There's some loud whistling outside that sounds a lot like a certain upbeat song from Disney's Robin Hood, accompanying the scuffling footfalls of a certain new moon Canto-Gnawer but it dies down some as she approaches the door to the flat and knocks thrice.

"Jussamoment!" comes Bernie's voice from inside. It's actually a few minutes before the bolts flick back, and the door opens to allow Yi inside, revealing Bernie at nowhere near her most attractive. Aside from the healing, peeling burns all along her arms, neck, and face, she's in Glabro, rarely a particularly good look for anyone. The size change means the tank-top and sweats she's clad in are nowhere near as baggy as usual, and the pants end up capri-length, revealing the burns on her ankles. Plus, without her glasses, she's squinting a bit. Yi gets as much of a smile as the girl can muster without it hurting, and a fairly cheerful, "Hey! C'mon in..."

The idle whistling while she was waiting eventually dies down to nothing as Yi offers the best smile she can without her own grimaced wince. "Hi Bernie," she says almost too softly, moving in with a short step or so. "How are you feeling?" The bag in her arms gets a shift around.

"...with my hands?" Bernie offers, lifting her hands, unburnt on the palm side, and wriggling her fingers at the other no-moon, "...well as c'n be 'spected, I guess. Itch like hell... an' I kina feel like a leper," she gestures to a spot on her arm where the skin is fresh and bright pink among the burns, where the burnt skin must have fallen off already, "...but otherwise could be a lot worse." A pause, and sheepishly, "...plus I'm kina tipsy." Ah, the joys of self-medication. She closes and locks the door behind Yi, and pads over to the couch, seating herself gingerly in a corner of it. "So 'sup?"

Yi chews a part of her lips as she looks her friend over again and lowers her eyes with some guilt. Her gaze takes her down to the contents of the paper bag, however, and she blinks and looks back up. "I, um, brought some things I hoped would make you feel better." She moves over and sits down lightly on the couch. Her whole body is visibly tense with restrained energy, but that's 'just a phase'. Her hands take out some bottles of lotion and set them down on the table in front. "The doctors said aloe helps. And.." she points to the label. "Soothes itches, bites, burns.." Her smile is wan. "Oh.. and some chocolate, if you want. There was some left over from Easter."

Bernie looks intrigued by the aloe, but the chocolate gets more immediate attention. "Ooh, choc'late? What kind? Pass that over..." She half-grins, and holds out a hand in a gimme! kind of position. Considering her physical condition, she just might be affected by her moon to be so cheerful and upbeat just now. Then again, it could just be the scotch. "...so, sit?"

Yi takes out an entire bag of Hershey hugs, wrapped in the multi-colored versions of twisty foil for Easter, and also a whole box of Cadbury eggs, minus one. She doesn't know where that one went. Really. The chocolate goes on the table, and she down sit down, careful not to invade Bernie's space. Her hand touches a colder part of the bag and she blinks down. "Oh..." Out comes a half gallon of tri-flavored ice cream (the mun forgot the name of the flavor). "I wasn't sure what flavor ice cream you liked." She smiles again, more pleased. Last to come out of the bag is a long string. Looks like a small stretchable cord, but at the end of it is a green glow in the dark ball. With two eyes in the traditional alien-like shape. "And, uhm, found this near the park... I guess it was supposed to be attached to something before the string was stretched too much and broke off. She holds the string up like a cat toy and lets it sort of dangle-bounce around.

Bernie watches as all the lovely things are produced, and laughs at the alien-ball, batting at it as it dangles in a sort of kitten imitation. "Cool! An' I love neapolitan, so good thought..." She bats the ball again, with a little snicker, "...reminds me I still gotta finish figurin' out th' alien abduction plans... thanks." She glances over at the chocolate and adds, "...an' I =love= Creme Eggs."

Yi grins genuinely at Bernie's reactions, and hands the Alien-Head Kitten toy over. "I'm glad you like it," she replies. Then a thought surfaces, and she asks more tentatively, "How did Matt take it?" Her brows steeple with some worry, some guilt.

Bernie reaches up to run a hand through her hair, and winces. Mistake. "...not too bad," she replies, managing to keep the pain out of her voice as she lowers the hand again, somewhat gingerly, to her lap, "consid'rin'. Though, he almost accident'ly set th' place on fire..." A slightly wry smile, there. "Dropped his cigarette."

Yi sets the bag down on the table as well, and chews her bottom lip some more. Finally, she gives away in a sigh and bows her head some. "I'm sorry Bernie. I.. well.. I should've helped fight the thing. Maybe, if I'd stopped forcing the light in and helped you and Kaz with Joey, we could've killed the thing and gotten more lights put in than just three, and you wouldn't be in this much pain, and Matt wouldn't have had to drop his cigarette on the floor and almost set the flat on fire, and..." Yi realizes suddenly in her zoom of words that she's babbling, and looks up like a cowed puppy at the other nomoon. She swallows dryly. "I'm sorry."

Bernie blinks, startled. "....dude. It's so not your fault, Yi. 'f you'd been up there we'd just have you all burnt up as well. =An'= we'd only have two lights, 'steada three. No 'ffense, but I still don't think we woulda killed th' thing b'fore th' pipe blew, y'know? So, don't blame yourself an' shit. No one else does."

Yi takes in a deep breath and sighs slowly. She gazes over at Bernie and offers a small smile. "Three is better than two, I guess," she answers with a small nod. "I was just.. I thought that, all these times I've gone down to the sewer, and come back almost without a scratch on me while others are, getting more than scratched up..." she trails and looks over at the bag. "So you are keeping yourself holed up here until things are back to normal?" Her eyes glance sidelong back to Bernie.

Bernie shrugs. "Just 'cause you're lucky doesn't make it your fault someone else isn't -- y'know? An' yeah, tha's th' plan. Mostly gonna just hang out here, work on some stuff 'til I don't scare children an' small animals." A fleeting smile. "...though, couldja maybe do me a favour, if y'happen to be in a place where it's handy? I need some, like, travel books an' atlases an' shit, for from here down t' SoCal an' maybe, like, th' Grand Canyon or somethin'. So 'f y'see some...?"

Yi brightens some more and nods. "I will," she answers solidly before glancing over at the table with multiple chocolates and ice cream. "Maybe, the ice cream should be put away before it melts..." she muses. As if this wasn't a normal thing to let ice cream melt.

Bernie regards the ice cream, arching a currently invisible brow, and nods. "'s a thought," she agrees, but doesn't get up to do anything about it just yet. "...an' thanks. Oh, an' no morea this blamin' yourself thing, or I'll come beatcha up when I'm up t' it. So nyah."

Yi's wry grin widens in a smirking smile. "I'll take that to note," she says with a small flourish of getting up and picking the ice cream up to take over to the freezer herself. "So you are going to travel, see your family and things?" she asks while moving to the kitchenette. She takes a brief peek over by the bedroom to see the bed and her smile gets a little wider as well. "Who would have known the planet was so large?"

The bed's made up in black linens with glow-in-the-dark stars and comets and planets... well, 'made' isn't accurate, as it's a bit rumpled, really. A light blue cotton sheet lies over part of it, too, apparently which Bernie's been lying on, to prevent peeling on the good sheets. Definitely looks used and properly appreciated, though. "Yeah," Bernie replies, "...first I gotta find out how you tell 'f people're kin, an' all, I guess, but yeah. An' I think we're gonna see San Francisco an' maybe a few other places, too, on th' way there or back." Her eyes light up a little as she talks about it. "It oughta be fun, I think. An' I c'n see 'f we got a caern 'round my old house an' try an' find th' Gnawers there an' all. I figure there gotta be some; =someone= hadda put th' kinfetch on me, right?"

Yi mmhms with a nod, pausing as a blast of cold air wafts to her face when she puts the ice cream in. "I wonder if my parents were kin. Or maybe..." She closes the door and moves back towards the couch, sitting again with a shrug. "Maybe my mother was a Gnawer. I don't think my father could've been...the way he.. well. Then again my mother was occasionally very short tempered." She thinks on this, then it occurs to her. "Maybe she was... I should write the sept about it." She files that away as Things to Do and looks back to Bernie. "Speaking of kin, we still have Alicia's brother to think of too. I wonder if her tribe has done anything about it yet." Another thought passes. "I wonder if there are Bone Gnawers from Hong Kong in Los Angeles. I'm sure there are... as big as the Chinatown there is, from what I heard." She grins up at Bernie. "Maybe you can have a look around there and see, na?"

Bernie nods. "Yeah, a'ight. I'll keep an eye out, an' all." She blinks, brow furrowing a bit. "...never even 'curred t' me eithera my parents might be 'rou. Huh...." She ponders that a bit, head tilted. "Dad, maybe..." She shakes her head slightly, "an' nah. 'lish woulda said, an' he's still at th' mickeyD's so he's not dead or somethin'... they prolly won't bother t' do anythin' 'til she Rites an' can do it herself." And the younger Gnawer doesn't sound real impressed with that, either.

Yi shakes her head and shrugs lightly then gets a short Anneka-impish grin. "We should take Alicia and rite her as a Gnawer instead." Of course, it's said in all joking manner, but there's a hint of 'Well we should.' "Nevada thinks he is kin. And Nevada has that sort of aura." She looks back over at the table, spotting the partly melted glasses that are blocked off from Bernie's view by the bag she set on the table. She blinks a couple times and stands back up. "I think I'll go find some of those travel maps for you right now, na? Before I forget." She 'accidentally' tips the bag over and then swoops it up, the glasses getting knocked into the bag briefly before it is crumpled up. She gives her a short grin again and backs up towards the door. "Don't bother standing.. I'll let myself out. You get some rest, and... I'll be back before you know it." She thinks of some more to say, then unlocks some of the locks on the door. "Enjoy the chocolate. I'll be right back!"

Bernie laughs, nodding. She can't really see well enough without the glasses to notice their theft, anyhow. "...yeah, actually..." she pauses before admitting, "...while ago, I told 'lish if she couldn't get anywhere with th' coggies, I was pretty sure we'd adopt her 'f she wan'ed, an' I could look inta it 'f she said... she mostly wantsta do right with them, though, I think. So." She shrugs a little; not a big deal. "An' thanks, but don', like, go outta your way, or anythin'? I'll see ya later..." She lifts a hand, waving.

Yi nods again with a grin and exits perhaps a bit more hurriedly than she would normally, but perhaps it's just the moon phase.

[...so, for a bit, Bernie is alone again. Then...]

Knocks again, thrice on the door. "Bernie? I'm back," Yi calls, muffled through the wood. There's some more sound as Yi asks Anneka, "You ok with the maps?"

Muffledly, Anneka answers. "They look okay." There's the rumple of stiff paper. "Wow. The world's real big, but I can put it in my pocket."

"Sec!" Bernie's voice carries oddly through the door before the bolts flick back, and she pulls it open to let the others in. The flat is mostly neat right now, in the living room, at least, except that the coffee table is littered with Bernie-stuff. Bernie herself is not exactly Miss Universe, either, with the rather severe burns over her face and arms, and the t-shirt and sweats that really don't correctly fit her Glabro frame. Not to mention the raccoon effect she has where her glasses protected skin and eyes from the blast. She looks scary. Yi might be able to see that she's definitely healing, though, and she's... a tad slimy, as if she might've used some of the aloe. Despite the appearance, she welcomes them in cheerfully, "Hey! That was pretty speedy, act'ly. You guys want anythin' t' drink or eat?"

Yi looks back at Anneka then smiles up to Bernie with a shake of her head. "I'm fine," she says stepping into the flat and moving over to the couch. "Took a little longer than expected to get the maps, but we had to take a side route." Her hand goes into her vest pocket as she sits down.

Anneka is poking at one of her coat's numerous pockets when the door's opened, the top end of a colorful bit of folded paper sticking out from the top. She makes a muffled 'eep' when she looks up and sees Bernie. There's a quick flood of emotions-- shock, a muffled 'eep'. She's okay, she's Garou, she's okay, the girl says to herself, though, really, it's quite telegraphed. She darts into the apartment after Yi, smiles again when the maps are mentioned and starts tugging them out of her pockets. "We got a bunch!"

Bernie closes the door behind them, throwing the bolts, and gives the cub a wry smile, "...I know, I look like somethin' people'd have sittin' on their porch for hallowe'en... 's gettin' better, though. Prolly won' even be able t' tell it ever happened, next week." I hope, is the unspoken end of that; she hides the worry well, but not perfectly. "Ice cream? We got neapolitan..." A quick smile to Yi, with that. "An'... yeesh, you did get a buncha 'em. Thanks, that oughta do it pretty effectively..." She shakes her head slightly, pleased, the curls loosely pulled back behind her neck bouncing a bit.

Yi is about to speak, then smiles back at Bernie though the concern and mutual 'I hope' comes to her eyes. "Ice cream is good," she says softly, then looks over the small table by the couch again. The glasses remain in her pocket, still as she chews on the inside of her lip and gives Anneka a short knowing glance.

Anneka looks up to Bernie. There's a map of North America held carefully in nimble fingers. "I'm glad you're okay," she says, quietly. The girl really looks like she wants to give Bernie a hug, yup, though she gives Yi a quick glance back. "Ice cream would be real cool."

Bernie edges very, very slightly away at the hint of hug -- nothing obvious or indeed intentional, just the tiny movement of her body anticipating possible pain. "It oughta be," she remarks, "...otherwise I'm gonna hafta learn t' fix a freezer... an' thanks." The last word is quite sincere, despite being followed by, "...me too!" She pads over to the kitchen, barefoot, one might notice, and pulls out the ice cream, two bowls, two spoons, "...sure y'don' wan' any, Yi?"

Anneka blinks twice, her chin lowering faintly, and for a moment her freckled skin might be a little more pale. Small things, really. She draws her skateboard out from where it was partly hidden by her coat, leans it against the couch and stands, looking over to the kitchen. "I can help with th'kitchen stuff, if y'want," she says, faintly.

Yi answers back with a negative, before waiting to slip out the glasses from her pocket and setting them back on the table. "So you got Anneka her skateboard?" she asks, changing subjects yet again.

"Mmmhmm!" Bernie replies cheerfully as she moves about in the kitchen and Yi disappears toward the bathroom, then looks at the ice cream, and over at the cub. "Act'ly," she says, "...you wanna dish it up? I'll get drinks. 'cha want? We got milk, coke, water, beer," she pauses, looking at Anneka. "..well, maybe we'll stick t' the milk, coke, or water. Oh, or orange juice."

Anneka's smiling again, bright and cheery. "'kay!" She's left her coat behind on the couch, and without it looks like quite the string bean, skinny and wiry. There's a faint scar on her right arm, near the elbow, broad and flat. "Orange juice sounds cool!" She applies herself to the task of scooping ice cream with great enthusiasm, nearly sticking the tip of her tongue out as she measures scoops out for each bowl.

Yi comes back out with slightly wet hands, moving just to the outside of the kitchenette to observe. "Well... maybe I'll have a scoop," she muses quietly with a small smile. "I was thinking, Anneka... besides being 'Kiwi' for bringing those fruits, you said you dreamed about water a lot right?" Her eyes follow the scooping.

Anneka nods absently, watching the bowls. One certainly has more ice cream in it when she's done scooping. "Uh-huh. That's /all/ I dream about."

Bernie pulls down a third bowl while she gets the glasses, and pours out a glass of orange juice and one of -- believe it or not -- milk. "Y'wanna drink, Yi?" she asks, as she puts the cartons away.

Yi answers with, "Coke?" She smiles over at Bernie and then nods to Anneka. "Well.. lately it seems like I've had this encounter with names. I thought I'd give you another try. Working my way up to Matt, see." She chuckles over at Bernie.

Anneka looks at the bowls then turns about, one in each hand. She grins at Yi. "Kaz 'n Max were thinkin' bout a name for me, too. An Joey called me 'Runs-in-Circles'." She makes a bit of a face at that, wrinkling her nose, but she's smiling still. "Then he bit my tail."

Anneka looks back at the third bowl. "Oops."

Bernie flashes a grin at Yi, pouring her a coke, and manages to carry all three to the coffee table, barely. "Th' namin' of 'rou is a difficult matter," she remarks, as if quoting, and takes a seat on the sofa. "I'm still thinkin'a good ones for Matt, too. I don't think I've got th' knack for it..."

Anneka sets bowls of ice cream down, and scoops up a third, before putting the ice cream away in the freezer. When she walks out of the kitchen in her clonky shoes, a bowl is perched atop her head. "Ice cream's ready!"

Yi snatches the bowl off Anneka's head before it precariously tips down onto the carpet and grins. "So, what name did Kaz and Max have in mind?" she queries curiously before sliding down onto the floor and sitting crosslegged by the table.

Anneka grins at Yi. "Max was still thinkin' I think. Somethin' bout water." She sets a bowl down on the table, near Bernie, then flops down with her own. Her share is certainly smaller than the two cliath's.

Bernie accepts the bowl, laughing at the cub's balancing act. "Learn t' be a model, or jus' look like one," she quotes an old commercial, getting as comfortable as she can manage in the corner of the couch. "Somethin' 'bout water, huh? Hmm."

Yi grins as she takes a small mouthful of ice cream and revels in the flavor. Mmm.. Ice Creaaaam. Then she takes a sip of Coke before swallowing. Coke floats, yes. Then she leans towards Anneka a bit. "How about... Otter?" She smiles. "I saw an otter spirit once, in the Umbra. A very interesting spirit."

Anneka nods and brushes her hair from her eyes before scooping out a bit of her ice cream. A small one, like Yi, though the spoon pauses somewhere between the bowl and her mouth. She looks over to Yi. "Wow. Otters are way cool!"

Bernie giggles. "C'n we call her Why I Otter?" She takes a bite of the ice cream, slowly, enjoying it. "...mmm. Otter's pretty cool. Short..."

Yi nods and smiles, pouring a little more Coke into her bowl and swirling it slightly. "It works in lupus too. I was thinking, Otter. Because you like water.. and you always seem to have a lot of energy. I liked that. Of course, I still have to see how you swim at the lake," she laughs quietly and sips the now creamy Coke.

Anneka laughs and rocks back a bit, her ice cream bowl perched precariously on a knee. She's smiling. "I like it a lot." A nimble hand holds the bowl in place, before it topples. "I've been thinkin' a /lot/ 'bout the lake."

"Whatcha been thinkin' 'bout it?" Bernie asks, after swallowing a bite of ice cream. "Plannin' t' bring it flowers? Y'could write it a sonnet," she teases cheerfully.

"Going to bring her there so she can swim," Yi replies around a small mouthful of cream. "What's a sonnet?" Her head tilts as she looks over to the other two.

Anneka's hair bobs about in a curly mane when she looks to Bernie quick, and grins. "I was plannin' t'bring it me, 'cause I am married to th'sea!" She starts giggling quietly.

Bernie giggles too. "Yeah, an' next time we're by water, I'm tossin' in th' Otter," she replies, and looks over to her fellow Ragabash, "a sonnet's a kina poem. Shakespeare wrote a lotta 'em. They've got fourteen lines an' us'ly three quatrains followed by a couplet. Y'know?"

Yi looks more blank, but Shakespeare rings a bell. "A poem, I see..." she nods and continues to devour the helpless Napo-neopolition scoop drowning in Coke, deciding to look up what quatrains and couplets are later. "I'll bring you to the lake soon, Anneka. I know I keep saying that.. but maybe Bernie would like to go too?" She looks from philodox to ragabash. "It's very beautiful there. And the Umbra..." her eyes zone slightly then come back.

Anneka wraps her arms about her middle and grins, laughter growing in her eyes. "I really want to go. It sounds way cool." She's watching Yi, beaming.

Bernie nods. "Sure, why not? Should I bring a swimsuit? Beach balls?" She sounds like she's joking... probably. Most of the ice cream is gone already.

Anneka, distracted, starts digging into her ice cream, and fast enough that after a moment she's got a hand over her nose. "Owww-w." She squints. "Cold."

Yi's own eyes laugh back at Anneka, disappearing briefly as she tips the last of the cream soda into the bowl and drains it. "Mm," she murmurs in appreciation of the cold and creamy. "Probably not," she replies back to Bernie. "Unless you invite the buffalo to swim with you. But somehow I don't think that will happen." She laughs at the sheer mental image of her packmates' faces. "How about we go when Bernie is healed up?"

Anneka's voice is muffled, her hand over her nose still, but she nods. "That'd be real cool. I even have a swimsuit!" She grins at Bernie and Yi, around her hand. "Ow, owie, ow."

Bernie shakes her head. "Tch. Never let it touch th' roofa your mouth, silly..." She grins, and then looks surprised, "...whoa. I don't have a swimsuit, act'ly. I might hafta go find one, sometime. Ew...." She sips her milk, making a face.

Yi chuckles as she gets up to her feet in a smooth motion and moves with her glass and bowl over to the kitchenette to wash it. "You could just..swim in lupus. Paddle around," she jokes. "I think you'll look fine in a swimsuit."

Anneka lets her hand drop, eventually, and starts digging into the ice cream again-- Slowly, this time, her nod to Bernie grave and solemn. Then she blinks. "I was thinkin' 'bout that, Yi. That way th'buffalo prob'ly wouldn't be scared, neither."

"Doggy paddle," Bernie remarks, with a quick little grin, as she sets her bowl aside. "...I dunno, I'd think buff'lo'd be kina freaked by wolves, but hey..."

"Well, if you just give them a wide space, they don't seem to really bother," Yi notes above the short sound of the faucet going to rinse the dish and glass. "Just don't shift right in front of them... because... well you know. They look like very Big animals themselves who could trample the Wyrm if they had the mind to." She dries the bowl and glass and sets them nearby, unsure what goes where. Out of the blue, the canto-Gnawer comes back and states, "We should have a moot. A tribal moot."

Bernie blinks at that, and then, slowly, grins. "That sounds... way cool. What d'you do at a tribal moot? Like th' big one? Or diff'rent? C'n I help?" She drains her milk, setting the glass aside as well, and watches Yi for answers.

Anneka sets her bowl down on her lap again and blinks, glancing over to Bernie. She grins, then looks back to Yi. "I was wonderin' what a moot would be like, too."

Yi sits back down in her spot and rubs her neck as she answers. "A tribal moot... is a moot for our tribe." She grins up, as if that explained everything. Then she continues, "Except it's open to Gnawers and Gnawer kin. The gatherings at home usually involved just some announcements, recognizing new members, resolving any problems like challenges or disputes, and planning on what to do about our role in the sept. Sometimes there would be visitors from the sept next door, other Gnawers who came to find out what we were up to and work out some alliances." She puts her hand back down. "And it'd help to have a lot of ... food. Drinks. Wherever the moot is held, it might get a little rowdy."

There's a brief but energetic knock on the door.

Anneka sits up straight. "There are other Sep--?" Then she ducks her head. Of course there are. She's grinning again, though, when she glances at the door. "Wow, it'd be cool to see Gnawers from other places."

Bernie laughs, and very carefully pulls her feet up around her on the cushions. "Sounds fun," she remarks, "...so.... =only= Gnawers, right?" Possibly a further unspoken question there, though she's cut off by the knock. She unfolds again, and pads over to see who's out there.

Yi looks over towards the door as well, holding her replies before saying anything else.

Bernie peeks through the keyhole and giggles again, undoing the locks and pulling the door open. "Kazness, the Kazmeister, Kazarino!" she greets the Galliard cheerfully, "'sup? How ya doin'?" She looks her over for remaining burns, to see how she's healing. Bernie is definitely better than at first, but still looks disturbingly injured, not to mention that being in Glabro does nothing for her attractiveness. Her t-shirt and sweats are a bit stretched on that frame, and her hair is tied loosely back, out of the way. She's not wearing her glasses.

For those Annekas checking these things, Kaz has an entirely different (and newer) t-shirt on. Her burns look fairly well healed -- just a few traces of redness in a few places. She looks to be a little wary of jostling her midsection, though. With a flourish, Kaz hands Bernie a daffodil. "Thought I'd bring th' convalescent some sign've spring, or somethin'." Wandering in, she gives all three women a remarkably cheerful grin.

Yi grins as it's Kaz, and this is the perfect way to spread information. Her condition seems to be much better than Bernie's and this is good for Yi. To Anneka, she replies, "Well, in Hong Kong there are septs close together. So we invite the Gnawers from other septs too."

Bernie beams at the flower. "Thanks!" she exclaims, "I love daff'dils..." Closing and locking the door, she heads to the kitchen by way of the dining table, pulling a vase -- looks like a beer bottle carefully wrapped in criss-crossed wire, actually -- off of it and filling it with water before adding the bloom. The whole thing is then set on the table as she heads back to the couch, reclaiming her seat and gingerly curling into it again.

"Kaz!" Anneka says, grinning. Then, quieter. "Kaz, hi!" She's beaming now, when she glances at Yi. "I've never been anywhere real far away. Well, 'cept I went to Canada once, 'cause mom's sister was gettin' married, an' I had to wear a dress."

"Yeah, I like 'em too. Them, an' those little teeny blue flowers..." Kaz stops at Anneka's greeting, and adds, "Hi!" before gingerly lowering herself to the floor, to lean against the couch. "What're we invitin' people to, again?"

Yi nods at Anneka. "I haven't been anywhere else except here, and a few places to be honest." She smiles. "We have enough Gnawers here for a good moot anyway." She waves at Kaz again. "We were just talking about maybe setting up a tribe moot. You ok?"

"I've barely seen anywhere so far," Bernie remarks, "...though, that oughta change a little in a couple weeks.... hey, Kaz? What's th' best way t' find out if someone's kin, without havin' t' kill 'em or somethin' if they aren't?"

Yi pipes out, "I don't know of any way to discover kin... other than shifting right in front of them. Maybe the halfmoons have some gift?" She looks over at Kaz as well.

"'m fine," Kaz explains, "Just got into a scrape earlier with some asshole of a Get. Anyway, Bern..." She trails off at Yi's question. "Nope, no halfmoon Gift, but! There's the good old information network, an' th' folks down that way say alla y'folks is related, somehow. S'you seem t've hit th' jackpot."

There's the faintest of growls from Anneka, at the mention of a certain Get, an odd thing given that the cub is still smiling, doesn't even seem aware that she's doing it.

Bernie blinks at Kaz, sitting up straighter and apparently instantly regretting it. "...really? Oh, well, kickass! So d'you know any details? Like, do they know everythin'? I mean I guess since someone 'fetched me they should, right?" She trails off a little before adding, "...which asshole Get?"

Yi looks curious as well, and glances over to Anneka as she smiley growls. "I thought the Get mostly liked you here, Kaz," she says quietly with a short flash of vengeance in her eyes.

Anneka's growl drifts off as she looks over to Yi, returning the glance. She starts working, industriously, on the last bits of her ice cream.

Kaz shakes her head. "I dunno if they know or not -- th' guy as told me shit was kinda drunk at the time an' not good on details -- but f'alla you kids t'be related, it's way likely one've your folks is Garou, too. Though it ain't guaranteed." She shrugs at both Yi and Bernie. "Yeah, they most've 'em like me fine, but it sometimes takes awhile. I mean, you shoulda seen Owen when he first met me. I tol' him I was metis, so he was like, "Don't touch me!" like he was all grossed out by th' concept. So I sat down right next to him. Real close. But not touching. Wouldn't do that, nope. Anyways." She pauses briefly, to figure out where she was going, and adds, "Mark. He's kinda new, an' pretty much an asshole, s'far as I can tell."

"Bullethead," Anneka says, nodding, as she finishes her ice cream. Her spoon clinks against the bottom of the bowl a few times as she chases the last bits of frozen cream about.

Bernie nods, considering. "Dad, prolly..." She shakes her head, half-smiling. "So yay, a new Get asshole, just what th' neighbourhood needed..."

Yi nods slowly, taking the name into consideration. "There's also a new Child of Gaia around. Quincy's his name. I need to get him to the farmhouse too so Adam can take it from there." She looks over at the table again and sees the glasses. Then her eyes brighten up some. But, she doesn't mention it, and turns back to the Gnawers gathered. "So... since we are talking about reunions... how does a tribal moot sound? I think Nevada and I can hold it at the apartment. Or we can go to the Junkyard, or the church..."

Dubiously, Kaz asks, "Would we all /fit/ in your apartment?"

Anneka blinks and sits up, abruptly. With the utmost severity she says, "If we stood on each other's shoulders."

"I think," Bernie remarks, "th' Church'd be best. Basement, maybe. 'cause your place, I dunno how big it is, but I bet you'd be cleanin' up for th' next seven months...."

Yi chuckles, and shrugs. "Well admittedly it's not the largest place in the world. But it is decently sized. I'm more concerned about actually meeting, though. Just, to catch up with everyone." She leans back a little. "Just to find out how everyone is doing, new members, activities." She glances at each of them.

Kaz says, firmly, "I'm all for it. I'll see if I can harass Elan into actually, like committing to something, y'know?"

Bernie nods, considering this. "...speakin' of. Any word on th' challenge, yet? Get much longer, I say we declare him forfeit an' y' win by default...."

"I think it sounds real cool." Anneka grins at Yi and sets her bowl aside. "I don't think I've met all of us yet." She brushes an errant strand of curly hair away from her nose.

Kaz says, sourly, "No. Another couple weeks of this, and I /will/ go fuckin' challenge Steven. Jesus Christ..." She trails off, glaring at nothing in particular.

"It's been pretty long, hasn't it?" Yi remarks, smirking at Kaz and Bernie. She nods over at Anneka. "Just wait until there's a sept moot. I don't think I ever saw that many Garou at one time." She takes a moment to lay back on the floor and look up at the ceiling.

Bernie makes a face, shaking her head. "'s ridiculous, I'm sorry. Not t' speak illa my elders an' all that shit, but, I mean, c'mon. It can't be THAT hard t' come up with somethin' an' fit it inta his busy schedule. Where =is= he alla time, anyhow? Off doin'.... mystic theurgy stuff in th' Umbra or somethin'?"

Anneka glances over to Kaz for a moment, then blinks. "A sept moot? Wow, that'd be a lot I bet." There's a long pause as a thought is turned behind the cub's green eyes, and then she sits up straight. "Wow! I wonder what it'd be like for all th'Garou t'be in one place, at once. Like, everyone!" She starts to bounce a bit. "I bet that'd be really, really wild."

Kaz snorts, which makes her wince slightly. "Yeah, mystic theurge shit. An', can't forget, boffin' Ethan's brother. That's all very vital, yes indeed." Kaz would appear to be in a bad mood. "I mean, fuck, I don't care that much about the challenge, except it took me fuckin' every gut I had to do it, but hey, who cares, it's just a challenge." Mmm. Yummy sarcasm. "What I /care/ about is his not bein' here for any've the important shit, an' just poppin' in and out an' not teachin' anyone an' not actually knowin' his damn tribe, an' alla that kinda shit." She looks about to say more, but Anneka's enthusiasm derails her. She admits, after a moment, "We got a fuck of a lot of Garou here. It's kinda fun, at Moot. With everyone all pissy together, because it's the Full, an' we for some reason have Moots when we're /most/ likely to kill each other. But we keep managing not to, and keep managing to do useful shit." After another pause, she adds, "That's called a Concolation, I think. The 'every Garou together' thing."

Yi continues looking up at the ceiling, but adds in just an odd thought. "So, if your challenge goes through... what about challenging for Elder?" She says this, of course, like it's a normal thing.

Anneka tilts her head. It didn't occur to her at all that there'd be a name for such a thing. "Has it ever happened before?"

One unexpected benefit of the burns: Bernie's blush is almost imperceptible. "...I di'n' even know Thistleboy =had= a brother," she murmurs, mouth going on ahead while her brain catches up. "...there's really a time when =everyone= gets t'gether? Where d'they find a big enough place? ....somewhere's national forest or somethin'?"

Kaz says, as if it's a perfectly normal thing to be talking about in public, "Been thinkin' about it. /If/ I pass. Dunno. We'll see." She tilts her head to look at Anneka. "It's how the Impergium got ended, actually. Everyone got together and voted. Or threw down. I forget which." Evidently not wanting to stand up, she asks, "Hey, Anneka? C'ld y'get me a Coke?"

"It would seem natural," Yi adds with her eyes closed. "The elder challenging I mean."

"Elan's Fostern," Bernie muses, "...but Pete Barlow Senior, he's Adren, yeah? So seems t' me, y' oughta be able t' challenge for it =anyhow=. Even should somethin' bizarre an' unforeseen keep ya from passin' the rank one. An' Otter? Coke's in th' fridge door, glasses, well, y'saw where I got 'em, yeah?"

Anneka scrambles to her feet, just like that, and nods. "Sure!" She casts about for empty bowls and spoons, and stacks them up before heading off into the kitchen with the tower. "Okay!" she calls back to Bernie. There's a clatter of dishes as the cub finds where such things would be tucked away for washing.

Yi sits back up, then folds her arms over the table. "So since three out of four are here... what should we do about Ugly?" Her eyes stray over to Bernie and Kaz.

Kaz says, "Yeah. Well. B'lieve me, I'm thinkin' about it. About how, like, it'd be nice if we had regular Moots, about how, what with alla us around, we could be a real damn force instead of just some disparate people hangin' out. About how we're a pretty good fam'ly, but how we c'ld be better. 'Bout how everyone called Chugs Uncle, an' how no one calls Elan Uncle." She shrugs. "So. Yeah. Probably." There's a pause and then she asks, "Otter?"

There's the muffled -whuff- of the 'fridge opening, the clink and clatter of glasses, cabinets opened, a cub amused by the various noises your average kitchen can produce, probably. After a little bit she emerges with the soda in a glass. There're even ice cubes floating about in it, when she sets the glass down on the table near Kaz. She grins.

"Oi!" Bernie chides the cub teasingly, "who said you could use th' ice? That's for special occassions only!" She grins, teeth extra white against the healing wounds. "An' yeah, Otter. Someone's gotta new cubname. Guess who? Three chances, an' th' first two don't count..." She pauses.... "so 'f you b'came Elder, what'd we call ya? Auntie Kaz? Mama Kaz?" She giggles at that one, breaking quietly into, "All th' leaves are brown, an' th' sky is grey..."

Kaz grins faintly at the song, some of her good humor restored. "We'll see 'bout that if it ever happens." Glancing over to Yi, she shrugs. "I'm hoping to get more lights in before Sepdet does the Summoning, but I really do think the Summoning'll help with Ugly. An', well, /it/ got exploded, too... Mebbe we got lucky."

"California dreamin', on such a winter's day--" Anneka picks up the song, grinning at Bernie as she sits down near Kaz. The cub's got a pretty good voice, all things considered.

"I'd be safe and warm," Yi adds in, a small smile darting over her features before she nods to Kaz. "And I think the mirrors are all still intact."

"So'd you get some've them Ming things, Yi? 'Cause, y'know, chippin' away at edges is great, but despite what John thinks, I'm really startin' to think that we should go for Osprey Circle, once we get the Summonin' done..." Kaz shrugs. "But meanwhile, we can do some more fucking lights soon, yeah?"

Bernie nods, "More lights... damned if I'm lettin' some zombie amalgam an' a little excess heat scare me 'way. Though, next time, I'm thinkin' I'll borrow onea those suits from down th' fire station..."

Yi shakes her head behind her steepled hands. "I have to ask Soulcatcher-rhya about that some more. Summoning a bat is not something I'm familiar with. But hopefully, Ming is around. But yes, soon. And I'm going to try and build that flamethrower Rotem suggested to me."

Kaz blinks. "Rock. If that actually works, I'll kiss him." There's a pause. "Well. I'll pat him companionably on the back." Trailing off, she sighs. "Anyway. I oughta go patrol." Nudging Anneka companionably on the shoulder again, she heaves herself to her feet. "Y'all have a g'night, yeah?"

Yi smirks behind her hands at the image she gets, but withholds comment about That. "Stay safe, Kaz."

Anneka sits up a bit more and smiles at Kaz. "G'night." She starts giggling again, perhaps at the idea of Kaz actually kissing Rotem.

Bernie nods, lifting a hand to her packmate. "Do m'best.... later, Mama Kaz." She grins again, and leans back and sideways into the pillows.

Kaz eyes Bernie in amused wariness, and then slips out.

"The burns feeling better, Stomper?" Yi queries with some hint of being amused still by the mental image. "I wonder... what the rest of the sept will think of Elan should Kaz take his place as elder. He'd lose some face. If fact... maybe a lot."

"She's going to challenge Elan?" Anneka blinks twice, and rocks back a bit on her rear. "I've heard her talkin' bout th'challenge before, but not challengin' /him/." There's a long pause, then, the cub says, quietly, "I guess that's what happens after you're cliath? To go up you hafta challenge /someone/?" The cub chews on her lower lip a bit, uncertainty painted across her face.

Bernie nods. "Mmhmm, that's how it works. They don't, like, lose face if y'win, or anythin', it's just t' prove you're, like, on their level, 'f y'see what I mean. An' yeah, he's th' one she's challengin'. It's been, like, two months? An' weird thing is, he's th' one =said= she oughta challenge in th' first place."

Yi reaches into her vest pocket and draws out a small, smooth black rock about the size of a coin, making it disappear and reappear over her fingers as she thinks. "There's a challenge to become a higher rank," she adds in to Bernie's words for Anneka, "and challenges for leadership. The most part of challenges are not only proving you are worthy of the title, but also showing that others also support you to be at a higher level. A king is nothing without his followers." She looks over at Anneka and grins wryly.

Anneka's hair tumbles down over her eyes as she looks down at her lap. She nods, slowly, then looks up at the pair, brushes her hair away. "I keep thinkin' that it's real wrong that people do that, but part of me thinks it's how it should be, an' I can't argue with it. We hafta be able to think, but we hafta be able to /fight/, too. So, elders hafta show they can." She knits her fingers together, a corner of her mouth quirking to a lopsided frown. "It's real bad either way, if we forget part of what we are."

"Yeah, though, see, a challenge? It's not always fightin'," Bernie explains. "Otherwise, we'd mostly be bein' walked all over by th' Ahrouns. It c'n be other shit, too. Like, if someone challenged me, an' I got t' pick? I'd prolly challenge 'em t' somethin' I was good at, an' fightin' ain't it. Sometimes, th' challenge IS t' show you c'n think, not fight. Lotsa times, things happen an' slide by an' they're just, like, how people =look= at each other or somethin'."

Yi nods with Bernie. "Like, Jarred's challenge from Steven for fostern.. that's the rank one up from cliath.. his was to tell stories that portrayed the three codes of virtues.. Honor, Wisdom, and Glory. You can have all the glory there is by fighting, but if you don't do it wisely, you might turn out to have done something dishonorable. Sort of understand?" If she were in lupus, she'd have her ears canted.

Anneka blinks twice and sits up a bit more, glancing over to Bernie. "Like me, thinkin' about challengin' Rotem to skateboards?" She nods to Yi. "An' why it woulda been pretty bad for him to fight me for real. I don't know how and he does, and he's stronger, too. If we'd fought with tooth 'n claw, he woulda won, but he wouldn'ta /won/." She blinks, then barges on. "It's like bein' a Philodox. You can just /tell/ people what th'Litany is, but that's not thinkin'-- You're s'posed to show people how it's /right/, how it's good t'live by it, so they don't hafta have someone sittin' there, bein' a parrot." There's a pause then, as she rubs the bridge of her freckled nose. "It's part of what we are. Knowin' when t'fight, when fightin' with our hands is th'worst thing to do." She looks back at the pair, blinking, perhaps even a little surprised that she had that pent up in her head.

Bernie nods. "Bingo," she replies. "...me an' Roto-Rooter, when we were both cubs, he coulda kicked my ass inna fair fight, I'm sure. But I was top cub anyhow an' we both knew it." She pauses, head tilting, "...'s harder t' know how it'll fall out with th' twoa you, now that he's gettin' t'be lessa a pain than he useta be, an' havin' seniority, too. Even 'f y'=are= a quick study an' all. So I guess it'll be int'restin' t' see what happens..."

Yi makes the small rock jump over a finger with a short push of her thumb, and twirls it again. "He's going to be coming back from the bluff soon. Hopefully, he'd have learned something from Leonard about his attitude." Her eyes slide to Anneka. "You don't necessarily have to show him who's boss with words, or with fists. Sometimes it's just knowing. Kind of like Bernie and Rotem. He'll have his own problems to deal with when he gets back, though. One of them being that he has to prove himself again. I know the Gnawers here, don't look upon him very well. Other tribes have heard of his faults and not his merits. He'll have to work hard to bring himself back up from the hole he fell into. I think he'll be too busy to really deal with any sort of challenge with you, Anneka."

Anneka nods slowly, pushes her hair away from her eyes. "It doesn't bother me if he's higher up 'n I am." She takes a deep breath, glances from Bernie to Yi. "You are, not just 'cause you're cliath but because you make th'name /mean/ somethin', because you're my family and what you say /matters a lot/. You earned what you've got, where you are. If he can be like that, an' show me he's worth respectin', then I will respect him. But if he keeps tryin' t'solve things by hittin' them, he's just a fuckin' bully, like that Get that picked a fight with Kaz." That growl's back again, quiet and low.

Bernie nods a little at Yi, and then looks back to the cub. "Well, thanks," she replies, with a quick smile. "Sometimes, y'gotta be a li'l freer with your respect, here, than maybe you'd wanna inna perfect world. Y'know. Litany an' all... though, gen'rally, 's more important t' be properly respectful when they're =there=...." Even through the burns the grin that accompanies that has a half-feral, all-Ragabash edge to it.

Yi hums something to the tune of R-E-S-P-E-C-T, and then grins back at Bernie. "What they don't know, they don't know," she laughs lowly. She glances back at Anneka. "So how was the caern then? Did you go into the Umbra?"

Anneka catches the smile then and-- blinks. She shakes her head. "I haven't! An' if people keep on talkin' 'bout it without showin' me, I'm gonna pop!"

Bernie laughs. "Well, much 's I like Otter Pops, I s'pose we wanna 'void that..." She glances to Yi, then back to the cub, "...prolly, y'oughta wait 'til th' moon's bigger, though. Week or two."

Yi doesn't catch the reference of Otter Pops, but she does nod with Bernie's other words. "I made the mistake of taking Rotem into the Shadow on a crescent moon. I wouldn't risk doing the same thing again. However, maybe at the caern, even on a newmoon... it might be ok to have a look." She grins at Anneka. "Or by the lake. We'll see. Don't pop your top yet, though."

Anneka pulls her legs up and wraps her arms about them, her smile bright and sunny. "If I've been waitin' this long, I can wait s'more. It sounds real cool, cool as /caerns/. There're spirits there and--" She tilts her head a little and rubs at an earlobe. "--And I don't know. That's why I want t'see!"

Bernie grins. "Worry not, Straw'bry Shortkook. We'll getcha out t' it soon. An' yeah, it's cool. 'specially 'round th' caern, an' another place or two..." She stifles a yawn. "....mmph. I'm thinkin', I might go crash 'gain soon. But you guys're welcome t' stay 'til Matt comes home an' kicks ya out. Or sleep in th' guest room."

Yi stifles her own yawn, as everyone knows yawns are contagious, even the stifled ones. "It is late, isn't it," she notes without really checking any clocks. "Or we can head back to the apartment." She gets up shaking some blood back into her legs. "Thanks for having us over so long," she tells Bernie. "Quite a night, na?"

Bernie grins. "Anytime," she replies, slowly unfolding herself up to standing, "...well. Maybe not ANYtime, but =almost= anytime anyhow. It was fun. Nicer t' talk t' y'all than t' just sit 'bout an' itch." Another grin; her face is finally healing enough to make it bearable.

Anneka starts to giggle, though this also turns into a huge, tongue-curling yawn as she leans back, wobbling a bit before she flops down onto her back. "Mf." She remains there for a few moments, then sits up again. A curly strand of hair trails down to tickle her nose, and for a moment it looks like the cub is going to sneeze. Then she shakes her head, and she's smiling again. "I'm real glad you're okay, Bernie-- an' gettin' better."

Yi stretches, then slips the rock back into her vest pocket. "Yes, sometimes it's really a gift to be a Garou," she murmurs, heading doorwise. "If you need anything, just..call." She realizes after a little bit, there's no phone around. "Well. Bark.. or howl. Something like that." Her grin turns a little wry.

Anneka clambers to her feet, and wriggles into her coat before she picks her skateboard up and tucks it under an arm. She grins at Bernie. "Rar."

Bernie giggles and curls a hand into a non-threatening claw toward the cub, replying with a silly, quite fey, "Rarrr..." A quick wave to the pair of them, as she waits to relock the door behind them. "G'night, guys."

"Take care Stomper,"Yi puts out as a departure note as she opens up the door and steps out. "Hope the glasses are right and look ok." With that, she's quickly hopping down the steps and grinning at Anneka to follow her back towards Bridge Street.

Anneka beams, then twirls about and tromps out the door, after Yi. "G'night!"

Bernie blinks, startled at that. "...glasses?" she asks, eyes flitting toward the coffee table where she'd left them. Of course, without them, all she sees is a big, colourful, vaguely coffee-table-shaped blur.

Yi grins as she overhears the question and calls upwards, "Try them on! I think the doctor was too scared to mess them up!" And with that the sound of her boots racing down stairs after Anneka fade off.