#rivervale_lodge

"Hm." A notion. "Nadeen...I suspect that you're thinking of relocating to SilverWolf. If that happens...I may make a point of checking in on you regularly." A wink. "That way, I'm the one reaching out, not you."

"how.. how obvious AM I about that?" A blush

"About moving to SilverWolf? Well...not terribly. But you hardly made a secret of angling for an advantage there."

"Truth" She ponders then remember what was said "You know? You'd be welcome. " A sigh "if only I can find a way to redirect Calanthe"

"Oh, I Do Not Like That Woman," Kerri mutters with some venom. "But thank you." She starts clearing away dishes and washing up.

"No, and she will not respect your position as Hearth. Perhaps not even your knighthood."

A glance. "Oh, really?" Then a narrow look. "Nadeen, are you trying to goad me to visiting SilverWolf out of sheer contrariness?"

"No, actually sorry, just honestly warning you the woman does not show signns of respecting non sidhe as peers"

"Mmph. No real surprise, there." She finishes the clean up. "The Baron must have very little in common with her, if he is gaining your affection."

"The Baron is.. " A pause "Sometimes he says he's not much of an Ailil. His focus on animals , his lack of interest in large social gatherings... but he's just as skilled as any. And. .I grow too free with his conversations with me" A blush "Suffice to say I thought he was going to be a cold hearted monster about how he discarded his son, only to learn the patterns are far more complex" A nose wrinkle "if only I could help findn out the full story there and tend to it. Well, with time I will. Not to just 'fix him' but because Connor is a good lad and hopes so strongly. I wantt to make it true."

then she realizes "Ah, speaking of connor. I am almost late to play with him. Forgive me, Hearth. Thank you for the soup" And out she goes

"I believe you could do it, Nadeen," Kerri encourages, then nods. "Of course. Enjoy!" she says as Nadeen heads out to spend time with Connor. She finishes cleaning up, then pauses as a thought occurs to her. "Oh my..." A bemused grin, then she shakes her head. "Getting WAY ahead of things there, Kerri. Leave it alone." And she gets on with other tasks.

~end scene

*****

In Sylvi's room she may not be able tto stop giggling ... the magic shoes only work for her, but she was able to talk Colton into dancing 'erotically' for her. Actually, he's got a hot bod, but despite Fiona training.. that's one area of dancing he's not sure about so the Chuck Farley moment or whoever i was was.. okay.. sexy body, silly move

The baby oil really makes his abs glisten

And he is SO Pink/purple in the cheeks as he finishes

Oh, she is biting her lip So Hard to keep from guffawing loudly enough to make the entire Lodge wonder what's going on. And as he finishes, she gives enthusiastic but quiet applause for his courage. "That was amAzing!" she effuses between giggles.

"Uh huh ..so we're even now mm?" He does sit next to her and gives her a kiss

"Oh, yes, we're even. For Now," she adds ominously and claims another kiss. She reaches to touch his chest, and her fingers slip on the baby oil. "Okay, that's a lot."

"Yeah, if we tried to grab each other right now I think we'd risk a launch" Another blush "You understand, if you tell the gang at Darkgate I did this, I will just have to die of embarrassmentt to escape. I'm just not THAT secure"

She smiles and gives him another reassuring kiss. "I will see that your corpse gets buried with a feather boa," she teases.

"Oh well now I have to live forever" A kiss back, then he says "I swear I am SO lucky to ge today off. I .. don't want to speak for you, but just walking and talking today.. the dinner and the movie , it was nice to be a normal couple again you know?"

Sylvi is aware Colton got the day off partly so he could find out what her choice was, or so she suspects. Hewitt is honorable, but sly when he needs to be, and any Dougal knows how to multitask

"It really, really was. It's been, like, on-duty and off-duty but not really free time for a while, now." And then she gives a thoughtful sigh, almost unconsciously, as she idly strokes his slick shoulder. "I've been thinking about it a lot."

"It?" Curious "Oh.. " realization "it" He touches her hair "Got anything settled in your head yet?"

She blushes a bit and gives a half-grin. "Well...yes...but I wasn't expecting to have this conversation when you were half-naked and glistening....."

He looks down, then chuckles "I'm going to flatter myself and think of myself as going above and beyond for recruiting" And he makes his Pecs pop "Hypnotic, aren'tt they?"

She laughs then says, "Well, I know I've caused some distraction myself now and then, so again, we're even."

"Oh so many times" he says fondly

Then more seriously, "I...haven't quite decided. I have some more questions for Chieftain Hewitt. And...for you." She bites her lip.

"I.. can guess what the Chief MIGHT say..." and his face grows serious "You know I'll answer anything you ask of me as honestly as I can."

"Then...I guess what I need to know is...how is this going to work? I mean...we're a couple, but we're going to be working together? How are we going to deal with it in our relationship if we have work disagreements? Or...or how will we deal with our roles at DarkGate if something goes wrong with our relationship?"

"I... " he is caught off guard, this wasn't the question he thoght would come up "You think something is going to go wrong?"

"I think..." she takes a breath. "I think me relocating there permanently is a different thing from me having a visit extended. I don't know what it means, though. I've never really lived anywhere but here. I've visited other places, but I've never moved someplace new before."

"And .."A breath "You're worried about a loss of certainty. I.. id' like to think we'd handle disagreements like we do now. We talk it over, we work it out, and we each do what we think is right. It would be up to the Chief, the final say I mean. I. . I'd like to think I'm not petty enough to be bitter about the idea you have a mind of your own. But.. what do you think would help prevent trouble?"

"Well..." She pauses. "I've got to know where I stand in the chain of command. That's something I have to talk with Chieftain Hewitt about. Like, among other things. But also...." Another pause. "I'm going to need my own room." She may have practiced saying that before now.

"Well I can certainly see why ranking would be a concern to you, it might be somewhat variable and.." A pause "Your own room?" A cough "Do I.. snore or something?"

She swallows. "No, it's not...well, yes, you do, but I don't mind that...." She shifts uncomfortably. "I just...I've got stuff," she points out, indicating the room they're in.

"Well, you leave half the shoes here..." he says "And maybe a third of the pillows behind.. and it should mostly fit?"

The hand flops in the tank

"Okay.. forgot about that" he admits "But we could put it on the shelf"

She blinks. "Colton..." A pause. "I want my own room. A space that's...that's mine. Even if it's mostly my stuff that spends time there."

"I .." He considers "That important huh? I guess.. I'm wondering why your own space is... I mean, I feel like I'm missing something" He admits

"It's important because...because I need to be more than Colton's girlfriend if I'm going to have a role there. And...and because it's not like we're married or oathed or something." She's getting tense and uncomfortable. She had hoped this was going to be as obvious as her parents seemed to think it was.

At the word married his eyes widen and he looked like she just hit him with the broad side of Dagmar's glaive upside the head. It takes a moment

"Just so we're sure here, you are NOT expecting me to propose, you.. you just want a ..non girlfriend role?"

Oh sweet Frigga's spoon he's normally smarter than this!