(Private)Capital Park homecoming

[Aurora]

“It is something I want to work on and get past.” She says. “And even though I know that no one is perfect and we all make mistakes, I feel horrible about not telling you and leaving like I did. Which is why you were the first person I contacted and wanted to see.” Which was true, he had been nothing but nice and sweet to her.

She returns the smile with a nod, “She is, and still performs actually.” She says with a light laugh, her mom was something else.

His movement to sit beside her and embrace her was a surprise, but a pleasant one. With a shy smile she returns the hug. “I’m so sorry.” She whispers.

[Teeramus]

Striker held Faye for a few seconds, wordlessly reassuring her and just enjoying the feeling of togetherness. When he pulled back he looked into her eyes. "Don't be sorry." He said resolutely. "This happened for a reason right? So if you'd talked to me, I might've convinced you to stay. Then you wouldn't get to talk to ya mum, an' you'd still be scared. Or something. I dunno. But maybe it's better this way?" he said, finishing with a statement that was a question.

The shaman lent back on his arm and considered what Faye had said. It was nice that Faye had contacted him first, but it also meant she wouldn't have had a chance to hear about what she'd missed. "So you haven't heard about the Consillium meeting then?" he asked with a serious and concerned expression.

[Aurora]

Having his arms around her just felt right to her.

As he pulled away, she nodded her head in agreement. “The universe works in mysterious ways sometimes. And yeah, everything happens for a reason, maybe someday the reason will be known.” She says with a shrug. “But I’m back, and I don’t want to leave again.” The confidence was slowly finding its way back into her voice.

His tone and expression caused her to shake her head and frown, “No…” she says, “Why? What happened?” concern in her voice.

[Teeramus]

"Jeez what didn't happen?" Striker began rhetorically.

"It started civil enough, except for Avis yelling at me for wanting to talk to her." he winced briefly. "I probably could've handled that better. It felt like she was arcing up this time instead of the other way round an' I prob'ly should've backed off." he admitted shifting on the ground slightly as though uncomfortable. "Anyway, everything else seemed ok till Nous gave us all the new Lex. There's stuff in there saying you're not a full member unless you're in a cabal and councillors have to be in a cabal and order. I dunno how Idun and Ermac thought that was a good idea 'cause it did them out of their positions and now there's no Thyrsus councillor at all." He said looking frustrated.

"Nous's in Panthera Nox with you isn't she? You're probably best asking her about the details ay. But I mean, everyone was real pissed off at her 'cause she was defending the thing, but I thought they all got together and wrote it." he explained sitting up and scratching the top of his head. "I dunno if you're int'rested in all this political, legal stuff, but I'm trying my best to figure it out since I seem to keep on screwing up." He said looking down.

[Aurora]

What was with that Avis chick and getting into it with him?

“I just don’t understand what her issue with you is. Especially if you were just trying to talk to her, seems like yelling was out of line. At least in my opinion.” There was a little anger in her voice, she was getting defensive of him. She offers him a soft smile and reaches out her hand to cover his, “You can’t let her get a rise out of you. It seems to be what she wants. I know it probably isn’t easy, but I think you should try. Cause I bet that would really piss her off, if you stayed calm and didn’t bite.” She adds with a wink.

The news of the Lex was surprising, especially the part about those without a Cabal. It was hard to find a group you fit in with. “Wow, seems a little harsh to me. Especially if someone is new, cause then they can’t be a full member until they find a Cabal they mesh with. And that can take time.” It was an interesting twist, and she wondered how it would play out.

When he mentioned Panthera Nox, she wondered if they still considered her a member. “Yeah, I’ll definitely get in touch with her. I need to find out if I’m still a member or not.” She says with a frown.

“It does seem weird that people were upset if they were a part of putting together.” Would have made more sense to voice their issues before presenting it. “Being a Ladder I should try and pay more attention to the political and legal stuff. Thankfully Pepper has been great about offering to help me.”

She shakes her head at his mention of screwing up, “Everyone makes mistakes and we’ve all screwed up something.” She pats his hand, then gently squeezes it, “No one is perfect, and I’m sure you’re doing your best.” She says with a reassuring smile. “And that’s all you can do, learn from the mistakes and keep moving forward.”

[Teeramus]

Striker looked Faye in the eyes. What did he even tell her when he called her up that time? He was fairly sure that his perspective had changed since then and he shook his head in disagreement. "No I was outta line in the first place. I mean I hate that she wont talk to me but I bloody snapped at her. I lost my temper with her and just couldn't pull myself back." he said, finishing by hanging his head.

After a second he looked up at Faye. "I think I need help with that." he said quietly. "I mean I kept it together at the meeting, but I didn't handle it well at all. She just hates me more now. Sometimes it seems like my best isn't good enough. I can't let this stuff get on top of me I need to overcome it." He sighed. Until Avis would talk to him he didn't know what he could do to make the situation better.

"Yeah the rules are dumb. Especially since the Archangels pretty much doesn't exist anymore. Jonokuchi's left. I seriously don't know what we're gonna do now." he said with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Heh. I'd ask you to try an' make a cabal with me, but you'd be way better off with Panthera." Striker said with a half smile. The thought had just come to him and he liked the sound of it, but he knew Faye would want something more solid than he could provide, and with a better reputation.

[Aurora]

“I wasn’t there, and if you say you were outta line, then I’ll go with what you are saying. And I don’t know what she did or said that made you snap,” she says with a shrug and a small smile. “But sounds like it would be in your best interest to keep your distance. And who knows, maybe in time you’ll be able to talk to her. No one knows what the future holds, she might surprise you.” Well, she kinda could know what the future held if she wanted. But this wasn’t a situation where sharing the future would help, it was something that needed to work itself out.

“Well, if I can help you with it, I defiantly will. But it says a lot that you can say you didn’t handle it well.” And sounded like he was open to change. “Things have been rough for you, but you are working on overcoming those setbacks. Don't let it get to you, keep moving forward, you can't change the past. All anyone can ask of you is that you make an effort to try, and it sounds like you have. Sure, it won’t be easy, but I think you can do it. And I’ll be here helping wherever I can, I’m not going anywhere.” She then smirks and laughs, “I’m sorry, I’m sure some of that sounded lame.” But what she said was true, at least to her. She only hoped he would get that she was trying to help.

Her eyes widen at the news of the Archangels, “Jonokuchi left?! When did that happen?” damn, a lot had happened in the little time she was away.

She returned his half-smile with a full one, “That would be fun!” she said honestly. “But I’m already committed to Panthera. At least, if they haven’t removed me after I left. Can’t you rebuild the Archangels? With this new rule about needing to be in a Cabel, seems like there would be new faces looking for one.” She offers, trying to be helpful.

[Teeramus]

Striker nodded in agreement as Faye spoke, listening to every word.

"Yeah." He said once she had finished. "No. Not lame ay. I think I needed to hear that. I know I gotta change. I mean I use to not care what people thought. I guess I still don't, but I've done some dumb stuff that needs fixing and it seems like people think I'm goin' out lookin' for trouble. I'm not, but... I want trouble, so I can... Deal with it. Does that make sense?" He asked wondering if she understood his mediocre explanation.

"Jono left just after the Conciliium I think. Someone said it was something about his family." Striker looked away with disappointment in his eyes. A few seconds later he looked back with a smile. "I'm glad you've got Pathera. They seem like good people ay. Mace and Pepper especially."

"There are a bunch of new people looking and Weave and I've talked to some already but I dunno if Weave an' I even see eye to eye enough to keep goin'. She's so cautious about everything and doesn't seem to want to say why. I just wanna get things done." Striker said with a sigh.

[Aurora]

“There is nothing wrong with not caring what others think. Hell, I know I don’t, and try to live my life by my own terms. That being said, it comes with risks. People don't seem to like thos who dare to be different and not follow the crowd. Kinda makes us targets. And sometimes all people see are the mistakes others make and not the good qualities. And you have a lot of good qualities, you’ve just stumbled and made some mistakes.” She says with a smile. “Now that they have seen the bad, it’s time to show them how awesome you are!” she replies, her blue eyes sparkling.

His last words confused her a bit. Wanting trouble so you can ‘deal’ with it? Seemed odd to her, “I’m not sure I really get where you are going to be honest. You want trouble so you can deal with it?” her expression was one of mild confusion. “Is it to prove that you can deal with it? Or are you just used to trouble?” she asks, clearly trying to understand. “You’ll have to excuse me, sometimes I’m not the quickest at catching on sometimes.” It was true.

“I’m sorry to hear he left, I hope his family is ok.” She wondered how Pepper was dealing with it. Last she knew the two seemed to be getting close.

“Being cautious is usually a good thing, especially for others like us. But it is odd that she hasn’t explained why. I mean, those in a Cabal are supposed to trust each other and be open. I don’t think I’ve met her, has she been around for a while? Maybe there is something in her past, like an event or something that has her being careful.” She offered. “But if you think it is going to keep being an issue, then maybe starting fresh would be a good thing for you. With there being a bunch of new people, maybe there are others who would work well with you and your ideals and ideas.”

The smile reappeared, “But sometimes, you find what you need when you least expect it. Maybe all these events and setbacks are preparing you for something great. You can only come out of this stronger. Past events sucked, but don’t dwell on them, or live in the past. Learn from them and move forward."

[Teeramus]

Striker looked away, trying to figure out how to explain himself.

Finally he looked back. "So it's like this. Most people want a boring life, they just want stuff to stay the same and do everything they can to stay out of trouble right? I say, screw that. I couldn't live like that. I'd go nuts. So it's not that I want to make trouble, but if I see someone in trouble and they can't do anything about it, then I want to help. You know like take on the school bully when he's picking on the weak kids an' stuff. I can't say I always did the right thing before I was awakened, 'cause growing up is confusing. But once I joined the Arrow they really gave me something to aim towards ay. Like when they say existence is war. It's like. Fine. There's gonna be trouble, you might as well learn to deal with it. Actually I think that's the Phalanx that I like the best 'cause it's helped focus me on making sure I'm fightin' the right battles." He said in a half confident manner, as though he believed want he said but was still working it out as he said it.

"This thing with Avis is different though. I really screwed up and misjudged her. I thought 'cause she was an Arrow she'd want to fight. But she hates violence, so she said. Which I don't get since she's so good at it. But now it's like she's fighting me for justice or something which she seems to really be into. I just don't get her to be honest. But I think I could learn a lot from her. Hell I wouldn't have been reading the Charter and the Lex so much if it wasn't for her." Striker admitted.

"So yeah. Like you said. Learn from it move forward." he said nodding gently in agreement. He cocked his head to the side slightly. "What about you? What are you planning on doin' now that your back? Still goin' for that Factotum thing?" he asked curiously.