First things first (Open)

[Swami M]

It's almost 8 AM by the time Alex is done with his three-bus journey... one Greyhound and two SACRT. He's running on only three hours' sleep, but after the unexpectedly sumptuous in-flight meal he's brimming with nervous energy. Standing on the sidewalk he checks and re-checks the list of names and addresses written in his notebook. Things to do, people to see... Like the Forge (nope, that doesn't sound too ominous, not even a little bit) where he'll be expected to report for football tryouts or pistols at dawn or whatever it is that the Summers do to break in new recruits... There's a list of the other Court headquarters and a few other public meeting places. But first things first. Edna's Boarding House and a place to settle down, if only until he can find (and afford) something better.

He looks up at the house and back down at the address in his notebook several times until he's really sure that this is the place. It reminds him more than a little of the house from The Amityville Horror, complete with windows that seem to stare out at him like glassy eyes... Creepy. But creepy is supposed to be Autumn's thing, after all. And as walks up the path he can feel a faint tingle of the Wyrd. He pauses one moment more on the porch before approaching the door that marks his entry into the wider world of Changeling society and... OK, no need to be so dramatic. There's just lots to do. And it ain't gonna suck itself...
Alex opens the door and steps inside.

[Malcolm Green]

Life has been somewhat easier since Green purchased the trunk with wheels. The bulky object is not quite so bulky when one is a great giant of a man and with his gargantuan strength he can simply haul the thing behind him without breaking a sweat.

He is on the move again now. See: he comes with his ponderous tread, the trunk rolling and scraping behind him. In his other hand he carries a large sack, slung casually over his shoulders like a returning seaman of yore.

He's never had to use the Boarding House till now. Interesting times.

[Swami M]

Alex hears the clattering wheels behind him and then a moment later is enveloped by a chilling Mantle. He turns to see who is behind him and does a long double take... He knows that Changelings are weird. Or Wyrd... His mentors, Bob and Janet O'Brien, look like a couple from an offbeat sitcom set in the Forgotten Realms, if that were really a thing. Elf husband, Orc wife. The few other Changelings that Alex had met... the O'Briens' friends from "out in the country" and a handful of people from the tiny Redding Freehold... looked not unlike members of a Dungeons and Dragons adventuring party. Or maybe the thugs who were fighting them for possession of the +5 Vorpal McGuffin. Dwarves, gnomes, a troll, a couple of lizardmen and a minotaur... That is, they all still appeared to conform to the basic rules of biology...
The person in front of him is something very different. He appears to be a mass of living stone. A very big mass of living stone... But staring is rude. "Hi. Are you new in town too?" Oh, man, that was sure smooth... Alex pauses and extends his hand... "Alex. Alex Rivers." ...before reminding himself that the stranger does not actually have a hand free. Day One is getting off to a flying start...

[Malcolm Green]

Green grunts and squeezes through the door. The process was usually slow and arduous; this time was no exception - in fact it was slower, if anything. The mountain ducked low, dumped his shoulder bag, hauled himself and his heavy trunk through the opening with glacial slowness, then let out a long, thick, limb to reclaim his bag. It was a complicated movement and not without its problems.

The door frame juddered and nearby furniture shuddered. The trunk banged heavily on the floor. Rising at last, the mountain narrowly avoided putting his head through the ceiling.

Wincing, he at last noticed the other Elemental.

"What? Uh uh... No. I live here, man. Um. Nosy neighbours, yeah? Can't live with 'em. And as I'm in between work, boarding is cheaper. Not like I need a roof or anything 'cause I got my bolt holes. But yeah - muggle stuff has to go somewhere."

A pause.

"You can call me Green." He sniffed the air, tasting the humidity as he looked over the sleek man with his green tinged skin. From his expression he could have been admiring the landscape, staring vacantly into space, or appraising the recent arrival; it was hard to tell.

[Swami M]

"I, uh, am new in town."

Alex pauses, not sure where this is going. The big guy seems distracted. Or even stoned. No pun intended...

"Is that all of your stuff? Do you need any help getting moved in? I've just got this one bag so it would be no problem..."

Green sure doesn't look like someone who needs help moving things, not by the way he's slinging around that massive footlocker like it was a box of cornflakes, but Alex is motivated as much by the need for some concrete topic of conversation as by a desire to be helpful.

[Malcolm Green]

With a bit more shuffling, Green found himself a seat and deposited bag and trunk next to him.

"No. I'm fine." He grunted. "So you just arrived, right? Where from, if you don't mind me asking?" Green politely shook his head at the offered help.

Gemstone eyes alighted on Alex.

[Swami M]

Alex sets down his pack and pulls up another chair.

"Yes, I just got in this morning. I was in Union City. That's a small town outside Redding... I've been staying there with friends since I, uh, came back from overseas." He hopes the suggestion is clear enough, not wanting to be more explicit in what is still a public place. "There are some good people up there, but only a few of them. And..." He recalls the running joke about Redding and its Freehold. One of them is a hive of hicks, hussies and hoodlums; the other is a city in California. "I thought it was time to settle down in a real city. And a more diverse, uh, community..."

[Malcolm Green]

"Old 'Hold not big, huh?" The mountain rumbled.

"This one is growing again. Well we got the Season's here. They give shape to the year I 'spose. But the Sovereign's are shadows now. They made it that way when they allowed the Council to take front and centre. Its a neat trick, really; another layer They have to figure out. Council is democratic. Like, when one of the Councillor's step down anyone can put their name forward and it goes to a vote. Hasn't been much cause to try it much."

Oddly, the big Elemental glared at a point beyond the Woodblood. It was a glare flung at a reminisce, not at a person.

One would hope.

[Swami M]

"It was small. And, uh, complicated..." Alex pauses, remembering some long ago advice about job interviews. You never make a good first impression by talking about how much your old job sucked. "Your setup here sounds pretty interesting." At least these people, when deciding to abandon faux-Medieval fae tradition for a more modern alternative, chose something other than a high school cabal of jocks and Mean Girls... "Maybe you can give me some advice on how to get set up here, aside from the obvious. I have a list of the headquarters and hangouts. So I'll need to go to the Forge to check in with my, uh, club. And I need to get signed up. Do we still have to wait for the big seasonal party to sign up?"

[Malcolm Green]

Green focusses on Alex once more.

"Yeah... Get yourself to the Forge. Speak with Ramona, yeah? Ramona. Big ogre girl. She's like, the ranking Summer Courtier. There are a few others - Penny Glass and Hank. If you want the Sovereign then you'd best be looking for Lucas; he some kind of old-time-religion preacher. Is all I know. Yeah - I keep out of the Courts way as much as I can; they don't want me underfoot for sure."

He raked a hand through his hair.

"Yeah - you'll need to make the Oath to make it official. Otherwise you just another tourist. And for that you'll have to wait for the Spring Coronation I"m guessing. Unless you want to go hunting for a Sovereign. Don't know much about when the old Desire Court gather. Not my scene, yeah?"