That is more than what Helen has done. At least Leala acts like she cares. I can't say much 'bout Helen except she isn't dedicated as I hoped she would be. I think she has been the Elder here by default." Artemis paces slightly with a frown on her face.

"Because no one else cared enough to step up?" Nat guesses. "Hell, Artemis, I'm a crappy Elder. I know that. I just think that I'm the best of a bad lot, you know? But what'd you do with the Furies if you had them?"

"There is only four of us, and I pack with one of 'em. What I'd do is see about working with the woman's shelter here, see if we can weed out any battered kinfolk. Back home, we were always finding one or two a year, and even a lost cub once in a blue moon. Kids show up at those kinda things all the time, trying to get off the streets."

Natalie listens intently, cutting in with a, "How will you know if they're kin, though? I mean, if they don't already know it?"

"Thats the hard part, you almost really can't. Some have a good blood line that may be recognizable, otherwise, you try and research their background, see if they got Garou relatives." Artemis says with a nod.

Natalie huhs. "Makes sense. All right, so..." Her eyes had drifted toward the barnyard as she speaks, her words cutting off as she spots someone outside. "...'Ll you excuse me? I think I see someone I need to talk to."

Ashley nods her head as she takes another sip of her water. "Take care." She says, then heads for the living room.

[End of log]