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Anji's Apartment(#3907RJ)
An old and basic, but clean, apartment. The front door opens straight into the living area, at the far side of which a door leads through to a small kitchen. A side wall leads into a small passage off which may be found a bedroom, a bathroom, and a large cupboard (or if you prefer, a small storage closet). The bedroom and living room walls are covered with posters of various vintages and subjects; for instance, a gothboy holding a guitar aggressively is juxtaposed with a New York Gay Pride advert from three years ago, and alongside these two is a cute blow-up photograph of a raccoon perched atop a garbage can. Notable furniture includes a fold-out sofa-bed in the main room, as well as a large blue corduroy bean-bag strategically placed near the television and music centre, while the bedroom boasts a rather full clothes rail and a double bed whose bedspread is embroidered, seemingly by hand, with the image of a reclining striped cat.


Inside Anji's apartment, an envelope addressed to someone else lies on the counter that separates kitchen area from living space, placed carefully out of the way of harm. Anji herself is bustling around with a vacuum cleaner, hoovering up dust and debris, a job which looks about three weeks overdue.

There's a knock on the door, sharp and staccato, though it may not be audible at first.

Anji does hear that knock and turns the hoover off. Peeking through the spyhole she discerns Leslie and opens the door for her. "That's wonderful timing," she says. "I got something for you. Come on in, I'll show you, hon."

Leslie blinks as the door opens suddenly, then brightens visibly as she sees Anji. "You're home! Thank the Mother, I was hoping i wouldn't have to try to find you on that campus." Cheerful and pleasant, she seems to have lost some of the reserve with which she carried herself earlier, but the dignity and grace is still there as she follows you inside. "You have something for me? Awesome."

"If you ever need me on campus, just follow the signs for the library and ask the issue desk to find me. For a university, the place is actually well signposted and not too much of a rabbit warren." Anji walks over to the envelope, collects it, and offers it to Leslie. "This arrived just today. From back East."

Leslie's bright grin turns into a gracious smile. "I'll keep that in mind." She takes the letter in surprise, the grin brightening again at first and then falling a bit. "It's from my elders." Still, she seems pleased as she tucks it into a pocket. "Thank you so much for passing this on for me, I'll read it later. I've got a question for you, though."

Anji raises one eyebrow and turns her head to one side a little, body language inviting the question.

"Well, it's a problem that hopefully you can help me solve." Leslie's expression goes serious as she talks, and her gaze intensifies as she leans both elbows on the countertop. "I need the advice of an elder sister of my own moon -- the half-moon. Things here are..interesting and I could use an outside perspective. I hesitate to contact my own elders on this point, as I was sent here with the expectation that I'd be working on my own, and a letter back to them for help would be construed as incompetence on my part." She shrugs, frowning now. "Maybe I am, but I'm not about to throw this opportunity away by contacting them unless in absolute desperation. Do you know any among your blood Kin?"

Anji greets that question with a broad grin. "So, let's get this clear. We haven't been on a formal date yet, even, and you're already asking to meet my mom?"

A moment of silence, and Leslie begins to laugh helplessly, the tone rich and low, burying her head in her arms. "Your -mom-? The luck of all the goddesses walks with me," she manages between gasps of laughter. "Good, I'll need it in this crazy-ass hellhole of a Sept." Finally, she manages to pull herself upright, her eyes twinkling, albeit a bit uncertainly. "Why, Anji, I didn't know you cared."

Anji keeps smiling away, eyes twinkling. "My mother is Vanessa Firm-Grasp-On-Truth, and with a deedname like that, you think she's some theurge, you guess wrong. You want me to put you in touch? If I explain what the position is here I'm sure she'd take as much time as she could to help out."

Warm relief sweeps Leslie's features. "That would be a boon to all of us if you could do that. This area's half-moons are few in number, and fewer still of them keep the Laws themselves. I think there is only one full member who isn't dishonored, and well....he's a Get." The derisive and disgusted twist to the words speaks volumes. I myself will be a full member soon, but I wasn't entrusted with all of the tools needed at the time I left." She pulls her elbows off of the counter, speaking decisively now. "What I'll do is write a letter for you to share with her, if you will. Does she speak Greek at all? Some of my sisters prefer to be addressed in Greek, and some aren't the most fluent in English."

Anji's facial expression echoes Leslie's own at the thought of a male Get being the only worthy philodox in a sept. "Mom speaks English. Our family's been over here for at least a hundred years, though I know we have relatives back there still. I think we visit now and again." She sketches the shape of a high, arching bridge in the air, the typical arc of a moon bridge. "Vanessa Kyriacou is her name for official human purposes."

Again, Leslie's smile betrays relief. "Good, because my Greek stinks. I'll write that letter for you in the next couple of days, because this place is law-wise an abject disaster. Thank you -so- much for this." She leans back on the counter. "It's been a while. I try to avoid the city during big moons. How've you been?"

Anji shrugs neutrally. "I'm used to things being quiet at this time of month," she agrees. "KL would only come round in an emergency, and Helen always has this habit of going underground for weeks at a time. Seen a few movies, been out to a club once or twice. Not much that helps the Nation or my sisters, but what can you do? Not even any cubs to look after."

"Speak for yourself." Leslie chuckles. "I think the reason this Sept avoids the city so much during big moons is they'd get bumped in the street and blow the entire city up in a fit of rage." She shakes her head in disgust. "I still haven't met KL yet, and I don't see that much of Helen either." Her gracious smile fades. "It's good to talk to someone I know isn't going to tear my throat out for one wrong move."

Anji giggles at that image. "I'd have to grow my nails for weeks and file them down for weeks more before I could do that," she points out to the garou. "So are the other tribes really that unstable? I've not got much idea of what goes on outside the sisterhood."

"Don't, please. I see enough of that outside." Leslie smiles, her usual demeanor of carefully shackled anger slipping a bit. "We've got cases of Garou nearly killing cubs just days after they kidnappeed them because they lost control. We got some tribes demanding the right to judge another for wrongs done to them." She sighs deeply. "It's a mess, and a dangerous mess."

Anji seems taken aback. "Damn right it's a mess," she agrees in a voice redolent of annoyance. "Who's in charge of this all? I remember Helen said it was some Fianna philodox in the eldership? Why isn't she kicking ass here?"

"She vanished, apparently, without warning." Leslie shakes her head. "There is a new Alpha, but I'm reserving judgement on him so far. I don't know if he has the personal strength or charisma to take control."

Anji frowns for a brief moment at the news. "'Him'," she says. "Boys take the power back again. What a surprise. Just tell me it's not a Get, or a Silver Fang."

Leslie shakes her head, leaning her elbows on the counter again as she talks. "You know how quick men are to step into a power vacuum. But it's not...Wendigo, though a lot more friendly than most of the ones I've met. Admittedly, that's not many." She frowns abruptly, and shakes her head. "I'm so tired of talking politics. It seems like it's all of what I'm dealing with right now. What's going on in the city? Anything of note?"

"That's what you get for being in a mixed sept instead of a sensible one where most everyone's the same tribe and gets along," Anji says in evident discontent with the state of things as reported. "The more I hear about it the more I start to think I'm lucky to be out of all this. The city? Well, there was a massive great fire a little while back, the big hospital got burnt down. In fact," she says thoughtfully, "there seems to have been a lot of building and apartment fires lately being reported. There was one only yesterday in a hotel uptown."

"You are," Leslie assures Anji. "Very much so." She frowns at the mention of fires. "All set by the same person?"

Anji shrugs, quite an expansive movement, as much of her body language is. "I haven't been rummaging through the ruins like Sherlock Holmes," she says. "That might be dangerous for a little kingirl who can't grow parts back that get scorched off. I would have hoped some garou would have noticed too and made enquiries for themselves, but from what you're saying I'll bet the male ones are all too busy playing boys' dominance games and the girls are all sucking up to the guys."

"Actually, the majority of both sexes are sitting around with their thumbs up their rear ends, from all I can tell." Trenchant disgust colors the Fury's tone. "Which is perhaps worse. I really should look into that, but I'd have to take someone with me who knows the city and can fight if things get ugly." She frowns. "There's so much to do."

"What the hell has KL done with herself?" Anji wonders irately. "She'd be ideal. Her pack patrols the city. I can drive you around all right, but fighting... no, not me, sorry."

A helpless shrug is Leslie's eloquent response. "I've never even met her. I don't know of she even knows that I'm in the area. I'd like to meet her, but..." She trails off, silent in thought for a moment. Or two. Finally, she asks, "Heard anything from Jeremy about the Fury house?"

"Not a blessed thing," is Anji's reply. "Nor from Helen. I keep telling myself no news is good news, and besides Jeremy has the twins to look after so he's probably real busy."

Leslie straightens now, and wanders over to another wall to slide gently to the floor, back up against it. She crosses one outstretched leg over the other, frowning. "Helen wanted to come out here with me to talk to you about it, but I couldn't find her when I was ready to go. Hopefully she'll be along soon.

Anji walks over to the kitchen area and fills the kettle to boil water, looking very much as though she's doing so to have something to do with herself. "I'm sorry," she says. "I feel pretty much like the spare wheel of the sisters, here."

Meanwhile, Leslie frowns, as she's apparently sitting on something obnoxious. Propping herself up on one hand, she uses the other to pull the letter free from her back pocket; it now looks slightly crumpled as she frees it and drops it on her lap before dropping back to the carpet. "There." Her expression becomes more serious. "You're not, Anji. You're my bastion of sanity. Helen's just too inconsistent to make a good sounding board, and KL's not around. I trust you not to go spilling the beans. Be glad you are where you are. It's best for you and it's best for us. Believe me, you don't want to deal with some of this crap."

Anji stares at Leslie as though she's not entirely inclined to believe the garou. "Thanks, darling," she says, though. "It's the usual kinfolk thing, of course. The inferiority complex. And don't tell me you couldn't be a librarian, either," she adds with a wry smile.

Leslie ssmiles, unperturbed by all appearances. "Me? Athena's grace, no. I'd likely kill the thirteenth person in an hour to ask me where to find the latest romance novel." She shrugs, eloquently. "You know how you can help out most, Anji?" She looks up, calmly serious.

Anji hesitates before answering. Does she suspect a verbal trap? "Shoot."

"Do exactly what you're doing right now." Leslie doesn't hesitate, folding her hands in her lap over the letter. "Getting this lot to wake up and pay attention could be the difference between keeping and losing this area to the Wyrm. I've sort of taken that task on myself, simply because so few people seem to be willing to, but no way am I going to run and just let this place fall, because if nothing is done, fall is what will happen, and soon." There's a distinct appeal in her eyes as she gazes at you, along with the troubled look. "But I can't do it alone, and my Garou sisters are not enough to help me."

Anji seems a little heartened by this. "When I was looking for a job after college," she explains, "I knew I wanted to work somewhere there was a sept nearby, so I could do my part for Gaia. When I got this job I was beside myself with joy. And then I got here... and the job's fine, and the apartment's kinda nice, and the town is okay... but the sept... I felt it was a complete failure to connect."

"That's probably because there are so few of the Furies here." Leslie shakes her head. "I'm sorry you had trouble, and I'm sure it is frustrating, but...you got me in when it mattered, and I appreciate that more than you can know. A lot of times tracking them down when you don't know who or where is tough enough and a little risky." She offers you a wan smile. "This time, that wasn't a problem, the problem is keeping myself sane and grounded long enough to knock some heads together here. Will you do that for me?" Again, the appeal in her eyes is genuine. "There aren't that many women in this Sept, and none of my moon...well, there's the newcomer Shadow Lord, but..." She spreads her hand as if that should be self-explanatory.

Anji's self-pity is pushed aside almost visibly and the kin is all businesslike efficiency once more. "Of course. I'll do what I need to. Or what you need to, I should say. Whatever you need to stay grounded. A few hints and tips about what works best for you would be useful, though," she points out.

Leslie shrugs. "Mostly just listen to me rattle. That or writing is how I work things out in my own head. If I can write to your mom -- " she pauses, the grin returning to her face, "-- if I need advice that only a Garou can give, that helps too. Mostly just listen and tell me when I'm full of shit." She stands up, the letter falling to the floor. "Thanks."

"Hasn't happened so far," Anji declares stoutly in defence of the garou. "Your head's screwed on so tight, ain't nobody ever gonna twist that off of you, as a friend of my mom's said to her once. If Luna's too big for you to come over you can always call me up and talk code at me down the phone till I work out what you're on about."

Leslie nods. "That should work. I think we've got a phone at the Fury house somewhere. I'll ask Helen." She turns the letter over and over in her hands, eyeing it curiously, then looks up. "What's that smell?" she asks, sniffing and frowning.

"There's a callbox in Kent Crossing, I know," Anji points out. She sniffs. "Smell?"

Leslie frowns, wrinkling up her nose, then shrugs. "Must just be my imagination." She looks up at you, smiling ruefully. "A callbox? Whereabouts?"

Anji ahas as she realises what the source of the smell is. The kettle has boiled and is bubbling merrily away. "You staying for coffee or need to go?" she asks. "The box is opposite the little row of shops with the hardware store and the post office."

"Coffee would be awesome, or tea would be better," Leslie answers absently. While Anji headed for the kitchen to deal with the water, she ran a nail under the flap of the envelope in her hand, and there's the sound of rustling paper, and then silence.

"Tea's on the way," Anji's voice comes from beyond the half-wall separating kitchen from lounge.

Silence emanates from the living room, punctuated only by the occasional rustling of paper. Then, without warning, the low sound of a contralto voice swearing in a odd mixture of blistering English and even more blistering Greek drowns all of that out. "No. No. You are fucking lying. No way. Shit." Anguish and anger floods the low, intense words. "God DAMN it." Leslie's voice is unsteady. "Anji, I have to go. Bye." The last word is punctuated by the opening of the door.

In the kitchen on the far side of the apartment from the door as she is, Anji is in no position to intervene as Leslie makes for the exit at high speed. Indeed, she hardly has time to emerge with an empty mug and the words "What the hell?" before Leslie makes her way out and the door slams with a noise redolent of finality, leaving the kin standing there dumbfounded, the mug still dangling from her fingers.



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