Summary:  Zeke comes home upset, and finds that despite the unfairness on his side of things, his tribe is floundering the woman's defense.

The door to the Fury house opens and Zeke shuffles in. Not only is his beanie hat on, but his hood is up as well, hovering low over his face as if he were trying to hide from the world. There's no greeting, not even a cursory glance to see if there is someone in the room that needs a greeting, and then he's headed toward the stairs.

The trouble is, there isn't anyone in the room. KL is in the process of coming down the stairs, Charlotte balanced in one arm and a plastic bag held in the outstretched hand of another. She grinds to a halt, blocking the way, takes one look at the Metis then asks. "What's happened?"

"Mog kicked me out." He backpedals then, changing his mind about the idea of going upstairs. Back to his elder he aims for the basement.

"What?" KL asks. "Why? And don't turn your back on me." It's absent-minded, rather than aggressive, at this point. She follows him down the stairs, and then carefully sets Charlotte down in a carrycot that's resting on the table.

"Because I didn't know what to say about something she did. That's why. This isn't going to work KL. I was stupid to think it could. Metis shouldn't even /think/ about delving into this sort of thing." He's turned around at least to tell her this, though his eyes are scowling at the floor in front of her.

"OK," KL says. "Your loss. I think you're lucky, Zeke, but hey, if you want to hide from that, that's OK with me." She makes sure Charlotte is safely tucked under a blanket, and then turns away, nonchalently. "Leaves the field open for anyone else who likes cute girls, though."

Zeke stares back at her, "My loss? No, it's my sanity. I can't handle her doing this to me all the time. It's not fair to me. But leave it to you and this tribe to automatically assume it's /my/ fault, or /my/ loss, or something that /I/ am or am not doing right!

"Nah," KL says, shrugging. "That's not what I was assuming at all. You're both young, I kind of assumed it was both of you. You seem to be giving up on it, that's all." She looks back over her shoulder. "Are you giving up on it?"

Zeke growls now, frustration boiling over. "She gets mad at me, for not being exactly what she wants KL! And... and she does things, and expects things, that are against -every- fiber of what this tribe has taught me, so I can't even DO anything. Nothing that's right by her, or by this tribe!"

Evander walks up onto the porch and gives a knock at the door, hoping that someone might be home.

KL drops the nappy bag and turns to face him. "Oh," she says. "What did she..." and then the knock on the door comes. She raises a finger to Zeke. "I am not done with you," she says. And then she opens the door. "Evander!" she greets. "Excellent! Give Zeke advice."

Zeke flushes with embarassment. Evander is looked at and he clenches up his fists. "Fine." He huffs, using that anger to fuel his words and get them out. "Fine. She yells at me for kissing her wrong. It's like she only ever wants me to be rough with her, or all demanding and hard. And then she ..." he glances to each of them and turns his eyes down. "Shaved. And in marker, in a very private place, wrote that she was /my/ property. I told her to not ever do that again and she kicked me out!"

Evander takes at least a step in the door, and then he looks at the two Garou as he is asked to help Zeke out. He begins to say that he will try, but the information is already coming at him. He takes a moment to collect his thoughts, and also to remind himself that he is surrounded by Furies, before saying, "Well, my experience with women is...that they are all different. You can't take your assumptions from what you have learned being in this Tribe and place it on a woman who has grown up differently, since from what I gather this woman in not a Fury kin?" He is praying that he is making some time of sense.

KL looks at Evander. "Although you can take some of the things we teach, as how you should behave." She walks over to the table, and checks on Charlotte. "Do come in, as well, Evander. Meet Charlotte." And then she looks at Zeke. "Wow," she says. "I understand why that could cause you problems. And it's way out of my league. I just like punching people."

Zeke sighs, "No, and I get that. I get that not all women will have Fury training. But the problem comes when these non Fury women demand things of me that will get /my/ ass busted by KL. Or make Pegasus scowl at me. And in refusing to do these things, I end up hurting Mog and making her angry with me, which is also Not What a Fury should be doing! So what the hell?"

Phoebe's been out since very early this morning, and the cub comes back through the courtyard, shifting from lupus to her birthform before coming into the house. Seeing the small collection of people, she makes a beeline for KL, either ignorant of the current emotion in the room, or too excited to heed it's seriousness. "KL-rhya! Can I go south? I know you said I could go on the bawn, or to Edgewood, but what about the woods, south. I met this wolf. Only, I think maybe he might not have been, but I don't recognize him as one of us. And he was scared of me. And, then he ran south. I was going to chase him further, but I wasn't sure if I was allowed., and.." She has to at least draw a breath.

Evander nods a bit, at both what KL and Zeke said. "As what KL said, you cannot forget who YOU are either. If..Mog? likes you, or loves you," since he obviously does not know how far the relationship has gone, "then she will understand who you are as well, and she will come to terms with it, for better or worse. She is probably just mad right now because she feels she did something wrong when she was only trying to do something for you, you know what I mean?" Then he looks at the baby, and then at KL's stomach, and he smiles a bit, "Hey, the baby escaped! Congrats KL."

KL's in the middle of smiling at Evander when Phoebe breaks in. "No, no, no," she says, looking aghast. "You may not go south, you may not go anywhere near this other wolf. What did it look like? Did it have pointed ears? Did it even give a name? Or was it just a wolf?" She advances on Phoebe, Zeke and his relationship issues temporarily forgotten.

Zeke lets out a groan, "Whatever. It's not meant for me. I'm not going to do this anymore, or ever again. Because it won't ever work." He eyes the excited cub and then turns around and moves toward the basement again.

Phoebe's shoulders slump, and her head hangs back a little in the classic, teenage, over-dramatic expression of disappointment. She doesn't say it, but one can certainly imagine her saying, 'But Moooooom!'. Instead, she just sighs, "Pointed ears? Um. I don't /think/ so. He looked like a normal wolf. Grey. When I got close to him, he tucked his tail. Kind of looked very sorry, like he thought he'd peed on my blanket." She stops in the middle of this explanation and looks toward Zeke, only now realizing she interrupted something. Her expression turns concerned, and it takes yet another moment before she turns back to KL to finish what she was saying. "Uh. Jonas and I spotted him near Edhewood and chased him til the road. You know what was odd? he looked both ways before he crossed the street."

Evander frowns a bit, and takes a few steps, "Hey Zeke...you shouldn't give up, you know?" If it seems like Zeke still wants to talk, then Evander will. But if Zeke gives any kind of indication that he is just plain done, then Evander won't push it.

"Yeah, that sounds like one of us," KL says, frowning. "Wonder who. OK. Here's the deal. You can go south, but only if you can persuade at least one of us to come with you. This is not a cub-only expedition." She looks over at Zeke, the frown deepening.

Evander is thinking that maybe Zeke is done, and so he heads over to where the baby is, "Hello Charlette, aren't you beautiful."

Phoebe squeals once and hops up and down, clapping her hands. "Thank you, KL-rhya!" she says, hugging her elder quickly and enthusiastically. Again, her gaze turns back to Zeke, some of that enthusiasm evaporating.

Zeke does seem to be done, and so he ignores the rest of the conversations around him and sulks into the basement.



"She kicked Zeke out of the bookstore, apparently," KL says. "She...demanded something of him that he wasn't prepared to give her." She looks a little glum. "I think her was right, overall. Or at least, I understand why." And then a glance at Evander. "Try what?"

Evander looks between the two before focusing back on KL, "Someone spending the night in the city, remember?"

Phoebe frowns at KL, but it's Evander that she asks, "Who's spending the night in the city?"

It takes KL a long while to remember. "Oh," she says, looking at Phoebe. "You are." She flashes a little grin. "It's like the opposite of the outward bound trip. It's like an inward bound one." A nod.

Zeke comes back upstairs a few minutes later, hood down but hat still on. He's still flushed and bothered, and he makes his way to the kitchen without a word spoken.

Evander looks over at Zeke, but sees that he still isn't in a modd to talk.

Phoebe blinks. "Huh?" she says, looking from Evander to KL and back. This idea, though, once it sinks in, is not at all terrifying. In fact, she grins. "Cool. Movies, restaurants, shopping. Who am I staying with?"

KL points at Evander. "Him," she says. "And it's not just a question of Movies, restaurants and shopping. It's about becoming familiar with the city." She nods. "It's going into an area that isn't all friendly. And staying there."

Evander he nods a bit. "I'll be there to help you through some things, but me not being Garou will let you try things out on your own." And he stays a few more minutes to talk things out, and then says his goodbyes since he has to go to his classes before leaving.

Phoebe looks over Evander much more critically. "Oh," she says, reconsidering but finally nodding. As he goes, she offers a cheerful goodbye.

Zeke has his nose in the fridge now, pulling out some of the leftover steak and scrambled eggs. He doesn't bother heating it up this morning, just grabs a fork from the drawer and makes a move back toward the basement.

The Fury Elder looks at him as he crosses the room again. "Zeke..." she says. "It must really hurt. And we love you, and we'll support you whatever you want to do." She nods, definitely. "OK?"

Phoebe agrees with KL, backing up the other ahroun with a simple nod. "And I'll...go talk to Mog?" she says, more a question than a statement.

Zeke looks back at that last from the cub, scowling hard. "No. You stay away from her. Both of you. If I find out you're getting involved, there'll be issues."

"What kind of issues, Zeke?" KL says, suddenly put out. "The kind where you go and hide in the basement. OK... we'll stay out, if you tell me one thing: Who is looking after her? Who's being a shoulder to cry on. If there's someone, then we'll stay well away."

Phoebe goes quiet, looking back and forth again between the two other Furies.

Zeke turns back at her, eyes hard. "Fuck this!" The plate gets thrown down, steak and eggs scattering across the floor. "She's the one who kicked /me/ out and you're worried about her? Amazing. Fucking amazing." He turns away from the two females and heads toward the doorway out of the house proper.

KL looks aghast as he goes for the door. "No... Zeke... I didn't..." she tries, then gives up, looking at the ceiling. "So staying gay."

Phoebe shrinks back, slightly subdued. She gives the metis a concerned and sympathetic look, though KL's comment brings an amused curl of her lips. "I'll talk to him," she tells KL, but then adds, "Later."