#anywhere

"Hmph," Brekke says, sipping her coffee.

"Olgar, play nice." Kerri grins.

Olgar looks to Kerri, the arch look was not lost on him, "Baby. Give me your two cents if you have em still. This is pretty improtant a subject... Dagmar, not grump decay, so " At the 'play nice' he smirks.

Kerri glances to Brekke and Frank...and colors a bit. "It can wait. But I do think you would be better than just about anybody else at helping somebody learn how to be unseelie but still function within a mostly-seelie Lodge."

"thanks, honey" He kisses her lightly and gives her hand a squeeze.

Brekke clears her throat, and says, "I appreciate your willingness to help, both of you." She finishes her coffee and sets the mug aside as she rises. "Now, I want to do one more patrol for the evening."

"Sounds like a plan, Chief. you have fun."

She nods and invites Frank to join her...and the two venture out into the spring night.

He looks to Kerri, Makes a 'wait a moment' motion, and yanks a door open to see if Sylvi Siv, Gerd or someone else fall through

Well, there's no Sylvi at least....

"Looks clear" when no one falls out through, and he rejoins his wife, "you want to talk just us then?"

"Yes...but we'll need a bit more than coffee..." She rises and goes to get a bottle, dosing both of their mugs before sitting again.

"Kids maybe the death of our livers" A chuckle

"We can take it." She toasts him with her mug. "What I was going to say before...was that your lessons in being unseelie were part of what won me over to you in the first place...and more than once since then, you know."

"Thanks, honey," A toast back, "But with beltaine soon, you'll be getting the warm and fuzzy aspect in me going strong. Just shield me from sight if I start to cry at movies."

"I think it's already creeping up on you, all that warm fuzziness." She sips, then sets her mug down. "If we agree to do this...it's for keeps. I've known people who started adoptions and then...backed out. We'd have to take her, warts and all. And she, us."

"Yeah, and I don't know what her warts are, but she's got scars," He admits, "Old wounds, and not sure all of them set right."

"Well...the good news is that she would not only have access to an unseelie mentor...but to that unseelie mentor's wife, who knows just how lovable unseelie can be."

"What about the food thing?" he asks, "Any more of that hoarding she does you've seen?"

"I haven't noticed...but I've been making a point of not noticing. It's not like I don't provide enough. And...I understand."

"you do? good. Explain it to me, because I only know that something primal is goin on there and it's not just hungry teenager"

"Well...I think I understand it, anyway. Food insecurity. Store what you can for times when you don't have access to any."

"It's a way of...of feeling control over something."

"Ohh geez, that poor kid"

"I know." A pause. "Sylvi said...that her chrysalis had something to do with hands. Talking hands. Has she spoken to you about that?"

"Sylvi told me. That one I can tell you about... I'm pretty sure one of her past foster couples had no problem slapping a kid around To a little kid, adult hands are huge. The mouths talked trash about her the whole time." His eyes darken

Kerri frowns. "What about her current fosters?"

"They appear to be on the up and up, or Liam among us or no Liam among us I'd dangle them upside down over a pit of nightmare chimera and throw in salsa sauce. Not abusive, but maybe too..distant?"

She thinks about that. "Maybe...maybe I should try to meet them. On some pretense."

"Or...maybe there's no point, if she'll be adopted away from there soon enough."

"Babe, if I had all the answers, I'd give you em. I think for now we should see what Jaymes and most especially Dagmar say"

"Is it time to talk to Sylvi now? Or wait to see what Jaymes says?"

"Sylvi's a big girl, and knows how to keep things close to her vest. if we told her it was not a sure thing but we wanted her opinions and thoughts I think she'd handle it with more maturity than most girls her age."

"You may be right."

"Which reminds me...I have to go get her." She stands and collects mugs to take to the kitchen.

A nod, "And we need to make sure Sylvi understands, that it's okay to not want..." A nod "Yeah, you're ahead of me there"

She pauses, looking at him. "Finish that thought, Olgar. It's okay to not want...?"

"It's okay to not want a sister, it's okay or wwhatever reason to feel a bit selfish about this or concerned, not because it's Dagmar, but because it's ANY girl. "

A nod. "It's okay to not want...but if it comes down to us, she may need to deal with it, as a matter of Right of Rescue. I don't want to lead with that approach but...the reality, Olgar, is that it might come down to that."

"Honey, we force anything on these two girls, it'll backfire bad. I don't want Sylvi to feel 'obligated' by this when there are other parents."

"Yes...." Kerri nods. "I'll talk with her about it tomorrow. Oh, you know Colton is spending the night down here, right?"

"We have a dungeon to keep visiting boys in? why didn't anyone tell me?"

"We have a hammock and two very clever dogs who know who is and is not to go up those stairs."

"Odin bless the DeBukes for those pups"

She smiles. "Anything you need while I'm out?"

"Well, since I had a beer or two earlier I'm not sure how many we have. Oh, I had a pack of thin mints just a day ago and someone raided em hard. Fine by me, but if we got others with a weakness for em maybe stock i up."

"Well, I don't know about any girl scouts who would be selling at this hour, but I'll see what I can do about the beer." She leans to kiss his cheek. "I love you, Crankypants." It's not much more than a whisper, and she's off to the kitchen.

"Love you too, sizzleshorts"

((end scene?))

(Sounds good for now)