Barbecue Outside, Roman Gets a Good Look.

[Starla Navarro] Stepping back from him, Starla pivots her body away towards the rusted barrel, she looks down at it, examining his makeshift grill with a raised eyebrow as Roman stuffed his face.

"Ya know when I head home for a couple of days after the weather's better to git m'car, I should probably steal a grill or two so we actually have something... better."

She laughs at his comment, shaking her head, "Have ya manage to catch up the shit that's been going on?"

[Roman Turner] He swallowed hard, picking up the third burger with a look towards the barrel grill and Starla.

"This one works fine. What stuff are ya talking about? Catching up? I only been back to myself since lastnight and that was none to fun."

[Starla Navarro] "Right, ya have been out of it so ya wouldn't know what's been going on."

Her breath explodes out of her mouth when she sighs, forming a white cloud in front of her face. She tilts her head up to glance at him.

"There was some trouble wit' a Fenrir, been terrorizing the church and Rain. I heard from the others at the Brotherhood that he threatened Miss Kora's baby. Hunter wanted to rip the man apart."

[Roman Turner] "Oh yeah, I got a message about Erek being banned from our territory. That one day he appeared and chased Miss Rain around. Didn't hear about no threats against Miss Kora and can't figure out why she let him live if he said that to her about her baby."

He was quiet several long moments, thinking as he polished off the last burger.

"I tried joking around with Miss Rain lastnight.....I guess that almost explains why Miss Kora threatened to throat me."

That still hurt, that still hurt bad enough to make him turn away to find the beer he had begun this meal with.

"Wanna beer?"

[Starla Navarro] "Sure I'll take one."

Everything she has heard about the events going on were through second hand information. It's easy to distort the original story, alter it just slightly so it spun into a different tale the more it was talked about and past around. Like a game of telephone. She notices the way e goes quiet for several long moments.

Starla keeps talking to fill up that void of silence, "I never saw any of this first hand, it's all things I've heard from other Garou and kin. Rain's tried to explain it to me, but it gets blurred around the edges. I figured Miss Kora would've likely throated him for threatening her offspring."

She shrugs, "But yeah, Rain's been bit shaken up from the ordeal, ain't comfortable around Garou much. Ya need to go easy on her, Roman."

[Roman Turner] "I learned last night that I can't joke with her. I need to keep things on a formal level like a father with someone else's child. Don't worry, I learned the lesson well. As for Hunter, how the devil did he come to be involved?"

Lord this was all confusing and he was missing most of the details.

[Starla Navarro] There were gaps in the bigger story as all the small side plots were trying to weave into the main tale. She gets a beer for Roman and herself, handing it over to him as she shrugs. "Ya don't have to be all formal like Roman. She's older than ya isn't she? Ya gotta be more adult-like."

It felt wrong telling a sixteen year old boy this, Roman was just as inexperienced as she was when it came to the opposite sex. Starla frowns, cracking the beer cap off the bottle using the edge of her shirt.

"As for Hunter, it seems he and his packmate John, the mute Fenrir? They beat the shit outta that Erek fella at the Brotherhood over some kinfolk, seems Sofie was getting bothered by him to. She was plum mad, Hunter was worse, however."

[Roman Turner] He accepted the beer, muttering.

"Adult like is formal. I will treat her like spun glass that might shatter if I talk too loud, ok? I ain't Eve and I ain't Erek, but apparently I fit the same profile. Now tell me this, how did Hunter know that Erek threatened Miss Kora's baby?"

[Starla Navarro] Starla steps away from the barrel, she crosses her ankles together, bending her knees as she sits down on the ground, pulling her legs up to her chest. She tilts her head back to look up at Roman, frowning at him when he muttered. She sips from the beer, speaking around the lip of the bottle.

"That's not what I meant... ya jus'... don't pull pranks on her. Girly girls don't like it when ya do that, it hurts their feelings." Starla wasn't one of those types of girls, she was too much of a tomboy to even care about frilly things. A scowl crosses over dusky-skinned features when he asks about Hunter.

Starla sucks in a deep breath, lowering the bottle as she tells him one name. "Sofie." She takes another drink, "Sofie was talking about it, going on and on."

[Roman Turner] "Sofie was going on and on about Erek threatening Miss Kora's baby?"

Now he wondered how many other people knew what he was just finding out. He sure as hell was going to talk to Linus about this.

"Like I said about Miss Rain. I get it Starla, be extra polite. I ain't stupid ya know."

[Hunter] [all good for hunter and imogen to drop in?]

[Starla Navarro] (It's open)

[Roman Turner] ((Outback of the Church with a fire barrel going and the smell of roasted meat))

[Starla Navarro] "I didn't say ya were stupid, Roman."

She makes a face at him, draping her arms over her bent knees, the bottle dangling from her fingers as she sat on the ground outside in the yard, next to Roman's barrel grill.

"Sofie wasn't on a tangent about it. She mentioned it once."

[Roman Turner] He turned towards her, those faded gray-blue eyes of his resting on Starla.

"How did Sofie know about the threat? Miss Kora told her and didn't tell me?"

The beer was upended, drained in three long swallows.

[Hunter] He knocks but finds no answer. This isn't exactly normal for the Church - he has never come here before and been met with silence at the huge front door - but it isn't uncalled for either, and when his nostrils flare to the smell of roasting meat he figures it out soon enough. Rather than knock louder and force someone to come inside, he wanders down the narrow gap on the side of the building with his hands stuff in his pockets and the cold sun on his face, broken only by the shadow of the church.

Dark mahogany leather covers his torso: his beloved jacket, worn and faded but still doing the job. His hands are in his jeans pockets and he twists his head to peer around each corner before he gets past them. It doesn't take him long to follow his nose and it leads him straight to the burning barrel with the two children of Gaia talking around it.

He declares his presence long before he crosses the distance towards them though.

"Sup peeps?"

[Starla Navarro] "I don't know, Roman, why don'tcha ask Sofie. It's what I heard..."

She makes a face at him, growing annoyed with the string of questions that seem to never end. She takes a swig from the bottle, draining it halfway as she watches him upend his in less the time it took her to finish hers. Starla rolls her eyes up to the sky, tilting her head from side to side. She continues to sit on the ground while Roman stands nearby.

Pale green eyes are quick to drop down and look around, finding the image of Hunter as the Gnawer strolls up along the path towards them. She offers him a greeting with the lift of her bottle. "Hey, Hunter."

[Roman Turner] "I'll go straight to the horse's mouth and ask Kora herself."

He had that sick feeling in his stomach like when he had to find out his Alpha was pregnant by overhearing it rather than being told. That feeling of being on the outside of the circle of trust. Then again, maybe it was the three near raw burgers and two beers he'd already downed? Speaking of beer, his was empty, time for another. He was just reaching for the beer when Hunter turned up.

"Howdy, Hunter. Want a beer?"

Dressed in red flannel pajama bottoms himself along with cowboy boots and a jacket. His pallor was wane, a lot of bodily resources consumed in the healing process added to sleeplessness.

[Imogen] Hunter had knocked, but received no answer. It had been indicative that there was no one within the building - and yet, it is from here that Imogen exits, stepping out through the backdoor and into the overgrown backyard where the Gaians were having their own version of a poor-man's barbecue. In usual style, they went so poor-man's it was nearly defined as a homeless-man's, but never mind.

"Bit early in the year fer a barbecue, isn't it?" she asks no one in particular, as she crosses her arms at her ribcage to keep in whatever meagre warmth her slender body might contain. Though the weather is warmer than it had been in recent days, it was still rather cool to be without a jacket. Even in her pale mauve sweater.

She's in jeans, serviceable but expensive flat shoes, her hair drawn back though strands were escaping from the chignon at the base of her neck. Imogen's casual attire likely costs more than most of their Sunday best, if they even had such.

[Roman Turner] "Howdy Miss Doctor Slaughter, Ma'am. I got hungry and didn't want to gross no one out eating raw burger and didn't want to use the tiny little resources we got inside. This works just fine."

He indicated the 55 gal. barrel with the oven grill laid over the top.

"Ya hungry or want a beer? I got a little more burger left I could throw on the grill for ya."

[Hunter] "Sure, why not."

The last time he saw Roman Turner something was trying to crawl inside his head, successfully. Hunter tilts his head and keeps his attention on the Ragabash after giving Starla a little nod in greeting. He crosses the distance towards them and comes to stand near the barrel, not so close as to be indicative of requiring its heat, but enough for a taste of the flames. Burning barrels, beers, almost makes a Gnawer nostalgic.

Just then he hears a door closing and his head turns towards the sound to watch Imogen wander on over.

"Imogen," he offers, then his attention reverts to the Ragabash.

"No burger for me thanks," although none had actually been offered with his beer. "How you been Roman?" A narrowing of eyes, is that crazy tentacle spirit still in you? Has it cthulhu'd up your brain?

[Starla Navarro] Starla finishes her beer, sets the empty bottle down on the ground in front of her. She leans forward, resting her chin atop her knees as she hugs her legs. A shiver passes over her, shoulders shaking under her suede coat. She had come outside dressed warmly for the weather, but the chills are hard to suppress.

Her attention is turned to Imogen as she makes an appearance to join them, watching her curiously before her eyes flick away to stare at the Garou, listening. "Roman, can ya hand me another one?" indicating to the beer and not the burger.

[Roman Turner] He handed the beer to Hunter and stepped back away from the Gnawer with the looks he was getting. Nothing like being made to feel uncomfortable in your own home.

"Let's see, since the night and a half since I played with....what was it Starla? Lindy's Bear's pea soup? And I got head full of stuff I ain't got a clue how to sort out and a belly full of undigested cow and brewer's yeast."

His smile was wan.

"What about you Hunter? How ya been?"

[Roman Turner] And of course he reached in to the cooler and took the steps it took to hand the beer to Starla before prying up the grill on the barrel to add another hunk of wood that looked like it might of been part of the old kitchen door.

[Starla Navarro] "Linda Blair." She offers up to Roman, grinning now.

[Roman Turner] "That's what I said."

Mumbled to Starla.

[Imogen] "Hunter," her greeting matches his.

A brief glance toward Starla, shivering on the ground. "Perhaps yeh should find something else to sit on," she observes mildly, walking forward to peer at Roman's grill with a mockingly critical eye.

She wears a weapon at the small of her back, a double set of guns hooked into the low-slung waist of her jeans. Black and visible, incongruous against her fine clothing, a few strands of angora sticking to the leather, to the visible butt of the outermost weapon. "I think I'll stick wi' beer," she says, before bending down to the cooler to retrieve her own.

[Roman Turner] Imogen checked out his grill and bent down to get her own beer from the cooler and Lord have mercy, he checked out Miss Doctor Slaughter, Ma'am's backside when she bent for that beer.

[Hunter] [Ack, chat stopped refreshing]

He takes the beer, opens it and takes a long swig while Roman is telling him how he has been. A sigh of appreciation when the bottle pries from his lips and he wipes the back of his other hand across his mouth.

"I been aight, can't complain, can't complain--"

Eyes on Roman, a quirked brow, an amused twist of his lips.

"Did you just check Imogen out?"

Shut up Hunter.

[Starla Navarro] Roman mumbles at her and she feels obliged to correct him yet again, "Nah, ya said Lindy's Bear's. It wasn't the right name."

Starla eyes her cousin, an eyebrow shooting up as she notes the effort he takes to check out her backside when Imogen bent over. She rolls her eyes snorting loudly at him, "Roman Turner, shame on ya..." also vocalizing the same time Hunter does with a grin.

To Imogen she offers a sheepish grin and shrugs, "It's fine."

[Roman Turner] His face flamed bright red all the way up to the tips of his ears when they asked him about checking out Imogen's rear end. He not only checked it out, he took mental pictures that were now hanging on the ceiling of his mind's bedroom.

"What?"

Yes he was Ragabash. Yes he would lie like a cheap rug purchased at the dollar store.

"How rude. Course I didn't."

[Imogen] Imogen straightens with more preposition than some would, a beer in hand, and turns to glance at Roman with an arched eyebrow, a steady, quelling glance that to a point, is at least tinged with - what. It's too subtle to be amusement.

"Of course not," she answers, mildly, deadpan, looking evenly at the boy's blushing face. "Roman would ne'er do such a thing."

Dry as the Sahara.

She cracks open her beer and takes a few steps away, before noting, "Yeh need a picnic table out 'ere."

[Roman Turner] "See, she knows."

Yeah, this was a good time to take another long drink from the new beer. Enough of these and maybe he'd sleep without dreams for a bit. Besides, he needed to get his thoughts away from other things that were making lowers regions of his body stir.

"Picnic table would be nice."

Grasping at the straw thrown his way.

[Starla Navarro] "Mowing the lawn would be a better idea. Ya'll got that overgrown garden area out here. Ya'll planning to spruce this place up or jus' allow it to look like an abandoned hovel with vagrants running in and out the door. Surprised no one's said anything in the neighborhood."

Starla's quick to pick up on Roman's recovery, she snerked behind the new beer bottle he'd fetched for her, raising an eyebrow at him as she watched the exchange between Imogen and him.

[Hunter] The quirk of his lips is now a full blown grin which he suddenly hides by pressing the bottle to his lips, he doesn't dare tip it back though while he's on the verge of laughter, that wouldn't end up well for anyone.

Roman lies like a cold dog and Imogen backs him up. The topic is seemingly ended without much more needing to be said.

Finally he tips his head back and downs some more of the beer, a quick gulp, he doesn't wolf it down.

"Nothin' wrong with a bit'a overgrown lawn. Keepin' it natural. I like it."

[Roman Turner] "Can't do much in the way of making it look too lived in till we find out if we can get it all legal like in the ways of communities. Then we'll get things fixed. I think we should call it a non-denominational church and dodge taxes too."

Imogen hadn't backed him up exactly, but he was glad that bullet was dodged for the moment. Every line of his body said he was trying not to look at Imogen, though it was like when your eyes met another and you kept looking back to see if they were looking at you and you looked away if they were, but looked back again, over and over.

[Imogen] A flick of a glance at Starla, "I imagine that cleaning up in a neighbourhood like this would actually attract more attention than would leaving to go to seed. I wouldn't worry about th' apparently vagrants either. The folks around here are practiced at closing their eyes t'things tha' would make trouble for them.

"Some where t'sit though."

Roman is looking at her furtively. Imogen, at one point, arches an eyebrow in his direction.

"Alright, are you? Not got somethin' stuck in yer eye?"

[Roman Turner] "No, no. I mean, yes! I mean, I'm fine. Fine and dandy. Just something in my eye."

That worked for him and he followed it up with scrubbing at his eye with the heel of his hand.

[Starla Navarro] "Uh, never considered that."

She was not experienced with city life and how things were here. She looks away, tilting her head up again to glance over the church, and then the yard itself. She raises an eyebrow when her eyes fall back to Roman and Imogen. Starla chuckles behind her beer bottle, lifting it to her mouth to take another swallow.

"Roman, ya should take a picture, it'd last longer."

[Roman Turner] "What? Of something in my eye? How ya expect me to do that?"

[Hunter] Hunter stretches lazily, yawns, it was a late night of patrols. His beer goes high in the air and the yawn is unrestrained, loud. He offers without even the tiniest morsel of shame.

"Don't blame ya' Roman."

Then relaxes, "I mean you're quite attractive Imogen, s'all I'm sayin'. Can't blame em."

Could he even blush if he tried? Doubtful.

[Imogen] She glances at Starla, the corner of her mouth twisting up, "S'a pretty bad part o' th'city. The folks 'ere are either doing somethin' illegal or are doin' their best t'keep their heads down."

Hunter stretches luxuriously and speaks, first to Roman, then to her.

"I am sure that does not even require a response," is her only observation.

She takes a deep swallow of her beer, one hand absently patting the hips of her jeans, until she pulls out a single cigarette and lighter. The cigarette could not have been there long - it is not rumpled as it might have been had it been pocketed for long. She lights up like it was a habit, each action completed by rote until the first inhale hits her lungs, and she is able to exhale it, slowly.

[Roman Turner] This was one of those times it was good to change the subject before the minds in the gutter lost sight of the stars above.

"How about them Cubs?"

[Starla Navarro] "That doesn't make me feel any better..." Starla quips at Imogen, her lack of knowledge about the city evident in the worried expression that flashes across her face.

A husky drawl of laughter erupts at Roman, shaking her head as she takes another drink from her bottle. "Didn't think ya liked football, Roman."

[Imogen] "Baseball." The lift of Imogen's beer disguises any expression her mouth may have made.

[Starla Navarro] "It's baseball? I thought the Cubs was football and the Bears was baseball?"

[Hunter] "Mm." A grumble of agreement and the previous topic is forgotten, not that Hunter seemed to mind it at all.

"Hey thanks for the beer Roman, I'mma take off."

He puts down the empty with the others and rubs his hands together.

"Give Kora my best wishes yeah? I'll stop by later in the week for a chat."

[Roman Turner] "I'll tell her ya stopped by."

His brows knitted in a frown for a moment, then he was explaining to Starla.

"No, no, it's the other way around."

[Imogen] "Other way around," Imogen makes a brief gesture with her hand, indicating a flip-flop. "Bears are football, Cubs are baseball. Yeh're lucky yeh said it to a bloody foreigner like me and not a die hard fan," her mouth twists, "Might not ha' gotten out alive."

A flick of her glance toward Hunter as he decides to take off. "Ha' a good afternoon," she says, lifting her cigarette back to her lips.

[Starla Navarro] Starla laughs as they try to educate her on the differences of the teams. She raises an eyebrow at the both of them, rolling her shoulders back.

"Do they kill people for mistaken which team is which?"

[Hunter] "Think we're all foreigners here."

He says, thoughtfully then finishes with a smile.

"Aight, peace homies."

And he turns around to wander off.

[Hunter] [THANKS FOR PLAY]

[Imogen] (THANKS BACK)

[Roman Turner] "They ain't too kind. It's akin to someone calling a Fang a Gnawer and the other way around. See?"

His lips curled up in a genuine smile.

[Starla Navarro] "Later, Hunter."

She calls out after him, unfurling her legs to stretch them out. Starla presses a hand down on the ground, twisting and pushing to stand up. She collects up her empty bottles, coming over to the barrel to stand closer to the fire.

[Roman Turner] (Thank you)

[Imogen] A flick of her gaze toward Hunter as he leaves, then her attention turns back to Starla, "S'a bit of an exaggeration, but the sports fans do appear, at least a little passionate about their game."

[Starla Navarro] "I'll try to remember that the next time I see a sports game."

She eyes Roman, palming the bottles in one hand, tucking it under her elbows as she folds her arms across her chest. She scuffs the toe of her left boot across the ground.

"Ya feelin' a little better now, Roman?"

[Roman Turner] "I'm fine, thanks for asking Starla. I'll be like new in a few days. Ya know how we are, can't keep us down long. It was nothing more than something like a cold. Really, I'm right as rain."

He watched her collecting bottles as he worked on draining his fourth beer.

"So how's your place inside coming along Miss Doctor Slaughter, Ma'am? Maybe Starla could help ya with it?"

[Imogen] A glance toward the girl, "Perhaps," she says carefully. "S'mostly workin' out logistics fer now - exactly how much do I want t'do and what equipment I need t'buy."

Her mouth twists as she drains her beer, lowering the empty bottle as she lifts her cigarette to her lips - twin vices, "I'm movin' things between Schaumburg 'nd 'ere, but if I'm goin' t'do somethin' long-term, I'll need t'do quite a bit wi' that space." A beat, and as an afterthought, "Wi' yer pack's permission o' course."

[Roman Turner] He waved the permission part off with a flick of his hand.

"Ya know it's alright with us. And Starla is good at painting and moving things around, ain'tcha Starla?"

[Starla Navarro] Interest and curiosity perks up in the young kin, she raises an eyebrow as she listens, "I can help out if'n ya need it. Ya moving here to the church?"

She had started to clean up the empty bottles as Roman was emptying them out. She tilts her head to allow her eyes to stay on them. The bottles clink together as she scoops them up in the crook of her arm, giving Roman a look. Her nose twitches, "Moving, yes, painting, no. Unless yar referring to like a house or a room, then ya jus' git one of them spray attachments."

She shakes her head at him, smiling, "I can help in between work and classes when they start up soon."

[Imogen] "Not moving here, no." One might expect that one with Imogen's independence might respond swiftly to a misconception like that, but her reply is even, almost thoughtful. "But it might seem like it.

"Settin' up a lab o' sorts. I don't think the colour o' the walls matter," this a little wry. "But when I start t'get equipment the help t'move it about will be good." She lifts the cigarette back to her lips. "Just as soon as I decide what's necessary and where and how I'm goin' to get it. All I've got fer the moment is a corpse on a table."

A flick of her gaze toward Roman, "Might get yer help later to remove and destroy it. S'been hanging around long enough."

[Starla Navarro] The tremor of excitement runs through the kin as her interest expands, she grins at Imogen with a bright smile. The bottles placed into an empty bin she finds lying around near the cooler and straightens. Starla dusts her hands off on the seat of her jeans, before speaking.

"I git what'cha saying. I probably don't exactly study the same field of medicine as ya, but if'n ya need help or anything wit' researching stuff, I'm yar gal, Miss Imogen. I picked a real good knack for investigating things, love doing the leg work it's kind of exhilarating."

[Imogen] Her eyebrow lifts. "What field of medicine do you study?"

[Starla Navarro] She smiles, "Animal medicine. It's why I came to Chicago, a friend of the family back home got me a good contact so I can go to school to further my education. Right now, I jus' work as an assistant tech, and will be volunteering at the humane facility when I have time. I like it, and it's a good place to be when ya hear reports about wild dogs roaming around attacking people. Could be Garou or real dogs, or something else... wouldn't be the first time it was a wyrm critter."

[Imogen] "Ah." Her answer is reserved. Medical doctors are not particularly known for their acceptance of other professional fields.

"Take any biology courses, ha' you?"

[Roman Turner] "Ya know, if she is learning to be a vet, maybe she could stitch up Kinfolk if needed?"

He sure wasn't going to volunteer to be a patient himself.

[Starla Navarro] "Yessum." Her response is prompt.

Starla rolls her eyes at Roman, "I'll use ya as a guinea pig if that's the case. I know first aide on humans, Roman, I jus' prefer to animals since they don't bitch and moan like a big baby like some boys I know."

[Imogen] "I've not had to stitch a kinfolk in some time," she observes, "but she can help, I'm sure."

A faint smirk as Starla sallies back, flicking a glance toward Roman. "There yeh go then."

[Starla Navarro] "Yeah, I could certainly use the practice on how to stitch Garou together..."
She wiggles her eyebrows at Roman, starting to laugh at him.

[Imogen] (BRB!)

[Roman Turner] "Tell ya what, next time I need stitching, I'll remember that."

He had weeping, seeping wounds right now that he was not going to tell her about. In fact, he wasn't EVER going to tell his cousin when he was injured. Sure the girl would take great pleasure in causing him additional discomfort.

[Starla Navarro] She shakes her head at Roman, glancing around one last time before pushing her hands into the pockets of her coat.

"I think I'm gone head inside, it was nice talking to ya, Miss Imogen. Roman, I'll leave ya to dally wi'tcha lady love."

She gives him a nudge to the side as she passes him by, heading for the church doors.

[Roman Turner] Ok this time he made a face at her back with that comment. And next time he was going to get even, maybe even call Hunter her beau.

"Ya have a mean streak a mile long Starla."

[Imogen] Imogen casts Starla brief glance, eyes narrowing slightly before the expression clears. "Ha' a good afternoon," she says, much as she had said to Hunter.

A glance at Roman, "I should probably head out," absent. "I've got some work t'do."

[Roman Turner] "Yeah, I'm gonna, well go back to resting. Let me walk ya to your car?"

He drained his beer; after five he really needed to use the bathroom. Then set the bottle aside.

[Imogen] She inclines her head, then tilts it toward where she's parked, a 'Yes, come on' said without words. With that, she starts that way, dropping her cigarette to crush it out on the way.

[Roman Turner] He walked alongside her and resisted looking at anything till she moved to get in the car, then it was a quick look before he waved her off and returned inside to shift and sleep.