It is currently 12:15 Pacific Time on
Mon May 26 2003.
Currently the moon is in the waning
Crescent Moon phase (30% full).
Whispering Pines - Rhiannon's Apt.
Rhiannon appears to follow the tenet
of 'order in chaos', as the apartment is a complete and total mess,
save for a few small corners of sanity. The doorway opens to the living
room, which is large and bright, with a balcony and sliding glass doors
on the left and a dining nook at the far left corner. To the right of
the living room is a short hall that allows access to the bedrooms and
bathrooms, and the kitchen is located across the living room and to the
right, with a bar allowing a view from the dining nook into the
kitchen. The apartment is still sparsely furished, with only the basics
covered: a low coffee table is covered with magazines and papers,
mostly catalogues from the looks of it, ranging from Coldwater Creek to
an NRA publication or two. Blankets and pillows litter the wide, plaid
couch, and the entertainment center has a mess of VHS tapes and DVDs in
front of it rather than stacked neatly in the available shelving.
Although the TV and VCR appear to be garden variety, the stereo system
and DVD player are anything but. Several different company logos are
apparent between the large speaker system and accompanying components,
the main speakers being almost 4' tall and flanking the entertainment
system. Reiterating a love of all things audio is the pair of CD
cabinets on the opposite wall, both holding a huge selection of CDs.
Unlike the movies on the floor, not a single CD is out of place, and a
closer look reveals they are all alphabetized--several hundred, if the
height and width of the cases are any indication. The apartment walls
are barren except for a few family and friend photos.
Knock, knock-knock-knock.
A knocking? Quentin walks along to the door, looks out the peep-hole
and then pulls it open. The apartment is.. scarce, now, most of the
electronics gone, the decorations gone, a couple shallowly-filled
cardboard boxes sitting about.
Salem stands there in the usual somber attire and dark glasses, his
expression amiable enough but otherwise unreadable. "Afternoon. Mind if
I come in?"
Quentin takes a slight half-step back, a brow quirking in surprise
before he invites with a shrug, "Sure, c'mon in. You get my message?"
Salem enters, taking off the sunglasses as he does so and slipping them
inside his coat. "About the Fangs? Yes, I did. Good job."
Quentin closes the door behind his elder, chuckling faintly, "I was
kind of jealous. I've /always/ wanted to slug Valoran."
Salem's mouth twitches into a half-smile. "An understandable reaction."
The smile fades as he takes in the decimated apartment and then turns
back to the young Galliard. "I have," he says, "a project for you. It's
optional, but I think it's something you'd enjoy getting involved in.
Something... interesting."
Quentin turns back towards Salem once the door's locked, and then
pauses with a slight blink, seeming startled. "Really? Well, sure, I
mean, aside from what little stuff I've got going on, I'm pretty much
free.. what is it?"
"Do you remember the message I passed along about the vampire I didn't
want killed?" Salem raises an eyebrow. "Name of Orion?"
"Yep," Quentin allows with a slight bob of his head, "I remember."
Salem nods, hands slipping into his coat pockets. "He's agreed to give
us information as part of being allowed to exist unmolested in this
city. He has, in fact, offered to give lessons on what he, as a
vampire, can and cannot do. I've given it some thought as to who I want
in this first class, and I'd like you to consider taking advantage of
this rather, mm, unique opportunity."
Quentin's brows arch slightly at that, in mild surprise. "He did? Well,
I mean, sure.. not like a chance like this comes along that often.." A
pause, "You're sure he's not just doing this to get a solid ID on a
bunch of werewolves?"
Salem smiles thinly. "I'd thought of that, which is why I'm not having
everyone and their packmate sign up. In fact, at first it'll probably
be just you and K. C., with myself in attendence to keep an eye on
things and make sure Mr. Orion doesn't try anything foolish."
Quentin's head tips in a slight nod, allowing with a chuckle, "Well,
I'm willing to listen to what he's had to say.. never actually seen a
live vampire, myself. Just that dead one that tried to jump Lyra."
The Elder's smile widens a notch, and he nods in approval. "Excellent."
Then he cocks his head, one eyebrow rising. "How's your _other_ project
going?"
"It's going," Quentin says dryly, shaking his head, "Everyone I ask
says the same thing.. they don't remember anything that could help."
Salem's brow furrows, mouth thinning into a slight frown. "Mm." He
glances around, then takes a perch on one arm of the still-remaining
couch. "Do you have _anything_ on what happened after he came to town?"
Quentin's shoulders roll in a slight shrug, leaning back against the
wall and folding both arms over his chest. "Not really. I know vaguely
'he worked to draw the tribe together' and that's about it.. something
about a glass bane, but nobody knows details.."
Salem grimaces. He rubs his chin. "Mm. Yes, I heard about that. It
involved one of the cubs... Sophia, I think, and he ended up blinded by
the thing. Alicia healed him." He thinks for a moment. "There was,
also, his work in the sewers... unfortunately incomplete. Roger was
involved with that, and Kaz... plus some other Gnawer that's now dead,
and Yi I think."
Quentin tips his head slightly, "Yeah, well.. Alicia doesn't seem very
forthcoming with details, although I'm still trying to drag some out of
her. Kaz's gone.. I haven't been able to get a hold of Yi, though I
asked someone to pass word to her that I wanted to talk to her.." A
frown, "I've been hoping to find Daisy, too, maybe she knows something."
Salem grunts. "Daisy should. She's staying with Cassiel at the moment,
though she might also be at the farmhouse."
Quentin purses his lips, "Where's Cassiel living?"
Salem thinks for a moment, then names an address not far from the
college campus. "One moment, let me get you her number." He reaches
into his coat and takes out a small, cheap notepad.
Quentin nods to that a bit, "Cool, thanks.."
Salem scribbles down Cassiel's telephone number and hands it over. "As
I said, she might also be over at the farmhouse." Putting the notepad
away, he folds his arms and thinks again. "What else. Synthesis was his
idea and largely his doing. I doubt the pack would have been formed
without his prodding. And there's what _you_ remember about him, too."
The halfmoon lofts an eyebrow.
Quentin reaches out to accept the paper, glancing at it before folding
it up to tuck away in a pocket. "Yeah, well, I never saw much of what
he actually /did/ while I was around.." A shake of his head, "I have a
list of his mortal contacts, but I doubt I could get a bunch of
mobsters to talk about this assassin they used to hire.."
Salem snorts. "No. But you're composing a tale of him for _us_. For the
Garou Nation." He cocks his head slightly, regarding the cub. "You
don't need to have every single detail about everything that he did.
The tale doesn't have to be a grand epic. It _should_ mention the
things he did that we should honor him for. Things like organizing a
tribe from nothing, taking charge in the city and being active in the
war. The sewers, the hospital, the glass bane... it was John who made
the safehouse blow, rather than leave behind evidence that would rend
the Veil, and he made sure that he was the last out and that not
_everything_ in the safehouse would be lost. He did, in fact, open the
safehouse up to most of the Sept when the caern fell." He shakes his
head a bit. "Don't make the task harder than it is. You can complete it
successfully, of that I have no doubt."
"Right," Quentin allows with a tip of his head towards Salem, one hand
splaying to one side, "But I can't find anyone who was in the sewers, I
need to tie down Alicia and drag details about the glass bane from
her.. I don't know -anything- about the hospital aside from Rina
telling me it was one of his priorities.. so I've got aways to work on
that." A pause, and he admits, "Just knowing what little I do, though..
he was an amazing person. Just to do this, after what happened where he
came from.. most people'd be liable to tell the tribe to go fuck
itself."
Salem nods. "He was." The Walker shifts his weight and takes out his
pocketwatch, glancing at it with a frown. "Mm." He puts it away and
straightens up. "All right. The hospital, I know something about, but
I've got an appointment to keep. Come over to my place for dinner
sometime and I'll tell you what I remember." He smiles crookedly. "And
I'll give Alicia a kick in the ass for you, all right?"
Quentin chuckles faintly, "Eh, I'll just keep going over and bothering
her 'till she spills her guts.. she's a galliard, shouldn't be -this-
hard to get her to talk. I'll stop by sometime, I'll call first.." A
nod towards the door, "Anyway, don't let me keep you.."
Salem nods. He starts for the door, then pauses. "Oh. I'm reminded." He
turns back. "Where will you be living after this month? Any ideas?"
Quentin shakes his head a bit, "I was planning on crashing at the
farmhouse for awhile while I try to figure something out.." A vaguely
uncomfortable look across the apartment, "..I feel like a bum, really,
I keep moving around."
Salem grunts. "I know the feeling." He takes out his sunglasses and
slips them on. "Well, when we get the new safehouse purchased, you'll
have someplace to stay permanently. I hear that Ebony might be setting
up a media center, too." He gives the cub a faint, crooked smile.
Quentin offers a wry look back, "Well, that's cool. It'd be good to not
have to /move/ every other month.."
Salem cocks his head. "Perhaps Lyra's aunt could give you a bed, in the
meantime? It'd likely be more comfortable than being out in the middle
of nowhere."
Quentin shakes his head slightly, "She could, but.. honestly, if I'm
out at the farm I can at least try and dig up a few people who might've
known John." Wry, "I have a few questions for Sepdet-rhya, too."
The Elder gives Quentin a thin smile. "Yes, grab her before she wanders
off again." He heads for the door again saying as he leaves, "Dinner,
my place. Soon. Don't forget."
"I won't," Quentin promises with a shake of his head, "Take care."
"Be seeing you," Salem says, and then departs.