the asshole strikes again.

[Wendy Berber] *Mid-Day. She was a nerd on a mission. Carefully written note in one hand, slurpee in the other, she'd paused in the kitchen to listen for the sound of gunfire on the common room TV. A stork standing still in tall grass, listening for signs of a predator. Once assured there was no mad blasting going on, she'd strode nervously up the stairs. Now if she could just avoid Sinclair, Katherine, Nessa, and Liadan, she'd have a pleasant time of things. She crosses the room with purpose, drinking her sugary crushed iced concoction with a noisy rasp of the straw on plastic.*

[Alexander] "PEACHES!"

It's the sort of gratingly cheerful greeting Wendy most likely does not want to hear. Alex is swaggering into the commons with a deep red towel over his shoulders, his MMA shorts hanging off his hips. Amazingly, the man's even more deeply tanned now than he was, and there's a flush under it, as though he'd just come off a hard workout. Or a hot shower.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" There's a bowl of fruit on the coffee table; Jenny or some other kindhearted soul had left it there as much for decoration as anything else. Alex doesn't care. He plucks an apple off the top, tosses it into the air, catches it onehanded and then -- quite without warning -- lobs it at Wendy.

[Wendy Berber] [dex + ath- Catch! + 1 diff = both hands full!]
Dice Rolled:[ 2 d10 ] 4, 7 (Success x 1 at target 7)

[Wendy Berber] *She jerks like someone's attached electric cables to her spine, whirling around and staring wide eyed at Alex with a stuttered.* A-A-Al-Alex.. I - *And suddenly she'd trying to catch an apple. Its not pretty, knocking the top off her slurpee and spilling some on the floor, but she manages to bobble the apple against her flat chest, caught there by her arms. She takes a deep breath before rolling it awkwardly to the hand with the note. A frown at the spilled slurpee.* Um.. I'm p-posting on the b-bulletin board. th-thank you.

[Alexander] "What sorta note?" The question is blithe; he comes forward and snaps the note out of her hand, unrolls it and reads it. Hell, it's public, isn't it?

[Wendy Berber] Hey! *She snaps with a frown, swiping for it too late. The note reads "Its come to my attention that some of us are having similar nightmares, about a little girl with a bear. I was hoping to talk to anyone else who might be having these dreams, to see how alike they are, and try to figure out what they might mean, and then maybe bring them to a spirit talker. Ok. Thank you for your time in reading this note. Wendy Berber. Phone number +++-++++." Wendy stoops. taking out a kleenex and wiping the floor.*

[Alexander] Alex reads. He's a quick reader; whatever else, the man is not, apparently, a musclehead and an idiot. Before he gets to the end he's begun to laugh; by the end he's guffawing.

"Oh no," he moans in mock horror, "a little girl! With a BEAR! SAVE ME, PEACHES!"

[Wendy Berber] *Wendy just watches him flatly. A deep breath as she presses her lips together and thrusts out a spindly arm. Dark bruised circles ring her eyes, tall kin pale, and far too tired for this.*

m-m-may I have my n-n-note please Alex?

[Alexander] Quick, smooth, Alexander folds the note and slips it into the waistband of his shorts. "What's in it for me? What are you gonna give me?"

[Wendy Berber] *She offers him her half full slurpee with a sigh. Much like the kid in the lunchroom being shaken down for her brownie. her other hand comes up to adjust her glasses.*

Here.

[Alexander] Alex stares at it for a second. "What the hell would I want your slurpee for?"

[Wendy Berber] I don't know! To d-drink?! Its g-good. Its c-cherry. *She huffs in exasperation.* Just.. gve me my n-note. Or n-nevermind. I'll make a new one.

*She tosses the apple back at him lightly so as to duck her head and begin rummaging in her satchel for a pen and paper.*

[Marrick] (coherent?)
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 3, 4, 7, 10, 10 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Marrick] There was so much to be done, and for now Marrick had determined that she would be spending the better part of the day making executive decisions. Or, rather, trying to think of whether or not the place needs to be shut down from the general public and how this would impact the Coltranes.

There was a lot of area to be considered. Marrick wondered if anyone knew a health inspector. Whatever it was, though, it didn't matte,r because something had the blonde heading up the stairs, sounding as though she was a six foot four, two-hundred something pound male and not a five and a half foot tall female.

Marrick sounded much larger than she was. She felt like war. Pure, unmitigated rage that was barely held back. That was coaxed forward with a too-bright moon that was too close to her own for comfort.

All that considered, she was heading up the stairs.

[Alexander] "Why are you always st-st-stammering?" Changing his mind, Alex grabs the slurpee anyway. Catches the apple as it comes back to him, rather effortlessly, takes a big bite out of it. "It's annoying as shit."

And then he holds the note back out to her, bored with the game. Rattles it around in the skinny, myopic girl's face. "Here. If I let you write another one it'll be even more laughable. Go on, go pin it up."

He follows her when she does, reading the rest of the board over her shoulder. His eyes scan the postings, the LOST KEYS and the FOUND WALLET memos, the WANTED: BANDMATES ads, the GENTLEMEN, PLEASE STOP SPLATTERING note. While he reads, he crunches noisily on his apple, eating it in a handful of bites.

"So." Mouth full, apple down to the core, Alexander turns to tosses it into the wastebasket by the desk. It clangs in. The momentum knocks the basket over. Alex doesn't pick it up. A goddamn force of nature, the kinsman, destructive as a minor tornado. A fresh angle of attack: "Your boyfriend start beating you yet?"

[Wendy Berber] *Wendy snatches her note back and moves to the noticeboard, giving up the cherry slurpee and trying hard to ignore the kinsman. Her lips are drawn into a tight line as she carefully straightens her note, uncrinkling it. Once smoothed, she tacks it carefully to the board. So... Your boyfriend start beating you yet?" Wendy's eyes snap to Vaughn in a glare and she cuts off whatever she was about to stammer with a haughty sniff, making to push past him.* Mate.

[Alexander] "Fine," sluuuurp, "has your mate started beating you?"

[Wendy Berber] *Wendy's back is rigid with tension as she leans down to right the paper basket and put the apple core where it belongs. Face tight with the effort not to respond. The tall kin wraps her arms around herself and makes to move the long way down the hall, rather than walk past the Jerk. She could cut through the bathrooms and avoid him altogether.*

[Marrick] It was up the stairs, and what she heard was the form of a muffled conversation. The Fury, being who she was and associating with who she did, went to investigate. She had a curiosity that did not and could not belong to her, but she had acquired none the less. Boy had some things to take care of, which left Marrick in charge of.

There were voices that she remembered, that had been almost forgotten in the haze of sept duties, and one that she lived with.

Wendy snapped at someone. Wendy didn't stammer or look confused or whatever she needed. The blonde inhaled, gritting her teeth at... something. Who cared, whatever it was, her jaw was set for now. She took the time, and she made her approach. Whatever had irritated her was forgotten, as that it was not new and shiny, and instead she went to go stand by Wendy.

"Hey, Wendy-" just in time for Wendy to start walking.

[Marrick] Just in time to miss most of what was said, too. Timing, as we have learned, is everything.

[Alexander] Marrick misses the topic of conversation. That's okay. Alexander catches her up.

"Hey Marrick, didja know Wendy's mate may-or-may-not beat her? I can't figure out which; she refuses to answer." Slurp. "Suspicious silence, if you ask me."

And yeah. He does know he's talking about Marrick's packmate.

[Marrick] (Willpower: because hitting people in the face when talking about domestic abuse is a bad idea.)
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 4, 6, 6, 7, 9, 10 (Success x 5 at target 6)

[Wendy Berber] AUGH! *Wendy whirls on her heel, angry. Spindly fingers curling into tight little fists.* No!! Ok?! Boy d-doesn't beat me. AUGH! You're such a J-J-Jerk Alex.

[Marrick] "Well," she starts. her voice is tight but it is downright shocking to see how incredibly calm and patient she is. Or, rather, how calm and patient she has the capacity to be. The Fury folds her arms across her chest- attire is comfortable. Cut off shorts, button up shirt, and a pair of tennis shoes. "That don't happen. Yer jus' sayin' that t'be antagonistic, so?"

She inhales.

"Y'got whatcha wanted, so knock that shit off."

She exhaled, and then looked at Wendy.

"An' he's jus' sayin' stuff because he knows it pisses ya off."

[Alexander] "She's right." Alex is cheerful enough about this; not the slightest bit ashamed of himself. "I totally say this shit to piss you off. And it totally works too. You're a lolfarm when you're steamed, Peaches."

He actually said that aloud. He pronounces it loll-farm.

"I like her better when she's pissed than when she's cowering and stammering though," he adds, ostensibly to Marrick. "What do you think?"

[Wendy Berber] *Wendy glares. She's come here to do what she needs to do. There was no point in talking anymore. A deep breath as she waits for Marrick to respond with her arms crossed over her unimpressive chest. She pushes up her glasses, exhausted. Dark rings under her eyes, perhaps it was no wonder he decided to tease her about spousal abuse. Poor Marrick would have had to deal with Wendy waking up shrieking every third night or so. It was surely wearing on booth their nerves.*

[Marrick] (UGH! INTERNET!)

[Alexander] (hm, not sure if mindy fell offline or not -- doh, there she is! *slips my post in anyway* btw folks, i gotta go home in a bit.)

"Here's what I want to know," Alex goes on, pretty much regardless of what Marrick says. "What do you see in this fellow you're with? Other than the fact that he doesn't seem to mind that you're, y'know. A wimp?"

[Marrick] "She's going to smother you in your sleep, Alex, I hope you realize this."
(slip that in before Alex's post)

[Alexander] "Never," drolly. "Gabriella would grab her and plead with her to stop fighting, please, please stop fighting."

[Wendy Berber] Its none of your business. None of it is.

[Alexander] "Are you just saying that because you don't know?"

[Marrick] "Alex, just shut up. You made yer point. Y'pissed her off, she's standing up for herself, now knock it off," she tells him. Damned if there wasn't the slightest bit of edge there.

[Wendy Berber] N-no. I'm saying that b-because you're a c-cr-cruel jerk. And because its None of y-your B-business. *She seethes with a hurt wimp, flinching when Marrick speaks.*

[Alexander] "No," say what you will about Alex, but the man's got a backbone. Wendy flinches; this is to be expected. Alexander doesn't. In fact, he meets Marrick's eyes for a brazen second.

It's brief. It's there. Then he flashes a glance at Wendy. "I have a new point now. Listen to her. She talks like she really thinks her precious little mate is never going to hurt her. 'He doesn't, he wouldn't, he'd never,' you can't tell me you didn't hear that in the subtext. And you can't tell me either that that's actually true. That he wouldn't hurt her, ever, I mean. That's just stupid; guy's a fucking werewolf. Come on, other day in the bathroom I made a joke about him wanting a piece of your ass and he flipped out on me."

Cruel, Wendy called him. She's probably right. There's a careless glibness to the way he tosses the comments out, rants without any particular rancor, unleashes an effortless sort of tirade. Tops it off with a big smile, teeth startlingly white in his tanned face.

[Wendy Berber] I never S-Said That! *She shakes spindly fists in frustration.* Alex Stop!

[Wendy Berber]

[Wendy Berber] (my b! it refused to close!)

[Marrick] It pisses her off for so many, many reasons. It hits nerves and edges, and she doesn't want to think it possible. But it's true. It's true and she knows it for some reason. Werewolves have a certain propensity for violence; it's just a fact. That's simply how they are, and it's only a matter of time before they snap.

She wasn't sure why bringing up the fact that werewolves were bound to end up beating each other and their loved ones to bloody pulps made her so... edged. Because she knew he had a point, and she knew that it was just a matter of time before it happened.

Brother or not, male was male.

She exhaled, she gritted her teeth and clenched her fists hard enough that she swore she might have drawn blood. She may very well have done broken the skin.

"Wendy, go home. I'll be there in a minute."

[Alexander] "There are your orders from on high, Peaches," Alexander observes. "Guess your leash is getting yanked."

Once, he had a conversation with Sinclair; said something about how when he opens his big yawp and acts like an idiot, he fully expects the beatdowns to follow. What he didn't discuss was why he does it in the first place.

Truth is: Alexander has no idea. Maybe it has something to do with the rankle of being a second-class citizen. Maybe it has something to do with justice and equality for all, being a goddamn freedom fighter, a martyr for the cause. More likely it's just because Alexander's either some kind of thrillseeker or some kind of...

...well. Asshole.

Some guys -- most garou, many kin -- fight for a cause. Then there's guys like Alexander. If there's a reason or a rhyme to his behavior, he hasn't figured it out yet. No matter, though. He's past a certain point of no return; figures he might as well get in all the goddamn parting shots he can, now.

"Off you go, Peaches," he says, and flaps his hands at Wendy in a shooing gesture. "Scurry on home. Don't forget to cook, clean, and keep your eyes down now."

[Wendy Berber] *Ink blue eyes dart from Alex to Marrick. It was a full moon. And this was not a good place to be today. Boy would be so mad if she stirred up trouble with Alex and made a fight happen. Again. Its with that in mind she drums up her courage and squeaks.* Um.. sh-should I re-repain bl-black Unicorn. Or um.. Will it smell up the h-house? *A hard scowl at Alex as she lingers for an answer, moving against the wall toward the exit.*

[Wendy Berber] (ahem rePAINT)

[Marrick] "Do what you think will help," she says. States. But her voice is too tight, and she isn't looking at Wendy. She's just expecting to hear the sound of footsteps. She's breathing deeply, and-

And Marrick Fisher is yanking the leash, and she doesn't think twice. But she's not leaving.

[Alexander] "...and repaint unicorns," Alexander adds. Can't fucking resist.

[Wendy Berber] *It was that black unicorn that had saved Alex's ass when Boy came back to his senses in the bathroom, but of course the cocky kin doesn't know that. Nor would he likely care. Wendy turn on her heel and moves past him, curled into herself and scowling. Too damn tired to argue anymore, especially not with an order from Marrick. Whether her reminder of the pack totem was taken on board or not, she didn't know. But she'd done what she could. making for the stairs and leaving Alex with his ill-gotten slurpee.*