#rivervale_lodge

"How much does it matter that you fall down? That you fail?"

She sits, parosel keeping the wretched sun away.

"Well, I DID rearrange things for tea space without checking with her. I didn't know she'd take it as a personal affront." Wrinkling her nose "And after she and Vali bumped head I figured maybe it was still fresh .. I don't know." At the mention of how much it matters she frowns "A lot. Every time I fail or fall someone comes running to pick me up. They stop everything to fix me... if I weren't so messed up they wouldn't have to."

"Gerd. How much does it matter that you fall down, that you fail?"

Calmly.

"I just answered that" she stares at him

"What matters, I think, is how many times you get back up. However you get up. -That- you get back up." Quietly.

"But I don't get back up... I get picked up. It's not the same"

"Are you back -up-?"

"Gerd, from personal experience.... I know the difference. Recently, for example. But I know that... I'm back on my feet. I'm ready for what's next. That's not nothing."

"I guess. It would be better if AUnt Kerri were JUST touchy about her place you know? But..she's not. It is her kitchen and I took liberties. And if Uncle Vali were really a loser... but he's not, he's a successful writer.. he teaches french, and he protects me. I looked to both of them...and now I'm..resenting both of them. WHat's wrong with me? "

"You were wrong." There might be a sympathetic smile under his beard. "At some point, we all were. Especially me."

"Yeah, " a weak smile "But at least you wear it well? Did you and.. and your wife make up?"

"We're good." He acknowledges... and his beard might be just the slightest bit purple. Kind of a rose-gold with the way his silver and gold works.

"Good." She looks relieved.

"Yes."

"I guess I better go apologize to Aunt Kerri now if she's around; Any advice how not to screw it up?"

"Well, I grovel. Not sure that will work with your look." Frank thinks. "Maybe.... ask her how? Confront it, but not... confrontationally?"

"I guess... be honest, but tactful."

He nodns.

"That sounds right. Well. If not, it doesn't sound wrong."

"Thanks. " A nod "Frank.. I mean.. Mountain?"

"Frank is fine." A faint smile.

"Well, you deserve your title too.. but uhm.. It's about Vegard, the old man?"

"Yes?"

"Ever since the togail.. I've been dreaming him more. I don't know if that's normal... but he's.." She taps her head, "here more. "

Frank nods slowly. "Ok. It's not -ab-normal. It happens like that sometimes. You're a wilder, you're ready for more. This could be a -lot- more."

"Well, I suppose he'll be useful.. but if he gives me advice on my eventual love life... so help me..." A huruumph "WHICH I am not starting until I'm 16." A Pause "Probably. Anyway, I'm going in. Thanks for reassuring me that it's not ab-normal."

"Doesn't have to be a timeline on .... um, love lives."

"One revelation at a time, Frank. I'm a 12 year old who can bend space... boundaries are probably good for me. Don't tell Vali or Kerri I said that"

"For what it's worth..... if not for Vegard I'd be Forgotten and would never have Oathed with Brekke. I don't know where she'd be. So.... sometimes he's got good advise, in my opinion."

"Yeah. He's annoying like that" She blows a lock of hair out of her left eye, a habit she hasn't shaken, and goes on into the hold "Aunt Kerri?"

Frank watches her go, then goes back to mulching.

With a faint smile.

In the kitchen, Kerri prepares a variety of foods to put on the heated barbecue grill out back...sausages, steak, chicken legs, and shrimp skewers. She looks up at Gerd comes in. "Hello, Gerd." She doesn't sound particularly angry. Gerd will note the tea things have been gathered in the center of the kitchen island, arranged respectfully.

"I read your note, you were very gracious, as was uncle vali, thank you." Gerd says "I want to apologize"

Kerri nods. "I hoped you'd take the note that way." And she pauses in her work and turns to face the girl directly, apparently ready for the apology.

"I was wrong to rearrange the cupboards like that without asking if it was okay with you first. The kitchen is your domain, and even if it wasn't, it's certainly not MY right to shove things around when I intend to use themm mostly for personal gain."

"And I am sorry"

Kerri nods. "Accepted." She turns back to dividing her attention between the conversation and her food prep. "Gerd, the kitchen is not just my domain...it is part of my duties. In that role, I need to have some level of control over where things are so I'll know where to find them, or where to direct others to find them. Do you understand that?"

"It's never wise to interfere in any trolls' duties and so messing with the kitchen messed with yours. " She says.

Kerri nods. "Now, I am perfectly happy to have your tea items here, especially those lovely tea packets...but let's decide on their placement together. We'll call it a do-over, okay?"

"Okay, the urn seemed the right size to hold the individual types of leaves, and I thought it looked cool, but if it's too big I guess we could put them in something else?"

"Well, you'll need to find a nice balance between appearance and functionality. The placement needs to look nice, but it also needs to make sense for the people who are likely to use them. So that means considering who might use them most often."

She shakes seasonings over the different foods, and looks out the window to check the progress of the grill.

"Well, I don't know if there are any other tea drinkers here who live regularly I mean" she says

Kerri nods. "So this will be primarily for you and...I presume?...for any guests who prefer tea." The last is a question.

"I suppose so. It would be nice to have a tea party or so on... And Zara might visit. Not sure Symon is into tea save for heritage purposes?"

"I agree. So...the urn is visually appealing...how about setting it there, in that side of the glass-front cabinet?" Kerri indicates.

"Okay" She does so, carefully "Like that?"