First impressions
Jan. 9th, 2012 03:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shelbyrouIt is currently 09:32 Pacific Time on Mon Jan 9 2012.
Currently the moon is in the waning Full (Ahroun) Moon phase (96% full).
Sunrise Road, South of I-90
Sunrise Road is a two-lane asphalt road that has been recently lined to accomodate the steadily growing level of traffic. Formerly poor farmers, hermits, and homesteaders have suddenly found themselves sitting on a small fortune as property values skyrocketed with the encroaching suburb developments. Most are selling their land or large portions of it to developers, cashing out and moving to warmer climates. Sunrise Road is still predominantly flanked on both sides by evergreen forest and punctuated by an occasional mailbox and driveway leading back off the road. But every so often large swaths of forest are in various stages of being cut down and cleared for new housing developments as Kent Crossing becomes a more and more popular "bedroom community" for people that work in St. Claire but don't care to actually live within the large, crowded, and troubled city. The majority of construction is occuring to the south where Sunrise Road connects with Highway 22 near Kent Crossing, growing less and less the further north one travels.
The road runs north toward I-90, and south into the woods. On the eastern side of the road, a gravel lane extends to the east before turning north and running parallel to the road.
Obvious exits:
North (Under I-90) South Nicholson Hall Denton Farm 3142 Sunrise Road Escrowe Farm
Enough morning traffic has died off that only the occasional car zips down the road, most of those heading for Kent's Crossing, with long minutes of silence to punctuate the roar of engines. One car, heading north rather than south, has pulled off onto the verge and up on jacks, while a white-haired woman kneels at the side of the pale gold BMW to change a the driver's side front tire. A faint drizzle sputters out of the sky, just enough to make everything damp without actually achieving wet.
Rori walks down the side of the road, a figure of average height and a dangerous aura about her. She stops several feet back behind the car, eyes considering. "Need help?" is the quiet question, over the sound of the rain and the trees. Hands are tucked into a warm gortex coat with the hood pulled over her head. Light blue eyes shine brightly while dark red hair frames a pale face.
Shelby looks up at the sound of the voice, apparently unruffled by the other woman's aura. She makes an incongruous sight, as if she should be visiting shops in Bel-Air or Fifth Avenue rather than kneeling there in the mud and gravel. After a moment's consideration, however, she smiles and offers over the lug wrench. "Would you mind?" Her voice is straight out of the South, soft and cultured. "I think they forgot to hand-tighten these."
Straight auburn-red hair hangs loosely to waist-length, catching any light in the room and mixing dark brown with red highlights. Even when pulled back, her hair frames an elfin face with dark-kissed strands. She often twists up out of the way in some kind of messy knot or barely tamed pony-tail. Her skin is pale porcelain and is peppered with out of control freckles that appear and disappear based on the amount of sun she's exposed to. Bright blue eyes are a light cerulean bordered by a darker edge and are often expressive of her mood. She is obviously someone who has worked on her physical form, her muscles are well defined, though not outrageously bulky. She has a large scar cutting down one cheek from temple to chin, an old injury.
Rori takes the tool and nods, "Sure. Brother's a mechanic, so I know a bit about this kind of stuff." Kneeling down into place, the redhead pushes back the hood and goes to work on the nuts. The first couple are a bit harder to loosen, but eventually she gets them all. The bolts are offered up to the other woman as they're taken off.
"Thank you," Shelby says, and gratefully returns to her feet, making no bones out of studying Rori as the other woman works. "I think I can get the tire off, now, but... have we met? You look rather familiar. You're not... one of Elliot's cousins, are you? Elliot... oh, um. I don't remember his last name off the top of my head."
Rori has a very thick Irish accent, likely hard to understand at times. "Yeah. New here. Met him the other night." She glances at Shelby again under her lashes and then quietly goes to finishing off the tire herself. "Let me help. You're dressed up and I've usually got dirt under my nails."
Shelby pauses for a moment, thinking, before offering a brilliant smile and heading around to the passenger side. "Let me at least get an umbrella." And pop the trunk as she continues around, ending up at Rori's other side with the umbrella lifted. From here she can lower her voice, though the only traffic is a sporadic car. "I'm Shelby Zaleski-Leveque, and if you met him last night," her eyes flick toward the grey sky, "you must be one of ours, instead of a cousin."
Rori pulls off the tire and rolls it to the side, glancing at Shelby again while she goes to get the spare. She doesn't seem to care about being dry. "Rori Murphy. You don't look like one more comfortable in the forests."
"I'm comfortable anywhere," the white-haired woman claims, with another of those face-lighting smiles. "As you're being kind enough to do the heavy lifting...," her voice drops a fraction more, "Fostern Ragabash of the Silver Fangs, called Bright Eye Sees to the Heart of the Ambush." She glances around again. "Great-great-granddaughter of the Adren Galliard Winter's Snow on Summer's Branches, the Adren Philodox Silver Sword with Two Blades, and the Adren Galliard Falcon's Cry Turns Tears to Blood. --Not all at once, of course."
Rori pulls out the tire and rolls it over. "Heavy lifting is what I do," she says, going to work on the tire, "I am called Danger Magnet, cliath full moon of the Fianna."
Shelby says, "The spare's in the back, if you want it. I didn't see anything wrong with it this morning, but of course it was raining." Then, in nearly the same breath, "It's very nice to meet you. Has Elliot given you terms to stick around yet?" A pause. "Are you going to stick around?"
Rori rolls the tire around to the back and gets the new one. "Don't know yet. Looking around a bit first. But you can tell me, if ya like. Waiting to meet up with the warder for clearance."
Shelby follows after, holding the umbrella's shelter above the Ahroun as if this were her sole purpose in life. "I'm afraid I can't give you Chiminage - that's for your Elder or the Alpha to do. What has Elliot-rhya told you, or what do you know about this place?"
Rori kneels in the dirt, not seeming to care that she's getting dirty. "Just that you need help of the kind I can offer. That I'm looking for a place, he seemed willing to let me work around first, see how things go. Said something was coming up I could help with."
"Maybe," Shelby agrees with a noncommittal shrug. "I haven't heard of anything, but then I've only been back for a week. There are some strange things going on, though. If you have any weird dreams, make sure you tell a Theurge." She pauses, grimacing, and adds, "If you can."
Rori tilts her head in interest as she puts on the new tire. "Really? Dreams? Hadn't heard that, but haven't talked to many since I've been here. Will do, soon's I have one.. and meet one." She seems old for a cliath, but fairly battle-hardened.
"How long have you been in town?" the Ragabash asks, keeping a watch not only on Rori, but all around - the latter surreptitiously. "And yes, dreams. The Walk is a Chimera Sept, and the Lady of Mirrors is the Lady of Dreams." She adds with a wrinkle of her nose, "If you have any gifts or rites to know the future, or untangle things, make sure people know about them."
Rori gives a little shake of her head. "Full Moon. You did hear that part?" She's not unaware of the things going on around and holds up her hand for the bolts with a little smile. "Only since yesterday. Not long at all."
Shelby delays delivering the nuts until Rori actually looks up. "Manners," she says sweetly, and drops two - thud-clink - into the Ahroun's palm. "What names has Elliot given you? Or hasn't he given you any?"
Rori grins back at the other girl. "Please. Thank you." She puts on the bolts on opposite sides, tightening them only enough to hold on the tire and then lifts her hand again. "Please?" Then continues. "Just someone called Jacey, whom I have met, and Jacinta."
Shelby rewards this next please with two more nuts. "I know Jacey, and I've heard of Jacinta-rhya," she stresses the honorific, "is Warder, though I haven't met her. Have you gotten clearance for the Bawn yet?"
Rori takes the nuts and puts them on loosely and then tightens each loosely, waiting for the last two before she will tighten them all. "Nah. Waiting for that meeting. Please? You haven't met her yet? So not cleared, either?"
"I just got back last week," Shelby repeats, handing over the last of the nuts before switching the umbrella to her now-empty hand. "I've been here for nearly two years, but Jacinta-rhya and I haven't crossed paths. She wasn't Warder when I left, early last Fall."
"Ah!" Rori nods as she puts on the last two and then starts to tighten them all down. "I see. You going to stay then? Get all involved again?" She tries not to bang on the umbrella when she gets up. She's careful as she tightens, alternating across the tire, but also trying not to tighten too much.
"Of course." The Ragabash shrugs as if the answer was never in doubt. "I didn't mean to be gone as long as I was, but the Deep Umbra has a way of shifting time on you." There's a little dance as she and Rori negotiate their new positions, but the Fianna remains under the umbrella at the end of it. "You could probably look for a pack, if you knew what you wanted. There are even quite a few urrah around."
Rori finishes off the tire and starts to let down the car again, watching carefully. "I need to know that I can be accepted here. If I find a good fit, I will stay." She glances up at the other woman and then goes back to what she's doing, eyes scanning the area around.
"Let the scout do her job," Shelby murmurs, her voice warm, almost amused. "I know this area better than you do; I'll let you know if anything's coming." A moment or two later, "Well, if you don't know what your plans are, what about your past? Where are you from, Rori Murphy? Other side of the pond, it sounds like?"
Rori gives Shelby an amused look. "Would do, if I knew I could trust you. Don't have the sniffer others do," she pats the side of her nose. "From Kerry, Ireland. Yeah. Didn't get on so well with my Mum's pack and sept, so figured it was time to move on."
Shelby says, "The area's as clean as you are," her half-smile well aware Rori may not believe her. "It's an interesting quandary, isn't it? You have to believe at least someone is clean, but until they introduce you to others, it's hard to say who else is." A beat, and another smile. "Does this mean you won't take me up on my offer of a ride?"
Rori gives a little shrug. "Yeah, but trust the one that sent me here, so if Elliot tells me someone is clean, the chain grows. Where you headed?"
The Ragabash says, "Exactly," as if that only proves her point. "Not into town, of course. I was heading across 90," she gives a nod north, "to visit a friend. Whom you might or might not trust." Only a Ragabash could pull off a face so innocent. "If you're heading that way, the offer's open."
Rori gets up, cleaning up the tools, putting away the jack. "Would like to get to know the area around more. Have just been wandering, sniffing things out."
"I can give you a lift for a few miles, anyway," Shelby decides as she helps with the tidying. Her car isn't fancy (other than being a BMW), and now that the tire is fixed, seems to run well - and more importantly, the heater works. True to her word, she drops Rori off a few miles north, pointing out a few areas of interest and one or two to avoid.
Currently the moon is in the waning Full (Ahroun) Moon phase (96% full).
Sunrise Road, South of I-90
Sunrise Road is a two-lane asphalt road that has been recently lined to accomodate the steadily growing level of traffic. Formerly poor farmers, hermits, and homesteaders have suddenly found themselves sitting on a small fortune as property values skyrocketed with the encroaching suburb developments. Most are selling their land or large portions of it to developers, cashing out and moving to warmer climates. Sunrise Road is still predominantly flanked on both sides by evergreen forest and punctuated by an occasional mailbox and driveway leading back off the road. But every so often large swaths of forest are in various stages of being cut down and cleared for new housing developments as Kent Crossing becomes a more and more popular "bedroom community" for people that work in St. Claire but don't care to actually live within the large, crowded, and troubled city. The majority of construction is occuring to the south where Sunrise Road connects with Highway 22 near Kent Crossing, growing less and less the further north one travels.
The road runs north toward I-90, and south into the woods. On the eastern side of the road, a gravel lane extends to the east before turning north and running parallel to the road.
Obvious exits:
North (Under I-90) South Nicholson Hall Denton Farm 3142 Sunrise Road Escrowe Farm
Enough morning traffic has died off that only the occasional car zips down the road, most of those heading for Kent's Crossing, with long minutes of silence to punctuate the roar of engines. One car, heading north rather than south, has pulled off onto the verge and up on jacks, while a white-haired woman kneels at the side of the pale gold BMW to change a the driver's side front tire. A faint drizzle sputters out of the sky, just enough to make everything damp without actually achieving wet.
Rori walks down the side of the road, a figure of average height and a dangerous aura about her. She stops several feet back behind the car, eyes considering. "Need help?" is the quiet question, over the sound of the rain and the trees. Hands are tucked into a warm gortex coat with the hood pulled over her head. Light blue eyes shine brightly while dark red hair frames a pale face.
Shelby looks up at the sound of the voice, apparently unruffled by the other woman's aura. She makes an incongruous sight, as if she should be visiting shops in Bel-Air or Fifth Avenue rather than kneeling there in the mud and gravel. After a moment's consideration, however, she smiles and offers over the lug wrench. "Would you mind?" Her voice is straight out of the South, soft and cultured. "I think they forgot to hand-tighten these."
Straight auburn-red hair hangs loosely to waist-length, catching any light in the room and mixing dark brown with red highlights. Even when pulled back, her hair frames an elfin face with dark-kissed strands. She often twists up out of the way in some kind of messy knot or barely tamed pony-tail. Her skin is pale porcelain and is peppered with out of control freckles that appear and disappear based on the amount of sun she's exposed to. Bright blue eyes are a light cerulean bordered by a darker edge and are often expressive of her mood. She is obviously someone who has worked on her physical form, her muscles are well defined, though not outrageously bulky. She has a large scar cutting down one cheek from temple to chin, an old injury.
Rori takes the tool and nods, "Sure. Brother's a mechanic, so I know a bit about this kind of stuff." Kneeling down into place, the redhead pushes back the hood and goes to work on the nuts. The first couple are a bit harder to loosen, but eventually she gets them all. The bolts are offered up to the other woman as they're taken off.
"Thank you," Shelby says, and gratefully returns to her feet, making no bones out of studying Rori as the other woman works. "I think I can get the tire off, now, but... have we met? You look rather familiar. You're not... one of Elliot's cousins, are you? Elliot... oh, um. I don't remember his last name off the top of my head."
Rori has a very thick Irish accent, likely hard to understand at times. "Yeah. New here. Met him the other night." She glances at Shelby again under her lashes and then quietly goes to finishing off the tire herself. "Let me help. You're dressed up and I've usually got dirt under my nails."
Shelby pauses for a moment, thinking, before offering a brilliant smile and heading around to the passenger side. "Let me at least get an umbrella." And pop the trunk as she continues around, ending up at Rori's other side with the umbrella lifted. From here she can lower her voice, though the only traffic is a sporadic car. "I'm Shelby Zaleski-Leveque, and if you met him last night," her eyes flick toward the grey sky, "you must be one of ours, instead of a cousin."
Rori pulls off the tire and rolls it to the side, glancing at Shelby again while she goes to get the spare. She doesn't seem to care about being dry. "Rori Murphy. You don't look like one more comfortable in the forests."
"I'm comfortable anywhere," the white-haired woman claims, with another of those face-lighting smiles. "As you're being kind enough to do the heavy lifting...," her voice drops a fraction more, "Fostern Ragabash of the Silver Fangs, called Bright Eye Sees to the Heart of the Ambush." She glances around again. "Great-great-granddaughter of the Adren Galliard Winter's Snow on Summer's Branches, the Adren Philodox Silver Sword with Two Blades, and the Adren Galliard Falcon's Cry Turns Tears to Blood. --Not all at once, of course."
Rori pulls out the tire and rolls it over. "Heavy lifting is what I do," she says, going to work on the tire, "I am called Danger Magnet, cliath full moon of the Fianna."
Shelby says, "The spare's in the back, if you want it. I didn't see anything wrong with it this morning, but of course it was raining." Then, in nearly the same breath, "It's very nice to meet you. Has Elliot given you terms to stick around yet?" A pause. "Are you going to stick around?"
Rori rolls the tire around to the back and gets the new one. "Don't know yet. Looking around a bit first. But you can tell me, if ya like. Waiting to meet up with the warder for clearance."
Shelby follows after, holding the umbrella's shelter above the Ahroun as if this were her sole purpose in life. "I'm afraid I can't give you Chiminage - that's for your Elder or the Alpha to do. What has Elliot-rhya told you, or what do you know about this place?"
Rori kneels in the dirt, not seeming to care that she's getting dirty. "Just that you need help of the kind I can offer. That I'm looking for a place, he seemed willing to let me work around first, see how things go. Said something was coming up I could help with."
"Maybe," Shelby agrees with a noncommittal shrug. "I haven't heard of anything, but then I've only been back for a week. There are some strange things going on, though. If you have any weird dreams, make sure you tell a Theurge." She pauses, grimacing, and adds, "If you can."
Rori tilts her head in interest as she puts on the new tire. "Really? Dreams? Hadn't heard that, but haven't talked to many since I've been here. Will do, soon's I have one.. and meet one." She seems old for a cliath, but fairly battle-hardened.
"How long have you been in town?" the Ragabash asks, keeping a watch not only on Rori, but all around - the latter surreptitiously. "And yes, dreams. The Walk is a Chimera Sept, and the Lady of Mirrors is the Lady of Dreams." She adds with a wrinkle of her nose, "If you have any gifts or rites to know the future, or untangle things, make sure people know about them."
Rori gives a little shake of her head. "Full Moon. You did hear that part?" She's not unaware of the things going on around and holds up her hand for the bolts with a little smile. "Only since yesterday. Not long at all."
Shelby delays delivering the nuts until Rori actually looks up. "Manners," she says sweetly, and drops two - thud-clink - into the Ahroun's palm. "What names has Elliot given you? Or hasn't he given you any?"
Rori grins back at the other girl. "Please. Thank you." She puts on the bolts on opposite sides, tightening them only enough to hold on the tire and then lifts her hand again. "Please?" Then continues. "Just someone called Jacey, whom I have met, and Jacinta."
Shelby rewards this next please with two more nuts. "I know Jacey, and I've heard of Jacinta-rhya," she stresses the honorific, "is Warder, though I haven't met her. Have you gotten clearance for the Bawn yet?"
Rori takes the nuts and puts them on loosely and then tightens each loosely, waiting for the last two before she will tighten them all. "Nah. Waiting for that meeting. Please? You haven't met her yet? So not cleared, either?"
"I just got back last week," Shelby repeats, handing over the last of the nuts before switching the umbrella to her now-empty hand. "I've been here for nearly two years, but Jacinta-rhya and I haven't crossed paths. She wasn't Warder when I left, early last Fall."
"Ah!" Rori nods as she puts on the last two and then starts to tighten them all down. "I see. You going to stay then? Get all involved again?" She tries not to bang on the umbrella when she gets up. She's careful as she tightens, alternating across the tire, but also trying not to tighten too much.
"Of course." The Ragabash shrugs as if the answer was never in doubt. "I didn't mean to be gone as long as I was, but the Deep Umbra has a way of shifting time on you." There's a little dance as she and Rori negotiate their new positions, but the Fianna remains under the umbrella at the end of it. "You could probably look for a pack, if you knew what you wanted. There are even quite a few urrah around."
Rori finishes off the tire and starts to let down the car again, watching carefully. "I need to know that I can be accepted here. If I find a good fit, I will stay." She glances up at the other woman and then goes back to what she's doing, eyes scanning the area around.
"Let the scout do her job," Shelby murmurs, her voice warm, almost amused. "I know this area better than you do; I'll let you know if anything's coming." A moment or two later, "Well, if you don't know what your plans are, what about your past? Where are you from, Rori Murphy? Other side of the pond, it sounds like?"
Rori gives Shelby an amused look. "Would do, if I knew I could trust you. Don't have the sniffer others do," she pats the side of her nose. "From Kerry, Ireland. Yeah. Didn't get on so well with my Mum's pack and sept, so figured it was time to move on."
Shelby says, "The area's as clean as you are," her half-smile well aware Rori may not believe her. "It's an interesting quandary, isn't it? You have to believe at least someone is clean, but until they introduce you to others, it's hard to say who else is." A beat, and another smile. "Does this mean you won't take me up on my offer of a ride?"
Rori gives a little shrug. "Yeah, but trust the one that sent me here, so if Elliot tells me someone is clean, the chain grows. Where you headed?"
The Ragabash says, "Exactly," as if that only proves her point. "Not into town, of course. I was heading across 90," she gives a nod north, "to visit a friend. Whom you might or might not trust." Only a Ragabash could pull off a face so innocent. "If you're heading that way, the offer's open."
Rori gets up, cleaning up the tools, putting away the jack. "Would like to get to know the area around more. Have just been wandering, sniffing things out."
"I can give you a lift for a few miles, anyway," Shelby decides as she helps with the tidying. Her car isn't fancy (other than being a BMW), and now that the tire is fixed, seems to run well - and more importantly, the heater works. True to her word, she drops Rori off a few miles north, pointing out a few areas of interest and one or two to avoid.