#rivervale_lodge

It must have all happened quickly...a moment where the Chieftain was out on patrol, Kerri was tending to a mountain of laundry in the back...and who knows where any other adults were. But when Kerri comes in from the kitchen carrying a basket of carefully folded, fresh-smelling clothes, she takes one glance...and almost drops be basket. A silent look of shock.

"What. Have. You. DONE?"

""We thought it was posta wash off" Jack Flap gulps! "It was agift for us with a note to start playin!"

"Show Me."

He shows a paint covered wash cloth, then looks over at the paint ball gun which certainly seems kid friendly

Some day...perhaps a day years and years and years from now...the boys may well look back on this day and reflect that they were very fortunate that this occurred so close to Beltane, and not at a time when Kerri might be more inclined to be far less seelie.

"The note. Show me the Note."

"It wont' scrub off.. so I used Coke and ..."

He points to the box with the note

"You...you used Coke?"

Coke is not helping btw.

"Yeah, cuz in the movies they use that to clean toilets"

Kerri very carefully steps back into the kitchen to put the laundry down someplace safer. Then, with carefully controlled movements, she goes to the box and takes a look at the note.

Damn. The note is created BY amazon. No personal attachment, it reads 'For The Kids! Take it out now and have fun indoors! Nobody can get hurt! It's just COLORS!'

The satyr himself might have a large blue blob on his head "Connor isn't a bad shot. Don't know if that makes him a gun dog.. " Then "I got his tail"

A soft whimper and Kerri may notice that one of the green splots on the floor is actually long and furry... under the paint. Disappearing under a couch.

Kerri takes a deep breath. Then another. A third. Then she says, very evenly, "Follow whatever the instructions say about putting those things away properly. Put them in the box they came in. Then go upstairs and get clean. Do NOT get your room dirty in the process. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Hearth" he says with big eyes "is the chief gonna banish me?"

That makes her blink, and her tone gentles slightly. "No, you're not getting banished. And this can be made right. But...you know this is not a good situation, right?"

"I learned that when it knocked the lamp over and the paint wouldn't come off even when I scrubbed HARD"

"It was my idea." Muffled from under the couch. "So you have to banish both of us, and we'll ride the rails all alone with no hot lunches." Sorrowful.

A slight wince as the notion of what a roughly-scrubbed lampshade is going to look like.

"I fired the first shot. That makes me the bad guy, don't blame Connor"

"I thought maybe they were just Shimmery-miracle and they would go away when the game was over." still just a tail sticking out.

"I'm not blaming either of you. Not exactly. But I'll put it this way -- you're both lucky that you're young and adorable. But I mean it, now, scoot upstairs and wash."

A painted tail

"Yes, Hearth. Right away." he puts the things up JUST How the instructions say

He creeps out, and his brown eye and blue eye are now accented by a brown ear and a blue ear.

"And do not come back down without my permission, understand?"

And a saaaaad look.

"YEs, Hearth. Come on, Connor. We gotta clean our acts up"

"Don't push it, Connor." she says with a wry look.

"But I didn't get any on my - " He trails off the wry look. "Yes, Hearth."

As the boys head upstairs, Kerri is heading to the phone closet.

And up the stairs a VERY fast Satyr goes

She dials.

"Anne Marie? Do you have a moment? Yes? Then...HELLLPPP!"

Connor trails up as well, hoping that the soap is enough to get paint out of fur! Oh, his lighter bits might be blue and green for a while, but at least it's festive?

"On my way! Do I need to bring anything? Besides me?"

"A brigade of your kith. The boys got their hands on paintball guns. Mundane ones."

"I am absolutely over my head. I promise, I'll provide pastries and tea for all."

"You are my hero!"

The boggan hangs up.

She hangs up and just stares at the disaster of a room. I hope we can get this straightened before...well, before anybody else can see it.

There's a knock on the door...

About two minutes after. That's fast

"A minute!" Kerri goes to the door and opens it just enough to see who is outside.

Lucia! Her wings open, and Ramona, the yet unsained boggan. "We were asked where we were and then told to get our butts here and swear secrecy?" Lucia says confused "Is Sylvi okay?"

Looks like the wilders were closest