It's a nice afternoon. The kind of day in the park that ought to be filled with kids playing tag, flying kites, maybe some couples having a picnic. Instead, there's Bernie, with her big plastic trash bag, gloves, and spike-on-a-stick, cleaning up the various litter that somehow constantly reappears within the park's borders, despite the frequent lack of people there. It's not a fun job, certainly not glamourous, but the Ragabash is singing quietly to herself as she works, and doesn't look too put out. The fountain is once again correctly fenced, the new plywood a bit heavier, a bit taller, no door cut in -- one entire panel seems to be serving that way. Locked, of course.

But there is indeed someone else coming to the park. That someone is Collin. With his hands stuck in his pockets, he struts right on through. Instead of singing, however, he's whistling. It doesn't take him too long to spot Bernie, though, and he's soon on his way over to her. "Hey! You!" He points at her.

Bernie glances up, startled, at the greeting, and grins as she sees the Strider. "Get offa your cloud?" she asks, dropping another beer can into the bag. "'sup, Divinity?"

"Yep. You need any help with that?" It's the first thing Collin asks once he really sees what she's doing. Not like it's that hard to miss. "Just hanging around, truthfully, showing off that I am The Authority. But not quite *The* Authority if you're familiar with the comic." He winks.

"Well, I'm f'miliar with Th' Comics Code Authority," the Gnawer replies, still grinning, and gestures vaguely to the rest of the immediate area, "...an' sure, y' feel like helpin' out, go for it." There's actually not =too= much litter around, now -- either she's been busy today, she does this often, people don't really drop all =that= much here, or some combination of the three.

"Well, I'll start looking, but truthfully, it looks like you have things in hand here. Or on stick, more accurately." Collin eyes the litter-poker, then shrugs his shoulders and starts wandering towards the nearest piece he can identify. "I didn't mean the Comics Code authoity. Actually, I meant the comic book 'The Authority'. It's supposedly really good, but I've never actually read the thing. It's not a big deal, though. See, to read comics, I'd have to have money. I don't, therefor I can't really read many comics."

Bernie smirks. "SURE y'can. I mean, they SAY it's not a library, but that's only 'cause they won't give ya a card..." She gives the stick a light toss, catching it again with a different hand position, so she can offer it over. "I've only got th' one paira gloves, so if y'wanna use th' stick..."

"Eh. I can use my bare hands. Believe me, it won't be the dirtiest thing I've touched, and hey, it's not as if there's toxic goo leaking around here. I hope." Collin coughs once, then clears his throat and bends down to pick up some wadded pieces of paper that more likely blew in on the wind. "And a lot of comic book stores bag their stuff quickly and they don't give you time to really browse, so while you can read a few, it's hard to read a lot."

A tall, gloomy looking idividual stalks silently into the park, approaching the fountain. Specifically, the manhole nearby. He's carrying a large sports-bag, slung over one shoulder. Might contain hockey equipment, perhaps. As he approaches, he slows, seeing the Gnawer and an unfamiliar face.

"Better not be," Bernie mutters, glancing around as if worried she might spot some. "..an' yeah, true, I guess. Where I useta live, th' local store only bagged th' back issues, so anythin' new was fair game. Plus, for some reason, they never stopped me so fast as some people. Prolly just 'cause they were so des'prate t' have females 'round there, =any= females." She glances over as she catches the movement, and flashes a quick smile as she recognizes John, followed by curiosity. "Hey," she calls over to him, "...smugglin' piano legs?"

"Oh, god yes. Comic book fans are the biggest geeks in the world. I should know." Collin winks at Bernie, then turns and look at the individual she's speaking to. "Better than Violin Cases with mysterious contents," he quips, cheerily. "Hi."

John approaches the two of them, and shakes his head minutely at Bernie. Collin gets a curious look. "Small arms." he replies mildly. His face is a grim mask - humourless. "Name's John." A brief pause. "Smith."

Bernie smirks at Collin, "Possibly. R'member, I hadda be hangin' out in there t' know that..." To John, she replies, "Oh, yeah? An' what'd ya do with th' resta th' limbs?" She goes back to picking things up, but remains close to the conversation.

"Wow. Never actually met a John Smith before. Handy, that." Collin's lips peel back from his teeth in a smile. It's a broad one. "Nice to meet you. I'm Collin. Smith. No, really! Actually, not really, but that's besides the point." He sticks his hand out towards John, politely even.

John tilts his head at Collin, and reaches forward with a gloved hand to shake Collin's. Looking back to Bernie for a moment, he replies wryly, "Burn them, usually." Again. Humourless. The tall man eyes Bernie's litter-stick, and lowers an eyebrow. "So. What are you two up to, out here?"

Bernie shrugs slightly. "Public works," she replies. "I try t' keep my Park bright an' shiny. How 'bout you, whatcha up to? Gonna fly a kite?" A quick smile. Then, a sudden thought, "Oh. An' case y'two were wonderin', we're all bozos on this bus."

"Ah ha. That would explain why he's actually here." Collin says it with a somewhat rueful tone to his voice. "Again, nice to meet you. I'm always up for meeting new and interesting people. Or something, at any rate." He sticks his hands back in his pocket and looks up towards the sky. "I just got here and was offering to give her a hand, pretty much."

John raises an eyebrow at Collin, considering something. "Not with the sewers?" He gives Bernie a slight smile. "Yes. I've heard this was /your/ park." The smile fades, and disappears. "I hope Sophia doesn't bother you too much. Sepdet showed her some images of... before. She was quite touched." At that, John peers in the direction of the manhole, briefly, and then looks back to Bernie and Collin, thoughtfully.

"Nah," Bernie replies, "I like Sophia..." She doesn't follow that line of conversation further, instead moving on, "...I wasn' plannin' on doin' a sewer expedition this afternoon, nah... an' given last time, not without some other people, too. 'f I never get burnt half t' death again, it'll be... good." The tone is light, only slightly wry; no whininess in it. She grins again, and picks up a torn party flyer, putting it in the bag.

"Well, I always did encourage people to go start doing something about the sewers. After the power plant blew that's where all the thingies went to hiding. I've been suggesting, in fact, that some purity spirits get bound into the water treatment stuff too, just in case the crap-lovers start trying to spread their icky love through the sewer system and eventually into the waters. Then again, I also suggested just plain checking out the water treatment. But that's just me." A shrug. "Getting burnt to death sucks. I would prefer not to be the next to take the McNugget title from Sepdet again."

John peers curiously at Bernie, then Collin. "Ah. So she often calls people that. I had thought it was just me." Looking back to Bernie, his eyes narrow a little. "I should ask a galliard, but what happened last time to get you burnt? Don't tell me Kaz decided to use a flame-thrower without instruction..." his tone suggests that the situation is entirely what he expects.

Bernie arches a brow. "No, Kaz di'n'," she replies, a little tartly, though that's gone from her voice as she continues, straightening up, "She an' I an' Yi an' Joey went down t' put up morea th' lights, th' new ones, an' th' Ghosta Housepets Past showed up an' came lumberin' after, threatenin' us. So Kaz was fightin' it, an' Yi was puttin' up th' next light, an' then I had this idea so I went over t' try an Joey stayed back t' guard Yi, an' so I tried, an' it kina worked, but wasn't real effective, but b'fore I could, y'know, shift an' fight it proper instead or anythin', some gas pipe or somethin' burst an' whoosh, bigass fireball. Got me an' Kaz an' Big Ugly, but I dunno how bad that thing got it. So seein' as th' twoa us were Crispy Critters, that ended th' night's work." She shrugs, seeming perhaps a bit annoyed at how it all turned out. "At least we got three more up, but." A shrug.

"Man," Collin's nose wrinkles. "That's just *got* to suck." He shakes his head and then looks down toward the manhole in question that John was heading to in the first place. "You know, I mean that. It's really, really got to suck. Sorry to hear you got nailed like that. I haven't had a lot of experience with getting horribly burnt. Horribly mangled? Sure. Had acid drop on me? Sure. Had my blood sucked by cadavers? Sure. Been there, done that. But no fire. I count my lucky starts for that, for the most part."

John merely stands, nodding quietly. "No room to move, see. They hunt us, not the other way around." He frowns. "I'm starting to think fire isn't the best approach. I didn't enjoy my burns last time, either." He looks miffed. "I had to visit the tailor for a new set of clothes. An inconvenience I'd sooner not see again."

This, for some reason, makes the Gnawer giggle. "Yeah, well, luckily I was wearin' old shit I was willin' t' get sewer crap on, so I wasn' stuck with an extra trip t' th' Salvation Army," she replies, going deadpan. =Tailor=. Sheesh. "An', yeah, far as th' burns, on th' whole I'd rather be in Philadelphia. But hey, good as new, now." A pause, in which she barely avoids touching her forehead with the plastic gloves, "...well. 'cept I kina miss my eyebrows. An' yeah, 's a prollem... th' fire seems t' work on th' Big Ugly, but there's so many gas pipes an' shit down there..." She trails off.

"Yeah. That's the downer. Gas pipes in the sewers. Gas. Shit. Who'd of figured, eh?" Collin shrugs his shoulders again and tilts his head at John. "I can take a guess, but at some point, I'd like to get to know you better. You know, that whole so formal thing, since I've never actually met, seen, or heard anything about you before."

John appears to give Collin a little closer inspection now. "You haven't heard of me? I'm glad." His eyes flick to Bernie, then back to Collin. "I'm new in town. Walker Ahroun from Grey Sky." He pauses. "Seattle."

Bernie smiles slightly and goes back to work, letting them do the intro thing. The last few bits of trash end up in the bag, before she ties it shut and strips her gloves off, sticking them inside out into a ziploc which in turn disappears into her backpack.

"I don't know if I should be offended or not." The name Grey Sky obviously rings a bell, though, from the way Collin's expression goes into a small frown, though he avoids any obvious shows of sympathy. "I've been here since my cubhood, which wasn't all that long ago. But, mmn," he considers for a moment, "I'm known by a helluva lot different names, so we'll stick with Collin before I'm forced to give you that particular litany. Strider Ragabash in the process of challenging for Fostern if Robert ever decides if it's a legit and fair challenge or not. You know, one that's actually possible to complete."

John raies an eyebrow soon into Collin's speech, but when he's finished, he fixates on the last note. "Impossible Challenge? Do tell?" He offers a quick platitude, "I prefer to keep a low profile. Don't be offended."

"I was kidding." Collin notes. He promptly hums 'Mission Impossible', before announcing, "Your mission, I was told, should you choose to accept it, like I had a choice, was to break into an Athro Walker's office building and steal something off his desk." He smiles up at John. "It's a test of my stealth!"

Bernie arches a brow at this, getting comfortably crosslegged on the bench, and smirks. "If you are caught, we will of course disavow any knowledge..."

John quirks his mouth wryly. "You'll understand, of course, if I'm not thrilled at the idea of stealing from Walkers to prove a point." He shifts the bag on his shoulder a little, and looks thoughtful. "Any restrictions? Like... body count?"

"Eh. All I'd have to take is a pencil or something stupid like that. But Arjun Fletcher isn't someone I really want to annoy. For god's sake, the guy's in retirement as far as I know. All I have to do, truthfully, is make an appointment with the guy and then waltz off with something off his desk. If he doesn't accept that I didn't have to dress like a ninja to do it then, hey, no big deal. We'll all know who the *real* fool in that scenario is."

Bernie nods, approvingly. "Yeah, patha least resistance is often best... give 'im somethin' he'll hafta turn around t' put down, and swipe somethin' small an' random then. An'," a glance to John, "c'n always give whatever-it-is back, after too."

John shrugs, and gives Collin a small smile. "I'd pick something up, and make it absolutely clear that I was stealing it. To the point of telling him so." The smile fades. "No. Not mission impossible, if you can actually get an appointment. Where do you have to travel for this?"

"Just his office building. The problem is that he might not even be there anymore. That's why Robert's investigating it. That an Arjun is an Old One. He's retired from 'Active Duty' so to speak." Collin shakes his head. "It might not be wise to disturb the guy at all."

Bernie considers this. "'f it's an office building, couldn't y'just check in, like, th' yellow pages, or on th' building's directory?"

John shrugs. "The logistics should prove no problem. Sounds perfectly straight-forward at the moment. However. You need to wait for confirmation, and free intelligence, so you'll wait." John's expression darkens. "I'm just worried that there's a Walker of Rank in this city, when our Tribe's Elder is Cliath. I'll make my own enquiries, I think." he muses.

"That wouldn't tell me if Arjun's still *around*, though. He could just have the place there even if he's not, and it's also a matter of whether it's actually proper to do it in the first place given his aforementioned retirement. You know it's gotta be bad when Robert's eyes widen and he seems shocked by it and says 'That's...an ambitious challenge.'"

Bernie pauses, tilting her head. "...well, =he= doesn' hafta be 'round, right? Just his =desk= hasta..." She shrugs, and stretches a little, half-smiling.

John nods Bernie. "Yes. Harder to get in, but easier to get out. Either way." He shrugs, and hoists the back into a different position on his shoulder. He gives Bernie a wink, from out of his humourless face. "Actually... gym equipment. Barbells." he says, jangling the sports bag about. There's a sound of clinking metal. "Was just looking for Sophia. She's obviously not here, so I'll make my excuses now. Nice to meet you, Collin. Hope you're superior to me in rank when we next meet." That said, the Walker turns to leave.

"Heh. I'll not hope too hard, actually." Collin gives John the thumbs up, then looks at Bernie. "Interesting fellow. But, yeah, it has to be something off his desk. Of course, if he's moved out and the desk isn't there, this could be problematic, see. Eamon, the fuckwitted one, didn't make allowances for this kind of stuff when he let his mouth rattle off the challenge before he thought about it. Otherwise, it would've long since been caught like the many other dingleberries in that ass he calls a face. Ahem."

Bernie waves a hand at John, flashing him a grin. "Later, Cap'n!" she exclaims, and then laughs at Collin. "I see you have intense r'spect for th' guy," she remarks, smirking. "...I think I met him once..." her brow furrows, "...but I don't think he was all'at mem'rable. Sad."

The scarred man heads for the meadow, slowly and quietly, disappearing from view after no more than a few minutes.

"Well, he's pretty dull, actually." Collin watches John go, then looks back to Bernie. "In fact, I'd say the fact that he's not all that memorable is good for your sanity. It was Megan's suggestion that I challenge the guy, however, in the first place. So I did. I mean, she told me I was ready. I agreed, even if I'm not all that interested in pursuing rank and all. He accepted, gave me the Lameness challenge."

Bernie considers this. "So, let's say you go snag th' stapler off this guy's desk, an' then sometime I come challenge you -- what'd =you= s'gest as a proper kina non-lame challenge?" It sounds more like an honest question than any implication.

"Well, that depends on you. Frankly, the best challenges are the ones that impart a lesson on the person challenging, not some kind of ridiculous request like 'go and pop the pimple on the Pope's ass. This will be a test of your cunning!' A good kind of challange will show them something that's expected of them of their new rank and clearly mark them as 'ready' for the rank. Like, say, Sepdet. Sepdet was really ready for it. She was a long time ago. When she challenged Brian, Brian made her defend her track record of vanishing, 'cause apparently Adrens have to be around the Sept or something, never mind tribal obligations. But that's another story. The point is, a good non-lame kind of challenge is something suited to the individual. I think Eamon could've given that challenge out to any Ragabash, not necessarily *me*. There's nothing in there that screams 'imparting lesson!' to me, but I could just be missing the point. That'd, unfortunately, require me to be giving credit for Eamon's intelligence. I'm sure as hell not about to do that." Blabbermouth.

Bernie doesn't seem to mind. She nods, consideringly. "Makes sense t'me. An'... 'f Adren hafta be 'round alla time, where th' hell's Brian hide himself? I've seen him, like.... twice, three times? Sepdet, I see alla time..." She pauses. "...I dunno, I'm prolly not act'ly 'llowed t' think seditious thoughts like that, huh? Not 'til I get up there too. But, whatever."

"Well, hey. Brian's probably going through a tough time himself. We all go through our changes," Collin says in a more serious tone, "some more visible than others. Others not. A Sept Alpha is not needed in the ultimate scheme of things if the packs and others are up to snuff about taking care of their own business in their various protectorates. I mean, what's he gonna do, go say 'You! Uh.. do what you were doing! Yeah! Keep doing that! Good job!'. It's pretty pointless sometimes. Other times, though, a clear, single, vocal leader is *important*. Someone everyone can turn to and look at and say '*He'll* lead us the right way.'. That's where he comes in a lot of the time as far as I've been able to tell." Collin shrugs his shoulders and then leans his weight back on his heels. "It's not as if he's a bad guy. I've always gotten along okay with him for the most part, even if he intimidates the fuck out of me by his very being."

Bernie shrugs, and looks less than totally impressed. "I jus' don't think he's maybe in such a great p'sition t' be complainin' 'bout whether other people're 'round a lot. Like, Matt hadda wait like five months for him t' get 'round t' act'ly Ritin' him, an' like three or morea that was after I =heard= Steven say it was s'posta be like, then." She shakes her head, giving the impression that this is something she's actually still annoyed about. "Whereas, Sepdet? =She= was around an' even teachin' us shit. So."

"You don't have to be telling *me* that. Sepdet's the shit." Collin says, brightly.

Bernie nods. "Damn straight. Even if she =hadn't= set Steven's ass on fire." She stretches, and uncrosses her legs, standing up from the bench.

Collin starts snickering at that. "God, I wish I could've seen that!"

Bernie sighs nostalgically, beaming. "Ahh, I shall always treasure th' memory..." She giggles, remembering it, and then comes back to the present. "I prolly oughta get goin', though. Thanks for th' help, an' all."

"Hey, no problem. Even if we did get pretty much distracted from the work by conversation. I'll probably catch you around again sometime soon." He waves his hand, then stretches himself a little bit.

Bernie gestures to the ground before picking up the bag, "Nah, see? All tidy. 'course, t'marra it won't be, but for now..." She adjusts her backpack, and then start out of the park, carrying the trash along. "Later, Divinity!"

"I will see you." Collin salutes, lazily, and then starts off himself, heading on away from the fountain and out of the park.