It is currently 12:18 Pacific Time on Sun Apr 20 2003.

Currently in Saint Claire, it is partly sunny. The temperature is 58 degrees Fahrenheit (14 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the east at 3 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 29.99 and falling, and the relative humidity is 57 percent. The dewpoint is 43 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius.)

Currently the moon is in the waning Gibbous Moon phase (73% full).

Harbor Park -- The Meadow

One of the last bastions of green left in the city, mottled and withered grass and weeds covers the earth like a badly stained carpet, with the construction work turning what is left into just bare dirt. The vegetation seems marginally healthier the further it is from the river and much healthier towards the central area of the park around the fountain. Construction work is ongoing here: a raised earthen berm about five feet tall is being built all around the park perimeter, with two breaks each at the Bridge Street entrance and the First Street end. Wooden posts are being erected at regular intervals all along the earthen wall, while tasteful iron gates and fences are being added at the entrances. Overpowering the scent of living vegetation are the exhaust fumes from a busy street to the west and an unpleasant stench from the Columbia River to the east. From the street view or river view, the park is now isolated, as if it existed apart from the city. People in tall buildings have an excellent view of any goings-ons for now, though. In the center of the park, a small glade of six tall trees and a flower bed surrounds the fountain.

The murky waters of the Columbia River flow swiftly along the east side of the park. Bracketing the park to the west is First Street and the city of St. Claire.

It's Easter, and despite the chilliness of this April Sunday, there are quite a few people in the park, enjoying the early spring sun. Still, the park isn't crowded by any means, and nobody goes near the brooding, satanic-looking man sitting on the park bench near the river. Salem's wearing the usual black on black, and his eyes are hidden behind dark glasses.

How fitting if a girl in a bunny-eared hood were to hop this way! But no such thing appears. Instead, a reddish, wolfish dog makes its way through from the street, coming close to someone when they offer a scratch and prancing away when they shout "Shoo!"

Salem, glancing up, spots the young Bone Gnawer and smiles, very thin and crooked. He shifts his weight, sitting up a bit on the bench, and watches her.

Jeremy makes his way towards the park, talking on his cell phone. Geez, people, its Easter, quit calling him! He's going back and forth in Japanese, eyes rolling a bit skyward.

One person throws a stick, and Four-Leaves goes tumbling after it, snapping up the twig in her jaws and carrying her trophy high. It's then she catches sight of Salem, and she starts trotting her way towards him, tail wagging a bit.

"Hello, girl," Salem says casually, using the off-handed tone of voice that anyone might use when speaking to a friendly-looking stray mutt. "Haven't seen _you_ in a while."

"Domo ari gato." Click. Jeremy closes up the phone and tucks it onto his belt hook again, then makes his way towards Salem and the wolf, letting out a breath. "Easter." He says simply.

Haven't been any flowers to sell, Four-Leaves chuffs with a wolfish smirk, dropping the stick at Salem's feet and looking up at Jeremy. You! she barks excitedly, and then she attacks his shoe.

Salem glances up and gives the kin a nod. "Happy Easter, Jeremy." He watches Lyra's antics with a touch of amusement.

You go ahead and chew that steel toe boot. Jeremy glances down at her, then over to Salem. "Friend of yours?" He doesn't recognize her in this form.

After a moment she jars her teeth on the the attempt and backs off, lying down languidly by Salem's feet, stick between paws. He doesn't recognize me! Ah, well, I'll redecorate his house another time.

"Lyra," Salem explains Jeremy. Then he asks the Gnawer, one eyebrow raised, "You've gone into redecorating?"

".. Lyra? Oh. She wanted to see me. Redecorating?" Jeremy blinks his eyes, thinking he may just put two an two together. "You an Renee /still/ trying to put color in my house?"

The reddish wolf sticks her muzzle under one paw, penitently.

Salem makes an admonishing little 'tch' noise. "Third law, Lyra."

Jeremy blinks his eyes. "Third law?" He asks, rubbing at his eyes. They look a bit tired.

Four-Leaves sniffs at the stick, flicking one ear back in distaste. Hm.Plead the fifth? She cants her head to peer up at Salem. How are things with your family?

"'Respect the territory of another,'" Salem quotes. He tilts his head, eyeing Jeremy for a moment, then turns his gaze back to Lyra. "Things are fine," he answers, though there's a subtle tightening around his mouth. His eyes remain obscured behind the dark lenses. "How is yours? I see Renee is returned from her, mm, leave of absense."

Jeremy ohs softly to himself and shifts some on his feet, then grows quiet.

Four-Leaves snorts, flicking her ears back again. Yes. New member of the family- two of them. Cub and cliath. She wants me to join a pack she's making. She lifts the stick in her teeth and, with a little bit of manipulation, starts poking at Jeremy's feet with it. I needed to see you about pip. For his birthday, specifically. But that can wait.

Salem arches an eyebrow. "Quentin has a birthday coming up?"

Jeremy leans over and picks up the stick, then tosses it a few feet.

The Gnawer looks Jeremy dead in the eye. Well, I guess you won't help me then? Oh. Right. Can't understand. Four-Leaves yawns. May 17th. I thought ~Jeremy~ could help...pip mentioned something about ~Goth~. I wouldn't know.

Salem snorts. "Well, then..." He glances over at the gothkin. "Lyra wants help getting Quentin a present for his birthday. She thinks something goth will be suitable." The Walker's tone is dead-dry.

"... Why?" Jeremy asks, raising up a brow. "He's not a Goth." He says simply at that.

Four-Leaves paws at the air. Not -my- idea. His. He wants. Something...Goth, for... She seems to shrink a bit and eyes Salem almost shamefully. I'll just tell him later.

Salem eyes the young Gnawer curiously, then shrugs. "She'll tell you later," he translates for Jeremy laconically.

Jeremy rubs his ear slightly, then shrugs his shoulders. His cell phone goes off again and he sighs. He eyes it warily, then ignores it.

I heard Three-Blades is joining a Walker pack, Four-Leaves chuffs abruptly, tail curling around her.

"That's true." Salem reaches into his coat and takes out his cigarette case. "She's been accepted into Synthesis." He takes out one of the handrolled cigs and sets it between his lips. The case snaps shut.

Jeremy shifts some more, then finally picks up the phone, once more rambling off in Japanese as he walks a few feet from them.

She watches the kin walk off a bit. All the people I regarded family are missing, she yips softly. Bridge-Mender, Mama Ears, even Shadow-Eyes. And Three-Blades has been away for a very long time. Now you will see more of her than I do. It's slightly accusatory, the Gnawers' words.

Salem's eyes narrow slightly behind the dark glasses, but his voice remains even and neutral as he lights the cigarette. "She asked to join," he says around the cancer stick.

Four-Leaves sits up, stretching her toes. Why shouldn't she? The family is gone. What's left...worries me. She stares down at slightly dirty paws, right ear skewing. What would happen if...if I wanted to join your family?

Salem cocks his head. He takes the cigarette from his mouth and leans back on the bench, studying her. "You want to renounce your tribe?" Apart from a mild curiosity, he's unreadable.

"Bark!" It's a sort of laugh from her. Sort of funny, isn't it? After everything I did, trying to make everyone love us, or at least accept us. Four-Leaves doesn't look up. I don't know. I don't know.

"You're working against thousands of years of history," Salem says quietly, his gaze wandering past Lyra toward the river. Watchful. After a moment, he looks back at her. "Once you leave your tribe, you cannot go back," he says somberly. "Some of your old tribemates may hate you. Renee will consider you a traitor, most likely. Ask her what she thinks of those who walk among glass sometime, if you haven't already." He takes a drag on the cigarette and lets it out. "However... if a renouncing is what you want, I know the appropriate ritual." He pauses a beat, arching an eyebrow at her. "I would have to give you a test. Like a Rite of Passage. I can promise you that it would be a fair one."

The lupus'd halfmoon gets to all paws and starts padding away, brushing against Jeremy's legs as she heads out. I shouldn't. It would make me a hypocrite. Bridge-Mender's memory wouldn't permit it. She pauses, circling around the kin's ankles and finally meeting Salem's gaze with a solemn one of her own. There are holes, but I haven't done everything I can to fix it. And until then, it wouldn't be right. I'll come to you again if... She barks, a halfhearted attempt at cheeriness. Take care of your family, rhya! And then she's loping out of the park.

Salem watches the young halfmoon go, letting a slightly bemused look flick across his face. "Hm," he says, and takes another drag off the cigarette.

Jeremy finishes up his talk on the phone, then clips it back onto his belt. He frowns faintly, then glances over to Salem. "Hey."

Salem glances up at the goth. "Mm?"

"Nada. Oh. I see Lyra took off." Jeremy says. "Um... I can't help but tend to feel confused when I'm around her."

"How do you mean?" asks the Glass Walker, taking in another lungful of smoke.

"I dunno.. she's kinda.. weird." Jeremy says with a faint grin, shrugging his shoulders. "I just feel like I'm on two different.. worlds when I'm around her. Like she's over there, I'm over here, and nothing makes sense."

Salem ahs and gets to his feet. "Don't know what to tell you," he says, tapping ash off the end of his cigarette.