#rivervale_lodge

Tiffany Van Hunt snorts as she enters the lodge, "The standard poodle? RIIIGGED..."

Her patrol this morning has been professional, full of opinions though, almost cat like there, not that she appreciates such slander.

The dogs greet her, and she greets them, "Yeah yeah, I saw it too. I know, I know, Sporting Breed and Working breeds tonight" She pets them

Connor is hanging out, sprawled on the floor of the lodge and crunching an apple. He sits up when Tiffany comes in. "Thane! Did you watch the pageant? I think I could win, but I'm extra special so it wouldn't be fair. I mix all the best dogs together so it's an unfair advantage."

"You're lucky, your group comes up every time" She says, sitting down next to him

He giggles. "I said, don't make me go to bed, I want to watch my group, and that worked like, THREE times!"

she eyes the boy. He's set her off before, far too eager to be a dog when they're more than that, but then, given his slipped seeming, Vali has pointed out what choice has Connor had. She does smile at his sneakiness, "Yeah? Got a favorite out of the semi finalists so far?"

"The good dogs are my favorite." He responds, and offers out the apple if she wants a bite.

Tiffany takes it, and bites, then returns it, chewing "Every year, the same thing.. who's a good boy, or who is a good girl? but do they clue us in? NOOOO"

"I know the secret." He responds a little mysteriously, then leans in to whisper, "They're ALL good boys."

A pause, "I bought a self help book for nothing," then she looks at Connor "Can I ask you something? thanks. Why are you on the floor?"

He blinks, and actually takes a moment to process the question. "It was closer than the chairs." Is his response, sensibly.

"mmm," Tiffany nods, eyes the floor, then the chairs, "Interesting coincidence."

"I didn't put on my climbing gear this morning, and I don't even HAVE a carabiner. But that's fun to say. Car-a-beeeeeeneeeeer."

"Well, Life is a Carabiner, old chum," Tiffany says, finishing up her own bite of apple, "I'm told Gerd is a ghost now."

"You know, trapped between two locations, neither of either, haunting. Frankly, I think she's taking this goth thing too far"

He toys with the apple core, giving it a nibble, before responding. "That's what I meant to happen all along. I sure do love ghosts." His ears and tail read a clear message to Tiffany - unhappy.

"mmm, " She takes a breath, then "I'm no good at mamaese, never wanted to learn the language because it catches in my throat and leads to excess shedding but she moved fast to do it for a reason. Courage is a hot potato."

He slumps down and lays his head on his hands. "I guess. I just... I don't have good words. I'm dumber than the average bear, sometimes."

"I'ts the curse of our kind thaat we're so damn eloquent," She says sympathetically, "Where was I? Courage is a hot potato. It was burning her hands, you see? She had it, couldn't hold it for long, so she realized she had to move while she still had it. Because as soon as she dropped it, she'd be all out of courage, or have cold mashed courage at best." A glance to him, "Who wants cold mashed courage? Anyway... I don't want you thinking she was running so fast because she wanted to mash your wag. She loves your wag. Never wanted to stop it, see? She just got in a hurry trying to outrace the fear. Fear's pretty fast. Moves at the speed of 'eeek'"

He thinks about that for a bit. Actually for quite a bit. He's seldom quiet for this long, unless he's dozed off. But no, he just blinked.

Finally he exhales, sitting up. "It's probably hard being a big sister. I think... this time... I have to be the big brother." He stands, and quietly pads up the stairs to Gerd's room - leaving Tiffany to follow, or stay as she decides.

And if an English Springer Spaniel follows more discretely, who is to know?

The Lyrics to Mr. Brightside are playing

she's listening to her music

He tappa-tap-taps on the door.

And then cracks it open, waving a hand inside to get attention if her music was too loud to hear.

"Connor?" Music is turned down

"I'm barging in and there's nothing you can do about it?" He asks, sidling in the door and peering around the room.

She opens the door wider. The room is..less than it was, about a third of it gone, but only a third, it's suspended.

There's a lot of dark colors, but flashes of brighter older childling things she didn't have the heart to get rid of, and a few new colorful things as if experimenting with beyond the goth "come in. Everything okay?
"

He steps over to pick up... a candle holder shaped like a skull. And then scoops a shirt off the back of a chair. Wrapping the ceramic carefully in the fabric, and sets it into a box that is half-hidden behind the bed.

Another glance around, and he picks up a book, sliding it into the corner of the box as well. Other odds and ends, he carefully picks up, considers, and sets into the box.

"Connor, if this is a burglary, you're not hiding it well" Gerd observes

"Guard dogs are supposed to foil burglars, not help them. And if anything I'd be a hamburgler. Robble, robble." He picks up one of her favorite T-shirts, considers it, and sets it in the box alongside a pair of elbow-length fishnet gloves. "You forgot to pack this up. What if you left your window open, and the blizzard came in and you didn't have your best mittens?"

"I... Connor, what are you doing?" Gerd says confused

"I don't want you to be cold potatoes." He says, carefully stacking up a couple CDs. Then frowns, and tries again. "I mean. Um."

"Cold potatoes?" She moves towards him "Connor, are you packing my stuff for the other house?"

"Not all of it." He responds, thankful that she's provided more context for him to work off. "Not this pillow. Or, um..." A glance cast around the room, and he picks up a nightshirt. "This. I'm stealing them, and you can't stop me. They're going in my room, so when you want to visit them, you have to come sleep with me."

"Oh," a small smile kindles in her features, an ember of happiness and love sparking, "I really do like that pillow and night shirt. I better visit, a lot, huh?"

He nods solemnly, not trusting any words for a moment before insisting, "But you gotta haul the rest of this out of here, I can't keep it all in my closet. Where would I put my favorite sticks?"

She begins to pack, "let me know what you've marked as your territory and I'll take the rest"

In a hallway, listening, an English Springer Spaniel wags lightly.

In the end, he has only a handful of things, including some books that were towards the bottom of her shelf - perhaps favorites from her childhood, or passed on and forgotten, now worn. "I can steal these? I don't think I've read any of them. And I'm sure you're too grown up and fancy now to want them."

Reading the cover. "James and the Giant Peach.... they spelled his name wrong. But I bet Snow would like this one."

"You should read it to snow, in fact," she moves to place some of the things for kids in prominent spots, "Let's get your library set up here." Narnia books are placed, "This one has a Lion and his four human sidekicks."

And they start decorating the room for Connor's tastes, Gerd vanishing, and bringing out sheets and things more suited to a young boy than a teen age girl, "Check it, Starwars blanket, or Superhero blanket?"

"Um. Both! Then I can make them fight. No, they'll have teamups."

"Wouldn't the lion just eat them all up?" Curiously eyeing that set. "They must be really stringy for it to take seven whole books to finish gobbling."

"Well, he comes and goes, maybe he has a full pantry at home" She smiles, "You need to read it to find out. " She sorts out some more