#rivervale_lodge

"Hey guys, I.... uh. They left?"

"They did, but you can go to the lodge if you want," his mother looks up

"Yeah. Uh, no." He shrugs. "It's cool."

She taps her hoof and looks curious, "Darling, are you okay?" Her motlher looks so odd now, large horns for a female satyr, those odd legs and hooves, she dresses in more open garments

"Uh." Adam looks away, nods. "Yeah, sure."

"no really, this has to be odd for you," She says "I mean, I know it's affected my attitude, and your father and yes, Lily. Have we been neglecting you since this started? Are you lonely?"

"Naw."

She smiles "Naw? Just naw huh? "

He shrugs.

"Sorry, Adam, not trying to tease, but sometimes I forget teenagers don't really want to talk to their mothers too long."

"If something does start to bother you, you can talk to your father and I , you know that right?"

"Yeah, mom, sure."

"Good." She says "you maybe seeing more of me at the house" She says

He frowns. "You mean the Lodge?"

"No, I mean here" She says "I'm cutting own my regular job's hours, trying my hand at something. I think we can swing it. "

Adam blinks. "Uh. Yeah?"

"Yeah, I ..well, you know I took classes in poetry in college right? My 'ode to a student debt'?"

"Yeah.....?"

"Well, satyrs have passions and ever since becoming one I...well, my old muse is really kicking in."

"Oh." Adam scratches his head. "Yeah, well.... good." Firmly. "Yeah, you have to do that. Cool."

"Thanks. I, it helps that you understand. I'm not trying to abandon my duties to provide, you understand. I just want to- the words are in my head and they tap dance over my half awake thoughts like Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire having a showdown, each tap a syllable, and each scratch of shoe on surface a concept ready to burst through that barrier. If I don't open it myself, it'll all fall down and..." she chuckles "I sound crazy right?"

A grin. "No, mom. Sounds exactly right. You start writing, get those words down on paper."

She gets up and gives him a hug, "You're the best. Now, that said, with me around here, am I going to cramp your style? You looked a bit worried about me going to the lodge too often?"

"Naw. You need to visit."

"Okay. I'm going to try to respect your privacy, but I'm still your mom so... well, I am curious about your life. You seem to be quite a hit with young women around here"

A shy grin. "I do ok. Nothing serious."

"Mmm trouble," But fond "Well, I'll save any lectures about breaking hearts later. I'm glad you're making friends among the girls. Careful, some of them might want to play games with YOUR heart."

"Yes, mom."

A nod "Now, do you have any boys who are friends, or just Zane and some harem you're hiding?"

A sigh. "Yes, mom. I have friends."

"Do i ever get to meet these friends or is that too embarrassing?" Amusement

"You come to my games!" in protest.

"Love em" She admits "But that's your basketball team "

"Yeah, they're friends. And.... a lot of the rest are Fae."

"If you haven't met them yet, you will."

"Well, I like Dagmar, but I thought you and she were...well... not sure now" A pause "And Zane is a fine young man." Amusement

"We were. And yeah, Zane's a good dude."

"Well, I'm sorry it didn't work out, but young love can be a jagged thing."

"Yeah."

"I hope you and she can still be friends. She seems a nice person. SO who are you seeing now?" Curious

"Jeeze...." Adam takes a breath. "Yeah, we're still friends and she's helping me with my fighting. I'm kinda dating Piper."

"Piper? Oh, yes, Marsha mentoned her. A satyress? "

"Yeah." He can't help a wide grin.

"mmm" A bite of her bottom lip "She's nice? I mean..is she kind?"

"Yeah, mom. She is."

"Good. I don't want you being toyed with" A bit of a snort through her nostrils

Her son laughs softly. "It's -ok- mom. Zane and Piper explained."

"Good, because I'm still new to this whole satyr thing myself... and while it's fun, it's got some baggage. "She warns "We can be very bad at having our feelings on our sleeve"

"I know." Patiently.

"Mmm probably more than I do. You hid this from your father and I for months now... I know, the escheat required it but oh my goodness if I had known you could be so disciplined I'd have put you to work"