#rivervale_lodge

"She wouldn't take it back."

"why do you think she didn't?"

"I don't know!"

"It's not true!"

"You are not a bully" he agrees. " I know you. You dont like bullies."

Another soft hiccup.

"Can I come in?"

"...uh-huh."

The door opens a moment later, ad his figure comes in. He looks concerned.

Dagmar is buried under her blankets. The lights are off.

He turns on the light of a small lamp

A worried look

Her hair is a nest of wet tangles from the shower and her eyes are red.

He checks her face to make sure she didn't burn herself iwth hot water. Some of the stuff he reads about troubled kids scares the hell out of him.

"Sometimes, when they're scared, especially, kids say things. they see things as black and white. If she's not the bad guy, then you must be. If she's scared, you must be the bully- but it doesn't work that way, not really"

Not burned. Damp and smelling of soap.

He brushes a tangle of hair out of her eyes just a bit.

She allows it. "Didn't want to scare her. I just wanted her to take it back."

He nods. "I know you didn't man to scare her. I dont think she meant to insult you. Kids don't always realize what they're saying is hurtful. And you were hurt, and you wanted to stop hurting. So you wanted her to take what she said back. but you can't MAKE someone take something back. Well, maybe you can, but that canbe worse than the original problem."

A miserable nod.

"So you took your rage, and you held to the code of Dagda and you smashed those dead chucnks of wood but good. I don't know if you believe me, but I am proud of you. You know, the old Dagmar, even months ago, might not have handled this nearly as well"

"This is growth" Yes he does look proud.

A soft noise in her throat - not disagreement.

"Now Vali loves Gerd as much as I love you so he's worried and upset. Want to tell me what she said that hurt you before she said you were a bully? Which we both know is not true"

She shakes her head.

"Okay. Let me tell you what is not going to happen. You are not going to stop being my daughter. You are not being sent away. You are not alone."

A nod.

"Good. Now, I want to hear your side of things. All I know is Vali said that she said that you said something about not showering and sshe said that would be why you smelled sometime, which is a very hurtful thing for her to say, but she's a kid so I'm guessing she did it out of ignorance, and wasn't trying to be mean. Then Vali says that she says that you tried to make her take her back and got up 'in her grill' like you were going to hurt her if she didn't, and then vali says Gerd says that she told you no and she didn't give into bullies. Probably because, like I just said, kids only see black and white things . But the problem with thise whole thing is there are far too many 'he said she said you said' stuff... that's like an old game of telephone. Not sure if they still have that, and the truth gets ...well, frankly, that way is a surefire way to have the truth bent over a rail. So that's why I want to hear your side of the story. " A deep breath as the normally laconic man is forced to be verbose "Am I making sense?"

"I don't... " A whine and she hides in the blankets. "It's not like that. I don't smell."

Jaymes nods "Yeah, some people have opinions, doesn't mean they're right about them. Like Gerd."

"I told her it was mean and she still didn't take it back."

"We trolls are a stubborn Kith. that must have been very frustrating for you"

He notices how tired she is "Uhm.. I brought you a granola bar, the chocolate chip kind. So I'm going to lay it near your bed in case you get hungry. If it's okay with you, we'll hold off talking about the rest of this until later. I think you're tired."

She nods. "Uh-huh."

"Thanks. And I'm sorry you and Gerd had an argument and feelings were hurt. And thank you for trusting me enough to talk a little about it. You're like me. I'm not always comfortable opening up."

Jaymes rises and turns the lamp down so she can sleep. "Night"

"....night."

And she's turned back into a lump of blankets.

Odin bullies his way in and leaps onto the lump to settle.

Good cat.

"good cat" Jaymes mutters as he leaves the room alone.

He realizes, logically, that both girls over reacted and it escalated poorly. Logic aside, he's tempted to tell Vali to get his brat niece some manners. He wonders if all fathers feel so innately biased or it's just him?

(End scene)

----------

"Okay. Vali and I had a talk" Jaymes says the next day, "And he had a talk with Gerd. Would you be willing to talk with Gerd again? Maybe let her know you did not mean to scare her?"

"And maybe she'll apologize. She's young, so it would be a big step for her."

Dagmar scowls.

I'ts a new night, of course

'I know, sucks but the older you than the other person, the more folks expect you to be the mature one" he says

"Me? I thought you directing your anger safely was very mature.. " he shrugs "But bad blood shouldn't be left to simmer. "