"I really, really don't handle guilt very well."

The Sept Compound(#2075RAM)
Sweeping branches of trees form a sort of natural roof overshadowing most of this clearing, no more than an open space of grasses and beaten earth in the heart of the forest. Some pains have been taken to keep wear and tear on the area to a minimum, so the firepit tends to shift from time to time. The firepit, several sawn logs polished from use, and a stack of firewood discreetly piled up at the base of an old spruce under a tarp, are the only signs of constant occupation. However, a student of such things might think that some minimal landscaping or planning has been done, for the meadowlike profusion of grasses and other plants has an unusually high concentration of brilliant flowers, which attract a number of bees and butterflies.
A faint trail leads off to the east, and a bit north.

Basil just looks down at his feet while Kaz speaks, then raises his head (though not fully) again when she's finished. "I appreciate the words. A lot of us seem to be fine with it... But I really think that I should have found a Kin, anyways. And when I start feeling lonely again, I'll be asking for you and Olga to introduce me to some, maybe. But I don't think I want anything to do with that for a while. And in the end, I'm not sure he really was right for me. But he felt like it. Heart wants what the heart wants, huh?"

Kaz just nods. "It does. And you gotta experience stuff to make sure it ain't right for you, sometimes." She adds, practically, "Be happy t'introduce y't'kin. But if you're just generally more interested in guys, well, there's queer culture everywhere." She shrugs. "But whatever. Main question I have is, who the hell was this guy of yours?"

With consummate timing footsteps are heard from the path leading into the compound from the direction of the farm, and Kevin appears at a gentle saunter. "Basil... Kaz," he greets the Bone Gnawers. "Been looking for you, Basil."

Basil says "I agree. I just wish this experience was a little less... Painful." Basil still smiles though some uneasiness from before starts creeping into his posture. "Guy, or girl. I dunno. But either way, they gotta be Kin with my rage. I don't wanna drive a poor human crazy for my own sake. He hooks a thumb when he hears Kevin's voice, then looks back at him. "Him. Whats going on, Kev? What do you need me for?"

Kaz glances over at Kevin, and then back to Basil. "Aha," she says. "Yeah, lack of pain's always t'be preferred," she mutters, before adding, at a normal pitch, "Hey there, Kevin. Good t'see you." She sounds both fairly friendly and perfectly sincere.

"Just to pass on news," Kevin responds, sitting on a log. "Unless you know better than me, we're still not allowed further than the farm. Mathias offered to stand surety for us, but Vera turned that down flat. Apparently her saying we can go back to the city if an honourable garou vouches for us doesn't go as far as seeing a Silver Fang as honourable. A Silver Fang!" Kevin repeats, bitterly.

"I heard. I was telling Kaz. Way I look at it, Mathias is just trying to use us for his own sake. Of course Vera isn't going to let him vouch for us. Especially not since he's a new comer." Basil turns and leans against a tree, sticking his hands into his pockets with a slight yawn. "Don't worry Kev. Tu will vouch for you, won't he?"

Kaz rolls over and levers herself off the ground. She waggles a finger. "There's, uh, always me..."

"How the hell am I meant to contact Tu? He never comes out here if he can help it, and my cellphone is still in my room at the house, along with all the other things I was going to leave behind when we hit the road out of here," Kevin says wistfully. Then when Kaz interjects, he turns and looks at the Gnawer fostern in surprise. "You think Vera would buy a Bone Gnawer where she wouldn't take a Silver Fang?"

Basil glances over at Kaz, then looks back at Kevin. "Are you sure you want to? I know I'm not going anywhere, and neither is Kevin, but... Well. If you want to, I'd do that." Basil agrees. "I think Vera would accept Kaz. She's a Fostern, and she doesn't have anything to gain. Besides, if a Metis is willing to vouch for some Charach... Man, feels weird here without the guards."

Kaz flips out her own cel phone from her pocket. "I, uh, shoulda left it at the Farmhouse, I guess, but I went th' other way around." She offers it to Kevin, but shrugs at both of them. "I don't know if Vera'd take me as surety. I been wanderin' around a lot, an' that don't make me the most reliable person on earth. But I figure I've done useful shit f'th' place, an' I am a Fostern. If the question is just makin' sure y'all stick around until th' tire fight thing, I'm certainly willing to do that. So I can talk t'her, if y'all want. I don' promise nothin', but I'm sure it'd be a relief to get the hell outta here."

"I don't even know whether Tu's heard about it all yet," Kevin muses, shaking his head at Kaz's offer of the cellphone. "But if Vera will settle for you... If one of us bails," he warns her, "the conditions are that you have to do the tire fire thing in our place. But I'm not gonna bail. Not now." His eyes flicker to Basil for the briefest of moments.

"If she won't take you, and Tu won't do it, then we'll just have to wait for someone who will." Basil murmurs, catching Kevin's glance. "What? It's not like I'm going to run. Bug and Masao wouldn't be happy if I ran, you know. Besides, I don't want to stick someone with my bad debt. And I'm the one that stayed in the first place."

Kaz says, "Yeah, I know," in Kevin's direction as if it's a minor issue. "Anyways, so we'll see." She's mostly watching the interaction between the two, so whatever she's saying is second priority to her.

"I wasn't saying you would," Kevin responds to Basil a little pointedly. "I don't think either of us has any rebellion left in us now..."

"Yeah, they do say they tend to calm down after you neuter them." Basil remarks dead pan, then shakes his head. "You should use Kaz's phone to leave Aimee a message, Kevin. She's probably worried about you."

Kaz shrugs a shoulder and flops back down in front of the fire. "I certainly damn well hope you got more rebellion in you. But anyhow. Consider me communication central. If you don' wanna use th' cel, I can bug her for you if y'want."

Kevin gives Basil a definite glare. "You didn't used to be very worried about Aimee," he says meaningfully.

Basil's brow inclines inward for a moment, and he replies coolly. "I guess I care more than you do. Don't start a stupid fight over this, Kevin. Quit being an ass and let her know you're ok. If she cared enough about you to fuck you, she's got to love you some. Make the phone call."

Kaz's eyebrow raises, though she stays silent.

Kevin gives Basil another look, then sighs and reaches out to Kaz for the phone and punches in a number (which he doesn't have to look up). He evidently gets voicemail. "Aimee? This is Kevin. Hi. Not seen you for a while. Don't know if you've heard what's been happening. This isn't my phone and I won't have that for a bit, so don't call me, I'll catch up with you soon as I can. Bye, hon." He ends the message and passes the phone back. "Happy now?" he drawls.

Basil sighs and shakes his head, running a hand through the remnants of his hair. "No. Because you didn't sound like you meant a single word, and you just did it because I told you to. Why are you so mad at me now? Is it because I didn't run away with you? Because I tell you what to do? Because people think a Gnawer is acting better than you?"

Kaz scootches over to find her backpack, and gets some marshmallows out of it. She sticks two onto a branch and holds them over the fire, while watching Kevin as if fascinated.

Kevin seems about to make some angry retort to Basil, but he doesn't. Instead he's silent for a few moments. "I really, really don't handle guilt very well," he finally confesses in a kind of nonchalant tone which is a good deal more of an obvious fake than his message to Aimee.

Basil walks across the short distance between them with a bit of an awkward stride, pausing about ten feet from Kevin with his eye resting intently on Kevin. "I literally know you inside and out. Don't lie to me, especially not on a full moon, Kevin." Basil speaks, his voice having dropped a bit deeper than before.

One of Kaz's marshmallows catches on fire. She blows it out.

"Well, it's true!" Kevin shouts in a kind of defensive squeak. "I feel bad about her! I feel bad about this whole damn thing!"

Kaz says, while burning her finger on the 'mallow, "Yeah, and a good way of getting y'self t'feel better is to push people away?"

"You feel bad, but you leave her that lame ass message? You seemed more sorry to Olga than you were to your girl friend." Basil lifts his hand up to his temple, rubbing it, grimacing as he studies the ground at Kevin's feet. "Do you really want to live and set things right, or are you just doing it because you think it's what me and everyone else wants to hear?"

"I don't know," yelps Kevin. "And frankly, Kaz, yes. If I never had to see Basil or Aimee or Vera or Emma or Justin again, I might feel less like I'm being pulled in three directions at once." He jumps to his feet. "Excuse me. I think I need to be somewhere else."

Kaz, 'mallow forgotten, looks at Kevin for a moment, then shrugs. "OK. I'll catch you around."

"I really want to see you turn out right, Kevin. I want you to become a good Garou. Maybe even get cozy with Aimee again." Basil speaks, keeping his voice deep, and somewhat serious as he turns his back on Kevin. "But if you do run away like you're running now, and you leave one of my Tribemates holding the bag, I will find you. So whatever does happen, don't make me look for you."

Kevin doesn't respond to Basil or to Kaz. He jams his hands in his pockets, and stomps out of the clearing without a backwards glance.

Kaz slowly turns her gaze on Basil. "Riiiight. Let's quit with the guilt trips, it'll make life easier."