#rivervale_lodge

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Piper is back at the lodge, and it is... a ghost town. She looks a little surprised, and unsure where to go, without the crazy crowds of welcoming crews that have been around previously.

Sylvi pushes out from the kitchen, carrying a basket of folded laundry through the main hall, and she spots Piper. "Oh! Um, hi. Sorry, I dind't know anybody was here." She sets down the laundry. "I'm Sylvi."

The satyr looks relieved and offers a hand to Sylvi. "I figured you must be, as I think I've managed to meet just about everyone else here already. I'm Piper, pleased to meet you."

"Hey, Piper! Yeah, sorry, I've heard you were around, but I guess we keep missing each other." She shakes her hand, then gestures to the kitchen. "You hungry or thirsty or anything? My mom's shopping, so I'm sort of covering the hospitality angle of things for the moment."

"No, I'm good. It's so quiet here tonight! I'm guessing that the normal ebb and flow must be somewhere between "horde of rampaging childlings" and "ghost town", though. Is Sir Vali feeling back up to snuff?"

"Well, a lot of folks are on quests and missions and stuff right now. And I haven't talked to him, but yeah, I hear he's feeling okay, and Tiffany is happier than I've seen her in a bit."

"How are things for you? Settling in okay? You're staying with the Wayburtons, right?"

"Oh, quests! That sounds exciting. And just in time to have great stories for Pennons, too. I'm settling in okay - everyone here has been very welcoming, and the Wayburtons are great. I'm supposed to start up classes soon." A small wrinkle of her nose at that, but she looks mostly resigned to her fate.

"Oh! You're coming to Pascack Valley?"

"Yep, and it sounds like I might have some classes with you. Technically I would be a Junior, but I missed a couple semesters so they're putting me back at Sophomore. It'll be nice to have class with people I know, though. Starting mid-semester can be rough when cliques are already established."

"Well, if you didn't have classes with me and Dagmar, you'd probably be having them with Siv. Still, don't worry...we've got a lot of fae in school, so if you don't gel with one of the mortal cliques, there's still us. I think somebody told me you're into music?"

She grins at that. "I guess you could say that... like a fish is into water."

"I figured I might check out if there was a choir, or band, or something. You do cheerleading?"

"Well, not really a surprise, with your kith, but I don't think Zane plays any instruments, so I don't like to assume."

"And yeah, I do cheer. There's definitely a marching band, and if you play something that would fit in there, they could really use some help. Not so great if you play something like banjo, though."

She nods. "I thought about maybe cross-country or track if there was a team, but something with a beat would be my first choice." And she laughs aloud. "A marching banjo would be a first! Those tend to mostly brasses and a few percussion. Not my strongest suits... so maybe it would be something interesting to test out."

"Maybe they have a pep band ensemble. That might be fun, and could coordinate with the cheer squad."

"Well, there's flute and...oh, that thing that looks like a xylophone but up and down?"

"I'm not sure what different bands are there. Sorry, I just know they show up for the games." A sheepish shrug.

"So you've met Vali...you know he's a teacher there, right? And you've met Siv and Dagmar, right? How about Dirk and Symon? I mean, of course you know Zane."

A grin. "I don't blame you, you're probably focused on your own routine at that time. Yeah, and Sir Vali does homeschooling with Siv, I think? He was going to help tutor me to catch up. Siv I met, and Dagmar... of course Zane, but I don't think I know those others."

"Oh, you've totally got to meet Dirk before school. Otherwise he'll try to mess with you. Well, he'll still probably try, but at least you'll know what you're dealing with. Symon, he's away right now, but he's cool. He's a sluagh. And then we've got Eden, who's a pooka, and Nadeen is a sidhe."

"Cool! You've got a real melting pot here, I had thought it was mostly trolls. Not that that's a bad thing!" A grin. "So... ulterior motive time, I heard you do makeup tutorials? I was wondering if you could clue me in on A) if PV has any annoying restrictions on hair color and B) do you have any hair dying expertise? I wanted to make a fun impression, but I've heard horror stories about home dye jobs."

"Oh! And Jimmy! Pisky...I keep forgetting him."

"Jimmy, got it. I'd say I'd keep an eye out for him, but... you know. That's kinda counter their whole thing."

Sylvi beams. "You're in luck...school tried to clamp down on hair colors a while back, but it turned into this whole protest and lawsuit thing, so now they have to step back officially. You might still get a couple of teachers who are just nasty about it, but who cares? As for dye jobs, Dagmar's honestly got more practice than me, but we can work it out. What color are you thinking?"

"Well, I was thinking maybe blue would help me fit in a little around here." A little grin. "Pink might make me look sallow... I'm not sure, what do you think? I'm no expert on colors." Fair, lightly freckled skin and pale white-blond hair. "At least I probably don't need to worry about bleaching first like dark-haired folk might."

A bit of amusement at the blue. "I think it would take more than just blue to blend you in, but honestly we've got a LOT of non-trolls around here now. Hmm...violet shading up into a dark red might be nice. Leave the top part natural?"

"Oooh, that sounds SHARP. What, a little blue and I'm practically there, I just need stilts, I have the horns down pat..."

Sylvi laughs. "The horns definitely help, sure, we could camouflage you right up!"

"So...we could work on the dye, but like I said, Dagmar's the better expert on that. But...would you ever be interested in modeling for me for a tutorial? I'm trying to get all my friends in on it."

A moment's pause, and she looks unsure. "I'm not actually much of one for makeup. I guess... modeling wouldn't be bad? As long as it doesn't hurt your feelings if I decide not to keep up on what you might recommend?"

"Oh, no worries! Seriously, I just do a couple of styles, and if you want to wash it right off, that's totally cool." A pause. "I have gotten upset when people call what I do stupid. But if it's just not something you're into for you, that's cool."

"I don't mind the look, I just have realized that it's not really something I care about that much... if that makes sense? I mean, I like getting dolled up for something special, but my everyday routine pretty much means waking up as late as I can and still get to school on time. I'd much rather spend those precious minutes on the snooze button than mascara."

Sylvi nods. "I get that. I just...well, it's something I'm into. Might even do it professionally when I finish school. I mean, the tutorials are really taking off, I've got like a ton of subscribers now. Well, maybe not a ton. Don't know if I count as an 'influencer' but still, it's a lot."

"Hey, I get it. It's like, you can listen to music and not be obsessed with it. Like, how I've been trying not to consider how to convert songs into Marching Glockenspiel since you brought that up a few minutes ago." A wink to show she's kidding. "But yeah, I don't mind being a model for your show. Do you think I can get my hair dyed before Monday? I'd love to get 'r done before starting class. I think I have enough to get a couple colors if each isn't too expensive. I've only done kool-aid method in the past. That's great for a party because it washes right out, but you need LIGHT hair or you're SOL."

"Well....we can try ..." She sounds a little hesitant. "I just don't want to screw it up for you."

She grins. "It's an adventure. As long as my hair doesn't fall out. Britney Spears was -so- 2007. Hey, do you think a hair care segment would be relevant to your channel? Not to dilute your message or hoof all over your ideas - just a thought."

"And really, I think I just need a helping hand. The last time I tried, I was by myself and knocked the dye tub over, and do you have ANY idea how hard it is to get purple off of tile? Eeesh. So I could only blame you... let's say... 15% if it goes haywire?"

"Helping I can totally do, and yeah, if you don't mind us recording it, it might make a good side segment. Also, if it does go bad? I can probably help repair your hair."

"It's a deal!"

"Okay, so what about outfits?" And the conversation ventures into the realm of clothing and rambles in various directions for some time.

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