Suits in the Park.
Saturday, 1 March 2014 18:20![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeremiah_garouMarch 1, 2014
The moon is in the waxing New (Ragabash) Moon phase (2% full).
Naomi drops into business mode now, watching the men from her position while feigning attention on Val's game. "Hard to tell from this distance. Not sure they're the same, but, worth keeping an eye on."
"Well then, how about I go and take a closer look at them," Val says, as she closes up her game and puts the phone back in her pocket. "Be back in a few." That said, Val stands and starts walking towards the park's exit.
Out of all the joggers in the park, Jeremiah keeps away from the paths, away from people for the most part, and he could use some sleep. But instead of sleep, the ahroun's pushing himself to run a more challenging pace than usual, and it's at least his second or third lap around the park. There'd been no notice of the two before, but at a point, there's a brief nod of acknowledgement to Val before he angles in the same vague direction as she is, cutting his pace and stopping by a water fountain.
The pair of men in suits go into the park, their attention not lingering on the two nondescript women-men-teens over there looking at their game. They wander on in, with the PDA man pointing out features, and the man with the telephoto snapping photos.
Naomi seems rather against that idea, but before she can stop the corax, the woman has left her alone at the bench. She lets out a huff and then turns to watch the two men, eyes narrowing. She pulls out her phone, pops in her ear buds and then starts recording them with the video.
Val walks past the men in suits, comes to a stop a half dozen paces behind them and bends down to 're-tie her shoelaces'. She appears to be ignoring them completely.
Jeremiah pauses to get water, tucking one hand into his pocket and fishing for a cigarette even as he does so. His gaze wanders from the water fountain to the ground and back again, being as unobtrusive as he can be, and there's talking to himself for a moment not loudly enough that anyone can hear more than the horrid nasal quality of his voice or that he isn't speaking English… or coherently, then a few vague signs, and then he actually bends to get a drink of water.
The men in the black suits seem to zero in on the fountain, and begin taking photos of that. Periodically, the PDA is consulted, and that seems to guide their progression through the park.
Naomi continues her recording as she watches them approach the fountain, drawing in a long breath as she does so. She looks around to see if she can spot where her feathered friend has run off to.
Val finishes fixing her shoelaces, straightens up, then jogs right out of the park.
Jeremiah turns, catching sight of Naomi, and the young man pulls his hat down further over his ears, and returns to studying the water fountain, with the occasional glance at the suits in the park. After a moment, though, Jeremiah moves off towards his usual tree, at a walk.
The camera turns, taking a few photos from the opposite angle. One of the agents pause, looking over at Naomi. Or, perhaps, Naomi's cellphone, subtly clearly pointed at them. He nudges the other man, the one with the camera, and points over towards the cellphone. This elicits a frown from him, too.
Fingers work quickly to upload the video, flip back to Words with Friends, and lock down her phone into encrypted mode. Then she lets out a laugh as if she were talking to someone through the device, "Bray is too a word. It's the sound a donkey makes."
Jeremiah looks over at Naomi's bench, and nods as she says that. "Definitely a word, ma'am," he offers, before continuing onwards towards the tree, slightly closer to the fountain. He reaches into his pocket for a book, then, as well.
The Camera is slowly raised, aimed at Naomi. A few photos are taken. It's impossible to miss—they're brazen in their approach. PDA man leans over, and says something quietly to the camera man. The Camera Man seems to agree.
Naomi gives a nod to the man passing by and offers an overly cheerful, "Thanks!" before saying, "See even some random guy agrees." Tap tap tap. She's noticed the pictures, but for now, does her best to keep her cool and go along with her ruse.
Jeremiah settles down at the first tree he comes to from Naomi's bench, leaning backwards against it. The book is taken out, opened to the bookmark, and for what it's worth, the homeless man appears to be standing there and reading, though he glances over at Naomi every so often.
There's a little more hushed conversation, and the to turn to leave for their unmarked SUV. Closer to the exit, a few more photos get snapped.
From outside the park, a raven makes an appearance and starts to circle the SUV.
Naomi watches them and frowns, tapping at her phone a few more times. She clicks it back over to take video as they get into the car, working to zoom in on the plates.
Jeremiah just watches, and there's a moment as he snuffs the cigarette out and puts the butt into a little tin can that disappears into another pocket. A frown forms on his face, and he digs for another cigarette, for the time being.
A few shots of the outside of the park, the spooks head back into their SUV, and start to head off, leaving the park alone.
Memory takes a quick look at the car, flaps her wings to pick up some speed, makes a sharp turn, then takes a dump, of all things.
Naomi watches as they leave and then just lets out a shoulder slumping sigh, "Goddammit. Something is up."
Jeremiah pushes off from his tree, moving over towards Naomi. "Y' got a light, ma'am?" he asks, as quiet as he can. It's followed, quickly, by, "You friends with Val, I guess?"
Val does, in fact, get bird shit all over the man's hand. "God damnit." He swears, looking out over towards offending bird. Getting inside, he pulls out a wet wipe for cleaning himself, and his gadget, off. The two drive off.
Naomi turns toward Jeremiah, eyes narrowing. "Yeah. I am." She tosses a lighter out of her pocket toward the other. "You?"
Well, poop, that didn't work as planned. Memory soars higher to keep an eye on the car as it leaves, marking its progress.
Jeremiah catches the lighter, with a grateful expression, and then nods. "Yeah," he says. "Helped her fix up her apartment when she moved, once, an' she's helped me out while I been here a few times. She's a friend."
"Your voice is still messed up," she says this rather matter of factly. "What'd you do to get jackaled?" The word is thrown out with a sense of her knowing exactly why the other's voice is so strung.
Jeremiah looks at Naomi, and open palm offers her lighter back, but there's a slight bit in that look that's hard. Harder perhaps even than he intended it to be, and his Rage is pushed down as fast as it boils up. "I was a shit-ass Shadow Lord who fucked up big time, a…" He pauses, and then continues, "long damn time ago, or so it seemed. Something thought it'd be funny to dump me from living my life an' wanderin' the East Coast killing what needed killed, right into St. Claire, and instead of running, I's stayed, and faced things, and took the punishment for things that I was never Judged for then. The rest is a longer story than is for here." The look intensifies again. "Your turn, ma'am. You was just an army woman, what do you know about the jackal?"
"Eight years ago I wasn't just an army woman. And as of recently, no longer am." She pockets the lighter and looks back toward where the car was. "Walker. New moon." She tries to scan the buildings for signs of the raven, "Where the fuck is she?"
The raven is no where in sight. Damn birds.
The man purses his lips and nods, taking a moment to think that through. "Saw her leave the park, didn't see anything after that, but. That ain't my strong point." There is a pause, and Jeremiah adds, "One of Mama Rat's. Full moon. Though guess both those were obvious enough, really."
"Not really, considering the look of you." Another breath is drawn in as she looks around, clearly a bit on edge given the recent event. "You just here on the outskirts then?"
Val eventually returns, wanderings back in to the park at a sedate pace.
Jeremiah glares at the ground. "I ain't one, an' there was nothing left for me long before I wasn't," Jeremiah mutters, nearly inaudible and not understandable. "I'm here on the terms of the Judgment, and will be until things get done or I leave, or I die fightin', or both. Anruth, an' with some… things to do for those in charge, variously." Jeremiah tilts his head to one side. "Looks like she's back."
Naomi turns toward the reappearance of Val, her eyes intent on the other woman. "Tell me that wasn't fucking off?"
Val comes to a stop a reasonable distance away, as she acquires a very wary air. Honestly, she looks ready to turn around and walk away from the two Garou.
"Hey, Val," Jer offers, quietly. To Naomi, the ahroun says, "It was off even to me, and frankly, for me to notice, means they weren't trying very hard to hide it." A pause, and the Gnawer looks uncomfortable, as if unused to talking this much. "Who the hell were they, ma'am?"
Naomi tips her head to the side at the Corax. "You're safer with us than not. Unless you plan on taking off entirely. What the hell were they up to here? Why the interest in the fountain?"
"Have you crossed over here, Naomi?" Val asks, simply enough. "Do it, tonight, when no one is around to watch. It's perfectly safe, regardless of moon, or time of day. That may be part of the answer. Other than that, it is the heart of this Glade."
Jeremiah mutters, cursing narrowly. "That thing Mama Kaz brought back's here, isn' it?" he asks Val, curiously. "Heard about that." There's another muttering. "But who the hell are they?" The initial question's repeated. "Folk patrol th' park often enough, but… how d' you patrol against creepy suits?"
Val's nose wrinkles up. "They started showing up after what happened at the Warehouse. That big mess in the news. With the dead special ops guy. Naomi could tell you more about him, then me. But, long story short. Spirals. Big mess. No idea how big. Haven't been able to get in touch with Quin to ask."
"Glade?" she asks, looking absolutely shocked at that. "You serious? Dear god no one told me. Then they're not really suits. Not my kind. They're just posing as them. You able to track them somehow?" She eyes the fountain then looks back. "Shit."
Jeremiah looks back at Naomi. "You're the no moon… but I might know someone else who can too, if need be," he retorts, but there's no malice in it. And he nods. "Why you think I spend so much time in this park bein' a nuisance?" he asks. "Ain't all for fun. I'm tryin' a help out as best I can." There's another grumble. "What Spirals? An' where are they now?" His lips curl slightly, and he glares at the ground again. It seems to be the question of when can he go kill something.
Val sighs and runs a hand over her face, before turning her head to look at the fountain. "Remember the mess my old apartment was in, because of the ravens I raised?" She asks the Gnawer. "Well, someone started shooting them out of the sky. It was this Eddy guy. Turns out he was kin to the Spirals. They were trying to draw out the local raven, or get lucky and actually shoot me. Collect blood'n feathers if I healed up and took off. Would have been fucked, if that'd happened. He managed to kill three of my kids." The woman wets her lips, before continuing. "Eddy was picked up by Thomas and stashed at that warehouse. Spirals showed up to collect him. Don't know any real details, but Thomas got fucked up pretty bad and I don't think any clean up was managed before the cops showed up. Eddy is dead now, from what I was told, he died in a real nasty way, at the hands of his own Family. Spirals aren't in town anymore. Was told that they went back to Seattle."
"Then who the hell are these suits? They're not acting right. They've got interest in places we protect, and… what's the damn connection?" She looks at the jackaled garou at his comment, though it comes up after the fact, "I was asking Val, who had sight of them from a better vantage point."
Jeremiah lifts a shoulder to Naomi and huffs, but it's Val's answer that makes him pissed off, and he paces off in one direction to kick at a stone, fists purposefully unfolding before he returns to the two of them. "Seattle," he grumbles.
Val wets her lips again, looking nervous. "They were a capture group. Three of them. Seems the plan was to grab the local raven. I went with Riley to Seattle awhile back, so they would have known there was a raven in the State and the Sept is known. Squeezing the local bird for information, isn't a bad first step, if they're planning on something bigger. And I don't know anything about the suits. They were getting information from that PDA one of them was holding… And, uhh, I think I'm going to get going."
Naomi watches the Gnawer grumble off a ways then turns toward Val. "You mind if I tag along with you? I got a bit of a recording on them. Maybe you can send it to someone."
Jeremiah lifts a hand to both. "Let me know if there's anythin' I can keep watch out for," he offers. "Please. Or anythin' needs done I can help wi'." But with that, the Gnawer seems more than happy to excuse himself instead. To Naomi, Jer adds, "Thanks for th' light. Guess I can stop callin' y' ma'am now." A pause, and he says, "You want the whole story sometime, you know where t' find me." And then, he's off.
Val rubs at her ear, looking somewhat pained from being exposed to so much of the Jackal Voice. "Take it to the Walkers, Naomi," she suggests. "I'm not all that techy, but I'll make some calls and see if I come up with anything."
Naomi frowns at this, "Val, wait. I don't know the Walkers." There's an awkward plea to her words here, and she looks once over her shoulder before going back to focusing on the woman.
The moon is in the waxing New (Ragabash) Moon phase (2% full).
Naomi drops into business mode now, watching the men from her position while feigning attention on Val's game. "Hard to tell from this distance. Not sure they're the same, but, worth keeping an eye on."
"Well then, how about I go and take a closer look at them," Val says, as she closes up her game and puts the phone back in her pocket. "Be back in a few." That said, Val stands and starts walking towards the park's exit.
Out of all the joggers in the park, Jeremiah keeps away from the paths, away from people for the most part, and he could use some sleep. But instead of sleep, the ahroun's pushing himself to run a more challenging pace than usual, and it's at least his second or third lap around the park. There'd been no notice of the two before, but at a point, there's a brief nod of acknowledgement to Val before he angles in the same vague direction as she is, cutting his pace and stopping by a water fountain.
The pair of men in suits go into the park, their attention not lingering on the two nondescript women-men-teens over there looking at their game. They wander on in, with the PDA man pointing out features, and the man with the telephoto snapping photos.
Naomi seems rather against that idea, but before she can stop the corax, the woman has left her alone at the bench. She lets out a huff and then turns to watch the two men, eyes narrowing. She pulls out her phone, pops in her ear buds and then starts recording them with the video.
Val walks past the men in suits, comes to a stop a half dozen paces behind them and bends down to 're-tie her shoelaces'. She appears to be ignoring them completely.
Jeremiah pauses to get water, tucking one hand into his pocket and fishing for a cigarette even as he does so. His gaze wanders from the water fountain to the ground and back again, being as unobtrusive as he can be, and there's talking to himself for a moment not loudly enough that anyone can hear more than the horrid nasal quality of his voice or that he isn't speaking English… or coherently, then a few vague signs, and then he actually bends to get a drink of water.
The men in the black suits seem to zero in on the fountain, and begin taking photos of that. Periodically, the PDA is consulted, and that seems to guide their progression through the park.
Naomi continues her recording as she watches them approach the fountain, drawing in a long breath as she does so. She looks around to see if she can spot where her feathered friend has run off to.
Val finishes fixing her shoelaces, straightens up, then jogs right out of the park.
Jeremiah turns, catching sight of Naomi, and the young man pulls his hat down further over his ears, and returns to studying the water fountain, with the occasional glance at the suits in the park. After a moment, though, Jeremiah moves off towards his usual tree, at a walk.
The camera turns, taking a few photos from the opposite angle. One of the agents pause, looking over at Naomi. Or, perhaps, Naomi's cellphone, subtly clearly pointed at them. He nudges the other man, the one with the camera, and points over towards the cellphone. This elicits a frown from him, too.
Fingers work quickly to upload the video, flip back to Words with Friends, and lock down her phone into encrypted mode. Then she lets out a laugh as if she were talking to someone through the device, "Bray is too a word. It's the sound a donkey makes."
Jeremiah looks over at Naomi's bench, and nods as she says that. "Definitely a word, ma'am," he offers, before continuing onwards towards the tree, slightly closer to the fountain. He reaches into his pocket for a book, then, as well.
The Camera is slowly raised, aimed at Naomi. A few photos are taken. It's impossible to miss—they're brazen in their approach. PDA man leans over, and says something quietly to the camera man. The Camera Man seems to agree.
Naomi gives a nod to the man passing by and offers an overly cheerful, "Thanks!" before saying, "See even some random guy agrees." Tap tap tap. She's noticed the pictures, but for now, does her best to keep her cool and go along with her ruse.
Jeremiah settles down at the first tree he comes to from Naomi's bench, leaning backwards against it. The book is taken out, opened to the bookmark, and for what it's worth, the homeless man appears to be standing there and reading, though he glances over at Naomi every so often.
There's a little more hushed conversation, and the to turn to leave for their unmarked SUV. Closer to the exit, a few more photos get snapped.
From outside the park, a raven makes an appearance and starts to circle the SUV.
Naomi watches them and frowns, tapping at her phone a few more times. She clicks it back over to take video as they get into the car, working to zoom in on the plates.
Jeremiah just watches, and there's a moment as he snuffs the cigarette out and puts the butt into a little tin can that disappears into another pocket. A frown forms on his face, and he digs for another cigarette, for the time being.
A few shots of the outside of the park, the spooks head back into their SUV, and start to head off, leaving the park alone.
Memory takes a quick look at the car, flaps her wings to pick up some speed, makes a sharp turn, then takes a dump, of all things.
Naomi watches as they leave and then just lets out a shoulder slumping sigh, "Goddammit. Something is up."
Jeremiah pushes off from his tree, moving over towards Naomi. "Y' got a light, ma'am?" he asks, as quiet as he can. It's followed, quickly, by, "You friends with Val, I guess?"
Val does, in fact, get bird shit all over the man's hand. "God damnit." He swears, looking out over towards offending bird. Getting inside, he pulls out a wet wipe for cleaning himself, and his gadget, off. The two drive off.
Naomi turns toward Jeremiah, eyes narrowing. "Yeah. I am." She tosses a lighter out of her pocket toward the other. "You?"
Well, poop, that didn't work as planned. Memory soars higher to keep an eye on the car as it leaves, marking its progress.
Jeremiah catches the lighter, with a grateful expression, and then nods. "Yeah," he says. "Helped her fix up her apartment when she moved, once, an' she's helped me out while I been here a few times. She's a friend."
"Your voice is still messed up," she says this rather matter of factly. "What'd you do to get jackaled?" The word is thrown out with a sense of her knowing exactly why the other's voice is so strung.
Jeremiah looks at Naomi, and open palm offers her lighter back, but there's a slight bit in that look that's hard. Harder perhaps even than he intended it to be, and his Rage is pushed down as fast as it boils up. "I was a shit-ass Shadow Lord who fucked up big time, a…" He pauses, and then continues, "long damn time ago, or so it seemed. Something thought it'd be funny to dump me from living my life an' wanderin' the East Coast killing what needed killed, right into St. Claire, and instead of running, I's stayed, and faced things, and took the punishment for things that I was never Judged for then. The rest is a longer story than is for here." The look intensifies again. "Your turn, ma'am. You was just an army woman, what do you know about the jackal?"
"Eight years ago I wasn't just an army woman. And as of recently, no longer am." She pockets the lighter and looks back toward where the car was. "Walker. New moon." She tries to scan the buildings for signs of the raven, "Where the fuck is she?"
The raven is no where in sight. Damn birds.
The man purses his lips and nods, taking a moment to think that through. "Saw her leave the park, didn't see anything after that, but. That ain't my strong point." There is a pause, and Jeremiah adds, "One of Mama Rat's. Full moon. Though guess both those were obvious enough, really."
"Not really, considering the look of you." Another breath is drawn in as she looks around, clearly a bit on edge given the recent event. "You just here on the outskirts then?"
Val eventually returns, wanderings back in to the park at a sedate pace.
Jeremiah glares at the ground. "I ain't one, an' there was nothing left for me long before I wasn't," Jeremiah mutters, nearly inaudible and not understandable. "I'm here on the terms of the Judgment, and will be until things get done or I leave, or I die fightin', or both. Anruth, an' with some… things to do for those in charge, variously." Jeremiah tilts his head to one side. "Looks like she's back."
Naomi turns toward the reappearance of Val, her eyes intent on the other woman. "Tell me that wasn't fucking off?"
Val comes to a stop a reasonable distance away, as she acquires a very wary air. Honestly, she looks ready to turn around and walk away from the two Garou.
"Hey, Val," Jer offers, quietly. To Naomi, the ahroun says, "It was off even to me, and frankly, for me to notice, means they weren't trying very hard to hide it." A pause, and the Gnawer looks uncomfortable, as if unused to talking this much. "Who the hell were they, ma'am?"
Naomi tips her head to the side at the Corax. "You're safer with us than not. Unless you plan on taking off entirely. What the hell were they up to here? Why the interest in the fountain?"
"Have you crossed over here, Naomi?" Val asks, simply enough. "Do it, tonight, when no one is around to watch. It's perfectly safe, regardless of moon, or time of day. That may be part of the answer. Other than that, it is the heart of this Glade."
Jeremiah mutters, cursing narrowly. "That thing Mama Kaz brought back's here, isn' it?" he asks Val, curiously. "Heard about that." There's another muttering. "But who the hell are they?" The initial question's repeated. "Folk patrol th' park often enough, but… how d' you patrol against creepy suits?"
Val's nose wrinkles up. "They started showing up after what happened at the Warehouse. That big mess in the news. With the dead special ops guy. Naomi could tell you more about him, then me. But, long story short. Spirals. Big mess. No idea how big. Haven't been able to get in touch with Quin to ask."
"Glade?" she asks, looking absolutely shocked at that. "You serious? Dear god no one told me. Then they're not really suits. Not my kind. They're just posing as them. You able to track them somehow?" She eyes the fountain then looks back. "Shit."
Jeremiah looks back at Naomi. "You're the no moon… but I might know someone else who can too, if need be," he retorts, but there's no malice in it. And he nods. "Why you think I spend so much time in this park bein' a nuisance?" he asks. "Ain't all for fun. I'm tryin' a help out as best I can." There's another grumble. "What Spirals? An' where are they now?" His lips curl slightly, and he glares at the ground again. It seems to be the question of when can he go kill something.
Val sighs and runs a hand over her face, before turning her head to look at the fountain. "Remember the mess my old apartment was in, because of the ravens I raised?" She asks the Gnawer. "Well, someone started shooting them out of the sky. It was this Eddy guy. Turns out he was kin to the Spirals. They were trying to draw out the local raven, or get lucky and actually shoot me. Collect blood'n feathers if I healed up and took off. Would have been fucked, if that'd happened. He managed to kill three of my kids." The woman wets her lips, before continuing. "Eddy was picked up by Thomas and stashed at that warehouse. Spirals showed up to collect him. Don't know any real details, but Thomas got fucked up pretty bad and I don't think any clean up was managed before the cops showed up. Eddy is dead now, from what I was told, he died in a real nasty way, at the hands of his own Family. Spirals aren't in town anymore. Was told that they went back to Seattle."
"Then who the hell are these suits? They're not acting right. They've got interest in places we protect, and… what's the damn connection?" She looks at the jackaled garou at his comment, though it comes up after the fact, "I was asking Val, who had sight of them from a better vantage point."
Jeremiah lifts a shoulder to Naomi and huffs, but it's Val's answer that makes him pissed off, and he paces off in one direction to kick at a stone, fists purposefully unfolding before he returns to the two of them. "Seattle," he grumbles.
Val wets her lips again, looking nervous. "They were a capture group. Three of them. Seems the plan was to grab the local raven. I went with Riley to Seattle awhile back, so they would have known there was a raven in the State and the Sept is known. Squeezing the local bird for information, isn't a bad first step, if they're planning on something bigger. And I don't know anything about the suits. They were getting information from that PDA one of them was holding… And, uhh, I think I'm going to get going."
Naomi watches the Gnawer grumble off a ways then turns toward Val. "You mind if I tag along with you? I got a bit of a recording on them. Maybe you can send it to someone."
Jeremiah lifts a hand to both. "Let me know if there's anythin' I can keep watch out for," he offers. "Please. Or anythin' needs done I can help wi'." But with that, the Gnawer seems more than happy to excuse himself instead. To Naomi, Jer adds, "Thanks for th' light. Guess I can stop callin' y' ma'am now." A pause, and he says, "You want the whole story sometime, you know where t' find me." And then, he's off.
Val rubs at her ear, looking somewhat pained from being exposed to so much of the Jackal Voice. "Take it to the Walkers, Naomi," she suggests. "I'm not all that techy, but I'll make some calls and see if I come up with anything."
Naomi frowns at this, "Val, wait. I don't know the Walkers." There's an awkward plea to her words here, and she looks once over her shoulder before going back to focusing on the woman.