At the Jefferson Estate

Derrick walks into the foyer from outside.
Derrick has arrived.

A not-particularly-hesitant knock sounds on the door.

Kristine blinks and looks up from her book at the knock. Setting it aside, she stands up and hurries to the door. She opens it just a tad, and peeks out. "Hello?"

Frances walks into the foyer from outside.
Frances has arrived.

Derrick's got a plate of brownies outstretched in his hands. He's evidently expecting someone entirely different, as he blinks in some confusion and says, "Um. Hi. Um. Is Brittany around?"

In his mid teens still, Derrick is one of those tall, lanky sorts who would make a good swimmer (and in fact did, at one time). 6'0", he's relatively thin, though by no means skinny, with a long chest and long legs. He isn't quite as gangly as he used to be, now that he has more control over his body, but it might be hard to tell because he's almost constantly fiddling with something.
His face is thin, with long brown hair that is, nowadays, almost always kept back in a ponytail. His eyes are hazel, although they seem to change to other colors depending on his moods. At one point, a slight smile was on his face despite his actual mood, but he has to force the smile more often lately, as tension is never far from his face or his frame.
He's wearing battered blue jeans, a well worn shamie shirt, and a t-shirt. His knapsack is by his side, a Red Sox cap sticking half way out of it. His moccasins look in dire need of repair.

Kristine glances up to him for a moment, blinking her eyes. "Britanny? I'm sorry, she's not here I'm afraid."

Frances pauses at the bottom of the steps, looking up at Derrick's back. "Care packages for Miss Jefferson?" she inquires of the ragabash.

Derrick shifts the plate to one hand, waving to the approaching Kin, and grins. "Well, I just wanted t'say hi, yeah. I haven't seen her in awhile. Anyways, could you give her these, ma'am," he asks Kristine, "And should I know you?"

Kristine mumbles something about not being Velia's butler, then she opens the door a little more. She peers around Derrick to the other one, and sighs. "You all can come in, if you'd like, I guess." She again looks to Derrick, and shrugs, before turning, leaving the door open.

Derrick looks vaguely bemused, but holds the door to let Frances through. "So, yeah," he says, once this is accomplished and the door closed, "Are you family, or just visitin'?"

Frances raises her eyebrows after the woman, eyes Derrick with a cocked head, and crosses the threshold, studying Kristine.

Kristine stops just past the foyer, picking up her book from the end table. She turns to look at the two of them, swallowing at their scrutiny. "I'm just visiting, I guess," she murmurs.


Frances Description
This young woman carries her almost ungainly frame with painfully erect dignity. Her careful movements and delicate structure lend a cultivated grace similar to that of a hackney pony, and her long face, with its substantial nose, small, dark eyes, and lengthy-but-receding lower jaw, only serves to complete that equine resemblance.
She speaks in a firm alto, her upper class English accent betraying the precise enunciation characteristic of one who has been trained extensively by a speech instructor. Lively dark eyes, touched with wry humor, rake in all the information they can.
A navy blue, patterned silk peasant blouse softens her angular body, while her black cotton slacks draw an elegant line over her hips and down her long legs. Simple gold jewelry glitters at her throat and hand: a falcon necklace and a small signet-type ring set with a garnet.

Derrick doesn't precisely tense, but his eyes narrow somewhat. "Oh. Where from?" Putting the brownies into the kitchen, he returns, and says, "Or I could just leave."

Kristine swallows, this time in a very visable manner. Her green eyes widen at Derrick as she slowly begins to back up. "I-I'm from-her, Br-Brigid brought me here," she stammers, the book now being clutched to her chest.

Frances calmly rocks on her heels, a package tucked under one arm, studying Kristine silently.

Derrick blinks, as he evidently didn't at all expect the reaction he got. "Whoa, hey, I was just tryin' t'make conversation. It just seemed like I was intrudin' and I didn't want t'bug you if you were readin', y'know?" He holds up his hands in a 'pax' gesture.

Kristine immediately lowers her head, her eyes fixed on the ground. "I-I'm sorry. I wasn't busy. I don't live here. I'm just staying here, for a little while." Her lips pull tight as she swallows again, her voice barely above a whisper.

Derrick, at something of a loss, say, "No, it's, like, I dunno, you have just as much right /to/ be doin' stuff as any of the rest of us, y'know?" Glancing at Frances and then back to Kristine, he asks, "I don' wanna pry're anythin', but why're you stayin' here? I did, for awhile, once, when Brittany was out've town..."

Kristine raises her head and looks to Frances after Derrick does, then places herself at a considerable distance away from the both of them. Content now that she can watch the two strangers, she seems to relax a little. "I'm," she pauses, remembering what Brigid told her, "studying. Brigid's helping me out with my studies." It isn't far from the truth, but she's fending herself against two strangers, so it's not the whole truth.

Frances nods slowly. "Would those studies be, perhaps, historical and yet simultaneously introspecitve?" she asks carefully. "That's frequently the sort of studying that occurs here at the estate."

Derrick starts to grin, slowly. "Studyin'? Want to bet it's the same stuff I hadda study? Are Veils included in this course of study, or is it, uh, less interestin' than that?"

Kristine glances at Derrick, frowning at his comment before looking at Frances. "Somewhat. Brigid and I share a common interest in certain aspects of it as well." Her eyes narrow a little, trying to figure out what it is the two are getting at.

Frances nods again and strolls into the kitchen to deposit her package. Upon her return, she notes to Derrick, "Like the necklace? It's so hard to get good falcons these days."

Derrick's grin, just as slowly, dims. "Or not," he mutters, and lowers his backpack to the ground. Cocking his head to look at the necklace, he nods approvingly. "Quite nice, although the silver might make me nervous in other circumstances."

Kristine drops the book suddenly, her brows come together. "What does veils have to do with historical studies?"

Derrick says, after starting slightly at the noise, "Well, it all depends on your point of view. Sometimes, quite a bit. I'm not sure how much in this instance, though, since you don't appear to be a relative."

Kristine grits her teeth a little as Derrick begins to grate on her nerves. "Well, I can't say I'm Deleriously happy about the whole thing as it is." See, she does know -something-. "I don't get Delerious." Picking up a little on the clue-tossing, she picks up the book and begins flipping through it. "I'm also studying a bit on wolves. Very interesting subject, if you ask me."

Derrick lets out a breath. "Oh, /good/," he says, in a mixture of exasperation and relief. "I'm Derrick. Can we start this again from the top, so I don't have to wade around in the dark? I'm Derrick Herr, Falcon's Wing Leads By Example. Of the Silver Fangs. And all that. Pleased to meet you, I'm sure. I could be even more formal if you want, after I figure out how long you've been here and no one told you about the Veil?"

Kristine drops on the couch, relieved somewhat that he can be trusted. "The Veil? I've been told about the Delirium if that's similiar. And Please, no formalities, Ada said that it makes people sound like Gets after Logan did it. I've been here about a week, little less. Krisine Vaughn."

Frances also lets out a breath that she has, unconsciously, been holding. "Frances Mountgarret, Kin and all around cynic. Pleased to meet you."

Derrick looks vaguely alarmed. "You've been here a week and no one's told you the Litany? Man. Have a brownie, Kristine, or I'll wanna start babbling right away. First of all, some formality's necessary. Garou've gotta introduce 'emselves, after all, and stuff like tribe, auspice, deed name and pack, those're all kinda necessary. So, well, gotta deal somehow. Anyways, welcome aboard, I'll probably shut up sometime."

Kristine snaps an alarm look at Frances, "I'm sorry I got your floor all dirty! But I cleaned it up. I even mopped the entire floor this morning to make sure it was all right." Chewing her lip, she looks back to Derrick. "Sort of. I think Velia got upset because she never really got passed the third one. I kept asking too many questions about them. I think I remember something about a Veil." She makes a face as if trying to remember that Litany talk.

Frances looks vaguely amused. "Shall I make some tea?" Then she frowns, puzzled. "Floor...?"

Derrick says, "Well, I'll do it now, the Litany, I mean. I don't mind questions, I'm a Raggie, after all. Um. New moon. You know. The questioner type."

Kristine whispers, "I tracked mud over it." She nods at Derrick. "Yes, I'm aware of the Auspice thing. I'm a crescent. Theurge." She then stops, and widens her eyes. "Velia said a Derrick knew a rite or something that would keep my clothes from ripping!"

Derrick nods. "Yeah. Dedication. I'll do that for you after I do the Litany, 'kay? Crescents're cool, lemme tell you. You guys get to talk to spirits and stuff. Rockin'. Anyway. Litany. First one's 'Garou Shall Not Mate with Garou', because it makes metis who're ugly and have lots of deformities and can't have kids and basically it's a mess, so don't do it."

You say "I -know- that one. I got chided left and right for saying something about it. Combat the Wyrm wherever it dwells, and breeds, that deals with Spiral Dancers and stuff, and then the Respect the territory of another, introducing yourself before traipsing on someone's turf."

"My floor at Hawk's Haven?" Frances wonders, but goes to make tea.

Derrick says "I won't chide, honest. What was your question about it?"

Kristine looks at Frances, and decides she'll explain later about the floor. "I said that I thought that it was sort of, stupid, that you can't be with your own kind. I don't think I worded it like that, but it wasn't worded any worse, and Velia pretty much jumped my ass for even thinking about it."

Derrick says, "Oh, yeah, well, it's like, people go, "It's the Law, you Must Respect It No Matter What." The capitals are palpable. "Anyway, you know that one, even if it is annoying, and you know the next couple, so the next one's 'Accept an Honorable Surrender' - that's for y'know, dominance battles and stuff, when you're tryin' to become boss, like wolves do."

Kristine twists her lips, "I don't want to be the boss. Unless whomever's the boss's got his head up his--" She coughs, and nods, "Okay. So if someone surrenders, You have to take it?"

Derrick allows, "Well, if it's an honorable one, yeah." He perches on the arm of Brittany's couch, which would no doubt horrify her, and adds, "Some folks contend Spirals can surrender honorably, but I don't buy it."

Kristine nods slowly, "Kill Spirals, and not the others?" She just sort of blinks at Derrick's choice of sitting places, then calls out to Frances, "Would you mind just bringing a glass of Iced lemon water with you when you return, ma'am?" She chews her lip, "Or I could get it myself."

Frances returns with a tray containing Brittany's second-best tea service and sets it down gently on the table. With a deftness that bespeaks years of practice, she serves out two cups of tea, and returns to the kitchen for Kristine's request.

Derrick says, "Generally, yeah. It's that 'defeat the Wyrm' thing. Anyway, next one is 'Submission to Those of Higher Station', which can get annoying when you're a cub, 'cause /everyone's/ of higher station. Well, except other cubs. And Kin, but personally, I don't think Kin count in this sort of thing. They're kinda outside the boundries, y'know?"

Kristine tilts her head at Derrick, "Kin? Does that higher station include Brigid? But she doesn't, I mean, she doesn't want me to act like that I guess. She's just my best friend," She laughs at that, "She's my only friend now."

Derrick gestures with his head at Frances. "Kin. Like her. They're not Garou, but they know about us, they're related to us, and they're not affected by the Delerium, much. They're, like, they do stuff we can't." He chews his lip, and shrugs. "Well, technically, yeah, Brigid's of higher rank. And it counts, even if it doesn't seem like it now. But she can be higher rank /and/ a friend."

Frances re-enters with the glass of iced lemon water. "Kinfolk are those people who carry the genetic potential to be Garou, yet have never had the dubious fortune to Change. We Kin are the preferred mates of the Garou, since mating with a Kin increases the chance to parent a Garou child."

Derrick gets up and grabs a brownie for himself. "Well, that too."

Frances grins at Derrick. "We also possess the dubious gift of not being affected by the Delirium."

Kristine chews on the side of her finger, tugging at a dead piece of skin. "Then that would mean Mother, no," she mumbles, more to herself than to the other two, "if she were she would've told me about all this." She shakes her head coughing, taking the glass from Frances, "Thank you, ma'am." She sips from the glass before tilting her head. "What comes next?"

Derrick shakes his head. "Parents of Garou aren't always Kinfolk. It's, well, Garou genetics aren't always straightforward. An' my folks were Kin and didn't know it, really. Anyways. Next. Yeah. The first Share of the Kill for the Greatest in Station' - that's not just for meat an' stuff, it's for stuff your pack gets in the City, like money."

Kristine raises her brows. "My money's my inheritence. I have to share that?"

Derrick shakes his head. "No, I meant, stuff you get after you're Garou. Often, it's not, like, expected, though."

Kristine tilts her chin upwards slightly, "Oh."
Frances settles down with a cup of tea and doses it liberally with milk. She folds up into her chair and watches the lesson with interest.

Derrick says "It'll get clearer as time goes on. Generally, it's just meat and stuff, but sometimes it's non-edible produce. Anyway, next one is, well, it's not somethin' you'd do anyway. 'Ye Shall Not Eat the Flesh of Humans'. That's mostly for some really old fashioned Red Talons."

Kristine wrinkles her nose, "Red Talons? Human meat, Yeuch! I hardly eat meat to begin with."

Derrick explains, "They're a real conservative tribe, all wolf-born. Their kind've been really... decimated, so they're understanably defensive, y'know?" He sighs, grabs another brownie, and adds, "Next law's the flip side of an earlier one. 'Respect for Those Below Ye in Station -- All are of Gaia'."

Kristine blinks slightly at Derrick's extra brownie, then fetches one herself. Judging by her lack of mass she could probably use the chocolate. She begins picking at it, frowning, "You're all just a confused lot, aren't you?"

Derrick blinks. "Huh? Why? It's just specifyin' you can't whup folks for no good reason, and stuff. Makes sense to me..."

Kristine shrugs a little, "Yeah. I guess so. I'm not used to people paying attention to me to begin with." She bites off a bit of the brownie, "What's next?"

Derrick snorts. "Once your done you're Rite, you'll be thoroughly sick of people payin' attention to you, /that/ I can promise. Next one's 'The Veil Shall Not Be Lifted', which basically just means you can't tell anyone about the Garou. That's why I was talkin' about Veils, earlier. An' dancin' around talkin' about bein' werewolfy."

Kristine brightens up, thankful for a chance to flaunt her knowledge, "Brigid told me about that right at the beginning. She didn't say anything about the Litany, but she did say that I can't tell anyone about being a Garou, and I can't Change in public."

Derrick nods. "Yeah, it freaks people out, makes 'em go batty, kinda. So we have to work in secret and all that. Sort of annoying, but there you go. Anyway. The next one, 'Do Not Suffer Thy People to Tend Thy Sickness In Death' - you know we can heal wounds? Like, if I get a really big cut, I'll just shift into glabro and it'll go away? Anyway, if we, like, go insane, or if you go blind, or stuff that can't be fixed, it's the lupe way to, well, not burden the pack with it. That's what this law's based on."

Kristine sighs a little, "Sort of like Hari Kari? The Samurai tradition of ritual suicide? Remind me not to go gimp or something, then. And no, I didn't know you could heal wounds."

Long distance to the room: Kristine knows the ritual's name, but can't remember how to spell it.

Derrick shrugs, and inhales another brownie. "Yeah. Kinda like that, only a lot of the time, if it's, like, insanity, they'll come back awhile later, kinda less batty. It's just a matter of not takin' up resources." He adds, "And folks with big huge limps don't tend to get kicked out. I mean, I've got a collapsed lung, right, and I can't run too fast, but I'm still here." He nods, adding, "It takes a lot to kill us. Not only do we heal real fast in any form but our birth form, but Gaia gives us a Gift of healing that'll get you even more."

Frances sips her tea studiously.

Kristine sips from her water, "Neat. Is there more to this Litany? It just sounds like common sense to me. Not that I'm the most sensible person in the world." She raises a brow at Derrick's brownie eating, "A lot of good it does to eat someone's care package, you know." She offers a small smile to go with the statement.

Derrick stares at a crumb on his finger. "Oh. /Damn/. Um. Well, there's more at home. I'll come back after and bring s'more. You're right, I just wasn't thinkin'. I haven't eaten since, um. I forget." He shakes his own chagrin off, and continues, "Yeah, there's only three more, an' the next two're sort of a boxed set. 'The Leader May Be Challenged at Any Time of Peace' and 'The Leader May Not Be Challenged in Time of War'. Logical, yes?"

Kristine shrugs, "Redundant. But I get the hint, don't challenge the top dog unless there's ample reason too, and not if your in the middle of a fight."

Derrick snorts. "Lot've human laws're redundant. Or just plain stupid. Anyway, last one's 'Ye Shall Take No Action That Causes a Caern to Be Violated'. A Caern's a meeting place for Garou, where Gaia's, like, stronger."

Frances leans up and lightly cuffs the back of Derrick's head, more a tap of her fingertips. "You'll come by my house and eat some proper food, young man!" she admonishes sternly, with a twinkle to her eye.

Kristine shrugs again, dropping her voice, "I never said they weren't." Then she giggles at Frances, hiding both the giggle and the smile with her hand with a muffled sorry.

Derrick says, "Hey, ow! I'll have t'check th' rotatin' schedule, ma'am, but I'll be out there lickety split when I'm not stuck on th' Bawn." He peers at Kristine. "Why's smilin' a bad thing? I've never gotten that bit of etiquette."

Kristine lowers her hand and shrugs, "Habit. I'm not a smiling sort-usually." Finishing off her water, she regards him for a few moments before asking, "Is there anything else?"

Derrick says, earnestly, "Well, honest, it's nicer t'see a smile than, like, some hand imprisoning it, y'know? Anyway, yeah, that's the Litany. There's lots more t'know besides that, but I think I've crammed you enough f'r one afternoon."

Kristine smiles, this time without the hand hiding it. "Well, you're alot better than Velia trying to teach me, I wager. She's stuffy."

Frances raises an eyebrow at Derrick. "How long are you free for this afternoon? I could stuff you full in a few minutes and send a care package back with you."

Derrick grins at the cub, happily. "Yeah, well, she's Fostern and all - that's a rank above me, an' I'm one above you, right? And she's also Elder of the Tribe, in charge of the Fangs here. So she's, y'know, conservative. Plus which, I'm a new moon, like I said. Anyway. I'll stop by more often, now that I know you exist." He looks fixedly at his watch for a moment, and then grins at Frances. "You're on. I oughta be back in an hour, hour and a half, but that's cool, right?"

Kristine shrugs, "It should be. I don't think this Brittany's even aware I'm here, but I'll be here, more than likely. Probably, should be."

Frances nods resolutely, finishing her tea and rising to take care of the tea things. "I'll be just a moment, and then we can trot out to my place."

Derrick gives a small bow to the cub. "It was a pleasure to meet you ma'am," and then nods to Frances.

Kristine waves a few fingers to Derrick and Frances, "Pleasure's all mine. See you again, sometime."