It is currently 15:24 Pacific Time on Mon Jun 14 2004. Currently the moon is in the waning Crescent Moon phase (21% full). The lupus cub has been restless. More restless than usual, in fact, resisting Natalie's attempts to calm her. She keeps trying the doorknob, getting frustrated when it won't turn. If told to desist, she does... for a few minutes, anyway. By noon, she's refusing to use the paper when she does her business. She goes, in fact, anywhere BUT the paper. The rattling of the doorknob finally herald's the alpha's return some hours after noon. She pushes the door open with a cheery, "Look what I've got for..." only to stop, dumbfounded, at the graphic evidence of canine boredom. She's got a bright yellow and blue circle-with-blocks in her hands, but that's forgotten now for a shocked, "/Chaney/!" the sort that immediately precedes a 'bad dog!' Chaney flinches briefly, then rushes forward, making a break for the open door. Natalie's still in the open door, unhappily for Chaney, and she's fast enough to close the door far enough that her body blocks the rest of the opening. "-Bad- Chaney. Don't you even /think/ about making a break for it, missy." Chaney pulls up short and stares up at Natalie, her ears flat. She backs up a few steps, then shifts upwards with a growl into Crinos form and, crouched on all fours, roars as loudly and intimidatingly as she can. This monsterous blend of wolf and woman is a creature of fur and muscle and rage. Standing fully erect, she's about nine feet tall, though her typical posture is a simian slouch with long, apelike arms hanging and huge hands close to the ground; this body is shaped for quadrupedal as well as bipedal locomotion. Wickedly sharp claws and massive teeth only add to the overall impression of physical power and probable violence. A long, thick mane of dark auburn starts at the top of Chaney's wolfshaped head and continues down her long neck and over her broad shoulders. The rest of her pelt is, predominantly, a lighter reddish-brown, similar in hue to that of an Irish Setter. Both humanlike hands and wolfish feet are dark brown, as are her ear-tips, tail-tip, and the spots that rise up from her extremities to fade about halfway along each limb. Her jaw, throat, and belly are all a pale yellowish color, and above each blue eye is a small white spot. Her tail, when raised, curls like a husky's. The blocks clatter to the floor as Nat reciprocates, the base wobbling around nearly one complete revolution. The blocks - 1 through 12, and different shapes - scatter, some remaining in the base while the 3 goes haring off toward Chaney. Holds-The-Line takes a three point stance, one arm drawing back menacingly as she returns Chaney's roar with one of her own and adds a, ~Don't even go there. I'm bigger, meaner, faster and tougher than you are, cub.~ Chaney may not understand the language yet, but she gets the meaning loud and clear. Backing off and shrinking back down in lupus form, she lets out another whine. Out. Want out, want out, want out out out out. Holds-the-Line likewise follows suit, the floor groaning gratefully beneath her. I know. She comes further into the room, stepping over the discarded toy, but still blocking Chaney's escape. If you do as I say and learn, I will let you come out of the room. I have brought you something to practice your hands. You are Garou, Many Faces. Not wolf. Garou can make hands, and noises with their mouth that talk to the two-legs, like Sun-Hair. I will teach you these things. Chaney sits down, panting quickly. Garou. Yes. Make hands. Yes. Out now? Holds-the-Line lets her tail wave slowly. Not yet. First you need to make hands. Then I will make hands. Homid. Then I will say your name and another word. It means to make this shape now. Do you understand? Chaney cocks her head, not understanding the last bit that Holds-the-Line said. Holds-the-Line considers, her tail stilling. You wear a shape now. It is lupus shape. Yes? Chaney indicates agreement. Lupus, four-legs, yes yes. Holds-the-Line wags again, pleased. Yes. Shape with hands is homid. Big shape with teeth is Crinos. Crinos does not scare me, but Many Faces must not make it in the house. Chaney asks why not. Holds-the-Line considers again. It would seem that she's being careful to explain things so Chaney will understand, and not just putting rules down for the sake of having them. Crinos will scare Sun-Hair, she offers finally. Sun-Hair is good for scratching ears. If Many Faces makes Crinos in the house, Sun-Hair will run away, and then I will be angry with you, and bite your throat very hard. Chaney licks her chops as she thinks this over. She accepts and agrees, but then asks what about the male human with the dark fur? She saw him outside her place when she made the wall open. She did not like him. No making Crinos in the house, Holds-the-Line repeats firmly. And no biting. Sun-Hair and Night-Hair are not a challenge to you. They do not understand. You are faster than they are, and have more teeth. You are Garou. They are not. Chaney considers this, then splays her ears happily. Do not need Crinos to be dominant to them! Yes, no Crinos. She agrees. Good. The smaller wolf studies the younger for another moment. Does Many Faces wish to play with paws, or learn Garou rules now? Many Faces will have to do both, but not at the same time. Choose one and do it, then we will explore the house. Out of the room. Chaney gets up and lowers her front end, stretching into a play-bow. Play! Play! Holds-the-Line's tail waves slowly behind her; she stretches her lips back in a lupine 'grin'. Yes, play! I tell you a difficult thing now: listen. I will make homid now. Then I will say to you with my mouth to make lupus. You must listen so when I tell you later, you will know what I mean. Then you may make homid and I will show you playing. She pauses a moment, then reverts to her breed form. Her clothes are getting a little funky. Chaney straightens up and watches intently, her tail slowly wagging. Natalie taps her lips to focus Chaney's attention there, then says clearly, "Chaney, shift lupus." She watches the cub intently to make sure she knows what she's said. Chaney's tail stops wagging. She stares at Natalie, her head cocked. Natalie repeats the words, enunciating. "Chaney. Shift lupus." Chaney splays her ears, and her tail gives another wag. Then she shifts into homid form, crouching on fingers and toes, her mouth hanging slightly open. Natalie claps and smiles at her, all movements exaggerated, but careful not to show her teeth. "Yes! Good girl, Chaney! Good girl!" A last smile and she stoops to start gathering up the blocks. Chaney's eyes light up behind the tangled mass of auburn hair, and her tongue pokes out a bit. Sitting her butt against the floor, she watches Natalie avidly. Once Nat's chased down that itinerant 3, she brings both circle and blocks over to the girl and places them in front of her. About half of the blocks are placed into their corresponding holes; the other half she's just piled willy-nilly on the base. The entire thing is in the shape of a clock, complete with blue and red arrow hands in the center. She settles back onto her haunches and watches. Chaney pulls her tongue back in and closes her mouth. She tips her head to one side, and then the other. Then she hunkers herself down, bringing her face close to sniff at the toy. Natalie, by way of demonstration, sneaks a hand in under the nose and picks up a block. The 9, for the curious. She holds it a moment, then puts it down on the floor between them. Chaney straightens up as Nat gets her hand in things and watches her place the 9 block. After a moment's thought, she clumsily grasps the 9 block and puts it back where it was. Kind of... it's crooked and doesn't go back into the hole. Natalie enthuses, "Good girl, Chaney. That's right. Put the blocks in the hole." Her hand hesitates over that 9 - to help or not to help - then she picks up the out-of-place seven and tries it in a couple of slots. Hmm - it doesn't fit into the four /or/ the one. What about... aha! Into the proper oval it goes. It doesn't fit at first either, but she gives it a little twist and it clicks nicely into place. Chaney watches this, even leaning forward a bit. She paws at the 7, then manages to get it out of its slot and her fingers curled around it. She goes quite still for a moment, thinking. Thinking hard. Watch the gears whir in the lupus' brain. She lifts the 7 to her face and sniffs at the piece of colored wood, then licks it. Natalie, while Chaney is exploring the wonder that is a wooden seven, sneaks a couple more blocks off the clock and onto the floor, including that pesky nine. Chaney experiments with putting the block in her mouth and biting down, but a finger gets in the way and she drops it with a yelp-like noise. She works her jaw a bit, then notices what Natalie is doing. Her eyes light up. She starts pawing at the other blocks, pulling the rest out of their slots. Yay, a game! Natalie laughs and she demonstrates - exaggerated as always - a thumb and forefinger pinch to remove the twelve. "There you go. Take all the blocks out." Once the rest of the blocks are removed she proffers the twelve on a flat palm for the cub's delectation. Chaney watches Natalie, then looks at her own hand. She curls and uncurls the fingers, then just the thumb. The blocks are, for the moment, forgotten. Good thing Chaney doesn't need 'realistic punching action' demonstrated. Her other hand's extended with an explanation. "Hand. Hand, Chaney." She turns it over - whoo - then back. She wriggles her fingers, then her thumb with the proper names for both. Chaney, after a tic, mimics the motions Natalie's making with her hand. Oo, look, fingers! Fingers are, after all, wiggly. Nat puts the bright yellow twelve into its proper place, then takes it out with her thumb and forefinger. She tries the eleven - no good - then offers the block again for the cub to try. Assuming, of course, that she isn't still in awe over the opposable thumb. Chaney remembers the clock toy when Natalie starts playing with it again. Carefully, she takes the twelve block, pinching it hard between her thumb and forefinger, her nose wrinkled up with effort. Then she puts it down on the star-shaped slot. Oops, it's wrong way and doesn't go in. Chaney picks it up and puts it down again, without twisting it. It still doesn't go in! She looks at Natalie, blinking. Natalie takes her hand and, drawing Chaney's attention to the movement with both a finger point and words, twists Chaney's hand so the block rotates. "Like this, Chaney. Make it fit by turning the block. Turn the block." And whaddya know, after sliding about, it slips into place! Chaney blinks. She takes the block out of the slot. Brings it to her face to sniff it and lick it. Then she bends down and does the same -- sniffing and licking -- to the slot. Then, sitting back up, she puts the block against the slot. Thunk, wrong way, doesn't fit. She turns it a bit and pushes it against the slot again. It still doesn't go. Chaney makes a displeased-sounding grunt. "Stars are tricky," Nat agrees, stopping Chaney's hand and interrupting the cycle of displeasure. "Here, look at the points." She traces one finger around a single triangular edge, then the corresponding place on the clock. Does it again, then slowly guides Chaney's hand so that the points match up. *click* Chaney blinks. She takes the star-twelve out and brings it to her face to study it again with nose and mouth, even going so far as to chew on one of the points. Then she puts it down again, thunk. Wrong way. Eyes narrowed with concentration, she gets her other hand into the picture, using fingers to feel the points while the original hand holds the block down. Maybe it might escape? Anyway, it takes some time, but she finally twists the block around so that it falls into the slot. Go her. Natalie pages: Aaaaand then we'd go on an escorted tour of the house. All of the second floor rooms that weren't occupied, and Nat'd try to coax her up to the third floor, too. There's a boxing bag in one of the rooms up there, but they're otherwise empty. She'd probably get to come downstairs for supper, too, though Nat'd let her do that in lupus. She'd get to watch everyone /else/ eating in homid, though!