#rivervale_lodge

“He’s nobody.” (True?) “but I called him Jackie the Kid. And he’s NOT a little shit, though. Not to me... and he only peed a LITTLE and no one should go to jail for that! And it was outside. You only get a cage if you pee INSIDE.” (Also true?)

"I wanted the trees to like me" The boy says with terror "I didn't get to see many trees and the Hearth gave me food and told me there would be gardens. I never seen no gardens.. tht was in the good part of the city, not where I was."

"So I thought if I watered em, they'd remember come spring and..." the boy looks ready to break into tears. Satyrs.

Gerd looks relieved "Oh thank the Dreaming, Connor doesn't have an eating disorder."

“Not unless it’s eatin’ dis order of fries?” He looks a bit bemused by Gerd. And puts his arms around little Jackie. “No one will hurt you. Here.” (Lie... true.)

A sigh, and Brekke resists the urge to rest a hand on the satyr boy's shoulder as she heads back to her chair. "You are not in trouble...and we will call you Jack, if you like, for now." She settles with some measure of relief mixed with trouble.

"Oooh " Gerd says in that tone that indicates she's not sure whether to shake her little brother or hug the stuffing out of him

"Flap's okay too. Or Jack Flap... I liked that it was fancy and fae like .. not litle Little Shit, and.. I like flapjacks" Jack says

"Where do you come from, Jack?"

"No, we will not call you the other name."

Jack seems to be clinging otno Connor tightly in return , and faces the giant. he wishes he were a REAL Jack, they're fearless with Giants. it is known. But he's still scared, still a coward, "I came from Memphis. I heard satyrs could get here, but I didn't think anyone would want me cuz I'm a crook."

All true

“Memphis!” He offers helpfully.

“Jack Memphis is a Good name. It sounds like a singer.” He pats the kid on the back.

"A crook?"

"But I don't even LIKE Memphis, folks were mean to me there" then he hides behindd Connor a bit as the Chieftain says "I didn't steal anything here but seconds, I promise!" True

She nods. "Fair enough. Where are your parents?"

Tiffany nods "A likely story. Should I book em, Danno?"

“Okay. It’s a bad name. I’m sorry.” Instantly regretful and he pats the boy on the back.

"it's okay." Jack says "I like Jack Flap, and you are Connor, Buddy, Crazypaw" Using a recent play name

"Don't know where my parents are." he says

True

“You can’t book him.” Standing in front of him between the kid and Thane. “I won’t let you. And I don’t know if he can even read!”

"Mm. But you came here, hearing about the call for satyrs." A nod. "That would be Professor Wayburton's project."

Tiffany looks down at Connor, and atcually wags a bit

A sigh. "There will be no booking. Connor, Jack, please relax. Neither of you is in jeopardy, although Connor, I do expect you to trust us better than this."

She sounds a bit pained that he thought Jack would need to hide.

He gives Brekke a sad look. “I’m not supposed to break anything. Even a promise.”

"It's my fault," Jack says "All of it... I used my cunning satyr wiles to man.. err pupilate him! We satyrs are diabolical like that"

"Then you must be careful about the promises you make," she points out.

An eyebrow as she considers the young satyr's words.

It would appear the only thing that inspires the boy to courage is protecting his friend

And there was a light bit of lies in there.. he's trying to take ALL the blame to spare his buddy

Dagmar quietly watches in the background.

To Brekke, “He doesn’t eat very much. You can tell, because you can see it all in his tummy. So I didn’t think it would hurt. Not as much as getting whomped in the ear does.” He meaningfully rubs his left ear, glancing at Jack.

Clem whispers to Dagmar and whispers " I see what you mean about drama around here"

A frown, confused, then she follows his glance and notices the boy's ear. And she frowns.

And yes, if they look, they can see the boy has a calliflower ear

the sort brought about by strikes

Jack covers it, "Sorry. I know it's ugly. That's my 'yaskedforit'"

Brekke clears her throat. "Who did this to you?" she asks steadily.

He makes a soft distressed noise like an upset puppy, and gives Jack another hug.

"My old gang... they would have me sing and use the gift around folks... they relaxed n danced... or played... and then the pickpocking was easy..." A pause "or the mugging. Get em in an alley... they weren't looking..then WHAM WHAM..." The boy makes a flailing motion, "Into the ground...pick em, don't forget the plastic...use that fast so it dont' get closed an account"

She just...stares...

"I..tried to warn a nice old man once.. that's how I got the 'yaskedforit'" True "Then I never did it again. Cuzz cowards sholdn't be brave"

...but those who know her know that her anger is stirring, not directed at the boy, and she's trying not to let it grow.

"Brave just means they get hurt worse and dead and you get hurt too"

Clem's jaw grinds a bit too

A quiet moment. "Jack..." she says, her voice very low. "I can try to fix your ear, if you will let me. I will try not to hurt you in the process." Her jaw is tense, but her tone is even.

Tears flow "They told me.. y'askedfor it, and that was much bettre than 'see whatyoudid?" his vhoice shifts