#rivervale_lodge

Gerd has witch hats for all of them

She looks around "Otto?"

The puppy boy looks up from his smiling one "See, he's terrified?"

Ylva starts to tell Otto how he's doing it all wrong

"You're doing it wrong, shee wanted Scary and..." Gerd is too late as Ylva gives 'her honest opinion'

But she catches herself as Gerd gives her the 'motion' to flow it forward... But is a dangerous word, it can make a compliment dubious, but it can also twist a hurtful thing or at least redirect

"BUUUTT" Ylva says as she's been told "It's not wrong really because this is obviously someone ABOUT to be scared. They haven't been surprised yet."

"They've yet to find spiders in their hair," Lily whispers low. Too low for Ylva to hear.

"YEAH, good job, Otto! We got yourself a victim there!" Swilla blurts happily

"Thanks, I can relate to those" Otto nods. He's not as brave as Connor.

Gerd is glad for the recovery, it was clumsy, but it was attempted. Now for the praise "Very observant, Ylva. And that's a happy guy there, Otto. If that's where your heart leads then follow it" Geezus I sound as cheezy as Uncle Vali

Otto perks up even more

"Cleo, how you doing hun?" She moves to the boggan who is still a bit on guard.

"I..it's messy" she admits "I know I should be in charge but... can you help me?"

"You bet I can" Gerd says and with a gesture, some of the stuff on Chloe's hands Hopscotches into the bin "See, worse comes to worse, I will help. Now you take that anxiety and you put on the face. You build it up in your gut, then put it out in your hands and onto that face. You got the power now."

And soon...

"GOOD WORK, Cleo!" Gerd says and the others agree

"Terrifyingl, Swilla" Approval

ANd so on and so forth soon, the Jack O Lanterns are ready for distrubution

And some childlings handle their own fears ,recognizing them, and controling them

.............

Pumpkin guts also get cleaned and roasted and salted. Yum. Seeds.

Swilla has never HAD THOSE!

Yet!

And Gerd, Gerd comes back tired

But feeling like she achieved something

Dagmar is babysitting pumpkin seeds. Several cookie trays are spread and waiting to go in next.

"Hey you... didn't mean to leave you work"

"Mm? Nah, I like doing this."

"Might try making nut butter."

"Could work. Sally Mae's got some time off tonight and Squire Brogan is with family so the Kitche is currently without aid. You must have seen the beacon I lit." A smile "Oh, did you see the new Jack O Lantern outside? WSe had like a dozen of em but we kept one for ourselves. Man the kids really knocked it out of the park" Proud

"Yep."

"And they're really helping each other too, each in their way, though I suspect Lily still doesn't lkike Ylva much... small steps and all. Ylva is learning to redirect her negative comments, work in progess. Swilla is learning to embrace her nature in more positive ways, and I hope by making food she'll feel more control. POor little Cleo is still compuslive but she's SO much better than she was."

"They don't have to like each other. Ain't right to make them feel obligated."

Mmm "not my intent" SHe says "IS that how I come across?" Worried "I thought tonight went well"

"Ylva was worried about not liking Swilla, earlier, is all."

"Told her she didn't have to like her, she just had to be civil." A pause. A sigh. "Yeah, yeah, I know."

"Oh" A nod then a brow "Yeah I was about to say. SInce you KIND of brought it up, what the heck happened in the restaurant? I have not see anyone get under your skin that fast in... wow, years?"

Grunt-shrug.

"Don't do that. I've got the Mountain breathing down my neck for details here," She says clearly not happy with that "And I don't like feeling like a snitch so I've been vague. More importantly, I'm worried about you. Did that bitch say something to you under her breath I missed?"

"You heard everything she said."

"I did. She was curious and you got suspicious FAST. Soon as you heard she was from Baltimore , your shields went up."

"And yes, she..dammn it... THEY were full of questions, but they ARE kind of being interviewed here.. and may move in, of course Rowan want to prep for it" Gerd asks "Doesn't that make sense?"

"Didn't like the kinds of questions they asked. They weren't right."

"Then why not say 'You should talk to the Storm about that' or 'Oh, not sure I should say, let's see how you fit in?' ? They might be snarky ,but it seems a better approach. Instead Rowan really got you riled. They came out poking yes, no angel, but you've dealt with folks you didn't like before better than that. What made Rowan so different?"

"They were shitting on the whole Barony." Rankled. She pulls out a tray of seeds and adds a new one to the oven.

"They were a bit dismissive" A nod "But that's why I praised it and pointed out where they were wrong, or tried. You were very accusatory in your tone and response to the poiint I was almost sure I had missed where they laid out plans for a take over on the lodge while I was enjoying the lasagna. Then after, you ran off. See, you normally only need that angry alone time when they've REALLY REALLY stressed you out. I don't want to say you've over reacted, but I will say I'm baffled how quickly that escalated. "