Spirit Teaching: Felix's Truck

Felix is nearly in his cab, his door ajar, when he spots Patrick following him outside.

For a long moment, Felix stands still, his gaze locked on the Ghost Wolf as he mulls over what action take. After some time, Felix turns his eyes to his door and closes it, the metal making that heavy clang so common in older automotives.

Leaning on his hood, the Meninna would turn his attention back to Church.

"What do you need?" he asks. Blunt and direct, but that tends to be how Felix plays it.

If that was the tone Felix had decided to set, then that was the tone Patrick would maintain.
"Not an easy question to answer. I just thought I'd try and shoot the breeze before you took off. I uh, don't want to come across as being too familiar, but I can't seem to shake the feeling that you and I probably'd understand each other a little better than the clutch inside."
At first, he might have sounded critical due to his damaged voice, but his body language and steady face indicated that he wasn't attempting to be insulting. Far from it. But he was also being honest. Walking in a half circle around Felix's truck he appraised the beat up lorry for the second time today. He took a drink, wiping at his mouth with the edge of his sleeve before adding
"If you've got the time anyway. I'm not trying to force you to cool your heels."
Church took a half step towards the older wolf to show that he was both committed to the conversation, but sincere in not wanting to hassle him. That small decrease in distance would've been enough to provide the air between them the earthy weight of a smell Felix would probably recognize besides the beer on his breath: Sawdust, varnish.
Patrick nearly reeked of carpentry.

Felix remained where he was, save for his head, following Patrick under the Meninna's dull gaze.

The Irraka gave a subtle nod as Patrick explained itself. Felix shifted to his driver side window, craning within the Meninna retrieved a 12 pack of Moose Drool brown ale, "Was saving these for the camper, but I got time," he said, half absently, "Had to go to BevMo for 'em."

Tearing open one end of the box roughly, Felix would retrieve a beer and crack it open before resting the box within reach on his driver's seat. Then a generous drink.

"As for understanding," he'd say, "That's a bold assumption, but you smell like an old life... if nothing else we can talk about the trade."

Then a huff and a thin, wry smirk.

"But, my exit in mind, I think you sought me out because of thoughts on the Uratha, hmm?" he offered, "Something irk you? The Rahu? The Farsil Luhal?"

There was a reason Felix boasted some small renown in Wisdom. He felt compelled to mentor. To teach.

With a glance at the shop, Church chuckled quietly before replying -

"What can I say? I'm scrappy. Anyway, the big guy's amateur hour didn't irk me as much as it seemed like he irked you. But...you're not wrong. I'd be lying if I said I knew too much about the Masters besides what I've heard over the years. I haven't spent too much time in big cities, so they weren't who I crossed paths with more than once or twice. Getting to know your pack and trying to decide if I'd be a good fit though does make me wish I knew the Tribes a little better...That being said you're not one of them. You're a Hunter, I can tell. So what I wanted to throw out there and see if it stuck was to ask your permission to hunt with you. Soon, preferably. I'm tired of being in unfamiliar waters and I'd like to get to know the paths of the city.
'Sides, I'd like you to judge for yourself if you think I could be of use to your family.
Hector and Emily are generous but I'm not looking for sympathy. I'm looking for a role to fill."

His green eyes were settled unblinking on Felix's with an intensity just a hair shy of desperate; his Harmony's dangerous status was made obvious. This wolf had gone far too long without a pack to hunt with, and it was beginning to disrupt the balance of his soul.
Just as Greyrepresented his own brands through pedagogy, Patrick's Cunning came through inquisition and personal assessment.
If the Hunter felt the need to tutor, this Dreamer felt the need to learn.

Felix smirked. It seemed Patrick had an understanding Matt did not.

"Had it been my old pack, Matt's words would have seen him beaten," Felix offered, "but that is the way of my tribe, not the Masters. And it is one among them who leads us. Their instruction leans closer to the ways of Men, I think."

The admission was not met with distaste, his voice remaining plain. It was a simple fact. Some among the Meninna were simply more primeval when it came to punishment and education.

"Your thoughts do not betray you. I am of the Hunters," he affirmed, "As for your knowledge, I wouldn't worry about your faults in knowing the Tribes, both of my old packs were only of the Meninna. The ways of this one are new to me as well."

Patrick's stare was met with one that bore its own intensity in abundance. Felix's stare was not unlike that of a soldier, betraying a silent vigilance that spoke of his experience. The balding wolf's time among the People had largely been spent at war. He had the scars to prove it and, in time, Patrick would see them.

"Does Brother Wolf ask for permission to Hunt?" he asks, letting his rhetoric hang for a moment, "No. He goes with family and, among his kin, he is welcome."

Felix would clap a hand to Patrick's shoulder, letting it sit for a moment to signal his affirmation. They would Hunt. Soon.

"But first, there is something I must know before I take you on this journey," Felix says, "What face of our Mother do you bear?"

Patrick exhaled, visibly relieved. He may not have been nervous per se, but he was well aware that his request could have been rebuffed just as easily as it was not. 'Right on,' he thought. It was a start.

"I have the sight," he replied. "The dreams. Cahalith."
His tone (as much as its change could be noticed) indicated a degree of shame at the choice of birth-right the Mother made, saying

"For whatever good they do. They rarely make any sense, and when they do, believe me, it's never good news. The one who taught me to speak the Tongue said that was they way of it sometimes. Some of us receive only good omens, some just the bad. The best of us a little of both."

He paused to finish his beer, considering. Meninna had a way about them, but that "way" sometimes made it hard to distinguish the phase the Hunter's changed under. To Church, the same could be said of the Masters as well.

"What about you?"

Edit: I meant to ask what about Hector, he heard the alpha declare which auspices Felix and Emily are. Sorry!

Felix removed his hand and nodded at Patrick's words.

"Ah, then you would be well served to see Hector," the Felix admits, "For he is Cahalith too, brother."

"Bad omens can be used for good works," the balding wolf ponders, "If we can work out the meaning of the vision, there is a chance to prevent tragedy. Or, as is often the case, prepare for it."

Felix would finish his can as well, tossing it to the bed of his truck without care. He'd recycle later.

"I boast the blessing of our Mother's nose," he said, tapping his own, "I am a Pathfinder. Irraka. We find the paths best taken to the Hisil and find the residents of that realm with ease."

Felix would allow the moment a rest before speaking again.

"Makerith boasts Wisdom, she is Ithaeur. And of course Matt is Rahu," Felix says rounding out their number, "Chris, the one Emily mentioned, is Irraka like me, but he is among the Suthar Anzuth. There were others, but they have not been heard from in some time or have otherwise left the city."

Then the Meninna's mind turns back to Patrick's request, the Hunt.

"It is foolish to hunt without the pack in the Hisil beyond the territory," he says, "The Anshega long held sway here and there is no telling the damage they've done. Thus, we will hunt here. On the other side, if you truly want a Meninna's assessment."

"We will hunt first as Man," the Meninna declares, "but then we will hunt for sustenance as we are meant to, as Urhal. If you accept you need only gift me your contact information. I will let you know when the time is right. Once we are done, I will tell you what I think of your worth. Without restraint. That is my promise."

Church understood the discretion. It would be good for him to hunt on two legs for once, anyway. He hadn't done that (for food) in a couple of years. When Felix requested a way to get in touch with him, Patrick was sharply reminded of his lack of basic amenities, like a phone. He felt around in his pockets, finally producing a business card that somehow seemed like it had singes at the edges.
Felix probably realized that these cards were in very limited supply.
It seemed Patrick put his skills to use as an artist now, which is presumably where his meager income had come from.
But it had an address for an independent art space in the city, a few blocks away from the hostel in Old Sacramento Patrick had been staying in every other night. Using the truck as a surface he wrote that address on the back of the card before handing it to Felix.

"Sorry, s'the best I've got right now. Haven't been in town - or the state - that long. But I'll be ready. If anything changes and I don't run into you first, I'll leave that information with Emily."

After the card was taken, Church said

"Thanks for giving me a chance. I know I kind of sprung this on you."

Felix watched as Church felt around for his cards and accepted it once Patrick had finished.

"Worry not, this is sufficient for now," he said, looking it over before placing it in his pocket, "Just be patient, it may take some time to arrange something. We will hunt soon enough."

At the young wolf's thanks, Felix offers a small smile and a nod.

"Think nothing of it," he says, "It would be foolish to spurn you when you are willing to learn. And it is wise for you to seek instruction."

Then a pause. Felix would reach in for another beer, cracking it open.

"From your words, I assume you have no tribe, as you mentioned none," he says, letting the observation sink in, "And why come to Sacramento?"

Blunt, perhaps, but it was Felix's way for bonding. Aside from Knowing someone as he had done with Emily, that is. However, the Ithaeur had asked he not fight on the grounds of her shop. It was her home and, thus, the Meninna would respect her wishes.