#rivervale_lodge

"He's already a prince of the universe, we all just better hurry up and realize it."

A scowl at her Dr. Pepper.

"Piper, I'm sorryk, we shouldn't talk shit about the guy you care about. And what frustrates us," Gerd says "is we can SEE his good qualities too. He was brave before the Fiona thing. He can be generous."

She chews at her lip, wanting to champion Adam, but... she's not wrong.

"Yeah, well, don't listen to me. I'm the bad guy, remember?"

"Maybe he won't feel like he has so much to prove if he's not starting a step down in the class ranking. Jumping 2 steps up is a bit much though." And she gives Dagmar a confused look. "You? Why?"

Grunt-shrug.

"I might be the newest around here, but I can't imagine you ever being called the bad guy. Dirk, sure. Or maybe your spooky friend who thinks people can't see that he cares. But you're like..." She shrugs, gesturing vaguely. "A pillar of hero-ship, or whatever."

"you should have seen her at the start. Though at least she had legit reasons. I was just in a bitch phase" Gerd says

"I was the cold-fish bitch of a girlfriend who dumped him. So yeah."

A snort "Such bullshit" from Gerd

"None of us are who we were 'at the start'." She says firmly. Though a brow raises at that.

"Or did you miss the couple months where he'd act like I was gonna go Dagmar Smash on him, because I'm so unstable?"

And a small smile. "So maybe there is hope for anyone." A glance out the doorway after Adam.

"Um. Yeah, I think I did miss that." And she looks a bit guilty. "I... you know, I didn't know you two were dating. For what it's worth. And... I'm sorry, if I was... not to dredge up history..."

"Not your fault."

"Frankly, I wasn't able to give him what he wanted."

Gerd says "Dagmar... not your fault either. He jumped ship fast... and even when you were dating he flirted with everything that moved."

Her mouth draws into a thin line. "Yeah, I know."

"Like I said, bad girlfriend."

"Scared Girlfriend dealilng with a lot of shit. And he was not a GOOD boyfriend even if he was a bad one" Gerd says "But enough on that I guess. We're all getting better, day by day. Adam maybe too." A nod to Piper "HEll, Dirk is... tolerable now. I remember when he was the punk ass jerk"

She nods, and looks uncomfortable. "I... might be a shitty girlfriend too. But I might just be a shitty person." A shrug. "So maybe we're all just people who have good and bad days."

"I'm sure you're not. You do the right stuff..." She sighs. "Sorry."

"And you seem okay to me. Dunno, I know we don't hang out much."

"Even if I wanted his wish to fail?" Her mouth tightens. "That's... selfish of me, and I know it, but I can't help feeling it."

A sigh and a frown.

"Dunno, maybe you aren't the only one. So we're the same there."

"...you said you had pictures of CJ?"

"I do! Wanna see? They're mostly him sleeping on things. He sleeps a lot..."

She nods, movig over, then suddenly straightens up, and shoots Gerd a look! "THAT'S what you were doing. You wanted to see if he had the Fiona-thing... I didn't catch on to what you were asking earlier." A shake of her head. "Boy, I feel dense today."

"Yeah well, I wish I hadn't. " Gerd admits "I made things worse. if you're dense, I was ULTRA dense..." Gerd grins "Your brother is ADORBS"

That last to Dagmar

"Right?"

"Your brother is cute too." She says to Gerd. "Though, I'm glad he and Jack weren't here. Connor still seems weirded out by the LAST thing that happened with Adam, and this might just mess him up. Poor kid."

"Yeah... I'm glad they're at the Farm. Look, see, he fell asleep, then my dad fell asleep...."

A giggle at that picture, some of the tension leeching away via cute baby.

"I was going to ask your dad if he needed more help at the store, what with Paternity leave and all that. But now it sounds like maybe I'm being sent on a quest..."

"He might need help... man, the store has been crazy busy actually?"

Gerd smiles "Little Bro is going to be a heartbreaker if he ever grows. But no rush" Then snickers "Okay.. uhm.. Dag's...is your little brother trying to stick a finger up your dad's nose on that picture?"

Snerk-grin. Nod.

"Oh, kid has a GRIP.... like, I bet he could do pull-ups if he had more coordination."

"Well, While he was ordering a son, Jaymes probably ordered a STRONG one"

"Mm. Well, if I stay around... or when I get back, if he still needs help.... I don't suppose either of you would be up for a quest with Adam." Her tone such that it's not actually a question.

And a small laugh at that last.

"I... I doubt Adam would want me around."

"I might help him out. I did sic Dirk on him." Gerd sighs "For good reason but that doesn't excuse it"

"I'd take you on a quest in a heartbeat. You're strong, and smart and have the whole Lie Detector boon to boot."

"It's not that I wouldn't want to go. I'm just... not sure I can." A pause, and she glances at Gerd and Dagmar for a long moment before admitting. "I... am somewhat... on probation." A side glance over at the butterfly that is never far from the edges of her sight. "And I might not be able to travel where he has to go. Not without getting permission first."

"Right, there was a thing back home?"

A nod.

"Like... Piper... we all have fuck-ups. Here, you're part of the Lodge, right? So, like... you're cool."