#anywhere

In the kitchen with Viola - There's not a lot that needs doing, but Jonas is welcome to help out. They don't have a dishwasher, so if he doesn't mind dishpan hands, there are a few pots there. "I was going to let those soak, but you looked like you needed something to keep your hands busy. Here, taste this..." As he works, she reaches up to offer him a spoonful of sauce with a smile. "Perks of helping out, free samples."

In the living room with Vera - "That's right. Vi used to play the club circuit, and I did a few turns in bars on the country scene. Nothing professional for either of us, but turns out we didn't really want that. These days, Viola teaches private lessons, and I do a little recording and the occasional street festival... last year was rough, but things are picking back up."

Piper looks worried, but Vera steers the questions back in the other direction. "Don't you worry none about us, though. We're doing just fine. And you, Siv? Surely you don't spend all your time sailing and Knighting, else you'd be bedlam's toy by now. What do you do on your mortal downtime?"

(Kitchen) A smile at the mention of free samples, a troll smile, which means slight but sincere, Jonnas tastes the sauce "mmm perfect."

(Living Room) Siv was sympathetic to the hard time, "My Aunt Tove has an online presence for her music. She misses the audience, but it helps financially." at the question of mortal down time, there's a brief pause, "Well, in truth. I am ..extra vulnerable to banality, much like an arcadian sidhe. I ask you not to share that too casually. So I do indeed spend a lot of time sailing and knight patrols, if you pardon the pun. I'm aware of the danger of Bedlam and I'm trying to find a few more mortal outlets. Piper here is a godsend there... we've picked up litter, she's taken me shopping at stores, and I've been to some banging concerts by sons of adam and daughers of eve"

A look of surprise there, and sympathy from Vera. "Well, that's just your cross to bear, then. No worse than any of the Arcadian lords, and they've been finding ways to make due for decades now. Hardly a death sentence!" A fond smile to Piper. "Glad my little girl is helping out. I'd think she'd be more help on the other end of things, so can whistle up a bit of Pan for you if you feel a little of the mundane blues."

"Oh, she cheers me up with a song no doubt but she can also simply make my day with a smile" Siv assures Vera "But don't worry about me. I've got family, loves, and friends aplenty. I have my adventures, and I get to help folks."

"And you, Piper, you've been keeping... on the up and up?" Vera.

Piper's cheeks flush a bit. "She knows, Mama. And yes... I've been being good. Sir Vali - that's another troll at Rivervale, and a teacher, has been helping me with prep for the GED test. And I'm working part time."

"Uncle Vali's a pain sometimes, but he also cares, and Piper's classes aren't dull.. he took her to New Orleans" A look at Piper "Which she still wants to visit sometimes"

"Oh, that's Vi's old stomping ground. Now, if you wanted to visit Nashville or Dollywood, I'd be your mama for that." Vera laughs.

Piper perks up! "Oh, that reminds me, I did bring some of that chicory coffee.... let me take it to the kitchen. I'll make sure Jonas isn't ruining his appetite before supper." She digs through her bag and finds the fragrant beans, popping off into the kitchen.

Vera takes this opportunity to look over Siv once more, appraisingly. She may feel a bit like a bug under a microscope...

Siv notes the look, feels a bit nervous, then chuckles at how silly this is, turns her head "This is my good side if you must take a picture"

Vera relents with a chuckle. "You've been good for Piper. Well, it's you, or that tall drink of deep blue you brought along, or Rivervale in general. She looks good... happy again. Before... before she went away, she was so- well, Moon Satyr Piper is moody at best, and after she got back from Ardent... I worried that she wasn't going to smile again. But not only is she smiling, she has a song back in her heart, and she even came all the way over to visit. I think we have you to thank for that."

Siv blushes at that, "I.... I can't speak for Piper, but I think sometimes a young woman, well, she lives for her parents approval on some level, but she also doesn't trust it? Like 'of course you support me, you're my mom' kind of logic? I was just lucky enough to be one of those that got to assure that her moms were right, that she was a wonderful person, and one mistake didn't have to define her. " A smile "I think she's happier Sun than moon, but regardless of her Court, I care for her very much and it's not a selfless thing for she brings me joy every day. I... my ggosh I don't know where to start. I guess if there's anything in me that has helped her find happineess, then I am indeed pleased and maybe smug about it. But I can't presume. Jonas , like you point out, does his part. He lends a ...oh, how to say this: the poor fellow might be the straight man in our comedy trope but he's like a safety net. Sometimes pieces of Piper fall , and me broken up ight with her, and somehow he is there to catch."

"Yes, well... I hope you, at least, with a Fiona heart, can understand what it is to love a Satyr. Trolls... not to typecast, but there are more broken hearts than happy endings, when souls of passion tarry with souls of duty."

Siv bites her lip, "You mean she's likely to take other lovers?"

“I mean, that even at our best, we are dreams of passion and impulse. She may not mean to, or intend to, and not consciously ‘shop around’, but to deny passion when it springs up unexpected is counter to our dreams. I’m not saying she will or will not… but you should be ready to understand if it does. I don’t want you breaking my little girl’s heart.”

"I understand" Siv nods afte a bit "I don't want to hurt her either. I.. guess it's hypocritical of me. Three seems a wonderful number to me, and I have no intention of going ouside it" A blush "Fiona or no. But I admit, I hope if she builds up an appetite elsewhere, she eats at home." Brighter blush "if she wishes outside or it happensn, well, as long as she doesn't throw things in Jonas face. He's.. the most conservative of us in his way. I do not want to tell him to bend so far he breaks but I think he would feel the same"

“It may be something to discuss BEFORE it happens. “Better to ask forgiveness than permission” doesn’t always apply when hearts are involved.”

"Agreed, " Siv nods "Thank you. I know you barely know Jonas and I. The fact you're giving advice to us means a lot," A pause "On a lighter subject, Piper is a vegetarian, I realize that.. and we've got some cooks, but sometimes she menntions... I think it was some kind of mushroom which I guess isn't common in Jersey? I don't know if i's the actual mushroom or nostalggia or the way it is cooked but I wanted to surprise her one day. Do you know what she was hinting at?"

“Oh!” She perks up. “Not everyone knows this, but Northern Cali is a mushroom foragers haven. The fresh markets are always filled with local wild mushrooms. It’s not exactly haute cuisine, but we’d sauté them up with butter and fresh pasta. A side salad and you have a dinner even a carnivore will appreciate… especially with a side of steak.”

"Oh I'm licking me own lips already" A grin "Guess I need to sneak over here and forage sometime. My mother's a park ranger so I've done that before"

“Mm, be careful with that. That’s why we only buy them from the markets. If a dish is going to be poisonous, let it be from Piper’s cooking and not the ingredients.”

“HEY!” Piper, stepping back in, objects. “Come help set the table.”

"Okay okay... your tyranicallness" Siv gets up to help do that

Soon the table is set, with Jonas carrying in a platter of fried chicken hearty enough to feed a team of firemen… or maybe a few hungry trolls. Plenty of options on the veggie spectrum too, but “there’s no way I was going to miss trying my family recipe southern- fried chicken against tongues that have tasted Miz Hearth Kerri Davidson’s cooking.” Vera explains.

“Oh, you look cute in an apron!” Piper points out to Jonas.