#bergen_county

(Bit of a time bubble)

For Dagmar, it was a nice night, fun and goofing off... Gerd even joined in.

But as she heads to 'the Barn' as she thinks of it, the ironhawk house, etc, she hears her parents talking.

"You just planted the seeds on a whim?" Tove says surprised.

She slows, listening

"Connor asked me. I don't know if it will help, probably just be regular fruit if it even takes root, but seemed like the thing to do."

"I like Connor, but are you sure you understood him?"

A pause then "no."

"Well, we'll learn I suppose." Tove says

Then Twobit betrays Dagmar by annoucing her with a happy bark!

"Hrrmph."

Twobit wags! Dogs have no shame, as any cat will tell you.

"Dagmar, how was the sleep over?" Tove asks

She scoops up the terrier. "Good. Nadeen is looking much better."

"Good." Jaymes says

Then he gestures to the table where they are all sitting

She sits, setting Two Bit in her lap.

Jaymes takes lead, "We love you. You know this?"

"And you can always talk to us about anything" Tove adds

"...Uh... ok."

Jaymes says "We talked to your PE teacher."

Brow furrow before she shifts her gaze away from them. "Oh."

"She says you have been ditching. Which suprises her, because she's impressed by your natural athleticism and eagerness. " Tove says

She chews on a knuckle and shrugs.

Jaymes says "You're doing self harm again." It's not a question

"Not... not lately..."

"No?" He says, "When was the last time?" He wants to ask more, but tries to show patience.

Tove nod reassuringly

Shrug.

Mumble.

"Why are you not changing for Gym?" Jaymes says

"...We're swimming."

They listen

"I don't... I can't... swimming is dumb and there's boys in the pool, too, and you hafta wear a swimsuit where everybody can see everything..."

"So it's more about the old scars than the new ones?" Tove asks

Shrug.

"Lots of old scars."

Jaymes nods "I think there are ways to help remove the scar marks, but it may not be quickly enough for your liking. Let's have a look at your arms. See how far up and down they go."

She tenses up and shakes her head.

Jaymes says "It makes it harder for us to help you when you hide things from us. Please, I would never hurt you. "

A face at the gallows, she peels off her hoodie. Today is a Captain America t-shirt beneath... the forearms are old scars, including the two cigarette burns.

"Thank you for trusting me," he says as they both look it over, "Some seem newer than I'd like, but I owe you an apology for thinking it would be more reccent than this. At least, I think I might. Are there any on your legs?"

"There's a reason we're asking about that," Tove says "I have an idea"

She shakes her head and pushes up the short sleeve - upper arms are newer, half-healed and red, some still scabbed.

"Mmm" He says trying not to frown least she misunderstand, "We should get those looked at."

"THere are ways to keep those from scarring as badly since they're newer," Tove says "We'll apply some. But that wasn't my idea, not exactly." She reaches for a fashion book , and opens it, showing it to Dagmar

If Dagmar looks, there are some beautiful examples of... Swimsuits with sleeves!

Dag shrinks back, avoiding meeting either parent's gaze.

"I was thinking the one with the light blue patterns looked nicer, but your dad thought basic black might..." Tove stops as she sees her shrink away, and she bites her lip, then takes a breath, "We're trying to help, but we may not be doing it right. How can we? I thought you were worried about being teased about your scars?"

An inarticulate sound. Maybe agreement?