#rivervale_lodge

He grins a bit "if the girls knew some of the action they missed while they were in Science classes they'd be so pissed"

"Mm." She nods. "You made it sound to me as if you had a crew of guardians overseeing the school."

An eyebrow at that.

"No no, there's no "Vali's army' like Dumbledore. Let's face it, that would go to my head"

"Truth to tell, there seems to be a conspiracy to take any language BUT French by the Changeling kids. I try not to take it personal and Sylvi is now my favorite wilder" At the Eyebrow "Last week I had to take take out a memory muncher chimera... seems it loved the added confusion when students who had studied when blank during a test."

"Oh, that is cruel. Thank you for destroying it." A sigh. "That school does seem to be a breeding ground for chimera."

"Teenagers are bastions of insecurity and wishes gone wrong. The Flip ..now the flip has been hard to catch"

A dubious look. "Do I want to know?"

"Everyone has dreams of being ... new, different.. grass is always greener and all that... the flip senses that want, and ..provides a tempory jolt of out of character behavior. OF course, when it wears off... one girl might not believe she is wearing this skanky outfit... or one boy realizes he just told his dad to fuck off... and he is a dead man walking now... a loner might realize they just joined up with the glee club and are now committed."

"Hm. Not malevolent, perhaps...but it certainly complicates matters."

"Yeah. I'm hoping to catch it and release it in the wild"

She nods. "Far from here, perhaps? We have enough complications."

"Aint' that the truth.. now, if I can hit you up with a few togail plans while you access your garden?" And unless she objects, he explains the time table and so forth

She listens, and nods, and suggests....

(End scene)

Not too much later, Lut receives a message to come to the Lodge to patrol with the Chieftain.

Lut arrives.. sometimes it's odd to see him without Tig. The two came into this world as a set so to speak. Lut is wearing rivervale garb over leather and hide voile kept in good shape. "Chieftain, Ready to patrol. Hope I'm not late?"

"No. Thank you for coming. West paths today." And she strides off.

Lut knows the paths and takes them in stride. Not much of a talker, Lut, focusing on the job.

This usually suits Brekke well...but today she seems to feel awkward. About a half-hour into the patrol, after they have encountered little of note, she slows her stride. "Lut...I need to speak with you on a matter."

"Of course, Chief. What is it?"

A few more strides...Brekke is choosing her words. "You are still involved with the mortal teacher, Ms. Grey, correct?"

"Yes" he says, then looks uncomfortable, "I think I know what this is about, Chieftain. "

"Yes?" Some hope that he does, indeed, know...but caution that they may be misunderstanding each other.

"She's.. been enchanted." He says

"More than once" A blush "I should have told you"

"Yes. You should have. Did you know that it carried into the school day? She saw the fae seemings of some of our wilders."

"I..didn't know." he says surprised, "She didn't mention that when I discovered she'd been enchanted again"

"Discovered...? It is not you who enchanted her?"

"No.... Though I can see why you'd think so. I mean, I still am not sure who else would have"

Her brow furrows. "That is more troubling."

"It is not you, and not Vali. The next likelihood is one of the wilders, I suppose." She frowns.

"Well, it's sure not Tig. I asked him if he had enchanted her just to help save our relationship. He laughed and then said 'wait, you're serious?'"

"Save....? Lut, what is going on?"

"Well, we were doing well, really, but our relationhip hit that level of 'well,, let's get to know each other more' hopes, dreams, long plans.. goals. Only... I had to hold back. Had to. Right of ignorance right? "

"Yes. Yes, I understand."

She is not unsympathetic...and not for the first time, she is grateful that this is not a conflict she had to deal with with her love.

"And that got on her nerves. She's no fool... she sensed something was being held back and... for a while I thought we might have to break up." A sigh "Then... one day we were having dinner... it was TENSE. I was really worried this would be the break up moment where she dumped me. I went to the bathroom, came bacvk, and she was aglow holding VERY Still , like a deer in headlights. That was the first time. I took her home.. and she didn't ask me how I had turned into a big blue man until we were in the car"

A long exhale, a pause. "Well...at least she has good sense about her. She did not scream and run in the middle of the restaurant."

A proud look, "Yes. She's..disciplined."

She notes the expression but doesn't comment on it. "Which restaurant was this, Lut?"

"The Italian one..."

even without naming it,Brekke realizes that 's the resturaant with a family of boggans. Lucia , Sylvi's friend works there with her father and family

A slight flinch as she makes the connection. "Ah. Boggans."

"Sorry?" He says

Lut's a good lad, but it's possible he has done what many do. Discounted boggans

"A family of boggans works at that restaurant. One of them is a student at the high school. She, or another, may have sensed the tension between you and decided to...help."

"Lucia," he says "She wasn't our waitress, but she was nearby. You think she... oh chief, I'm sorry. I didn't even think that she'd poke her nose in and help"

"You both must have been in significant emotional pain for her to do so." She shakes her head, then looks at him. "And now?"

Sheepishly "Once she was enchanted I explained the basics...not a lot of details but...some . She seemed relieved. She was worried I'd somehow lost interest in her and was shutting her out emotionally. Why can't mortals and other kith see that trolls just prefer to demonstrate affection by quiet actions? " Frustration