#goldfinchfreehold

"Oh! That's great! Where to?"

"Not sure yet. Maybe Starbear, where you went."

"Oh, I think you'd love Starbear. Baron Idris is really solid, and the people are great. And you'd get to visit Brekke and Frank!"

She nods. "Be good to see Chief and Frank, yeah. And Idris is a Gwydion too, right?"

"Yeah, he's a green-and-golder." She grins. "He's so different from Count Hemlock, though. Like, more laid back? Maybe it's an East Coast/West Coast thing?"

"I've seen pictures, Alaska looks really pretty in photos." She chews on her lower lip. "I still don't know the Count very well. We've talked maybe twice."

The drum beats fall blessedly silent, and after a few minutes, Piper heads in aiming for the vending machine - then pauses, and grins (up) at Dagmar. "Hey, sorry - didn't know you had company. Need the room?"

Sylvi's expression of dislike is not hidden quite quickly enough at the mention of talking to Count Hemlock. But then she looks over at Piper and grins. "Nope, just chatting. Keep up the brave soldiering in there! Oh, and look...cookies from Mom."

"We're good. Hi Piper."

"Ughhhh...." Piper flops over a chair. "I'm still trying to drop the baby weight, don't tempt me."

"...What's wrong with Hemlock? And you look fine, Piper. Real pretty. You deserve a cookie."

"Remember, Gwydion. I get all squinty if I'm lyin'."

Piper squints up at her, as if trying to read her aura.... "Are they raisin?"

"There might be some raisin in here somewhere, but there's plenty of different kinds. Apparently Mom's been experimenting."

Piper slides over to shuffle through the box, it can't hurt to LOOK....

"PB chocolate chip, molasses, apricot kolache..."

Then to Dagmar, she says with a sigh, "Nothing's wrong with him. I just had some encounters with him where he was...well...condescending."

"Ginger snap," she adds to the list.

"Oh. Well. He's a sidhe and a count and not very warm and fuzzy, no. Don't know if I've met a friendly Count-or-tess."

She grabs a ginger cooker, and winces a bit. "Not a fan of most nobility myself. Then again, the first Count I met was at my trial, soooooo." CHOMP.

"But that's the thing. When I went up to Starbear, I was expecting the same from Baron Idris. But he's totally not like that."

"Oh, I didn't like Jude too much either. Creepy-ass clown."

"I know Gwydion have a reputation."

"I only heard of the clown." She has a bit of a haunted look, but only for a moment, and another bite of cookie washes it away.

"Why the chat? One of you get called in to parade around at Court?"

Sylvi gestures to Dagmar by way of answering.

"Better you than me." She says, with a grin. "And these gingery ones are great. Just the right amount of heat."

"Vali is thinking of sending me out to rep the Lodge."

"To Hemlock?" Puzzled

"Which..." A heavy sigh. She shakes her head. "Not Hemlock."

"But probably to a few gwydion holds, yeah."

"I think you're a perfect rep, Dagmar. And you'll get to see how some other holds do things. It can be a real eye-opener."

"Anywhere nice? a vacation is always nice."

"Alaska?"

A touch wistful - and then she chokes on her cookie.

"And.. I... I'm not sure about how good I'll be."

"Send me to go hit something, sure."

"Did you piss him off?!" Wheezing as she shoves coins in the vending machine and grabs the soda without looking to take a swig.

Another more sedate sip. "Thank god... Sprite. I mean, it's DIET Sprite, so ew, but still. Could be worse."

"I... I think he's trying to help?" A rueful look. "Help me."

"You'll be fine. When they sent me out my first time, I had a chip on my shoulder the size of the Lodge. They took a real risk, and I thought I was sure to screw it up. But...it was really great. And I did fine. Oh, we had to hunt chimera up there, so there's that for hitting."

"But Alaska? In WINTER?"

"You GOTTA have ticked him off!"

"I do cast ice magic, Piper."

Piper shivers just thinking about it.

"Not everybody is a freeze-o-phobe, Piper."

"Ice magic is great! For chilling margaritas by the beach!"

Snort-laugh.

"Oh, I did want to talk to you, Dagmar, kinda roundabout speaking of Vali."

"Sup?"

"Need me to leave?"