#rivervale_lodge

She hastily sneaks back to her room!

And she returns to her homwork, positioning her stuff just so.

"Good boy." Ear scritches.

Mmm well, yes. Not AS good as food but tolerable

Shortly , Tove comes up with a plate full of snacks

"Hey Tove. Is Jaymes home yet?"

She stops, then says "yes. Did you need help with homework?"

"Meh. Math." She makes a face at it. Odin is offered a cube of cheese.

He sniffs at it, unsure. That smells weird

"It's cheese." Because the cat speaks English, of course.

"Oo I can see why you might want help" She says but smiles at the cat talk "Maybe he prefers a different sort . A sharper cheddar perhaps?"

"I don't know. I've never been in charge of a cat before. There have been cats at placements, though."

Odin tries to nibble it, tiny fangs carving the bit

"He gonna come upstairs, or is he "watching the news" but taking a nap?" She sets the tooth-marked cub and sets it down on the edge of the plate.

"Well, if you want him, he'll come upstairs. " She says "Shall I get him for you?"

"Not if he's napping. Don't tell him I know he's actually asleep."

Tove says "He's not napping. I'll get him." She turns then "Oh good lord" Amusment./Odin is now playing hockey with the cheese cube, sending it off the plate.

She snorts. "Stupid cat." A grin.

Yes, now the game is on. Despite the fact he should be too old for this nonsense, Odin has decided to play hockey on a team of one, sending the slightly shredded cube of cheeese tumbling to the floor, he pounces on it, bites once, and sense another.

Tove rolls her eyes, "Mackerel, at least, chases mice"

"Mrow" Odin says and keeps going, as if to say 'let me work, woman'

"Hey, he's having fun..." A chuckle.

"I suppose, so much for feline dignity" Tove teases a bit. "Dagmar, do me a favor and actually EAT your food because if you start batting at it with Flyswatter, I am not going to clean up the mess."

"He just gets the one cube. I'll clean up."

"I think he's eating it too, just in his own way" Indeed. Odin bats, swats, takes a bit, and bats again.

And footsteps? Yup. Jaymes coming up.

"Well, I guess it requires a fight..." She sits up, a flicker of worry briefly betraying itself when she hears footsteps.

"I wonder if naming him after a norse god didn't put some fight AND mischief into him" Tove says but she smiles, then she shoots a worried look too, but she hides it fast.

Jaymes comes in, wearing a new shirt that covers whatever wound no doubt, "Hey. How's homewo..." A look, and a straight face "is the cat doing battle with a cube of cheese?"

"Well, I don't know if the cheese is really putting up much of a fight..."

"uh huh. If he doesn't eat it all I hope you realize you're cleaning it up." A glance back at hte books "After you study. how goes the homework?"

"I said I'd clean it up!" Defensive.

"And it's fine. Math is stupid."

"She did say that" Tove says, "You weren't here to hear it."

"Oh, my apologies" He takes a seat near Dagmar, and if he moves more gingerly, it's only noticed if she looks for it, "Math? yeah, pain.. But it's gotta be done. I think Sally Mae is tutoring folks, but for tonight i can try to help"

"It's just stupid. I'm never gonna use this..." She shows him the page and the set of practice problems. She's got about half of them done (right or not).

"Well, I use math at the store all the time" He says "And there's paying bills an such. Not quite wht youre doing here, but it might come in."

"Uhg. I hate it. I'm so stupid... "

"You're not stupid." He says firmly "Everyone gets lost in some way now and then. Some get lost in the woods. Some get lost in math. Between you and me? I like the woods better."

"Me too."

"But it wouldn't be ccalled survival if you needed in the terrain you were comfy in" He says "Now, let's break down this problem."

"Like, how do you even subtract a negative? Negatives are already minuses, I thought!"

"They cancel out, see.. like if I said I'm 'not not going' in English it's bad, but in math its allowed" He says . His writing is stiff, the shoulder? yeah

"So it's a plus? That's..." She grunts, frustrated. "So I add it. Okay." A worried look at the shoulder.

He notices the look, "Is my hurt shoulder going to distract you until I tell you about it?" It would appear he's decided maybe she did find out

"I didn't tell her," Tove says, then blushes at how silly that sounds. "Sorry, Dagmar, but it wasn't mine to say."

"What happened?"

"I got injured, I think by another one of Bug Guy's pets." He says honestly "I didn't want to tell you because I was worried you'd worry, and worrying is MY job now. But I also remember you telling folks you don't want to be lied to, and while not telling isn't lying, I don't want to start a slippery path. Don't worry though no venom. In a week it'll be good as new. Shorter if I spend some time at the lodge."

"A giant bug? Where? When? And I'm strong - everybody says so, even for a troll. I can fight."

"Kid, you fight better and better each day, but you shouldn't have to." he says "And just an hour ago...and on the path. It was a spy chimera i htink. I... huh. Twobit noticed it actually" Proud.