#rivervale_lodge

"I think I do. Which, uhg, leaves you the helmet... can we think of anybody who would like it? Olgar?"

"He might, it's big enough ,but don't worry, I'll find someone" SHe picks it up and looks it over, 'Hey. Maybe I'll give it to DIrk. Tell him it's an official peacemaker helmet"

"Ha!"

"And he doesn't already have horns..."

"That does settle it then" She takes the helmet "Sides, we should encourage his better angels.. .or in his case maybe his less jerkish devils"

"Yeah, agreed."

She gathers her stuff "Loot. " Then a grin "See you in the morning?"

"Yeah, seeya. I'll tell you how Tove liked it." And she heads home.

(End/Pause kind of thing)

-------------------

Kerri might notice her husband was on the phone for a bit, but he finishes up.

There have been a few moments before now when Kerri looked like she was about to broach a topic, but something always interrupted, or she found something else that demanded her immediate attention. "Who was that?" she asks about the phone call.

"Other Rovers... Pacifica area. Had an Eiluned Knight drop by ..leave a message of shady characters taking trods from Oakland to South... she aint' wrong. "

"Trouble for Jessica? Do we need to do anything?"

"I think it's trouble for Jessica, but I'm not sure the Eiluned wants us to know we're helping her. Remember Dame Mitra? I think it was her. And eihter she's sneak helping her boss.. or Jessica is setting this up, but wants the rovers on the Oakhold side to keep us out of sight. Either way, this smells of politics"

A sigh. "Of course it does. And sneakiness. Keeping things out of...." Kerri trails off...then another sigh. "Olgar...I need to tell you about something."

"Sigh a third time and I'll get worried" He moves to her and takes her hand , "What's up, babe?"

A hesitation, and almost another sigh that she catches just in time. "Come with me." She leads him to the kitchen and the cabinet with the lock. "You've spotted this, I'm guessing."

"I did, FIgured you were trying to keep the kids out. Connor gets into everything"

"Well...yes. Partially." Another hesitation, then she hurries and unlocks it before she can decide not to. "This..." She takes down the copper pan carefully, almost as if it might bite. "This is what we need to talk about."

He kens it, and scowls, "Okay, something the glamour on that is... " A sniff "I don't like it"

"No. You wouldn't...." She seems actually ashamed. A deep breath. "Olgar...it's been teaching me Sovereign arts."

The brows of his blighted visage shoot up, "I'm sorry, did you just say this pan is teaching you arts?"

A tight swallow and a nod.

"Sovereign," she repeats.

He holds out his hand for the pan

She hesitates. "What are you going to do?"

Olgar looks at her, "I'm going to hope that you trust me."

The pan seems to shimmer.. no need to share. Not this ...

She frowns. "I trust you. But I might not agree with you."

whether she heeds or not, is up to her.

A glare at the pan, then back to him.

"Wouldn't be the first time," He nods "Yet somehow we work it out don't we? "

A deeper frown. "I enjoy trust games about as much as you do." She does hand the pan over, but clearly resents being asked to do so without an explanation.

"It's not a game, honey, " He says "And it's not an attempt to manipulate you. It's.. mmm " Olgar takes it and frowns

She folds her arms tightly, as if restraining the urge to take it back.

He has it by the handle of course, and takes a finger to touch the main body of it. Then he makes 'sst' sound and draws his finger back.

She watches closely.

There's a slight chimerical burn on the finger tip that touched, "I don't like it. Looks like it doesn't like me."

That makes her blink, and she reaches for his hand to inspect it. "It didn't do that to me...."

Just chimerical, minor, perhaps a warning to him

"Clearly not. Here, no games. " He hands it back to her, moving so she can grab the handle, "Why didn't you tell me before?"

She reclaims it. It rests very comfortably in her hand. "Well...I'm not proud of it. It's...not something I wanted to learn. And it surprised me when suddenly Protocol was in my head. But after that, I realized...well...it could be useful, in a crisis. Defensively," she clarifies.

"We both know it also gets used offensively. Want to talk about why it appeals? I mean, if you wanted something you could use defensively your primal arts arent' shabby"

He's got that calm tone... which might be seen as placating...

or might be seen as keeping an open mind

But the pan now in her hand she...can almost imagine him over come with her magnificience, how she could make him realize how right she is...demonstrate she's no mere maid.

"My primal arts are just fine, yes, but...if...well...if a powerful enough sidhe wants to claim the Lodge in the Chieftain's absence, I would Weaver Ward the passage. I could..." A blink. "I could make a foe stand down and...and cower...rather than threaten childlings and wilders. I could..." A frown. "I could stop an attack in its tracks rather than just pick up the pieces afterwards. Olgar...." She grabs his arm with her free hand, "Think of it. If the Dragon has always defeated troll lodges, maybe it's not used to the arts of sidhe! Maybe it would be an advantage against it!"

"Kerri, that seems a strange gamble to make... you think no troll ever asked for help from a sidhe against this thing? I mean... they can be pricks, but Headlock wouldn't hestitate to help the Chief if soveriegn was all it took. I mean yeah, the rest I see but somethings about this really bother me. Like, you've had this longer than we've known about the dragon haven't you? And why didn't you tell me before? you never answered that. "

Frustrated, she steps away from him. "You tell me every detail about all of your patrols?"