2019.01.24: Like Cold Water Puppies

Like an Old, One Eyed Wolf
Waziyata visits Lleutrim to discuss the bad blood between him and Aleksandr.
IC Date	Thursday Jan 24 19:00:00 2019, PST.
Players	Waziyata and Lleutrim
Location	Aleksandr's Cabin
Spheres	Gaian Garou

Old Hangar - Interior(#14203RAJM)

Good Bones. With sound structural traits and a lack of aesthetically pleasing qualities, this space doubles as an enthusiasts' work shop and a living space. The concrete floor is 80' by 240'. The high curved ceilings are 18' in the air at the peak, painted flat black to hide the conduit piping, ducts, and industrial light bars. Twin rows of four-foot high windows are 10' up from the floor and extend the full length of the hangar. Set in the front wall is a 20' wide rolling door with a smaller steel door beside it. The front third of the building is a work shop. This is separated from the rear two thirds of the space by an artistically welded 8' high wall of metal spanning the width of the hangar.

Behind the wall, a modern kitchen and bathroom have been added as stand-alone features. The sleeping space is obscured from the main living area by a large steel shelving unit. The primary gathering space is a set of three oversized couches drawn together into a u-shaped pit around a concrete and steel coffee table. There is a large dining room table with two benches. On the wall beneath the windows is a hand-loading table supported by two standard gun safes.

--- OOC Note: Here we join RP in progress when Sigryd departed) ---

Waziyata's ears perk up at the greeting, tail wagging a little more forcefully. She paces over toward the two, and as she draws nearer she grows into her human form, rising easily to two feet, hands seeking her jean pockets as she nears the two. Her brow furrows, glancing between them, "Vampires? I need talking to you, Lleu. But that is maybe more important."

Lleutrim raises his beer to Sigryd as she heads out, "Have Theron let me know when his next fight will be, will you? Goodnight Sigryd!" Then Wazi changes to her human form and he pats the couch to invite her to get comfortable. "Want a beer or anything? I have water, tea, soda, coffee, beer, mead, and scotch." He makes a vague gesture with his non-beer hand, "Na, just kicking plans around that others will be deciding. I thought it good to pass on what I'd heard about Los Angels though before she and the Elders decide where to try and ambush this fucker who took at shot at her."

A drink of his Guinness. "What do you need to speak to me about, Waziyata?"

Wazi wrinkles her nose a bit at that explanation, shaking her head slightly as she approaches the couch. Wazi eyes the offered seat a moment, then glances at the coffee table, considering it in turn. Afterward, she turns and sits down on the couch. She drops into the sofa, then pulls her feet up to curl beneath her, shifting her weight a little and snuggling into the plush cushion before turning her gaze back to Lleutrim.

"Do they need help?" She asks, frowning slightly. Then, the question comes and she shakes her head again, with a quick lick of her lips, "It is about Lights Darkness."

"Theron and Sigryd? Yes. I'm trying to help - at least with Theron's little trouble. With Sigryd's sniper, Journey got involved and assigned Aleksandr to take over the invsetigation, which I gather he more or less dropped right back into Sigryd's lap. So I'm really glad I suggested Sigryd speak with Brooke. I'm helping out as much as I can." Lleu then eyes Wazi, "What about Aleksandr?" She can clearly hear the shift in his tone to something more ... unpleasant.

During the talk about Sigryd and Theron, Wazi's brow furrows into another, deeper frown. She shakes her head slowly as she listens, before licking her lips another time. Then Lleu answers the next bit and she nods slightly at the man, as his tone shifts, "That," she answers the question very simply.

She watches him a moment, waiting to see if he takes her meaning, before tilting her head a little, "Why?"

"Why do I not like him?" Lleutrim grimaces, "Maybe because when I was newly changed and a cub, he was always telling me how wrong I was about /everything/ even when he was clearly not always right himself. How disrespectful I was, how stupid, told me I was an idiot, that I was a waste. How about the way even when I am going out of my way to try to be nice and respectful, he /still/ looks down his nose at me? I can't say or do -anything- around him without him criticising my every breath, Wazi. Giving me unasked for advice as if I were an imbicile with no brain of my own. So, no offense, but fuck him." Yes, Lleu's temper is getting faintly riled.

A slow breath to keep his rage in check and not let it take off. It is the Galliard's moon. "So, once more I had tried to go to him with the olive branch. I'm NOT going to suck up to him, Wazi. And I sure as shit will never measure up to his screwy standards. He thinks he's so wise but he also thinks all of us should be Silver Fangs. He can't accept or see any value in any of us being anything else." Lleu adds, "Every other Silver Fang I have met is sane and laid back compared to him."

His beer can he finishes and sets aside. "That's why. I'm not going to try again. I'll be civil in public to him as I must. Maybe. Truth be told I might rather kick his ass from here to Jupiter. I might just do that."

Wazi listens to all of that, still frowning slightly as Lleu says his piece on the matter, listing his grievances. Her head straightens, nodding slightly as the man continues, before she tilts her head again at the end. Her tone doesn't change from the original, querying voice. Her expression still the mild frown, the man clearly the focus of her attention, "Then he does no things right," she answers thoughtfully, when it's clear Lleu has finished, "He is only wanting to be known as better, and for others to know they are worse. A garou with no honor or wisdom or glory, but a big head full of hot gas."

She quiets a moment after that, before her brow furrows into another slight frown, eyeing Lleutrim another moment, "Why you asked him for help?"

Lleutrim has gotten his anger pushed back down, cooling it. He reaches for his second beer and pops the top on it, then waits for the nitrogen capsule to do it's thing in the can a few seconds. "Because, even if he isn't socialized and is shit dealing with people and garou, he /is/ good with spirits. I had hoped that if I went to him, tried to be respectful and said I needed his help and wisdom, it would appeal to his vanity. And I think it did. I would have liked for him to have made some effort to treat me with a little respect in turn, but he ... I guess he just can't do it. He's respectful enough to the Elders and I suppose that's good enough for him."

A drink of beer. Lleu sighs softly, "Calls Down the Rain specifically said to bring one of the Wolf, one of the Spirits, and one of Man. To bring at least three of Luna's faces hidden from myself. What he really wants is for me to bring my pack, but I haven't one yet, Wazi. If Sean remains luke warm, then we'll have no Theurge."

Another slight nod as she listens to all that, before she's wrinkling her nose at the last bit about the lack of a theurge. She shakes her head slightly, before shifting her weight on the couch. She glances down, eyeing the beer as it hisses and settles, considering a moment. Then she looks back to Lleu, frowning slightly, "But you do not think you do things to provoke? I had fighting with him, you saw. But if you said things to me like you say to him, I would have wanted fighting you, too."

She eyes the galliard a moment, before adding with a slight grimace, "He is doing it -more-, and you are better friends, so I wanted to chew his ears first. I do not want to chew your ears, but you are not seeing this, I think."

He doesn't deny it. Lleu frowns and thinks back to their last meeting. "I suppose I do. There's too much bad water gone between us now for me not to react when he keeps shoving the shit my direction. You push me, I'm going to push back. It's my nature, who I am. If someone clearly, genuinely out ranks me, I'll suck it if I have to. Aleks /barely/ out ranks me by a few weeks and he's always lorded it over me as if he were an Elder and I was a piece of shit. How do you /expect/ me to react to that?"

She snorts quietly at Lleutrim's words, grinning suddenly as she listens to him with a slight nod, "Yes," she agrees to the bit about pushing back. Then she's quiet again for the rest, the expression settling back to a slight frown. At the question, she is quiet for a few moments, again letting her gaze wander over the large hangar, then settling on that steel and concrete slab of a coffee table. She eyes it a moment, then shifts her weight a little, leaning forward to reach one hand out and touch the tabletop. She rubs it gently, exploring the textures as she answers in a slow, thoughtful voice, ""You are like puppy who is burned in cold waters. You fell in and escaped, but now you think every water is that, if it is not warm."

Waziyata pauses then, glancing sidelong to Lleu to ask, "You see?" A pause there for his answer, before she continues, "He is bad human, like you say. It is a thing he learned, when I talked at him. Or maybe that he learned he learned? It does not make him right. But it does not make him always wrong, too. Cold water does not kill you, if you learn to use it, and to be warm. I do not know how you make things better, but I am knowing that you say he has no respect and is not better than you. And he is saying you have no respect and are not better than him."

She considers that a moment, before giving another quiet snort, a hint of her smile returning, "Maybe you are both cold water puppies, thinking you are pushed?"

The little patch of skin between Lleu's brows slightly furrows as Wazi speaks. He sips his beer quietly. When she pauses, Lleu thinks about it and says low, "I do not understand what you say. Except, /sometimes/ he's been right about me and I won't deny that. I've given him credit. I certainly /do/ respect others. I respect the hell out of Dragomir, for example. He's more than earned it. Jake, Journey, /you/." Lleu shifts his jaw, his baritone low. "It's true though that while I respect him for what he can do with spirits, and I respect what he's endured in his harsh past with his own family treating him like shit, I am finding it increasingly difficult to respect him now. I've told him before that if you treat somebody like shit, you can't expect him to respect you for it."

Wasi listens to all of that, grimacing again, the slight smile fading into an expression of frustration at Lleutrim's confusion. Her nostrils flare and she sighs faintly, but that's the closest thing to temper she displays. She isn't surprised he's confused. When he's finished, she gives a single, slow nod in reply, "That is what he says," she answers in a slightly slower voice. It's probably a funny contrast to some of the pair's earliest interactions, back when Lleu spoke so slowly and carefully for her benefit, though she isn't speaking quite that slow, "That you are strong and good, but he can not give respect if none is given, too. You both say same things, and think same fight."

Another pause, then, before her frown eases back in favor of a lighter tone, "It is like you are each trying to take same deer bone. You both pull, and say you will stop if other stops. And then bone breaks, and you are licking grass for what was inside." Then, her eyes widen and she sits up a little, suddenly grinning, "-That- is why they say cracking the bone, at moots!"

A grimace, "Yet when I try to show him respect he's still a dick, Wazi. No, he can fuck off. I'll keep my distance and go on about my own life. He can go on about his. If I'm so wrong and just like him, why is it that so many people can't stand him but get along fine with me?" Lleu drinks his beer, then gets up to take the cans to the recycling bin. "He can have his bone and is welcome to it. I'll hunt my own." From the kitchen, his pale grey eyes flick back to her at the mention of 'Cracking the Bone' at the Moots.

She snorts at that reply, shaking her head again and even rolling her eyes briefly toward the ceiling. Someone has been hard at work humanizing the lupus, it seems. Then she refocuses on Lleu, looking up at him seriously, "You said to him, he is dedicated and wise. He thought you are saying sorry and.. kissing asses? Then, he says it must hurt, and you do not need doing it. Then, you tell him he must show respect and not be jerk, and then he said you are not changed."

Another pause, the wolf letting her words hang, before she asks, "Do I remember wrong? That is sounding like rough speech, but not bad speech, at first. That you maybe did not understand. You both spent most of talking saying "Do not be like you were" and then, "Because you say this, you are like before." I am wrong?"

"Where spirits and rituals are concerned, he /is/ dedicated and has some wisdom. He's got focus, I give him that." Lleu has dropped off the beer cans, including Sigryd's. He looks through the kitchen back to where Wazi is and he gets serious, "Wazi, just leave it. At this point it's done. I'm tired of trying to make peace with him. -I- am the one who has gone to him over and over again to try and make things better. I've made effort to try and help him when he was in trouble with his own family. I've tried to understand him, worked with his former mate. He's never made much effort towards me so why should I give a shit?"

Wazi's frown returns, when Lleu tells her to leave it. She's not scowling, but she's no longer looking as patient or as amused as she was just moments before. Some of her good humor is fading, and she's likely feeling that moon, too. Not her auspice, but close enough, and with ample Rage of her own. She eyes Lleutrim in return as the man looks at her so seriously from the kitchen, listening as he says his piece. Then, she shifts her weight again and stands up, setting her jaw.

"I do not say you have not tried," she answers in a serious, level tone of her own, just a bit of heat slipping in, "Do not pretend I am being silly. We are friends, and I am for helping you." Another pause then, the ahroun eyeing the galliard another moment. Then she takes a deep breath and steps around the coffee table, starting for the kitchen, moving to him. "I do not say, lower yourself and beg for him to be good. I do not say you must smile and eat snake poison."

When she's within arm's reach, she stops, close enough to be inside Lleu's personal space, looking very directly at him, still serious and almost stern, "I -do- say, this is not trying to have peace. What I saw is snake words from him, AND snake words from you. You are better than silly wolf pride. -That- is how you are being like him."

That's just as well because Lleu's not still watching her. He's turned to the refrigerator and opened it to see what he wants to eat. He starts to pull out sandwich makings and a pound of bacon. Things in his and Faith's fridge are tidy, not a mess. Lleu sets things on the counter top and goes to get the bread but finds Wazi's moved up and staring at him. He looks down at her, for he is taller, and lifts a brow. "I didn't say you are being silly." He stares right back at her for a long couple of seconds ere he says low, "I do have a my own pride, Wazi. Maybe Aleks and I are too much alike in some ways. So be it. I don't really care."

He steps around her to get the bread out, then gets a cookie sheet to lay some of the bacon strips into. Yum, bacon. Lleu works quietly to do his sandwich prep, "You want a club sub? Why do you care whether Aleks and I get along or not?"

She tilts her head a bit, seemingly confused for just a moment at the lack of heat in Lleu's reply. Then she gives a quiet snort, shaking her head and grimacing a little. Then she nods in reply to the question. Maybe that's one of the things she still doesn't think needs a verabl reply? At the question, she frowns, considering a moment before she answers.

"I am liking you both. You are good, strong, and have tried teaching things for me. If I am needing help, you are there for asking. When we find the Wyrm doing things that I cannot speak, you fight it. You are almost pack, but too silly, thinking that is a thing for lots of human thinking and words."

Another pause there, before she shrugs slightly and adds, "He is those things, too. And you are both too silly to see the other. You see only the things you believe of him. He sees only things he believes of others. -That- is why I fighting with him. He would not see me, if I did not challenge his thinking of Wazi and show him that -I- am Wazi. The way to do that was not to tell him I am too proud and too good and should not need to do it. That is only the way to show him the things he was thinking for me."

She considers another moment, brow furrowing into a more thoughtful frown, much of the heat having disappeared again, "I am thinking, this is silly and wasted. You both fighting to see -only- what you think, not what is. For him, he sees Lleutrim is garou that thinks Lights Darkness is always wrong. Garou who thinks he is not for hurting. One who has too much Rage and feeling and angry at silly things. One that does not want to listen to smart things that Lights Darkness could teach him, just because he does not like that his rank is less."

Wazi gives Lleu a serious, curious look, "Do you understand? I do not say he is right. I say what he thinks. If I did not make it too hard, I will say what I think you think, next. It is part of answer."

Now it is her turn to be talking alot. Lleu has put the bacon into the oven and turned it on, adding plenty enough for her as well. Then he's working on assembling the sandwiches. Two, in case she wants one. If not, he'll save the second one for later. The loaves he slices open are at least 18 inches long - no pussy foot long subs, these. As Wazi speaks, Lleutrim listens without expression nor interruption. "I have gone to him for teaching, as it happens. He condecended to teach me a Rite, which I appreciated. I'd be willing to learn more Rites from him if he didn't require me to slide up on my belly and beg him to shower me with his overflowing 'wisdom'. On the other hand, I have things I could teach him. Except of course he'd never ask - and thinks I know nothing."

Onions next. Now the deli meats are piled up on top of romane lettuce and spinach, with a layer of Pepper Jack cheese, Lleu gets a red onion out and a knife. He begins slicing it on the cutting board. "Go ahead. I'm listening." Slice. Slice.

Wazi actually gives a laugh, just a quick, quiet bark of a noise at Lleu's words about learning and teaching. She shakes her head again, before reaching a hand over to try and poke Lleu right in the back of his head. Or in his forehead, if the laugh gets him looking at her. Then she grins at him, "-Silly- wolf. That is the same thing he says to me of you. Even your words are almost same." A pause then, before she drops her hand and becomes more serious again, brow raising as she looks at Lleu, "You are listening. But are you -understanding-? Words are not easy, still."

Then she's waiting for a reply. Seems he'll have to earn the promised next bit of her answer.

Lleutrim wasn't looking at her. He does not, "If he says he's come to me for teaching or to try and learn anything from me, he's a fucking liar, Wazi. This isn't silly, it's /bullshit/. All this proves is that he can parot what I've already said. But it doesn't make it true. He's pretty damn full of himself." Sandwiches go in to be toasted before the onions and the last vegies and sauces will be added. Lleu checks the bacon. Yep, he sure didn't like her poking him in the back of the head. Wazi may be pushing her luck.

She actually sighs at Lleutrim's reaction, then shaking her head even though he's not looking at her. "That is not what he said," she answers, "It is the other part, I was meaning. That you could teach him things, if you were not too much against him. It was after he said he is not good at human things." Then, her hand comes for Lleu again, though it isn't with a poke. Instead, she just rests her hand on his opposite shoulder, even shifting her weight a bit to lean lightly against him from the side, almost a hug, though she's being careful not to impede his movements.

"I know you are angry, and I do not help with this. Thank you for listen. Try to think Wazi is not too stupid, to know when she is lied to, and remember I am not good at this like you." Then she's giving him another direct, meaningful look, whether he looks back at her or not.

This time she gets Lleu's attention with the touch to his shoulder. I mean he has been listening to her, but also working on making them some food. Lleu washes his hands again and dries them, folds the dish towel and then slips an arm around her in a companionable fashion. "You are not stupid, Wazi. You are young, but you are doing very well and you see more than most people give you credit for." Lleu half turns a bit more to better face her and studies her face, "You are a good friend. I can see you want me to try one more time with Aleks. But does he wish to speak with me, Wazi? I've been to his home several times but he's never come here. The only time he ever came to my cabin was to have Skully drag me out of it and pin my arms so he could beat me. You get /him/ to make the peace offering this time and perhaps we'll talk."

Wazi tilts her head a bit as Lleu's arm slips around her in turn, before grinning at the man. It widens a bit at those first words, a hint of the girl's own pride, perhaps? Then she adopts a serious expression once more as Lleu turns to consider her, watching him expectantly in turn, rather than studying. Her brow furrows at the mention of beating Lleu, but then she gives a slow nod in response. "You let him beat you?" The ahroun seems confused at the very idea, before adding, "I agree. I will ask him to make first move. But I ask you to not talk like snakes, if he does. To try to think, "If I was one-eyed old wolf, like he is, what would I think I am saying with stupid words I speak?" before being too angry. I am Ahroun and Wyld Touched, and can do that. Yes?"

"Yes, I did." Lleutrim's voice is low, "He and Skully came to my cabin after a patrol. We three had snuck up on three formori and then those two began to argue tactics. While I was still a cub, I'd already fought some formor myself, and I am a combat veteran and know a thing or two about combat tactics and stradegy. They ignored me, and as they continued to argue and were about to blow our sneakup, I ordered them to shut up and do as I told them. They were Cliaths and did as I told them. I /knew/ I shouldn't have, and my version worked beautifully, but they were rightfully pissed. So I was expecting them and I deserved the beating. I didn't object when Skully dragged me out, pinned my arms, and I let Aleks beat me. I didn't even get pissed off until he punched me in the nuts at my refusing to admit he and Skully were utterly right beyond question in their tactics. They wanted me to fully submit and damned if I would. Which is where this whole right and wrong bullshit started in the first place. By that point I was beyond tired of everyone telling me I was wrong about everything and I made my stand on that /one/ point. Fuck'm all if they couldn't let me have even that much."

Lleu sighs, "In the Marine Corps, we are drilled hard. You do NOT submit to the enemy. And to me, deep down, I was still definitely not sure if the garou were friend or foe."

The arm is removed and it's Lleu's turn to lightly poke Wazi in the sternum (above her breasts), "I'll try. But you tell him to not say anything negative about me or past actions. Just don't bring the baggage. No advice or criticisms that aren't asked for. /IF/ you can get that through his thick head, and you can get him to come speak in a civil manner, then I'll reciprocate in kind. He /knows/ I can, because I've done it before. I was quite respectful to him a number of times, such as when I came to learn the Rite of Dedication from him. But he's going to have to make that effort too else I'll pound his fucking ass. Understood?"

Lleutrim adds, "You are welcome to tell him I said /that/ word for word, if you like." He turns to pull out the bacon and toasted sandwiches, to finish making them.

Her brow furrows as she listens to that explanation and story, tilting her head a bit to the side again. Then she gives a slow nod as the explanation finishes. She doesn't hold on or resist when Lleu pulls back, and the poke draws another snort from the lupus, a brief grin, before she's focused on his words once more, the slight frown returning.

Then she gives a nod as he finishes, "Yes," she agrees, "That is fair. If you are looking for ways he means stupid words as good words, and can not find them, then he should be beaten. You, too." A thoughtful pause there, before she adds, "I will ask to be there, and help to look for real meanings, not just what things sound like. Only after I think he can make good, and wants to."

A pause there, before she snorts again, shaking her head as she adds in a more wry tone, "Humans make this too hard. You are stupid things. When other wolf did things I did not like, I would chew them until they stopped. They would learn, and then we were pack again. If they chewed my ears, or did not want to run with me, I would do things they liked. It is too many words thinking, that makes it hard." Already, the newly human is solving the world's problems.

Wazi gets a faint huffed breath out of him, then Lleutrim turns and shoves a great big sandwich on a plate at her, "The world is more complex than the simplicity of wolves, Wazi. You still have a lot to learn yourself." He gestures towards the table and brings his own sandwich along, as well as a pitcher of iced tea. Things are set on the table and Lleu takes a seat. "Some people, and even some wolves, don't learn. They die. Or they must be forced out to go and find another pack. No one person's way is right for everyone. Not yours, not mine, not Alek's."

Tea is poured and Lleu starts to dig in on the huge sandwich. They are layed up thick with lots of meat and cheese with some vegies. Lots of spicy chipotle sauce on his - a little mayo on hers.

Another, quieter snort from Wazi, even as she accepts the massive sandwich on the plate. She shakes her head in reply, smiling briefly, "Some, but not most. Maybe not lots." But then she's watching as he moves toward the table. She follows after a moment, carrying her own sandwich along, though not after taking a moment to lift it up and sniff at it. She even closes her eyes a moment, savoring the smell.

On reaching the table, Wazi sets her plate down and then drops onto the bench beside him, almost but not quite touching shoulder to shoulder. She likes closeness, even if not constant touching - it probably makes most uncomfortable. She glances at Lleu a moment, then, before grinning at the man, a sudden shift in her mood evident as she scoots a little further from him, turning to face more towards the man, "Jordan has been showing me things. Movies. You do know Robocop?" Maybe not the best pick for a technically new human, but she definitely enjoyed it. The original, not the recent remake. The ahroun spends the rest of the visit excited at the idea of movies, laughing at remembered moments from that movie (and recounting them in broken english for Lleutrim, on the off chance he's never seen the film) and otherwise spending an almost normal friendly visit with Lleu.

On her way out, she will pause beside that nice steel and concrete coffee table. She looks at Lleu very seriously and tells him: "You have many-many good things here, and Twister will not be happy if your lesson is not matching that. I will not come back, if it is too much for you or Faith."

Then, in the next moment, there is a Crinos smashing that table with superhuman strength and the touch of the Wyld. She doesn't linger over the action, she merely brings both massive fists down in its center to leave a cratering crack, then kicks one of the legs until it snaps. It only takes a couple of kicks; she's much stronger than Lleu might expect.

Afterward, she either flees his frenzied form or quietly departs. In either case, she doesn't stay long enough for it to be anything but clear she has left her friend's dwelling.

There is no anger at what she does to the coffee table. There is however SURPRISE! A bit shocked even, but Lleu manages to keep his shit together. He doesn't even try to stop Wazi, especially when she then tries to leave, because he's /so/ caught off guard. After it's done, Lleu finally sighs, "I own almost nothing. Everything here is Faith's."

However is he going to explain this to his wife? Damn. Twister's a bastard. Donnachaidh's got a mess to clean up before Faith gets home - he may as well get to it. He never did like that coffee table.