Currently the moon is in the waxing Crescent Moon phase (37% full).

Stairs in the foyer lead up to the second floor, while a doorway tucked under the curve of the stairs heads down to the basement. A heavy door in the foyer with a monitor and intercom beside it goes back to the area set up for communal use by the Sept's Garou.

As is the custom, Tu doesn't arrive to the safe house empty handed - carrying a white bag with 'Plutos' written on the outside. Also a custom, instead of heading anywhere specific, the ragabash wanders the house, seeing who is about.

Natalie's tucked into the computer room, typing away at the keyboard of the computer in the far corner. The screen's full of what looks like a web-browser - perhaps one of the ubiquitous webmail programs. She remains engrossed in whatever it is she's doing, and doesn't acknowledge the sound of the safehouse door opening.

Ever vigilant, Tu checks the computer room too, stopping at the entryway and leaning against the door jam. "I should take a picture", the ragabash starts, "and submit it to GarouStereotypes.com. The Glass Walker elder in front of a computer, a zillion windows open." He smiles, but his usually zeal for joking seems a little off today.

Natalie startles and turns toward the door, relaxing only once she's identified the Ragabash. "Oh hey, Tu. Hardly a zillion. Just catching up on email, doing a little news browsing. The usual." Her smile matches his, and a jerk of her head invites the man in. "How've you been? I was going to give you a call later today, fill you in."

Tu slips further into the room, grabbing a chair and sitting down near the Elder. He forces himself not to look at the computer screen. "Me? Okay, I guess. I've been away for a bit - so I'm feeling a little out of touch." He smiles, recalling something or other. "I did get to meet the new 'recruit'. She'll be a handful, it seems."

"Oh hell yeah," Nat agrees with a wry quirk of her lips. "Makes me glad she's a philodox, and thus Thomas' problem. She threw a fork at my face the other day." Back to the computer and a few moves of the mouse have the window closed, leaving the background (a beauty shot of DeWalt's yellow and black power tools) on display. "And I've got news on Kevin, too. Not good, I'm afraid. Or," she adds, swiveling in her chair to face the man, "Not entirely good. Signe came over, and she still wants a claim on him. So we have to take it to Megan."

A disappointed look shows on the Ragabash look, but not shock. "Yea, I heard you were meeting with Signe. I guess we can't blame them though it'd be a shame to lose him. Any idea how she'll rule?"

Natalie shakes her head, mouth pursed. "Not really. I hope she'll... well, look. Her own rule for this Sept says that lost cubs can pick their own Tribes, right? So by that, Kevin's ours. He thought about the Get and the Walkers, and picked us. The thing that throws the wrench into it is that damned past life. I should never have made the bargain with it that I'd talk to Signe, but I couldn't think of any other way to shut it up other than ripping out Kev's throat."

Natalie adds in a scowling mutter, "Should've just kept my yap shut."

Tu says "Yea, well, it's not like you could just ignore it. I mean, the damn thing was leaving notes around. If you hadn't made the deal, it's a good bet they would have challenged things anyway." He curses with a sigh. "How's the kid taking it? I can't imagine he's thrilled at the idea of going back, especially since he left because of the way they treated him. I can't imagine things would be better for him upon return."

"He's..." Nat begins, shakes her head. "I don't know. He doesn't want to be with them. It's not like he didn't make the decision, you know? He's thought about it and said 'no thanks'. But he's a good kid. If Megan decides against us, he'll go with them and be the best Get he can." She grimaces again and scowls at her knees, her hands resting on her thighs. "It's just not fair to him. I was hoping to get him rited in the next couple of months, too."

The ragabash starts to reply, then decides against whatever it was. "Nothing to do but wait, I guess. " He purses his lips, thinking. "I'm a little surprised they want him back. I was hoping they'd see his leaving as some sort of weakness and lose interest."

Natalie says, "That's what I'd thought too." A disconsolate shrug. "Apparently Signe sees the loss of all that damn Get breeding as more important than any possible 'character flaws'." She airquotes the phrase, then drops her hands back to her knees, fingers curved inward. "-What about you? You're his main teacher. You think he's ready for Riting now? ...In a couple of months, I mean. Or when?"

Tu shrugs. "Actually, that's one of the things I wanted to talk about. I was hoping to get permission to start taking him around the city, maybe start teaching him some surveillance skills and how to get around." He doesn't add 'Assuming he's still here' though to the end of his thought. "He knows his stuff, and he's been sparring and doing other exercises, but I think he needs a little more 'real' experience."

Natalie thinks it over for only a few seconds before nodding. "Do it. I can't see Megan going back on her own word - Thomas thinks she'd do it because she doesn't want Kev 'contaminated' by a charach - but if she does that, I'm spreading the word to every sept I know of. I want to get him his GED at the next opportunity - think you'd have a possible job for him after that?"

Tu nods. "Jobs are easy to come by, depending on what the kid wants to do, and I'll check into GED courses the week." He thinks for a bit then adds, "Do we have an ID set up for him, yet? I mean, something legit?"

Natalie says, "I've been holding off on that," with another wry smile. "At first it was just something to get around to when I had time. Now? I don't know if I necessarily want to make it any easier for the Get than I have to. I figure I'll talk to Rina when we're ready and get it set up."

The ragabash obviously approves with that line of thinking, smiling with a nod. "Good enough." He makes a quick mental note, then moves to the next item. "Listen. I made nice with Jeremy, but I need clarification as to what I can and can not include him in. If he wants to run into flaming buildings, that's fine with me, but I don't want to be responsible if he gets burned." After a moment, he adds explanation. "He's apparently cooked up something involving him, Jon, and me for the Hospital deal. I'm not sure the details, but I'm willing to bet the words 'With us a safe distance from the place' will not be uttered."

"He's... family," the woman begins, grimacing at the mention of the other Kin. "Oh lord. Well, I imagine that including Jon is going to keep things sensible. I hope. I..." She stands, then, as if she can't bear to be sitting any longer, and paces over to the other side of the room to study the upper corner of the wall. After a few seconds, with her back still to him, she says, "--Use your judgment. If you have any questions, any... safety concerns, I need to give the OK first. If it all sounds... sounds safe, then slide me a copy of the plans, let me know you've agreed, and do it."

"I don't mean to be a pain", the ragabash offers earnestly. "But I also realize that he has clout and... well, just 'and'. If there's any danger, I'll run things buy you. That's how I'd prefer to handle things anyway." Not wanting to press his luck, he changes topics again. "Any instructions for the good of the order?"

"Jeremy thinks he has more clout with me than he does," she says tightly, still staring up at the meeting of wall and ceiling. "Give me a sec." Closer to five seconds pass before she turns back to flash an unhappy approximation of a smile. "It's not you, Tu. It's... anyway. Yeah. Just one thing. Sunday is Thomas' birthday. You two've met, right?"

Tu wrinkles his brow at the Elder's last question. "Thomas? Quiet guy, a little bit on the grumpy side? Yea, I seem to recall being shot in the same room as him." Humor solves all problems. Honest. "You're not planning a surprise party, I hope. He doesn't seem the type."

Humor lets the Elder snort, at least, which drains off some of her tenseness. "Yeah, right. Sorry. I'm just... anyway. No, not a surprise party. Not on that side of the moon. Just you, me, him. Maybe the cubs, if we can get Cy out of the basement by then. Order in pizza, have a few beers. Cake. Talk. Just a nice quiet... nice quiet time." Her left hand creeps up to rub at the back of her neck. "A little Walker bonding. You know."

The ragabash's smile warms, and he inclines his head slightly. "That sounds like a good idea, so count me in. You need me to bring anything?"

Natalie starts to shake her head, then changes her mind with a smirk. "Sure. You bring the beer. He likes the fancy microbrews. I was going to go out later, pick up a couple of books for him. Nothing... over the top, though. Nothing elaborate." Her smirk turns decidedly impish. "We'll save the dancing girls for -your- birthday."

Tu nods, his tone businesslike and serious. "Yea, that's no problem. I can give you the name of some people to contact." He adds, breaking into a smile. "Oh, and I can bring the beer as well, I'll get something decent." He stands, grabbing the bag he carried with him. "Hey, If I were to buy a gift for him, would you have any suggestions?"

Natalie snorts. "Or maybe to celebrate Kevin's rite of passage. --Uh, yeah, sort of. I was going to pick him up some Heinlein. Maybe get him some history? He seems pretty, um... I don't know. Dry. I saw Watership Down on his shelves. Ender's Game. Some Dashiell Hammett. So something along those lines. --Or maybe something classical. He listens to a lot of opera."

A slight frown appears at the list of present possibilities. "Maybe I'll get him a baseball hat.", the ragabash offers. "Or some of the self-tanning stuff." As he's speaking, he's also heading for the door. "Let me know when the hearing on the cub is, ok? I'd like to go."

"I think it's just Signe and me," Nat answers, dropping him a nod as he passes. "Maybe Kevin. But I'll keep it in mind. At the least, I'll send out email letting everyone know what's going on."

A final nod, then the ragabash heads out.

[End of log]