John Barrister

[Kemp Oates] "Shut the fuck up, Loki. I ain't in the mood."

The air nearly shimmered around him with the anger boiling just beneath his surface, not fully out yet.

[Henry Allard] That time, he understands her. Behind him there comes a coughing spray of liquid, one that has him turning over his shoulder to look towards Kai.

"I... yeah. Whadaya need?"

[Loki] "Nay, Yank. I'm not in tha mood fer yers comin' blusterin' up 'ere loike yer some Goddamned ahroun."

[Kai Rhett] She had caught the low purr of anger threaded through Kemps' voice, knew that it was a night with no moon, stirring his auspice in strange ways, but all the same...

"Want 'im? I don't even fuckin' know him."

And Kemp, of all people when not addled by anger that is, should know how wary and careful the once-beaten Fenrir Kin was with people she knew, let alone those that she didn't know beyond, really, more than a name and some rude exchanges.

[Kemp Oates] "Ya don't like it? Fuckin leave Loki. Twisting words ain't only your talent. Marking pack territory? Fuck that, ain't whatcha was doing. She said door was locked. You and I both know how it might be unlocked when ya just happen to turn up."

White teeth were bared as he gritted out.

"She don't want ya. Now, if ya got a problem with that...with me....let's go. Now. She's under my protection. Ya want to challenge it? Let's go."

[Loki] "Ye fuckin' liar. She didn't answer ye. Kai ne'er said she didn't want me. She said she didn't know me. How tha fuck can I get tae know tha lass wi' yer bloody ahroun's ass stompin' 'round. And, 'ave ye ever considered that not all No Moon's know how tae unlock doors?"

He hasn't moved from his perch against the door, his eyes cutting Kemp a sharp look. "She's tribe. She's Fenrir. Protectin' her doesn't jus' extend tae yer bloody as alone. Lloyd said she needed tae be watched o'er. Ye can't fuckin' be 'ere 24-7 now can ye?"

[Phone call] Nessa explains exactly what she needs, in just a few words, and holds her breath. Please... please say yes... please...
Not that she would beg to his face. Er.. ear.
Nothing familiar surrounds her, though her gaze slips anxiously from face to face.

[Kemp Oates] He moved much like Decker would. Course, look who he had been raised by for over four years. One arm shot out, knuckles curled in a fist as he punched for Loki.

[Henry Allard] A surprised, single shot of laughter leaves Henry's throat. It is unlike his usual brand of laughter, the airy, repressed sort that sounds as if it is afraid to be heard. This is a sound Nessa has not heard in a while, that the others have not heard at all, although at the moment, the others are slightly distracted by a fight brewing in the hallway to notice that the reserved paramedic is actually laughing at something.

"For you, Nessa, I can do that. Text me the address and I'll ship it out tomorrow."

[Kai Rhett] She pushed herself out of the bean bag, walking across the living room towards the apartment's front door where the Rotagar were. She paused long enough in her trek to toss the half empty beer across the kitchenette's dividing counter, the glass hitting the the metal of the sink and the contents frothing out the mouth of the bottle.

She side-stepped around Henry who was trying to conduct a phone call with all the noise of the two Rotagar in the background -- she'd caught the name. Nessa. She knew the name. She'd heard it. It didn't leave her without knowledge of what person had called this late in the evening-come-morning.

...then before she could get any further, Kemp went to punch Loki. She stepped back enough to reach around into the kitchen, to the knife block on the counter that was on easy to reach location as much for when cooking, as to be able to arm herself in case of an unwanted visitor.

Garou in anger were a dangerous thing, especially for those that tended to go Squish as easily as Kin, but Garou taking that anger out in the middle of a hallway -- talking as they were when the walls were so damned thin and everyone was a gossip -- was dangerous for the Veil. Having them fighting in the open, so to speak, was not something that any of the Nation needed, regardless of the perceived provocation.

Henry, with his broken arm, wouldn't be any good in this situation, even if there wasn't a problem with a Gaian trying to muzzle into a Fenrir problem. Not that there was very much, physically, that Kai could do either -- she may have survived the Wyrm, but some of her bones would break more easily since the first time it had happened. Kin should stay out of Garou business, their tempers and their fights...

...it was only the healthy option. But that being said: there were secrets to protect. Which wasn't going to happen, fueled by the Moon and Testosterone.

Back towards the door, long-assed knife in hand (albeit with only one cutting side). Bare foot, smaller in size than both the males.

"HEY!"

She was not preternaturally angry. She wasn't giving off Rage.
She was almost worse...

...Female Ire.

[Kemp Oates]

[Phone call] "Oh, oh thank you so much. Is... Is emergency, I cannot find anywhere here and i have to have. So important, Henry. Here... I wil text now. Oh, no sign of Lucia da? No asking? Did you find out that information about... ahh divorce like i asked?"

Surely some other kin has tried what she had proposed. In all the annals of werewolf kin history, some idiot has to have had enough balls.

Surviving it.. now maybe THAT problem is why she'd never heard of it before.

[Henry Allard] Kai goes brushing past him, and Henry looks up to watch her go. There comes a knife, a long one, and Henry's brow crunches up on itself as she moves towards the door. A moment later, her voice rings out in the hallway.

"HEY!"

"Shit... Nessa, I gotta go."

The phone is pushed back into his pocket, and Henry, with his broken arm, his extra-Tribe status, takes off after Kai.

[Loki] Kemp moves like Decker. Full of piss and vinegar as his rage is rolling out of him like some inferno, clouding over the tall Rotagar’s judgment as the only thing he wanted to do right now was imbed his fist into Lachlan’s face and send the Scotman’s head into the wall behind him.

Hey!

Somewhere in the background Kai’s screaming at them, brandishing some knife. Henry’s ready to hunt for the “oh shit” button and getting off the phone.

Lachlan does the only thing he can do. Get the fuck out of the way, with some success. Kemp’s fist comes within a hair’s breadth of his face, flying pass his cheek to strike the wall right next to the very spot that Lachlan’s head was near. Loki jerked his head to the side, just missing the impact which would likely have broken his nose and the skin on Kemp’s knuckles.

It brings the two Fenrir closer, an arm’s width of each other. Lachlan puts his hands up to Kemp’s chest. Breathing out slowly, “Kemp, lad…”

[snail] (OKAY, ENOUGH WITH THE DECKER REFERENCES! I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW DECKER WOULDN'T MISS >_<

*calms*)

[Henry Allard] (DOWN BOY)

[snail] (...hail kahseeno, full'a dice, i didn't mean to blaspheme thy altar of combat with my misplaced pride.)

[Kemp Oates] "Don't fuckin lad me."

He was totally ticked.

"Ya gonna try and use bullshit on a bullshitter? Try and turn things around on me with words? Fuck that, ya know fuckin better. Lay off the girl. Ya interested, come challenge for the right to have her pay your ass attention. But ya start stalking and shit and we are gonna go 'round and 'round till one goes down."

((LOL! Snail))

[Henry Allard] Times like this, watching boys-turned-men huff and puff and throw words and fists at each other, Henry truly feels his age. Truly feels the distance between his Tribe and the others', between his blood and the Trues'. His right hand catches the door as Kai flies through it, hauls it open behind him, and he winces as he watches Kemp's hand pound into the wall where the Scotsman's head had been not two seconds earlier.

There is a dichotomy between his responsibility as an older member of the Nation and his place as Kin. Not even a Kin amongst his own people, but a Gaian in the presence of Fenrir. He could very well say something. Probably should say something, try and defuse the situation before it flares up again, but he does nothing of the sort.

Henry simply sighs, quietly, and places his left hand on Kai's upper arm for a hair of a second, a C'mon that is left unspoken.

[Henry Allard] (Smoking, brb.)

[Loki] “Kemp, listen tae me ye need tae calm down. We’re not in a good place fer such conversations. How ‘bout we go discuss this o’er a beer or two, aye?”

He straightens up, neither moving away nor pushing on the pissed off Fenrir. His voice crooning out in a persuasive tone as he tries to calm the other Rotagar down, enacting on his gifts of persuasion to help him.

(persuasion gift roll)

[J.B.] Kids.

Inside the dusty little pawn shop that this is conveniently taking place in front of, John Barrister grumbles off his stool at the raised voices and the thumping against the walls. He takes a last sip of tea, sets aside the volume of Wordsworth he was leafing through, and bypasses shotgun under the counter (home security system for the ghetto) for the dented old Louisville slugger by the door instead. Intent on making enough of a bluster to drive away even the most obstinate of over-hormoned teenagers, Barrister pauses to throw back his shoulders and puff out his chest. Then he shoves the door open as hard as he could, hard enough to slam it off the wall outside and make a racket.

"KEEP IT DOWN OUT HERE."

This door, of course, obeying some cosmic rule of the World of Darkness, flies open right in Kai and Henry's faces. Maybe it'll miss them by an inch -- if they were quick about jumping back. Otherwise, they're the first true casualties of the night.

[J.B.] (right. apparently everyone's inside. amend my post to read some... apartment door opens, and the rest still applies.)

[Kai Rhett] This was the way of the Nation.

It was not about political correctness or female emancipation or any other lofty ideals of the human society that they skirted around the edges of. Kin might live in the Human World, but their existence was equally balanced on the knife's edge of being part of the Nation. They had to tread both carefully and if they thought that they could ignore the Garou World, expect their Full Bloods to be like normal people, then they person was either delusional, ignorant or just plain stupid. Especially amongst tribes like the Fenrir, the Fang and the Lords.

Challenges were the way of life. The wolf instinct strong, thrumming underneath the rage. It was the way things were and to expect a Garou to act like a normal human was to underestimate any situation. She made no comment about what Kemp had said to the other Rotagar about challenging for rights to her attentions -- it was the wolf way. She might have been away from the Nation for some years, but with the memories that had come back, she was still retaining those early years of training as a Fenrir Kin. To know what to expect and just accept it, to a certain point.

She didn't intend to use the knife. There was no way she could win, but hell... it was a security blanket of sorts. Never be among predators without some sort of back-up. Maybe you couldn't win in a situation like this, but you could go down on your feet, right?

Henry touched her shoulder, she was just standing there. Neutral, barely. She glanced down at his hand, then back at the other Kin, then to the two Rotagar. She tilted her head slightly, head turning back to Henry again with a soft, "Jus' a minute."

[Kemp Oates] His brows were still furrowed as the other door slammed open and the bellow followed. Helmeted head turned towards the new distraction for a moment, then away and back again in a double take of sorts.

"John?"

Now that was something he completely didn't expect to see. He hadn't seen the Kin in sometime, not since before Skadi up and vanished. Seeing him now threw Kemp off.

"What are you doing here?"

[J.B.] "Jesus H." His attention, see, had been turned toward the guy with the cast. And the girl with the knife. There had to be a good story there. Barrister's a big strapping fellow, well over six feet, broad, barrel-chested. He scowls at the girl and then points at the guy's arm. "Did she do that to you? Is she beating you? You have to report that and get help. Don't be ashamed just because she's a girl."

Then -- from the other direction, Kemp. John turns around, the Louisville Slugger still in hand. Not his, and not quite full-size. Looks like some kid's, maybe. For Little League. His eyebrows beetle together, and then go up.

"Kemp? I uh." Live here? No, wait, the kid knows where he lives. John scratches his cheek, short blunt fingernails scritching over stubble. Then he changes the subject. "What are you doing here?"

From inside the apartment, a female voice. "Forget about it, John. You're missing the best part of the movie."

J.B. colors, clearing his throat.

[Kai Rhett] She passed the knife back over one shoulder to Henry. Security Blanket-Knife no longer needed with the air not so rage-stuffed to the point of choking. Likely anyone and everyone had heard the argument - if not the contents, then the fact that two people were fighting on this floor -- and more than a few of them were double checking their locks, pulling guns out and loading them just in case.

Honestly, at this point, she was merely grateful that the old Veteran that lived in the apartment across the hall from her, who was hard of hearing and twice as jumpy, hadn't decided to plug a hole through his door at whatever was causing the ruckus out in the hallway, disturbing his late-night watching alternating between porn and the weather channel.

She took several deep breaths, slowly her breathing down, as well as her heartbeat -- that much Rage was not fun to be doused in on the best to times, less so when you weren't in the best of mental shape. The appearance of Barrister was enough to diffuse the situation, it seemed, which meant swinging fists were less likely to start coming around again.

...and once again, Henry (poor guy) was mistaken as Kai's boyfriend or some relationship along those lines. Heh.

[Kemp Oates] "Ya don't live he...."

The female voice called out just as Kemp was starting to point out the obvious to the Kin. There came a beat and two before a wide shit eating smile slid across his face like running an eraser across a chalk board.

"Ooooohhhhh....heh....I ain't doing what you are doing."

Just like that his anger was put on the back burner for now.

"Er..."

He indicated the inside of the apartment.

"Was having a friendly discussion with someone."

For just a second his eyes narrowed then cleared.

"Nice bat."

[Kai Rhett] Whether or not Henry took the knife didn't really matter in the end. She eyed the patch of wall where Kemp had tried, unsuccessfully, to put his fist through Lachlan's face, the other Rotagar proving to quick at least in dodging for it to happen. Then kept going, to Kemp's side.

A hand, carefully (dogs bite, ya know) placed on his arm long enough to get his attention "Speak to ya in private fer a minute?"

[Henry Allard] Out bursts a bear of a man, hollering for quiet and pulling at Kemp's attention. When eyes go to his cast, he doesn't appear fazed--it's an anomaly, you see, it's a sign that something's wrong, and he had long grown used to gazes lingering on its presence, to the questions that invariably followed along, the 'What the hell happened's and the like.

The question, though, has a comically confused expression crossing the Gaian kinsman's face, a look that displays a combination of miscomprehension and an earnest struggle to not laugh, and he looks down at the shorter woman for a split second as if to confirm that Kai is the one being accused of battering him into a cast.

"What?" he says, and then a second later, "I, uh... no, she's not..."

Never mind.

Henry takes the knife from the slight kinswoman and lets the apartment door slide closed behind him. He catches the knob in the kidney.

[Loki] “I need a fuckin’ beer after this shite…” He murmurs, stepping away from Kemp. His form sagging against the wall as he drags his hands up into his hair, running them from brown to nape, scratching at his scalp; he looks up at Kai briefly, casting her a side glance as she asks to speak to Kemp in private. He doesn’t say anything, cheeks puffing out as he releases his breath out in a heavy sigh.

[Kai Rhett] Over her shoulder, to the Scottish Fenrir, came a comment from Kai who was getting overloaded by the amount of testosterone in this vicinity of her building -- "Beers intha fridge. Help yerself."

[J.B.] The kid's shit eating grin makes Barrister smile a wincing sort of smile. "Her name's Laura. She's a nice lady. Works in marketing over at Driscoll&Franklin. Not -- y'know." He makes a little gesture, indicating himself and Kemp: not one of us. Then hefting the bat with a faint grin, "Thanks. It's Oren's. Her kid. He's only around on the weekends. Custody, y'know."

"John, who is it?" -- more aware now, and closer.
"Just an old friend, Laur," J.B. calls over his shoulder, slipping out sideways and tapping the door shut behind him. "I'll be right back."

[Kemp Oates] "Heh, well don't mean to take ya from the nice lady."

He cut a look to Kai and the others behind her before speaking again.

"Just a moment Kai, I'll be right with ya. Best I cool off a little more after being called a fuckin Liar."

His eyes narrowed in Loki's direction again before he stepped more fully into the hall to pull the door shut behind him to speak to John in a lower voice.

"Good ta see ya. Girl what moved in there, is one of us, like you. Appreciate if ya hear about any shit going on if ya let me know."

[J.B.] Out in the hall with the door safely closed, John leans back against it and considers Kai with a bit of a frown. Well, that explained the knife. Sort of.

"I'm not here much, tell you the truth. But I'll call if something's up." He sets the bat gently head-down on the ratty carpeting of the hallway, his hand loosely wrapped around the butt. The bat's only two inches or so shorter than regulation, but it seems small in Barrister's hand. In his length of bone, his unhurried confidence and the cut of his brow is the good blood of Fenris. "Skadi's number still the same?"

The girl seems to want to talk to Kemp, and out of politeness, J.B. diverts his attention to the others in the hall. "You guys all -- family?"

[Kai Rhett] Kemp had stayed to speak with John, Henry was already back with his stuff in her apartment, no doubt, Loki could come or go as his taste for beer dictated...

Kemp had deflected her need to talk to him and that was fine -- Kai went after Henry: the apartment, the living room, the stuff that was parked on the couch in the bright blaze of color in an otherwise dingy colored room. Best to leave what just happened out of any discussion -- was over, was done and wasn't worth talking about, it seemed, at least from the Fenrir Kin's point of view.

So, being as that wasn't a topic to work with, she approached Henry about what he had originally intended to help her with and the reason he was here so damned late in the evening --

"Say ya show me what ta do, yeah?" she suggested, dropping unceremoniously down into one of the bean bags, long legs stretched out, "Kept ya long 'nough from..." She had caught what he hadn't said on the phone, the embarrassed laugh and had a pretty fair idea of what he'd been up to before coming over tonight -- she raised her eyebrows to to let him know that she knew, a slight smile tugging the corner of her lips very briefly.

[Kemp Oates] "I don't know if Skadi's number's the same. Ain't seen her in months. She was here one moment, then I guess she done took off again. Didn't say nothing, just gone. Ain't had the desire to go seeking after the last time."

A closed look entered his eyes before he seemed to blink and push his thoughts away, clearing his throat.

"The there is Kia. And the one there with two different colored eyes and the scar on his face is Lachlan. She is same as you and he is same as me, as much as two different can be similiar. And that other one there is Henry. He and Tristan are a thing."

He ticked off each one before reaching out to push Kai's door open again.

"Ya'll come meet John. He's fam of a sort like Kai. I'll come back in a bit ta talk with ya Kai. Gonna go check my bike and get some air."

[Loki] Loki ignores the look that Kemp shoots him. He waits until the other Rotagar is gone, slipping through the front door to head into Kai’s apartment. He makes a path for the kitchenette, disappearing behind an opened fridge door, one hand stretched out for a beer bottle.

He lets the door shut quietly, his eyes flicking over to Henry and Kai as he begins to make his way back to the front door. “I’ll be out on tha fire escape getting some air. Give all some privacy."

[J.B.] "Huh," about Skadi. "Sorta thought you two were a -- well." Maybe it was impolite to inquire about such things. Barrister tucks his hands under his arms, arms folded across his chest. It puts stretch marks into his shirt from shoulder to shoulder.

The introductions bring nods to each, though when Kai departs and Kemp calls her back, John puts a hand up and shakes his head. "No, it's all right. I oughta get back in myself. Good meeting you all. Henry: sorry about the misunderstanding with the -- " he gestures at the other's cast, " -- with the arm."

[Henry Allard] Knife in hand, situation resolving itself, little reason or desire to remain out in the hallway, Henry had turned and let himself back into the apartment. His movements about the space were minimal and with purpose in mind--a trip to the kitchen to return the knife to its place, a moment at the couch to dig out the vials of diazepam he had promised Kai. She slips in after him a spell later, flops down on a beanbag chair, and Henry turns to look at her with eyebrows raised, as if to facilitate absorption of the question.

"Oh..."

His lips pull to reveal a row of teeth, a breath rushing out in unvoiced laughter, and his cheeks color somewhat, a dull pink that is only noticeable because it is a spread of color in a drag landscape.

"No, you're fine. Go ahead and get ready for bed and I'll show you what to do... if you're like most people you're going to fall asleep five minutes after I give you the injection."

Kemp is pushing his head back into the apartment, bidding them come say hello to John. Henry follows along after, propping the door open with his hip, and when the large Fenrir kinsman makes an apology for the mix-up, Henry smiles a rather self-depreciating smile and holds up his left hand, the one half-casted, as if to stave it off.

"Don't worry about it, man." He lets the door shut behind him to come forward and offer his right to shake. "I'm Henry."

[J.B.] "John. Nice to meet you." Grip, firm. Hand, large. Palm, rough. He has the look of a man who works with his hands, and possibly fight with them as well. However, his clothes have been chosen with some care, casual but quality, and not the usual slobbish jeans and t-shirts one might find amongst the working class. A collared shirt (untucked and unbuttoned, but the sort that could easily hold a tie); slacks, khaki, not denim. On his left ring finger glints a wedding band, but one doubts his wife is the 'nice lady' in the apartment behind him.

"I should probably let you get back to your friend." The exact nature of the relationships in question were still a bit of a muddle to Barrister. He'd heard something about Henry and a Tristan. Or was that Trista? And then the knife-wielding girl was sidling up on the kid. But now the girl and the armcasted guy were going back to the same apartment, and there was something about getting ready for bed.

Deciding he was better off not knowing, John reaches behind to turn the knob on his lady-friend's front door. "I'm sure I'll see you guys around," he adds, by way of a friendly goodbye.

[Kai Rhett] She went out after Henry long enough to introduce herself, but she was obviously distracted enough with other things on her mind. While Henry spoke to John, she went back in to at least half get ready for sleep. Henry might not like it, in the end, being that she'd ask to be shown what to do, but she didn't intend to sleep right away. Not with Lachlan on the fire escape and the need to say something or other - privately - to Kemp. Likely, though, one way or another, she wasn't going to be able to speak to anyone about anything and end up knocked unconscious into blissful unawares.

[Henry Allard] Henry, for his part, is dressed like a bit of a slob, like someone who didn't put too much thought into what he opted to throw on before leaving his house--his jeans are old, with tears in the thighs and knees that were put there by time and use rather than a machine, and his t-shirt, a long-sleeved burgundy affair, is faded and form-fitting. It's the sort of shirt his homophobe of a roommate claims practically screams 'Gay'. But then, Richard liked to believe most of what Henry does screams 'Gay'. That was until he met his other half.

A genuinely amicable smile comes across Henry's features as the two men step back to their respective doors, and he raises a hand to wave farewell as John does so verbally.

"Nice to meet you," Henry says, before letting himself back into the apartment.

Kai does not plan on going to bed right away, and so Henry simply shows her what to do with an empty syringe and his own deltoid muscle before packing up his things and seeing himself out the door.

"Call me if you need anything," is the last thing he says before the door closes behind him.