It's the middle of the afternoon, and Samantha Whitaker showed up here, at Olympus, some time ago. Being that this is a Changeling-owned business, with a Changeling-only area somewhere in it, it's not terribly surprising that word would spread amongst the lost of Fate's Harvest that one of the outsiders is here.
For her part, Samantha is just casually wandering the store, looking at this and that, looking idly amused by all of it. The dark-haired woman with the snake eyes is dressed in a leather jacket, tight jeans, black boots. Oh, and that's her yellow muscle far parked out front.
Being a Waykeeper in training also means you hear things first and with that bit of information regarding the outsider's location, Oberon decided it could be interesting to head to Olympus to check on them. Just for the sake of curiosity. The Fairest comes inside and glances around, trying to look as casual as possible. Then, he heads to a random shelf of books and starts pretending he's searching for something specific as he tries to spot the outsiders.
Nathania walks into the Olympus and looks around. She spots Oberon, but plays it cool. She heads for the divination tools--tarot decks in particular--and begins to look them over, sincere curiosity keeping her interest pure.
Samantha keeps on moving about, just wandering, and there's some apparent interest. A crystal is picked up here, a bag of incense there. Still, from the look on her face, it's more a novelty than anything else. Eventually, she does turn to look at the very large man. "If you're aiming for subtle, you missed," she murmurs to him, as she steps right past him. Nathania, well, she's a lot smaller, even if she looks a lot less human. Still makes her easier to ignore.
"Hi. I'm Oberon. Waykeeper Recruit." The man says after a second of silence where he, apparently, tries to decide on what to do after his cover ops gets uncovered."But I didn't come under someone else's order." He adds as he offers a hand to a shake. His voice carries some sort of nervousness and a tidbit of uncertainty.
Nathania glances up at the conversation, before picking up a deck in silence. Hm. The box is sealed, but she pulls out her phone and fiddles with it, probably looking up the deck to see cards. After a moment, she puts it back, and picks up another deck, fiddling with her phone again. This one she keeps, tucking it between elbow and chest. She seems to ignore the pair in the middle of the store.
Samantha had been meaning to just walk past Oberon. Ignore him. But then he's talking, so very openly. So she looks back at him. Her eyes, like his, are wrong for a human. But unlike his, hers are entirely animal. A tiny little slit of black, strange patterns in the odd blue-green color. She stares up at the man. "Is that so?" she asks. "How interesting," she says, in a tone that's anything but interested. "Do you know my name, Oberon?" she asks.
"Samantha Whitaker." The Fairest says right away. But something in the way the woman behaves makes him unconfortable. Or maybe it's his ignored hand to a shake."We've been hearing lots of things about you and I decided to come and check by myself."
Nathania ignore ignores. Maybe the little rag dolly woman is deaf. Oberon is on his own, it seems, until the blonde steps in. She's letting him founder, though, cruel as it is. Winter: where the strong survive and the weak... don't. How very Darwinian.
The hand shake is quite thoroughly ignored. Well, almost. She does look down at the big man's hand, then back up at him. Making it clear she saw it, she's just not interested. The uncomfortable heat coming off her mantle might well explain it. Not a kind one, this woman. More of a fighter, it might seem. "Is that what you do, then... Waykeeper?" she asks. "Stalk people?" she asks. "Or is it more of a... greeter... position?" she asks, ever so curiously. And just in case Nathania thinks she might be blending in, there is a glance given her way, then back to Oberon.
"A bit of both. Depending on the subject." He says retrieving his hands and putting it into his pocket in a awkward way. His gaze follows Samantha's and find Nathania in the other side of the store. He swallows a bit nervously and returns his attention to the Outsider."But as I said, I'm not here as a Waykeeper. I just wanted to chat."
Nathania looks up and gives a nod to Samantha and Oberon. She knows she's noticed. But she's just... listening. Quiet.
"You're not here as a Waykeeper... just introduce yourself as one, Oberon?" Samantha asks, looking openly unamused at the distinction. "Do you stop being one, time to time?" she asks further. She watches him a moment longer, then finally looks aside, to Nathania. "You want to join us, sweetheart? Apparently we're having a chat."
Oberon's cheeks suddenly get very pinky and the man swallows nervously."No. I do not. I just want you to know I'm not here to make an interrogation." He tries.
"Apparently," Nathania says, putting down the decks with a sigh. "Hello, Samantha Whitaker. I... am Nathania Winters." Her button eyes are dark, unamused, as she walks over to stand in a triangle formation with the pair. "Oberon, dear. You've put... your foot... quite firmly... into your mouth. It's okay; we all... do, sometimes. But... it's awful... timing." She gives the big Spring a perfunctory pat, and looks to Samantha. Her voice may be slow, and her mantle may be cold, but she tilts her head at the woman curiously. "I am... wondering why.. you're coming out of... the woodwork now, Ms. Whitaker. Why not... when we first... formed?"
Samantha just watches Oberon for another moment, her look likewise unamused. There's a snort, and a roll of her eyes, and she disregards the big man to look upon Nathania. She seems to appreciate that this woman so easily puts to words what the eye-rolling meant. She smiles at Nathania. A sly smile, as one might expect from a snake. "Just Sam," she says. "Don't bugs and rodents come out of the woodwork?" she asks. "Did you mean to call me... a bug... or a rodent?"
With the approach of Nathania, a full Waykeeper, the recruit visibly relaxes a tiny bit. He looks from Nathania to Samantha and back to Nathania when she starts talking. He nods, in an attempt to keep being part of the conversation, but doesn't add anything to it for now.
Nathania tilts her head to Sam, watching her intently. "No. I meant... to call you a snake," she says clearly. "As your... eyes are clearly... serpentine, and you want... what is ours. You are... not doing this the right way, Ms. Whitaker." Keeping to formality, ouch. That's not the kindhearted dolly everyone usually knows. She adjusts her messenger bag across her chest. "I do... not know what.. you think... we have... that you're after, because it's more... than what you're stating. But I don't... like it, Ms. Whitaker. It's not... fair or right. And while... I'm not naive enough... to think the world works... in black and white, I do think... this is underhanded and reeks... to high heaven."
Oberon, maybe fortunately, is ignored. Sam's attention is fully upon Nathania now. When she's called a snake, so boldly, her eyes shine with delight. She grins, then her mouth opens, just so. Her forked tongue comes to run over her top teeth, as she stares right at the dolly. "We are here now, Ms. Winters, because it is getting worse," she says. "And maybe we should have came years ago, but... there's always hope... that a group of youngsters might grow up and find themselves, isn't there?" she asks. She gives a soft laugh. "We're still waiting on word that your... Queen... will see us. It's rather rude, you know?"
Upon seeing how Nathania reacts to the Outsider's words, Oberon arches one of his brows in surprise, but keeps himself into this new position he just found. The bodyguard. Sort of. The Fairest even crosses his arms around his chest in an attempt to look less silly.
"I believe, Ms. Whitaker..." Nathania says, even slower than usual, "that you... and your companion, Mr. Bergman, are... the rude... ones here. Coming in. Demanding so... much. Interrupting... a time of... revelry and peace." Her button eyes flash in the light, hard and the color of bluish slate. "I am... truly sad that I... missed the Crowning due... to other obligations. We may have had... words then instead... of here and now."
Sam's head tilts to the side, an exaggerated gesture that lets her dark hair cascade so nicely over her shoulder and down. "Forgive me, Ms. Winters. What is it you think we've demanded?" she asks. "And do you really think it's odd we show up when you've a new crown, instead of speaking to a seasonal monarch that is on her way out?"
Oberon keeps his pretty mouth shut and let the two woman deal the politics since he has, apparently, zero skill on that field. Eventually, though, he glances around to check on the surrounding to see if there are other people stares at the group.
-> >> Oberon to Here << <-============================================
Rolled 3 Successes
< 2 6 6 8 8 9 >
===============================-> >> Wits + Composure No Flags << <-
Nathania blinks at Sam. It's exaggerated, the four-holed grey buttons going to black shanks and back. "Why, Ms. Whitaker. Haven't... you demanded... the very Freehold we hold? The land?" She shrugs. "If I am incorrect, by... all means, I will stand corrected... once someone tells me so. My information, as it stands, is second-hand."
Sam Whitaker is decidedly here alone. By the products in her hand, she might actually just be shopping. Surely, her giant Summer Ogre counterpart isn't here. Sam continues to stare right at Nathania, and then gives a little laugh. "Well, I do think I'm owed the whole world, sweetheart," she says. "But..." There's a faint shrug. "This is our land, that we've been watching and protecting for so very long. That part is true. But to suggest we are... what? Demanding you give up everything you have here, to us?" she asks. "There's a difference between two two things, you see." A pause. "How long have you been here, Dolly?"
Upon seeing they're really alone in the store, Oberon turns his eyes back at the Outsider just in time to see her calling Nathania Dolly. His eyes goes straight at Nathania to check on the woman's reacting to that with curiosity and concern.
Nathania exhales slowly. "Not as... long as you, it seems, in... your place twenty... miles away." Her shoulders stiffen and straighten. Her eyes harden further. "Please. Don't call me that."
"Oh, so, now what we asked to be called matters?" Sam says, as she continues to eye Nathania. Just a few moments longer, and then she looks back to Oberon. "I changed my mind. I like you better," she decides. "Though, do either of you have any... actual questions? Any other wild accusations you need cleared up?" she asks. Then she lifts her hands, the packet of incense and the crystal still in them. "Shopping to do."
Oberon is surprised once more, but this time he looks more calm."Well. As I said..." He starts and checks on Nathania. Probably looking for some sort of permission to keep going. If the Outsider suddenly decides to start walking around, the Fairest will follow."We're all just curious about the real intentions of your trip to our Lands. There is too much gossip going around and would be really appreciated if you could clear that to us." He tries his best to be more diplomatic. Even his voice gets a little bit more serene and consistant.
"Fair... point, Sam." The doll nods to the snake-woman, an obvious concession. "I meant... little disrespect." Some, of course. But not a lot of it. She sighs and her shoulders relax. "Oberon, can you... take this? I need... to go... for a walk." She looks a little haunted.
"No problem, Dolly," Sam says, sending a wink Nathania's way. She gives a smile with it, one that is doubtlessly malicious. Her attention shifts back to Oberon. "And I'm curious why your Queen is keeping me waiting, which seems to be making the gossip worse. Isn't that strange?"
Oberon bites his lower lip, thinking."To be pretty honest with you, it is really strange. But taking in consideration that we're really new and giving our first steps, it is understandable, no?" He makes a retoric question."But I have good faith in the Queen and I trully believe that they, along with the Counsil, will be welcoming you pretty soon."
"Well then... If Waykeeper Oberon is confident, all my worries are gone," Sam says. It's obviously sarcastic, but she is still smiling faintly. "So, why don't you do me a favor, big man. Why don't you mention to your little friends that you met one of the scary outsiders, and all she wanted was to speak to someone in charge. Because she hates the idea of more unsavory rumors spreading. And, really, being kept out in the cold like this... it's only going to lead to more rumors," she says, oh so confident.
"I'd love to do that, Sam." He is indeed more confident."But being rude to everyone that comes talking to you doesn't help much, you know? Maybe if you give me some brief explanation I could talk to the Queen in person."
"I don't give a single fuck if people think I'm rude, Obie," Sam says, with a positively cold smile. "Because I'm not here to make friends," she says. "I am here... well. To assist Marty, of course. But we are here to speak to your Queen about the dangers that lurk in this land. The horrible things that lie in wait. The reason why we monitor for twenty miles away, instead of building our freehold..." And she points down. "Here."
Oberon suddenly grins. For real."See? We're making some progress here." He points out."What are these horrible things you're talking about? Hedge Beasts, group of Hobs, maybe? Or maybe a dormant One?"
"This is what we've been trying to tell you all," Sam says, with a faint sigh, and an exaggerated roll of her eyes. "But you all continue to act like petulent children who insist you know more than we do," she says. "Case in point," she gestures to Oberon. "We want to speak to your Queen about it. Which means, we do not want to share intimdate details of something horrible to ever half-giant we stumble into," she says, tone rich with annoyance.
"Undestandable." Oberon answers."And sorry if it looks like we act like petulent children in your eyes. But like children, we're all really afraid of 'adults' sometimes. And treating us like that is really not the best way to approach us and have our attention." He suggests."But I'll let the Queen know how urgent and dangerous the situation really is."
With that, Samantha's smile turns a touch more genuine. Actually happy - or, at least, gracious. She inclines her head. "Thank you, Oberon," she even says. "Now, if you'll excuse me...?" she lifts her items once more. Still shopping!
"I don't like lying so I'm not going to say it was a pleasure to meet you, Sam." He then gives her a nod."I hope we see each other again soon in more a less awkward situation." And with that, the Fairest turns around and heads to the front door as he retrieves his phone from his pocket.
"We can hope," Sam replies, and then she heads for the counter.
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