#elsewhere

A few chuckles

"loud butthead" his sister hisses

"Sorry, Lil." Contritely. "Forgot for a second."

Adam shuts the door behind them and leads them into the rest of the house.

"Lily has been getting into trouble" Her father looks at Lily "And won't tell me the details. Apparently it's sluagh biz'"

Lily lifts her chin loftily

A shrug. "Then it's sluagh biz."

"See, Adam understands" She says, ignoring that a moment ago he was a butthead

Kyle mmphs

"You guys thirsty? Can I get you something?"

"Actually, Adam, a coffee would be great" Kyle says "Thanks"

"You need to cut down on the caffine" Brenda fusses

"Have you tried living near the lodge and NOT taking coffee? Its mandatory troll stuff"Kyle jokes

Adam nods and goes to put a fresh pot on.

Lilly slips in with him "so what's up? mom okay? you and she getting along?"

A shrug. "Yeah. I guess. Same old same old, mostly. You? How's dad?"

"that's terrible information gathering.. same old same old? I haven't been here to see same old. You have to learn how to spy better. Who, what, where, why, and how..." She says "This is basic lois lane stuff..and even more basic sluagh. Has she been happy, has she been sad. You say same old... but 'yeah' you're getting along. You weren't always getting along before. So which is it? I've worked with experts.. my standards for information sharing are at a higher bar now" Almost inaudible foot tapping

"I'm not a spy. I know, I asked." firmly "And I don't know any of that stuff. I go to school, I do my work, I have lessons and stuff with my mentors, I work in the kennel when I can, and I have to sleep here once a week. That's my life. I don't butt into hers."

"But she's our moooom. You love her. Of course we butt in" As if it is obvious

"I don't butt in -because- I love her."

She gives him a blank does not compute look

A sigh. "It's .... she's .... ok, -both- mom and dad have a crapton of heavy shit to deal with right now. I have opinions, sure, but they -really- don't want to hear them so I'm just staying out of the way until they figure their shit out. They may not be Sained, but they -are- supposed to be the adults and able to do that, right?"

"yes. I guess. but they still need us. "

"What for?"

"we're their kids? duh" roll of eyes

"Yeah, maybe you're right." But he doesn't -really- believe that.

She eyes him, then says "father has missed mother terribly. His marketing work got kind of shady during octobert"

"Samhain is supposed to do that to people." He gets a mug and such for his father's coffee.

"Good to hear he misses her, though. She's kind of wrapped up in her own shit right now. Look, Lil, I'm supposed to stay out of it. There's a way this works, Courtly Love and all. I'm not an expert but my mentors are and I'm going to do what they said and let the two of them sort it out."

"Okay" She says but doesn't REALLY believe that

He shrugs helplessly and pours the coffee. "Yeah, I wish there was something more I could do but.... You want anything to drink? I put some milk in a cabinet about a week ago."

"oh that would be nice, thank you" She says

He nods and gets it, pours for her. "Here." And he takes the coffee in to his father.

"Thanks Son, your mother was telling me you were trying to improve at school. I'm.. curiousbut it's thanksgiving so ..don't want to dim your enjoyment."

"I don't mind." he takes a seat with the family.

"Well, what's wrong with that farm hold that you don't like it?" A curious look since his son said he didn't mind

Darcy has already been seated. And she watches

"I have history with a good number of the students who go there. It's not helpful, it's distracting. But I've been told to suck it up and be an example.

"The DeBuke's don't want Sidhe there, and Sidhe Kinain count for even less. It's.... almost hostile. Like, they're trying not to show it but it shows anyway. You can ignore it if you try, so I am. It's still there, though.

"I was perfectly happy going on line and I wasn't failing or anything. But I've been told the farmhold is better for me, so I'll follow orders.

"Last and least important. No one asked me."

"Interesting.. It, doesn't quite jibe with what I've been told entirely, but it does with others" He says "Well, I'm sorry you see it as a trial to endure."

"That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger." placidly.

His mother and father exchange some parental telepathic communication. To what efffect he doesn't know

"Is there anything I can add or clarify?" he asks politely.

"is there any part of school there you do like?" he asks

He doesn't answer right away, thinking.

"No."

"I mean, I never -loved- school but at least there were friends and sports and stuff."

"Zane's not going anymore?" A worried look from his mom

"No, Zane's there. And Alanza. But I don't think the point of sending me there was so I'd have friends."

"But you just said 'at least there were friends' like you didn't have friends" Lily says confused

A smile flickers across Adam's face. "No, Lil, I mean.... there were a lot of people, different people, and some were friends and some were just ... you kind of nod in the hallway? And there were the guys on the team. And some people you eat with in the caf? And sometimes afterschool clubs and stuff."