#rivervale_lodge

Dirk stomps in with a burst of winter cold behinnnd him. He makes his way to the kitchen, and roots for spare food and a drrink

And a stack of papers under one arm.

He flops down at a table with those, the food, and a drink ...

while not a troll, the boy has grown to be huge , a true brute of a young man, and his thick fingers stab at the files as he flips them open

His look is so intent and full of redcap ire, even Oak scoots to the other side of the room

"fuckig show em" He keeps reading

the keen eyed might notice some sort of college material? Well, school related

But then, currently , he's alone

"I could do this... my record's annoying clean"

He leans back, "I'd get to bully people. toss em around, the tax payers cover it if I get caught"

He picks up the paper, the one wih qualifications for the nearest Police Academy

"Officer DIrk "Curbside Justice" Lee. I'll have to learn how to cantrip body cams, but... yeah, this is the dream"

The front door opens, and Brekke comes inside from working with Stormwake. She is hanging up her cloak as she notices Dirk. "Peacekeeper, greetings."

He looks up "Uh, hey Chief." For a moment he is unsure if he should hide the papers or not.

She continues to fetch herself a coffee.

After the first sip, she seems to register the papers in front of him. "What is this?" she asks curiously.

"High School guidance counselor is a bitch" He says with a shrug " I bust my ass to get to Cs, and she acts like burger flipping is it for me"

A frown and she takes a seat at the table opposite him. She turns one of the brochures to look at it, and then looks at him. "Hm. They told me I could do factory work if my English was better."

"Factory work? Cut off from nature? that ain't for you no way" He says "Anyway.. Jersey has some police academies.. thinking of becoming a cop. I can bully folks, tell em what to do, maybe smack em around"

A brow. "I do not think the police culture will allow as much of that as it once did. That time is changing." I hope. "But I also can see that, yes, they will need tough officers to secure safety." A sip. "The kind who are willing to face a child of Lilith."

He looks proud "Now that was a fight" Dirk's pride is obvious "I mean, Dagmar didn't give me a patrol like she did others annd I was pissed about it, but Sylvi said she probably knew I was good as a wildcard an that's why she didn't... makes sense I guess. Anyway, glad I did, saved a dreamerr AND was bad ass. So yeah, feeling smug"

The Chieftain may notice that there's some wood piled up, some for a fire place, other for carving

"It is good you were able to patrol where you felt led. We might not have known about that threat, otherwise." A curious look at the wood, then back at him. "Did you bring this?"

"Oh, nah, that old black walnut tree that was half dead anyway fell down recently. Nobody attacked or nothing... maybe the wind and snow was too much... but natural causes? Sir Frank and Jonas brought it in. I would have used a chainsaw, but they broke it up with axes. Something about you might want to use the 'heart wood'?" Baffled "I did't think trees had hearts"

A pleased look and a nod. "It is the center, the core of the tree. Very sturdy. And black walnut...hm...that will make for beautiful carvings."

Then she indicates the brochures again. "This is a good option. Are you considering any others?"

"Well, there's a lot of it," he says of the wood, then "Well, I ainn'tt sure WHAT jobs would let me be a cap, what's legal anyway"

"Mm. I wonder...do you know of any other redcaps who have regular, legal employment? I know I do not know of many...but that does not mean they do not exist." A pause. "I do not suppose you would be interested in trucking?"

"There's a cook in a diner near Silverwolf and a cook in Greasers near Earth Runes... but I ainn't into MAKIN food. as much as eating." He looks trrobuled "Most caps in Bergen are on the shady side"

She nods. "Yes. Hm. A difficult situation, if you as a lawkeeper find yourself at odds with a kithmate."

"Oh Caps fight.. but they'll probably have the edge... Cobies"

(Pause)