World of Darkness: Attrition - [Fic] "Rawr! N'stuff!"

[Swara-Ann]

"I dunno," She said calmly. "From my point of view I see you having all these buddies you want to just let in on our business. You trust them. Doesn't mean I do, or should, because you're just as strange to me as they are. Can't say I'm comfortable in a group where you let anyone in simply because you're poker buddies."

,,

She stood up and walked over to August, taking in a deep breath to calm her self. "You don't understand me, August. So this is your one warning. You cuss at me again, get snarky, or try and be some sort of bad ass you obviously aren't..." She leaned in for effect and Declan thought he might have to intervene for August's safety. The growl in the back of her throat wasn't something pleasant. "...and I'll put you through a wall. You don't understand the Rage, but I will help you, one wall at a time. Remember that, and we can be best buddies."

,,

Swara turned to Declan, sure he was taller, but she met his eyes with that stare that made her seem ten feet tall. Declan knew Swara wasn't the Alpha type, she'd not want the job in a million years. She was Alpha female type though. Under the ditzy exterior she was strong, determined, powerful... like she had something worth fighting for, and that was a dangerous sort of monster to trifle with. "You might not be Uratha," she said and he really wished she'd stop speaking that funny language. "But I am, and I have sworn an Oath. My laws are to respected if I am to part of anything we do, this will not be a collection of beasts. Chief among those is Nu Bath Githul, The Herd Must Not Know. My secrets are not for August to know."

,,

There was an awkward moment of silence as each stared at the other. "That said, there needs to be more trust. Until there is, there's no need to further discuss anything involving a 'pack'."

[Owns-The-Night]

"A-fuckin'-men." Declan retorted, but calmly enough. "I ain't sure about the whole 'Pack with a capital p' thing anyway. Because there appears to be a whole fuckload of rules that I could give two hoots about, and I'll be damned and dead before binding myself to strangers." He wolfed down the rest of the slice of pizza in his hand.

,,

"I'm sure August appreciates yer refreshin' honesty, so lets have more of the same, so we all know where we stand. I barely know you, and I'm tryin' really hard to understand, but here's the thing." He didn't bother standing up or trying to look intimidating. His tone was matter of fact as he selected another slice of pizza. "I care about her. So what you do to her outta some bullshit dominance-play temper tantrum, I do to you. Bruise for bruise, traction for traction, maiming for maiming. I have the same temper you do. The same instincts. Don't tell me you can't help it, or it's one of yer quaint moon-caller traditions. You were a bitch to her, and she bitched back. Dish not, lest ye be dished unto. Because my tradition is: anyone fucks with me or mine, mine including my friends, that luckless fucker pulls back a stump. No rules. No challenge. And I'd pin back those ears and listen, Swara, because this right here is the end of the discussion on the matter."

,,

"That's my rule. My number one rule. And it's non-negotiable. So if you can't check your temper, if you feel the need to beat the shit out of someone who can't regenerate or bench a Buick in order to salvage yer pride, you can take a pizza and go. Because I don't care to associate with you."

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

"Look," Sarah said in the midst of all this general pissery. "I'm sworn to the same Oath, Swara, even if I mutilate the fuckin' words. An' I know all about how The Herd Must Not Know. That said, I also know about Honor the High, Respect the Low. Intimately familiar with that bit, given that I pretty much personify the low. And while we're at it, might not be a bad idea to decide what the hell qualifies as 'herd' here. Lotta debate on that, ya know. Some figure the blooded are, some don't. Some count other funky critters, some don't. For a black-an'-white rule, there's a shitload of grey."

[Swara-Ann]

"Do you guys hear yourselves?!" Swara-Ann managed to laugh softly. "You said it yourself, Declan, "she's straight out of the human drawer". Luna has provided for us, a way to survive what she intended us to do. We can handle punishment she can't and then there's other stuff." At that point the supers knew there was something more Swara wasn't telling. More oath stuff, maybe? "She will get hurt, Declan. Maybe the wrong time at the wrong place, or accidentally in one of our warpaths or taken by the Enemy and used as leverage against you." Declan noticed the way she said used against him, as if August being held captive wouldn't slow Swara-Ann down one bit. "We were made for this, built for this, we're apex predators, she's supposed to be at home watching Fringe reruns."

,,

"I will not have her on my conscience. If I get pissed and go off on her, no big deal, you go off on me. Do you think that means anything to me Declan? I'm groovy an hour later while she's in traction for six months." She laughed and threw her hands up letting them fall to her sides with a lazy bounce of her legs. She shook her head and it sounded like she was cracking up. "This is just nuts, I don't believe this. Fine. She's off the hook. I'll honor your rule and you'll honor mine. I will not violate any of my Oaths because of her. You invited her into this fold, so she's your problem."

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

"Nobody's talkin' about violatin' Oaths," Sarah replied. "August ain't a combat wombat, that we know. But the fact that she knows that things like us are walkin' around? That ain't on you or me. To be honest, that's on Declan, who didn't have an Oath to violate." She looked over at the vargr, and pointedly noted, "Which might be somethin' we oughta fix at some point, so as not to have more of this." She shook her head, then turned back to the angry uratha. "Anyway, we can't cram that toothpaste back in the tube, Swara, not 'less you wanna kill her or know someone who can do a good presto-chango on her memory."

,,

The Dead-Wolf sighed. "I ain't expectin' her to be a wolf, 'cause she ain't. All I'm expectin' is that she'll keep her trap shut 'bout us, an' that we'll keep our traps shut about her beyond-the-grave buddies. An' that maybe, just maybe, since we might get together an' be civil with her when we're not out doin' wolfy shit, she might have some info from the spooks that'll help us out sometimes. That's all, an' nothin' more." Left unsaid were the various details about totems and territorial duties and the other particulars of that 'wolfy shit'; Sarah did indeed hold to the Oath, and didn't want to see it bent any more than it already had been.

[z-August Turner]

“Oh, this is bullshit!” August could remain silent no longer. “Let me get this straight. Astra’s human-with-some-improvements, but I’m just a human? Because every human sees ghosts. What about Gary? What’s he? Why am I the only one getting treated like shit?”

She turned to Sarah, crossing her arms belligerently. “All I’m good for is some ghost-tips when you need help? Otherwise, you just want to kill me or wipe my brain? You’re a fucking monster for even thinking those are acceptable ways to treat someone.” Her gaze swept over the room. “And before I get ass-chewed for slinging the word ‘monster’ around, let me be clear: I mean a monster is someone who acts in monstrous ways, regardless of their powers.

“And you’re a bitch, Swara. If you’re going to put me through a wall for calling you what you are, then go for it. I’m willing to bet that Dec will happily put you back in traction for every day I’m healing.”

August took a step back, ending near Declan. “You can keep your precious secrets. And you can forget about help from me, either. If you’re going to treat me like a second-class person, you can expect the same in return. Dec, I’m still down for helping you, and you, too, Astra and Gary. But you two? You owe me apologies before you can even think about that.

“I’m going. I don’t want to be part of this group. Dec or Gary or Astra or whomever can tell me what I’m deemed worthy of knowing, and I’ll filter information back the same way. It was nice meeting two of you. Later.” With that, August left the room to get her things and go.

[Swara-Ann]

Completely undaunted by August's exit Swara smirked. It was better this way and she knew all it would take is the right push the emotional time bomb would leave on her own. Every word August spoke was just a step to hide behind Declan so he could fight her battles for her. They didn't need that kind of weakness around them, she was just going to drag Declan down eventually too.

,,

All the bubbles and sweetness had returned to her expression as the source of her ire had vacated. "Well, that's cleared up. What's next to discuss?"

[Owns-The-Night]

"Right now? You two gettin' the fuck outta my house. I brought you here and you couldn't even be civil to my goddamn woman." Declan pointed towards the front door. "Out. Yer invitation is revoked."

,,

"The Oath-" Sarah began, but was cut off as Declan's fist came down on the table hard enough that the wooden frame jumped.

,,

"Fuck. Your. Oath." Declan said distinctly. "I ain't uratha. I don't worship the fuckin' moon." He pointed a finger at Sarah. "You talkin' about 'fixing it' so that I'm bound by your hokey religion? Yeah, never gonna happen. Wanna hear a code? Here's mine. I am of the Free People. What I seek, I find. What I hunt, I take down. I can hide in a shadow. My teeth are sharp enough to cut bone." Declan's voice took on a deep, rumbling growl that carried through every syllable as he planted clenched fists on the table and leaned - no, loomed over it. "I run on four legs as easily as two. I owe allegiance to none, and I fear nothing." The words rolled like quiet, distant thunder, and not a soul present failed to feel the palpable menace directed at the uratha and the uratha-wannabe.

,,

"I'm vargr, not moon-caller. I tell my friends what the fuck I choose. I follow my own heart, gut, and head, not some rules dictated by fuck-knows-who. Now get out. You two came in peace, now leave in peace. Or else leave in fuckin' pieces. I've got no more patience for this shit."

,,

Ferocity, Intimidation and Unsettling Gaze are all in play here. He wants the two uratha ladies to leave, and he really isn't kidding about their options.

[Swara-Ann]

Her hands slid into her pockets. She laughed slightly and curled her lip. "Fair enough." Declan's intimidation was scary, yes, but she'd already battled him once tonight and wasn't particularly impressed with his skill. His bark seemed a lot worse than his bite. "Nice to meet you guys, sorry it didn't work out. Sorry about your fridge."

,,

On her way out she stopped and kissed Gary on the cheek, offering hi ma warm smile as he patted his abdomen. "Thanks for the save tonight Gare-Bear. I owe ya."

,,

It was like a walk of shame, getting kicked out of someone's house. And let's face it, that doesn't happen to hot blondes in Los Angeles very often, at least not until the sun has come up and the wife or girlfriend comes home. She took it in stride however, letting the tension ease out of her gut as the terror mingled with rage subsided from Declan's nigh legendary chest puffing. "Well, it was nice meeting you Sarah," She said as they stood on the sidewalk. "Be safe n' all that. G'night."

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

Sarah looked Declan in the eye for a long moment before saying, "You know, I was talkin' rhetorically. Not plannin' or wantin' to see August hurt, let alone dead or brain scrambled. Obviously that didn't come across. But this is your house an' territory and your rules, so I'll be leavin'. Just remember where yours ends and mine begins. Or you might get to find out just exactly what I'm like in a real fight, and you might not walk away from that. 'Cause you're right: you're not of the People, and now that's damned clear in my noggin."

,,

She followed Swara out the door to the front walk, where the uratha said her goodbyes. For Sarah, it wasn't so much a walk of shame as a walk of familiar rejection; this was just the latest in a long series. "You wanna go for a run or somethin', Swara, you know where I call home. Not many I get to talk with who get it." She looked back at the house ruefully. "An' now, it's one less."

[Astra D.]

And then, there were three. Astra whistled softly, hazel eyes wide as she slowly shook her head and regarded the two men remaining in the room.

,,

"Whooo. That... could've gone better," she breathed. Her mind was working overtime, but given the circumstances, it seemed wiser to keep her lips still. Whether or not the groundskeeper liked it, she knew, the other two had a point in all that tense discussion, even if it probably wasn't the point they'd intended to make. August could probably be a liability, but she seemed enough of a firebrand to stiffen her spine when things got bad- hell, she'd been seeing dead people her whole life, which meant she had some mad coping skills. No, the problem would probably be Declan, and his attachment to the girl, which could easily translate to distraction and tragedy. Still, tempted as she was, she resisted the urge to take a little peek; the attractive young couple might not appreciate the answer. Then, carefully and evenly, "There's no possible way I can eat the rest of this. You guys gonna help? You, I think, have at least worked up an appetite," she added dryly, that faint smile tugging again at the corners of her mouth as she looked at the vargr.

[Owns-The-Night]

Declan breathed out some of his building anger and settled back into his seat as Swara and Sarah left. Neither of their parting shots particularly bothered him right now. If they caused him trouble down the road, he'd remove the roadblock or die trying to. Simple as that. He quirked a faint smile at Astra's words and held up a hand for a long moment, cocking his head and listened until the two objects of his irritation were out of earshot. Then he relaxed somewhat.

,,

"Fuckin' moon-callers." he muttered with a sigh, helping himself to another slice of pizza. "Goddamn crazies, all of them. Cousin told me, but did I fuckin' listen?" He rapped his own head with his knuckles and smiled ruefully at Astra and Gary. "Sorry 'bout that." He leaned back in his chair and called "August!"

,,

"Yes?" the girl replied as she stepped round the corner, having already started heading for the kitchen when she heard the front door close. Green eyes took in the scene. "They're gone?"

,,

"Sent 'em packing." Dec smiled wearily. "I ain't working with people whose sacred oaths mean they don't need to have manners." August smiled back, stepping to his side and giving the burly werewolf a hug.

,,

"The gentleman werewolf. My hero." she told him with a small grin, before reluctantly letting go and taking a seat beside him. "So what now?"

,,

"Now we talk, shoot the shit, and get back to the business of sharin' common interest rather than seeing who can piss furthest." Declan said with his characteristic bluntness of manner. "We also eat. So chow down." August grabbed a slice of pizza with the confidence of a woman whose daily exercise regimen could handle a little cheese and carbohydrates.

,,

"Okay, so you say you're a mage." Declan stated to Astra as the atmosphere relaxed some more. He got up and dug in the fridge, coming out with some bottles of a micro-brewery produced ale he'd developed a taste for. Handing them round, he snapped the cap off his own and set the bottle-opener on the table. "I ran into a couple not long ago. Still not too sure what one is, outside of 'a person that can do magic'. I gather from what you said out there that the folks I found helpin' me out were friends of yours?"

[Swara-Ann]

"Don't sweat it, he'll come around. He's just angry. You and him will be right as rain in no time, just give him some time to calm down." The look on her face told Sarah the Swara was a horrible liar. "Look, I uh, should get going. I have classes in the morning and my night just kinda took a serious nose dive into bi-polarville, population Asshat." She thumbed towards the house. "Chances are he'll get her killed and it'll somehow be our fault too but hey, it's on him. It's nice that she has a great ass and all, but if he doesn't alpha up, the scenery is never gonna change and she'll be pulling his leash and riding him straight into trouble. Which sucks because he obviously fucks better than he fights. But to each their own I suppose."

,,

"I'll uh, see ya around." Swar-Ann too ka few steps backwards before turning about and walking down the street. "If I need a hand with a few of the big bads around here I'll give you a call. It was nice meeting you!" She waved her hand in the air and then took off running like any other student out for a nightly jog.

[Sarah Dead-Wolf]

Sarah was left waving at the back of the blonde werewolf as she jogged off. Her own mood was less than grand by this point, inasmuch as something akin to genuine moods could push past a perpetually hungry and angry Beast. She'd managed to get herself disinvited from the "Neighborhood Watch", had only the dizziest ditz ever to spin down the pike to turn to, and was farther than ever from being able to find - let alone help - her haunted brother.

,,

The Dead-Wolf made her way off the beaten path and into a well-foliaged back yard. Once there, she shifted into her wolf form, and loped back to her territory to finish out the wretched night.

[Gary Norton]

The tidbits of werewolf or rather the 'Uratha' culture had been interesting, but Gary still had to sigh at the derailing conversation. Once the air was cleared, he had, with more of a smile, grabbed multiple slices of pizza and ate and ate, politely awaiting Astra's answer to Dec's questions. He was eager to get the real meat on mages.

,,

Damn, the pizza was good. Nothing quite like being able to appreciate life, when one was so used to seeing the evidence of the inevitable end awaiting everyone.

[Astra D.]

"Okay, so you say you're a mage." Declan stated to Astra as the atmosphere relaxed some more. He got up and dug in the fridge, coming out with some bottles of a micro-brewery produced ale he'd developed a taste for. Handing them round, he snapped the cap off his own and set the bottle-opener on the table. "I ran into a couple not long ago. Still not too sure what one is, outside of 'a person that can do magic'. I gather from what you said out there that the folks I found helpin' me out were friends of yours?"

,,

"I'm not sure you'd call them friends," Astra admitted ruefully, hazel eyes bright with humor as she popped the cap off one of the offered bottles and tipped it at Declan in a gesture of informal gratitude/acknowledgement. "Associates, maybe. As you might be finding, friendships aren't all that common. It's hard to trust someone when the potential for them to fuck you over at the first opportunity is so high." She shrugged, taking an appreciative pull of the cool ale before continuing. "Of course, we- will-workers, that is- aren't the only ones with trust issues, and rightly so. It might be easier somewhere else, where the freaky factor is a little lower, but LA's is off the fucking charts." She shook her head in exasperation and took another drink. "Anyway, yeah, word got around some kids'd been screwing with things they shouldn't have been, and some good samaritans helped one of ours handle it. Or... something like that. Well, when I found out someone was going to be sneaking around in the woods, it sounded more interesting than grinding incense and watching old episodes of 'The Finder' so I headed out, and there you were."

[z-August Turner]

August nodded. “Okay, so it sounds like you guys have been lucky to run into each other so far. If you guys are going to organize a bit, maybe you should exchange numbers. If that’s too personal, then start with a facebook group or something like that. Keep it private invite-only and no one will be able to see what’s going on in it. You can check it from your phone—”

,,

“You can?” Dec asked, picking up the cell August had talked him into buying.

,,

“Well, you can if you don’t have a Stone Age phone.” August smiled fondly at him as she explained, “You’d need an upgrade, but I could track that for you so you don’t have to spring for a smartphone or change packages.”

,,

The young woman took a sip of beer and added, “I just don’t know what you guys are looking for, really. Are you making a personal club or something more involved?”

[Owns-The-Night]

"Damned if I had a plan." Declan confessed, shrugging at the others. "I was just tryin' to be neighbourly with other... I dunno, weird people? Supernatural types? What's the word I'm lookin' for here?"

,,

"Weirdos seems fine to me." Gary said with a grin. Dec grunted, but smiled faintly.

,,

"Anyways, I invite 'em here so we can just hang out, really. Talk shit over, see where our thing overlaps, how we can cooperate. And then the moon-crazies go and start with the whole 'we the master race, and y'all gotta ride in the back of the bus'." Dec growled softly, then blew out his tension somewhat with a sigh. "I'd be first to say 'Oh hell no, August, you ain't throwin' down with a vampire, don't even think that crazy thought', but they took it to the next level of supreme asshole. Anyways... Now that that's over with, we can get back to bein' sociable."

,,

"I've worked with Gary before... well, I say 'worked', but what actually happened was we ended up as cellmates for some weird buncha loonies and had to bust out. Which we did, along with others that were there, and some mages who risked some shit to bust up the vivisection party." Declan shrugged at August. "I didn't tell ya much about the who else was there and so on because, well, y'know..."

,,

"Yeah, it isn't your secret to tell." August sighed, but smiled a little. She was just glad he'd made it out of that horrible situation.

,,

"So... I guess you run in the same circles as those 'will-workers'. Cool." Declan allowed. "They were okay folks. Patched up scrapes, and we made sure they got out okay. I was thinking, though..." he toyed with his bottle thoughtfully, brow furrowing. "For big stuff like that, it might be an idea to set up a support network with different types of 'weirdos'." he nodded at Gary, grinning. "I mean, magic an' all is fine, but one of yer willworkers got stabbed up pretty bad in a fight with a dude I'd have gone through like a bad burrito. And I can't do diddly shit about ghosts or spells or whatever, so it'd be handy to have some advice on speed-dial. And..." he paused for a moment.

,,

"An' it's good to know that there's other people out there who get it. People who are different, and can do shit that'd scare the pants off of normal folk. I'm not sayin' lets start a commune or anything. But it's kinda a cool idea to be able to have people to hang out and eat pizza with who know what I am and don't mind so much." He smiled lopsidedly.

[Gary Norton]

"Sounds perfectly fair," Gary said, around the napkin he used to mop up some tomato sauce before indulging in the benefits of another cheese pizza slice. He finished and enjoyed it before taking a breath and continuing. "Wouldn't mind that at all, a social group, support as reasonable, and hey... premium dating service."

,,

He grinned at Declan, Astra and August in turn, even with the quirk of pause on Declan's face wondering if Gary was coming onto his girlfriend. "Hey, we got one good-looking couple here, there were at least one other females of the bombshell variety, and I'm sure if we can get Declan here, we can get other men for those who want that kind of eye candy."

,,

Hey, it was true, and funny, right?

[Astra D.]

Astra snorted with laughter as she tipped the bottle to her lips and took another swig. "Premium dating service? Riiiight. Anyway, yeah, I'm cool with a sort of loose association of people 'in-the-know,' since I've got plenty to deal with already where formal organizations are concerned." She shrugged, her slim shoulders inching upward slightly in a gesture that might've been dismissive or apologetic. "Most will-workers don't throw fireballs or call down lightning, so we've got to fly under the radar as much as possible. It doesn't always work, as you've seen, but we're still waiting on a full report of the incident you were involved in, so." Another shrug, and the raven-haired mage shifted on the chair she'd hauled over, crossing her legs. "I suppose that's one advantage we have, a sort of pre-existing structure and defined purpose, although the bureaucracy involved can reach UN commission levels."

[z-August Turner]

Astra beat her to it, and August made a face as she cut herself off before she said anything more. It was annoying and insulting, even as a joke, that Gary was picturing this as a place where people would come just to oogle her boyfriend, or a group where people would come to perv on Swara’s ass. August wasn’t into girls, but she could tell when a woman was well-constructed.

,,

Then the pretty brunette distracted her again, and August found herself wondering more about this group with its magic and entrenched bureaucracy. “Well, if we want to keep it loose, should we set up a private Facebook page… hmm, wait, they can see that. Okay, I’ll volunteer to be the operator, if we want to have a central number-keeper and message-taker and organizer. Until I find regular work, I have plenty of time for this.”