#rivervale_lodge

"Oh yeah. He got poisoned. Good thing for Symon..."

"Symon .. " Gerd declares "Does not suck."

Kourtney shakes her head at Gerd "Don't kill him with too much flattery, there, Gerd"

"Symon's a good guy." Adam agrees.

"He is."

"Where'd he go?" realizing now he's misplaced the sluagh.

"Wherever he wants" Gerd guesses

"Symon does that. Sluagh thing, I think."

"I was his ride....."

"Yeah? Heard you were driving..."

"Yeah!" Proud. "Sally Mae set me up. Money's good, I have freedom, and it helps!" His face falls. "'Course -now-........"

"Now is hard, yeah..." brow furrow.

"You couldn't know about that" Kourtney says Kindly

"Still sucks."

"I should charge for flicker flashing. Wonder how much I'd make?" She says

"Better charge dross, shit's expensive..."

"I take cash and dross." Adam agrees.

"Useful."

" 'Xactly. I'm gonna save up and get a fang-blade made."

"Fang blade?" Kourtney says "You gota smith lined up?"

"No. Don't have enough dross. I think."

Symon comes back out of... wherever he was. And shoves a hand out towards Adam. "Here."

He takes it without thinking.

A small, fragile something is dropped into his hand - very small, and light, but it has that familiar dross feel. "Be careful. It'll shatter. Crush it to release the glamour when you're ready."

Not a warm and friendly dross, more of an... existential dread? Cool and disconcerting... but glamour none the less.

"Naw, man, it's cool. On the house."

Dagmar... has dozed off in the chair.

Gerd looks her over, "keep it down guys. She's earned a rest"

"Right." He whispers.

Kourtney nods

"Guess we oughta let her sleep. You want that tour, Kourtney?"

"Sure, please" She takes motions her to go on

Symon has stepped back and shoves his hands in his pockets. "Then keep it for future. I might not be seelie, but that doesn't mean I don't pay what I owe."

"Dude, it's a favor. Friends do that."

A shrug.

"Take it for now." He insists one more time. "And... text me later. I had an idea I want to bounce off you."

"Yeah? Well, ok." Reluctant but polite. "Thanks."

"Text later. Don't forget." He nods, then makes a vague 'shoo' gesture at Adam and Kourtney.

Kourtney shrugs and follows Adam

Once they head out, Symon crawls up the wall to the rafters, retrieving his leather-bound book, and takes up a spot, legs dangling, somewhere roughly overhead Dagmar's snoozing spot. Settling in for a long study session and silent guard.

Gerd looks at him, "If anyone asks, I'll say you were collecting fresher blood and hair for who knows what"

****

In the kitchen...

Tiffany is livid with Vali still... "Bad Damsel, bad bad damsel"

Kerri has worked what skills she has, both glamour-ous and mundane, to clear the bullet, hopefully with great success.

She does, she's talented after all. Though Vali says "Are you..trying to make it hurt just a little more than normal,Hearth?" Wincing at least once

"That's the sort of question that you don't ask until later, Vali. Otherwise, I might take it as an insult...and get offended." Surely the little jab on the last word was accidental.

"Noted" he says

"See, I was going to tip her if it was," Tiffany says "What's next? You're going to risk gangrene? Rabies? All for some macho pride? Bullets are known to lead to heart diesase"

Kerri drops the bullet on a dish cloth. "You two get to decide what to do with that." And she sets about putting her considerable skills and glamour to use with cleaning and healing.