Full Circle

[Rain] There is a kinfolk coalition forming, or one has formed some would say, that purports itself as a resource for handling this sort of thing: Kin with inquiries into self-defense, strategic planning, medical advice, the like. There is a coalition, and one of Rain's own cousins sits on or near its founding board. But the brown-eyed songbird turns not to the movers and shakers of that fellowship, nor to the liaison appointed by the leaders of their Sept, but to the stoic and solid professional who is allied with Last Watch on occasion.

Allied, not claimed.

Rain explains, in plain terms, that the pack has put together a kin house. That is is refurbished, and will serve as more reasonable housing for the affiliated kin. As such, it does not fall under purely Fenrir, or Fianna, or Gaian purview, though the Children's kin will be the first to move into its small rooms. August and her child probably already have keys. Rain picked up a set for herself before going out to the Green to meet Imogen.

She's standing on what passes for a front porch, sheltered by a weathered overhang, waiting for the Doctor with the front door standing open. Unlike the church, there are no overhung vines to push away. The light coming out of the front door is warm-hued and clean. The walls within are bright with recent painting. It is far more servicable than the stout Cabrini Church, if only because the weather does not come streaming in through skylights or worn places in the roof.

It looks like it could be a home, someday, even if the surrounding streets are still rougher than any place one would want to raise a family. Good thing kinfolk were stronger than they looked. The girl leans against the doorjamb, watching the street. Her frame is backlit, casting her features in shadow, but even from the street it's easy to tell she's slight. Female. Imogen will be able to tell who it is at a glance.

[Imogen] Rain explains what she is looking for, and after a moment, Imogen agrees to assist. When the Gaian kinfolk begins to give directions, she is cut off partway through.

"I know where it is," the doctor's voice is restrained, deliberately neutral. "It's one o' the old Eagle packhouses."

Whatever that means.

She parks an old pontiac in the drive way and gets out, slamming the door firmly shut behind her as she begins up the gravel walkway. Her eyes move, not to Rain but to the house, touching briefly on the darkened windows, the tired eaves, worn by weather and neglect.

"Rain," she says while mounting the steps to the porch. "What can I do fer you?"

[Rain] "Evening, Dr. Slaughter," Rain says, with a broadening smile for Imogen. She steps out of the doorway to let Imogen in at the same time. They're not hugging folk, and it seems strange to shake hands on the doorstep to the kin house. Instead Rain gestures toward the open door, invitation clear if unspoken.

"I was hoping you'd help me figure out a few things about the place. Roman said it's ready to move in, so I imagine Miss August and baby Ella will be here by the end of the month.

"I haven't really lived on my own, or with just kin since the Nation found me," she explains more completely once they're inside and the front door has closed behind me. "I was thinkin' it couldn't hurt to have some ideas on paper, clear to everyone from day one, about things like where to put the fire extinguisher, first aid kit, other helpful things..."

And Other Helpful Things could range from a shotgun like Drew's, to talens, to, well, anything Imogen suggests. Rain shrugs a bit as she says this, but there's a clear note of worry to her features, too. It telegraphs easily, mars her pretty features some.

"I don't want things goin' like that mess with Adara and Amy at the Brotherhood, y'know?"

[Imogen] Rain gestures Imogen in, and for a moment, the red-haired kinswoman's gaze lingers on her, a little too long. A little too directly. The moment passess, and so does Imogen, stepping over the threshold and onto the main floor of the kinhouse. Her eyes linger over the lines of the area, which is an open concept living room and kitchen. Her back is to the other, so her expression is unseen.

She is dressed for work, grey slacks, black pumps, a black leather jacket over a blazer and blouse. Her hair is up, but even from behind, Rain can see where a few strands of hair have come loose, trailing down the nape of her neck.

When Rain explains the purpose of this, Imogen turns sharply to glance over her shoulder, a smirk clearly visible in profile. "Yeh put the fire extinguisher in the kitchen," she says, "and the first aid kit in the bathroom. Though if yeh ha' a particularly inadept chef in the house, yeh might want fer a kit in the kitchen as well."

One imagines that there is a joke for wanting a fire extinguisher in the bathroom as well, but Imogen is far too dignified to stoop quite so low.

"As fer everything else, I imagine you mean more o' the supernatural type, not making sure there are clearly marked fire exits, am I correct?"

[Rain] "Can I get y' anything? We've got booze, water, and soda -- the holy trinity of an unstocked fridge."

Imogen is dressed for work and Rain, oddly, is wearing much the same thing as she did to the meeting. But this pair of slacks and this dress shirt fit her better than the ones she wore on Friday, and also have not suffered the indigence of being soaked through with pond water from a certain Theurge's rooftop death trap (er, landscaping project).

"I'll start with clearly marked fire exits," Rain says, her mouth quirking into an answering smirk. "You told me kin with guns are more likely to get themselves killed, right?"

Rain remembers the advice from the pub that night. Remembers that Imogen is the exception to that rule. Rain tries to be an exception to that rule, too, but in a less noticeable (and admittedly less bad ass) way than the Doctor.

"To be honest, this is the first place I've been I haven't had a Fetch shoved at me with a few choice words about not playing hero. No True will be staying here. Does that shift the balance a bit? Even just down the block is a bit of a run if something comes through our door." Clearly Roman's assurances have left some part of Rain's confidence cold. They'll be close, but maybe not close enough.

"I don't even know what to ask Roman and Kora for," she admits, gesturing openly with one hand.

[Imogen] "No," is the answer to Rain's offer of hospitality as Imogen moves slowly through the room. "Thank you," the gratitude more an afterthought than anything.

"Kinfolk with guns," she says, "start to think they can fight rather than run. They tend to think o' weapons and violence as a first choice rather than a last choice. You'd be better off runnin' or hiding.

"What are you afraid of, exactly?" with this, she turns away from the room to face the Gaian Kinfolk.

[Rain] What is she afraid of, exactly? It's a good question. Rain's eyes shift away from the candor in Imogen's questions, but they shift away in patterns that speak more to memory than imagination. Her mouth thins, slightly. Her jaw sets, subtly. These are all thin cues that, when taken together, tell Imogen she has experiences to back up her concerns.

"Whatever's hunting kin. Spirals. All the manner of monsters I haven't met yet," Rain lists off a few things with a shrug that feigns nonchalance. She doesn't say that she's afraid of their Cousins, but it's there. It announces itself in the way her arms fold across her middle, in the memory of her wariness around True-born from her very first day in Chicago.

"Normal monsters," she adds, her mouth quirking in a mirthless smirk as she remembers to add the boring and mundane sorts of chaos and mischief to her list. "I don't think we've got much of a neighborhood watch, y'know?"

[Imogen] The kinswoman pauses, lifting a hand to her hair pushing strands back from her eyes. She tucks them back, thoughtlessly, only half aware of the gesture.

"I'll let you in on a secret," she says. "We're not often hunted. Most attacks on kinfolk are incidental, most kidnappings are wrong place, wrong time.

"And if yeh are hunted, chances are, whatever it is will be bigger, faster, stronger or better than you."

A beat.

"Ask the Last Watch if they can't set up a spirit or two tha' can flee to the church if there's a commotion. If nothing else, at least they can be told without you or yours having to worry about telling them. Figure out an escape route and then a place t'gether afterwards. Yeh might see if there's a way they can jam the doors after yeh've shut them in an emergency. Even if it just buys yeh a little time, it might be all you need to escape."

[Rain] It's good advice, solid and straightforward. Imogen is unapologetically honest, and while it does nothing to gentle the harsher realities of being kin to Monsters, she doesn't incite fear where it is not needed either. This matter-of-fact take seems to sit well with Rain, and it eases some of the concern off her features.

The younger kinswoman nods. Undoubtedly, she will follow up on these suggestions and soon. There's a small pause, and the arms folded across Rain's middle relax a bit, slip into a lower, calmer posture.

"I'll look into all of that," she says, but with certainty this time. "I think I let Amy's rhetoric and recent things at the Church get my head a little backwards. All this talk about kin needing training makes it feel a lot more common, or at least a lot more immediately dangerous than what you said.

"I'll talk with Roman and Kora, find a good place to run or rally to. The spirits are a good idea, too. That and a healthy dose of not bein' an idiot should be enough to keep folks safe... er, yeah?"

[Imogen] Her mouth moves slightly - it is a smile without humour and goes no deeper than her teeth. "It is amazing how much life is saved simply by not being an idiot, yes."

A pause.

"Knowledge o' where t'go and what to do, and a way fer th'Garou to easily find out something's gone wrong so they can act, then find yeh later will help. Make sure tha' they know what yer plan is."

A pause.

"And keep in mind," she says, smirking thinly, "tha' I've lived on m'own fer years in an area where there are no Garou nearby t'protect me. It's not tha' nothing can happen, but t'give you a perspective on th' likelihood thereof."

[Rain] "Yes," Rain says, to this last point. "But you are the Doctor Slaughter. I wouldn't be surprised if the Spirals tell their Cubs stories about you to scare them into actin' straight."

This is delivered in an even tone, but there's a measure of lightness to her tone to tell Imogen she's joking. Well, only mostly joking. Rain's mouth curls into a smile that further hints in this direction.

She hasn't missed the references to Imogen's renown these past few months. She also hasn't missed how much that Renown makes the current calamities of Maelstrom's chosen very much Imogen's problem.

"But I appreciate the perspective," she says, with a verbal tip of her hat, a something tucked into her tone that makes the gratitude genuine and not a continuation of that jesting tone.

[Imogen] Her breath exhales sharply. "Jesus. I hope not. I'd just as soon they didn't know of me, thank you very much." Briefly, she looks away, glancing over the living room, before she steps forward, headed for the door. Apparently, she feels her business here is concluded with Rain's appreciation.

Her hand is on the door knob before she half turns back. "You should ask Kora," she says. "About the Eagles. If yeh and your friends are going to live here you should know about the pack that claimed this area before."

She turns back, opening the door and stepping across the threshold, "have a good night."

[Rain] "You, too," Rain manages to get in before Imogen closes the door behind her, leaving the Gaian girl alone in the house. It doesn't take long for Rain to gather up her things, turn out the lights and close up the house.

She's not staying here, just yet. She has no intention of being the lone resident in the kin house, protected or otherwise. Imogen's hasty departure sits poorly with her, but Rain imagines it has something to do with not wanting to be regarded as a superhero -- though, a kinswoman with enough renown to be a Cliath is awful close to legendary, as far as the Nation politics go.

Rain should ask Kora about the Eagles. Rain should talk to Kora and Roman about some spirits, and about an escape plan, and make sure they're all on the same page. It's an excellent start, she hopes.