#rivervale_lodge

"How are you guys on art supplies?" Vali asks

"Good good, we're short on music actually" Darleen says

"Instruments and the like..."

Ray winces "lets not scare the man off, those are expensive"

"What about singing?"

"Oh we do that all the time," Christine says "Some of us are okay at it. We got lots of public domain music..."

"But it's SO old" Saul snorts "Like, Jurasic "

"Not that I like music"

CHristine rolls her eyes then explains "Ray and Darleen run this place as an arts program, for foster kids. We learn music, and painting, and graphic design and so on. "

"Oh. So you need instruments, yeah."

"Well, we got a few..Tove did it. You probably don't know her ,but she's got a Youtube channel and is awesome" Livia burst out, despite being quite until now "I have panpipes. Did you know she makes them by hand? Wood carving"

Sam nods. "Yeah..."

"We're very grateful... " Ray says then "I better put these in the fridge" SPeaking of the cooler

"Let's see what the toys hold mm?" Darleen opens up the box Vali had and says "oh my here we go... Brady, you like football right?" /"Yeah?" His eyes light up as he gets "Wait, these are NEW." Confusion at the football game//"Whoops" Vali says

Some of the toys are NOT handme downs. Indeed, they seem to have been picked with some care

Dag shoots Vali a look and a quick, lopsided grin

A few are hand made, but well made indeed, wooden blocks ..but it doesn't look like Tove's style. The Chieftain? No! Maybe?

"I love it I love it I love it.." One girl squeels at her doll which may not be an OFFICIAL Raggedy Anne, but looks a lot like her cousin, with hair just like said girl's

Vali whispers "Someone once mentioned that being a foster sometimes sucked because you have second hand stuff that's not even really for you. It was good advice I think. "

A frown and a nod. "And sometimes what you get ain't properly yours to keep. This is theirs, right?" A stubborn edge.

"Absolutely" He nods

"Now, watch and see if we..." Before Vali can finish...

glamour trickles here and there...

It's not the THINGS they get so much as.. what it means to the kids

Sam is still hanging back, not getting too close.

Maybe Brady can be a football player one day..maybe. Maybe this doll will be loved, and then the girl who loves her will have parents who love her that much

Maybe LIvia will be a star, a panpipe star! Weirder things have happened

She scuffs the grass with her toe, feeling the warmth swell - it's nice, they're happy, and that makes her happy too..

Vali chuckles, tells bad jokes and drinks in the glamour. He's so unashamed of it. Then, there is nothing to be ashamed of. That's why you try to help Dreamers.

Christine says more socially to Dagmar "Sam? Are we making you uncomfortable?" Perceptive girl

"No... just... no, it's okay."

"Okay, sometimes well, this place gets a bit depressing to think about... but we're lucky, you should have seen my last foster. WOw... don't od this, don't do that. And.. .. I wasn't allowed to..well, let's ssay they expected me to go into law or be a doctor and makes lots of money. Which si great but ..." A shrug

"But they wanted a trophy. Not a kid."

"Yeah, exactly..." She says "It was like they were trotting me out saying "see how I've helped this poor miserable girl become a real person?"" The twelve year old scowls "It.. hurt. Weird I know but .. it really felt like I was a project not.."

She grunts and nods. "And if you made any mistake, they'd remind you you weren't real."

"Fuck them."

"Yeah.. wow, most.. most folks don't get it. I mean, I know you're older but .. still.. most folks tell me not to whine about it"

She shrugs. "I was... I just... I only been adopted a month."

"So... yeah." Scuff, shrug.

"Oh you found parents at your age? if they're good ones, you're so lucky" Christine says "I'm the oldest so..odds are slim, but I hold out. In the mean time, I learn things here, I create, and I am pretty darn happy. I've got hope." Glamour trickles out of her

"Yeah. Jaymes is great..." Blush, shrug, smile.

"And I wasn't expecting him at all, you know?"

"Cool" more hope, sometimes it just takes one person making it to make somoene think they can make it too "Yeah, not many folks want kids my age and up. He's.. he's not an ass or anything?"

"No. He ain't. He's a good guy. More than I deserve, probably, but..." Another smile, inadvertant, bright, genuine...

"If we all got what we deserve Livia wouldn't have gotten the crazy lady who told her that every time I didn't cross her legs she was hurting jesus. The local preacher heard about it, and got her out of there"

She scowls. "Yeah, screw that old bag, too."

"yeah so.. good on you getting a dad you think might be better than you deserve. Mister Gardener said 'deserve's got nothing to do with it'" she smiles "he's a nice guy. "

"Yeah. Sometimes it's just luck... but, I mean, luck can happen to anybody."

"I like the good kind better" Confidentially

"Me too."