#rivervale_lodge

It is Friday morning, and all of the kiddies are off at school. Well, except for one. Connor is happily playing with the new lodge occupants, and does not seem to mind in the slightest that he seems to have fallen below the radar, as far as Schoolin' is concerned.

Currently, if sought out, the lad is sitting cross-legged in front of a TV, with the Sme-gal kitten in his lap. The end of a pre-recorded Children's program is playing softly from the set, and Connor is solemnly discussing this with Sme-gal. "You help to make each day a special day, by just being yourself. There is no one else in the world exactly like you, and we like you exactly like you are." Leaning down to rub his nose lightly on the naked-fuzzy top of her little head.

Sally Mae peeks out of the kitchen to observe this

The tape (wow, what year is this?) stops, and he reaches out to click the rewind button, apparently happy to repeat the show again.

Sme-Gal loves everyone, and loves attention, she's purring

Sally Mae says "Connor, are you ready to join me to see other kids learning lessons? "

He blinks and twists, and quickly pulls his hood up over his ears at the sight of the kinain. He has seen her around the Lodge, surely, but is not very familiar with the lady. "Um. Hi." A pause, and he strokes the kitten on his lap. "I can't get up right now. She's too heavy."

Sally Mae sits down next to him "Oh my, you'd think with less fur she'd weigh light as a feather" A curious nod, "You do know we're coming back, right? You especially. YOu visit there, not live there. Your home is here now"

"Visit where?" His head tilts to one side, an ear peeping out - he reaches up absently to straighten it again. "Bosschief said there would be tooting." He lifts up the kitten and rubs his face against her side lightly - hopefully, the good natured kitten is more willing to tolerate this than one of the older cats might! "Look, she's like a peach."

"She's a peach all right," A chuckle "Might be a better name for the girl" //Sme-Gal rubs back//"And to answer your question, ther's another freehold. WHere my family is. I visit them a lot, right across the bridge. They have tutors there who homeschool. But yhou couldn't stay there." She stresses that, "Just like you couldn't stay at a regular school. Not forever."

He hesitates, uncertainty evident. "Do we have to go outside? I need my leash if we're going outside. And all of my paws."

"They're fae, you don't have to hide."

"Well, some are like me, fae blooded, but it doesn't break any rules there. We all know about changelings"

She has apparently hit the nail on the head, and he relaxes visibly. "I guess that's okay then. Oh. Do we get to take the shiny roads? I -like- those. I know how to get to the funnest places." A pause, and he considers the kinain. "Do you know how to go that way? I'm sorry. I don't mean..." He hesitates, unsure how to phrase this. "I think you're PLENTY blue..."

She smiles, "It's a trod, and a short one I can use. Well, short is how it seems. The DeBuke farm is in iowa but we will be right back after... I don't think you need to dress warmer or colder" She begins to explain

"Oh." He blinks a bit, and asks hesitantly, "are farms in Iowa like farms in Minnesota?"

She words it carefully, "The DeBuke farm is like no other farm in the world" A bit proud in fact, "So no, it's not like the one in Minnessotoa. Yes, it has corn and wheat and a few horses and cows, but it is magical, a hold, like the lodge, with a huge balefire... and chimera of all sorts. And you'll be learning with other kids your age, many of em trolls or troll kin, but others are satyrs, boggans and pooka like you. You're not going to be treated like a farm animal,, you're going to be treated like a boy gone schooling" She assures, "And I will be nearby so when it is time to go home back here to your warm bed, you will zing right back over the magic road with me and we can do your homework and chores here...and you can pet Peach, of course."

Said cat is now playfully pawing (no claws) at the boy's finger tips

His gaze is down at the kitten, absently tickling her paws with fingertips. "And the trolls, they're in charge? And make sure no one yells, or gets angry, or pulls your ears or tails? Or has the worse than sticks and stones?" He softly adds, "Not that anyone does that."

"We had a visiting redcap girl try, she got straightened out. Tell you what, you want me to sit in on the class? I'll be way back so I don't get in the way. But yes, trolls are large and in charge. "

He looks thoughtful, tugging lightly on an ear as he ponders. Finally he admits, a little bashfully. "I'm not very good at reading. I had a book once, though. It had dogs and snow in it, but I couldn't do the whole book. ...do I need to bring it with me? I could go find it."

"Oh, is the book here in the lodge? If not, don't worry about it." She says "Do you have dyslexia? I have a cousin with that, everything loks…" She takes a breath, "Well not exactly backward"

A blank look. "I don't... think so? But there's no use in wasting good time on teachin' me up b'cause I'm not ever gonna make use of myself at anything worthwhile. On account of I'm cursed, and can't even go outside let'lone get a job or be useful." Very matter of fact.

A wistful tone. "But I -tried- to read it, it just had more words than my head knows, and was awful long."

"We'll find where you are, and then help you take steps up. No one knows everything, not even my great uncle Emmit" She lowers her voice "And he's a wizard." She nods sagely then says "As long as you learn something new every day, and get a bit better than you are, you are learning." She offers her hand, "And you don't know what the norns have planned for you. A simple stone may not think it's useful, but simple stones hold buildings up. A tapestry thread might be on the back side and barely seen, but without it, all the threads on the front fall apart. We don't know until we're there how useful we might be ,sometimes even then. It's okay. You are going to be fine. Now, ready to go?"

He shakes his head, but stands, and reaches out a hand to Sallie Mae. Perhaps a little old of a lad to need his hand held... but perhaps not. Sme-gal lightly set down and he instructs her, "Now you be good when I'm gone, and maybe there's another chicken for later, okay?"

Sme-Gal may not understand, but she listens anyway.

A sudden thought, and he looks to Sallie Mae. "The new friends have a lot to say but not everyone will listen. I can listen if anyone wants me to." A shrug. "When we get back, that is. It's not good to be late. I don't -like- rulers."

She tilts her head, "I don't claim to understand everything you just said, but yes, pooka are good listeners. Folks talk to Pooka. Sometimes that helps. " And at the mention of rulers "Well, if you mean like nobles? We don't have those. If you mean like the sort used to crack knuckles, we only use that for measuring."

Sally Mae helps the boy gather his things and 'old' or not, the boy is escorted across the footbridge into the farmlands of the DeBukes. She declares him "This is Connor or Rivervale, and he'll be tending class today to get a fell for it." //The Teacher, another Kinian but much older, nods her head, "Welcome, Connor. Have a seat. everyone say hello to Connor and someone pass him the book we're using."/ A girl does, a troll girl about his age, hands some over "hi."

As Connor passes by in the company of Sallie Mae on the way to start his tutoring, his head twists to follow the large white fae hounds and the brown blur accompanying them as they frolic and teach the new kid the ropes. A droop of his own ears and tail and a melancholic air as he shuffles away, leaving the dogs to romp carefree without him. But, he soon perks up again as they take the bridge, tail daring to wag as he gazes around at the interesting new place.

OOC: we switch that around then 🙂

He blinks a bit, and takes the handouts from the girl. "I'm... Connor of Rivervale?" Is he introducing himself, or asking?

"I'm Kourtney, Colburn " She adds, "DeBuke on the other side. " She says "My sister Kelby is a friend to Sylvi. She stayed in our room once. "

The teacher says "Kourtney, you might helping him with class. Helping him find where he is?"//Kourtney beams "if it's okay with Connor" A look. this is clearly a treat for her.

"No, I am my own man." He remarks, but scoots his chair closer to Kourtney, and opens the book, holding it out for her to point out their place.

Kourtney nods "Okay, we're here, you're just in time for the American Revolution"

If he peeks back, he can see, true to her word, on a far back stump, Sally Mae has taken a seat. She is there if he needs her, at least today.

"Oh, boy. I love a good revolution." He does listen throughout the class, quiet and obedient, though how much he absorbs or truly understands... well, that's what standardized testing is for?

He DOES get a bit antsy after a while, not used to sitting still that long... he TRIES to be good, but his tail swishes, and he plays with the pencil a bit...

They don't question him much or pester him yet, it's more to get a feel. There will, thank goodness, be a break for about 15 minutes, and when they get back. History will turn to English, and he gets lots of help there. Trolls can be patient at almost any age. Math elicits groans even from some of the others, but not too loudly. The class is not big, like 10 children or so...so each gets some personal time, and yes, the teacher, "Mrs. Flora" goes around to see how they're doing. She does ask him "You're trying very hard to sit still. I know it's not easy. Even for some of the trolls. Let me see what you've got on your work sheets. It's okay, this isn't graded, it lets me know where you are "

He ducks his head - his worksheets are a mess. Where he didn't know or understand the answers, he doodled a bit - so it at least had looked like he was filling in the answers. At one point, he caused another student to giggle as he ducked beneath the table - but it turns out he was just tugging off his shoes so he could use his toes to help count. But he did try!

Mrs Flora and Sally Mae have a talk, and he hears something about personal tutoring to help him catch up. But Mrs. FLora also says "It's always hard when you move to a new school. I understand you moved a lot, so to get where some of your peers are, we may try to help you out at the lodge itself too. If that's okay with the Chieftain there, is it okay with you?"

Like his opinion matters?

Wow

He blinks. "If Bosschief says. And Oak and Edie don't need me. I'm important there, I need to help guard." Puffing out his thin chest for a moment, proudly. Then he pauses, and deflates a bit. "But they have a new friend now, so I guess I have plenty time for books..."

Mrs Flora gives a look to Sally Mae. Sally Mae pauses "I think I know what he's talking about." //She turns to him and bends down, "Oh, Connor. Didn't you see the Chief encouraging Oak and Edelweiss to help train brown dog? Brown dog is learning things too, things you already know. Don't feel bad, please. Both Oak and Edie adore you. " A knowing look, "ANd not just because you feed them things under the table when you think Mrs Kerri and I aren't looking"

He scuffs a foot. "I didn't think the Ironhawk -liked- dogs. But I guess he just doesn't like some dogs." He quickly adds, " It's okay though, and I would NEVER steal any food, ever. I'll bring it back, but... Hearth might not want it anymore."

Mrs Flora looks at Sally Mae "Sounds like this one is something you should handle."// Sally Mae blinks as if surprised she just got voluntold then realizes, yes, she did take charge of the boy. The kinian leads him to that stump further back, "Have a seat next to me on the stump okay?" Assuming he does, and even if he doesn't, she explains "Mr. Ironhawk is a reserved man. It's very hard to get a smile out of him some days. I thinmk only Tove and Dagmar manage it regular. But he likes you just fine. He just thinks you should spend more time as a boy, and less as a dog because he doesn't see you as a pet, or an animal. He sees you as more important than pets or animals. He sees you as a lodgemate, and being a grump, he can be fussy about how he thinks things are supposed to be. He wouldn't scratch Sylvi behind the ear, or rub Mountain Frank's belly, so he wouldn't do the same to you. You DO know that you're more important than those dogs, sweet as they are, don't you?"

His eyes goggle at the idea of someone rubbing the mountain's tummy, hands flying to his mouth to contain the giggles.

Sally Mae does smile at that, "See? He can't wrap his head around that."