#rivervale_lodge

"Ooo some of those you'd be good at "

...softball...soccer...lacrosse...basketball....field hockey...

"Think Sylvi'd wanna..."

((actually, not basketball, that's a winter sport))

"we played softball in gym class. It was okay."

"Hmm...maybe, but I'm not sure. I know she mentioned something about cheerleading."

"She would. Uhg. With Tanya."

"mmmph" Siv says, curbing her tongue

Kerri has finished scrubbing the pot, rinsed it, and set it aside. She taps the counter three times sharply. "None of that. If you don't want others to ridicule your activities, don't ridicule theirs. You know Sylvi...and I know I'm her mother, but I hope you'll agree with me that she is neither vapid nor shallow. A touch vain, but that's what comes from being doted on by her father the way he does. But I hope you'll give her the same respect that you'd like to get from her, even if you do different things."

"Once she's a cheerleader, though, she really won't... " She huffs. "Cheerleaders are popular. And she's pretty, and does makeup, and..."

"...and you're worried that she'll reject you as a friend?"

"Sylvi wouldn't do that"

A shrug, looking down.

"No, I don't think she would, either." Kerri dries her hands on a dish towel.

"now, she might take over the cheerleading squad with a tyranical hearthlike fist..." bit of humor

Kerri laughs. "She may at that, but I doubt it." A thoughtful pause, but all she says is, "We shall see. Now...it's late-ish, and you've finished your snack. Let me have those plates and glasses, and then I think it's time for you to head up to bed, Dagmar." Siv, being older, doesn't get told a bedtime...but the look she gets sure implies it.

Siiiigh, but she hands over her glass and plate. "Kay."

"Thank you." Kerri goes about making quick work of the last bits of the wash-up.

...and the girls head upstairs.

((end scene))

---------

Was the Kitchen ever meant as a gripe fest central? This isn't a boggan hold you know? And yet, one doesn't have to be a boggan to care, and Tove, Tove needs to vent. "And then he said 'Compared to Kerri or Sally Mae any woman's cooking would seem off"' ' Tove looks aghast "I... right after..."

Kerri visibly winces at that. "Oh...now I want to hurt the man."

"I didn't cook it for them because I'm a good cook. I sing,, I play musical instruments, I work wood damn well.. I cooked it because I thought they'd be hungry and I wanted to show..well, you know." Flushing "But he just kept on... it was like he finally learned to talk, but I wanted him to stop. And poor Dagmar. I know she...she doesn't like it when folks fight So I blew it there ...damn it, why do I bother with Jaymes? It's not like he's the only troll in the county?"

"No...no, he's not. Not by a long shot." The eggs she's whisking in a bowl are getting rather vicious treatment. "I'm sorry, Tove...I really don't know what to say. I mean...of all the inept things he might have said, that may have been the inept-est. I can understand his first flub, because he thought it was from me...but after..." She shakes her head. "Sometimes men get a foot caught between their teeth, and instead of taking it out, they just keep stubbornly chewing, as if they'd meant to do that."

"I know I know, I mean, my Da's a skald and we skalds train to tell stories of old, and sing songs... but on our own we're as prone as any to that, but men do.. blast it. I dropped my guard, it caught me... hurt me more than it should. if I wasnn't interested I wouldn't have cared so much. I'm not a new wilder like Dagmar or even Siv. I'm a grown woman ...so how do I let that GET to me? I.... what I want to do is give him what for on what a colassal ass he's being and if he doesn't know a good thing right in front of him he can go dunk his head in Fjord water. But I don't dare around Dagmar...she's..fragile for such a strong girl. A good kid on the mend. And He's got to be there for her and doens't need me casting doubt on him so ...gah. " her own kitchen aid is on the 'strong side'

"Well, if you don't give him what for, I'm likely to." She adds the contents of her bowl to the bowl that Tove is mixing. "Stir those until it's all smooth." She starts measuring out other ingredients. "If he's that much of a lunkhead with you, what happens when he does it to Dagmar?" She pauses and sighs. "Listen, you've got to tell him. If you like, I can do something, maybe take Dagmar and Gerd and Siv out on an excursion so you're not likely to be interrupted, and then you say your piece."

She sstirs "I think I'd.. I appreciate that. A part of me would love to let you talk to him on my behalf, but I didn't run from those narrowminded pineheads in Thyle, and I will not run from Jaymes King. He... argh. Do they ever get better? Men, I mean? You seem to hhave Olgar in hand. Not that I'dd say it where he could hear it."

Kerri's scowl is vanquished by a very big grin. "Well...I think Olgar and I both got better. And that after a few not-so-nice discussions, and not all at once. But...well, I guess once we decided that whatever we were was something worth building on, we went at it, hammer and tongs."

"I envy you two" She says and admits it "i Appreciate your offer to take the gals out and about somewhere so I can tackle Jaymes without upsetting anyone but maybe him. I'll take you up on that. " A nod, 'But damn it. I opened to him and he hurt me, and as arrogant as it sounds, I will have my due. What comes after that I don't know, but I will have my due in this." Firm ,certain, resolute, then a far less certain 'Mind you, I'm not sure what my due is, but I hope to figure it out when I get it"

Kerri laughs a bit and relieves her of the mixing bowl, adding ingredients a bit at a time and stirring as she talks. "That's pretty much how it works. Listen, Tove...do you think that you and Jaymes could be good together? Even if he's making you crazy at the moment...do you believe there's potential there?"

"if I didn't, I wouldn't bother... I... like him. he's a good man. He... doesn't show much, so when he does, it seems worth more. I don't know if that makes sense? He's not the best looking fellow, but I'm attracted to him. I like how he supports like a pillar to anything anyone he loves. I likee that he listens and then gets to work rolling up his sleeves. I can make a lot of men clap and hoop nd that's great. But I find myself valuing a slip of pleasure on his face more than other men's cheers. " A sigh "What's wrong with me?"

Kerri pauses and looks at her and grins. "Not a damned thing. You're in love." She returns to stirring. "And he doesn't know? i mean, I was still just-awake on Midsummer when you started singing to him...if he didn't understand that...." she shakes her head, then nods towards some bread tins. "Grease those up with a bit of butter, please."

Diligently, "I don't know. I mean, he looks at me, I see him looking at me, in ways he doesn't look at other ladies." Pleased at THAT, "i had another song planned, saucier I dare say...but well, it wouldn't have been a wise choice. I think , know, I knnow he's attracted, but ... i wouldn't mind him acting on it a LITTLE. I've thrown out enough hints." glum at that "Love eh? Wouldn't be the first time, but this does feel different somehow."

"Well, he doesn't seem a man to take hints well, then. And...to be fair, he's very focused on Dagmar and the house." She looks at Tove. "If you like, I can talk to him."

"I.. don't know. My timing is bad is part of it. He should focus on Dagmar. Last thing I want is that poor girl thinking she's 'in the way' or some such nonsense, and I fear she would. Maybe I should withdraw.." Unsure "Except he needs my help with the House. You know, there's a song I've heard that goes something like 'and you just can't shoot em, men'. I may make a variant of that with an axe"

"Well...you can shoot 'em, but you'll often regret it later." She takes the greased bread tins and carefully pours equal portions of the batter into each, then sets them into the oven. All of her movements speak of a woman who knows her domain well. "I agree, this is a tricky time. Hmm...if they were already well-established as father and daughter, I'd suggest enlisting Dagmar's help...but they're too new, still working out their own relationship. I get the sense she likes you, Tove, so that's one potential barrier you won't have to contend with."

"I like her too, she's a good girl whose put up with far too much hardship for one so young" Tove says , "Jaymes has grown to adore her, and he's not alone. But the poor girl doessn't see it, or understand it if she does see it. She's been betrayed once too often I'm thinking." Tove says then bites her lip, "How would you leave a clue for such a man as Jaymes? If you were me I mean?"

"Hmph. You've left plenty of clues, it seems to me. All that's left is a clue-by-four." Kerri gathers the bowls to start washing, and hands Tove a drying towel. "Let me talk to him first. I won't tell him exactly what you're thinking, but perhaps say enough to let him know that...that what he says matters to you. Fair?"

"Fair and... thiank you. I feel a bit silly having to have a friend explain things to him. It's all so... well, i'd say High School but I've never been to high school. GED for me" A shrug "And damn that's hard enough"

"Oh, I recall." She nods, washing dishes and putting them in the rack for Tove to dry and put away. "Now, don't think I'm going to be explaining everything. Your feelings, and what you want from him...those remain your territory. That's not for me to try to tell."

A look of relief "Thank you. I just had this image of 'Once upon a time, there was a lovely girl who ran into a strapping lummox of a man and felt quitee soft hearted to him even if he sometimes had the apparent brains of sausage leavings'" Grumble "Not exactly a romantic saga in the making"

"Oh, if I do it right, he might get the beginnings of that message...at least about the sausage brains."

A snort, "Thanks, Kerri. Do you get stuck iwth this often? Helping the wilder women on the hold with love advice?"

A secretive grin. "That would be telling." She finishes the last pot.

"Ha. Well, Yes. I suppose we should get you shawl to weaar when cconfession is all formal. Maybe something with runes of Freya and Frig?"

Humor in her eyes

Another laugh. "Oh, I'd be laughed out of the Order for that."

"Well nix that then, we need you" A smile "And I thank you once more. I should go. Been mooing like a love sick calf in your ears long e.." A knock t the door

"Kitchen's never locked." Kerri calls out to whomever's knocking.