#bergen_county

*************
"Later, Mr. Grassly!" Adam hits the road, home to shower and change, scarf dinner so mom's happy, and then he's gone again, heading to.... the Gloaming.

"Greely," Hmmph

But Adam might protest that's what he said and his boss heard him wrong... if he were still around.... nope, off to the Gloaming. Zane's directions are spot on.

He pulls carefully into the gravel. And hears a lot of noise from the Great tent that once sold fireworks but now has a carnival like atmosphere inside

He can already see teenagers his age talking and most are either kithain or kinain or just mortals with a glow about them. Two teenage girls vapping, only, it doesn't look like the ordinary cartridges, the vapors flowing out are rainbow hued. They talk to each other between puffs. There's another guy a bit older than Adam with dark skin and a T shirt with an Anarchy symbol and the word 'Meh' overlaid. He's looking at the girls and shaking his head as he fiddles with an electric guitar

"Cool......" he murmurs as he looks at the scene. He hops out and heads in.

the Girls check him out without trying to look like they're checking him out looking impressed but also like they're something they aren't seeing that they wish they did. The guy with the guitar looks up, "Yo, man, you clearly got the glow- but who clued you in? They gonna wanna know in there"

Adam looks at both the girls and the guy carefully.....Fae?

No, he doesn't think so...maybe like him.. kind of. There's a vibrancy missing that the trolls have..h eck, even Dirk has.

Adam presses his lips together and does a 180, heading back to his car as he texts "Zane? I don't know who I can talk to about what."

Zane sends back Bzzt Oh! My bad. Sec. I'll come out and guide you in

Adam waits (patiently) by the car.

There are other cars here...some, to his sight, look pretty weird. There's one beat up Gremlin with the words 'Do not fuel after midnight' painted along the side and it makes odd purr coo growl sounds if you get close to it. There's a hybrid car that looks like a chariot made of leaves and vines.

And Zane trots out "Hey man, sorry about that. Forgot about the Oath. How you want to work this?"

"I dunno, man.... I mean, I can't talk to anyone, you know, unless they're on the list... I mean, I think I met all of them already. Wait, no, that guy Olgar. Haven't met him yet. He here?"

"No grumps here, man, that's kind of the point."

"Oh, he's a grump. Ok, well...."

"Heck, even the girls at the lodge don't know... because, you know, Gwydion Chief, how they gonna lie to her? But you can talk to Kinain at least. I can point you out to the others"

A deep sigh. "Dunno, man." Discouraged "I just got my butt chewed about this..."

"What? About talking to kinian?"

Zane seems surprised

"I can go on patrol with someone, and I gotta be patient."

"Life my friend is more than patrols and set jaws- I love trolls, but they do not always get that. Come on, have a little faith in yourself. Look, that Oath... do you remember the wording?"

"Butt chewing was for being impatient. "

Adam th8nks for a moment, then recites it.

"Oh..ouch. Well. I know what it's like to be impatient. We satyrs feel everything upfront twice, then it passes over... usually" He says then listens to the Oath, "Dude... the oath says you can talk to any changeling that talks to you first. Sounds like you're making it harder on yourself than the Chief intended."

"Uh.... you sure?"

"Come on..." Zane throws an arm round him, "My dad's a college professor. The Admins have all sorts of weird rules they expect of their professors beyond oh actually teaching, like publish or perish. This has forced him to levels of what he calls 'Ethical adaptive creativity in the face of Overweening Bureaucratic Orthodoxy'. Last week, he twittered for five days, called it publishing, and sent the admins scrambling to close that loophole. Now you follow me, and I will help you talk to a lot more changelings and kinain in one smooth motion and you will nOT break your oath? Trust me?"

"I.... I guess...." cautiously, Adam is pulled along.

Adam is lead in, Zane's arm still around him, and they come into the scene, he holds up a hand "EVERYBODY, LISTEN UP... particularly you cool guys and hot girls!" At that heads turn. Some of them grin, alien eyes, strange visages, odd beings... many of them, all wrapped in human flesh but still teenagers, and who is NOT going to admit to being cool or hot? Zane says "This is Adam! Strong blooded Kinian from the wilds of... well New York or something and a friend of mine. Would the hot women in the House say "Hey" to him?" A grin

Almost all the girls roll their eyes, laugh, or blush but they say "Hey" some say "Hey, Adam!" A few go from script with "Hi" or "Who are you again?" but they 'talk to him.

Zane then says "Will the cool guys please tell Adam to his face he's GOT to get fresher clothes that this?" Elbow.

Laughter from the guys but yeah... "Seriously man, the Gap is no way to live" "My dad has that shirt..." "Still better than my lame ass brother, man" "Hey Adam" "Don't mind Zane', he's not as cool as he thinks he is" etc.

Zane grins at Adam "There you go, you're introduced, you saw which ones talked to you... and you can talk back."

"-JESUS- Zane?!?!?!" He hisses, blushing.

"Apporiiate, as I just 'saved' you. " A grin "Okay.. only ones who didn't talk to you directly were that sluagh kinain girl in the corner, that's Absinthe. The Moose Pooka .. his name is Winkle... and Betty, she's the nocker working on some schematics. Those you can't talk to, but everyone else? Now fair game. Got it?"

Adam is trying to sort out and remember all the new terms and phrases, but he nods.

Zane does point to each one he mentions, which helps.

One redheaded girl wearing a green t shirt walks up and hands Zane a drink, she did say hello so Adam can talk to her. She's not kithian, doesn't have that 'second seeming' thing, but she's got the glow and her eyes are the most vivid green. "Zane, you are your own biggest fan aren't you? WHere's the whip and chain?"

"You know how you excite me with that talk, Emerald," Zane grins then says "Nadeen's out doing her thing. Adam, this Emerald, CLurichlaun blooded. Also a Taurus."

"Funny. Hey, Adam, you want a soda? We got a case load." Emerald offers "Mostly sprite but I think there are a few Dr. Peppers left. We've also got punch but with the pooka around here most of us see it as a gamble"

"Yeah, uh that's be great" he glances at Zane. "Thanks. Walk me over?"

Zane gives a thumbs up./Emerald says "Sure.." She moves.. she's not as pretty as Sylvi but her eyes and blazing red hair make a visual treat and she fills out her shirt nicely. She leaeds him to a cooler and opens it to reveal, as she said, mostly sprites (Someone has a sense of humor) and some Dr. Peppers "Oh we also have some bottled water. So .. you're new." Emerald observes "How long you been in the know?"

" 'Bout two weeks. You?"

"On and off for a year... man, I tell you 'ts a bummer when it wears down...like a really great dream and you just can't remember all the details"

"Man.... hope that doesn't happen...."

"Hey, Adam, it happen to all Kinain..we stay enchanted longer sure, but then.. be it one day or seven, we faze out.. no glamour and the mind starts to get fuzzy... then, when you try to make yourself remember, you remember wrong. Some chick leaps onto a building from 20 feet below? Nope. You must have imagined that..she had a zipline or aspringboard that was hidden. A redcap ate a glass bottle? Carnival trick... yeah that's the ticket." She gestures at the drinks "Go ahead and pick which one you like. " Then she continues "And then I re - enchant and I remember it all again so clearly as it really was. It's a head spin. "

Adam gives her a charming grin and grabs a soda. "You live around here?"

"Sure do...though it's abitch to get housing here... some strict building codes. Rumor has it the Chief and her allies set that up to keep this one green area of Jersey. I don't know if it's true or not, I'm not a Tink."

"Tink?"