#darkgatefortress

"And no escape"

"...well..."

She fidgets slightly. "The oath makes allowances for if Rivervale needs me. Which it doesn't." She puts away more of the groceries.

"Well, I don't know if your nephew's second cousin room mate agrees"

She blinks. "My...what?"

And then does the math. "OH! Oh, Dagmar?"

"Well...maybe? I mean...she hates change. Any kind of change."

"But that's not need."

"Mm " A nod 'We should wrap her in bubblewrap for all her life..." She takes a sip of water

"Hey. That's not fair. I told her she was going to going to have to deal with things changing when I left. I'm not pro-bubblewrap."

"And Dagmar's who I'm talking about" A nod nod nod

A frown. "Okay, I don't get it."

Tiffanny looks apologetic "Well, that's because I'm a troll, oathed to never speak straight" She reaches up and puts a hand on the tall girl's shoulder, "I know we both wish I could speak French: Are you happy here?"

Her expression is very tense, and it's a long moment before she answers, "...Sometimes."

She sips "And other times?"

A tight swallow, then she turns and puts more things in cabinets. "I don't really like it here. It's...not like home."

"I think...maybe...I should have waited."

"Nadeen hogs the hot water from the shower?"

A brief laugh. "Well, of course."

"Your pager just went off... old stuff that"

An actual PHONE CALL!

Sylvi picks up her phone and looks at it with some surprise. Somebody's calling?....

"Hello?"

"Hey! Sylvi! How goes it??" Piper asks, with rock music playing somewhere in the background.

"Piper?" A baffled look to Tiffany as she speaks on the phone. "Uh, hi! What's going on?"

"Oh, you know, this and that..." She sounds a bit jangled. "Um, listen. I uh. I know you're all up in Dark Gate now, but... I could really use some help. Or just advice, you know? Advice would be good."

"Wait, what? Is something wrong? You sound like something's wrong...."

A sip

"I just, well. It's probably nothing." It doesn't take a Gwydion to see through THAT. "But I'm really worried about Etsi. You know, unstoppable rockstar grump? She's sick, like really sick. Talking about giving away her guitar sick."

Piper kinda babbles as she spills it out. "The super says she hasn't been eating, and she has this fever, and I know I could take her to a clinic or something but those places are so banal, and your mom is, well, she's great and all, but I don't really know her that well, and heatherbalm didn't work much on that last bad flu that came around, and I just, uh. You were who I thought to ask..."

"Oh, wow...um...yeah, I can probably...hang on a second, Piper, okay?"

She hangs on!

Sip

And brow

She mutes the phone and turns to Tiffany. "Etsie's sick, bad enough to have Piper really worried, it sounds like. She wants me to come down...." An apologetic look. "I know you just got here...and I'd have to take the trod if I go, not drive down."

"If you want a ride I can break the speed limit.. and if I get ticketed break into tears"

"I made soup, I think it's soup, it was from a can. Was I supposed to mix water with it? Shit, I don't remember...." Piper is half babbling to herself.

"Cops are suckers for preggers"

Sylvi unmutes. "Piper, I'll be down in a bit. I'm betting she's going to be okay, don't panic...but also stick with her, okay? Liquids, right? Tea, water...."

Aside to Tiffany, "It'll be quicker if I trod, and then I can get back before my next duty shift, maybe."

"I didn't mean you had to come..." She says, but the relief is evident.

A nod "Okay..so what are my orders, Bridge Captainn?" She salutes

"Not much I can do from here," she points out to Piper.

"Let me call you back when I'm on my way down."

"Thank you thank you!" She blurts, before clicking the phone off.

Sylvi blows out a breath, and then shakes her head. "Okay, uh..." She looks at Tiffany still in salute pose, and gives a wry "At ease."

"You just drove hours to get up here, it's ridiculous for you to just turn around and go back. And Nadeen is likely to be around in a bit. If you want to stick around to visit with her, you're totally more than welcome to make yourself at home here." She's already texting Nadeen about needing to go to RV briefly.

the pooka nods

"I was going to head down this weekend to see Dagmar...maybe...if I can make this a quick turn-around, maybe I won't miss a shift at all. But I've got to let them know where I'm going...."

Another text, this one to Colton: TXT: Quick trip to RV, Etsie's sick, expect to be back in couple hours, maybe.