Currently in Saint Claire, it is raining lightly. The temperature is 48 degrees Fahrenheit (8 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the west at 8 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 30.01 and steady, and the relative humidity is 86 percent. The dewpoint is 44 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius.)

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

Cockroach Mansion -- Downstairs

The heavy, dark opulence to this mansion known as Dominion is perfectly exemplified by the room vistors first enter, this front hall. Dark-stained wood serves as paneling on the walls, gleams with high gloss in the hardwood floor, and supports a semi-circular balcony in carved pillars. The heavy double doors, made of oak, open into the hall from the south, opposite the huge, hourglass-shaped staircase composed of red and black gneiss which soars up to the balcony; both are fenced in with a wooden railing of simple spiraled posts. Several doorways can be made out on the second floor, nearly blending in discreetly with the back wall. The wall to the left of the front doors is composed entirely of windows which run from the forty-foot-tall domed dark wood ceiling to the floor; if drawn, the heavy velvet drapes of deep red would completely mask them from view, but when parted, as they often are, one has a marvelous view of the grounds outside.

A doorway to the right of the front doors leads to a parlor, and towards the back are the kitchens, the large dining room, and Salem's office.

Obvious exits:
Tower Stairway Elder's Office Front Doors

The phone rings. How unusual.

Yes, it is unusual. So unusual it takes Josh a few minutes to figure what in the heck that noise was. The youth hauls himself off the couch where he was napping and into the kitchen, picking the phone up hesitantly. "Huh?"

The person on the other end pauses - not long enough to be labeled 'telemarketer', but enough to have a second thought. "...I'm looking for Joshua?" The voice gives it away: Natalie.

"Uh. This is a Joshua." The rather confused youth replies. "But... I think you have the wrong number."

"Don't be a goober," the Galliard orders crisply. "I'm just checking to see if you were in. You gonna be around for a bit? I heard a couple things I want to talk to you about."

"Oh. Oh!" Josh straightens up as the realization dawns on him like an oncoming two by four. "Er. Did not recognize your voice. Uh... ya. I am around..."

Natalie laughs shortly. "Good. I'll be there in a few." There's a jingling sound, then she hangs up.

Joshua hangs the phone up, eyeing it like some sort of dead fish. The youth shrugs for his own benefit, heading into the parlor where he returns to the couch.

It's perhaps ten minutes later when the Galliard comes through the front door, her keys jingling as she shoves them back into her coat pocket. "Josh?" The door closes behind her and she heads down the hallway, glancing into rooms as she passes.

Joshua 'oof's off the couch, stretching as he stands. With a massive yawn, he shakes himself off a little. "Ya. In here." He calls back, still working his chops slightly. The youth walks around the table and couches for the door. "What is up?"

Natalie says, "Ah, there you are." She stops in the doorway, hip-shot against the frame, and wrinkles her nose at him. "I talked to Eve a little yesterday. She wanted me to 'do' something with you, even though I'm not Elder anymore. But. Sounds to me like both of you have opposite ends of the same stick, so I wanted to see if I could straighten things out."

Joshua frowns, crossing his arms. "Eve." He responds, his voice growing decidedly flat. "You should know... she was called Renee before. She is a know liar, Charach and coward. She disgraced the whole sept by breaking the litany and lying to half moons about it. She was satired for it." He lifts his chin slightly... doesn't take much to figure what he thinks of her. "Just so we are on the same page as for who we are talking about."

"We're on the same page," Nat agrees, her eyes narrowing. "However - she's taken her punishment, from what I hear. The Walkers can't exactly throw stones when it comes to people changing their name or auspice, now can we?" Her own chin comes up, jerks toward the couch. "You wanna sit, or should we both stand?"

Joshua shrugs and turns for the couch, that frown still there. "She is trying to run from what she did. Make us all forget what a liar she is." He says, sitting down on the couch again. "What did she want you to do?" The youth questions, eyes narrowing slightly as his head tilts.

Natalie keeps silent as she takes her own seat - not the couch, but one of the chairs turned for easy conversation. "Doesn't matter," she answers with an airy wave. "I wanted you to hear her side of things though, maybe play Pony Express and give her yours." As if the past few days weren't bizzare enough, now this? Natalie playing peacemaker? Surely the End Times are nigh!

Joshua eyes Natalie at the first comment, as if she just suggested the world was donut shaped. Instead of commenting, he starts in: "Okay. Popped out of the shadow before the sun came up, since I was going umbral to make my way here as fast as I could since Megan said the moment I was done with Guardian I start here. I was rushed to make the time she wanted, and I had a lot of blood on me from my stay at the Cave just the night before. So I pop out of the shadow and take a nap in a nice trash heap while I wait for night when I can continue 'safely.' As safe as the City Umbra gets, anyhow. I wake up, I'm hungry, but I'm also still bloody. So I get a jacket to cover up the blood some, walk a little bit since the Zoo was right across the street from the alley. And then I see her, so I pull back into the alley since I never saw her in person 'n thought she was a normal. She follows me in, asking all sorts of nosy questions. I give her every reason on earth to leave, and even answer some of her questions. But she pulls a gun on me like miss Billy the Kid, and so I move to get out of the way of said gun. She keeps waving that gun around while I keep out of sight behind a dumpster, and she is carrying on like none other... so I pull out my knife and get ready to deal with the crazy lady before she shoots me. Oh, but she freaks out when she sees Craig's knife, thinks I'm some gangsta who killed Craig and stole his knife or some crap like that, uses some crazy gift I've never heard of or seen that makes trash fly at me like something from Star Wars. Since I never saw the gift, and I never saw her Homid before then, I though 'Ah shit, some kind of Mind warper.', and I shift to deal with the problem. Tear her a new one, she gots my throat though, so I blacked. Then later the evening, when I need to get back to traveling, she heals herself using some other crazy ass gift, but offers nothing like that for the guy who actually has to go somewhere dangerous after that." Josh leans back into the couch, that frown still etched into the youth's face.

Natalie blinks at the sudden info dump, but after opening her mouth thinks better of interrupting and settles back into her chair. "Hmn. Let me try that again: I'd like you to hear her side of the story. All right?"

Joshua blinks, having clearly missed this the first time. Typical Josh, really. "Ah." His lips thin, crossing his arms and slouching some. That's about as close to an invitation to speak as you're going to get from hom on this.

Natalie clearly wasn't expecting engraved vellum. "What she saw was some guy covered in blood, hanging out near her Tribe's territory, doing a piss-poor job of hiding in an alley. When she confronts him, he starts waving around a knife that she last saw in the hands of her pack and tribemate Craig, who was murdered. Can you see why she'd be a little tense?"

Joshua blinks very slowly and very carefully. "She pulled a gun before the knife was even removed. She pulled a gun before she even got an answer 'bout where the blood was from." He responds dryly.

Natalie does dry right back at him. "Wouldn't you, if there were a possible threat? Let's pretend, just for a minute, that there's some hulking big guy hanging out across the street from this place. You take a peek at him, and crap, he's covered in blood. He sees you looking, and ducks down the alley. I dunno about -you-, Sunshine, but I would sure as hell pull a gun, for my own safety as well as that of the Veil. Random drug-crazed ganger isn't going to be impressed by little ol' me. They'll take a second look at the gun, though."

"If she was normal, she would have not kept up with the line. She would have let me leave like I was going to." The youth finally responds, after a long silent moment. "I didn't do anything wrong. I met Megan-Rhya's orders and showed up here when I was supposed to. If she was not Garou, nothing would have happened.

"If she hadn't pushed you, nothing would have happened," Nat corrects. "Neither one of you is squeaky clean in this one, Josh. Both of you made assumptions, and things really couldn't've gone much worse. So. I'll ask you same thing I asked Eve: are you willing to let this drop, or do you want to follow it through? Letting it drop means you acknowledge that yeah, you screwed up. Tell her that next time you see her. Don't wait for her to see that she made as many mistakes, 'cause I don't think she will. She's a Gnawer. If you want to keep it alive, though... Eh. That'll strain relationships between the tribes. I don't know if we can afford that, but it's your decision to make."

Joshua's face flattens out more, visibly unhappy with at least some of what Natalie said. "I did not screw up. I did everything right inside my means. What could I have done that would make it not a mistake, hmm?"

Natalie says, "I wasn't there, so I can't give you a play by play. But that's not the point - the point is, things went south. You were there, she was there; you both screwed up. It's over and done with. What are you going to do now, cliath?" Nat sounds truly curious.

Joshua huffs slightly, head straitening. "It was an unfortunate happening, but I do not see anything that I could have done to avoid it short of go against what Megan-Rhya said and take a much slower way here, making me late." He hesitates a moment, before adding. "I don't like her. At all. She shot Uncle Walker in his office with silver. She dragged a lot of people down with her after she Charached. And this all just goes to show that Uncle Walker was right about her. I am not going to apologize to someone who I do not like to begin with for something that I had absolutely no fault in. I have no intention of pressing the issue, but I am not going to apologize."

Little signs of tension show in the Galliard's face - nostrils flaring, lips quivering. She takes a moment, however, so that when she speaks again, her voice is calm. "Sorry, Josh, no can do. You were there, you played a part in the screwup. I'm not interested in pointing fingers, or finding out that she was ten percent more responsible than you. I really don't give a damn. Since you don't want to let it drop - you're not going to apologize - then things are going to go boom." She takes in a deep breath, lets it hiss out between her teeth regretfully. "Damn."

Joshua rolls his eyes back for a moment in true teenage fashion, gesturing wide. "Apologize for exactly what? What the heck am I supposed to apologize for? I cannot even figure out what I supposedly did wrong in her book. How the heck am I supposed to apologize for it?"

Nat leans forward, bracing elbows on her knees. "I believe all she wants is for you to take responsibility. To say that yes, you screwed up. And really, Josh, isn't that just what you want from her? But in case you're thinking of being stubborn and refusing, think it through for a minute: you've already said you have no respect for her, that she lies. Would having her apologize really change any of that? My advice to you is to suck it up and go over there. Tell her you were wrong. Stroke her ego a bit. Yeah, it'll bite. It'll suck dead rat through a cocktail straw. But it will also," she pauses for a breath, "show her and the rest of them that you're not a damn timebomb anymore. Word will get out, and other people will hear that too. You might get a few who think you're a wuss for doing it, but trust me, more people will think about how much you've grown up." Her smile is tight and toothy. "If I have to convince them of that with my fists they'll think that."

Joshua frowns sharply at the last, sitting strait up. "You are not my older sister. And even if you where, I do not need you to fight my fights for me. It is my business." A suddenly harsh and overly defensive note from Josh, but after a moment of nostril flaring and jaw grinding, he lets out a terse sigh. "I will think about it. Either way I am not about to march over there right now, ya?"

"No," Nat retorts, her teeth hidden behind a thin lipped smile, "I'm not your big sister. I'm your Tribemate. I'm not going to fight your fights for you, Josh. I'll point out when I think you've screwed up, I'll cheer you on when you don't. Better, I'll make sure other people know that you're doing things right. I may be a crappy Elder, but I'm a damn fine tribemate if I do say so myself. What's family stays family." Another breath and she settles back into her chair again, for all intents and purposes relaxed. "That goes for this. This is your business. We all good?"

Joshua lets out another short sigh, gathering his hair back behind again. "Ya. I will think about it tonight." He repeats, a dozen or so mites bit cooler. "'s that all you wanted to talk about? Or was there some other news you had?"

Natalie lets the topic drop completely, not even nodding acknowledgement of his decision. "That was pretty much it, yup. The only other news... well, it isn't exactly secret, but it's not something I want spread about quite yet. Megan knows, Alicia could probably make a good stab." She thinks about that, snorts amusement to herself. "Anyway. I'm going to Challenge for Fostern."

Joshua, oddly enough, doesn't seemed too shocked, nodding slightly. "Who and when? Like... soon, or are you going to wait until the next moot to kind of lay down roots before you try?"

Natalie doesn't seem very shocked at his lack of shock, a faint smile curling her lips. "'When' is probably June. 'Who'... that's trickier. Megan suggests staying within tribe or auspice. With Thomas gone, that leaves me either Alicia or Jarred. I'd prefer to have it be Thomas, but... eh. Likely it'll be Alicia, unless things change. This isn't exactly carved in stone yet."

Joshua grunts, standing up suddenly. "Huh. Well, tribe could use it, that is for sure. Especially with Uncle Walker Gone." He offers a wistful looking half shrug. "I am going to get some thing to eat from wherever. Want me to bring something back?"

Natalie only shakes her head, tucking a strand of hair behind one ear. "I'm good, thanks. If you want to talk about anything, you've got my cell, right? Otherwise I'll catch you around. --Oh, just as a FYI, Havoc's claimed the west side - 14th and 15th Avenue from north to south. If you see anything funky, let us know and we'll take care if it."

Joshua the youth uh-huh's in the appropriate place, stomach making growling noises to remind him why he stood up. "Sure thing..." He agrees, offering a breif wave as he backs up. "Later."

"Later, Joshua," Nat agrees, staying put.

Joshua turns, heading for the front door on his way for chinese take out. Phone? Delivery? What's that?

Like any self-respecting delivery guy would come to the Freaky House of Horror.

[End of log]