#anywhere

The kitchen at Rivervale has been commendeered

Cups... checked. Space cleared for most crucial packages.

Gerd places a delicate urn full of leaves into a high point.

And she sighs happily, a tea collection. Tiny cards are placed, with fine cursive...

Of course, rearranging things in the Hearth's domain is dangerous, but surely she'll understand.

Kerri has walked in on the final stages of this reorganization. "Gerd, I..." She stops and blinks. "What is this?"

"Tea," She says, wisely not commenting the answer more snarkily that than that.

"Tea. Gerd, I already have tea here. This is...different tea?"

"is it different?" This time she gapes, "of course it's different, this isn't grocery store pre packaged overly generic tea, this is real tea... leaves of various sorts for proper preparation" Gerd says "It's this sort of tea that is the spine of any dignified civlization in the face of barbarity"

Kerri raises a trollish brow. "I see." She takes a seat on one of the kitchen stools. "Tell me more." Coolly neutral.

"Oh, it's wonderful.. there's Black Currant and Rooibos and Darjeeling .." She opens the urn and smells "And Philosopher's Black and Blood Berry and Irish Bergamot" Gerd says happily

"May I?" Kerri extends a hand for the open urn.

Tiny plastic bags, each marked meticulously, sit in the urn that has now taken over the top part of the cupboard. "Please, be careful" In each plastic bag, leaves rather than bags.

But she does hand it down.

"I think it should go up top to discourage folks wasting it as a common beverage" Gerd says

It does look like tiny notes in spidery handwriting have been put as guides for the young girl.

Kerri nods and takes a sniff at the contents of the urn. A nod. "Very nice." She hands it back. "Gerd, I appreciate this new interest, and I appreciate the care that you wish people to take with it. But I don't appreciate you rearranging the kitchen without first discussing it with the Hearth."

"You weren't here," She says "And I've been training as a hearth on and off under you." She gives that 'see how reasonable and mature I'm being with my amazing logic' look that is not so different from Sylvi's efforts now and then

"Oh. I see. Well...it doesn't seem that that training has been doing much good. You've clearly learned nothing about hospitality."

At THAT she looks stunned, perhaps almost verbally slapped, "That's not... I..."

"You are only concerned about the way you want things for yourself. That is not what a Hearth does."

The Twelve year old says "Away to the never place...." ANd vanishes!

Tears in her eyes

A blink. And a sigh. "Great. Can't get a complete lesson in if she's going to do that."

Footsteps, by now Kerri knows most of the steps by their weight, pattern and style.

And that, as it would happen, is Vali's

A sigh. "Vali. Gerd has vanished. I don't know where."

"What? Oh damn... fllicker flash?" Confirming

"Yes. She said something about a 'never place.' "

"That's dramatic talk for a place she goes to, thanks at least I know where she is now. I'd ask what happened but I can guess the basics. She did something wthout thinking it through, you pointed that out... and she called you a fascist and vanished?"

She notices Vali is looking like he hasn't gotten enough sleep. He's carrying a grocery bag. Just a single one.

A surprised look. "Well...I didn't get the counter-accusation, but she did try to point out how what she did was right all along, using a twisted bit of logic. This is her latest response to conflict?"

She rises and offers to help him unload the bag.

"Well, sometimes she just runs out of the room" He says "But Siv told me what it involved so.. well, I threw my macho pride on the altar of 'please please let this help' with your husband giving me some tips between some chuckles I might add."

In the bag are 'feminine hygene products' and chocolate... among other things.

Lavender bath oil too. Said to be relaxing

A sigh. "It's a minefield, Vali. She may appreciate this. She may see it as you somehow trying to mock her, to tell her that her pain isn't real, it's 'just hormones.' "

The wilder gives a hapless shrug.

"I have to try"

"Though, really...if you place these in her room...the chocolate and oils in clear sight, and the hygiene products a bit more out-of-the-way...she may be able to appreciate them. Would you like me to arrange that?"

"I would be QUITE grateful" he says "I think.. and forgive me if this sounds wrong, but I think she would take them better with ah..same sex influence or direction. What ..what did she do start this? if I might ask? With you?"

"Nothing dire. She rearranged the kitchen to make a display of her teas, without asking permission to do so." She nods at the display of little signs.

"Oh boy" he sighs "I'm sorry." He does look at the tea, "Who gave her this?"

"I pointed out that she should have asked...and her logic was that I wasn't here to ask, and she's been 'training as Hearth on and off' for a while." An eyebrow. Then she shakes her head. "I don't know. I was going to ask after setting some ground rules...but then...poof."

"Training? Wow. " He shakes his head "I'm sorry, Hearth. Do you want me to find a location for this stuff outside the kitchen? Arguably it will store fine and I can see if you don't want to reward bad behavior"

"No! I think it's lovely, and it should be in the kitchen. I would like for her to work with me to determine an appropriate place for it all. Which, again, I was going to explain, but...."

"But... Little Lady Gerd ,goes kaboom... " A nod "I don't know if I... when she was a childling, I knew how to handle her. Few jokes, lots of hugs... small bribes mixed with firm lessons"

"Did Sylvi ever... " He shrugs "I mean.. just.. obviously she didn't teleport off. But did she ever suddenly spin her head three times and spew acid spite?"

A smirk. "There's a reason I keep a supply of whiskey handy. And bourbon." She starts taking down Gerd's elaborate arrangement and organizes it, neatly and respectfully, on the center island of the kitchen. "When she's ready, I'll work with her on this."