Chattin' with the Cubbies

[hazlogs]

Farmhouse: Downstairs
Three rooms make up the first floor of the farmhouse, the living room which is 
  the first as you come in, and the dining room and kitchen at the back of the 
  house. (See +view and places)
A door in the kitchen allows direct access to the barnyard behind the house, 
  while the door in the living room lets out to the front porch. Carpeted 
  stairs twist up the northwest corner of the room, leading to the second 
  floor.
Contents:
Illuminated Text
Blanket
NOTE: Current Farmhouse Residents
Obvious exits:
Front Door  Back Door  STairs  

Derrick steps in from the porch, closing the front door behind him.
Derrick has arrived.
Hazmat yawns, stretching out on a couch and looking like she just woke up from 
  a nap.
Derrick wanders in quietly, apple in hand, and sits down with a book.
Hazmat waves an arm at Derrick, grinning. "Hi!"
Derrick, who'd been moving so's to try and not disturb the napper, looks up 
  and smiles. "Hey! Whassup?"
Hazmat sits up, scratching the back of her head, where the hair grows oddly. 
  "Na' much."
Derrick crunches the apple. "Yah, kind of quiet around here in the daytime. 
  People have weird hours around here."
Hazmat grins. "Ya. Out fightin' Banes durin' th' night. Or they got jobs or 
  stuff."
Derrick yerfs. "Yah. Banes." He shivers. "I think Timothy's got a job. Or 
  anyway, he has kids. I guess that's not the same thing, though."
Hazmat looks quizzical. "Why na'?"
Derrick says "Well, you don't *have* to have a job to have kids. It just helps 
  feed 'em."
Hazmat snorts slightly, amused. "Havin' pups *is* a job."
Derrick says "Having watched my parents for way too long now, I gotta agree. 
  But homids tend to have to have anther one, y'know. So's to make money."
Hazmat tosses a throw-pillow at Derrick. "I *know* tha'. Silly."
Derrick dodges, and tosses it back. "I'm very silly, yes, why do you ask?"
Hazmat grins. "I like you. Don' change too much."
Derrick sighs. "I'm tryin', I'm tryin'... I mean, I gotta change some to learn 
  how to be werewolfy, but i don't want to let these holier-than-thou
  Fangs mess my head up, either."
Hazmat bobs her head. "Yah. Yuh don' wanna act tha' way, na' matter *what* 
  tribe yuh are. I mean... th' Gnawers is directly related tuh th' Fangs, 
  didja know that?"
Derrick says "Yeah, 'zactly. Y'can't start forgetting that *everyone* counts 
  in all this. And no, I didn't. The *Fangs* sure aren't going to tell me..."
Hazmat sprawls back out along the couch. "Sure they ain't." She shrugs. "Bu' 
  yuh shouldn't dis yuh tribe too much either. Yuh a Fang, afta all. Jus' keep 
  yuh head, an' when yuh not a cub no more, yuh keep 'em from gettin' too 
  stuffy. Yuh a Ragabash, yah?"
Derrick says "Yup. I am. Gotta restrain myself a lot around here..."
Hazmat tilts her head. "Yah? Wha's tha' Timothy guy like, anyways?"
Derrick says "An', you know, I diss my Tribe some 'cause my parents were like 
  that, too. But when it comes right down to it, they *are* my Tribe, and my 
  family. And you don't desert family. You saw me a couple days ago, with 
  Anne, right?"
Hazmat nods. "Yah, I saw yuh."
Derrick says "I mean, Brittany has a stick in a rather painful place, but 
  she's _my_ person with-a-stick-in-a-painful place. I mean, I figured out 
  later, actually about 2 seconds after Anne whapped me, that Anne was tryin' 
  to help her out, but geez, I couldn't just stand there. Um. Timothy. 
  Timothy's really official and stiff and i don't really know him yet, but I 
  think he's pretty fair, when you get right down to it."
Hazmat nods slightly, scratching at her throat. "Timothy's okay. Way better'n 
  Justice was. I don' think it was right tha' Anne hit Brit though. Or *yuh*." 
  She shrugs. "Bu' tha's somethin' I'll mebbe ask Anne-rhya."
Derrick says, "Yeah, next time I see Anne, I'm going to ask her, um, some 
  stuff." He stops. "Anne-rhya." He thinks about Timothy versus what he's 
  heard of Justice, and shrugs. "I dunno, what I've heard of Justice, she was 
  sort of short tempered."
Hazmat taps her forehead. "Justice was, uhm... yuh evah seen a terrier?"
Derrick says "We used to own one. He barked a lot. But he was cool. Really 
  fervent about stuff."
Hazmat looks wistful. "Usta have this bitch terrier 'round th' factory. Her 
  name was Terror. Real brave, bu' yappy. She got mad easily, an' she'd yap 
  an' yap an' *yap*." Pause for effect. "*That* was Justice."
Derrick rubs his nose absently. "I dunno. From what it sounds like, a lot of 
  people, when they're stuck in rage, they can't really stop 'emselves. But 
  actually, Ragey folks don't *talk*.
You say "Yah, bu' Justice was what yuh'd call high strung. Yuh know? Other 
  Ragey G'roo are kinda like mad pit bull junkyard dogs."
Derrick hugs his knees. "I don't really get Rage. I mean, I've never gotten 
  white-hot angry. I just sort of walk it off before I get there."
Hazmat thinks. "'Rr mebbe, um... them dogs like dobermans, bu' bigger. 
  Rottweillers."
Madeline comes down the stairs.
Madeline has arrived.
Hazmat tilts her head to look at the new arrival. She grins broadly. "Hi!"
Derrick looks up. "Hey, Maddie! Have a good sleep and stuff?"
Madeline says "Hi. Yeah, it's so quiet out here! No car sounds or nothin'."
Hazmat glances at Derrick. "She a cub, too?"
Madeline says "Yeah. Maddy Stewart, Silver Fang A-roon."
Derrick, who would nudge Maddy were he up, nods. "Yeah, she just got here last 
  night."
Derrick says "They plunked her down and didn't tell her much. Except then she 
  came out with us to the Barn and heard about the Impergium."
Hazmat scratches the back of her neck. "Hazmat, called Rabbit-Watches-Pups. 
  Trickster-Questioner. Tha's Ragabash. Lupus a' th' Gnawers. Hi."
Derrick says "They plunked her down and didn't tell her much. Seems to be 
  traditional."
Madeline says "Hazmat. That's a pretty fresh name."
Hazmat grins at the young Ahroun. "Thanks."
Derrick says "Me, I'm glad to be outta the city. Stinks in there."
Madeline shrugs. "It's diffrent here, anyhow. Say, what've we got to eat?"
Hazmat points toward the kitchen. "There's usually lotsa stuff in there. Help 
  yuhself."
Derrick says "I dunno, really. Apples. Meat. Lotsa good stuff. Check it out in 
  the kitchen."
Madeline fiddles around in the kitchen, poking through the fridge. "Huh, well, 
  at least they feed us."
Hazmat reaches under her sweatshirt to scratch the scars on her belly. "Yah, 
  well, of course."
Madeline comes back out, with some sort of sandwich and a glass of milk.
Madeline says "How come everyone around here has such long names, anyhow?"
Hazmat giggles. "It's a G'roo thing."
Derrick says "They stick titles on like they're goin' out of style."
Madeline says "Oh. This is all pretty complicated, huh?"
Hazmat counts off. "Name, deed-name, auspice, rank, tribe, sometimes breed. 
  *Then* yuh might add wha' Sept yuh a part of, yuh pack, th' Totem, stuff yuh 
  do around the Sept..."
Madeline says "Geez. I don't even understand my own name, really."
You say "Yuh don't?"
Derrick says "Ahroon means you're a fighter. Um. Wait. Cubs can't teach other 
  cubs. Cripes."
Madeline says "I know Silver Fang is like what team I'm on, or something like 
  that."
Hazmat grins. "It's like yuh tribe. Yuh, uhm, lineage. Fangs was th' first a' 
  th' tribes. Or one a' th' first."
Madeline says "Oh. Kinda like the Red Sox, or the Yankees, I guess."
Hazmat's eyes grow bright with mirth. "Yah."
Derrick says "Yeah, tribe."
Derrick says "Sort of like the tribes of Jews in the Bible."
Madeline says "There's some Jews that lived in our complex. The didn't get a 
  Christmas, they had somethin' else, though."
Derrick says "Bet it was Chanukkah. They get presents, too."
Hazmat starts to lose interest as the subject turns to human religions, and 
  yawns.
Madeline says "Yeah, so it's not so bad. Not that any of us get much, 'cause 
  we all live in a dump."
Derrick says "But yeah, the Fangs're the guys you're gonna learn with and 
  basically be family with."
Hazmat looks curiously at Madeline. "Yuh lived inna dump?"
Derrick says "I don't get much 'cause my parents thought it'd make me less of 
  a good person."
Madeline says "Well, not literally. But it was a lousy place, lots of Roaches. 
  Freddy saw someone get shot out front once."
Hazmat sits up, looking at Maddy. "Huhn. Mos' Fangs get born rich. How'd they 
  know yuh were a Fang? Mebba yuh really a Bone Gnawer, like me."
Derrick says "I once saw someone get shot. It was in New York City. There's... 
  a lot of blood."
Derrick looks down at his feet for a minute. "Who's Freddy?"
Madeline says "They say that some ghost told them, or somethin' like that."
Madeline says "Freddy's just this dweeeb who lived beneath us."
Hazmat scratches at her belly again, thoughtfully.
Derrick says "Oh. Ok. 'Cause my real name's Frederick. I hate it."
Madeline says "Oh. Yeah, that's a dorky name. Derrick's cool, th ough."
Derrick mock bows, from a sitting position. "I'm glad you approve," he says, 
  supressing a grin.
Hazmat snickers.
Matilda slides open the glass door in the kitchen, stepping in, and then 
  closing the door behind her.
Matilda has arrived.
Matilda knocks once. "Can I come in?"
Derrick scrambled up at the sight of a new person. "Sure, c'mon in. This is 
  sort of open space, down here."
Hazmat jumps up. "Matty!"
Hazmat bounces over toward the newcomer.
Matilda waves a timid hand. "Hope I'm not disturbing, uh..."
Madeline grins. "Nope. Hi, I'm Maddy Stewart. I'm kinda new here."
Shin slides open the glass door in the kitchen, stepping in, and then closing 
  the door behind him.
Shin has arrived.
Derrick waves at her in negation. "We're just shootin' the breeze. Looks like 
  you're someone I should know."
Hazmat waves Matty toward the kitchen. "Yuh hungry, there's food in there." 
  She grins. "No rabbits."
Shin absently pulls the door aside, peering in to blink at Matilda. He pauses 
  when he sees she's with a group of people and inclines his head politely.
Madeline says "You actually eat rabbits?"
Matilda finds a place on the floor. "Matilda Barto. New too, but not as new as 
  some. Doesn't feel anydifferent."
Derrick waves at Shin. "C'mon in, the more the merrier." After this, he plops 
  down where he was sitting before.
Shin arches a slender eyebrow, then sketches Hazmat an absent bow from the 
  waist. "An impromptu...what?"
Hazmat grins at Maddy on her way to the couch. "Yah, rabbits." She spins on 
  one foot and flops onto the cushions.
Matilda looks mildly embarrassed. "I killed one, yesterday. It was kinda 
  stupid of me."
Derrick shrugs in Maddy's direction. "We're wolves. Why not?"
Shin remains under the lintel of the door, though he does push it shut 
  quietly. He purses his lips at Matilda. "It wasn't stupid, little one..." He 
  checks a sigh.
Madeline sighs. "I dunno. They're just, you know, cute."
Derrick says "'Course, I haven't gotten to hunt yet. Dunno if I could actually 
  eat one. But i think instinct'll take over, some."
Matilda traces a pattern in the carpet with one finger. "Maybe not to you," 
  she says, "but it was to me." Her hazel eyes go over Derrick and Madeline. 
  "What tribes are you from?"
Madeline says "Oh, should I introduce myself now? I still don't know when 
  that's okay and when it isn't."
Derrick looks slightly ashamed of himself. "Oh. Sorry. Derrick Herr. Ragabash 
  cub of the Silver Fangs, and all that. Good to meet you." Derrick says this 
  to both Shin and Matilda, sort of hovering between them with his glance.
Shin wraps his arms around his chest and grunts as he takes a seat on the 
  steps, one leg propped up to make a place for his chin as he leans forward. 
  "More introductions..."
Madeline continues, anyway. "Maddy Stewart, Silver Fang, A-roon, cub."
Matilda says "Like Brittany , right?"
Derrick gets up and goes into the kitchen for a drink. He comes back in and 
  hears the tail end of that. "Like Brittany, only not really."
Matilda says "I'm a Theurge, Children of Gaia."
Madeline shrugs. "I ain't much like Brittany, really. But we're on the same 
  tribe."
Matilda tilts her head, eyes questioning. "What do you mean by that? Then 
  again, you don't talk like her."
Hazmat grins to herself, idly scratching her wrist as she listens.
Shin corrects softly. "In the same Tribe, not on..." He glances sidelong at 
  Hazmat. "Teaching cubs...?"
Madeline shrugs. "I only met her once, I guess. But she was goin' off about 
  all her old dusty books and shit, and how not to break things."
Hazmat makes innocent eyes at Shin. "I'm jus' bein' friendly to 'em an' 
  answerin' any questions they might have." She grins. "I wouldn't *dare* 
  *presume* tuh teach another tribe's cubs."
Shin taps his lips with one slender digit, winking at Hazmat. "Oh, aye. 
  Alexander was rather strident about not 'corrupting' cubs from other 
  Tribes..." He gives a slight shake of his head.
Matilda looks vaguely angry about that little rule. "Then how else am I 
  suppose to learn anything? I haven't seen Alex in at least a week."
Madeline says "Alexander? He's the one that told us about the Imp... the 
  killing people thing."
Derrick blinks. "That's funny. He's taught *me* twice now. Hey. Anyone want 
  something to drink? I mean, I'm up anyway. An', hey, you," he says, 
  getsuring to Shin, "Come on in, huh? Y'dont have to hover."
Shin heaves a quiet sigh. "Oh, I imagine it only applies to things like Tribal 
  lore and such. Judging by his stature, I'd wager a guess that he's rather 
  good at things like, oh, grinding boulders into dust or rending flesh - that 
  sort of thing. That's likely fine to teach, yes...?" He glances at Hazmat.
Shin smiles a tad at Matilda. "Ask questions, I suppose." He nods to Derrick. 
  "I'm comfortable. I can see the landscape from over here."
Derrick flashes a quick smile at Matilda. "I'm... slightly more relaxed than 
  Brittany is."
Hazmat grins at Shin. "Sure.I jus' answer general stuff."
Matilda shakes her head at Derrick. "Thanks, anyway. Oh, that reminds me. 
  Shin, sir..who was that with you outside?"
Shin murmurs absently. "Don't call me sir. I don't merit it yet." He pauses. 
  "When?"
Derrick perches on a chair leg, sipping Coke. "Yah, he's just told me general 
  stuff. Even when he told me about the Tribes, he didn't editorialize. Much."
Hazmat throws a small pillow at Derrick.
Matilda shrugs. "She was standing right behind you." She pauses. "Short, dark 
  hair, blue eyes. I looked again, and she was gone. Maybe you din't see her?"
Shin lifts his eyebrow a tad. "Noble of him..." He turns to smile at Matilda 
  quietly. "I saw her, little one. Her name is Natasha and she was just being 
  cultured and bidding me welcome to the area."
Derrick, who was looking at Matilda at the time, is blinsided by the pillow. 
  "Ooof," he oofs, and looks around. Seeing it's only Hazmat, he grins, and 
  says, "What'd I say now?"
Matilda shakes her head. "Not her. I met her yesterday, remember?"
Shin frowns a little, rubbing his jaw. "So you did." He gnaws on his lower 
  lip. "Did she look young?"
Matilda picks up the pillow that slid near her feet and lobs it at Madeline. 
  "Never mind. Maybe I just imagined it."
Hazmat grins innocently at Derrick. "Nuthin'."
Shin gestures at Matilda with the tip of his finger. "Maybe I just wasn't 
  paying enough attention. Did she speak? What did she do? Unless you've a 
  remarkably active imagination, little one, it's rather odd to see someone 
  standing next to me that I don't remember, no?"
Derrick digs in his knapsack, getting something out of it.
Matilda seems rather confused by it all. "She was doing something..since I was 
  just walking by you, I didn't see it too well. No, she didn't say anything. 
  I just saw her for a few seconds, but since she didn't come in with you, 
  maybe I didn't see what I thought I saw?"
Madeline grabs the abandoned pillow, and sits on it.
Shin blinks. "You mean just now, little one? I didn't notice anyone outside, 
  certainly not with me..." He takes a quick glance over his shoulder to 
  confirm it.
Derrick takes the bull by the horns. "Bye the way," he says to Shin, "Should I 
  know you?"
Shin glances over at Derrick, frowning a little. "Hmm? No, you shouldn't. Not 
  yet at any rate..."
Derrick flounders. "Um," he says, searching for the right words, "It's just 
  that, I dunno, I feel kinda safer when I at least know everyone's name."
Matilda wraps her arms around her knees and draws them up to her chest. "Maybe 
  I'm just tired." She looks over to Madeline. "You're from St. Claire? You 
  sound like it."
Madeline says "Yeah, the Regan district."
Shin looks at Matilda over Derrick's shoulder for a moment, then says gently. 
  "Maybe you had a vision. It happens on occasion, to Theurges. I'm not 
  sure..." He turns back to Derrick and grins. "Fair enough. I'm an evil demon 
  send to claim your soul. No, I'm Shin Takimara. Galliard of the Hakken. And 
  I won't steal your soul unless you ask real nice."
Matilda says "Oh. Intown. I'm from the suburbs. Lindenwood."
Madeline says "Nice. Betcha even had a lawn, eh?"
Derrick looks solemn. "Nah. I sort of like it where it is. I could loan it to 
  you, though. Good to meet you... Only, um, what's Hakken? No one's told me 
  about that..."
Matilda says "Yeah, but I didn't play in it often. Not many kids liked me."
Shin smiles crookedly and leans back against the wall, eyes still on Matilda. 
  "Mmm? Ah. Hakken are Shadow Lords from across the Pacific Ocean - Japan, to 
  be exact."
Matilda gives Shin a worried look at all this talk of visions and demons, then 
  seems to shrug it off for later.
Madeline says "Well, bein' popular ain't so important, really."
Derrick gives him an interested look. "We got all sorts of wanderers around 
  here. Have you met Jeremaiah? I think he's been to Japan..." He trails off. 
  "Yeah," he says to himself, "Sure, Shin cares about *everyone* who's been to 
  Japan. Um, think not." He looks back up at Shin. "Why'd you leave? Er," he 
  says, tongue ahead of thought again, "Unlss that's a personal question."
Madeline says "I'm gonna head upstairs, and see if I can tune in the game on 
  the radio. See ya."
Matilda says "No, but it gets boring."
Madeline mounts the stairs, pausing briefly at the landing before continuing 
  up to the second floor.
Madeline has left.
Derrick says "See ya, Maddy. If y'get it, yell at me, huh?"
Matilda waves.
Shin responds softly. "I've met the man, yes. But I do not know him. And I 
  left for my own reasons, that I choose not to reveal to others." He 
  continues to smile. "Thank you for being so - polite."
Hazmat yawns.
Derrick nods to Shin. "I may rattle a bit, but when I stop to think, I at 
  least realize people don't want to talk about everything at once with people 
  they've just met."
Matilda says "Maybe that's my problem. I talk too much."
Shin remarks. "How politic." He smiles again and looks at Hazmat. "Tired? Has 
  there been much excitement?"
Derrick grins at Hazmat, whips the water pistol he got ou of his knapsack up, 
  and hits her with a stream of water. "Bullseye!"
Hazmat utters a sharp bark and is, in a flash, on her feet, whirling on 
  Derrick.
Matilda sucks in a breath and dodges .
Shin frowns, very slightly, face growing cold.
Matilda rolls to another position out of the way of the oncoming Gnawer, and 
  looks at Shin. "Uh, what's wrong?"
Derrick flinches backward from Hazmat, and falls off the chair with a thump.
Shin asks quietly. "What is the custom here for punishing cubs? A thought 
  occured to me."
Matilda shrugs. "Windrunner said it's up to the tribe, I think."
Hazmat holds herself *quite* still, all humor gone from her expression. 
  Carefully, she says, "I ain' gonna hit'cha. I don' hit cubs. Bu' nex' time 
  yuh think 'bout tryin' somethin' like that, rememba' wha' they tol' yuh 
  'bout Rage, an' rememba th' moon-phase. I got 'nuff Rage fuh an Ahroun. Yuh 
  grok me, Derrick?"
Derrick gets up, rubbing his head. "I grok," he says. "Sorry about that. 
  Wasn't thinking. Kinda figured, what with all the pillows and all... Guess I 
  figured wrong."
Shin responds softly to Matilda. "Is it. And no one questions Tribal law, even 
  if it is...against their principles?"
Hazmat wipes water from her face. "There's limits," she says stiffly, and 
  forcibly plops back down onto the couch.
Derrick says to Shin, perching again, "It's supposedly up to the tribes, yes, 
  but Timothy-rhya, he's a Fang, he's been whompin' Dillan. Dillan's a Lord. 
  So I think, around the Farmhouse, it's relaxed a little."
Matilda uhms. "Well, I don't know about that, sir."
Matilda frowns at a word Derrick uses. "What's -rhya?"
Shin looks heavenward and mutters softly. "Barbarians."
Derrick says "It's an honorific thingy. I don't use it much, but," he says 
  honestly, "When I don't know what a guy's like in terms of being stuffy, I 
  tend to use it more."
Matilda nods, then absently ticks things off on her fingers, murmuring to 
  herself.
Shin shakes his head once, fiercely, then lowers his eyes and begins to brood, 
  face drawn and narrow.
Derrick, dealing with a lot of Tribal laws that may well be against his 
  principles, looks at Shin speculatively.
Hazmat remains silent on the couch, calming herself down slowly.
Shin says, very slowly. "I do not rule here..." He begins to speak to himself 
  in Japanese for a moment, then nods as if he's reached a decision.
Hazmat looks curiously at Shin.
Shin looks back at Hazmat, his smile back in place. "Pardon?"
You say "Yuh look like someone wi' somethin' tuh say."
Shin chuckles softly. "Long ago, I learned the wisdom of knowing when to 
  speak, and when to remain silent." That said, he rests his chin on his knee.
Hazmat snorts quietly, some of her humor returned. "Yah, bu' if yuh gonna do 
  that, yuh outta be more subtle 'bout bein' silent. Yuh know? Otherwise, 
  people think yuh up tuh somethin'."
Shin looks as innocent as a babe. "I? Up to something? I assure you, it's 
  nothing or the sort."
Hazmat rolls her eyes. "It's written all over yuh face."
Derrick says, "Yeahbut..." He pauses, and begins again. "Sir," he says, 
  deliberately, "I can't know what's right for *us* unless I know how and why 
  people disagree with what's 'right', as well."
Shin says quietly. "Maybe I'd better go wash my face, then..." He smiles and 
  blinks at Derrick. "You've an imagination. Project it."
Matilda rises to her feet. "I, uh, gotta go talk to the tablestone. I think. 
  See ya?"
Derrick starts to say something, but bites his lip.
Derrick waves to Matilda. "I hope so..."
Shin says "The what?"
Matilda wanders out, giving an absent wave.
Derrick says, calmly, "I have an imagination. That doesn't mean my imagination 
  is *right*, though."
Hazmat gets up off the couch and wanders off, waving absently.