Chill day, after a hot week. A frigid tunnel of wind swept through Sacramento, like the thirtieth of February had shuddered to life for one last gasp.
Nela pushed forward, trying to shield her face as her eyes start to water up. She has a big, bunchy wool sweater. Beige lump: not exactly this year's fashion. Her jeans aren't much better, designer knock offs she'd bought in a little Russian market out East.
Few other pedestrians have braved the sidewalk today, and those that do regret it, but share an unusual camaraderie. For one brief day in the city it's acceptable to meet the eyes of a stranger, to give them the slightest of gestures to let them know that "I know what you're going through, friend."
Nela clutches her godawful sweater closer to her chest, and her large plasticky purse flops as she dismounts the sidewalk to pause at the verge of asphault. Traffic today is at a near standstill, bumper to bumper with warmer, blander people. At a moment of congestion, Nela squeezes between a Civic and a Frontier, aiming for a place she's only heard of.
The home of the Manticore, a monster, an Emerald Courtier.
Juno was standing outside the shop with her back to the wall. She was holding a skateboard on end with one hand as she watched a co-worker and a couple of his friends play on a haggard mini-ramp they had constructed in the adjacent alleyway. On occaision her tail curled as she thought about how fun that looked....and why shouldn't she give it a try? She already knew some of the basics -- how to figure out if she had a regular or "goofy footed" stance (it was goofy), how to step up on the board and keep her balance while doing so, and even to push along a bit.
She wasn't a Tony Hawk, Ryan Sheckler, TimTim, Compton-Ass Terry or gods forbid a Bam Margera; at her age she wouldn't reach that pinnacle of achievement but she could still pick up the basics for her own enjoyment. When it came to some things the Manticoress could be a realist. To add to the challenge level, she had decided to learn it the normal way and leave any additional help in the form of Contracts out of the process. Her tail, however...was an asset in that it was a natural balancing tool and so far it had kept her from some nasty elbow bashing and at least one face plant.
Lighting a cigarette, Juno's tail curled as she relaxed. She even began laughing along with the others as one skater or another landed or botched their tricks. She was wearing a worn dark blue or black jacket with paint spatters on it, a pair of jeans, and a black t-shirt with a faded logo for the band Unleashed on it. Her somewhat longer than human feet were concealed by a pair of Vans skater shoes. If her style was of any indication, the Manticoress wasn't inclined to show any form of affiliation with her own Court in terms of bright season-appropriate colors. Still, however, the semi-death rock skater look worked for her.
After a moment, she walked back into the shop to get the bottle of drink she had left on a counter.
Not entirely sure she's in the right place, Nela pushes open the door. Inside, the walls of the shop are plastered with tattoo designs and photos of fresh inked skin, still red.
Overhead, the arc of the door disturbs the welcome bell. It's jangling betrays Nela's position to the store's lone occupant. There's a hung moment, when Nela's brain fights to deny the blued fur, the teeth, the lashing tail, all stuffed into human clothes.
Its hand reaches for a beer, and they lock eyes. Although the Manticore's fur is slicked in all the wrong directions, face with all the signs of hard living, there is a stately elegance to her posture.
She turns...and freezes, with her hand around the drink can. Her tail tuft puffs out a bit as the quills rise up slightly.
An unfamiliar Lost. Has it come to this? Juno....carefully, carefully. It may well be just a simple visit. Maybe she's new out of the Hedge? We do help those souls.
"I am, yes." She put the can back down, then, "How can I help you? Are you Lost and recently Arrived?" Juno smiled, taking care to do so in such a manner as to reduce the attention to her very sharp teeth.
The emphasis on Lost and Arrived is a bit more pronounced than the rest of the statement.
The Manticoress tilted her head slightly as she studied the other changeling. Curious.
Nela's participation in the Freehold had been minimal, a few odd tasks here and there just to show she was carrying her weight. Time spent on the fringes has left her with few names and fewer contacts. There was the queen of course, but Nela knew little to nothing about Alice aside from her ascendancy.
But she'd heard of Juno, heard that she was sharp. Nela hoped she might have a better handle on what exactly was happening between Summer and Spring.
"I've been here a couple of months, I just haven't gone to any of the parties." Nela replies, hoping that will go far as explanation.
"My name is Nela." She takes a tentative step in, towards Juno and plants her feet again. "I got a text from the q- from Alice the other day?"
Juno ran a hand back through her messy looking hair -- a combination of fur and human type hairs made it naturally unruly -- as she thought about what to say next. If anything she was dying to offer her personal opinion about Alice but thought better of it. Her visitor may well be checking in on her for the purpose of giving Alice a reason to go after her as a troublemaker. Not worth risking it at this time. The Manticoress smiled slightly at the girl.
"There's something going on between Spring and Summer, and it must be pretty bad if we've been told to stay away from them and not travel alone. But then...who knows really? They stay agitated over one thing or another -- just how they're wired, I guess."
She shrugged slightly.
"Myself, I stay away from the Court for the most part. I'm busy with my work here and I can't bail on my obligations -- I like to eat and have a roof over my head -- just so I can eat cake, stand in a corner and watch everyone else have fun and be pretty."
No reason for going into greater details as to why I don't care to interact with the Court, even if she is a fellow member.
"I know, right? It's always too much weirdness," Nela lets out a half laugh burdened by hurt. "Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who wants to be Normal again."
Nela is wanly colored, her voice and frame diminished. Inky hair is tangled and limp, intruding down onto her face.
"I... is there someplace here that's not so bright?" She looks over at the storefront window, the painted surface letting more light through than water from a New Orleans dike. "I've been outside a while, and I just need to sit down for a little bit..." dull eyes look pleadingly to Juno.
Juno's eyes widened slightly, then, "You can step around this corner if you like. The sun isn't so direct on this side...and I may have been absent with my manners to not make an offer of hospitality." As the Cat..Man? speaks, there is a soft thrumming just beneath the pitch of the voice, as though somone had gifted one of the big cats with speech.
Is she going to try something? Why does she seem to be so upset or uncomfortable?
The Fairest's tail curled slightly, then, "If I may ask, Nela...are you in some manner of difficulty? Very few people come looking for me these days."
Glad for the respite, Nela takes the corner by edging around Juno. She is somewhat wary of the tail.
"It's weird how you talk... I mean, um, just because you're dressed all rocker but you're so formal." Eyes fluttering with relief, Nela leans against the wall and lets the shade wrap around her. "Thank you."
"I guess you're just not worried about the thing? The message...? I guess I could be overreacting, it's just that I know, like three people at court, and like two of them are Summer, and I don't know who I can talk to, and so I can either come find you or the monkey, and I heard the monkey is not all there, so I just..." Juno's been a little quiet, so Nela searches for some kind of indications of what she's thinking.
"It's something that's rubbed off from my days There. Let's just call it being part of an Armed Society, which out of necessity must be a Polite Society. Teeth, claws and carrying quills in ones' tail ensures that protocol is followed." Hopping up on a low counter, she curled her tail up so that the end was resting in her lap and thus easily reached for conversational preening.
"The monkey...Al-Adin, is all right in his own way, because he does embody the ideals of our Season, as some people interpret the philosophy. He came this close to becoming the Spring Sovereign....didn't work out though. Anyway, there's other members of Spring but I rarely see them...mostly casual contact."
She began to pick lightly at the tuft, then, "I do worry about my safety, yes. Who amongst us doesn't go through our lives glancing over our shoulders? I don't know but one member of Summer, and that's Marcus. He's a Metalflesh, and a very likable person. It's sad that restrictions have been put in place, because I would like to get to know him better. Sad thing is, the people I do get to know wind up leaving."
Like I want to follow any orders from Ms. Congenialty. Still, Marcus seems to be reasonable but the others are too much into themselves, impression I get. So....yeah. I already have the Royal Displeasure and I don't want to add an out of the blue Summer assbeating to the collection.
"If you like, there are bottled drinks, sodas...water, that sort of thing in that refrigerator. Do you need a place to stay til things blow over, or to tidy up?"
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