Log:A Meeting about a Meeting

A Meeting about a Meeting
What's on the Agenda's Agenda?
Participants Sigrun, Teagan, Paz. Damion	5 February, 2018 Summer courtiers convene to discuss summer courtiers convening.
Location Iron Church
When paying a visit to a gym, it behooves one to dress the part. Dressed in modest work out pants and a full sleeved and high necked shirt, Sigrun arrives carrying a large gym bag, and with her hair braided back into tight braids. A few stray hairs frizz loose, can't really be helped, but she's otherwise very much dressed to punch at other people for a while if necessary. She asks after Damion with the first person she sees that might seem to know, and aims herself in that direction. Whereas Teagan always dresses like Teagan. Skinny jeans, trenchcoat, machete, boots. They look like they're about to get off of their motorcycle into a rainy, neon-lit night with a saxophone/synth backing, tbh. Always. Their hands are tucked into the pockets of their long coat as they trail along after Sig. Damion is sitting on a bench, his forearms resting on his legs and a dumbbell in either hand. He's doing curls, focused on his work and some sweat standing out on his scaled skin. He's apparently been working out for a while, since it probably takea good bit for somebody like him to realy break a sweat like that. He does notice when familiar Lost draw near to him though, eyes shifting their way before he nods slightly, then returns to what he's doing. Several more reps, then he lowers the weights down to the ground, then grabs a towel off the bench behind him and starts to wipe himself off. "Hey Teagan, Sig. What brings you by tonight?" What do you get when you shove a sandstorm into yoga pants? A glorious ass, apparently. Paz, in her yoga pants and long sleeved athletic top, is not only dressed the part, but looks like when she goes to the gym she means business. It's true that it probably looks far less out of place if you can't see the swirling, vaguely draconic shape of her mien and only get her mask instead, but she's dressed more or less the part. Whatever business brought her there, when she comes in and sees Sigrun and Teagan it's them that she heads for. That and, apparently, the stranger as well. She just wanders up and says, "hey." Not to anybody in particular. "Oh. Heya, Paz! You've met Teagan, yeah? And Damion?" Sigrun gestures to each in turn, making certain Paz can sort out which is which. "Teagan's good people. So's Damion. And guys, so's Paz. So. There. Everyone's met." Sigrun, seeing to the particulars like a proper Minnesotan. "I dropped by to chat with you. Business, of a sort. The kinda best spoken of with more privacy, yeah?" Super secret Lost business, yo. Yep. "Nothing these two can't sit in on. Honestly, it's better if they do! Works out nicely." "Yo, chica," Teagan greets Paz, holding out their knuckles toward Paz for a dap. The sand might mildly abrade their skin, but, eh, everyone needs to exfoliate. "Yeah, I know errybody. We all Summer. Too bad Clio's out right now, I'd drag her chirpy ass over this way. If that's where we're headed. Anyway, yeah." Damion raises a brow when Paz approaches, studying the other draconic quietly for a time. Then he nods to her and says, "Hey. Damion King." If she also followed boxing, she might recognize him as a rather major fighter who retired early six or so years ago. He stands up as Sigrun starts to introduce them all, offering a hand to Paz. "Nice to meet you." His grip is strong if she takes the hand, and he shakes firmly. The words from the valkyrie make his head tilt. "Oh yeah? Hmm." He glances around, then nods to some steps leading to the second floor. "My loft is over this way I guess." He starts towards said steps. "Hope it's not anything too serious." It can be a little weird, sometimes, when you're a Changeling who has some idea who someone is if you see their Mask, but when you meet them in person and get a view of their Mien instead you can't tell it's them. If a sandstorm can look surprised, Paz does. She gives Teagan a quick dap and a brief, "que es la que hay?" and then to Damion, "Damion King?" she asks, her voice a little bit like someone decided to make her vocal chords out of sandpaper. At least she sounds mostly pleased by the guess? It's a little hard to tell. "I've seen quite a few of your fights," she admits, extending a hand that looks like not much more than a fortuitous convergence of swirling sands rather than flesh. "Paz Arenas Zavala," she introduces herself. Damion nods his head towards the sandstorm, "Yeah. And that's cool. I wish I could say it was actually me in most of those." He starts up the steps to the second floor, and once he reaches the door he lets the others in, only to close it behind them. "Just take a seat anywhere." He moves towards a door in one side of the loft. "I'm gonna take a quick shower. Speak loudly, and I should be able to hear you." He opens the door and disappears inside. He doesn't close the door, though all that can really be seen is clothes getting tossed on the ground. Then there's the hiss of running water. "Well. It's serious, in that it's about the future and stuff. And it's not serious in that nothing is on fire. It's good. All good. I'm not a bad news kinda person, in general." Sigrun gives Damion's upper arm a clap with her hand. Whack. A bit like smacking a side of beef, but hey. "Your loft will work, sure." She's not rushing them along, really. Not when two prize fighters meet. That's something you stand back and enjoy. Once they're actually up in his loft, she makes herself at home. Setting down her bag and adopting a lean outside of the bathroom door with her back to the wall. So she can speak and be heard, "So two things, to be brief. First. I want to set up a space for training with weaponry. Aspire said I could teach self defense courses, and basic weapon courses. You, Damion, would prefer no live blades here for obvious reason. So I was thinking I'd open up a salle. Fill the gap. It'd make a great place for us to eyeball the other courts from an Arrayer of Distant Thunder standpoint. Learn who's good and who's not. Train people up, and so on. Work with the Harvestmen, even. Get some cooperation going. Yanno?" "Mmmm," Teagan noises, shrugging at Paz. They follow after into Damion's private quarters, and drop themselves down onto the couch. "The Harvestmen apparently have some sort of setup in their hollow where you can spar without hurting each other. Might wanna add that on to the salle. Which sounds like a cool thing. What kinda word is salle? I suppose that means like fighting place?" Teagan takes a draw from their vape and lapses into quiet, listening. Come for the workouts, stay for the unplanned meetings. Paz gets wrapped up in the swirl of people going upstairs and just goes along with it, because she's got nothing but time on her hands and she's curious what's going to come of it anyway. Summer meetings are frequently the best. "Sorry if that's a sore spot," she says to Damion, getting the drift of his words. When they get upstairs she takes a seat, relaxing casually and looking like she's kind of okay with it if this takes all day, or wraps up in ten minutes. Possibly in bloodshed. Still, she listens to the thoughts Sigrun shares and says, "I like the idea," she says, straight to the point. "Someone told me recently that a sword isn't actually a bludgeoning weapon and I've been doing it wrong this whole time, so maybe I should learn the right way to do it. Not just, you know, be stronger than anyone else and pound them into submission." She flashes a grin that would be wickeder if she had more substance, but is probably enough to make plenty of people nervous anyway. Maybe a little less so in present company. "Which is to say I'm not sure how much I can help, but if there is something I'm open to it." Apparently she knows what a Salle is, but she did do combat sports for a living so maybe she has some familiarity with fencing. Damion scrubs up in the shower. The scales actually make things a bit quicker than they would be otherwise. He still listens to the talk from the Valkyrie. "Hmm. A salle huh. Where were you thinking of opening it?" Suds are quickly washed down the drain. "Actually, I am a Harvestman. And yeah. They do have this cabinet thing that can produce temporary weapons that don't actually hurt you if you hit somebody with them. Even if you run them through or seem like you should have lopped an arm off. Paige brought it in. I have no idea where she got it from. And she's not really around to ask anymore." Turning the shower off, he steps out and grabs a towel to dry himself. Again, the scales speed things up quite a bit. Water doesn't cling to them the same as to skin. Wrapping said towel around his waist, and moves to his dressers. "Might want to look away if you're shy, I guess." He drops the towel, then opens a drawer and pulls out a pair of sweatpants. Slipping them on he moves to the couch himself and settles at one end of it. "Power is good, yeah. Though if you don't have skill backing you up it might not do you any good." "Salle just means room. In french. Also a place you study fencing. Also in french. Best word I could think of for 'fighty space'. And it's good that the Harvestmen have their own space to practice in, that's awesome. I'm aiming this to be a place for everyone else. And, for the record, I'm fine if the Harvestmen use my space as a place to recruit from. I'm here to help the freehold, so whatever I make is going to be there to help it out." Sigrun, it appears, is not a shy one. She proves the opposite of shy. Curious, even. For that is a fine backside, right there. Yep. "I was thinking... near you. Frankly. We can build on each other's business. Two summers running self defense businesses right on top of one another. Sends the right message. If you're cool with it." She holds off on her second item for now. Lingering on the first, since folks have input. "I can try to teach you stuff, Paz. But I'm going to tell you right now that would feel weird. Do my best, though." "Oh, right on," agrees Teagan. "I mean, I'm allin favor of like, having someplace that's a Summer location. We have like no fucking Court coherence and haven't since I've been here. So, like, if that's what you intend with the Salle or not... " They take another pull from their vape, let the rest of the conversation pass easily. It's impossible to tell where Teagan is looking, or their reactions. "Yeah, most of my training is unarmed, and usually I just don't bother with weapons, but they have their place," Paz agrees with Damion, because being strong by itself really isn't enough. Sure, it can get you pretty far if you're notably stronger than any human being can get, but that strong plus skilled is better. Also, much like Sigrun, she doesn't bother hiding some aprpeciation for Damion walking through in a towel. Not remotely. Ahem, moving on, she peels her eyes away to look at Sigrun. "I'm happy to help teach when it comes to hand to hand, too. Or help with moving equipment in or whatever." As for where the business is, she doesn't really have anything to say about that, so instead she says, "if you're worried about hurting me, I'm tougher than I look." It is indeed a fine backside. Though if they were watching, only a glimpse could be caught of the other side while he was pulling on the pants. Damion wasn't shy about showing it off, just letting those that were shy have a chance to avert their gaze. He nods to Sigrun. "Mmm. Well. The lot I bought IS bigger than the parking lot and the building I converted. There'd likely be plenty of room to build someplace else on it... though are talking about a place that's entirely private to us Lost? Or are you going to be teaching mortals that apply for classes or something too?" The unanimous agreement is that Damion has a fine ass. And people say Summer can't agree on anything. "Yeah. For both. Mortals and Lost. We can always close it down for Lost, or attach a hollow for Lost, even. We can reolve that down the road, though. No rush. And if you want to lease out to me, so much the better. That'd be great. Makes it easier for all involved, I guess." Sigrun then shoulders away from the wall to move deeper into the room, closer to the others while they all converse. "Teagan, though, has touched on my second point. During our season last year, Sun held the crown. That's... kinda sad. I'd like for that to change this year. And if not this year, then next year. You know? I'm waaaaay too new to want to presume to speak for this town, and I'm waaaaay to new to really stand a chance of organizing things on my lonesome. Even if that's what I've been sent here to do, sorta. You guys have been here longer, and I'd essentially like you guys to sort out who we should support in working to get things organized in the court. Start naming people to positions, promote folks that deserve it. Motivate folks to want to deserve it. So on. Don't be shy about suggesting your own self, just be honest when you do. Yanno?" "I wasn't around until the season was half over. I dunno what the situation was there. I do know the shiny hat club lets like... everybody weigh in on who rules, no matter if they're in one of the relevant Courts or what. Which seems a little weird. But -- I also stay away from like... shiny hats. Supposedly we have a councilor or someone who's supposed to be in charge. But like... ask me their name. I don't know it 'cause I ain't ever seen 'em, heard 'em, don't know a goddamned thing about 'em. If they're a leader, they're a damn shit one," Teagan finishes. "I was here like a week before I met you," Paz points out to Sigrun, but it's really a minor point, so she just shrugs it off and goes on. "I like what you're saying though. I'd like to see us be more organized too, so let's organize. Why don't we just call a meeting or two, start doing some things, and if someone who thinks they have some fucking authority wants us to stop they can come try their luck at making us." It really does sound like she's half hoping that they will, but is anybody surprised? Probably not. Then she lets out a rasping laugh, like someone decided to rub some sandpaper together. Damion lays his arm along the back of the couch, listening to Sigrun with half-lidded eyes. "I've...admitedly not been involved in any of the political stuff since I got here. I've offered my services here and there when they were needed. But mostly I've been focused on getting m businesses up and running. I keep meaning to give more attention to the Wyrd side of the street, but things happen. You know? Hell, I'm not sure I even know half the people in the Court. Or the Freehold for that matter." He quirks a brow over at Teagan. "Shiny hats?" "It's going to take me some time to get my place up and running, so if we're looking to start a meeting this month, it's probably best that we do it here at the Church. If that's okay by you, Damion. We can close up the gym for a night, cater in some food. Maybe some of the older folks will turn up and have some ideas or insights that we lack right now. And if not, well. It's like Paz says. Let them stop us, I guess. If we each make a point of meeting other summers this coming week, invite them along, then I figure we can get things moving again. Start making summer an asset to the local lost, as we ought to be." Sigrun bobs her head approvingly, apparently pleased with the direction this meeting has gone. "I do have one other thing. I'm planning to join the freehold after the meeting at Cat-22 this Thursday. Probably it would be best if we showed up there, too. At that meeting. So if you can make it, I'd be grateful. And then, Damion, after I join the freehold, I'd like to meet with the Captain of the Harvestmen about enlistment. Is that something you can help me arrange? I've not met them." "Yeah, the Freehold?" The tone of Teagan's voice implies that Damion has maybe asked them to define this term a few times now, but they seem amused more than anything else. "I don't do politics. I do my job. But yeah, let them fucking stop us." A bright, sharp smile from the Mirrorskin, and they wrinkle their nose up. "I'm going to place a bet on the table right now. C.B. is the one actually organizing this meeting, and he's going to use it to talk about how the Freehold is bad, super bad, how all of its decisions are bad, and to propose some sort of alternate structure, maybe. The Cat-22 UnFreehold, run by anarchists, no crowns, no masters. It's going to be a fucking shitshow." Beat. "But then, he's my ex, and his behaviors fit the checklists for 'relationship abuse,' so I'm biased." "I'll see if I can make it," says Paz without much enthusiasm, because despite her words she doesn't really love meetings. Especially not ones that aren't likely to result in fistfights. "But yeah, let's be the change we want to see in the fucking world. It sounds like all of us think some cohesion would be good, so let's try to be cohesive, yeah?" She doesn't have much to say on the CB thing, or Cat-22, because she's never met CB and Cat-22 serves vegetarian food. If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. Just punch someone instead. Damion nods over to Sigrun. "As long as we do it in the evening, when there's fewer people here. Don't want to inconvenience too many of my regulars." He stretches, lacing his fingers above his head as he does. "Mmf. Yeah. It would be nice if Summer was more of a factor. So far it seems like a lot of the combat stuff goes to the Harvestmen. Which, you know. That's what they're there for. But it makes what Summers do feel a little...superfluous?" He smiles, briefly flashing onyx teeth. "I say being a Harvestman myself. I'll try to make the meeting at Cat-22, but no promises. And yeah. I think Dielle is still Captain. I'll try and get ahold of her." He frowns some as he listens to Teagan. "What? Huh. I've only met the guy a couple times. Don't know him well. So he's running this? Well, just cause we're there doesn't mean we have to actually go along with whatever plan he has." Sigrun rolls out her shoulders at Damion's trailing comment, bobbing her head agreeably, "Well, that's sort of the point, actually. If there's enough people there who don't buy in to whatever it is they might be selling, it's not as likely to sell as well. That, and it'll be good to have a few different view points on what is proposed when we circle back up and discuss it. Better, too, if we split up and sit at different places around the room. Take the temperature of people's reactions." Eaves drop, in other words. "Me, I've never really met the guy but twice. He gave me the stink eye. And then I did some reading up on him, and wasn't too impressed. Make up your own minds, though. Mine isn't made up yet, either. Truth told. But, yeah. If someone's calling a meeting of Lost about what I know to be at least tangentially related to one of the True Fae, Summer should be there." Sigrun then asides to Teagan, "I am expecting them to try to come at me for executing that loyalist." And then aside to Damion, "That's why I want to wait to join the freehold and the Harvestmen. If they do try that, I don't want it to reflect on the Freehold or the Harvestmen. Yanno? And, also, the fact that I wasn't a member of the freehold when I executed the loyalist, nor in the hedge belonging to the freehold, whatever argument they might make from a legal standpoint is pointless. And if they try a moral argument..." Her head shakes. "Anyway. I'm trying to cover everyone's butt from potential fallout for what I did. So. Just so you know, they may bring that up. And if you have questions about what happened with that, I'm happy to answer them ahead of time. Now, even." "He threw a glass at me and Amanda because he was upset with us. His girlfriend set his shit on fire because she was upset with him. And that's just what I feel like talking about. They're like a PSA for 'kids, please get out of a relationship if someone treats you like this.'" The Mirrorskin rolls one shoulder, takes nother hit from their vape. Lets the vapor curl up out of their nose. "Nah, man. If it wasn't you, Sig, it woulda been me. My ass is always hangin' in the wind on this stuff, but Squires are made to hang in the wind." "Hold on, rewind, someone's upset that a Loyalist was exectuted?" Paz asks, because this is some news to her, and she doesn't really understand what the problem is. "There are kind of limited options there, right? What did they want done, buy them a drink and send them on their way back to work?" Out of everything, that seems to be what she most feels requires some commentary. Damion nods to Sigrun. "I can understand that." The dragon closes his eyes, letting his head rest back. "Doesn't sound like a great guy. When I met him, he just seemed sorta... I don't know. Rednecky?" He looks back to Sigrun. "I'll admit. This is the first I've heard about the Loyalist. Did they want you to bring them in for interrogation or something instead?" "That's the thing. They were there. At the interrogation where this Loyalist was interviewed. She was given every opportunity to cooperate. To share information. To recant her service to the True Fae. In the end, it just steeled her resolve to die in this thing's service. Paz has the right of it, there weren't really any other options at that point. She'd have gone back to his service knowing where we are, where Vorpal's hollow is, our faces. It would have been awful. This Keeper, he... raises humans. From birth. To serve him. Somewhere out there there's a human farm feeding souls to his service. And his loyalists, they harvest glamour by torturing people to death. Great fun, huh?" Sigrun's head shakes, remembering the whole mess. "I didn't want to kill her. I had to kill her. And when I killed her, I did it quick. Clean as I could. Anyway. I didn't want you guy being surprised by that. As to what they'd have preferred, I have no idea. Because they never spoke up." "I even wore her boyfriend's fucking face to try to convince her to change her tune. The thing is, it doesn't matter what we did, it would have been wrong." Teagan broods now. "I licked the inside of her boyfriend's mine to like, get the truth. The shit I saw was ... terrible. Not even sayign what everyone saw. Them torturing a woman to death in the hedge for glamour and worship. That's how they worship their 'God,' that is, their Keeper. And like. It's kind of a guess. But like. I know for sure he was born to it, and the humans aren't 'captive,' and he's not the child of Lost. Which means he was the child of humans who didn't consider themselves captive, and he was born to this life. Intended to be a Lost. That leaves 'cult' as an option. This Gentry keeps a cult of torturing killers raised from birth to be fanatical in worship and devotion. We couldn't even meaningfully interrogate her; she was unreasonably, inhumanly, completely resistant to everything short of hardcore torture, and I wasn't going to go there." "What they wanted us to do is whatever we didn't do." Paz's mantle grows hotter around her, and the mad swirling of sand grows fiercer. "He raises people. From birth. To serve him." She echoes a lot of the way that Sigrun says it, and seems to grow angrier with each part of the statement. "I feel for them, but in a case like that i wouldn't have much hope of them ever coming around. So what are we going to do about this?" Damion opens his eyes now and sits up, staring over at Sigrun. "What the fuck? How long have we known about this then?" Then he looks back to Teagan and frowns. "Where are they keeping the ones they're breeding? It can't be in the Hedge, or they'd have become Lost after a while and unable to have kids." He rubs at his face with a big hand. "Christ, we need to put an end to this fast." "Now you get why I want us there, yeah? Damion's right. If we can stop this, we need to try. Just realize it's likely to mean a lot more killings like the one I've done. It's possible this meeting will be about that, and nothing more than that. If it is, great. We can try to steer the sentiment productively. Make sure people are smart and prepared. Mostly, I just want to see were it goes." Sigrun rubs the palms of her hands on her yoga pants, then folds her arms up again, her demeanor more severe than it had been at the start of all of this. "I just learned about it last week. This is the keeper that branded Neiran's hand in the Market a while back. Same keeper. Charlie O, I'm sure, got tipped off by Vorpal or the like shortly thereafter. I believe the council of the freehold is meeting shortly, and I imagine this will be on the list of what they discuss. Honestly, Damion, you're better positioned than all of us to learn what is being done on the Freehold side of things. As to what we can do about it moving forward, Paz..." Sigrun's shoulders rise and fall. "That's why I'm trying to nudge the court to organize. I have no idea how best to respond or what we have to respond with. The Court has no Arrayer of Distant Thunder, so I don't think anyone really knows officially within the court. Dielle? Is that her name? Dielle might know. Leader of the Harvestmen. She should know what tools we have to bring to bear. Obviously, you know. I'd love to liberate their humans, crush and demoralize their loyalists, and if possible so injure that Keeper that it licks its wounds in Arcadia for the next half century, bereft of a steady source of worshippers. But... Heh. Easier said than done." "They keep them nowhere near here," Teagan interjects, shaking their head. "Look, I can only find this information out when I'm wearing his face, and it's not healthy for me to wear a face like that for too long. We found them in the relatively deep Hedge. I don't disagree, I just don't know where this cult is, or if there's only one, or, what the fuck ever. I only know what I know. We were looking for information on the Keeper who Neirin accidentally helped." There's exhaustion in the shimmer and shift of the Mirrorskin's face. "No, she wouldn't have come around. I couldn't even budge her wearing the face of the person most devoted to her. I found a gift in his pocket for her. A bracelet. He loved her. I can still wear their faces if I need to, both of them. But I gotta be careful about licking the poison too many times." Their expression goes slowly slack, and they sigh. "Yeah, easier said than done," Paz agrees, the words grinding out of her in anger. "We'll do what we can. It's probably a lot more than that shit of a Gentry thinks, and not as much as we'll hope, but if we can find any way to put the hurt on him, I'm all for it." She gives Teagan a look, maybe a sympathetic one but it's hard to tell. "I wouldn't want to wear one of their faces, so I can't blame you for not wanting to delve into it deeply. Let's see what we can figure out without sticking their thoughts into your head if we can avoid it, yeah?" Damion stays silent, taking it all in and letting the three other Lost talk things out while he thinks, leaning back on the couch again and crossing his arms over his chest. Eyes distant. The fingers of one hand druming against his upper arm. Finally he raises to his feet, slipping behind the couch, and begins to pace some. "So." Sigrun offers as a rather poor segue. "Who wants to put up the notice about a summer meeting? I can do it if none of you want to, but again. I'm the new-new girl in town, and I don't want to come off as presumptuous. I'm trying to follow the script, here, for how the Circle introduces itself. Stepping on toes doesn't go over well, in my experience." Sigrun watches Damion pace, then glances aside at Teagan and back to Paz. "Anyway. That's all I have. I know it isn't much. I won't ask Teagan to expound on anything, due to what they went through already. Just. Yeah." She shrugs, realizing this is a horrible way to end a meeting. "I dunno." "Squires are a divisive group. I ain't gon ask you to do it, Sig, but like, do it. Ain't nobody else in this jawn fuckin' doin' it." Teagan's eyes close, and they yawn twice, and then they're mumbling, "Wake me to take me home," at the Valkyrie. Then they're asleep. Sleep is a defense against having to have conversations; they're totally tired out. "I'm a new girl too, and while I don't give a shit about stepping on toes," Paz says, clearly quite amused, "I don't know if you want me to be the one trying to organize things. That's not my strong point, and I fucking know it. You want to do it, I'll back your play." She half-smiles Teagan's way when they check out to sleep, and she stands up too. "I'm going to take off, but just get in touch if you need anything."