#goldfinchfreehold

"Oh you should totally meet him then, Adalwin is an extrovert , a nice one mind you, but it means he's connected. And he's still proud of your mutual House. Knows a lot of who is who"

"Well...I mean...Caer Falken isn't exactly remote."

A little flicker of expression.

"I've met the Count, yeah. I mean, he's nice? He knows who I am. Always real polite."

Sylvi smirks. "Count Hemlock is not on my list of favorites. But there's others there."

"Chief trusts him. And he's done right by her."

"I trust her judgement."

"The Count is a good lord," A nod "Spread a bit thin sometimes"

A blink, and she opens her mouth, but then seems to edit herself.

"He's done some good things," she allows.

"He also can be a pain in the ass" The boggan mutters

"A-yup."

"Well, like I said. I don't... " A vague gesture. "I know Falken is close by. I go every Pennons, yeah?"

Sylvi frowns a bit. "But...?"

"But? I..." She trails off and shrugs. "He's the only one there I know."

"Dagmar, I'm sorry. If I knew you wanted to go to High Court I would have invited you along with me. "

"I could have made introductions"

Sylvi looks at Lucia. "Seems to me that needs to change. Much as I don't like the whole court thing, you're part of the noble game, so you need connections."

She frowns and shakes her head. "Everybody knows I'm not suited for Court."

"Pffft. Who knows that?"

"Sylvi, c'mon."

"Seriously, we haven't even tested it that much. Maybe in your earlier days you weren't"

"I don't have the breeding, or the manners, or the temperament. Chief sure as hell never thought it was a good idea."

"C'mon, yourself! Okay, you think you're awkward and...I don't know, whatever you think. Guaranteed that Chieftain Brekke was less suited for court than you, but she still did okay there."

"She maybe never thought it was much of a good idea for her. Doesn't mean that's the same for you."

She grimaces.

"Also Chief Brekke may not have thought you were bad at court and more thinking you'd be miserable, SHE often was"

"Yeah, but it's not like Dagmar has to be Mini-Me for her."

"I am gonna tell Olgar about this Adalbert."

"We owe Klump that."

"I...okay, yeah." Again, Sylvi edits herself. "Dad'll want to know about support resources."

"Hey, whoa guys, don't misunderstand. I was complaining about him, but I handled it."

"You...what?"

"uhm... He wanted to know about Klump's anchor, I said 'no'" She says

"That's delayed. Not handled."

Dagmar shifts her weight uneasily, arms folded with her hands tucked into her armpits.

"In fact, I explained in no uncertain terms, that we of Rivervale do not BETRAY our allies's trust, and while I understood trust was scary, we held to it anyway"

A grin. "Okay, I like that better than just 'no.'"

"Dagmar, you okay?"

"Fine."

She huffs. "I have patrol. Thanks for the lasagna."

"I'll make you more later if you like" Lucia says

"I mean YOU appreciate the five cheeses"

"Dagmar..." Sylvi starts. "Sorry. I feel like maybe I was, I don't know, bullying you? I didn't mean to."

"It's fine. Catch you later." She escapes with a too-casual wave.

Sylvi watches her go, and sighs. "Dammit."

A sigh "Toughest girl in some ways, not so much in others"

(Pause)