#rivervale_lodge

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"Fwip! Fwip!" Connor yelps gleefully as he bounces around the main room of the lodge. A somewhat forlorn looking Oak sits in a corner, a large mixing bowl set atop his fuzzy cranium as he gives a long, low huff, but tolerates this game.

"You'll never beat me, Mysterio!" A double-bounce off a couch cushion, "Lava floor can't hurt me!" a hopscotch and he's up in the rafters, and yarn rains down in streamers. "Pew! Pew!"

Sylvi is the one who comes out of her room to investigate, and she stands on the landing to take in the scene.

"What the...."

"Fwip!" And a streamer of yarn drifts down onto her head.

"Hey!" She bats it away. "Good guy, standing right here!"

He beams down at her from his perch. "Spiderdog works alone. He's not a Venger. Unless you're another Spiderdog from another Universe?" More yarn drifts onto Oak, who puts his head on his paws and looks sleepy.

Sylvi grins up at the boy. "Well, normally I'd say I'm MJ, but that'd be kinda...awkward." She looks at the scattering of yarn all through the room. "Looks like a pretty big battle, Spidey."

"Yes, I had to defeat the evil Mysterio before he destroyed the world! I think. I watched all the trailers but I don't know how it ends, so I made up my own. THE FINALE!" He flings his arms wide and the rest of the yarn goes flying, trailing from rafters, lamps, and etcetera. "Spiderdog TRIUMPS AGAIN!"

Sylvi giggles, and applauds quietly, appreciatively. "Our hero!"

He scootches over on the rafters until he's above Sylvi, then drops down to dangle from his fingertips, bare toes wiggling at her. "Down, please!"

She reaches up, tickles his toes briefly only once, then lifts him down to the landing...not a far distance, really, as it's at the top of the stairs. Together they can survey the battlefield.

He surveys with her and comments, a little worriedly "Oak made a BIG mess. Do you think he's in trouble?"

"Well....Spidey's webs dissolve in a couple of hours, right? So...as long as the webs can't be seen by the time my mom sees the room, then I'm pretty sure no dog will get in trouble." She gives him a look.

"And then there are pancakes?" He gives her that puppy-dog look, hopeful smile, as he stretches over to start nabbing up some of the strings.

Sylvi sighs. "It's still way early, Connor. I don't think the Chieftain has even gone on patrol yet. Aren't you sleepy?"

And she yawns suddenly, surprising herself.

He yawns too, then gives her a nudge. "Stooooop you're making my brain think it's tired." He hops over to the couch, jumping up and bouncing off the cushions to grab the dangling yarn from the rafters. Luckily, the couch is made to withstand troll frames, and a slight boy, even riding hard on it, cannot damage such goods.

"Wait, hang on...." She goes down the stairs and hefts the little boy up on her shoulders. "Here...you can probably reach now?"

She may not be the tallest troll, but she's still a troll.

"Whup!" He arfs in surprise, then steadies himself on his new perch and indeed, is able to reach all of the remaining rafter adornments now. "Onward, noble steed!" Patting Sylvi's head affectionately.

She smirks. "You're lucky you're cute." She helps him until all the yarn is retrieved.

"I wish -I- was a noble steed. But I'm too small. Unless someone is REALLY tiny." He sighs, scooping up the last bits and shoving his pockets full. Then, an impromptu hug for Sylvi. "Maybe Spiderdog can team up SOMETIMES."

"Sometimes, for sure." She returns the hug. "Okay, it's still stupid early, so you should go back to bed for a little while, at least, right?"

"Or cereal, and I can watch Spiderman? I can get it myself, and I'll be quiet-like-a-mouse. I'll turn the sound off and do my reading!"

"It's VERY hungry work being a hero." He says, dolefully.

She considers him, then sighs. "Well...I guess. Come on, I'll help you. Don't think I can get back to sleep now, anyway."

"Yes! Well, if we're watching a movie, popcorn is basically the same as corn pops cereal, and I can use the butter from my toast for toppings..." And the negotiations begin, as they head into the kitchen. 🐶

Later, the adults will likely find them both on the couch, Connor avidly reading subtitles as he shoves sugared cereal into his face, Sylvi sacked out next to him, her cereal getting less-and-less crunchy in milk, untouched.

((End))

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Much later, the next time Kerri is making spaghetti, she may need to start over with a fresh pot of water... as the upended box produces not noodles, but a colorful rain of yarn strands into the salted pot.

Local pups questioned to this claim no knowledge, but admit, "it DOES look like skettis, doesn't it?"
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Sylvi checks her hair, looks fantastic, as usual...and goes out. To others, however, Sylvi's hair looks a wee bit different.

Meaning Sylvi's mortal friends she meets stare at her a bit without..trying to stare.

She does notice she seems to be getting a lot of attention as she walks through the mall....

One of her friends says "SO Sylvi is totally right we should keep our cheer leading skills up during the summer, or it could get hairy.. I mean scary.. trying out"

The blue strand of yarn is a nice touch...

One older woman is talking to another "I wouldn't be caught dead like that in the 80s" //"In the 80s we had BIG hair to worry about" Whatever triggered THAT conversation?

At first it was just weird. Now it's...disturbing. She checks herself in a shop window reflection.

She looks great! But..why are her friends... staring as she primps?

And suddenly she.. oH GOD! She's in the middle of a mall with her hair like... like .. that!

Her jaw drops. "Ohhh....myyyy...GODDDDD!" She turns on her friends. "Why didn't you SAY something?!"

She runs for the mall bathroom and tries to do damage control.

"We didn't want to be mean..." One says /"We thought it was a new trend.." the other shrugs "One doomed to fail..."

She walks in, a miserable middle aged women sees her come in, then smiles "Now I feel SO much better about my day, thanks kid."

A long-suffering moan. "Yes...yes, okay...trend-fail....moving on...." Can she straighten it out?

It seems to have something in it that makes it very stubborn!

She frowns at her reflection, and waits until the bathroom is empty before taking a lipstick from her purse and making a mark on the mirror, runes that spell "hair."

She murmurs, "I renew you, I replenish you, I return you to your former glory. Lather, rinse, repeat."

Her hair bursts with spring magics and ...

WHOA!