#rivervale_lodge

The door is yanked open, and he bolts for freedom!

"Conner?" Sally Mae blinks

Brown Dog shoots in, Edelweiss and Oak start to come in but see Conner shoot by and turn confused wondering if they should follow

She blinks...then sets down her mug and goes to get her coat, and Connor's as well. A nod to Oak and Edelweiss. "Make sure he does not get himself in trouble. I will follow."

And the fae hounds shoot after to check on the boy.

Gerd looks worried "Was it the song?" Worried

"I do not know." Brekke looks concerned as she heads out.

"Gerd, You go clean up...take a bath. It'll be okay by and by" Sally mae says

He has a head start, but the hounds are hale and mighty, and easily catch up to him as he darts, puffing, down one of the trails. “Shoo, g’wan! I don’t want to play now...” he argues with them as he scurries... somewhere.

They keep pace, Edelwiess would grab him by his scruff and carry him home if he were in dog form

It would apper the chief's orders supersede his

He picks up a stick and throws it off into the woods. “Fetch?” He tries, as he stops to ponder the path, and turns down one of the more well-traveled.

Tempting, but no. Instead Oak Barks

Which the chief can hear

Brekke's long strides mean it's not long before she catches up. "Connor?"

“Hush!” He pleads. “And you can have my biscuits for the rest of the year!” He gulps, And backs away, looking for... bush, maybe? Or a tree to climb?

Trees aplenty. But then Edelwiess cheats, and licks him to try to soothe

"Connor...." Brekke has spotted him and approaches slowly now. "What is wrong?"

Uh oh. Caught. He turns to look up at Brekke, and swallows. “I’m going to fix it.” He says, his voice wobbly.

Her brow furrows, and she stops. "The mess? It cannot be fixed out here."

The trail he is on is one that heads in towards town. He gives her a doleful look. “It can’t be fixed with soap. Only cheese can fix it, and I need to find some.” He swallows. “And it’s in the town.”

The two fae hounds stay nearby, offering canine calm as best they can. When you herd locks, you act like all is calm so they know you are there for them. To protect them to guide them. It's the Great Pyrenees way

She looks down the trail, then back to him. "That is not what I asked you to do, Connor. We will replace the cheese. Do not worry about that. But I expect you to clean up after the mess. Understood?" She doesn't mean to be tall and terrifying....

He draws in his shoulders and drops his head, unconsciously making himself smaller, non threatening. “But that’s not the important thing to fix...” he chews at his lip.

Oak rubs against the boy lightly. It's all right.

"Do you have money to buy cheese?" She rather doubts it.

From the crumpling look of despair on his expression, he had not even thought of that. His eyes start to swim. “I... I...”

She crouches down about an arm-length from him. "If you tried to bring back cheese, but could not pay for it, that would cause a new problem. The task I gave you is a solution you can do, and we will take care of the other part. Do you understand?"

Edelwies sits near where the Chief is.

He runs a hand across his face, wiping roughly. Now he’s sticky with cheese, too. He takes a deep breath, and holds up a hand, two fingers crossed, and blurts out, “I’m going to clean it all, I really, really will. And chores and replace the cheese and I do feel bad even if it was for a really good idea and it was moon cheese... but if Gerd has to do chores again and again and twelveteen times because I make messes then she won’t be my friend anymore and she’s my only friend and I’m sorry I took the cheese only please don’t make Gerd work. And I’m lying, honest, honest.”

“And it wasn’t her idea or her fault.” He snuffles, and wipes his face on his sleeve.

A surprised look. "Connor." She shakes her head. "Please, calm down. Gerd volunteered. Did you not hear her? If I had told her no, she would have been upset. She volunteered to share the burden with you, for she said she had a part in the mess. I do not understand about this moon cheese, but I understand that Gerd wanted to do the work with you...but now you are not there to do it."

He shakes his head. “But I get her chores all the time though. And I try to be good but sometimes my good isn’t your good or Sallymae’s good and don’t know why. And she... won’t play with me anymore then.”

"Hm." Brekke pauses a moment...and then slowly shifts to sit on the ground, cross-legged. "Well...let us think about why, then. You are worried she will not play with you if you get her in trouble, correct?"

He nods. “She dropped the cheese, but she didn’t make the cheese.” He insists resolutely. “So we can clean the cheese, but extra kitchen chores aren’t... aren’t Fair.” He rubs at his nose again. “It’s the code of Dogda. You can’t ‘spect friends to pay for your messes.” Then he flops to the ground, huffing. “Only now she’s doing all the cheese cleaning so it’s not fair MORE.” Tugging at his ears in frustration.

"No, it is not fair, so we should figure something out so you can return and do your part to make it fair. Connor, I think you get in trouble when you do things without thinking about what might happen after you do them. Without thinking about how other they might affect other people. You do not try to do the wrong thing...but you do not see how it might end up wrong later. Does that make sense to you?"

He peers up at her and gives a slow nod. “I think so?”

She nods. "But...you worry that Gerd might not play with you if you get her in trouble with you. So you can think about how things might go in the future. Yes?"

He gives her a confused look. What is this witchcraft? “Yeah... But... I don’t -like- to think of the bad things. It’s better to think only of the good ones. That’s the glass more full. Right?” A sigh. “But then I spill it on the couch anyways.”

“I can... try?”

The fae hounds exchange looks. Looks likek the two leggers are doing fine. It is good to have good two leggers who know how to navigate a pack's problems. It makes the doggie heart swell with pride. GOOD two leggers.

A slight grin. "Connor, you are young. You will make mistakes. That is normal. When you make mistakes, we ask you to help fix them, and to listen to us for how we need you to help fix them. Do your best. We will ask no more of you than that. Agreed?" she extends a large blue hand, apparently not minding that his hands are cheese-covered.

He opens his mouth to protest on how moon cheese is NOT a mistake... but then a moment passes, and he closes it again, and shakes her hand. Somethings, grown ups... or is it trolls? Just can’t understand.

“But I can do the kitchen chores? I’ll just do them twice as good so it’s as good as both of us.”

"If Gerd agrees, then yes. Come, let us go back to the Lodge."

She grunts a bit as she unfolds herself to get back to standing.

Even with the youtheing of that dreaming trip, her back threatens to make lilttle snap crackle pop noises

He nods and walks back with her. “How can I get money?”

"You do not need money. Not yet. But...perhaps we can work something out. It will likely involve specific chores, done regularly. Can you do that?"

He nods eagerly, wheels and gears ticking in that head of his. By the time they make it back to the lodge, he’s forgotten to be upset.