"I'm a Philodox. Our duty is to uphold the Litany. Not cover up violations of it."

[hazlogs]

It is currently 22:00 Pacific Time on Sat Dec 13 2003.

Currently the moon is in the waning Gibbous Moon phase (65% full).

The Dominion

Renee hits the buzzer button and holds it down, as she speaks into the intercom. "Its Renee."

"Come in," the Walker Elder responds, a moment or so later, as the gate slides open to give the Gnawer entrance. Salem meets her at the door, dressed in black t-shirt and jeans, the gray hooded sweatshirt hanging open.

Mel is inside, in the parlour, when Salem greets Renee. She looked up at the buzzer, but didn't make any move to get it. She's been quite quiet, of late. TV-watching.

"Hey," Renee greets, not quite meeting his eyes. "Jer isn't here by any chance, is he?"

Salem shakes his head and steps aside to let her enter, if she wants. "He doesn't drop by too often. Why?"

Renee runs a hand over her hair and shrugs. "I told him. Wanted him to hear from me and not someone else. He was... upset."

Salem narrows his eyes for a moment, studying Renee's new, clean-clothes appearance again; it's almost as difficult to get used to as his reflection in the mirror was, the first week or so after he got rid of the hair and beard. He grunts. "I imagine so. How serious were you two?"

Ears are perked in the parlor, absently. Ears attached to a head with red hair. Mel tilts and cranes without moving much else, to get into the best 'eavesdropping' position.

Renee's face flushes red in embaressment and she doesn't look up. "Enough. We were having a little bit of a rough spot to start with... I was always busy."

Salem shakes his head slightly and mutters a word in Serbian under his breath, sounding mildly exasperated. ("Kids.") He waves her toward the parlor. "Have a seat. You look like hell." The Walker actually sounds almost concerned for the girl.

Aware of incoming bodies, Mel scootches over in the couch, shifting her cat-like curled position up into one corner. She has a bottle of coke, and a straw in it, which she sips from quietly. Big green eyes watch the doorway.

Renee picks and her shirt, then shrugs. "And here I thought I looked okay in this," she jokes weakly. "Do you have anything to eat?"

Salem smiles crookedly and says, "Usually." He takes a few steps toward the parlor and calls to the kinswoman inside. "Mel, is there any of that casserole left, do you know?"

The reply back is a quick, "Yup. Plenty of roast meat, too, can be had cold. Or a few pieces of potato and pumpkin, left."

"May I have some, please?" Renee asks, politely. Politely, for Gaia's sake.

In the parlor, Mel rises a little, looking baffled and concerned.

Salem looks over at Renee and raises eyebrows. "Renee, you're welcome to whatever's there. Consider that a standing invitation, all right?" He nods over in the direction of the kitchen.

The Glass Walker gradually stopped being hostile to Renee quite a while ago, but his attitude toward her now is almost solicitous. Like he's actively _concerned_.

Renee nods and starts to make her way toward the kitchen. "Thankyou."

A few moments later, Mel appears at Salem's elbow, coke in hand and an arm wrapped idly around her waist. She bumps her hips against him to get his attention and murmurs lowly, "Hey... who died this time?"

Renee starts pulling food out of the fridge and making herself a decent plate. Once its full, she sets it down on the table and gathers up some cutlery. Sitting down, she begins eating slowly and quietly.

Salem shifts his gaze from the departing Gnawer to the flamehaired kin. His mouth twists into a grimace. "Nobody. It's just..." He sighs and rubs the back of his neck. "Do you remember when I told you about the Litany?"

"Memorized the lot. Especially after that shit with Luke. Why?" The Fianna's voice is soft and low, pitched only for Salem, though it can probably still be pieced together. She arches a thin eyebrow in query.

"Some time ago, Renee and Craig broke the first one, and Renee got pregnant." Salem speaks quietly, watching toward the kitchen. "A few days ago, one of Renee's packmates, Yi, told one of the woods Garou about it, that the metis pup that their pack was raising was Renee and Craig's offspring."

Mel grimaces quickly, raising eyebrows. "Yeah, I've met the kid, Squeaks, she's cute. But... godamn. Why would Yi do that?"

Salem shakes his head, a scowl slowly edging onto his face. "Who the fuck knows. She used to pack with him, and I saw them act _quite_ chummy together after the Moot." He cuts his eyes sidelong to her. "It was Leonard, by the way. Remember him? Mr. Red-Skin-Good, White-Skin-Bad?"

Renee finishes clearing off her plate and pushes it aside, then proceeds to stare at it with a blank expression.

"After what happened to Jeremy, how could one forget the twisted little bastard?" Mel murmurs, reaching back and rubbing the back of her neck. The Fianna kin sighs, and looks to the stairs. "Maybe I should cook some more..." She peeks into the kitchen, thoughtful.

Salem grunts softly. His eyes are shadowed; he's slept poorly the past couple of nights, if at all. He turns and starts back toward the parlor and the book he was pretending to read. "She'll survive," he says to Mel, quietly. "But scars take time to heal."

Mel frowns quickly, turning her head sharply to Salem. "What happened?"

Renee turns her attention to the glass of water on the table and methodically works on making it disapear.

Salem drops into the armchair -- the one that is, unofficially at least, 'his' armchair. "Not so much happened as _will_ happened." He cocks an eyeball at Mel. "She broke the first law, accidentally but that's crime enough for most Garou. Then she lied about it, repeatedly, in front of two Philodox. She's in a great deal of trouble over this. At best, she'll lose a lot of standing, and she and Craig won't soon lose the 'charach' label." He grunts. "Her pack is in trouble, for knowing the secret and saying nothing, and they'll also be punished. That hurts her." He doesn't mention that _he_, knowing the secret, too, is also in hot water.

Mel brings it up, though. "And how about us? You and me? We in strife?"

Salem looks over at her and arches an eyebrow. "You? You're kin. Your name didn't even come up, actually."

Renee finishes her water and sets the glass aside. The young woman frowns faintly, when she realizes that she doesn't have anything else to distract herself with.

Mel arches an eyebrow at Salem, just studying the man thoughtfully. "Huh." she comments, after a few moments. Still studying him.

Salem has his head resting against the back of the armchair, but after that 'huh' and a bit of silence, he opens his eyes and looks over at Mel. His expression is nice and bland. "I'm a Philodox. Our duty is to uphold the Litany. Not cover up violations of it."

There's a few more moments of silence from the Fianna kin, and then she reaches over and pats his cheek a few times. "Honour's such a contrary thing, isn't it."

Salem grunts. "It's a bitch, yes." He shrugs and tilts his head back again, arms folded across his chest, eyes closed.

Renee goes back over to the fridge and locates a small tub of icecream inside. Claiming this, she snatches up a spoon as well and heads into the living room.

Mel looks up as Renee enters the room. "Hey," she greets mildly, before shooting Salem a warm look. Repressing a broad smile. "Good boy," she murmurs absently, with audible approval, standing a few more moments - looking as if she wanted to give him a hug or something - before turning and heading for the kitchen.

"Hey," Renee murmurs, returning the greeting without really looking up. Sitting down on the couch, she tucks her feet under her body and starts to eat the icecream.

Salem grunts again in response to Mel's murmur, and after a moment opens his eyes, and sits up and looks over toward Renee. "Hello." He peers at the ice cream. "Chocolate?"

Mel calls jokingly over her shoulder, "Go easy on that! You're welcome to all the /regular/ food, but sweets are a precious commodity." She disappears into the kitchen, quickly.

Renee nods and turns the tub so Salem can see the contents. "Haven't had any, since Eb bough me some almost a year ago." At Mel's coment, she stares down into the icecream for a moment and then starts to put the lid back on.

Salem winces. "Renee, she was _joking_. Remove the lid. Eat the ice cream. That's an order."

Renee flinches, face turning red again. "Sorry," she murmurs, then works the lid back off. The spoon dips into the icecream, as the young woman starts to eat it again.

Salem shakes his head and mutters something in Serbian. Rina's name is in it somewhere.

Icecream is transfered into her mouth, as Renee works on finishing off whats left in the tub. She pauses at one point and frowns, before shaking her head and continuing.

"Outta shit, Jack!" Mel calls, in the kitchen. "I'm gonna do a quick grocery run." Keys jangle, as she slips from the kitchen to the main door.

Salem watches her, slouched in the armchair like a particularly weary king. Mel's call stirs him briefly, and he gives her a nod as she passes the parlor. Then he slouches back again and studies Renee pensively.

Renee eventually finishes the icecream and replaces the lid, before setting the tub down and leaving the spoon on the lid. She looks up at Salem and frowns, as if finally realizing that he is watching her. That doesn't last long, as the Galliards eyes duck back down towards the floor.

Salem shakes his head when she looks away, inhales a breath, lets it out. "It's not the end of the world, you know."

Renee lifts and lowers her shoulders in a simple shrug, not giving a verbal reply.

"I'd juggle," the Glass Walker deadpans, "but I lost my set of flaming torches."

"I'm not asking you to try and distract me," Renee mumbles, an edge in her voice. Ahh, there is some of the Galliard's temper poking through.

Salem makes an 'ah' sounds and layers on a touch of the old sarcasm. "Oh, good. You can distract yourself, then? I hear that self-mutilation's all the rage, these days. You could try that."

Renee frowns, fingers twitching. "No, thankyou. Squeaks manages that just fine for me, judging by the scars on my arms."

Salem smiles humorlessly and levers himself to his feet. "Squeaks would likely be a better distraction than me, anyway." He passes a hand over his face tiredly. "I'm going to bed," he says, heading for the doorway. "Feel free to stay as long as you like. I'm fairly certain that there's more ice cream in the freezer."

Renee nods, that quick flicker of anger sputtering and dying. "Thankyou Salem. Goodnight."

Salem replies to the thanks with a dour sort of grunt and disappears into the back.