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I had a pleasant enough weekend in Portland with Briar, Vlad, and Shade. They all seemed excited to see me, were grateful to get a hand with their Forces training, and I think we might have overcome a barrier--Vlad knows more than Briar and Shade, but not really enough to be an effectual instructor. I think even he benefited a little bit from watching the instruction I provided. And man, can those kids throw back the alcohol.
The Hollow Ones have this poster over the bar in the rec room of the house they're sharing that I found rather amusing:
We drank a lot and screwed around with magick while drunk, but not house-with-chicken-legs drunk.
Got a text from Salem about meeting up with The Oracle at a future date. He'll set things up for me. I'm a bit excited about that. I should spend a bit more time thinking about what to talk about so as to not waste the spirit's time. Salem asked if I'd need a translator, but I figure a mind-meld would cut out the middle man and mistranslations.
Lots of time to think on the drive back to St. Claire. It was only a 6-hour drive, but it was over before I knew it. I think maybe it's time to trade in the Suburban for a different car. I'm kind of getting bored with it, even though it's turned out to be a very good car. Easy to sleep in and camp out of. Great offroading capability. It's just BIG. Stands out a bit too much. Sucks gas, too. Not as much as the Winnebago, though. Hmmm. Maybe I should sell the Winnebago and keep the Suburban? The Winnebago is way bigger, zero offroad credentials, much easier to spot, and has worse performance. Sell the Winnebago, keep the Suburban. Maybe get a small fifth wheel trailer/camper? That sounds much more sensible. That and a sports car would have seriously trouble making it up my driveway. Let's see what a little Craigslist and Entropy can do....
Swung by Garcia's on the way home to grab a veggie pizza. Spotted Val. We chatted for a bit and I gave her a specialty present I picked up out of Portland. Moon Struck Chocolates. They've got a Distiller's thing that's chocolate paired with distilled specialty alcohol. Pretty neat. Pretty to look at, too. I figured Val'd like that pairing. After I gave it to Val, she pointed out I just gave alcohol to a minor. It's hard to think of her as a kid--right up until I see her, that is. And her relationship with Brad, as I figured, fell apart. I told her I'd been to Portland to work with a few young mages. Val offered to let them meet her. I told her that was a bad idea as anonymity makes things safer for mages. Val suggested I let them make their own decisions. I told her they already had, ended up becoming pawns of a vampire, and I had to go bail them out. She asked if that explained the urn I have on my fireplace mantle, and I confirmed that it did. She still offered to meet them, but I still think that's an epicly bad idea. I can trust Val, but I can also trust her to talk too much. I still have to wonder how much of that is innate versus learned/cultural behavior.
Rhys turned up right as Val got a call that pulled her away. Too bad, as I was going to have Rhys talk to Val about what all he'd done to help quell the riots in this town. Kid deserves some renown for that, but he doesn't get outdoors much so I doubt many people realize he even did anything. He said he's just doing what he can and what needs doing and doesn't care about people knowing what he did. Admirable, but that's not going to get him ahead in Garou society in the short or long term. I wonder if he has some social anxiety? That's got to be tough for a galliard. I tipped him off about Alicia wanting someone to look into Hanford's nuclear facility via computers, told him that she'd asked me to do it, but that I didn't have the time--pushed it off on him and made sure he had a number to call to reach her at. I also cautioned him about Alicia being cocky to the point of being overconfident, and that overconfident leaders eventually get people killed, so he needed to be cautious about what he did and let her know if she's asking the impossible. Hanford is, after all, likely on a Department of Defense network. This is not guess-the-neighbor's-WIFI-password levels of hacking. This is Bring Down The Wrath of the US Government(tm) levels of hacking. So I advised Rhys to be extremely cautious and, if he got stuck, to give me a call and I could help with a tricky bit. Mouse could, too.
I finally got home. I hit the futon and didn't remember anything until I woke up on Monday morning when LOLcat farted me out of a dead sleep. Stupid cat.
The Hollow Ones have this poster over the bar in the rec room of the house they're sharing that I found rather amusing:
We drank a lot and screwed around with magick while drunk, but not house-with-chicken-legs drunk.
Got a text from Salem about meeting up with The Oracle at a future date. He'll set things up for me. I'm a bit excited about that. I should spend a bit more time thinking about what to talk about so as to not waste the spirit's time. Salem asked if I'd need a translator, but I figure a mind-meld would cut out the middle man and mistranslations.
Lots of time to think on the drive back to St. Claire. It was only a 6-hour drive, but it was over before I knew it. I think maybe it's time to trade in the Suburban for a different car. I'm kind of getting bored with it, even though it's turned out to be a very good car. Easy to sleep in and camp out of. Great offroading capability. It's just BIG. Stands out a bit too much. Sucks gas, too. Not as much as the Winnebago, though. Hmmm. Maybe I should sell the Winnebago and keep the Suburban? The Winnebago is way bigger, zero offroad credentials, much easier to spot, and has worse performance. Sell the Winnebago, keep the Suburban. Maybe get a small fifth wheel trailer/camper? That sounds much more sensible. That and a sports car would have seriously trouble making it up my driveway. Let's see what a little Craigslist and Entropy can do....
Swung by Garcia's on the way home to grab a veggie pizza. Spotted Val. We chatted for a bit and I gave her a specialty present I picked up out of Portland. Moon Struck Chocolates. They've got a Distiller's thing that's chocolate paired with distilled specialty alcohol. Pretty neat. Pretty to look at, too. I figured Val'd like that pairing. After I gave it to Val, she pointed out I just gave alcohol to a minor. It's hard to think of her as a kid--right up until I see her, that is. And her relationship with Brad, as I figured, fell apart. I told her I'd been to Portland to work with a few young mages. Val offered to let them meet her. I told her that was a bad idea as anonymity makes things safer for mages. Val suggested I let them make their own decisions. I told her they already had, ended up becoming pawns of a vampire, and I had to go bail them out. She asked if that explained the urn I have on my fireplace mantle, and I confirmed that it did. She still offered to meet them, but I still think that's an epicly bad idea. I can trust Val, but I can also trust her to talk too much. I still have to wonder how much of that is innate versus learned/cultural behavior.
Rhys turned up right as Val got a call that pulled her away. Too bad, as I was going to have Rhys talk to Val about what all he'd done to help quell the riots in this town. Kid deserves some renown for that, but he doesn't get outdoors much so I doubt many people realize he even did anything. He said he's just doing what he can and what needs doing and doesn't care about people knowing what he did. Admirable, but that's not going to get him ahead in Garou society in the short or long term. I wonder if he has some social anxiety? That's got to be tough for a galliard. I tipped him off about Alicia wanting someone to look into Hanford's nuclear facility via computers, told him that she'd asked me to do it, but that I didn't have the time--pushed it off on him and made sure he had a number to call to reach her at. I also cautioned him about Alicia being cocky to the point of being overconfident, and that overconfident leaders eventually get people killed, so he needed to be cautious about what he did and let her know if she's asking the impossible. Hanford is, after all, likely on a Department of Defense network. This is not guess-the-neighbor's-WIFI-password levels of hacking. This is Bring Down The Wrath of the US Government(tm) levels of hacking. So I advised Rhys to be extremely cautious and, if he got stuck, to give me a call and I could help with a tricky bit. Mouse could, too.
I finally got home. I hit the futon and didn't remember anything until I woke up on Monday morning when LOLcat farted me out of a dead sleep. Stupid cat.
