#rivervale_lodge

"oh she's fine, had a bit of an adventure in Crete or some such" She puts Jo Jo back in his place of honor

"Jo Jo!" it says

"She's got this cranberry muffins that are really good"

Smells come from the kitchen that might make his mouth water

"Welcome home, JoJo." he says, and then says to Siv "Crete? Is that.... uh, isn't that in, like, the gulf? South of here?"

"Nope, the original one in the meditarianian, near Greece"

"Oh! Europe. Cool." he nods.

"Yup. Beautiful area, I've sailed it. I can't SPELL Meditarinian, but I've sailed it" a smile

"Now," siv looks over his gear "Mmm armor, is that a new blade?"

"No." softly "Same one." he touches the snarling lion's head pommel.

"Oh" She says

"How about you? The others are at college or graduated. You?"

"G.E.D." She shrugs "I got a job for a bit working on boats at the Marina... decent pay. Fixing engines is something dad taught me, so I just adapted it for boats. Of course right now i'm out of a job while winter is on. Mountain Vali drafted me as one of his pillars so i'm not too bored. PIper and Jonas are both busy , don't see them at our apartment as much as I'd like"

"Sounds like they're doing well too."

He looks around again a bit "You said all's well at EarthRunes?"

"Aye. They're doing fine" A bit wistful. At Earth Runes mention she smiles "Oh yes, Baroness Coradel has some new horses, Zara's got her library." She ponders "Oh, Minerva turned out to be a commoner sidhe but she's adapting. House Eiluned Commoner, never heard of that"

"How about Vince?"

"Everyone loves Vince . Last I heard he and Bachdion were taking turns with their sons"

"Oh, yeah." at her mention, he remembers that situation "Cool."

"You said... my folks aren't Fae? What happened?"

"Darned if we know, near as we can tell... somehow Nabuni became a mortal woman... and then a satyress ...but your folks returned to ...as they were." She frowns "I hate to say it, but in some way they're better that way, as mortals. Their marrirage was having trouble"

"After he became a son of adam again, and she a daughter of eve ...well, it seemed to resolve and they're tight again"

"Good." but he looks sad.

"They think you're at some college or something... it's odd" she admits "It's as if the Dreaming gave them a protection. "

"I guess it's the least it could do."

"Lily almost lost her sluaghness, but it came back stronger than ever"

"She's ok?"

The door opens and a fancy steak dinner comes out on a tray carried by Sally Mae

"oh she's great" Siv says "Little globe trotter. She's befriending all sorts of Slaugh. Don't worry, Symon is at college but Zara looks after her too when he can't, and she's quite the little sneak, and with that doll she's pretty safe."

"Yeah. Makes sense. Miss, you need a hand?" he stands, ready to assist.

"I've got it" Sally Mae says "And it's Sally Mae, Adam. we're not strangers"

"Yes, Sally Mae." he takes his seat again "This looks like a lot of trouble, Sally Mae. You didn't have to."

"Actually it's my way of making sure you don't bolt too soon" Sally mae says "Siv, your tray is in the kitchen"

Siv arches a brow, then nods and says "Thanks. I'l... go get it" And she does

Sally Mae's food is steak, a potato... well, it's just like a high class steak house, his favorite cut

"Well... thank you, Sally Mae. This is very generous."

"Will you join me? Us?"

"Sure will, partner. And it's not generous, you've more than done me good. " She does join them , then the kinain goes on "Adam, I have so many questions about where you've been. I just don't want you to think I've cheated you"

"Cheated me?" he pauses in mid-slice, confused.

"Well, as far as I knew, you've been gone in the dreaming all this time. Then Nab showed up as Bunni. She didn't know where you were and went out again. In all that time, I've been in charge of Knight's Heart taxis and cabs. And we've franchised far and wide. And we get a percentage of sales and folks pay for the rights and support. Dross and money... it made us a lot of profit, not to sound greedy and banal."

"She's saying you've made a lot of money while you've been gone" Siv pipes in from the kitchen as she brings her tray in

He sets down his flatware. "Us?"

"We were partners in Knight's Heart, you technically got half the proceeds. " She reminds "That's been acruing. I took the liberty of managing your money"

"Lily has a college fund waaiting for her when she gets old enough. Hope you don't mind that?"

"I don't mind it at all, Sally Mae, it's your to do with what you wish. We -were- partners, but I haven't been involved in ... over a year, I guess? Two years?"

"It's 2023, Febuary so..." She shrugs gracefully "Anyway, you've got over 45,000 dollars coming to you. Want the account number?"

"No thank you, Sally Mae. It's yours. If you have to, pay me off from the last time I worked, before I moved to EarthRunes. That's fair."

'Oh now, don't be silly. " Sally Mae says "Just take the money and let me buy you out with it at the same time. In the long run that'll make me more anyway"

The sound of the back door (the one that leads into the kitchen) opening at closing. "I'm back!" Kerri's voice calls out, and then there's the familiar sound of things being put away.

He sighs. "I accept."