Reckon it means something.

[jeremiah_garou]

21 February, 2013
The moon is in the waxing Gibbous (Galliard) Moon phase (74% full).

As much as Jeremiah's been able to, he's settled into a bit of a routine, making himself somewhat scarce from the Library. Mornings mean leaving his few things and outer layers in a neat bundle far out of the way, and going on a run for several hours, which is what he's just returning from now. The ahroun closes the front door of the library behind him, taking a moment to reorient himself and notice anyone that's around at the moment. He's not being noisy about his movements, but he's not quiet either, and there are solid footsteps as he moves to his things to put on the tatty flannel shirt and sweatshirt.

Lefty's got bacon sizzling in the pan on the stove. The Gnawer's morning consisted of sleeping til almost noon, it seems. As the ahroun returns, she looks up. "Hey," she greets, sliding bacon onto a paper towel padded paper plate, to absorb excess grease. "Seen Elliot yet?"

Jeremiah nods. "Sunday," Jeremiah says, finishing buttoning up the shirt, tugging the sweatshirt down. Hands tuck into the pocket of the sweatshirt and he heads over. "I asked him that since I'm here, if I could talk to Salem. He said if I left, 'fore I did, he'd as call it good sense." But the former Shadow Lord hasn't left yet, which between that and how quietly and seriously he speaks, makes clear where he stands on that. "Saw Salem Monday. Well… he found me." Another pause, and Jeremiah finishes, "And Elliot-rhya's holding up Silvertip-rhya's decision, in the long run. But that I can stay long enough to… deal w' things."

Lefty listens, putting more bacon in the pan. The heat makes it immediately start sizzling. "Ok, so. What's all that mean? If Elliot's holding to Silvertip's decision, shouldn't you be out of town by now? Didn't he say he'd kill you?"

Jeremiah rubs his hand against his forehead, purses his lips. "Silvertip did. What Elliot said, was that regardless of what happens, Silvertip exiled me. That I accept what comes of talkin' with Salem, fulfill anything that needs done, and get out of town when it's over. No chiminage, no membership here. More'n fair. More'n I expected." The younger Gnawer's brows furrow, and then with a few deep breaths, unfurrow again. "But I made mistakes, here. I can't just bury them and move on to another Sept no one as knows me or who I was at. Salem said I should if I wanted his advice. But that's an easy way out of a mess I—" There's a shrug, there, a slight bit of dissociation talking about his life in his previous time in the Hidden Walk, "still have on my shoulders."

Lefty looks up without actually lifting her head. Eventually, she gestures at the plateful of bacon and asks, "Want some?" Returning to the pan still cooking, she adds, "Smart advice. Tells me you're still thinking like a Lord and not like a Gnawer. Don't get me wrong. We Gnawers have our own honor. But we're also pragmatists. Honor is sometimes a very selfish thing. You staying here in order to wipe away the stain of your previous mistakes? That creates hardships for us. You put that on us." She eyes him to see if he understands. "Dig what I'm saying?"

Jeremiah moves over, a gracious, careful nod, and his brow furrows. He's heard, he understands, and his jaw works as he formulates a response. "Yeah. I… I ain't…" he pauses and leans against the counter for a moment, and there's a muttered curseword that sounds like it's Russian, a sigh, more deep breaths to tame the anger. "I wanna make them right," he tells Lefty. "Not make hardships. I wanna, be able t' help, anything as I can. Extra set of hands, an' I can take care've m'self." Jeremiah's earnest, at the very least, and his teeth tug at his lower lip. "It's a bit of a mindfuck suddenly being here," he admits, "but just, up and leaving?" He shakes his head and glances at Lefty.

Lefty's standing at the stove, cooking bacon. The entire library smells of it, actually. The ahroun is just opposite her on the other side of the makeshift counter. The two are talking. "Oh, I can understand the desire. And being dropped out of the sky… I can see you thinking it was 'meant to be'. Maddie has the same thing going on. You should talk to her, by the way. She may have some insight. All I was trying to do is make sure you see the thing for what it is." She stops, looking directly in his eyes. "You stay here, it is what it is. That's all. And it could wind up making things worse, not better. But you've made that decision, so let's move on. What did Salem say? What did he say you had to do?"

Speak of the devil. And this particular devil seems to be following her nose, to judge by the fact that her head is tilted slightly upward, her nostrils flaring, even as she's licking her lips. Maddie shuffles in, the sound of the front door opening and then closing behind her to mark her passage, the thunking of the table leg that she uses as a walking stick likewise marking her increasing proximity to the other two.

Jeremiah meets the gaze, and eases a little bit, nodding again. "So far, he said he needs to talk to Elliot, and to you," Jeremiah says. "That if he does Judge me I ain't gonna like it, might or might not happen depending upon, and he'll talk to me again at some point." No big surprise and there's nothing but level acceptance in Jer's voice. It takes a bit for Jeremiah to notice the sound of someone coming inside and approaching, and when she comes into view, he turns slightly to introduce himself. "Hiya," he offers, the more serious expression easing into a close-lipped and careful smile. "Bullfrog, Lives-On. Cliath ahroun Gnawer."

Lefty smiles when she sees Maddie. She also points to the already cooked pile of bacon cooling to the side. The latest batch is slid out of the pan and onto the plate. "Hey Mads," she says, leaving the metis an opportunity to return the introduction before she answers Jeremiah.

Maddie looks a bit surprised when he introduces himself as a Bone Gnawer, but only for a moment. "Maddie greets him," she says, even as she moves right on past to snag some of the bacon. Sure, it's a little impolite, but… bacon. Once she's had a few bites, then she's willing to pause and offer her own introduction in return. "She is Maddie Broken-Toes, Dives-Deep, Fostern shaman, now only once a child of Rat instead of twice." She says this last a little sadly. "That is one of the things that Maddie needs to speak with Lefty about, in fact."

Jeremiah nods to Maddie. "Nice to meet you," he offers. "Lefty jus' mentioned you, actually." The more rural influences in Jeremiah's grasp on English are clear and audible at the moment, and then Jeremiah leans to snag one of the pieces of bacon from the plate. "Not sure how an' what I think of falling out've the sky here still, but reckon though, it means somethin'."

Lefty's attention is grabbed by the metis the moment she mentions losing her status as a child of rat twice. "Oh?" she prompts, hoping the other will elaborate. The stove is turned off, and the ragabash starts putting things away and cleaning up.

"He fell out of the sky?" Maddie asks, her tone and expression one of genuine curiosity now, her interest clear even as she addresses Lefty's question before awaiting his reply. "Maddie had to say goodbye to Cheez-it and the B-rats. She has found what Heap brought her here to find, but obtaining it meant striking a deal. Her chiminage was to make St. Claire her city, and to serve it as best she can for a year and a day."

Jeremiah listens as Maddie speaks, taking the last bite from his piece of bacon and then chewing on it thoughtfully, then nods. "Six feet in the air an' out of the Umbra," Jeremiah says, with a decidedly slightly grumpy tone. "From Connecticut. Was a fight with a Bane've some sort, and it half-gutted me, an' next thing I know I's here. Hitting th' pavement in an alley, an' alls own lucky that th' person to see it's Garou."

Lefty's eyes widen a little bit. "Oh wow. So… you're staying then? Well, I can't say I'm sad. But, I'm sorry about your old pack." She waits a good three seconds of proper, polite sympathy before she breaks into a wide grin.

Maddie says, "She will miss them. But if she has to leave her home, she is glad it is to come here. To be more than a guest means that she will need to perform proper chiminage to Hidden Walk, however." At Jeremiah's story, she rubs her chin. "Maddie dove into a dumpster in Trenton, and came up here. She knew that it was for a purpose, but it took her longer to figure out what that purpose was." A short pause, and she asks, a touch hesitantly, "She wonders how long the Bullfrog has been a Bone Gnawer?" A delicate enough question, even among a tribe that counts any number of renunciates among its ranks, that she might not ask it normally, but one might gather that she thinks it might be relevant.

"June the twelfth," Jeremiah answers, the precise date easily enough at hand with the quieter conversation and not having just fallen out of the umbra. The man tugs at his lower lip with his teeth after he's said this, a slight fidget, though there's no discomfort in answering what's asked. He fidgets also with one of his earrings on the left side, turning the ring through the piercing and looking sidelong at both of his tribemates.

Lefty snags a piece of bacon to chew on while the other two Gnawers speak. When there's a pause, she answer's Maddie's inquiry about chiminage. "Talk to Mouse. We will need every drop of gnosis we can muster if the caern rite is to succeed. You help Mouse with the rite, and give your gnosis, that's chiminage enough for me."

"Maddie would count it a privilege to be part of the Rite," she answers Lefty, then nods slowly. "And she wonders what form of contrition he offered to Grandfather Thunder in the days that led up to June the 12th? She is only speculating, but he appeared in the air, and those spirits are more closely aligned to the tribe of his birth than to Rat. He could be here because because a spirit felt he was needed here, or he could be here because the totem he once served felt it the place most likely for him to be punished for his decision." She offers a shrug, then. "The Shadow Lords are not numerous here, though, so she does not know why the Hidden Walk would be counted a punishment, if that was the case."

Lefty starts heading for the stairs. "I'm gonna go up and have a shower. Enjoy the bacon." This is mostly aimed at Maddie, though it could be interpreted for Jer too. Her last words are directed at the ahroun, personally. "I'll see Elliot and Salem as soon as possible. In the meantime, you can stay here if you want. But stay out of trouble. And if you prefer your own place, that's fine with me too."

Jeremiah brings his hand from fidgeting with the earring to shoving it through his hair and nods to Maddie, though Lefty gets his attention first. "Yes. I will. I… I like space, but I'll be around some, even if most of the time I go find somewhere outdoors." There's a faint, grateful if tense smile offered to Lefty, and then Jer's attention returns to Maddie.

"The Sept I was born to fell," he says, not quite shortly. But it is flat, difficult to speak of. "My pack and I were on my Fostern challenge at the time. The Caern was attacked by those who'd fallen. We couldn't do enough. When they were all dead, I came here with my nephew, and fucked up pretty well along the way. Not going to make excuses, I was a wreck. I did my contrition to Thunder, though, when I said goodbye to all—" Anger flares and Jeremiah turns away from both Maddie and Lefty, pacing into the open space. Though not nearly as volatile as he once was, that rage is still there, gathered and pulled back under control before he turns around.

Maddie remains silent until he's had sufficient opportunity to regain control—well, silent except perhaps for a bit of crunching, because a period of silence is a perfect opportunity for more bacon—and her voice is soft when she continues. "She knows that Thunder does not forgive easily, and that he never forgets. If the Bullfrog was here before, and made enemies, that could be reason enough that he was cast here. Even if his contrition was accepted, that does not mean that Thunder would not seize an opportunity to make things difficult for him. Or even to put him in a situation where he must risk his life, as he surely will if he seeks to remain—the Rite of Caern Building is most dangerous of all to full moons, for they must stand in front against the dangers that rise up when it is performed."

Jeremiah nods slowly, returning over to the counter to claim another piece of bacon for himself now that he's calmed down, chewing quietly as he listens. "I was here. I was exiled, too, by the previous alpha, rather than what I'd been s'posed t' face Judgement for what I'd done," Jeremiah says. "Is why I'm talkin' to Salem, and such. But if I's still here, when that's to happen." He pauses. "I ain't never going to be a member here. But that don' mean I won't help any way I can. And I don't know if Elliot'll as want me anywhere near that, since." Since seems to be a story for another time, a smaller moon. There's another nod. "I asked Elliot as to get to stay, long enough to face Judgment for mistakes. Because at some level, I got to, if I want to make good on the chance that Mama Rat gave me, I need to do it honest, no cuttin' corners, no cheating, no takin' the easy way out." Jeremiah runs a hand through his hair. "Thanks," he eventually offers, quiet. "I… I think I should go running again," he says. "It's a lot t' think on. And a mindfuck to be so close to my past when I hain't been. Road rise to meet you, Maddie."

Maddie bobs her head in acknowledgement of what he's said and in farewell. "Good, good. Then he already realizes that even a punishment can be an opportunity for the one with the wisdom to see it. For all that he may face many uncertainties, he is on far surer ground than many since he understands that."

Jeremiah snags a final piece of bacon and moves over to a small pile of clothing, shedding the sweatshirt and rifling through the pockets of the large coat until he comes out with a hat and a cheap pocketknife, and nods to Maddie. "Opportunity's a good word for it," he offers, and then heads off towards the front door.