Pink-Haired Girl [Charlotte, Alexei, Gordon, Mia]

Drew Roscoe
The tourist thing was old.  That opportunity had already been had, a full day of freedom a summer ago.  It was a break in the monotony of hunting for real estate, and approximately the same moment that the decision was made to live in rural Virginia rather than within the city boundaries of Washington D.C. itself.

Drew had had her taste of city life plenty before, she thought some change would be nice.

Yet here she was again, the petite Kinfolk dressed in a light tan overcoat in the cool late-winter/early-spring night.  She was just stepping out from a small corner cafe with a steaming cup of something in her hand.  The fact that her hair was windblown, mussed from the loose curls that it had been styled into much earlier in the day, suggested that she had been out walking for a little while now.  Well, that, and the way that she almost wearily stood on the small patio that edged space with the sidewalk, looking up one direction then down the other, as though either forgetful of her original course or still deciding what her next destination should be.

She probably still looked much like a tourist.  Young, bright-faced, sipping a late night latte.  More than likely whoever she was out seeing the sights with was still inside the shop, waiting for their order or using the restroom.  Certainly this girl, this Kinfolk, wouldn't be left alone for very long.


Alexei Ojala*Lex was walking along the walkway sometimes picking up the trash to toss it in the proper bin. He happens to be in the area as he was at a friend's or maybe a competitor's resturant.

Today he is wearing a designer jacket and pair of rather nice jeans. He carries on looking at others now and then. When he notes an ambulance going by he crouches down besides the bin to hide a moment*


Charlotte GrayThere are Garou whose rage announces them.  Clears the path before them like a streetsweeper.  They warp the air about them with it, bend the crowds of half-sleeping sheep into new and interesting contortions as the humans slip out of their way without ever acknowledging the deep and primal fear that brush of rage engenders in them beyond a certain edged vibe.

Charlotte is not one of them.

She is not particularly tall, at (nearly) 5'5".  She is not muscle-bound. She is not rage-ful or rage-filled.  Crowds do not clear before her without a thought; no one looks at her and sees predator or even precisely animal.  Generally, they see girl.  Slight, finely-framed, though not quite to the point of delicacy.  With a twisting mass of haphazardly cropped platinum blond hair dyed in drifting shades of cotton-candy pink.
At the moment she is seated across the street from Drew, legs crossed in this neat little posture beneath her, on the stoop of one of those Georgetown rowhouses that have been turned from one small house into two or three very very small, very very expensive condos.  She is not a resident of any of these very very small, very very expensive condos.  From a distance, she looks like an interloper.  Maybe a homeless kid.  Maybe a high school student awaiting her friends.  Maybe a crazy person, stoned or high or -

A small, tightly-knit group of co-workers exit the bar across the street from Drew, next door to the condos.  Cut past Charlotte in a thick knot, hardly noticing her.  She does not notice them, either.  Not as such.  Not as individuals who might somehow command her attention.

When they've passed on, the pink-haired girl across the street (whom Drew might only have noticed briefly in her survey of the street, as something out there.  Another figure on the periphery of her position, easily categorized as no immediate threat) is gone.

Or rather, is already half-way across the narrow street, her breath a warm cloud around her face, bare fingers pink with cold tucked around the strap of her messenger bag, which bumps against her hip with every stride, heading straight for Drew.

Look: a bee-line, and no mistaking it.

--

"Hi." - is what she says when she is in earshot.  Just like that.  Hi.  Strange, really, to be greeted by a total stranger on a dark street anywhere, without some rapidfire launch into a request for change or bus fare or five dollars for dinner or a Metro card or - or - or -

- but the pink-haired girl is already holding out her hand to Drew.  Those cold-pinkened fingers tipped with peeling orange nail enamel.  "I'm Charlotte.  I saw you once before."

She cuts a glance up at Alexei, pale, pale blue eyes narrowing, head canting with a sort of sub-lingual interest that flares her fine little nostrils.  Then looks back to Drew.


Alexei Ojala*With the 'threat' gone, Lex carries on and when he is looked at by Char he says*
Uh hi again.... I remember you from a few meetings.  *Lex says to the pretty pink haired woman. He also recalls that she is garou and such and seems to be in a nice mood. Whatever had been wrong before is forgotten*

Alexei OjalaFew times I bumped into you at various times.  *He clarifies*


Drew RoscoeA few sips of latte pass, as do a couple groups of people-- one from the bar on the opposite side of the street from Drew, and one from the coffee shop behind her.  This looked for a moment like it might have been the group that Drew belonged to, in the way that she turned her head to glance back at them when she heard the door opening.  But the trio of young adults went past with nothing more than a friendly smile from two of the three offered to Drew before they were making their way up the sidewalk.

Simultaneously, a group passed on the other side of the street.  Drew had looked back, interested in a momentary way by the miniature crowd, but what she noticed more than the several people walking up the street was the one person walking across it.

Before she really had time to search her memory banks for a personality to match the face of the woman who was striding up to her with such intent, the pink-haired girl was there before her.  A touch taller, possibly a dozen pounds lighter than the Kinfolk (the Fang was thin where the Fenrir leaned more toward 'stocky'), this woman was stating that she'd seen her before and holding her hand out for a greeting.

Although obviously surprised in the eyes and in how her eyebrows were raised on her forehead, Drew offered a light smile and accepted the hand for a shake that warmed the Fang's fingers, as the Kinfolk had been cradling the latte cup with both hands for a minute already.  "Hi.  I'm Drew.  I'm afraid I don't really remember where I've seen you."

And then there was Alexi, a handsome young man with carelessly lengthed hair, who had walked to join them from crouching out of view of an ambulance.  Drew shifted her big brown eyes to him, still appearing a little surprised and confused, but polite and ready to please none the less.  "Hello."  It was a friendly greeting that served more as an acknowledgement than an invitation for conversation.  Yes, I see you there.  I recognize your existance, that greeting said.


Alexei Ojala*Well he had actually walked over to say hi to CHar since she had glanced to him and he remembered her. The other one, Drew gets a polite hello in return, in a similiar fashion to what was offered to him. Yes he recognises her existance as well and that she was sitting with Char* Hello.


Charlotte GrayThere's this strange confluence.  Not two rivers joining their flows, but three.  Alexei, hiding from the ambulance, then walking over to greet her.  There's this note of chasing startlement across her pale face that narrows blond brows over the limpid pools of her pale eyes.  Which are blue(ish), though the darkness has robbed them of most definition of color.  Leaving them more reflective than anything else, a sort of color-soaking and clarified gray.

"I've never been to any meetings," murmurs Charlotte, her attention pulled back to Alexei, that startlement tucking into a kind of wariness that translates to her body language, the set of her shoulders beneath the cotton hoodie she wears.  It says YALE CREW on the back, though it must have been someone else's.  Charlotte is too tall to be a coxswain, and her upper body is far too slight to belong to a competitive rower.  Then Alexei clarifies.  He means that he has seen her around and she says,

"Oh," to Alexei mouth rounded, pale gaze darting back to Drew.  "Well, uhm." Cutting a glance back to Alexei, " - what's your name?  So I can introduce you to Drew."

--

A quicksilver half-smile for the kinswoman, then.  Charlotte has a wariness when she looks at Alexei.  That native charisma that pulls Garou in makes her a bit awkward with him; even wary, in a way that feels both adolescent and wholly adult.  But Drew warmed her cold fingers with redolent heat from the latte.

"I was in a car," Charlotte returns to Drew, then.  Her voice slightly lowered, the corner of her mouth rising.  "Driving by and I saw you.  With a big guy?  I told my brother.  But you didn't see me.  I'm Charlotte.  Uhm, a distant cousin of yours?"

A faint jerk of her head toward Alexei.  "So's he."  Just to get that all out in the open.  "I can tell?"


Alexei OjalaI'm Lex. I own a resturant in DuPont named FLux.  *He says obviously proud of that* We stay on the bleeding edge of cuisine always changing things up and surprising our patrons.
*He doesn't know if the other lady is safe or not* Hmm... what?


Drew Roscoe'A distant cousin of yours.'

These words, and any that are shaped to sound much like them, have been code for quite a long time.  It struck a cord of recognition with Drew that had her unpainted lips pushing out into the shape of an 'O'.  It was a silent exclamation, an 'oh' of understanding that her face wore quietly.  She nodded her head, and her face went from cautiously polite to much warmer, more relaxed and welcoming.  It was always good to meet family. (Most always, at least).

"I gotcha," the Kinfolk vocalized while she released Charlotte's hand from the shake, and took another sip of her latte before nodding to Alexei as well.  Charlotte had confirmed that he was a 'distant cousin' as well, and immediately Drew was that much more willing to open up to the man.  She looked him in the face while he explained that he owned a restaurant, and nodded with a bright flash of a smile, the sort that broke down barriers and made talking to a stranger easier.

"You own your own restaurant, huh?  I worked as a waitress in a family-run place for a while.  It's a tough market, you must be proud to be able to make a living off it."

Then, back to Charlotte:  "I can't say I know which big guy you're talking about.  Knowing our family, it could have been one of any four or five that you happened to catch me with.  ...You remembered my face from driving by in a car, huh?  Impressive."


Alexei OjalaOh I am. I started at the bottom actually and did some time serving as well. I still do on occasion though usually I run the pass between the kitchen and the dining room and of course come up with dishes and cook.  *He opens up a bit more too with the smile that makes him feel more comfortable*
May I take a seat too? Better than just standing here.  *Faint grin*


Gordon Dima"We will at that. Actually that.. I might recognize that.. yeah, I can get us somewhere from here."
Yes.. yes indeed he can. The car ceases it's aimless meandering, and finds a parking spot where it can. Really you had to take what you could get when it came to that.
Seemed to be right outside a cafe.

"Okay, I think there's a spot just around here that fits the bill. If you aren't at the just take what's right in front of us stage. Which.. I could empathize with if I tried."


Charlotte GrayAlexei was still rather wary, not quite understanding the euphemism Charlotte used to explain to Drew the bond that they shared.  The one she herself saw in both of them (the faint sense-memories of the heroes who shared their blood, Garou long-dead whose glory lived on in their blood-and-bones), that neither could sense in the other.

Or in Charlotte, for that matter, though she fairly blazed with it.

Then something clicks; it's Drew's smile, that natural warmth that opens him up.  Charlotte's pale gaze clicks between the pair in this manner that is ever-so-slightly remote, as if she were watching the mechanism of a clock, the gears turning.  The way things fit together and open up without every quite absorbing it on a human level.

--

"His face was scarred."  Charlotte explains to Drew.  Though "scarface" may well describe many of the big guys she might be seen with.  Scarred faces, war-stained hands, bulky bodies framed for war.  " - and you shouldn't be impressed," to Drew.  That regard again, pale, sweeping.  Ever-so-slightly distant.  Unfocused in that moment.  Though fixated somehow on the kinswoman's engaging grin.  " - you're memorable."

"I'm Charlotte, by the way," Charlotte continues at last, to Drew. "Nice to meet you, Drew.  And Drew, this is Lex, Lex, Drew."

Then a sharp, though wide-eyed look back to Alexei.  "What do you mean the bleeding edge of cuisine?  Do you slaughter things at the table?"  The question is curious rather than judgmental, though Charlotte does seem to believe that this is a possibility.


Alexei OjalaWhat, no its a saying that goes with tech stuff but I am using it for my cuisine... I figured I could borrow the same words and it would be trendy.  *He shrugs lightly* Only things we kill are shellfish there that are animals.

*He attempts to clarify for her benefit*


Charlotte Gray"And you're welcome to join us," quite nearly prim to Alexei, immediately on the heels of asking him whether he slaughters things at the table in his restaurant.


Mia Herron"Woot woot!" She pumped her fist in the air. "See we made it! Shouldn't be any crazy wizard of oz hobos here!"

"Me? Oh I can waaait. I won't be eating any horses soon. We can take our time looking. I mean, you don't like cafes? Not that they don't ya know..have limited food..and who wants a muffin right now when we can have spaghetti and sauce? Muffin is SO minor."


Gordon Dima"What's with this oz hobos thing anyway..?"

He'd spill loose from the car. Sort of flowing out a piece at a time. There's the leg-of-ham thighs first, then the gut bouncing out in front of them, and finally the curly hair springing up and falling over his shoulders. The car visibly tilted with the weight more even now.

"...I have seen some very impressive muffins. But I'm not hungry in specific ways.. yet. I could probably polish off anything you put in front of me."


Drew Roscoe"Ah," Drew exclaimed softly when Charlotte gave more details on the person she was walking with.  Once again a connection was made, and Drew was able to have a better understanding of the situation that surrounded Charlotte's decision to introduce herself.  She'd seen and recognized not just a Kinfolk, but a Garou that had been along with her.  "Yeah, that's Yiorgie.  He needed a bed, shower, and some square meals while situating himself in the area.  He's staying in a spare room at my house."

Charlotte called her memorable.  Drew just gave a quirk of a lopsided grin and a tilt of a single eyebrow-- the expression an 'Oh really?'.  She decided not to comment on or debate that fact verbally, though.  They could go through the banter of 'Oh no, nothing's memorable about me, I'm just a modest little thing is all' all day, but that wouldn't change the fact that Charlotte did notice and remember her.  No doubt it was the same reason other Garou were able to pick her out of a crowd -- the muted hum of blood on permafrost grounds that sang battle hymns in her bones was no beacon, but it was certainly tell-tale enough.

Again, her focus switched back to Alexei.  She was standing comfortably, there was a table nearby that they could take up, and perhaps should so that they weren't inhibiting traffic on the sidewalk.  She didn't move to sit just yet, though.  Instead she sipped at her latte and spoke merrily.  Her enthusiasm for meeting family overshadowed any weariness that may have existed before.

"Charlotte.  And Lex.  It's great meeting both of you.  I'm, ah...  my family's from the North.  All Germanic and Scandinavian and the like.  I hope that makes sense, I'm not the best at speaking on the sly."  Her sheepish grin and shrug dismissed the fact that she wasn't very good at being subtle, because at least she tried and didn't drop any noteworthy vocabulary.


Alexei OjalaThanks...  *Well he sometimes expects odd questions from the wolves. Though that one if true would violate health standards and make a damn mess of the dining area. Lex joins them* I understand. I'm from Russia. My family likes the city mostly so are worldwide in them.


Mia Herron"Dude!" She bounced in her seat and then bounced out of it. "So this guy attacked Uh that girl right? And she does a POW right in the ballsack. Course I totally jumped him from behind so I helped too.." She said with a bit of pride. "And he runs off with this whole pause and turn back like some bond villain and is all 'I'll get you my pretty and your little dog too.' Super creep!"

"But muffins aren't really food. It's like the snack of breakfast foods. Like ya know..mini donuts."


Gordon DimaThere was no muted hum from the expansive man who'd just stepped onto the street. His companion was expressive and energetic and just.. hard to miss. Gordon? Well he was hard to miss too but he mostly just had the alarming effect of making the wolf in some peoples' brains tense up and salivate.
And maybe that's why they were so hungry.

"That.. damn. Okay, I'm sorry I missed that. Maybe we should ask that group over there what place would be best to start at?"


Mia HerronSalivate was a good word for it, though she had managed at least to keep it in check. Instead, Mia bounced, grabbed his rather thick wrist and was trying to drag him. "I know right?! You missed me in action! I'm like Hello Kitty meets Hunger Games!"

"Right right! I'll ask. Come on!" She leaned forward, arm stretched out behind her as far as it would go while she tried to drag him along. "I bet they know some super good food!"


Charlotte Gray"Oh."  This is Charlotte, to Alexei, as he reassures her that they do not slaughter animals at the bleeding edge of his tables in his restaurant.  Just shellfish.  Clams, perhaps.  Muscles and lobsters crawling along the bottom of an aquarium.  Disappointed, perhaps.  Though vaguely so, as her interest in the business of cooking dissipates ever-so-slightly.  " - you should think about it, though.  It would be good for people to know where their food is coming from.  Plus some people only like meat and it's best fresh."
--
Charlotte must surely be aware of the dance of modesty in which girls are on some level required to participate.  Young women, young kin.   A glancing look back to Drew, a glitter of interest or approval when she does not begin that dance.  A faint widening of Charlotte's little mouth in what might look (for perhaps the first or second time this evening) like a note of faintly feral approval.  Not quite a showing of teeth.
"That's generous of you," back to Drew.  "Offering him a place to stay.  Do you do that often?"

Drew explains something of her heritage.  Alexei his.  Charlotte, however, is silent on that point, offering neither any clues about her tribe.  Just maybe an "Oh," for Alexei, and a nod of acknowledgment for Drew.  With a near sotto-voce, "I know, I can tell."

That thing Drew has that the wolves cannot ignore, that the wolves always see.

--

A sharp, weaving glance up then, as Gorden and Mia emerged from the car across the street.  Pale gaze fixed on the massive man, a prickle of familiarity behind her skin, a deeper prickle of wariness at the liminal, lupine awareness of his breeding.

"He's one of us, too," she informs Alexei and Drew, quietly, watching as Mia bounces and begins dragging the big guy across the street.

--
And unlike any of the kinfolk, even from a distance Mia can sense Charlotte's breeding; blazing like a corona around her.  The slight girl with the wary body language, pale eyes and pink hair is scion of the wolf-kings, there's no mistaking that.


Drew RoscoeLex stated that he was from Russia -- Silver Fang, Drew immediately thinks.  Then he went on to explain that his people preferred the city, and Drew's mind switched to Glasswalker instead.  She wasn't certain which one of the two tribes he meant that he belonged to.  It's with a moment of thought accompanied by a few seconds of surveying Alexi as a whole (posture, cheekbones, shoulders, eyes) that she decides he's probably with the Glasswalkers.  After all, he did specify that his family liked the city, and that sounded most appropriate.  The whole Russia thing might just be simple genealogy.

"Huh.  I getcha," this both to his stating where his family is from, and to his explanations to what sort of restaurant he ran and what types of food he served.

"Only so often as it's needed.  I've offered the room up twice so far since about September."  Drew's answer to Charlotte is with a small dismissive wave of one hand that doesn't stray too far from her paper coffee cup before returning and aiding the mouth of the lid up to her lips so she can have another sip.  As for her generosity...

"I don't think of it as generosity as much as me doing my share.  My 'marketable skills' are pretty situation-specific, so I don't offer a whole hell of a lot to the Family.  But what I do have is the extra room and food, so I think it's fairly well my duty to make sure that at least the basics can be provided to anyone that needs them.  I haven't done it often, but I imagine sleeping on the ground for a week can't be too refreshing."

Then Charlotte pointed out some people approaching-- a nigh-behemoth of a man accompanied by a young woman even shorter and more petite than Drew herself was.  Charlotte stated that 'he' was 'one of us', and Drew's eyebrows hopped up on her face.  "Is that right...?"  She murmured thoughtfully, and added while she watched the duo approach:  "And her?"


Gordon DimaWell, they got closer at any rate. Right? Crossed the road. Maybe waved a little when Charlotte went and called attention to them. The huge one carried no trace of anger in him. Hell he seemed to be a little fidgety and maybe just on the edge of timid. Shoulders a bit hunched in, eyes always just a bit below Mia's in spite of the height difference. But when they were in earshot..

"Erm.. hi there. We uh, Mia and I, we were wondering if you knew where around here might be a good idea to find dinner?"


Mia HerronThe anger lies below the surface, but it's so small in comparison to some of the others. Besides, with her chipperness it's almost hard to imagine there's a big toothed, raging monster underneath. She's just so pocket-sized.

Mia comes to a stop near the people, her hand still around Gordon's wrist. "Totally were! " Her eyes scan from Drew to Charlotte, drinking in the collection of heroes in their veins before she takes notice of Alexei on the side. "We're famished. Or I'm famished. And we're looking for somewhere to eat becasueI'mnewandIdon'thaveacluewheretogo for reaaaaaally great food! Course you can come too if you want! Always room for a little famfam."


Charlotte GrayDrew imagines that sleeping on the ground for a week isn't too refreshing.  Charlotte gives her the edge of a smile, nearly sly, though it does not quite impinge on that territory.  There's nevertheless a sort of conspiratorial agreement to the look.

"No, I don't think it would be.  I prefer a feather bed.  But I know someone who sleeps in his car.  He doesn't seem to mind that too much?"

A sharper glance up when Drew asks about Mia; the pink-haired girl's attention lingers there for a long moment, before she tips her mouth closer to Drew's ear.  Quietly, murmurs, "I don't know.  Can't tell." - before the pair have arrived at the edge of the otherwise empty patio.

--

Then Gordon asks about where to find dinner, and now Charlotte's sharp little chin rises.  "You should go to Flux," she says, glancing between the pair.  "It's on the bleeding edge, but they only slaughter clams and maybe mussels and oysters and possibly hermit crabs. He - " a glance toward Lex, " - owns it."

Charlotte glances back up when Mia characterizes them all as famfam, getting the implication with a keen-eyed look between the pair, without precisely recognizing the shortened slang.  There's a wariness about her that is not noticeable now unless one is close to her, closer enough to sense the taut line of her shoulders beneath her hooded sweatshirt.

"That's very kind," to Mia, quite nearly formal in her refusal.  " - but I have to go."


Alexei OjalaWell there are loads of places around here  *He offers to Mia* Looking for some kind of cuisine or just anything in general?


Alexei OjalaOh we kill lobsters too.... They come in fresh  *He shrugs ligthtly*


Drew RoscoeDrew appeared moderately surprised by the dichotomy between Gordon and Mia.  Gordon was big, in every sense it seemed.  However he was a bit nervous, and spoke with a timid tone to his words.  The small girl, true to form, seemed manic and full of energy.  She spoke quickly, with much excitement and enthusiasm.

Drew had opened her mouth to answer them, but was interrupted by her phone ringing in her coat pocket.  She paused, blinked, and began speaking even as she fished for the phone.

"Well, there's a nice mid-eastern style restaurant a few blocks up.  You know, a lot of spice and lamb and rice."  She gestured vaguely in the direction she knew this place to be, back over her shoulder.  "There's also sandwiches and pastries inside of this cafe behind us.  Excuse me."

The 'excuse me' was for all four people that she stood with now, and she put her phone to her ear and turned away from the pink-haired woman, the odd couple, and the restaurant-owner and spoke into her phone.  After approximately thirty seconds of conversation she circled back.  Her phone had gone back into her pocket, but retrieved from the same place in her coat was a bright yellow sticky note, folded over so the sticky side held it closed, with her name 'Drew Roscoe' written on the outside.  This was handed to Charlotte.  "If you need something, hit me up.  If I can't help I can at least find somebody who can.  It was good to meet you, Charlotte, thanks for remembering me."

As it turned out, Charlotte had to go too.  The timing couldn't be better.  Nor could the fact that she and Drew went different directions when they parted from the now-trio.  Drew waved a cheerful farewell over her shoulder as she went up the sidewalk and about a corner, off to wherever she had parked.