Piddles wanders in from the street, curiously.
look casper
Quiet and uncertain, this young man in his late teens or early twenties, seems to take each step with great deliberation, he walks slowly but smoothly. He is of average height, but a little thin, though his shoulders are wide. His face is like that of an old byzantine painting, long and thin with an arrow-like nose and deep-set brown eyes. He has his red-brown hair sheared close to his scalp and profuse red stubble covers his pointed chin. His expression is in flux like water, an erratic flow of confusion and wonder. By contrast, the eyes show some sort of otherly wisdom. His skin is ruddy and dirty, bruised here and there. He wears a plain green t-shirt with dirty jeans, worn at the knees, and a pair of muddy sneakers.
Elan looks grim and tenses as the doors open once more, then grins as he sees his tribemate. "Piddles, man, hey, come on in." He waves and starts towards the front.
Piddles grins big. "Heyzaelan, howzithangin, mon?" Pid has obviously been watching television, as he has chosen to integrate something new into his already awkward accent.
Elan grins like he's seeing a long-lost relative. "Come on up front. You want anything to eat, man? We got some chicken and others shit downstairs. Water, some fruit juice, stuff like that."
Piddles's eyes light up at the mention of food. He crosses himself vaguely, like a child who kind of remembers to brush his teeth at night, as he wanders down the aisle toward Elan. "Cheeeeeeeken," he repeats lustily, and looks sad. "Pid's bin oot shakin da pan alla day long an nooooobody give Pid da time-a day. Izza baaad day f'r it, methinks, Horatio. So noooo Bigs Macs f'r da Pid-mon, anna cheeeeeeken gonna hitda spot, yah?"
Elan flashes a grin at Boo. "Boo, Piddles is a tribemate, and a friend. Dog-born, too. That's sorta rare, for us." He trots down quickly, and comes back up bearing food. He sits crosslegged at the front of the chruch and lays out an inpromtu picnic. "Here you go, man. We got chicken, we got some fish and sauce an' other stuff."
Casper nods to Piddles grinning, "I'm Casper. Or Boo if you want."
Piddles eagerly begins to wolf down food. He grins and nods at Boo. "Pid's a loooopy puppy," he says with very little concern for table manners. "Izza sillee, Eeelan, doggie-born shulda be *most* offen. Izza sooo eezee to finda sweeetie inna doggies, yah?" He makes nudge-nudge-wink-wink motions at Elan. "Pid's gots hands, neh? Lock-ed gatesies no block f'r him!"
Elan just grins and says nothing, choking a bit. "Um, no, you're right. But there ya are, man. Not too much doggie stuff in us, nowdays.:"
Casper laughs a bit. "you teach interesting lessons Piddles."
Elan nods to Boo. "He does. Dog-born are closer to Gaia than we are."
Casper nods, "I've heard that, well, at least when it comes to wolves anyhow..."
Piddles waggles his wiry eyebrows at Elan. "Donna tell da Pid yu neeeever look atta pritty grayhoond an wonnnder wat it like?" He chortles through a mouthful of chicken. "Theez guy at Alamo -- Pid's ol' caern -- Candeed, he tell Pid dat de onlee diff tween doggies an wolvies be da oootside. Dey alla same on de *in*side, coz dey can make poopies anndey not bee myuules. Ya see? Soo, Pid, he tink, eezeer to finda doggies, yah? Da wolvies, dey all pickee. Doggies, tho, dey gots da humans who make dem a leetle less wolvie, but still, dey heltheee, ya know? So Pid onlee go for a hunnert percent Ay Kay Cee doggies." He grins with much satisfaction and leans across his food to whisper, conspiratorially, "Piddles Poodles!"
Elan nods slowly somehow, remarkably, keeping a straight face. "I think that can't be a bad idea, Pid. Say, how long you been here, then? You only been out to the caern that once?"
Piddles nods again, gnawing on a leg bone. "Onlee wuns. Izza bin heer in Santa Clara sumpin like seeex moons, Pid tink."
Casper does not keep a staright face. He looks both amused and disturbed by Pid's tale.
Elan grins, still. "Well, you gotta get in, then. Brian's the Big Dog out there, and he's put the foot down. You got some time yet, but we got ta fix up somethin' you can offer the sept. You fight good?"
Piddles notices Casper's Casper's discomfort and leans closer to him, waggling his eyebrows again. "Pid nos just da setter f'r yu, if'n y'r in'trested." He looks to Elan. "Pid fights good, yah. Guess Pid not sheemeenajee his Mickey Dee's collekshun o' kid's meel barbies, yah?" He chortles gleefully at the idea of handing Brian a box full of miniature Barbies.
Elan now laughs and falls over, before wiping his eyes and rising again. "Um, maybe not. If you can fight, we got the thing for you. Real dangerous, though. Damn dangerous. Second worst blight in the city. Brian's give the word people can go in and take pot-shots at it, and I think we might do that. So, you could try to get in that way. Or make some stuff for the sept. You might wanna come out with me and talk to him yourself, though."
Piddles shakes his head saaadly. "Pid no kin make tings. Pid grow up fightin' an he happy to fight now, tho, f'r gud coz, not f'r bux." He looks serious at the thought, his expression and mood swinging almost bipolarly from one topic to another.
Elan nods and claps his tribemate on the shoulder. "Only way /to/ fight m'man, for a cause. We got a damn good cause. This place ate one of OUR kinfolk, made her into a monster. Then, she came back and killed Shakes baby son. We gotta venge that."
Casper smiles dubiously at Pids. "I'll keep that in mind."
Piddles shows the only sign, possibly ever, that he is, in fact, an ahroun and quite packed to the gills with Rage. His expression settles into a flat, calm smile that slowly freezes, a glint in his eye like that from a gun barrel in the shadows. "Aaate'a Kin anna killa baby, huh?" He contemplates that, looking down at his hand. "Yah, Pid culd kill, yah, sumpin' doin' dat." He looks up at Elan, the smile still frozen, more a grimace of repressed fury now. "Yah." And then it's gone, subsumed beneath his usual merry demeanor. "Pid gettin' his butt inta da sept!"
Elan claps hios tribemate hard on the shoulder. "I'd have to talk to Jimmy 'bout it, but I'd say you gotta be welcome to crash here if you want. Gonna be getting cold again soon, and it's warm here, at least in the basement. We sometimes got food and all that, too. Jimmy might could feed ya, you know?"
Elan grins as Boo, too. "Might need to make use of that offer, someday man."
Casper watches the two Gnawers thoughtfully, resting his arms on the back of the pew. "Hmm?"
Piddles nods like he enjoys the feel of the wind going past his ears. "Yah, culd yuuuuz da space mebbe sumtime. Pid's likes da Projekt, tho. Lerrnin howta talk right, yah? An reeed. An Pid likes hangin' wit da kidz. But culd hang oot heer sumtimes too."
Elan nudges the young 'Gazer. "Getcha a collie to keep ya warm?" He turns to Pids. "Yep, sure, man. Just wanted you t' know we got a tribal place here, you know? Gnawers gotta stick together."
Casper smiles serenely at Elan, "One must be open to new things... I may want to have the whole garou experience."
Piddles nods yet again. "Yah, wee gotsta stick togedder, yah. No sticksee togedder, da hole playss go ta hell inna hoodoodoo, yah?"
Elan nods to Piddles. "Gotcha man," he says gravely, then smiles. "So, you want some cold pizza?"
Piddles lights up again. "Peeeeeeeeetzaaa!!!" he declares.
Elan goes down and brings up a box of crusts and a whole pie, and a small bottle of saved pizza sauce.
Piddles digs in gleefully.
Casper stands up and stretches a bit. He nods to both, "Night you two... nice meeting you Piddles."
Elan leans back to avoid flying pizza debris. "Dig in, man." He nods to Boo. "Gonna take you scavaging tomorrow, Boo. Show you where the food comes from."
Piddles grins at Casper through his pizza. "Pid, he looksee f'r a nice frend f'r ya!" He winks lasciviously.
Casper smiles wearily, "Great, just great..." he shakes his head and wanders downstairs.
Elan grins at Piddles. "Gotta show ya the places I know where they toss out some good stuff, ya know? 'Less you got all the huntin' room you need?"
Piddles mumbles through a mouthful, "Mmmfpph. Maalluss lookin' mfff'r mrrr ffffoodmpf."
From afar, to Piddles, Elan uses his Gnawer wits to translate!
You paged Elan with ''Noo, I'm always looking for more food.' ;)'.
Elan nods, understanding. "Yep. Man, people in this place toss out some pretty good shit. You gotta come dumpster divin' with me and te buds sometime."
Piddles exclaims, "Cool!" sending a bit of pizza flying, though it misses Elan handily.
Elan catches that bit and pops it in his mouth, and wipes his hands, adding a new stain to his jeans. "Great, I think I'm gonna teach Casper some stuff tomorrow if you can come?"
Piddles thinks hard, squinting the eye behind the scratchy lens. "Pid's not sherr. We seein, yah?"
Elan nods to the Gnawer. "Sure thing, man."
Piddles swallows the last bit of his latest piece of pizza and sucks down some water. "Yu tink dis Brian hav time f'r to see da Pid sumtime?"
Elan nods at that. "Yep, I think so. I can send word to him, if you like?"
Piddles nods. "Izza hi time Pid's gotta sept." He looks mournful, briefly. "Izza hi time Pid's gotta pack, but dat kin wate, Pid guess."
Elan nods to Pid. "Yeah, pack is great. Never had one 'til I came here. But now? I cannot imigine living without one. I'd die, I think."
Piddles nods. "Yupyupyup, Pid's old pack, we hadda grrrrate time. Pid misses dem lotses."
Elan cocks his head. "What happened? If you don't mind..?"
Piddles shrugs. "De Coggies an de Gnawers, dey happy long time. Den a ShadeyLord move in an tell us dat we not doin' our job. He challenj de alpha, he take it all over, and he start a-changin' stuff 'round. Pid say, we challenj HIM. Nobody else wanna make wavvies, so Pid, he leeves."
Elan grimaces. "I see. Should kicked his ass out, telling Gnawers how t' run things. We know things none of them ever will."
Piddles nods vehemently. "De Coggies, dey no wanna mak playss a 'war zone.' So dey jus let it go. Dey say dat it Gaia's will. Pid no bleev dat."
Elan shakes his head. "I love Coggies, since they helped me a lot. But that kinda lay down and let people walk over ya ain't right."
Piddles nods and looks desperately sad for a moment. "Not alla Coggies like dat. If she'd bin alive..." He shakes his head to clear it. "Coggies grate, jus, sumtimes, a little wrong."
Elan looks at Pid. "Sorry if I brought up stuff you didn't wanna talk about, man."
Piddles shrugs, quirking the side of his mouth. "Izza okiee. Pid ain't gots no seekruds frommanudder Gnawer, yah?"
Elan nods, grinning. "You feel like talking about stuff, you just come on here. Hey, got something else to tell ya. You been reading a lot, huh? I got a bunch a' stuff you might wanna look at. Buncha novels and travel books and stuff."
Piddles perks up. "Coooool! Booksies! Travel booksies? You doin' da round da wurld in aaatee days?"
Elan grins. "Haven't done that. Yet! But I got a lotta stuff. Secret Gnawer place, too. Couldn't mention it when Boo was here. Jackson wanted me tn mention it."
Piddles nods. "Pid jus' luuuuvs seekrud Gnawer playsses." He grins.
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