#rivervale_lodge

Olgar leg sweeps his daughter again, causing her to hit the ground. Fortunately Cheerleading teaches you how to fall

Which is how she manages to turn it into a back somersault and come back up again, though not entirely gracefully.

"You've gotten a bit slower in your response time" He observes

She gives him an expression that's half scowl, half pout. "Go again." She gets into a ready position.

"Sorry, Daughter O mine, but you told me you never wanted me to lie to you" But they go again

"I don't..." swing "...want you..." lunge "...to lie..." evade "...I just..." parry "...don't want you..." stab/miss "...to be right!"

Then "Oof!" And she finds herself on her back.

He looks down on her "Well, let's practice till I'm not right anymore"

She hoists herself up again, this time definitely scowling.

"You don't like looking bad, turn that pride into a motivator" He knows her unseelie side almost as well as he knows his own

"I know, I know!" She huffs and stands ready again. This time she waits for him to make the first move.

And he does, trying a rapid strike followed by a legsweep

This time she parries with her spear AND jumps the legsweep before he can catch her. She aims a strike across his shoulders with the butt-end of the spear.

He rolls his shoulder, turning from a solid whack into a glancing blow but it DID still hit "Better"

She makes a satisfied sound, but knows better than to let down her guard. She's back in ready position.

And that's good as he is bringing the overhead smash, a lot of power

She ducks as she brings her spear up in both hands, not to parry with force but to redirect the strike past her back as she tries to lunge within his reach. It means her hands are going to be occupied and unable to strike, but so will his...for a moment.

And that's when she ends up getting his kneecap in her face.

"Guh!" Her feet skid out from under her, annd, she's flat on her back again.

"If it helps you feel better, it was the only thing I could think of to counter that at the time" He assures "So... props?"

She levers herself up to sitting, spits, and gets back to her feet, rubbing her jaw. "If I didn't know I could fix that, I'd be pissed. I've gotta teach tomorrow." Still scowling.

"Okay, " He looks her face over "Have a cookie before you go, the soft kind. Sylvi, you're rusty, but it's coming off quick. No shame in that. For that matter you want to stay for full dinner?"

She doesn't answer immediately...but then takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "Yeah," she says, nodding. "That'd be good, I guess. I better wash up, though."

"Trust me, I felt the same way when I cut down on the trod hopping... your mom sent me to the grocery store, I went to the wrong one. Got to used to trod use over the car"

She snickers a bit. "Kept you from getting underfoot for a bit, huh?" Then a sigh. "I knew I was rusty. I just didn't think I was this bad."

"It did" He admits "And you're not 'that' rusty... but I'm not holding back as much as I used to when you were younger.. I'm trying to respect you're a grown ass woman now."

"Goody," she says flatly, rubbing at her jaw again. "No, I know. You're doing it right. I'm just being pissy."

"You are" He assures "Your mom gets the same way now and then. Now me? I'm a ray of sunshine, ask anyone" And he makes his own exagerated scowl

She rolls her eyes, but he does get a grin out of her. "Well, I hope I'm at least putting in an okay showing in comparison to the other GoldFinchers?"

He pauses, wondering how much to betray, "Okay, not naming names... but you're probably the third or fourth best they got, and some of your crew are almolst painful to watch, but they TRY so... respect"

A dismayed look at her ranking, and then a furrowed brow. "Dad, sorry. I shouldn't have asked that. That's, like, against all kinds of teacher ethics, to tell students how they compare to each other."

"It is?" he clearly didn't know "Huh... okay. I'll try to remember that. The thing is, as leader of your hold, if I were going to name names to anyone I'd tell YOU because you might assign patrols and such. Don't feel ashamed of number 3, you've got some mean folks in your group." And she does, Priscilla the Redcap, Basil, to name two... but who else is ...mm

She blinks. "That's...right. I mean, that makes sense. I need to know. I guess...." She takes a breath and shakes her head. "It gets a little scrambled sometimes. Like, freeholder-rules and teaching-rules. I mean...it's, like, two different flavors of responsibility, and they don't always agree."

"Duality is a bitch sometimes" He admits "Trust me. But you got a point about how I could undermine someone if I start being too open about comparisions"

"Maybe." She shrugs then puts on a grin. "Anyway...washing up, then dinner. Thanks for the workout, Dad."

"You're welcome, and you really did almost have me with that last one. Next time get more speed after the block " He nods and in they go "Go wash up. Your mom's made porkchops the way you like"

"Ooh!" That news cheers her, and she's on her way in before she stops and turns to give him a sudden big hug.

He's startled, then hugs her back with a smile on hsi face "Love you too"

She lets him go, then heads in to wash up.

He watches his little girl ... no, his grown daughter go, and smiles. Best contribution I ever made to this world, or the next. And then he goes to help his wife put the dishes out.

(End Scene)