#rivervale_lodge

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Dagmar gets a text...from Kerri! (She's cool enough to know that teens hate when you call them.) TXT: Hey, I got the urge to make a bunch of apple pies. Got a bushel of apples and the pie dough is cooling in the fridge. Do you have time to come help me with putting them all together? You get to take one home with you, after!

TXT: Sure! OMW

And sure enough, when Dagmar arrives at the Lodge's kitchen, the pie plates are waiting to be filled and there is an array of spice jars on the kitchen island (none of this pre-mixed "pie spice" for our Hearth!). Kerri looks over from where she's peeling an apple and smiles. "Excellent! Come on in, wash your hands, and get started rolling!" She nods to the section of the counter where the chilled dough waits alongside a rolling pin.

She bobs her head and rolls up her sleeves. "Told Connor we weren't gonna eat ALL those apples, but he was excited about the orchard..."

"He was excited about everything about that trip. Thank you for doing that with him. You made a memory." The speed and efficiency with which she can peel an apple is impressive.

Dagmar works on rolling out crusts... there's a momentary bit of a struggle when she doesn't spread out enough flour, but she manages to rectify it on her own.

Kerri nods approval when she sorts it out. "I don't remember if you know how to get the crusts into the pie plates."

"Um. There's... isn't there a trick with the rolling pin?"

"Mm-hm." Agreement. "That's one way. There's also a way where you just gently fold it into quarters, and then unfold it again into the plate. I prefer that, but I can show you either."

"Which one am I less likely to screw up?" An amiable grin.

"Knowing you? Neither. You're a skilled hand in the kitchen. Okay, I'll show you both, and you decide." Wiping her hands, she abandons the apples for a moment (the doors and windows are closed to defend against Snow) and demonstrates using the pie tin to cut out a circle the right size, and then both techniques for placing the bottom crust. "Remember to set aside about a third of that dough for the top crusts."

A nod, and she meticulously copies Kerri as she tries each. "Oh, that's not bad..."

"There you go," Kerri nods. She returns to her task as Dagmar continues with putting pastry into the bases of the (TEN) tins Kerri set out.

"This is a lot of pie, even for us."

"True. But we have a lot of apples," she reasons. "Besides, it's getting hard to make pie and not make extra to send to others without people getting just little bit envious." Hmm...a little bit of a Gwydion ding there...does Kerri have another reason?

"I mean, yeah. But... why pie and, um, not apple butter?"

"I like pie, first off. It's a nice start to the season. But trust me, there will be another bushel or three that goes through this kitchen in the near future, and some of that will definitely become apple butter."

"I... sure, it's the season." A touch of hesitation.

A curious look as more apple skin slips away at the touch of her blade. "But...?"

"Just wondered if that was the only reason. Dunno." Rolling out another crust.

A little pursed-lip expression, then a sigh. "Fine, you got me. I'm not proud of it, but...I am not going to have either Marigold or Marcellus try to brag that they've got the upper hand in apple pies." The battle is, apparently, on.

"Oh, but they don't."

"You know that, and I know that, but we have to show THEM that!" Then a wink. "We'll never actually get them to admit it, but it's fun to try."

"True!"

"So, to arms!" she makes a grand gesture with her paring knife.

Dag laughs.

And the work continues.

"How're things?"

"Well, you saw Connor."

"So that's pretty good."

"That's amazing. It's world-changing, for him!"

"Yeah. If anybody deserves good stuff - you know?"

"We're gonna go to the shore, too, when Dad can take the day."

"Oh, Connor will adore that. How's he doing with...well, has he interacted with many mortal children yet?"

Kerri's making quick work of turning peeled apples into sliced apples.

"Not a lot... and he's not said much, so..." Frown. "Yeah, probably bad. I'll check in on him."

She nods. "I was wondering. He hasn't seemed very eager to go with Jack and Lane the past day or so. He might need a few pointers in how-to-mortal."

She nods. "Yeah. And pooka-speak can be tricky, too."

The kitchen door swings open , Gerd intruding on the talk with a frown

"Hey Gerd."

"Hey... " She asks "Anyone know who the hell Ian is?" A scowl

"Uh... no?"

"Ian?"

A frown. "I'm not familiar. A little context?"

"Apparently Jack says he screwed up because Ian, this boy they met swimminng, thinks Connor is a liar after Connor used Jack's name instead of his own. I haven't seen Connnor go swimming since. Jack says every time he asks about it Connor pulls a 'shadowpaw mind trick' and they're off on something else"

"Oh, dear."

Sigh.

"I thought it might have been something like that. Well...in truth, every one of us has made some social mistake that makes us want to crawl under the floorboards when we think about it, right?"

"Yeah, for sure. But it can be scary to try again - and Ian might be a lost cause. Doesn't mean every other mortal is, though."