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Spent an 8am-5pm day being a good little worker drone at Terminus in one of their flex-share offices, writing up and documenting a new stock portfolio and 5-year strategy for it, with an emphasis on "green" and "renewable energy" companies. I bet the Walkers will like that one. By the time I was heading home, I was feeling pretty accomplished with the "mundane" aspect of my day. I thought I'd ice the cake by being nice to the garou out at Edgewood on my way home. I dropped by a grocery store, spent $30 on Hallowe'en candy (with a chocolate focus again), and replenished the bowl out in the kitchen. Then I went out into the back yard to go walk around a little, to see what was out there near where the clearing ended and the woods began.
I spotted Baukhain, in tiger form, romping around with a huge play ball. And then Thomas showed up with a cluster of arrows. I got an "oh hey!" kind of greeting from Baukhain, and she gave Thomas a less-than-happy-to-see-you look/hiss. She let me come over and scratch her on the neck. Yeah. I got to pet a goddamn tiger today. Seriously? My day went to eleven right there. Thomas and Baukhain seemed to be talking with one another in one of those tongues I don't understand: it's vexing as hell not knowing what's being said, and I was torn: should I just carry on scratching the tiger, should I use some mild Entropy to find "the spot" to scratch on the Tiger, or should I use Mind to tap in to how Baukhain was mentally processing the conversation? Thomas then mentioned that he'd brought me something. I looked his way, and before I knew it Baukhain had me planted on the ground and was licking my head. I nearly flipped out right there, because HELLO a tiger could take my head right off if she wanted to. But it was more of a congenial licking--insofar as a tiger can give a congenial licking. Tongue is like wet, very course sandpaper. I rolled with it--because I'd have been dead if she'd wanted me dead, and she apparently didn't want me dead. (Yay?) And she quit when it started getting painful and I complained. She let me up and we went to follow Thomas, because he was taking us to a pond to show us....
Holy crap, Thomas was going to do that shapeshifting with origami trick! And he was inviting Baukhain along! On the walk there, Baukhain turned into a super-huge tiger. Her shoulder was pretty much eye-level with my head. HUGE. She was all casual about it, so I tried to be casual about it, too. Thomas poked at her, saying she was just showing off. (This coming from the Fox-shifter who was about to turn into something that wasn't a fox and via origami-based magic.) Baukhain figured out he was the resident Fox and went to human form to ask Thomas questions. (FINALLY! English!) He showed us the little origami otter he'd folded, then he turned into one and went for a swim. Baukhain went all so-cute-I-want-to-hug-the-Otter--she really does follow through on her impulses and seems to very much be a right here, right now, instant gratification kind of person.
Meanwhile, over in Warper World, I kicked in my magical senses to watch the transformation. It kind of reminded me of the little paper bird that Rajani had made. Except this was an actual transformation into the given shape, not a remote-controlled origami simulacrum. Strong Life and Spirit magic. He seemed to retain his mind, though. And he seemed to be able to converse with Baukhain, despite being... an otter. (Baukhain called the Khan's langauge "Kehuar." Googling it later found nothing relevant to place that term into context.) It was all static magick, sure, but it was POWERFUL static magick. Mr. Lee might be a fairly high-ranked Fox--assuming that they have ranks like the garou do.
Around this time, we were interrupted by the arrival of a kinfolk, Brad, who owns the pool hall in town. (Definitely native american, but Thomas said he was Uktena while Brad introduced himself as having Wendigo bloodlines.) I knew it was a kin-run business, but had no idea Brad--and a Wendgio of all things--was the proprietor. After he introduced himself, I introduced myself as Walker kin. Baukhain introduced herself as a Khan who was packed with Juggernaut (Fugly/Ulrick) of the Glass Walkers. (Packed? She did say "sort of" as a qualifier.) And Thomas didn't introduce himself--probably having already met Brad, I'm guessing. We talked about cats and countries and snow and winter. Then Brad eventually departed.
I do believe Baukhain might be "dazzled" by me a little bit, as Mouse calls it. That or she's just a natural flirt. She's not exactly my type, but.... She's growing on me. A little. But that ended pretty quickly after Brad left and the topic of conversation changed....
I clarified that Baukhain was being open about what she was and that Thomas was still being guarded somewhat, both to alert Baukhain to that matter and to not make assumptions on my part. Baukhain asked Mr. Lee how he was both a Fox and an Uktena, and he mentioned he had bloodlines from both the Uktena and the Kitsune. Baukhain then expressed concern about garou-cat hybrids and said it was of a personal concern. Thomas assured her that it was improbably that a wolf-cat shifter would result of that kind of union. The conversation made me wonder, though. Personal issue? I bet she's shacking up with Ulrick. Even if I were to entertain thoughts about Baukhain, there's no way in hell I'd follow through while she's sleeping with a garou--and a Walker to boot.
After Baukhain left, Thomas and I talked a little longer. The conversation began with Thomas explaining that there's a lot of similarities in how the shifters crib their magical abilities and rituals from one another. (There does seem to be a lot of overlapping, I've noticed, and Val's mentioned she could learn things from Thomas--but doesn't like him enough to bother asking him to teach her. So there does seem to be some negotiated give and take. Probably a lot moreso in the Beast Courts overseas, I bet.) He said the cats are Gaia's eyes--as they like to call themselves--and pride themselves on digging out secrets--especially magical secrets--and then not necessarily sharing them. (Sharing secrets is apparently the role the Corax have. Note to self: buy Val a fruit basket.) And that they can sometimes learn secrets and tricks from Namebreakers--which is a fancy name used around the Beast Courts for mages. (Apparently the belief is that the first Namebreaker was a human who, if he learned a things true name, could break the person or thing apart and reshape it as he desired. The Weaver killed him, but not before the knowledge spread to other humans, giving them the power to reshape reality.)
Noticing a theme here? Magic. Magic. Magic. Secret. Secret. Secret. We danced all around the issue, neither of us coming outright and saying anything. I thought about it, but what if he /doesn't/ know, is just looking for confirmation, and confirmation would give him the all-clear to get rid of a Namebreaker/Mage/Warper? I don't want to have to defend myself. It's so much easier being overlooked and underestimated. And, as I told Val earlier, if people did know, I'd have to start posturing. They'd have to start posturing. And that rather hinders relations, in my opinion. Unknown, I can offer opinions and have them shot down--or just take a dive completely--and it's no skin off my back. There are advantages to being unimportant. The shadows, Nick, are your friend.
LOLcat flipped his shit when I got home and he smelled tiger all over me. A nice, long, hot bath removed all the tiger slobber.
I spotted Baukhain, in tiger form, romping around with a huge play ball. And then Thomas showed up with a cluster of arrows. I got an "oh hey!" kind of greeting from Baukhain, and she gave Thomas a less-than-happy-to-see-you look/hiss. She let me come over and scratch her on the neck. Yeah. I got to pet a goddamn tiger today. Seriously? My day went to eleven right there. Thomas and Baukhain seemed to be talking with one another in one of those tongues I don't understand: it's vexing as hell not knowing what's being said, and I was torn: should I just carry on scratching the tiger, should I use some mild Entropy to find "the spot" to scratch on the Tiger, or should I use Mind to tap in to how Baukhain was mentally processing the conversation? Thomas then mentioned that he'd brought me something. I looked his way, and before I knew it Baukhain had me planted on the ground and was licking my head. I nearly flipped out right there, because HELLO a tiger could take my head right off if she wanted to. But it was more of a congenial licking--insofar as a tiger can give a congenial licking. Tongue is like wet, very course sandpaper. I rolled with it--because I'd have been dead if she'd wanted me dead, and she apparently didn't want me dead. (Yay?) And she quit when it started getting painful and I complained. She let me up and we went to follow Thomas, because he was taking us to a pond to show us....
Holy crap, Thomas was going to do that shapeshifting with origami trick! And he was inviting Baukhain along! On the walk there, Baukhain turned into a super-huge tiger. Her shoulder was pretty much eye-level with my head. HUGE. She was all casual about it, so I tried to be casual about it, too. Thomas poked at her, saying she was just showing off. (This coming from the Fox-shifter who was about to turn into something that wasn't a fox and via origami-based magic.) Baukhain figured out he was the resident Fox and went to human form to ask Thomas questions. (FINALLY! English!) He showed us the little origami otter he'd folded, then he turned into one and went for a swim. Baukhain went all so-cute-I-want-to-hug-the-Otter--she really does follow through on her impulses and seems to very much be a right here, right now, instant gratification kind of person.
Meanwhile, over in Warper World, I kicked in my magical senses to watch the transformation. It kind of reminded me of the little paper bird that Rajani had made. Except this was an actual transformation into the given shape, not a remote-controlled origami simulacrum. Strong Life and Spirit magic. He seemed to retain his mind, though. And he seemed to be able to converse with Baukhain, despite being... an otter. (Baukhain called the Khan's langauge "Kehuar." Googling it later found nothing relevant to place that term into context.) It was all static magick, sure, but it was POWERFUL static magick. Mr. Lee might be a fairly high-ranked Fox--assuming that they have ranks like the garou do.
Around this time, we were interrupted by the arrival of a kinfolk, Brad, who owns the pool hall in town. (Definitely native american, but Thomas said he was Uktena while Brad introduced himself as having Wendigo bloodlines.) I knew it was a kin-run business, but had no idea Brad--and a Wendgio of all things--was the proprietor. After he introduced himself, I introduced myself as Walker kin. Baukhain introduced herself as a Khan who was packed with Juggernaut (Fugly/Ulrick) of the Glass Walkers. (Packed? She did say "sort of" as a qualifier.) And Thomas didn't introduce himself--probably having already met Brad, I'm guessing. We talked about cats and countries and snow and winter. Then Brad eventually departed.
I do believe Baukhain might be "dazzled" by me a little bit, as Mouse calls it. That or she's just a natural flirt. She's not exactly my type, but.... She's growing on me. A little. But that ended pretty quickly after Brad left and the topic of conversation changed....
I clarified that Baukhain was being open about what she was and that Thomas was still being guarded somewhat, both to alert Baukhain to that matter and to not make assumptions on my part. Baukhain asked Mr. Lee how he was both a Fox and an Uktena, and he mentioned he had bloodlines from both the Uktena and the Kitsune. Baukhain then expressed concern about garou-cat hybrids and said it was of a personal concern. Thomas assured her that it was improbably that a wolf-cat shifter would result of that kind of union. The conversation made me wonder, though. Personal issue? I bet she's shacking up with Ulrick. Even if I were to entertain thoughts about Baukhain, there's no way in hell I'd follow through while she's sleeping with a garou--and a Walker to boot.
After Baukhain left, Thomas and I talked a little longer. The conversation began with Thomas explaining that there's a lot of similarities in how the shifters crib their magical abilities and rituals from one another. (There does seem to be a lot of overlapping, I've noticed, and Val's mentioned she could learn things from Thomas--but doesn't like him enough to bother asking him to teach her. So there does seem to be some negotiated give and take. Probably a lot moreso in the Beast Courts overseas, I bet.) He said the cats are Gaia's eyes--as they like to call themselves--and pride themselves on digging out secrets--especially magical secrets--and then not necessarily sharing them. (Sharing secrets is apparently the role the Corax have. Note to self: buy Val a fruit basket.) And that they can sometimes learn secrets and tricks from Namebreakers--which is a fancy name used around the Beast Courts for mages. (Apparently the belief is that the first Namebreaker was a human who, if he learned a things true name, could break the person or thing apart and reshape it as he desired. The Weaver killed him, but not before the knowledge spread to other humans, giving them the power to reshape reality.)
Noticing a theme here? Magic. Magic. Magic. Secret. Secret. Secret. We danced all around the issue, neither of us coming outright and saying anything. I thought about it, but what if he /doesn't/ know, is just looking for confirmation, and confirmation would give him the all-clear to get rid of a Namebreaker/Mage/Warper? I don't want to have to defend myself. It's so much easier being overlooked and underestimated. And, as I told Val earlier, if people did know, I'd have to start posturing. They'd have to start posturing. And that rather hinders relations, in my opinion. Unknown, I can offer opinions and have them shot down--or just take a dive completely--and it's no skin off my back. There are advantages to being unimportant. The shadows, Nick, are your friend.
LOLcat flipped his shit when I got home and he smelled tiger all over me. A nice, long, hot bath removed all the tiger slobber.
