Matt slouches in one of the chairs in the kitchen, his rucksack on the floor next to him. In his lap is a good sized book, which is apparently confusing him. He's made some sort of notes on the legal pad in front of him, but right now the pencil is tucked behind an ear. (In the ruck you can see the handles of a decent pair of bolt-cutters, by the way.)

The backdoor opens, admitting a blast of quite cold air and a rather chilly looking Bernie, who for some reason was out there with no jacket or anything at all, in fact, over her tanktop. The notepad and pen dangle somewhat limply from her hand, and she looks a little tired and redeyed yet. Mostly, though, she looks cold, and closes the door very quickly behind her.

"Cold?" Matt smiles. "There's hot chocolate. Oi heated up a pot a water over there. Should be ready." He sets the book aside, laying it open on the table.

Bernie nods, pressing her teeth together a little to keep them from chattering, and smiles gratefully, if a bit weakly, at the other cub. "...thanks..." she replies, and drops the pad and pen on the table as well before heading to the cupboard for a cup and starting to make a cup of cocoa, periodically rubbing her biceps with her hands to warm them. "...whatcha readin'?"

Matt grins, looking a bit sheepish in the process. "Oi picked this up in the mall," he says holding the book so Bernie can read the spine: GURPS, 3rd Edition. "The mug behind the counter said it was good, but Oi can't make 'ead from tail."

Bernie looks over, and grins back, distracted from the cold. "Oh, cool! Yeah, 's a good one, def'nitely, very flex'ble system... useta play a lotta GURPs games, las' year..." She grabs a spoon and heads over to the table, dropping into a chair as she stirs the drink. "Which bit's confusin'?"

Matt sets the book back down, open to a section titled 'Basic Combat.' "Oi got frough the part about makin' a character. You get some points, good fings costs you, bad fings give you points back. Fine. Oi joost don't get what you /do/ wif all these numbers!"

Bernie sips her hot chocolate, and deems it good, leaning across to look over the pages of the book. "Well, th' numbers represent facets of th' character, abilities an' all, so when th' character is tryin' t' do things, basic'ly th' numbers end up bein' th' chance y'succeed... like, okay, say you wanna punch someone. There's a couple diff'rent scores y'could use; karate, or brawling, or jus' dex, whichever one's best, yeah? So you roll your three six-sided dice, an' you wanna get below th' score you've got...." She pauses, sipping her drink, and her brow furrows a little. ".... 's simpler than it sounds."

Matt looks unconvinced. "Oi hope so. So if Oi've got..."--he grabs his legal pad and drags it where he can see it--"Broadsword-12, Oi need to roll an eleven?"

Bernie shakes her head slightly, "Close; twelve or under, an' then th' other guy gets a chance t' defend. Also there's modifiers sometimes, like if it's dark an' stuff... an' if y'get a 3 or a 4 it's a critical success, and 17 or 18's a critical failure..." She grins, "...us'ly if y'dunno 'zactly whatcha oughta roll on somethin', th' GM'll tell ya."

Matt's eyes cross momentarily. "The GM? ah...I dunno if Oi'm gonna get this, Books. Seems 'bout as complicated as real life."

Bernie giggles, and shakes her head. "GM... th' game master. That's th' person who runs th' game, tells th' story, y'know? That th' characters are in. An' it's not -that- complicated... but there's some games that're simpler in th' mechanics, I'll bring y' onea them an' show ya, yeah? ..an' speakin' of mechanics," she glances down to the bag beside the table, "...looks like we're doin' a'ight on th' tool front?"

Matt smiles, happy to set the scary book aside and look at something concrete. "Oh, aye. Bolt-cutters, cordless drill, coupla torches, sockets--in case we need ta remove some bolts--metal cement, and--" he reaches into the bag with a flourish and produces a small tube of some sort. "Tadah! Magnesium paste. Burn frough the lock if we need ta."

Bernie's eyes light up in a manner that may not bode well at the paste, "Oooh! Very cool! ...god, there's gotta be a million things y' could do with that..." She trails off, thinking a moment, and then shakes her head. "Nice work! Now I jus' gotta get workin' faster on my end..." She glances down at the notebook, looking a bit sheepish for a moment.

Matt smiles, pleased that he's done well. "Found it at a marine supply. For underwater welding, Oi fink. Don't get down on yersel', Books. My part was 'Go to the 'ardware store.' You part is 'Keep us out o' the boom an' mizzen.' It may take a bit more doin', eh?"

"Yeah, well..." Bernie replies, still looking down a bit, "... coulda been a lot more pr'ductive..." She pushes a curl back behind her ear, and then shakes her head, which of course causes it to spring back out immediately, and glances up, giving her partner in crime a small smile, "...thanks, though. Promise t' do m'best t' keep us outta Alcatraz."

Matt redeposits the paste in his bag, and favors her with a reassuring grin. "You will. Besides, /Oi/ won't go to Alcatraz. They'll joost deport me. /You/ might 'ave a problem..."

A slight giggles, "...well... technic'ly, neither of us will, 'less we go take a tour... pretty sure they closed it down a while ago. But y'know, spirit of th' thing..." She grins. "I'll try not t' getcha deported... that'd, t' coin a phrase, suck." She sips her cooling cocoa again, with the ghost of a sigh.

~How's your Garou coming?~ Matt asks from out of the blue. Ah, the teacher hat is on again.

Bernie thinks about that, and then replies carefully, ~I think I am getting the hang of it...~ She watches to see if she's understandable or not as she continues, ~Have been practicing.~

Matt smiles. ~Good. You will take your Rite as soon as possible. Perhaps soon after mine.~

~That would be,~ Bernie pauses, rubbing her throat a little as she reaches for the word, and then smiles, ~nice? Good. That would be good. Then we can see the park's shadow. Not shadow. ...Umbra.~

Matt nods, eyes shining with approval. "Excellent, Books," he croaks, voice a bit hoarse as well. Grabbing a mug of cocoa, he returns to the table sitting so he can see her notebook. "One fing at a time, though. Oi want ta clear the umbra of the park out, too. but I'll bet we need ta fix /both/ sides before it'll stick."

Bernie smiles, fairly glowing at the approval, and nods, "Right... makes sense t' me that we'd hafta get both halves fixed b'fore th' whole'd be good again..." Her brow wrinkles slightly, "...pers'nally, I'm kinda worried 'bout th' river by it... 's much harder t' fix than a fountain, y'know? But, one bit atta time, like 'y said..." She takes another drink of the cocoa, and makes a face, standing to add some more hot water to it. And marshmallows. "Wan' a couple?" she offers, gesturing with the bag.

Matt raises an appreciative eyebrow. "Sure." He pushes the mug out to receive the squishy goodness. "The sept's tried ta fix the river before, Oi fink. Bigger project than the two of us. If ye get the Fountain fixed, and the park, I fink you'll 'ave somefing ta be proud of roight there. 'ave ye fought about /after/ ye get it cleansed? Keepin' it that way?"

Bernie drops a few of the gelatinous cylinders into Matt's mug, and sets her own down by her notebook before returning the bag to the pantry. "...kinda figured I'd jus' hafta keep an eye on it, an' all... why, what d'you think?"

"'ave you considered forming a pack ta guard it?" Matt asks, innocently. "/You/ can't pull a Leo Sayer every day."

Bernie slips back into her chair, and takes a drink of the now sufficiently warm chocolate. "...actually," she replies, glancing sideways at the other cub, "...I hadn't thought 'bout formin' a pack -just- t' guard it... but I did kinda think maybe 'f I was in a pack, that could be onea th' things we'd do, 'least..."

Matt shrugs. "Joost a thought. Still would be nice ta 'ave a bit o' 'elp from Shadow or another totem, hmm?" He takes a big gulp of his chocolate, swallowing a marshmallow and giving himself a dark brown moustache, which he proceeds to lick off.

Bernie nods, thoughtfully. "'s a -good- thought..." She pauses a moment, watching the mustache-removal, and glances down at her marshmallows, smiling slightly. "...anyway. 'f I tried t' start a pack t' take carea it, would you join it? I get th' impression cubs can't, from what people were sayin' an' all, but, y'know, after."

Matt shrugs, smiling. "Oi might. Ta be honest, several people have asked me about packin' wif 'em. After my Rite. We can't until after anyway. Now's as good a time as any ta be finkin' about it though. Oi'd certainly consider packin' wif you until the park is cleansed, if that's good enough." His glance says he certainly hopes so.

Bernie nods, sipping her cocoa again, and eats one of the marshmallows. "Mmm... yeah, 's a thought." She pauses. "...'parently, people've been askin' 'licia too, she mentioned that th' other day." Another slight pause, and a quick grin, "I dunno, maybe I oughta feel unwanted." She takes another drink, and sets the cup down, stretching. "Mmm... so yeah. Tha'd be good. 'least t' get th' place fixed up..."

Matt favors her with a wistful look. "...last fing you are is /unwanted,/ Books. Tell you what. If Oi can, Oi'll help you put a pack togevver after Oi we bof get Rited."

Bernie returns the look similarly for a moment, then looks back to her drink, taking a quick swallow of it. "...Sure, thanks... we'll wait an' see, I guess... never know what'll be up by then, right?"

Matt nods, quietly. "Roight...you never know..."

"Right," Bernie confirms, and takes another drink of the cocoa. "...y'know, marshmallows always make all th' diff'rence..."

Matt seems to notice his mug for the first time. "Oh! Oi definitely agree. So question. Did Oi pick the right game, or were you goin' ta run somefin' else?"

"'s onea them," Bernie replies, with a slight nod, "...that an' prolly AD an' D, 's a good one t' start on for lotsa people, an' then there's this one seta them that only uses ten sided dice an' th' mechanics aren't so complicated..." She shrugs, and smiles, "...hadn't got it sorted out for sure yet."

"Ten-sided dice?" Matt asks incredulously.

Bernie nods, "Yeah..." She glances down for her backpack, but finding that it isn't there, shakes her head, "y'got four, six, eight, ten, twelve, an' twenny sided dice, mainly. Sometimes there's thirty or hunnerd sided dice, but not very often... 'f I had m' bag, I'd show ya, but it's upstairs in th' attic."

Matt seems taken aback. "Cobblers. What're they all for?"

Bernie blinks. "....um. Well, diff'rent stuff... like, in AD'n'D there's..." She pauses, thinking about it. "Basic'ly some games mess with th' oddsa stuff by makin' ya roll dice wif diff'rent numbers on 'em." She shrugs a little. "'s easier t' do a 1 in 4 chance by rollin' a die-four than a die-six."

Matt ponders this for a moment, then light seems to dawn. "Ah. So if there was a 50-50 chance, ye'd flip a coin?"

Bernie grins, and nods, "Right, tha's what we us'ly did... or sometimes y'roll another die and have half be yes and half no. Coin's easier though."

"But this one just uses reg'lar dice? Oi fink Oi like it already."

Bernie giggles, glancing down at the book. "Yeah, jus' sixes.... 's s'posta be flexible."

Matt shrugs. "Flexible. Wish you'da said 'simple,' or maybe 'uncomplicated.'" He stands, picking up his legal pad and the GURPS book, stuffing them into his ruck, which clinks and clanks in the process. Hiking the ruck over his shoulder, he sighs. "Well, Oi doan't wanta be late for the corn. Correction: the /boss/ doesn't want me ta be late fer work. You be around later?"

Bernie nods, watching him stand, and toys with her notebook a little. "'course, always am... 'f I'm not here, I will be. Def'nitely not sleepin' outside again." She makes a face, and then, "hope th' kids aren't too messy t'day..."

Matt pauses near the back door. "Kids?"

"At th' restaurant," Bernie clarifies. "...you were mentionin' how they were a pain there th' other day."

Matt taps his forehead. Is this thing on? "Roight. Sorry. Hopefully not to bad for the weekend. See you."

Bernie lifts a hand to wave, flashing a quick smile, "Later... with luck I'll have more t' report when y' get back."

[...later...]

Alicia chuckles and shrugs. "Then what use are my claws against a spirit?"

"In the umbra they are as strong as anything else..." Cindy says softly. "Has Adam brought you there yet?"

Alicia nods her head. "Yup, ah've been there a few times now. Its a pretty swinging place. Not my style tho' y'know what ah'mean. But its beautiful."

The back door slides open, and Bernie hurries inside, closing the door quickly behind her to keep as much of the cold air out as possible. Her backpack is on her shoulder, but her notebook is held across her chest in one arm as she flashes a quick smile at Alicia and Cindy as shes tarts across the kitchen toward the other door.

Cindy offers Bernie a wry grin, "Hey Bernie. We were just talking about the Umbra...." She watches as the cub passes through the room.

Alicia glances over and waves. "Hi Bernie!" Her lips pull into a smile.

Bernie pauses, leaning against the doorway and crossing both arms over the notebook against her chest as she regards them, "Hey... th' Umbra, huh? Cool beans... whatcha sayin' 'bout it?" She still looks a bit tired, but her cheeks are flushed from the cold, which helps.

Cindy eyes the cub for a moment longer, "You okay?" Her grin widens for a moment, "I was just telling Alicia that in the umbra we can battle wyrm spirits as an equal entity."

Alicia quirks a brow curiously as she sits in silence, regarding Bernie.

Bernie's eyes dart down to the notebook in her arms, and she considers the question a second. "Been better," she grants, after a few moments, though her tone doesn't exactly invite further delving and she swiftly continues, "How's that work then? Us an' them bein' equal in th' Umbra, I mean... I guess we're not, here?"

"I don't know the technical avenue 'bout it..." Cindy murmurs honestly, "But while you stand there your spirit rests inside of you. You are connected to the umbra, yes, but you can not always sense what's on the other side of that void. Once you step aside, though, you manifest as your spirit form on the other side, your spiritual self becomes your physical body in there. I've also heard stories of spirits who can do the same and come to 'this' side."

Bernie listens; something about her expression rather gives the feeling all this is being filed away somewhere in there for later reference. "...okay... so then how does that put us on equal footing with the Wyrm creatures? I guess it's a given that they're spiritual Wyrm creatures and not physical ones with an Umbral side or somethin'?"

Cindy murmurs softly, "Alicia was saying her claws couldn't affect them. They can't here, not now. But they can in the umbra. That was what I meant."

"...What, exactly, is 'them', though?" Bernie asks, "If I run into a Wyrm creature walkin' through the microfilm section of the library, say, and it tries to attack me, am I not gonna be able t' claw it? Or is that only if it were in th' Umbra and I weren't?" She shakes her head slightly, "...I think I must've missed an important part of th' conversation 'fore I got in, 'cause I'm confused now."

Cindy snaps her fingers towards Bernie, "You could, if it was there in the library, and not in the umbra-library. Get my drift? It's not as confusion as I'm making it out to sound, I'm just no good teacher." Her grin flourishes. "Basically you must be on the same side as Mr. Wyrm before you can give him the old Gaia make-over.:

Bernie nods, a quick grin passing over her features. "Got it. That's kinda what I thought; makes sense. So, a'ight: say th' Nasty's in th' Umbra, an' you're this side... c'n he still do stuff t' ya?"

The Glasswalker rises to her feet. "I've never seen it, to be honest. But they can always affect our world, no matter which side they are on. Their mere presence can lea to corruption, desolation, and all the bad things that we stand against."

Alicia smiles as she listens, letting the information soak into her head.

Bernie nods again, looking thoughtful. "...cool," she replies after a few moments, "...thanks. 's nifty stuff t' know."

Cindy offers a loose shrug, "I'm not the best teacher, so don't take my words for granted."

Bernie grins, and gives a quick shrug as she pushes off the wall. "...tend t' take my lessons where I find 'em... anyway I'm gonna go up an' take a shower, so 'f y'all'll 'scuse me... I'll see ya later, yeah?"

Alicia glances over to Bernie and furrows her brows a bit. "Yah, o'course.. See ya later sis."

Cindy offers Bernie a pleasant smile, "Night, cub... take care, huh?"

"Thanks," the ragabash replies, returning the smile, "...do my best." She waves a few fingers to Alicia as she heads out and up the stairs, adding, "Back in a li'l, don't miss me too hard."

[In the Attic]

From the state of Bernie's hair, which is hanging shiny black and barely wavy from the water, she really did go take a shower. This could also be guessed from the towel that's lying behind her where she's seated on the bed, arms around her knees, staring out the window or just off into space, it's hard to be sure. She's changed, probably for bed, in a pair of surprisingly baggy sweatpants, a rather ancient looking Depeche Mode tour shirt, and a very thick pair of socks. Her hair is sending thin trails of wetness down her back and onto the towel there.

Alicia slips down next to you, taking a deep breath. "Hi."

Bernie blinks, glancing sideways at the other cub, and sighs softly as her eyes return to the window. "Hi."

Alicia drapes an arm around your shoulders, scooting closer. "Bernie.. talk to me.. tell me whats on your mind. I want to help."

Bernie doesn't protest the arm, although it does, of course, get decidedly damp in that position. She sighs again, quietly, eyes still on the darkness outside the window, and doesn't reply for long enough that it almost seems as though she isn't going to. Just at that point, though, she does, though it's almost inaudible: "Don't think you can."

"You don't know that Bernie." She says softly, drawing you into a hug. "Give me a chance, I may surprise you. Deep underneath this tough girl exterior, is a tree hugger, really. I want to help you, help you move past this."

"And how, exactly, do you plan to do that?" the other girl queries tonelessly, no change in her position.

Alicia takes a deep breath. "I'll be there for you of course. I'll be your friend, Listen to you, offer advice if necessary. I just want to make sure you'll be ok after all this."

"For certain values of 'ok'," Bernie murmurs somewhat dryly, and after several seconds sighs a bit again and adds, "...thanks."

Alicia nods her head, softly whispering. "Your welcome Bernie." Her fingers dig into your shoulders, giving a soft massage.

Bernie looks away from the window now, but only to tilt her head down, resting her forehead on her knees.