#goldfinchfreehold

Piper is sitting at one of the studio desks, mulling over a page of music. She frowns, erases, and tries again, then crumples up the page and tosses it. A frustrated pbppbpbpbpptt raspberry, and she gives up for the moment, heading to see if there's anything in the mini fridge.

The mini fridge is filled by few, raided by many.

That said, she might be happy to notice that some yogurt is in there. Blueberry flavored

Sylvi has been down in the freehold proper, spending some time with the 'Fire, but now she comes up the stairs. Mic, the dopey cat, is draped across her shoulders like some kind of stole, seeming perfectly content.

She hears the sound of familiar hooves on kitchen linoleum. "Hey, Piper!" she calls.

She grabs a blueberry yogurt, and is tearing off the lid when she turns around, a smile to Sylvi, which fades into a frown at the sight of the cat.

She is reaching for a granola bar from a basket on the counter, so she doesn't catch the frown. "I feel like we've been missing each other for weeks. Everything good?"

She starts to say something, frowns a bit, and changes subject before she starts.

"Prissy said she'd keep that cat downstairs. You know, away from the studio spaces. It's alright if you're keeping an eye on him, I guess?"

"Oh? Oh! Geez, Mic..." She sighs and scritches the cat between the ears. "He climbed up and made himself at home, and I just kind of forgot he was there."

She does catch the frown that time, though. "Are you...is something wrong?"

"Well, when I first saw that cat, he was this close," Holding up two fingers practically touching, "To pulling out a half dozen cables and knocking a six hundred dollar sound board onto the floor. I didn't know we were turning the studio into a petting zoo." A bit of a petulant look.

"Oh, crap." She looks genuinely upset. "Crap. Piper, sorry, I didn't...well, I guess I should have known. He's a bit of a dope. You heard about the window?"

"What?? Did he break a window? JE-sus!"

"No. He showed up and started hunting the goldfinch." She nods towards the chirping stained glass design. "He got on that ledge outside the window, and kept throwing himself at it, like he could catch it. Nitwit. The bird thought it was hilarious."

"Well, that IS hilarious. But doesn't explain why he's on THIS side of the glass now.

Mic meows , adorable eyes

Sylvi takes a deep breath and sighs. "Because I'm a sucker. I did the whole stuff-you-shouldn't-do-with-a-stray thing. Y'know, feeding him and stuff. But I also willow-whispered him and..." she shakes her head. "His family abandoned him on the side of the road," she says with a lowered voice, even though the cat can't understand her now.

"You can't just... Sylvi, that's not FAIR."

Sylvi blinks. "What?"

"You can't just pull that kind of sob story with me and think it'll make it okay. That's not cool."

A stunned look. "It's not...I'm not pulling anything on you! It's just what the story is. It's total suck, and that's why Mic's on the inside, because I couldn't very well leave him on the outside after learning all that."

Mic looks up curious at the fussing, and nearly falls off his stole like position

Sylvi catches him as he startles and easily repositions him so he's cradled in her arms.

And he purrs with happy big eyes

"And yeah, okay, it's not fair. It wasn't fair when I found it out, and it wasn't fair when it was done to him."

Her brow furrows a bit as she looks at Piper.

Piper blinks a few times, and looks away. She rubs at her eyes. "I.. yeah, you're not like that. Sorry. It's just... cats and music equipment don't mix, is all. Simple as that."

"Hey...you okay?"

There is some hesitation there, and "It's stupid, you know. I know it. I just... I don't like this time of year, yeah?"

"AND I don't like pets, and that one caught me at the wrong time..."

"Wow, okay, hang on. Stay right there..." She hurries back to the stairs down to the freehold and sends Mic down there to hang out (he's got some toys and a catnip mouse to enjoy).

He does love that darn mouse

Making sure the door to the stairway is closed, she comes back to the kitchenette. "Okay, so...this time of year, meaning seelie season?"

A blink, and she gives a little laugh. "No, I mean, I'm okay seelie, it's just. Well. Father's Day." A shrug. " I really shouldn't have boo to say about it, I have two great parents, but... like, everywhere you look, it's all shoved in my face. Grocery ads, signs at stores, the Google Doodle, even my Spotify, right?"

"Siv's off planning some big thing for her pops, and that's cool and all, it's great that she has such a great dad, everyone admires the mou- the former Mountain, but, it just.. it's dumb, right? How can I miss something I never had?"

"Oh, crap. Wow, Piper...I never even thought that would be a thing for you. I'm not saying it shouldn't be, just that it wasn't on my radar." She frowns with thought.

"Jonas has his own family problems, not my place to talk about... Dagmar, she was adopted too, but from what little rumours I heard, it sounds like her bio Dad was no good to her bio mom, and she has Jaymes now. It's like, I never had a chance to even know if I would WANT to know him. I mean, I don't know if he even knows I exist. I don't even know if I care about my actual dad or just feel like I missed out on, like, fishing trips and road trips and learning to change a tire and other... dad... stuff?"

"Um...It sort of sounds to me like maybe that's how you should spend Father's Day."

A sniff, "In case you missed it, I still don't have a dad. That's something magic is no good for, I can't Abra-ca-Dadbra one up just for a day of camping and whatever."

"No, I mean...I don't know what your situation is with your dad, but if you don't know if he knows you exist, then you're pretty sure he exists, right? So...find out."

"Like, maybe it's time to pester your Moms to find out?"

"Or, you know, there's other ways of finding stuff out, too."

She winces. "But that feels like it would be an insult to them, you know? They raised me from an infant. They're the only parents I've ever known... I mean, they ARE my parents. I don't want to hurt them by asking. I mean, when I was first old enough to know that two moms wasn't 'normal', they asked if I wanted to know about my parents, and I thought about it, and said I didn't. They offered, and would have told me whatever they know... but when I said no, they really looked relieved, you know? I don't want to go back on that."

"Oh, come on! You were a baby back then! You've grown up, you've gone through some stuff -- and so have they, by the way -- and now you've decided it's time to find out!" Sylvi makes it sound easy.

Piper looks uncertain. "I guess.. it's really that simple. Huh. I'll give them a call then..."

"Now, I'm not saying they won't be upset. They might be, a little. But they'd get over it if they realize this means something to you, right?"

"Right. Right! Hey, I'm still not sure about that cat..." She warns, but seems rather cheered up.

and it seems that while piper is still not a fan of Mic, the 'plan' Sylvi has suggested appeals

And so, this is sure to go brilliantly!

Nothing could Possibloo go wrong!