Werewolf Chapter 2: Tennesse Waltz

[General Havoc]

Sophie had frankly no idea what Hattie was talking about, but this was not the time. She quickly reached down and hit the "call accept" button on her cell phone, which automatically redirected the call to her Bluetooth headset. "Hello?" she said into it, though to the others it looked no doubt like she was addressing the thin air, or perhaps spirits.

Which... in a way... was sort of true, she supposed.

[rhoenix]

Hearing and seeing this from Sophie earned a very odd look from Sees-Faces-In-Stars, who immediately shifted his senses to feel for any spirits in the vicinity that she could be talking to. He saw the small Weaver bug whispering right in her ear, which made him twitch a little, and he saw a very thin Weaver line connecting it to a slightly larger Weaver bug in her backpack. After this, his eyes narrowed as he tilted his head, watching Sophie and the Weaver bugs warily.

When in Luna's name did she learn to speak with spirits?, he thought. And who is she talking to?

[LadyTevar]

"Interesting... You are in Kentucky, I see," the voice was familiar, despite the short introductions. Megan Alexander's voice was cool and composed, with only a touch of dryness as she continued. "Might I ask why you decided to leave Knoxville without completing our contract?"

[General Havoc]

Sophie cursed internally. She didn't bother asking how Megan knew which state they were in. That was a trivially-easy trace, but the fact that she had thought to do it before even saying hello was indicative of how this conversation was going to go.

Nothing for it now. "We got sidetracked by ghost-trucks and weaver spiders," she said. "We're on our way back to Knoxville now."

[LadyTevar]

"Are you now?" Megan replied, sounding casually curious. "You would have had to drive all night to get there? Not staying for Hattie's breakfast and a nap before you leave?" She didn't give Sophie time for an answer before continuing.

"I believe we were to have a meeting this afternoon at Hannigan's tavern to complete our business. I would hate to see you Breach your Contract. However, I'll be generous and move the meeting back to 4pm. You should have plenty of time to drive down. I hope to see you then."

Before Sophie could protest, Megan hung up with a last comment. "Oh... and give my respect and regards to Hattie."

[General Havoc]

Well that settled matters nicely.

"We have an appointment in Knoxville," she said. "If you guys won't take the fetish, then we'll have to take it with us. We thought you guys would want to hang onto it while we tied up loose ends, but either way, we're leaving. Right now."

With that, she got back into the car, and started the engine.

[rhoenix]

Trotting after Sophie and leaping into the farting Weaver box with wheels, Sees-Faces couldn't resist asking, now that he'd seen the two Weaver bugs (like...the one in her ear, he thought with a small shudder) on her. Since he was near-bursting with curiosity, the questions came out in a torrent. "Sophie? Was...was that Megan, from before? How did she talk to the Weaver bug in your ear, and why do you have one in your ear that connects with the bigger one in your pack? Is Megan mad at us?"

[Cynical Cat]

"Someday we're going to have to give you a crash course in tech," said Alexander. "And if that's Megan, yeah's she probably pissed. Gaia forbid that we make sure our primary mission is completed before we hand over the materials from the side job."

[LadyTevar]

Ahady glared at the others as they went to the Jeep. "Screw this... I'm not going back." He turned and stalked towards the cabins.

Arianna growled low. "I'll get him, Alex, if you take care of the paperwork."

[General Havoc]

"What, this?" asked Sophie as she absent-mindedly pulled the Bluetooth earpiece out of her ear. Like all of Sophie's equipment, there was a small cockroach stenciled on the case of the headset, and she glanced at it for a moment, wondering if that was what he had spotted. It didn't seem likely.

"It's not a bug," she said. "It's a..." she realized only then that she had no idea how to explain what it was, and so resorted to the sort of thing she felt he would understand, "it's a... weaver-spirit... device." She almost said 'fetish', but it wasn't quite right. "It... it talks to my other device... my phone. It lets other people talk through it to me, like they were standing right next to me."

She turned the ignition on as the others piled into the van. "And yeah, Megan was talking to me through it. She's not happy we came here first." Sophie groaned and shook her head. "We should get back to Knoxville."

[Cynical Cat]

"I'm so not surprised," said Alex. "Shotgun, by the way. I'll try and catch some shut eye on the way back. I'll also try and resist the urge to sink three feet of silver into that bitch's gut when we meet her."

[General Havoc]

"Try very very hard," said Sophie curtly as she shifted the car into drive and pulled out. "I'm not getting Cockroach mad at me because you couldn't keep it in your pants."

Sophie sounded far more clipped than usual. Whatever Megan had said to her had plainly gotten her rattled.

[LadyTevar]

The ride back to Knoxville was quiet, prehaps a abit unsettlingly so. Sunlight gently poured down over the mountainsides, illuminating quaint small towns that had been nothing but streetlights and houselights along the four-lane, broken into small communities by stretches of hill and holler.

Once again, there was a balance in the way mountains and people lived. Trees dropped the first fall leaves into green grassy yards in front of trailers and compact houses. A creek wound its way around a line of bungalows, with kids standing in clusters awaiting the arrival of the school bus.

The hours flew by like the road under their tires. They reached Knoxville with an hour to spare.

[Cynical Cat]

Alex opened his eyes and yawned, stretching as much as possible while keeping his seatbelt on. He blinked and looked out the window. "Is this it?"

[rhoenix]

Having been sitting quietly for most of the trip (somewhat unusual for him), Sees-Faces-In-Stars pondered what Sophie had told him about the Weaver-things she carried. He was coming to the conclusion that he and Sophie were rather alike in their own ways, each experienced with the spirits of the realm they were familiar with. The fact that Sees-Faces-In-Stars dealt with the realm of spirits and the Umbra as naturally as breathing appeared to be just as equivalent with Sophie how she dealt with the weaver-spiders.

He smirked to himself, curled up as he was on the floor of one of the seats of the farting Weaver box ("Jeep," he reminded himself) they were using to travel. He almost wished Sophie had been along with him in the Umbra when he'd met the Weaver spider now.

Feeling the farting Weaver box slowing down, and hearing Alex's question, Sees-Faces-In-Stars uncurled himself and sat up, getting onto the empty seat and looking around as he used his ears to listen, and his nose to smell the area as well. He couldn't help but feel a bit eager for what happened next, but didn't make a sound yet.

[Cynical Cat]

Alex's stomach reminded him he hadn't eaten since yesterday afternoon. "Hey Sof, why don't you hit a drive through window? I'm as hungry as hell."

[rhoenix]

The words "drive through" instantly caused Sees-Faces-In-Stars to drool, his eyes lighting up at the thought. "Hamburgers?"

[General Havoc]

Sophie was as hungry as the others, but Google had once more provided.

"They have food where we're meeting them," she said, pulling off the road and into a parking lot. "I don't want to - "

She stopped herself, shaking her head and restarting. "I'd rather not be later than we are," she said curtly. She pulled into the nearest open parking space and turned off the ignition, grabbing the documents from the glove compartment before heading into the restaurant.

[Cynical Cat]

"Cool," said Alex. "I can last an hour."

[LadyTevar]

The building was another old brick building in Old Town, yet another refurbish of the old to suit the new. Unlike the sterile-feel of Smoky Mountain Futures, this building felt comfortable, lived in. The large windows up front were lightly tinted, with "Hannigan's Tavern" written in flowing script on the green and white awnings. A framed menu hung on the wall beside the door, advertising Authentic Irish Food 'with a touch of the Mountains'. Another sign hung in the window, announcing that Jack Diamond and the Ruff were back again for an encore performance, tonight only. The poster called him "Genuine Appalachian Folk Rock".

Inside, the tavern lives up to the title, built of polished wood and low soft lighting. A full bar stretched along one wall, a glance showing it to be well stocked with both booze and welcoming stools. Tables were scattered comfortably throughout the room, which clearly takes up all of the first floor. Booths lined two walls, the last wall reserved for a small stage with an impressively unobtrusive sound set. Very few patrons were in, as the day had reached those slow hours between lunch and the end of the work day.

But the visuals were simply the start of it. The tavern smelled of steak and hamburgers, of potatoes and leeks, of cheese and ale. Good smells that were meant to make the stomach rumble. Very few patrons were in, as the day had reached those slow hours between lunch and the end of the work day. They sat at the bar, or in small clusters having low murmured conversations.

A perky young woman in jeans and a blousy white shirt walked over from the bar, her welcoming smile leading the way. "Welcome to Hannigans!" she said cheerfully, "Seating is wherever you wish..." she trailed off, looking down at Sees-Faces. "... Your dog will have to stay outside, but I can bring him a bowl of water and a hamburger patty if you like..."

[rhoenix]

Well, dung, Sees-Faces-In-Stars thought. Playing up to his role of a dog, he goofily let his tongue pant out the side of his mouth, and let one of his ears fall as he whined mournfully.

Speaking very quickly, though intelligibly in the Garou tongue, he spoke to the others before dropping into another long, mournful dog-like whine, letting himself drool a little bit for the role. "Yes, hamburger and water please, I can watch Outside while all of you are Inside."

[Cynical Cat]

"Please do," said Alex. "He's such a good, well behaved dog that I forget we can't bring him in everywhere." He affectionately scratched Sees-Faces-In-Stars ears. "Such a good boy."

[LadyTevar]

Another brilliant grin from the waitress. "Ok, I'll put that first on the order. You can tie him to the right of the door. Just remember to clean up after him, it's city law. Can I go ahead and take your drink orders?"

[rhoenix]

If there was anything that would give Sees-Faces-In-Stars an excellent reason to learn to pass as a homid, this would be it. It was utterly humiliating to act like one of the dogs homids had around for companionship.

Even so, it wasn't all that long ago that Sees-Faces-In-Stars was in fact a cub, and acted goofy as normal. So, it wasn't too hard to keep up the act this time, acting like the dumbest, happiest dog he could think of. His eyes were wide open, tongue panting out the side of his mouth, his left ear purposefully relaxed at the side of his head while the right one perked up, looking at everything like it was a toy for him to chase.

Picking his words carefully around the homids, Sees-Faces-In-Stars answered in a way that sounded like a dog might make at the smell of hamburgers. "Next time, I'm going in as Joe-Smith. I'll even use the damn metal things homids use at tables to eat with."

[Cynical Cat]

"Thanks," said Alex. "How about a couple of Cokes to start with."