#bergen_county

She nods. "I learned from a mer who I grew up with... or rather, near. By the seaside, I played with selkies and seafolk..." A soft sigh. But a smile. "Not that the forest doesn't have it's appeal - it's harder to get to a hidden undersea grotto than to simply hop up into a tree!"

"Oh that I know," Siv says "Trust me, the ocean calls to me every day"

A grin and she sings, "See the line where the sky meets the sea? It calls me...."

And Siv joins in

the two are in danger of harmonizing

Piper glows with joy as they sing and then collapses back with a giggle as the song finishes. "If I learn to tie sailor's knots, will you let me join your crew for an adventure on the high seas? Or do I need to know how to buckle and swash? I'm a quick learner..."

"I bet you are" Siv beams

and she sits near Piper and says "Your voice is pure sweetness and sunlight"

"And yours is the sound of wind whistling through the sails and the splash of surf upon the shore." Leaning against her, head on Siv's shoulder.

"Until I try for that onnne note above the ones I can reach and suddenly 'ts all seagulls screeching and flopping fish"

A laugh! "At least you're trying! Oh, I hope things open up again soon. I miss going to a Karaoke bar and finding that one girl or guy sitting in the back too shy to try - when if they just have a bit of courage and trust their friends, anyone can belt out Foreigner off-key and still have a great time."

"Journey. Don't stop believing is one of my go tos. Others join in"

"Streetlight, people.... Ahhhh-Aaaaaaa!" A twinkle in her eyes as she DOES hit that elusive note!

"Argh! Love hate you right now!" Siv laughs and nudges

"Now we just need to take that midnight ship going any-wheeeere..."

Siv says "Temptress. Aye. Well.. not that it has to be midnight, but let me knwo when you want to visit your moms"

Siv blushes at something, perhaps despite the talk of moms she.. is quite aware of how damn adorable Piper is

Piper looked a bit taken aback. Go to visit them - just like that! Slowly... "I guess... it was just so long that I was.. or felt like I was banished...that the thought of just going back to visit them seems like... like a dream? Or like something dangling, a ripe fruit on a tree that is just out of reach..."

"That's why I'm offering. Because, they dont' have to be. Not on my watch. I'm a knight now. I can use that to the good"

Impusively she tosses her arms around Siv's neck and plants a smack on her cheek. "It's hard to believe. But you hve so much freedom! It's marvelous..."

A happy laugh

"I'm glad you like.."

"Well, I'd welcome a trip whenever you're free..." And adds, a touch shyly. "You could meet my moms, if you'd like? ...but first I'd like to see your secret treefort!"

"Not too secret for long, but sure... if you're done with your spinach puff breakfast?" A grin

She grabs a couple more to wrap in a napkin with the rest of the food put away - a second thought, and she scrawls on the whiteboard on the fridge "Leave at least ONE puff or I'm having your tail deep-fried for dessert" And she grins. "Okay, NOW we can go. Sorry, I've learned, you have to expect folk to be true to their nature. Even friends." A grin.

"Rikki huh? I always thought she was..ah, well, " A dubious look "An iffy individual?"

"She's always done right by me - or never really done WRONG by me, which is about the same." She says with a nod. "So, I'll judge her by what I've seen. And she knows the ice cream man's schedule!" A grin.

"Ooo I missed the last shipment..." She sighs "That man is saving our sanity" She salutes, then says "Come on then... let's run you up a tree, get you some Eve modesty pasties"

And out they go into the woods. It's actually a good hike, and while Bergen living has gotten her more used to the forest, the satyr might still need a bit of guidance not to get lost. It's clearly meant to be hard to reach for your average mortal

"Sorry, I had to make sure it wasn't... you know, too on display" Siv explains

"No, I like it. Ingenious, really, how you hide it in plain sight there. I see what you mean about fall, though. Do you need to hopsk' up, or can I just scramble up like a squirrel? I am two 5th mountain goat on my mother's side." A silly grin.

"I mean the leaves will color, and then fall and we may lose some of our hiding material" a chuckle "Up we go..." she gives a bit of a tug on a string, and a rope ladder falls down "You want to go up first?"

She's already scampering up the rope ladder as agile as, well, as a mountain goat! With a pert flick of her tail to the Troll left below.

Siv gives a wolf whistle

Then follows

And both come up to a rather nice set up...and a male troll in his underwear working with mosquito netting. Jonas does not see Piper but instead says "Siv, don't whistle like that while i'm working"

Up at the top, she peers about in interest. And then watches for a moment, in interest of a different sort. "How would you like me to whistle? I can mimic a flute, or a piccolo..."

As a person of less than trollish stature, it might be amusing to Piper to see one of the giants bang his head as he turns around "Oh.. ah.. PIPER salut..salutati..." He uses some of the netting like a towel around his waist "Hi"

A breathy soft laugh from Siv "Sorry to hurt your feelings, Lover mind. I was actually whistling at PIper's waggling tail"

"Don't worry about it Jonas, we're all friends here." Stepping forward so that Siv can move up the ladder past her. "Is your head okay? The rest of you is looking good." Did she say that out loud? Maybe she didn't mean to...

"I... " he rubs his noggin "I've been told I have a thick skull"

"You do, love." Siv moves to him with a kiss, then says "You think the net will protect you?"

"Siv, " he returns the kiss, "Just because we're allowed to be ourselves here doesn't mean I am going to be 'less uptight'" he does smile at Piper though "Welcome, PIper, it's good to see you"

"It's good to see you too. I've missed you - both of you. But it looks like you're doing well. Sir Captain Siv, and the Captain's Lad, I suppose you would be?" A grin to Jonas.

"Lady Captain Siv knows I'm not big on noble titles" he shoots Siv a look "Dont' you?"

She rolls her eyes "Spoil sport."

"That said, please, have a seat, can we get you a beverage ? We have a cooler" He explains

She doesn't sit, not quite yet, flitting from one side of the nest to the other and cooing over this or that like a hyper baby bird on hooves. "Oh, the view! And the way that the leaves fall over here... it's clever, cunning it is..." Admiration clear.

"We had help. Some folks helped build the base of it..and we had some arts used to grow canopy and twist branches just so" Siv explains "I stole SO many ideas to make this work..because let's face it, if it were up to me it'd be a big old Longboat in the trees"

A laugh! "Did you think of that? I mean... why not?" Looking around. "if your Narwhal can shrink... why not size it up a third or half-strength and plant it on a platform? Oh, I suppose that would work better for a bird like the Kestrel.. but it could work!" A grin. "And am I crazy, or does it smell like peaches up here?"