#bergen_county

"Actually, she kind of looks like a very nice hat.. she's spread her wings like a V over your noggin"

a nicker of delight

and then a tiny horse head peeks down finally into Dagmar's gaze

and a mini horse head with it's mane upside down is adorbs

Dag grins at the tiny pony.

"Howdy Raindrop."

horsey hello. Oh she's so much less shy than she was. She's learned to trust folks thanks to Tove.

"oh goodness, where is the sweet well behaved mare i took in?" Tove tisks

"Being a hat."

That makes Tove snicker

"I don't think I can move, though."

"Raindrop, off" A slightly firmer voice from Tove, but not overly harsh

A little flap sound, and Raindrop flies from Dagmar's head, and down onto the table so she can be petted by either troll

Oh, Dagmar indulges.

"You are so good with horses" Tove observes as Raindrop loves the ministrations.

"I like horses."

"Siv and I might go on a Dreaming quest and take Star and Storm..."

"You'll love that" Tove says "Should I start worrying now, or wait till later?" Gentle smile

"Well, we were going to find an island full of horses..."

Raindrop's ears prick

"Is there such a place?" Tove asks curious

"Well, there's the book..."

"Chincoteague?"

At that name, Raindrop is DEFINITELY alert and interested

"Oh, I think I've heard of it but haven't read it" Tove says

"WHAT?"

"You.. what?"

And she's thundering off for her room.

Tove realizes what's coming next, and with an amused sigh takes those notes and puts them in a nice stack so she can return to them later.

Dag returns shortly with a small stack of books. They are, mercifully, thin. "Okay, so THIS is Misty, and you have to read her first... then these ae her other adventures, but you can skip ahead to Stormy, Misty's Foal second if you want... and this one, King of the Wind, is about a royal arabian horse.."

"I hear those are fast" She observes and runs her fingers over the Misty book "It's not boring though right?" a flicker of amusement in her eyes she tries to hide.

"Boring?!"

"There's a whole island of wild horses who came there after the wreck of a Spanish Gallon!" (Yes, she said gallon)

"Which is a boat full of conquistadors, right?"

"The guys with the metal hats" She nods seriously

"Misty was born wild, but these two orphans, they take her in with her mother, Phantom..."

"Yuh-huh, those guys.."

"Did you know horses could swim?"

"Yes, some breeds are said to be better at it than others I hear but I don't know which one. So the horses swam to safety?"

She nods.

"And Misty.. she's a REAL HORSE. So it's a true story!"

"Let me see .. I can usually tell if I'll like a story after reading the first paragraph or so outloud," And she clears her throat, and starts to read aloud. She is a skald, and her voice is rich and lush in the storytelling.

"See?"

"Yes yes.." She says "I see" And she continues to read outloud.

Does Dagmar stick around for a free story time ? Well, that depends if she can tell herself she's not really being read to like a little kid, it just so happens that Tove HAPPENS to be reading out loud. Yeah.

Surely, Tove is just checking it out. Like showing a friend a movie!

That Dagmar hangs on every word? Well...

A happy coincidence and totally neither one's plan.

totally.