#bergen_county

"Maybe?"

“Like, you know in your brain that its probably fine, but SOMETHING tells you it’s wrong....”

"Oh. I know that feeling."

“If a mystical omen told you that a rabid bear would someday eat your family, because it happened once in the past and fate has bound it to repeat - yeah, it sounds stupid as hell. But you probably wouldn’t leave CJ alone in the grizzly exhibit.”

"No..."

"But you're my friend, too. And I don't want to not do stuff with you. And I don't want her to be mean."

A shrug. “Could be completely wrong about it, too. But... I’ll try. Because as long as she’s your friend, she’s part of the package.”

Fidget. "Um. We are set to go on a quest. The two of us."

“Uh. that sounded ominous. I didn’t mean it like that. I mean... shit.”

"Me and Nadeen. After you and I finish ours."

“You mean IF we finish ours. Maybe we’ll die horrible gory deaths along the way. At least, that’s what Lily said when I mentioned to her I was heading out for a while. Where are you two headed?”

"To find these special golden horses."

“Snotty horses, monster horses, unicorns in the woods, baby Pegasi, an entire RANCH of placid old nags, but nooooo, you need another horse too?” Amused.

"Yup!" That gets a grin.

“Do they make gold like the golden goose? Even I might be willing to do stable duty for that.”

"I think they have gold coats."

“Make sure before you go that this isn’t one of those ‘golden fleece’ deals. Sheep can be shorn, Horses only get the one coat. Is this Nadeen’s idea? Gold is one of her house colors after all.”

Nose-wrinkle.

"It's for Silverwolf."

"But she can't go alone, I'm gonna protect her."

“What’s in it for you?” Then, “Oh. It’s that damn troll thing. You should at least bargain for some share of whatever the treasure is. Ailil are sneaky fucks. Who knows what the real story is?”

Grunt. "I don't like him. I don't like how he treats Connor."

Reluctantly, “I’m sure if some Eilunid offered to send me on a quest for a kelpie that stalked rivers and would share mortal souls with me once tamed... you’d go along to protect me too. So I can’t give you TOO much shit here.”

"Well, yeah. Course I would."

A sigh. “I don’t suppose you’ve heard of any?”

"Not really."

“It’s cool how you look out for your squire. But you can’t protect him from everything.” Maybe the wrong thing to try to tell a troll.

"Maybe not. But there's lots I can. I took an Oath."

“Still. He’s not as innocent as he looks. He proved that when he took a runner and tricked half the hold. I’m not saying he’s bad... but maybe you could help him figure out ways to help himself, too.”

"I.. I dunno, we have a lot of differences, but, like... there's a lot I relate to with him. Stuff where we're alike."

“I was worried when you got saddled with him, but... it’s kinda like, having a squire makes you seem more of a knight. A lot of folk just toss around the title. You actually do the work.”

"He's a really good squire!"

"He's working hard, too."

“Lily likes him. And it takes patience for a slug to befriend a pooka, so that’s in his favor too.” A grin.

"Well, good!"

"And if I can make him feel wanted, then that's... that's a big thing, right?"

He thinks for a bit. “It helped Dirk, not that he’d admit it.”

Nod.

“We gotta get some intel on this quest though. Otherwise Anne Marie will think she’ll need to pack for everything from desert islands to the Himilayas. Or whatever the Dreaming equivalent may be.”

"Oh jeez, yeah. We'll pin Vali down."

“and you’re the one who’d get stuck as pack mule.” A grin.

Groooan.

“I gotta get back. By the way, I checked your chemistry project you submitted last night. You confused the parts of the cell mitochondria again. But I know you know that because we went over it THREE times, so I fixed the score for that question. Solid B.” He smirks.

Blush.

"You're a solid. Thanks, Symon."

A thumbs up. “I’ve met your dad, and if you flunked he might not let you go on quests.” A huff of laughter, and he heads out.