#rivervale_lodge

"I'm glad everybody else here is big, too..."

"Like, if I were still at the Browns? What if I hit them?"

"I might not like Tanya, but I wouldn't wanna hurt her."

"Tanya? She's the Brown's foster right? I forget. Yeah. She sounds dull actually"

"She's, you know, a proper girl."

"Pretty and popular and cheerleads."

"Right..dull" Siv snorts "Bet she can't even hit a damn baseball"

"Don't think so."

"Look,she doesnt' sound bad, but she doesn't sound interesting either. You're interesting, even if we don't always agree."

"Well, she's what people want."

"She's got lots of friends."

"Some people maybe" A shrug "and show me someone who is a friend to all and I'll show you someone who's a friend to none. Not sure where I heard that but I'm rolling wit it"

"Well, I like you guys."

"Good, makes eating with you nicer that you do" A smile

A faint snort.

"You miss Sylvi?"

"Sure. She's fun. She's pretty AND can hit a ball...she's smart, and has a wicked sense of humor...and most importantly, I worry I'm going to get stuck watching the childlings while she's gone" the last said in a whisper

"It's just Gerd and Connor, though..."

"ANd Gerd seems really old for a little kid."

"Well, she has an old soul in her but she can VERY childling, trust me. and I can't figure Connor out. Dad says his own past guardians were not exactly top notch. "

"I don't... he makes me uncomfortable."

"Like... Eden, she's a person, you know?"

"But Connor seems more... sort of more like a dog that looks human than a person that can turn into a dog."

"Jaymes doesn't like Conner acting like a dog either, and..mmm" She says "Da says that's part of his GUardians' fault, it was easier to have him act as a dog than a true boy. "

"But he..." She frowns. "I don't like it."

"Okay." A sigh "Tell you what, if one of us needs to watch him I'll try to be the one to do it. "

"Sorry."

"Nah, it's okay"

"Was he a foster kid, too?"

"I'm not sure to be honest" She says "But maybe? He got more than one set of guardians but I'm not sure if he was in the system as you call it"

"Right."

"Mmmm if you feel bad about Connor, maybe you can babysit Gerd."

"Maybe? How hard could that be?"

"At least she's housebroken."

A chuckle "now now... " And "And she's got her ways. She's better than she was, but I hear when she came here she was a handful."

A shrug. "I've had to watch kids before. Babies are easy, but toddlers suck. I hate them."

"They're screaming poop demons."

"Terrible Twos"

"They get into everything and won't listen and run everywhere..."

"You wanna just hit them until they sit down and shut up."

"Well, Don't do THAT but yeah, no toddler care for you"

"I know not to. But when they just won't stop..."

"Then you tell the parents they have a hell beast and to watch their own damn kid" She finishes

"And that's how YOU get hit."

"mmph. Your stories make me very grateful for my own growing up on a ship"

"I wish I'd grown up on a ship."

"You'd have been great at the oar or pulling the boom down"

"What's a boom?"

"Like a pole along the foot of a fore and aft rigged sail.... improves control of the angle and shape of the sail."

"Right..."