It is currently 17:51 Pacific Time on Thu Apr 14 2005. Currently in Saint Claire, it is partly sunny. The temperature is 48 degrees Fahrenheit (8 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the east at 3 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 30.32 and falling, and the relative humidity is 73 percent. The dewpoint is 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius.) Currently the moon is in the waxing Crescent Moon phase (38% full). Safehouse: Common Area The foyer of this house is set off from the living room with its octagonal bump-out by a four foot high halfwall. Stairs lead up from the foyer, turning and disappearing to the right, and a steel door with a keycard lock claims the wall opposite the living room. The rest of the main floor is taken up by a small bathroom across the hallway from a dining room which is separated from the kitchen at the back of the house by another half-wall. The decor is decidedly sparse - white walls, beige carpeting in the living and dining rooms and down the hall, unremarkable vinyl in the foyer and kitchen. A used couch and a pair of recliners are grouped around a coffee table in the living room, with a foursome of wooden chairs claiming the bump out for quieter conversation. The dining room boasts a white laminate table with four aluminum and vinyl-upholstered chairs - too new to be 'vintage', too old to be trendy. The appliances and cupboards in the kitchen are new - or at least refurbished to look like it - and a door leads out to the backyard from there. Up the stairs are a number of empty rooms where anyone affiliated with the Sept can crash and an office for private meetings. The Glass Walkers have their own area accessible via a locked door off the foyer. The main doors themselves lead back out to the front porch of the house. Jacinta returns to the Walker Safehouse with a calm, confident step. As she turns toward the porch, however, careful observers would not have difficulty recognizing that the confidence is somewhat forced, and the long moment in which her eyes are closed is the moment in which she is gathering her will for the effort of making this choice. The Wendigo takes the steps one at a time, stiffly, and knocks at the door with a solid rap, thrice repeated. [Jacinta] She stands proudly, this young adult; sure in her movements and comfortable in her body. Calloused fingers adorn small hands at the ends of muscular arms. An Alaska Native, Jacinta is not the tallest warrior one could imagine. Her stout figure falls just shy of five feet. Her eyes are a brown so dark as to be almost black, and there is a steeliness about her gaze which belies her easy smile. Her dark hair, once long enough to reach mid-back while braided, now reaches just below her shoulders and hangs loosely, untethered. Her clothes are casual, relatively new blue jeans, and a dark blue T-shirt that has seen very little wear. On colder days, she wears a black, fleece pullover, but when her arms are bare, a detailed tatoo of a long-knife is visible along the back of her left forearm. Grey answers the door in a timely manner, his expression neutral as he looks down at the Wendigo. "Good evening, Jacinta," the Philodox greets, perfectly polite, and then steps aside. "Come in." Jacinta allows a small nod as she steps past the threshhold. "Ii. Quyana." She pauses once inside, gaze drifting toward the living room and then up to Grey, her expression expectant. Grey gestures toward the living room. "Please have a seat. Can I get you something to drink?" Jacinta seems to consider for a moment before giving a small shake of her head with her first step toward the livingroom. "Qanga. Thank you, no." She sits again on the very edge of the couch and watches Grey in quiet contemplation. Grey's steps are almost silent in the new sneakers, quite unlike the usual heavy boots. "Very well. To what do we owe the honor of this visit?" He remains standing, hands clasped behind his back. The Wendigo continues to watch Grey for a time, but as it becomes clear that he doesn't intend to sit, she rises again. Not nearly matching his stature, she at least matches his posture. "I have come to speak with you, Thomas. To ask your advice, and assistance, as a Philodox." A flicker of wariness passes across Grey's face. "Oh?" Jacinta's gaze wavers for the first time, twitching away from the face of the Glass Walker to run along the line where the wall meets the ceiling. A moment of what might be regret washes over her face, but it doesn't last and she brings her focus back to Grey. "Ii. I recognize that I cannot speak effectively with your elder. She does not hear what I say, and I grow too angry to keep my focus on my meaning." The shake of her head conveys it's own meaning, but doesn't pull her eyes away. "I understand that we must ... learn to trust one another, not merely for my challenge, but for the good of the Sept. I also understand, now, that I cannot do this without help. I need assistance from a Philodox, and one that we both can trust." Grey's own gaze twitches away from the Wendigo's, meeting it only briefly, the way an omega wolf won't look an alpha in the eyes. "You need a mediator." His lips thin; he looks down at the floor, then back at Jacinta. "I'll do what I can." Jacinta's hands come out from behind her back to hang loosely at her sides, but her fingers rub against her thumbs to break the illusion of stillness she otherwise presents. "Quyana," she says with a bow of her head. "What do you need from me in order to do this thing?" Grey purses his lips, his frown deepening slightly. "Can you tell me what happened?" Jacinta takes in a deep breath and her shoulders sag slightly as she exhales. "Ii. It is somewhat complicated. Do you have time to hear the whole of it?" Grey moves a further step into the living room and takes a seat on one of the hard wooden chairs. He lays his arms along those of the chair. "Yes." Again Jacinta moves to match Grey's posture, sitting now on the edge of the couch with her palms resting on her knees. "I am no Galliard," she begins bluntly. "I will tell you what facts I know contribute to our current state, and my feelings where they are relevant." There is a long pause during which the Wendigo lifts her fingertips to her eyes to put pressure on her eyeballs. "I have kin who reside in the city. Sarah, you know, and Harold, who I am not sure you have met. When Harold first came to me, he was new to his role; new to understanding the Garou." Grey listens carefully, his mismatched eyes hooded. Jacinta continues on with barely a hint of a pause. "I told Harold of Signe, introduced them, so that he would know those nearer where he works. Since I was already working as Guardian, and he is a public figure in the city, it is not easy for us to speak, often." Fingers pull gently at the fabric on her knee and she looks down at the spot that is wearing thin with a frown. "The laptop you lent to me... no longer functioned, so even regular email was not possible. But I trusted Signe that if he needed to talk to the Garou, she would tell me, and I thought no more of it." Grey grunts at mention of the laptop and nods slightly. As the Wendigo speaks, he leans forward, elbows on his knees, fingers lacing together between them. "Harold and I spoke on a few occasions over the next half year, but always," Jacinta says as her hand rises unconsciously to her abdomen. "Always about matters of the Tribe. He did not think to speak of the city to me, and I did not think to ask. In January, at Moot, Natalie rose to take the bones and spoke of how helpful Harold was in helping to solve a breach of the veil." And even now the memory is enough to make her lips grow taut against her teeth, and the sound of her voice becomes pinched. Grey cocks his head slightly. His expression remains neutral, though his eyes narrow slightly at the sound of Jacinta's annoyance. Jacinta breathes deeply to submerge the rising anger and returns to her story. "I understand, now, that the initial breach of the veil occured as Havoc attempted to do a favor for my kin. But none of this had been told to me. Until the Moot, when it was announced to all the Sept, I did not know my kin was working for and asking favors of Havoc, or Natalie, or the Glass Walkers. I was, I hope you will understand, very angry." "I can," Grey murmurs. He looks down at his hands, then adds, somewhat wryly, "Communication between our tribes over kinfolk seem always to be less than ideal." Jacinta nods, satisfied by Grey's response. The edge of a smile creeps into her expression before she nods again and goes on with her story. The smile, then, has disappeared entirely. "I asked to speak with Natalie, and eventually she came. I expressed my anger and told her my expectation; should she have contact with my kin, she would tell me." Another deep breath, held for a beat before she goes on. "She did not understand and I said it again. And again. And again. I said, I wish to be kept informed. Ask me before you ask him to do something for you. Tell me if he comes to you." The Wendigo allows frustrated shake of her head at the memory. "She would not understand. She twisted my words every way she could. Finally I gave in to my anger and said that if she could not do as I asked, she could not speak to him at all." Grey's brow furrows. "Do you remember what you said, exactly?" Jacinta nods at this. "I said, "If he should come to you, you come to me. If you should need to go to him, first you come to me." I said, "I merely wish you to keep me informed." I said, "Ask before you set him to tasks. Tell me when he comes to you." And I said, "Before you tell him to do anything, ask me. If he brings you word, you bring it to me." All these ways I tried to say what I wanted. I have thought over and over if I could have said it differently, if the words I chose meant something other than what I thought... These are what I said." Grey grunts, the sound noncommital. "What happened then?" Jacinta takes a moment before she answers to study Grey's face, searching for some sign of his true reaction. "She would not understand, or agree to what I asked. That is when I told her that she to have nothing to do with my kin. If she could not keep me informed about him, she should have no contact with him at all. She did not like my words and challenged me. I accepted her challenge and set terms of combat to death or submission. We fought. I won. Before we parted ways I told her again to stay away from my kin." Grey's features are as they've been. Carefully, guardedly neutral. Difficult to read. "I see," he says, after a moment. "And then?" Jacinta bites down hard and takes a beat before she replies. "And then, sometime in the night, she put word at the farmhouse that no one was to talk to, respond to, take messages from, or acknowledge my kin, and that this was by my order." Grey gives another grunt as he sits back, arms resting on the chair-arms again. "Hmn." His frown has deepened. "Is there anything else you want to add?" Jacinta shakes her head to signify that she does not, but then says, "That is the crux of my difficulty trusting Natalie. There have been other instances, smaller, less memorable, which in combination with this, and our most recent discussion, leads me to think that she cannot hear what I say." She lifts her chin, thoughtful before adding, "Fireatcher has judged this. Without Natalie and I in the same room she told me that we each were to appologize to the other. But this was more than two moons ago, and Natalie had not come to the bawn. When I was able to find her, I attempted to begin the discussion, but she became offended before I had finished speaking and asked me to leave. That was when I decided a mediator was needed." She seems to be finished, but her brows are pulled downward, thoughtful, almost confused, without giving voice to the thought. Grey stiffens at mention of the Sept Alpha. Restless, he stands up, arms folded. He rubs his stubbled chin as he paces across the room, stopping with his back to the Wendigo. "Why not Megan-rhya?" Jacinta watches Grey without yet rising to mirror him. "Because in the two months since she passed judgement she has not had time to help us through the process. Because I do not understand her judgement. Because I did not ask her to judge in the beginning, but that was what she heard in my words. Firewatcher is Alpha. I will do what she says and I will not question whether it is something I must do. But I will not ask her to further mediate when I do not understand what she has decided. She has many responsibilities. Whether Natalie and I have come to an accord does not appear to weigh highly on her list." She turns her head aside, chewing on her bottom lip. Lifting her gaze once more to Thomas she adds, "I do not question that she is wise, and has made a just decision. It is that she has so many responsibilities she does not have time to ... to ... mollycoddle, the rest of us." A heavy shrug is followed by a reintroduction of more sure and confident posture and bearing. "Further, I believe that a mediator needs to be trusted by both parties. I respect Firewatcher. I believe in her. But I question whether she believes in me, and for that, it is difficult for me to trust her. I may be mistaken. But before you departed, I felt that you believed in me. My kin trusts you. My instinct is that I can trust you still. And from her behavior at Moot, I believe that Natalie also trusts you." Grey's back is stiff, his shoulders tight underneath the grey thermal shirt. "I appreciate that," he says. "And I /will/ talk to Natalie. But..." He turns halfway back around, enough to fix his good eye on the Wendigo. "There's a question of territory." His voice has turned tense. "I have to know whether or not Megan-rhya has dropped your... case, first." Jacinta stands and her arms wrap across her chest. "Ii. I have to believe that if Firewatcher wished to be the mediator she would have done so in these last two months. Firewatcher gave me her judgement. I am to appologize to Natalie, and she to me. She did not say more than that. I do not understand the judgement, as I said, but I will accept it. But in order to do as ordered, I must be able to speak to Natalie of the trouble between us without her telling me to leave. That is what I need you for. If you can do more, if you can help us to understand each other so that such problems do not recur, that would be better." Her voice begins to drop as she continues. "I understand if you wish to ask Firewatcher before stepping to assist." Grey turns his face away again, his jaw tight. "That would be best." He sounds not at all happy at the thought of speaking with the Adren Fianna. After a second or two, he turns back to Jacinta, facing her fully with his arms folded across his chest. "I can reach you through Sarah, correct?" Jacinta gives a half-bow, allowing her arms to slide down to her sides. "Ii. If I am not there, you might ask the Bone Gnawers. I will be working for them when I can." Grey nods very slightly. "Very well. I'll contact you when I hear from Megan-rhya." Jacinta sidesteps from in front of the couch with another nod of her head. "Ii. Quyana, Thomas." She steps again to the side before turning toward the door. "Gaia watch your steps," the Glass Walker responds. Ever the courteous host, he walks her to the door and sees her out. "Quyana," she says again, turning to face him just on the other side of the threshhold. "Grandmother guide you as well." And then she turns away to walk down the steps.