A Talk In The Park

Santa Monica Entrance to City Park
The entrance to the park sprawls down a small, grassy hill just past a pair of
stone arches that read "Est. 1723" and "Pitch in, Keep our parks clean". The
simple gravel path that leads down the small decline is well cared for and is
lined on either side with easy to maintain shrubs and shade-loving flowers.
Benches line the path between breaks in the decorative foliage, and in the
distance the path can be seen disapearing behind a wall of dense and old trees,
each surrounded by its own small metal fence despite the already fenced in area
of the park. Tall, slender metal trash bins are staggered next to every few set
of benches, and large wooden planters lay near each to take attention away from
the bins, each overflowing with vines and flowers. The city park affords a less
hectic, traffic muddled, and quiet escape for dozens of people day and night who
come here to walk, jog, read, and connect through the well advertised wireless
connections.

* Exits *
north - Santa Monica Boulevard
south - The Tranquil Copse of City Park (Avg NPCs: 6)

Making his way toward the city park, one of the few places left in the whole cesspool that is LA that holds Mother Nature in some respect, Phelan Wulfric stares down the path with his usual trademark grin though it seems to be laced with a hint of thoughtfulness this time around. His blue swim trunks are surprisingly dry today, far out of the norm. Over his top he wears on open white Hawaiian shirt with a blue floral design and his feet are protected by a pair of brown sandals.

Sieg leans back against one of the trees in the park, his back arched in something of a slouched pose against the bark of it. He seems to be in thought, his mind oddly focused on a set of juggling balls that dance between his hand. One. Two. Three. they jump between his hand with something of an unnatural grace. Though the cesspool itself had been turn, battered, burned, and annihilated, still Mother Nature still stood on the brink of it, "They dun pissed Mother off…" He mutters to himself with a snicker before shaking his head, "That wasn't her though. Wyld? No"

Looking toward the trees with a slight tilt of his head before his expression suddenly lights up a little as if he's seen the face of Mother Gaia herself, Phelan makes his way toward Sieg and takes a hand out of the pocket of his trunks to offer the Ragabash a shake. "Long time no see, Sieg," he offers up quietly as if he's a bit nervous but not showing outright fear.

As the other man approaches, Sieg seems enthralled with his own meditation. Odd, that, but a focus nonetheless. Hand to hand the balls go, whirling through the air in practiced arcs before finding themselves resting within his grasp only to be pocketed, "Ah, hey there Phelan! Long time no see, yeah, really." He raises a brow at the man's odd nervousness before clasping his hand tightly within his own only to let go, "What's wrong with you?"

As Sieg lets go of his hand and questions him the surfer teen puts his hand in his pocket again and chuckles softly. "It's that obvious, huh? Shit. I'm losing my touch." Pointing toward the paths that lead further into the park the boy gives Sieg a more serious look. Not one that seems commanding so much as one that's in need of a little help. "Mind if we go a little further in, find a secluded spot? This talk's not meant for most ears."

Sieg tilts his head slowly to the side, his lips curling back into a warm smile. That smile shows something of knowing behind it, possible friendliness there that fades with an upturned nod, "Why not huh?" He offers with a wink before casting his gaze about the park once over, "Hmm, I suppose deeper would be good for the Veil?" He turns with his back to the other guy, wandering off down the path as he nods his head forward in a beckoning motion.

(The two begin to walk deeper into the park, passing by the amphitheater on the way. Sieg leads the way with calm strides, Phelan following behind as he continues to speak.)

Walking Paths of City Park
This area is twice the size of a football field, and dotted with trees and brush
so numerous that it's hard to see more than twenty feet ahead of you. Nowhere
else in LA has this many counts of nature. Traces of animal life, mostly quite
small, are present on the thin, but well cared for, paths that are cut just wide
enough for two people to walk side by side. However, this is not at all old
growth, and the trees aren't higher than twenty or thirty feet in most parts.
Even the small brook that runs through the north east corner looks manmade,
lined with white stones, and fishless. About a mile of pathway is molded around
the outskirts of this little, hand-made forest.

* Exits *
east - Amphitheatre of Grandfather - City Park (Avg NPCs: 7)
(Sieg) A tall young man with brown hair and light brown eyes is standing here (App 3) [ ] ||
(OOC)

The boy nods slowly and laughs a little to himself, his smile becoming a little more loose and the usual ease in his expression returning somewhat. "That's the idea." Sighing, he adds, "See, this is why I missed you." As they reach the more quiet and less-populated sections of the park, Phelan finally calms down a little with a deep sigh. "Okay. It's not hard for me to say this cause I have some sense of responsibility. Trouble is I don't know if I'm ready to face up for it all and… well, I don't know how to remedy all the wrongs. If you can, will you give me some advice on this?"

Sieg grabs two of his balls from the pocket he'd deposited them in, hands ever moving as his back is left to him, "Missed me huh? Why's that? I always figured you liked Max for these talks eh?" He calls back to him before turning and throwing the ball to him, "Here, catch." It's a sudden movement that would catch most offguard, "Speak your mind man. We're packmates for a reason hmm?" He smiles as he takes a seat off to the side with crossed legs, "And i'll do the best I can"

Letting the ball shoot over his shoulder, Phelan falls onto his back and extends a hand to catch the ball before it hits the ground and smiles a bit. "Well. At least I haven't lost my touch completely…" he muses quietly, then sits back up and stares at the stars through the canopy of the trees surrounding them. "And yeah, I'd go to Max most of the time but this is one case where I don't know if he'd have the answer." He twirls the ball from Sieg between his hands, not able to juggle as impressively as his fellow Ragabash. "Well, first things first. You weren't there to see it but you'll hear about it soon enough. Best to hear it from me first. I lifted the Veil. Bigtime."

Sieg raises a brow at those words though he doesn't say much beyond that, his simple demeanor seeming to take over as he rests his arms against his upper legs, "How and why Phelan? The old coots might not take notice to that, but ya know it does matter to many of us." He shifts just a bit where he sits, but beyond that he actually seems surprisingly calm.

The boy goes right on, obviously wanting to get this part overwith. "Alright, it's like this. While we were in Cairo we came across this girl. She may even be a Kinfolk or a full Garou. Not too sure, though, so take that detail with a grain of sand. Anyway, me and Max saved her from a bunch of thugs who were waving around silver nightsticks then dragged her unconcious back to the caern. She was staying with us there and… well, I lost my head to horomones and showed her my Lupus form. Charlotte broke my jaw and made me do extra work as punishment though I really wonder why she didn't do more. I know she wanted to." The boy shakes his head, stopping himself there before he becomes too enraged though his slowly balling fist is digging into his leg as he goes on. "And it's not just that. I let everyone down in combat, I was too trusting and too hasty. I was stupid and it put the pack in danger in more ways than one." His speech concludes and Phelan's crystal blue orbs rest on the man once again. "If you were in my place and you wanted to show everyone just how sorry you really were and actually make up for everything you did wrong, what would you do?"

Sieg hmms softly as he tosses his ball back and forth between his hands calmly, looking down at it, "What I want to know is this. What does changing into lupus form mean anything towards lifting the veil if the girl was already in the Caern? Taking her there was enough that you and Maxwell both would have been seeking penance." He replies thoughtfuly, seemingly in another world of thought as he sets the ball back down between his legs, "I want to know also though, what did you do in combat exactly?"

Blinking a little, taken aback by Sieg's apparent calmness, Phelan seems to cool down a little as he answers. "The caern was the only safe place. Plus there was the fact that the guys attacking her were using silver weapons and dressed like secret service men. Last time I checked that's outta the human norm. Max got injured during the fight, too, so we figured the girl would have to give an account on things to soothe Charlie." A single twitter escapes through the teen's nose at the last part of his sentence. "And in combat I acted without thinking about the rest of the pack. It lead to Charlie getting sprayed with acid that almost ate her arm away and Holiday getting pounced by some weird bulldog from Hell. I saw one in that video you showed me from a few months ago. The mission on the train, remember?" Giving the ball in his hand a toss up he catches it with his opposite hand then lets it rest on his leg. "What I'm trying to say is… I know I'm not supposed to be a fighter. It's not what Ragabash's do, at least the way Holly explained it. But I could've done a lot better. Maybe prevented my packmates from getting so beat up."

Sieg taps his head with his fingers slowly, rapping it slowly, "Nevertheless, you brought her into teh Caern no matter what your intentions were Phelan." He tilts his head just a bit to the other man's words, eying him for a few moments in thoughtful silence as he tosses the ball between his hands, "Ragabash, we fight when we have to but we don't fight with brawns Phelan. We use our brains, our cunning, and our wits in battle. Don't ever think you're meant to be something like Charlie, all gung-ho taking the bullets and shrugging them off like some She-Hulk" He replies before offering a grin at those words, "To say the least, the way to make it up to the pack is this. Take the punishment Charlie gives you, and take it with humility. Don't make a fuss over it, and do your best to fulfill while learning from your mistakes."

The young man takes in Sieg's words with a thoughtful gaze and a respectful nod, though he seems a little unsatisfied with the final answer. "Emphasis on the least, I hope. There's gotta be something more I can do." His words escape his lips filled with urgency and certainty, as if nothing will convince the Pup otherwise.

Sieg smiles just a bit at that before shaking his head as he looks back at the pup, "Punishment and penance are a general way of paying back for the things you do." He looks back down at the ground with a soft hum of sound before grinning just a bit and looking back up at him, "You and I, we will be working on two man pack tactics. Hard to learn since neither of us are being taught of course…. but something that might let you impress Charlie in showing you care about making yourself better than you are."

The pup perks up almost instantly at Sieg's statement, his smile back to its usual full state in seconds and his eyes bright and ready. "Hey, if you're willing to teach or show me someone who can then I'm there!" He goes back to tossing the ball between his hands though his focus rests squarely on his packmate. "And not to sound cheesy or anything but nothing's too tough to learn."

Sieg grins just a bit, a bit of amusement shining in his eyes at his reply as he tosses the ball up in the air, "I saw it used a few times over the short time i've run with the packs. It's not exactly easy to learn without someone that knows how… I don't think. But you know, we all need to make up for our weak points so why not be one of the first to show you're willing to jump ahead?" He offers before shifting back to stand up in the grass, gazing up towards the stars and Luna overhead with a smile, "You know, with the calamity… it did clear up the sky a bit. Not so many city things dusting it ya know?"

"Make the jump with me and it's a deal," the Ragabash replies in kind as he smiles at Sieg in a way that seems to silently say he's back on the top of his game. He looks up at the sky as well as if to see what the man is speaking of, then lets his eyes return to terra firma. "Yeah. Went down to the beach this morning and I swore the sky looked brighter than usual."

"Did it? I don't tend to hang around the beach to often myself." The other Ragabash responds as he pockets the juggling ball once more to look at the sky still, "Remember man, we're always here to make those jumps for each other. It's what we do eh?" He grins just a bit before taking a few steps away to look down the pathway, "Did Charlie give an ETA to how long before she's back? If we can learn and do our thing before she shows up… it'll sweeten the pot for you so to speak."

Phelan shakes his head in response to Sieg's question. "Nope. She probably needs to wrap a few things up first but I've got no clue how long that'll take." He gives the ball a toss back toward his companion, not even warning him as he watches it sail up in the air and toward his upturned face. "And at this point just learning some new things is good with me. Charlie's at the point where I'm nothing but a pain and, to be fair, she's kinda right." With his finger he starts to trace a pattern in the grass. "I haven't beat myself up like this in years. It's not a good sign. Feeling a little better's priority one so thanks for giving me a means."

Sieg's ears twitch somewhat as the ball flies, another soft hmm coming to his lips, "If you were only a downright pain, Charlie wouldn't have given you a chance after that. You're something special, or at least we think so." He raises a hand to catch the ball, soon pocketing it as well before casting his gaze about the park woods, "I myself need to learn a few things, and this pack needs to learn more. Where Riley and Holiday are, I have no fucking clue, but that leaves just us and Charlie so either we shape up or ship out."

Nodding again but saying nothing yet, Phelan continues to draw shapes and patterns in the blades of grass with his finger as his focus dissipates for a moment. A moment only, it seems, since he soons straightens up and brings his hands in to rest on his lap. "So, what sorta tricks of the trade can you show me?"

Sieg grins at that before turning, crossing his arms to regard the other, "You forget Phel, i'm only a Cliath. Don't exactly have a bunch of tricks up my sleeve." He pulls his laptop case from his back around to his side though, tapping it thoughtfuly, "Lesson number one though about my Tribe, if you fall into it after your Rite. Learn a bit about computers if you don't know already. I know Charlie doesn't know much, which is all well and good considering, but i've seen some pretty wicked stuff done with these things by older Glasswalkers."

Phelan grins back in kind, giving his head a momentary tilt back. "You're still a step or two up from a Pup so you would know more than I do," he says very matter-of-factly but still light of voice. "I know how to surf the Net and type a school paper with a computer but that's about as far as my talents go there. Guess it couldn't hurt to bone up on technology a little more." As he gives the night sky one last look through the leaves on the trees above, the boy stands and puts his hands in his pockets again. "Well. It's getting late and the ocean's weeping. She misses me and I miss her, too." His crystal sights gaze toward the entrance of the park as a sense of longing creeps out. "Time to go get familiar again before the stars go back to bed."

Sieg offers his fellow ragabash an upturned nod before slinging the computer back behind him again, "Mechanical work is good too though, if you're good at crafting things ya know but to each his own." He replies before wandering back along the path as well, "Yeah, time to find a place to lay my head too. See you again soon Phelan." He waves after him with a smile as he soon parts ways.

Returning the wave with a sharp salute, Phelan says "Let me know when it's time for wolf class to start up," before walking down the stone paths and back toward the slowly reviving city of LA.

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