#bergen_county

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And so it is, Kerri plays Hunter herself, this time for a good cause. Walking past the garden, finding signs he boy has gone into bush and brush and wood

Good thing he doesn't know how to hide his passing, yet. She follows, not running, but moving at a steady pace.

Oh dear. This boy also hasn't learned how to watch out for the plant life...probably got some brambles and burrs

She listens for the sound of large creature bumbling through the spring woods...or for muttered cursing.

Ah, good plan...

"Oh Peg me with a cactus and get it over with..." A slapping sound, a tail hitting it's possessor hard? Ah.. he's stired some insects

There he is. She closes in.

The boy had a head start of at least 30 minutes and she's caught up already. He really does't know the terrain. She closes and sees him swatting "Look, get lost okay?" he's nont talking to her 'I'm going. What od you WORK for Dagmar? I don't even get to gripe! Sure, Olgar's cool but the rest are like 'oh Jordan you don't even.. ow!" he gets bit by a fly "Understand" he finishes

"Jordan?" she calls out in a tone of surprise, slowing her pace. "Is that you?"

"I..." She finds him and he is already got some briars, burs, and stings. He's already dirty no doubt forgetting tree cover keeps the ground moist longer a times "Uhm. yeah, it's me, Mrs Kerri Hearth Dame" he sorts through the titles tryinng to figure the right one. He has a backpack stuffed . She can smell some of her own food in there.

A bit of a grin, "Hearth Kerri is fine. What are you...oh, my. Did you fall?"

"Sank more thann fall there was this.. kind of muddy spot.. it's okay .I'll uhm clean it up later," Jordan shrugs "I'm just.. taking up Mounain frank on his offer"

"Oh? What offer is that?"

She gets closer.

"That I could leave anytime I want" He answers and for a moment his scowl a default epxressio, returns, "Look, could you tell Olgar thanks about the Unseelie Code? I . I think it made me feel better"

"Well, maybe you should tell him yourself? I know he was planning on working with you some more, give you a little more guidance." She looks concerned. "Did things get to crowded with the rest of the centaurs arriving? I noticed you helping them get settled...thank you for that, by the way. Good work, there."

Jordan frowns "I'm bothering people. So I should just go, where I can have an opinion without pissing folks off. " A pause at the praise though "They're okay, really. They just have to deal with their bodies now being alien and finndingg they didn't gget a choice in it, and the confused feelings. The idea they'll never really fit in . I can relate"

Kerri gives him a measuring look and seems to be deciding on what she's going to say. "Were you pissing them off? The other centaurs?"

"Probably.. I don't remember i, but I have it on good authority that all I do is whine" A humph "Frankly the gang, I refuse to call us a 'herd' thank you, seems okay but each of us has our own baggage. I jus didn't realize I was suppsoed to keep my baggage to myself"

"You've heard that from a lot of people? That you should keep your opinions to yourself?"

A long look, then "I heard it from enough"

and he starts to turn "Besides. I don't narc"

A pause. "Don't think you've heard it from me."

"Oh, no, I'm not asking for names. Numbers, though...?"

"No... I guess not. but your'e nice to everyone, i's your job. I think that's why Passion SHOULD come before duty. Otherrwise you come across as insincere even when you're honest. I mean, you probalby DO care but how would I know it wasn't just your 9 to 5?"

She grins. "That's one thing Olgar gets right...when your duty is your passion, it all works out best. That's when you know you've found the right duty."

That seems to throw a loop at his attempt at a win via 'logic'. Jordan says in a lower voice "Is it.. is your duty your passion?"

"Oh, absolutely! I wouldn't have lasted so long in my role if it weren't."

"It took a while to figure that out, though, you know."

"Yeah well, if ..." A sigh "I'm not saying you're lying, but you do realize I don't have any reason to believe anyone right? When they tell me 'yeah I'm a good guy'? People lie ..sometimes ot themselves"

She considers him. "I'm getting the sense you've had plenty of reason not to believe anyone. And that's fair. Look, we may be creatures of the Dreaming, but that doesn't mean it's all a happily-ever-after fairy tale. There are absolutely some of us with seriously bad intent, those who are out to take advantage of others for their own gain."

That oddly seems to sooth him a bit "You're saying folks lie, cheat, and screw other folks over even in fairyland?"

Good grief, no wonder he didn't want to believe before

"Oh, if that's what you thought we were trying to tell you, I'm sorry. No, there are...some very, very bad fae out there. I mean, consider what just happened. Hunters seeking members of your kith, trapping them, planning to use them for who-knows-what...and the one who organized it all was fae." She sighs. "No...there are many in our world who wish harm on others...and those who do harm while thinking they're doing what is right."

"Yeah but... even then... the idea that there are white hats and blackhats... that a shining knight is some paragon that clashes with some black knight.. life's nnot that simple, or at least, maybe it is for you guys, but i don't trust it' He stamps a hoof "You can have GOOD folk who are wrong. A person can be ... a disbleliever, they can trust science and maybe not myth ..but that doesn't mean they're bad. That doesn't mean nthey deserve to die in some car wreck or shit and it turns out they got NOTHING right. People can do good AND bad and the bad doesnn't make the good worth nothing or what's the damn poinnt? If that'sh ow it works my folks are in hell or .." He chokes

Her expression reveals new understanding, and she watches him. "No, Jordan," she says quietly, "It's not so easy. It's not so clear as that. And while disbelief's effects are bad for us, that doesn't mean the disbelievers are bad...only misguided."

" I .. I gota go.." he turns, and she realizes if he bolts into a run, she'll lose him

"Jordan, please..." She puts a hand on his shoulder, to comfort, not to restrain.

He flinches "You're NOT my mom. Look.. you should be glad I'm going. I'm poison. . idonn't WANT tobeleive i'm goinna go daunntain or something. So it's better if I go out and forget .. right?"

"I'm not your mom." She lets go. "I'm not trying to be. What I'm trying to do is help. And no, I don't believe forgetting is a better option. Tell me more why you think it is."

"Because I can't stop not trusting. I don't WANT to believe in na world where. where my parents were fools ... and .. if I keep feeling that way, it's just going to hurt you guys Okay? I'm trying to be as GOOD as I get. This is it me, TRYING not to think of just mysef. I suck at it, I know! IWhine. I complain. It made me feel better, but thatt's not an option. Okay, but NOT whininng or bitching doesn't make the thoughts go away. It's just a quiet kind of poison"

Kerri exhales a breath heavily. "That is a pretty big burden you're carrying, it's true. Jordan...just because your parents didn't have all the information...does that make them fools? They couldn't understand what you now know to be true -- they weren't fae, and they weren't Dreamers, so there's no way they could see what you see now. Does that make them fools?"

"I.. " A bite of his lip "My grandma knew.. knows"

"She knew, they didn't. So.. how did she, annd how didn't they?"

"That's just how it works. Sometimes the fae nature gets passed on within the family...sometimes it doesn't. As far as we know, it might be completely random." She doesn't say it's a matter of Da'an...not a good idea to have the boy deal with the thought that his parents were fated to die by this new world he's in.

He sighs "Finne. But i'm still not telling you who thinks I'm a whiney butt. And I don' want you pursuingg it . I don't narc"

It sounds like he's coming around, possibly litterally as in ready to head back

She shakes her head. "Not asking you to. But...am I right that it's not a majority of people saying this to you?"

He ponders "Well, two folks I guess"