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 Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 3:26 pm
The appropriate preparations had been completed. Chank had finished his cigar and his drink, put out the lights, and lit the corpselight jar. Vegas had been invited to attend this particular chewing-out; it was, after all, his territory and his business. But this was Chank deVarr's business to conduct. Quote: Text to Nahm: The usual place, boil. Don't be late. Ice Queen Text to Roch: Your presence is requested, along with my boil. Don't disappoint, kid. ----- The message was an ominous one. Nevertheless, Nahm didn't dare ignore it. He showed up at the basement room promptly, his robes and scarf newly cleaned and properly arranged. Ahm had remained behind; he hadn't been summoned, and so he'd stayed, giving his brother the dignity of being chewed out (probably) in private. Nahm would tell his twin about it later anyway. He knocked on the door and tried not to fidget nervously as he awaited an answer.
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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 6:42 pm
Vegas wouldn't say he was happy about not smoking, but he would deal with it--of course his fingers were twirling a very expensive pen, something to hide his addiction and keep his fingers busy--if he stuck the pen in his mouth a few times, well, yeah, he was busted. But he ignored that fact. This was going to be entertaining. Roch was right behind Nahm, his hands in his pockets, a scowl on his face. Well, it probably WAS his fault that they were getting summoned, and he'd admit it, so he didn't say a word about it being at his Granddad's place--it actually made sense. They all knew the place, Nahm's granddad and Vegas were like two peas in a pod--they'd probably grown up just like Roch and Nahm were now-- Didn't stop him from not looking forward to what was about to happen. Although, if he got the chance, he was going to get on Vegas's case about Terra.
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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 6:32 am
"Come in, boils," Chank said, and waited until the miscreants in question had entered the room and shut the door behind them. Then he flipped his hood down, his eyes and teeth glinting in the dim green light, and prowled forward, hands folded behind his back. "Nahm en-Arhahnn deVarr. Second son of my first son. Do you know why you're here right now?" Nahm's eyes widened slightly as his grandfather removed his hood. When he'd come in to find only a corpselight jar lit, he'd had a sinking feeling. That was bad. This was worse. He stood stiffly, keeping his eyes straight ahead and his hands at his sides. Don't play dumb. With any other authority figure, he might have lied, but since arriving at school, he'd gained a great deal more respect for his elder, and he wanted very badly to stay in Chank's good graces. He swallowed. "The werewolves, sir?" "Oh, good. You're not a total moron," Chank hissed. "Did it occur to you before you went happily tripping into pack territory that Clan deVarr might have business with a werepack? Or, perhaps, history? Werepacks aren't just doggie clubs, boil. Werepacks are clans in their own right. And you just walked right in without so much as thinkin' to check beforehand what you might be doing." Nahm's tail tucked against his leg. He almost never felt sick, but his stomach was roiling now. "I made a mistake, sir," he said. "I wasn't thinking." "Damn straight you weren't," Chank snapped. "I expect more intelligence out of you and your brother." Nahm's hands curled into fists. "Sir, Ahm wasn't involved with - " "You're involved, so he's involved," Chank corrected coldly. "Consider this a reminder. When you do something s**t-stupid, it reflects on your clan, and it reflects on your family." He turned the pale glow of his eyes on Roch. "Remember that, boil. You're not my blood, so I'm not scolding you, but this is a lesson you'd do well to keep in mind."
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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 8:00 am
"How about I do it for you," Vegas said. "Boil, you must have WAX for brains," he said bluntly. Roch couldn't see him, but that didn't matter. He knew exactly who was speaking. "Not only do you go straight into the heart of an entire CLAN of weres, you do it with only one boil as backup. Now I'm not going to underestimate your pal there, Nahm and his brother got you out of a nasty little situation earlier, but this is something entirely out of your league. When you get tangled up in things like that, you little dipshit, you go to the jackin' HEAD of your family. We let you run too wild in the past, I'll admit--" "Sir," a deep, mellow voice said from behind the two family heads. "If I could say something?" "Bruno--" Roch started out. "Shut it, boil," Bruno snapped, making Roch step back slightly. "I trusted you with my cubs. I thought you were intelligent enough to know basic etiquette, but to hear my older brother on the phone telling me you walked straight into his den without a thought, I am disappointed. You must have looked down on me because I had a job outside of the clan--" "I didn't!" Roch said. "I was just--jackdammit, I was scared for the ones I love." "And not for yourself? How about Nahm, here. You were just going to toss both of you to the wolves because of that?" Bruno demanded. "I should have left Nahm back at school," Roch said. Clearly he didn't see the part about himself like they did.
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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 9:29 am
"We made a mistake, sir," Nahm said. He pulled his scarf loose and held it out to his grandfather. "It won't happen again." He shot a glance towards Roch, trying to project don't argue, dumbass! at his friend. "Damn right it won't," Chank said. He made no move to take the scarf; instead, he dropped his jaw open, unhinging it to show far too many teeth, his mouth gaping impossibly wide before he snapped it shut. "Or I'll bite your head off myself. Put your jackdamn scarf back on, you're not being disowned, scareling." "Yes, sir," Nahm said, and rewrapped his scarf meekly. Chank's threat was absolutely literal, and Nahm didn't doubt for a moment that he'd carry through on it.
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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 12:05 pm
Roch was picturing it. And a bit too easily. He shut his mouth for a moment, wondering how to make it up to Bruno--yes, Bruno. Vegas and him, well, they were constantly making things up to one another. But Bruno--Bruno had been nothing but good to the punk boil. "What do you think we should do with him, Bruno?" Vegas asked. "It was your clan he walked into blindly. The offense is bigger to you than it is to me." "I think a house arrest, Boss," Bruno said. "And we take his bike for a month." "For--" Roch barely managed to shut his mouth before protesting. "Two months," Vegas agreed. "Don't try going to that boil of mine, he'll probably make it worse." That was a fact, Roch thought with a sigh. In some ways his old man was a LOT more vicious than his granddad. Instead he dug his keys out of his pocket and pulled off the bike key by feel, tossing it onto the ground. "Fine. It's out front."
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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 1:15 pm
All told, they'd gotten off pretty lightly. Nobody had gotten any body parts bitten off, and the revocation of Roch's bike privileges was only temporary. Nahm folded his hands into his sleeves and suppressed his sigh of relief; it was entirely possible that their elders would get pissed and increase the punishment if either of them got too insolent. Chank studied his wayward descendant briefly. Then he pulled his hood up and settled it back into place to shadow his face. "Go on, get out of my sight," he told Nahm. "Next time I see you, it better not be trouble. You boils got lucky." Nahm bowed wordlessly and glanced towards Roch, uncertain if the dismissal meant he should just get out or if he should wait for his friend. He opted for solidarity; he'd chosen to back Roch up on his errand, and he'd back the reaper up now.
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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 1:37 pm
"Get goin," Vegas said, waving them away. "First--about Terra," Roch said. "What do I do about her, Pops? She's not that happy with any of us." Vegas was silent for a moment. "Hell, boil, I don't know. Try and win her over, make sure she doesn't get herself killed or do something even stupider than what you just did. I'll have to deal with that problem sooner or later." "We're claiming t'be brother and sister," Roch said. "Rather than explain it." "Huh... well, that's fine. It's close enough, I figure. Isn't any of their business, anyway." Roch nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets and looking at Nahm. They might as well walk back to school-- "Boil, if any one of my clan sees you on the streets these next two months, you won't like what happens," Bruno said quietly. "Yes sir," Roch said with an inward sigh.
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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 1:48 pm
Once out on the street, Nahm let out the sigh that he'd been keeping in. "That went well," he said, his tone hovering delicately between sarcasm and sincerity. ----- Chank nodded to Bruno when the boils had gone. "Please convey my apologies to your brother," he grumbled. "Kids. Kids. Jack take it all, I need another drink."
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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 3:25 pm
"Alfie found it amusing, honestly," Bruno admitted. "We're just lucky they chose to go while they were still scarelings. He's a lot more lenient with scarelings when it comes to things like that. But the boils had a good reason," he went on. "Fang IS the type to use whatever dirty trick you can come up with to get revenge. It took several deaths just to make sure he left the territory." He went silent, scowling slightly as he thought about the situation. Then he nodded at Chank. "I apologize as well," he said formally. "I should have spoken to Roch about my pack before this. It was a matter of negligence on my behalf." -------------- Roch snorted. "I'd offer you a ride, man, but you know how that goes."
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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 3:52 pm
Nahm snorted. "I'll take you up on that in two months."
-----
"Not like we never did anything stupid when we were in school," Chank said, and grinned at Vegas. Then he nodded to Bruno, sobering again. "Rest assured, the clan retains its respect for territory and contractual obligations."
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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 3:54 pm
"Ours as well," Bruno said with a slight smile.
"So, someone said something about a drink?" Vegas said, lighting up a new cigar and kicking back. This little moment was as good as forgotten as far as he was concerned.
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