#rivervale_lodge

"Jack , isn't he a hero? Me I'm a coward.. no jack ever has been a coward " Clearly the boy doesn't know his shakespeare "But, I like it."

He thinks for a minute. Probably should get a Grown up. Kerri? Kerri is a good choice - but Olgar might be in there, and he's scary if you don't know him. Chief? She's out working. Oh, he knows! "Do you like pork chops?"

"Never had one" he says

"Want to come meet a friend of mine? She makes really good food. She lets anyone in her house - she adopted a troll even though she was already practically a grown up, and a flying horse, and TWO dogs, and a cat with one eye. And she gives me snacks whenever I go over even though she's not my mom. And if you get scared, she's got a baby growing, so she can't run fast and you could get away easy." He adds, sensibly.

"uhm. I don't always trust grown ups. they hit you if your'e bad..or not good enough"

"Oh and there's a monkey too, who goes by and steals fruit, but they still let her in even though she steals sometimes, and give her more fruit, a'couse she can't help stealing sometimes. So they like you even if you might not ALWAYS be good."

"I don't trust most of them. But I like this one. No one here kicks me, or pulls my ears, or yanks my tail."

"They don't? Because I gotta be honest, you seem nice and I don't want to harm you, but I kind of want to pull your tail. Just a little"

He blinks, and says, "...you can pet my tail if you want. But not if you're mean and gonna just yank it to hear me go owwwww owwwww owwwwoooooooo." A soft howl.

"No yanking" He says

But he does hold out a palm and touchthe tail, just a brush light against it. "neat"

The tail wags with a thump, thump, thump against the floor! "If you don't want to meet my friend, that's okay. You can stay here. But it gets lonesome all alone up here all day."

"maybe later? Don't tell no one I'm here" munchign

And he leaves the tail alone to refocus

"I won't tell a single soul!" He crosses over his heart with a finger. "It's the Shadow Paw promise. I'm a ninja, you know. You could be one too, if you wanted. Like Jackie Chan."

"Jackie Chan is cool"

He reaches over tentatively and touches one of the small hooves. "They're not like horse hoofs. And no metal shoes."

The boy doesn't mind "Oh yeah, see the shape? I don't know if I'm kosher"

"I could ask my friend. She's a spooky ghost who doesn't eat ham. I used to see her a lot, but she's busy being a grown up these days."

"Don't worry, she won't eat you even if you are kosher. She doesn't have any teeth and you're not stinky enough." A pause. "You ARE pretty stinky, though."

"Oh.." A nod "do i need to take a bath?"

"I can make one with LOTS of bubbles. Then you can have a beard, and a funny hat, and make bubble piles. And if anyone comes, you can hide in the bubs!"

"But if you don't want to, you don't have to. Because not everyone likes them. Gerd says it's just like swimming, but it's NOT."

"It's SO not" he says "But.. I never had bubbles." Curious "Can I make bubble horns?"

"Oh yes. Like a big bubble bull. Toro, toro!"

"Well, okay. If everyone is gone I'll try one." A sniff under his own pits "take some of the stinky out so you can smell your waffles"

A grin, and he checks the hallway. "The ghost is clear!" He whispers back, and darts over to the bathroom. "Duh duh DUN NA duh duh, na na.... DUH-NA-NA!" Mission: Impossibath has commenced.

And the two ninjas make it to the shimmering pool of bubblechantment

If a mess is made, it's at least not too bad of one, because of the soap!

"How'd you get here, anyways? I've never smelt you around before."

"The big white dog, he smelled me so I backed away ... then I realized maybe I could sneak around.. so I came through the chimney, like that red guy who visits the good kids"

"Oh! That's my friend, Oak. You tell him, you're my friend, and he won't bother you none. Where were you before then?"

"In Memphis...that's where Elvis lived before he got fat and died. But I wasn't on the touristy parts"

"I like Elvis, because he was a hound dog." A nod, and he pats more bubbles on his head. "And peanut butter is GOOD with banana."

"Well, yeah... so we robbed folks... but .. I heard satyrs were coming here... and I snuck out. I didn't like the guys I was with. They were not nice." He rubs at his ear

"Your ear is all lumpy. Do you have an earache?"

"no.. i Just got bitchslapped" He says "right there"

He tugs at his own ears, a bit fretfully. "That doesn't sound very nice."

"Nope. Little Shit.. wham!" He pauses " I like Jack Flap better"

"I won't let no one hit you if I'm around. I'd even... I'd bite 'em! Chomp chomp!"

"You shouldn't defend me. I'll run away and desert us both. I'm a coward"

He thinks about this. "I run away too, sometimes. It's smarter that way, if you can't win. But I bet you're really fast. I can be fast sometimes, but I bet you're faster than me in general."

"Oh, yeah, satyr legs. I got quick" A nod

"I'm quick when I'm silver, but the rest of the time I'm just dull." A grin. "Whoa, the water turned real dark. That means the soap worked! You gotta get it in your hair too. Lots of suds. 'Cuz if you miss a spot, then you have to do the whole bath AGAIN." A long-suffering sigh.

"AGAIN?" A gasp "For just one spot?"

A solemn nod. "But once you're clean, you can have a snack before bed, too. I like warm strawberry milk!"

"I haven't had strawberry milk, is it any good?"

"It's sweet and pink. There's blueberry milk too, and you can mix 'em to be fun colors. And blow bubbles in 'em. Bloop bloop. I never had colored milk before I came here, neither. Just kibbles, because it's cheaper. It tastes okay, but it's boring. I like different things better. Then I can eat everything! Except chocolate. Sometimes I like to smell the hot cocoa, though, but I'm not s'posed to drink it."

"oh,, because the tail and stuff.. sorry. but maybe I'llike Strawberry milk too"

"I bet! Miss Kerri is Hearth here, she keeps the place running. She's probably the best cook I know too! She needs a lot of help with cooking. If there wasn't someone there to help her taste everything to know when it's done, it would probably take twice as long. I earn my keep."