Urban Renewal: The Next Day - Part 2..,

Urban Renewal: The Next Day - Part 2..,

Thoughts kept to himself, Eric approached the bathroom door, bottle in hand. He knocks gently. Tarra startles out of her reverie, realizing how long she must have been in the bathroom.

‘After all there is only one in the apartment', she thinks to herself. 'How rude to hog it all this time.'

She hurriedly grabs her shirt and throws it back on, her hair now up in a pony-tail. Just as she opens the door, she pulls the elastic hair-band down a few inches to her shoulder-blades. Grabbing it and tightening it another loop she looks up to see Eric.

"Oh..," she blushes. "Sorry, didn't mean to hog the bathroom up."

Her demeanor is much as it was, just before they had sat down to eat. There is now a new nervousness there, but it’s not as obvious as before. Very calm on the outside, but with something more uncertain in her eyes.

Eric hands her a bottle and smiles. "I didn’t knock to use the bathroom..."

He pauses, thinking, somewhat uncertain, and then continues, "I came because I’m worried about you."

He slips his arm around her waist and pulls her close. "You seem a bit…stressed."

Tarra gives him a strange look, considering him for a moment. She tenses some as he pulls her close, but doesn't resist it. The 'strange' look turns to one of concern, as she sighs heavily.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to worry you. I have been under some.., old.., stress I guess you could call it." She says still looking over his face, trying to read his expressions.

She seems much attuned to body language, but still doesn't seem to know just how to function in her own. Tarra's gaze drops to the bottle, as she un-caps it with her thumb.

*pop*

"In fact," she winces and looks to her thumb scowling a bit, "ow.., anyway, I'd like to apologize for the 'show' earlier."

Still not looking at him, she lightly shrugs. Bringing her hand up to her mouth, she sticks her thumb between her lips. Looking up at him from under her eyebrows, she continues.

"It’s not very becoming of me."

He takes her hand and gently kisses her thumb, and all pain washes out of it.

"You are who you are. Never be ashamed of that." He pauses, distracted for a moment.

"Just be true to how Gaia made you, and everything will be well in the end," he finishes.


She looks mildly surprised at her thumb as the pain fades, and then turns curious eyes up to Eric. Tarra looks a little shocked, then quickly diverts her eyes. Again she is fighting something down, tooth and nail, closing her eyes against it. Lauren steps towards the hall a little, her tone a little sad.

"You know... my dad told me pretty much the same thing just before he went off to his death...,"

Tarra looks up quickly to Lauren, the hardness is her eyes soften. She half-chuckles half-coughs.

"Heh, ahmen.., you guys are gonna make me cry again, damn it."

She pulls her hand gently from Eric's own, and reaches out to her roomie, bottle still in hand. Lauren forces a grin.

"Sorry, babes." She says softly, letting Tarra take her hand. Tarra pulls her over to the two of them, and plants a sisterly kiss on Lauren's forehead.

"I knew there was a reason why I liked you." Tarra chuckles.


"We all have to take care of each other. That's what I've been getting on everyone else

about." Eric offers, then in a mock Bono voice, "we're one, but we're not the same...We have to carry each other, carry each other..."

He looks from one kinfolk to the other, stops himself, and quietly says, "Now cue the Ragabash..."


Tarra looks between the two of them and chuckles, "Not if I can help it."

She gives a soft push, to get Eric to step back a few steps, enough to get around and between them both. As she pulls away, she grabs Eric's wrist.

"I'd like to go for a walk, but I'm not stupid enough to go out on the Streets of Philly alone."

She winks at Lauren and whispers to her very softly, "Plus, if I remember our agreement, I vacate when Wrench comes over right?"

Before the other girl can respond, she heads for the door. There is a gentle pull on his wrist as she steps away, but she doesn't force the issue. She glances over her shoulder at Eric, an eyebrow raised. "You of a mind to come along?"

"Of course." Eric smiles, "Let these kids have some alone time. I'll ask Wrench what the Coyote kids have been up to later..."

She chuckles, "All work and no play.., c'mon."



As she heads to the door, she grabs a coat from a chair. She leads him down and outside, and then releases his wrist once they are on the street. She shoves her hands in her pockets with a shiver.

"Crap, I didn't realize it was getting this chilly out. Gonna have to dig out the winter wear soon."

She turns to him, looks at him curiously.., then smiles softly.

"Well, we can't have you getting too cold." He wraps his arm around her back and gives her a gentle squeeze, "Anywhere you want to head in particular?"

"Just walk. There are a few pretty parks around, but most of them are a bit far." She shrugs.

"Its one of the few things I miss being able to do. Ya, walk around here alone and can get jumped, mugged, or.., worse." Tarra makes a face, as she takes a step forward.


"Makes thinking about things a lot easier, at least I think so." She offers him a half smile.

"Yeah, but we're working on that. Making these streets safer has got to be a priority for us. If you could see the other side of this...." he shakes his head, sadly.

"Why don't we wander in the general direction of my place? By the time we're starting to freeze, we can just duck in for some hot coco to warm up with."

He takes her hand out of her pocket and entwines his own in it. "Let us wander"

She looks down to her hand, as he takes it into his own, then back up to him once more. Tarra considers him a moment, then gives him another, slightly larger smile.

"Sure. Sounds good to me. Let us wander."

As they begin walking, she seems quite lost in thought. Every now and again she actually looks around, taking in her surroundings, glancing up at him, or staring off at nothing in general. This silence is short, but heavy.

Tarra gives a quick scan of the area, seeing no one she asks Eric very softly, "Tell me of your Tribe, Eric."

"The Children of Gaia?" he seems mildly surprised, "Now there's something I could go on about for quite a while. Let's see, without rambling like I have a tendency to do... We are the Peace Makers and the Healers. Many call us the hippies, and that's not altogether wrong. Look at any Tribe, and a word will eventually surface as the stereotype from which all others flow. Our word would be Love."

He smiles at her and continues. "All are of Gaia, that's one of our laws. So we love all that is of Gaia. We love the environment and we love each other. We love those that are gleaming symbols of righteousness, and we love those who have been cast down, for Gaia's love can redeem anyone. We will fight, and we will kill when we have to, but we'd rather fight the battle where it is most dangerous. In the hearts and minds of humanity, that is where we must fight the Wyrm. Yes, we will kill a fomori who has given in to the temptations of the Wyrm, but how much more glorious is it to save someone from becoming a fomori and leading them to fight against the Wyrm in their own way?"

There is definite resolution in his words.

"Yes, we like our sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. Not because we are hedonists, though, but because we believe that if the Wyrm feeds on despair, we should feed it love."

He gives her hand a gentle squeeze. "How's that for the short version?"

She listens aptly, though she seems to stare off into nothing at all. As he comes to the end of his diatribe, her eyes wander back to him. His conviction catches her attention. She watches him carefully with a raised eyebrow.

"Beautiful, and yes a lot shorter then what I've heard previous come out of your mouth," she smiles as she says that, softening the words.

She chuckles, "It is quite a bit different.., in some ways..." she begins, her words trailing off. She snorts to herself, as some random thought passes through her mind.

"Yet in others, not as different from what I've been raised to.., understand..." again the words seem to just trail, fading.

"And what have you been raised to understand?" Eric asks.

Her eyes widen a bit, and then she rolls her eyes with a chuckle. "I'm not half so eloquent as you, by far. But.., here’s to trying."

She tips back the bottle and takes a hearty swig, using the moment to collect her thoughts. The alcohol warms her a bit. 'But not like a good shot of Jack-D' she thinks to herself with a smirk.

"Hmmn, stereotypes. I know quite a bit about stereotypes, and some are very well grounded. The Get themselves seem to be full of them, at least on the outside. Most of the time this is only an outer defensive put up in front of others who aren't of the Tribe."

She takes another swig, thinking hard about how to not sound so bitter. Bitterness would only make her more.., antsy. She looks to her drink, and notes an analogy there with a half-smile.

"The Get tend to wear their stereotypes like a label packaging, and don't often allay other's opinions. Some do this bcause 'Outsider' opinions aren't important, where others just don't expect 'Others' to truely understand."

She shrugs, "It truly is a totally different culture and lifestyle. Though the Glory of battle may bring in much to an individual in forms of respect, its Honor that is far more important. At least among my family. Hells, even the language is formal.., even among the different dialects."

She stops, and turns to face him, continuing, "For example, Du and Zee, spelled Sie, and See, mean.., you."

She pokes Eric in the sternum, "But depending on /who/ you are talking to, how you are addressing them, and whether or not you know them well depends on what word and word form you use."

She looks up at him with a sigh, "Which is why it’s often so hard to learn German if you aren't raise with it. It’s a cultural thing as much as a dialect thing. The Get are very similar. They may seem like big.., brutes...,"

She looks down at their hands, contemplating something. Her forehead creases up, then tilting her head to one side she looks back into Eric's face. Almost searching for.., something.

"But..," she looks away again, "they really aren't. W.., Th.., they are just very passionate about what they do, what they believe, and are /damn bull headed/ when it comes to certain Traditions. It's what makes up their ..., whole world."

She verbally stumbles a bit, still looking for the words, "Trust, and bonds of trust are hard to come by, especially if your an 'outsider'. But once a trusted friend, a packmate, or part of a family..,"

Her forehead creases in concern, a look between realization and consternation cross her features for a very short moment. She quickly looks back at Eric, a look of concern now on her face as plain as day.

"You are a part of that Get's Life forever. Betrayal of that sacred bond ranks as high if not more, then one turning to the Wyrm itself." She looks away, towards nothing at all, deep in contemplation.

Eric lifts their co-mingled hands to his chest, stopping for a moment.

"Then I shall have to work hard, for I do want you to trust me," and lifting her hand up, he gently kisses it.

She flushes, the cool night enhancing the redness of the blush. She opens her mouth to say something.., and stops her eyes a bit wider then before. She blinks rapidly, the look of concern changes to another one of her 'odd looks'.

"Ah.., oh..," she starts, "Oh, my."

Eric pulls her close, holding her head to his shoulder, eyes focusing on nothing. Tarra relents easily and simply stands there within the boundaries of his arms, her mind a-whirl. She turns her head so that she can look at his face. After a moment, he blinks rapidly, snapping back to this reality.

"C'mon, Tarra, you're going to freeze if we just stand around. Little further to my place."

She simply nods, and follows him.