[b]Myriah - Outpost/Council Room - Matt & Council Members[/b]

There was a bigger verbal reaction to Matt than Reggie ever got. He didn't have the same kind of pull that the older man had. Many council members began to speak at once, some in agreement but many unsure about what Matt was saying. No one really wanted to admit that they had a problem.

"We need to speak one at a time," Myriah eventually said, raising her hands. The room quieted down and Myriah nodded. "I agree that the expansion should be our top priority. Our community has expanded beyond what we could have even imagined and that is a wonderful thing. To ensure our future growth, the expansion can't be delayed."

Randy rose his hand. "I've thought about it and I think Reggie's right," he said. "We can always expand later, but we can never predict an attack. We came out here to avoid bandits but what if they got the same idea? Being secluded like we are, maybe we're even more open for attack."

"Are you kidding me?" asked Isaac. "It's been half a year and we haven't had a single bandit attack, why are we suddenly worried about one now? We've had a few bad people, but nothing to warrant this kind of worrying?"

Reggie had apparently heard enough. He smacked his hand down on the table. "That's the problem, we don't know what will happen! The winter shouldn't be a big problem, but it may just bring the kind of people we don't want into our neck of the woods. We just don't know." A few people looked unconvinced, so Reggie continued. "Need I remind you all of the mutiny none of you saw coming?" The room fell utterly silent to this. It was hard to miss the man's use of 'you'.

Myriah attempted to clear the air. "Well then, I think we've all said our thoughts on the matter. Would anyone like to change their vote?" No one spoke, leading Myriah to share a sympathetic look with Matt. "At seven votes to four, we [i]will[/i] be postponing the construction and focusing on our scouts. Reggie will be handling the recruitment plans, but I'm going to need you to speak to your builders, Derick." She looked toward Reggie, who nodded. 

"With the construction plans postponed indefinitely, it would be in their best interests to consider joining the scouts." Reggie stared at Derick until he man eventually nodded.

Myriah laced her hands together. "I have a small matter of my own I'd wish to bring up. As you are all aware, one young man in our community is deaf. He wished to join Reggie's scouts, but we weren't able to allow that. However, I felt that he could still have a job on our walls. Unfortunately, the men found it uncomfortable working with Elliot and some disagreements happened." Myriah paused to allow everyone to think on this. "I won't put this to a vote, but I believe we should all put forth an effort to learn American SIgn Language. Both Elliot and his brother could do lessons."

"He's such a nice boy," said Rhonda. "But he's just one boy. It's quite the effort for all of us to learn a new language."

"My first language is French, but I don't expect everyone to learn it," said Sarah.

"I don't think I can learn sign language with my arthritis-"

"If he wants to do something, maybe we could put him on the council-"

"Would that even be wise? He's deaf, first of all-"

"His brother could interpret-"

"Well, I would find that distracting, personally."

Myriah raised her hands again in order to get everyone's attention. This discussion was quickly spiralling out of control. "Like I said, we won't have a vote, but Richard is more than willing to teach. I'll announce it at the meeting later and we'll see how it goes." Taking a breath, Myriah continued, "But that's all I had to say. Does anyone else have something they want to discuss?" She looked toward Matt expectantly. "Anything?"

---

[b]Shannon - Haywood - Daniel & James & Others[/b]

She stood off to the side, feeling more tired than she had in weeks. She had nothing to say during the discussion. She had found James earlier and brought him to the meeting, but she found him just as quiet as she was. When all was said and done, she turned to the boy and said, "I'm going to talk to Daniel. Me and him were supposed to hang out later. I'm sure we could all use a break after the day we've had."

Leaving James with a smile, Shannon caught Daniel before someone else could grab his attention. "Hey, you still up for cards or something?" she asked. She rubbed at her shoulder and gave Daniel a pained look. "I know today's been a bit crazy, but it would be nice, I think."