#anywhere

"Don't blow her off, show some empathy. And.. don't escalte. We are still your parents and still, whether you like it or not, very much responsible for you"

"Now, Etsie tries to take a bullet for you, rather than let you get yourself in trouble by defying your mother. You might want to think how many people are in your life. Actions have consequences, and on more htan just one's self" They approach the house "You're too cool a guy to see things only in the term of 'me, mine, my'"

"Etsie didn't need to get blamed for something that wasn't her fault." Stubbornly.

"I would agree, but apparently Etsie didn't. She's a nice old lady trying to help...and while that's not your fault, it is your concern. No one is an island. Your fall out will not be YOUR fall out alone. Just like if Zane gets in trobule, I know you'll be affected because you care"

"So what should I have done, let her take the heat?"

"No. " A pause "you should have stopped ducking your mother's questions . And told her"

That stubborn jaw set again. "I don't want anyone else in trouble, either."

"So instead, you're going to make your mother have to find out on her own, interogating total innocents? AND THEN getting to learn anyway? Because this isn't the sort of things parents, ANY Parents, kignore, not any good ones. "

"Yeah, but that's -her- choice. She doesn't need to be in my business, especially after the fact!"

"Son, your under age drinking, in what planet is that NOT our bussiness?"

"The one where you're blue, she has goat legs, you both have horns and Lily can't talk above a whisper?"

A disapproving frown "You know better, or should. We are still your parents. It is still very much our concern and our business, and you are still a teenage boy."

"Aw please, dad, you can't tell me other wilders don't drink, or smoke, or go off and have adventures and fights and stuff!"