#bergen_county

"I mean it...and Siv, you gotta keep your temper, even though I know we're talking about your dad."

Piper shifts her weight in the back somewhere, near Jonas.

"In case it need be said... yeah" Siv sighs "That's where I was going with that. I won't do a damnn thing"

Rikki claps her hands toether with delight "WELL, in that case... you're dad's a facist"

Siv sighs

"Rikki - probably not the time." Piper adds, prompted by her friend speaking up.

"The Mountain.... and I only speak for myself here, and color this with any other baggage I might have. But... he's intimidating. Even before what happened with Eden and Rikki. Maybe it's how he's big and silent and you can't tell what he's thinking, or add on the uneasyness from him being Liam, but... " She shifts uncomfortably. "I know he's a good man. But he's not easy to talk to."

Dirk snorts "They're ALL inntimidating, i's what keeps me in line"

Sylvi takes a breath. "Okay. That's...honest."

She furrows her brow. "It's not just Uncl....the Mountain? I mean...yeah, like Dirk said, they're authority figures, so sometimes they kind of have to be intimidating, right?"

"I mean, he's tough. But so's Chief. Kerri's tough too, sometimes."

On "have to be intimidating", Symon responds... "Do they?" Symon whispers, perhaps only heard by Dagmar.

Lucia nods then admits "I think maybe bogann insight helps because honesty? I've nnever been that scared of them. Mountain Frank adores us. It's obivous"

Others look at her

"Obivous to us boggans" A blush

"She's right, though. He does. Look, I've known him longer than any of you except Siv, and that's because of wibbly-wobbly time stuff."

"He really wants to do right by everybody. And it really bothers him when he makes a mistake."

"Or when things go wrong."

"Are there any of our elders that aren't anal in that way? But yeah, maybe more than some "Margiliata, youngest of the wilders speaks up

Piper winces a bit. "I didn't mean intimidated like, afraid. But after he clocked Eden, that MIGHT be part of things." She winces even as she says it. "But what I meant is more... he's hard to read - for non boggans, thanks Lucia... and hard to, to.. I dunno. Relate to?"

Jonas ponderrs "he's reserved and, to use a metaphor, he plays his cards close to his vest. Even more so than other trolls. Of all the elders, Storm , Hearth or Mountain, it is the Mountain who is the most indecipehable"

Clearly agreeing with Piper

Piper slides a hand into his to squeeze gratefully.

Siv thinks that over "That's.. true. Even I cann' read him half the time. Mom at least I know by brow lingo that she's irked, interested, or thinking 'dear gods, please tell her to stop sharing about this topic'"

"And...that's not just a Mountain thing. Mountain Emmit isn't like that, and neither is Mountain Wildheart...though I still wouldn't want to cross either of them."

"Frank's hard to read. But he does a lot of thankless stuff - we;ve had a lot of fledges, yeah?"

"So many fledges," Sylvi agrees.

"So many" Linwood speaks up "He's always been.. really patient"

"Yup. hasnn' even killed me" Jordan nods

Dirk shrugs "Okay, so he has made some mistakes, like sparing Jordan, other than that though, good job"

Rikki actually grins at that

Sylvi doesn't quite stifle a chuckle.

"But is being easy to read a requirement for being... Mountain?" Siv inquires "I never thought so. Hearth was the social job. Mountainn advises on tradition, spirituality..."

"I was an asshole fledge, too. So."

"I think you were a challenge, yeah," she winks at Dagmar. "And yes, Siv...that's true, as far as I can see. So...okay...some of you find him difficult, and some find him more difficult than others. Am I getting that right?"

Basil says "To be clear, I think almost ll of us think he's a good mountain..."

"FFFtt" from a ring tail

"Except for Rikki" Basil finishes

"...Yeah, he was real angry about that prank."

"Okay, but that wasn't Mountain stuff. That was personal."

Eden speaks up "He needs work at being a better pooka, like the traditional mountain pooka"

Tikki, the monggoose pooka, sittinn lotus style, speaks up "The Bird rarely undersstands the Fish's dating life"

"That's just not him, though. I don't think anybody's asking you to be more troll, Eden, are they?"

Eden shakes her head

Rikki mmphs "Sure seems blue expects the other colors to be blue too"

Gerd rolls her eyes "Rikki, you would't las five minues in a lot of SIDHE run holds"

Sylvi frowns slightly. "Hmm."

"Okay, let me ask you this...do any of you think that Mountain Frank has been intentionally unfair or harmful in his role as Mountain?"

Siv is very quiet and looks at the ground, it takes will but she doesnn't want to bias the vote

"No?"

"Hell no" Dirk says