The Entrance

[Cindy Harker]

Cindy watched as Damaris left with a desperate expression on her face. She was being left alone again! And Damaris was picking clothes!? And she dared use the word 'decent'? That was like...like...well, letting Cindy pick weapons, Cindy supposed. But that was hardly the point!

She turned back to Zin with a nervous smile.

"<Damaris has just left to find you some garments.>" Cindy told Zin, deciding not to point out that Damaris had a fashion sense that made Cindy's skin crawl. She supposed that it couldn't be any worse than the yellow dressing gown, however. "<She also said that you were welcome to eat further if you wished>." She added, hoping that Zin would continue as Cindy really had no idea what to talk about without Damaris there.

[Zin Siripong]

Zin nodded, handling her new chopsticks with as much care as she would have one of her mother's jade combs. They still splintered in her grasp and the girl set them down and sighed, she gave Cindy a brief apology before she began to eat with her hands.

She was too hungry to bother with looking for suitable cutlery and she really didn't want to destroy any more of these people's belongings.

[Damaris Y Blaidd]

Damaris re-entered the kitchen with the clothes slung over her arm. On her way back, she'd grabbed a pair of sandals from a cupboard that looked as though they might fit Zin, although she had no idea who they belonged to - these she held in her free arm. She put her load down on a free stool.

"How is she?" She asked Cindy, sitting down again. She noticed that Zin had given up on the chopsticks - metal ones it was then. When she'd finished, Damaris gave Cindy a look that meant "translate please?" and said "I brought you some clothes that I think should fit you... they aren't the best but they're clean and they should do for now. If you don't like them, we can probably find something else...."

[Cindy Harker]

Cindy tried not to sigh with relief when Damaris re-entered, and looked to the clothes in her hands. White trousers and a yellow t-shirt?
"Is that it?" Cindy asked sceptically, before realising this wasn't an excellent thing to say, since the clothes were probably Damaris's. "Um, I mean, they're very nice. Of course." She added quickly with a nervous laugh, before deciding she had better move on.

"She seems to be okay. She's having problems with the chopsticks." Cindy explained apologetically, hoping to fill in for why Zin was now eating with her hands.

She saw that Damaris wanted a translation, and decided she had better do so.
"<Damaris says these garments are for you and that they should be tailored appropriately>." Cindy said, using the best words at her disposal. "<She apologises for them and says that she shall find alternatives if you are displeased>."

[Zin Siripong]

Licking her fingers free of any stray grains of rice, Zin hopped off her chair and eyed the clothes, "<No, no, they're good,>" she told the Aristocrat as she touched the yellow top with a small smile, "<I like yellow.>" She bit her lip and pulled back, a frown creasing her face, "<How can I repay you for all of this though? I'm not... comfortable... accepting charity,>" she explained uncomfortably.

[Cindy Harker]

Cindy gave a slight smile at this question, and tried to think of the best way to phrase an answer. She supposed she should ask Damaris, but felt she could handle it. Technically, Cindy had been a Watch member longer than Damaris, but she still felt like the werewolf was her superior.

"<Allowing a> lycanthrope <to traverse this town without knowing her true nature is something we wish to avoid at any cost. Assisting you is assisting us. That is all the reward we need.>" She explained, hoping that about covered it. Having Zin on their side was better than not, she decided. Besides, she was an ex-cage fighter, right? She was sure Austin would be happy to have another warrior around. It was the type of thing he respected.

When she thought about it, Cindy didn't get much recognition because she couldn't fight. She never wanted to, but her knowledge came in handy. Even Damaris seemed to look at her with disdain from time to time. She wondered if she'd do it less now that Cindy had helped her out with Zin.

[Damaris Y Blaidd]

Damaris raised en eyebrow at Cindy. "They're practical, that's the main thing." She replied tartly, adding which is more than I can say for your clothes, silently. "But no, they aren't." She added in a more relaxed tone. "I wouldn't be seen dead in yellow, I don't even know why I have that shirt. But Zin seems to like it." She gave a small smile as the girl touched the shirt fondly.

She glanced at the second pair of splintered chopsticks. "Ah, the strength kicked in, huh? That takes a while to get used to. She's lucky it's only chopsticks." She wasn't kidding, during Damaris' first few weeks as a lycan she'd managed to do what Zin had done to the chopsticks to whole trees. But then she didn't have Zin's self-control.

As she listened to Cindy and Zin speak in a language that she didn't understand, she couldn't help but feel a bit left out. She did respect Cindy though because, while Damaris had a basic grasp of languages and could keep herself alive in the middle of nowhere, she was nowhere near as smart as the blond and, truth be told, she was a little jealous. She wasn't aware of Cindy's role in the Rino fiasco, having wandered into town in the middle of it, but the fact that she was helping with Zin, despite being obviously uncomfortable with it, made up a little for the woman's total impracticality.

[Zin Siripong]

Zin sighed, "<Still... I would like to repay you somehow. It just isn't... isn't right that I'm coming into your home, eating your food, breaking your belongings and wearing your clothes without repaying you somehow.>" She wasn't going to back down on this matter, she hated charity with a passion. She knew her pride would get her into a bad spot, right now, it wasn't letting her accept Charity or the idea that she even needed it. She would have managed but since they were helping anyway, she may as well return the favour and remove any traces of the perceived slight to her pride in the process.

The girl shucked out of her dressing gown without a care for the audience, they were both women, they had the same equipment as she did - even if their's was so much better she thought bitterly, big breasts and flared hips and smooth pale skin like most caucasian women. Zin was built like an old fashioned washboard, flat and hard with muscle clearly corded across her body.

She dressed quickly though, one, it was cold and two, while she didn't mind the others seeing her, it was still embarrassing to have them see just how inadequate her body was in comparison. Still, she wouldn't let them know she was ashamed of herself as she pulled on the yellow top and wriggled herself into the trousers - zip bending between her thumb and forefinger as she did it up. Thankfully it didn't snap off though - she was beging very careful so she didn't tear the seams of her borrowed clothing.

[Cindy Harker]

Cindy pretended not to hear Damaris's comment about the practicality of her clothes. She could guess what she meant by it. Cindy didn't believe she wore impractical clothes. She believed that everybody else did impractical things. She failed to see how that was her fault.

She smiled at Zin's insistance to repay them, and turned to Damaris to explain.
"She wants to repay us for our clothes and shelter. I've tried explaining that we were only doing what was neccesary." She told Damaris, hoping that maybe Damaris could provide some words of wisdom to help.

"<Do not worry Zin. This is not my home, nor are those my clothes.>" Cindy said with a slight smile, hoping to make a joke of it. "<But your friendship is more than enough-> Oh god!" She stopped short and cried out loud, turning away and covering her eyes as Zin got changed. In Cindy's world of high society, that was simply something people didn't do.

"Y-y-you can't... I mean...stop her!" Cindy said to Damaris helplessly, while averting her eyes, all the time knowing by the time they did anything she'd have got changed anyway, and all she'd done now was embaress herself.

[Damaris Y Blaidd]

Damaris smiled too as Cindy translated Zin's words to her. "She doesn't do charity, huh? Hmm..." Damaris paused, trying to think of some way she could repay them without actually giving them anything. After all, it wasn't as if the Night Watch were in need of very much and Zin didn't seem to have very much to give at the moment either.

Her thought's were interrupted by Cindy's cries of protest. She turned her head in time to see Zin pulling on the trousers she'd been given. She sighed audibly and shook her head. "She was just getting changed, what's the problem? If she was a man I'd understand, but she's got the same stuff as you or I do." In truth, Damaris probably wouldn't have been too phased if Zin had been a man, but she could understand the discomfort there. Actually, I suppose I understand that anyway, but what an overreaction.... "Didn't you ever have communal changing rooms at school?" She asked.

While she was exasperating at Cindy, a thought struck her. Something we need that Zin can give... What don't we have many of? "You know, we're a bit short of members these days, an extra pair of hands would be welcome." She told Zin. "If you'd accept helping us to keep the balance as a way to repay us for giving you food and shelter." It was true too, the Night Watch seemed to have precious few members left. In fact, what with one thing and another happening, Edgehaven as a whole had seen a fairly significant population decrease. It wasn't deserted by any means, but Damaris had noticed that there seemed to be less people on the streets lately than there had been a while ago.

[Cindy Harker]

Cindy gave Damaris an aghast look, not understanding why the werewolf was so shocked by her reaction.
"Th-that doesn't mean we have to see it!" She tried to explain as Damaris pointed out that Zin had the same 'parts' that she did. She became even more shocked as Damaris pointed out 'communal changing rooms'.

"D-d-did we not have what!?" Cindy asked, in disbelief. "I-I thought my parents just made those up to scare me when they threatened to take me out of private school..." She explained in horror. Her school didn't even need changing rooms, people of her class were hardly expected to do physical education.

When Damaris moved on and started making suggestions to Zin, Cindy decided it was probably best not to dwell on this new horror (which she wasn't convinced Damaris hadn't made up to make her look silly) and instead translated as requested.

"<Damaris says that you could join us if you wished. We are in somewhat shorter supply these days than we were originally, and those who help us in our attempt to keep the peace are greatly valued. In return, you would be offered shelter and food.>" Cindy explained, with a nervous glance to Damaris. She wasn't sure this was a good idea. The girl thought yellow t-shirts were nice for heaven's sake! Why couldn't they ever employ somebody with a fashion sense? Not that Cindy would turn down yellow if it was, say, a summery gown, but a t-shirt!?

She decided this girl needed serious education.

[Zin Siripong]

Zin tilted her head at the commotion, she watched the conversation ping pong between the two women understanding probably what was about an eighth of what was being said before breaking out into a fit of giggles.

Really, they were getting bent out of shape because she got changed in front of them?

It felt nice to laugh, it had been quite a while since she had.

[Damaris Y Blaidd]

"......" Damaris stared at Cindy in disbelief. She knew she shouldn't be surprised, not really, but she couldn't help it. "You mean you've never seen..." she stopped, closed her eyes and actually put her hand over her eyes for a second. Now I remember why I've never talked to Cindy much she thought.

She looked up again when Zin started giggling. Apparently Cindy's reaction had amused rather than offended her, which was something at least. She couldn't help but laugh with her, there was something contagious about the girls happiness.

[Azrael Jiraco]

On the way out of the building, Azrael heard Damaris speaking in the kitchen. Pausing for a moment, he decided to ask her if she wanted to join him on his trip to the pub. He walked into the kitchen to find that she was talking to Cindy.
"Morning ladies," he greeted. Just as he was about to ask them both to join him and offer paying the first round, he noticed that there was a young girl with them. He was taken aback at first, still not used to the fact that the Circle's headquarters wasn't as secret as it used to be.
"What is this meaning of this?" He asked sternly, gesturing towards the girl.

[Cindy Harker]

Cindy looked to Damaris with a blank expression that actually managed to be innocent.
"Have I not seen what?" She asked with a genuine puzzled expression. People just didn't talk about what she assumed Damaris had meant, and therefore she couldn't have meant it.

When the two started to laugh, Cindy made that half hearted smile people made when they didn't want to not laugh along but really didn't get the joke at all. She wasn't sure if she was meant to be offended or whether they were laughing at something she didn't understand, but she decided it was better to just pretend to know what was going on anyway.

She wondered if maybe Zin had found the idea of joining the Watch funny. After all, maybe she felt she wouldn't fit in? Not that that should be a problem. After all, nobody fitted in worse than Cindy.

She nearly jumped out of her own skin when Azrael walked in, given she simply hadn't been expecting it, and turned to face him. She gave Damaris an uneasy 'you explain' glance, before deciding it would probably be better if she did it.

"This is Zin." Cindy explained nervously. "Uhh, she's a newly turned lycanthrope, and she doesn't speak English. Damaris thought that it would be a good idea to bring her here so that I could translate. A-and so that we could get her under control." She hoped that this would do for the second in command. She really didn't like getting shouted at and told off for getting things wrong, and she figured it was a reasonable explanation.

"<Zin. This is Azrael Turnbull. He's our second in command here>." She added, just so that Zin didn't feel left out.