#rivervale_lodge

"Oh, I'm a HOME-ing pigeon!"

"And the streetlights aren't on. So we're safe."

He claps his hand. "Oh, that's grand. I also have to follow the streetlight doctrine, though it is simple to leave afterwards. My earthly family is sadly glamourblind, but it makes it all the easier to leave once they set me to bed to attend to my TRUE court."

She bob-bob-bobs her head.

"That must be hard. Are the lord and lady nice? Are they lions, too, with great big teeth?"

"I don't think Kerri actually has a house. Well, no, she has a Lodge, and a lodge is a house, but it's not a house-house, just a house house."

Perry nods solemnly. "Oh, my Lord and Lady are very nice. Lord Baron Alaric Ashcombe ap Fiona and Countess Vivienne Ashcombe ap Fiona, though they are simply grumps, and I think they have forgotten EONS ago what it is like to be a proper childling."

He gives a little sigh. "They are always telling me I am too young to do things, and then expecting me to behave like I am much older. It is very confusing."

"Grown ups!" She huffs and nods, understanding perfectly.

"There might be a few short folks in Rivervale, and at least one or two with pointy ears."

"Well, not TOO many Sidhe I hope, or nothing ever gets done." He admits.

Then Perry brightens. "Wait here!"

He disappears through a door made entirely of cloud, walking straight through it as though it were perfectly solid. A moment later he emerges again, holding something very small between his fingers. It looks almost like a Chiclet, or a tiny piece of gum.

"This is for you," he says, holding it out. "You can carry it as a pigeon, but be sure you are somewhere with plenty of open space before you activate it. Just tap it three times, and it will do the rest."

Inquisitive coo, raised eyebrows?

"Thank you." She does, after all, also know the magic words.

He just grins and says no more.

She sniffs it and shakes it by her ear, making a show of the inspection.

"Oh, you are the worst new friend."

He gives a shy smile. "You mean it? I have not had much practice." He admits.

"Well, I am an expert friendship teacher. i have a certificate and everything. Little wax seal, gold leaf, the whole shebang."

"Oh, then that IS very official." He nods, impressed.

A chirp of agreement. "Thank you!"

"How shall I contact you? Normally I might offer to have a bird sent from the mews, but..." He hesitates, "They may not see you with the proper , er, respect?"

"Oooo! Birds!"

"Er, what with the... talons, and the beaks." Apologetically.

"They are well trained, of course, but!"

"My phone has a hex on it. Only my parents can add people. But if YOU have a number, maybe they could?"

"But when I'm a girl, I'm way bigger than an owl. And have opposable thumbs."

He SCOWLS. "My parents refused to get me an iPhone 18 Flip! They told me that, as a seven-year-old, I only needed a Gabb Phone 4, which is a crippled little thing with no proper app store and hardly any of the useful features of a real phone. It cannot even download Roblox!"

He huffs indignantly. "I rejected it, and they said then I did not get anything!"

A sigh, but he finally admits, "It DOES allow calls, though. I suppose, if it means I can contact you, I will accept it with magnanimity."

"Magnani-amity?"

Gleeful bird sounds! "Good one!"

And so, he takes down her number and promises to send her his in return.

She offers him a pinkie. "Textie-friends."

He links and shakes with gravitas. "Indeed."

"Maybe you could meet ShadowPaw? I'm not really a member yet, exactly, but..."

He looks at his hands. "I am not a pooka, alas."

"Well, neither am I!"

"Oh, there is my house!" He says, pointing to a perfectly boring building with a yard. "There SHOULD be a menagerie of wild and mystical beasts on the grounds, but alas, they have only granted me a goldfish as of yet."

"A goldfish? Sounds expensive." Totally earnest.

"You might have sparrows, too. Probably. They don't like millet one bit, I totally wouldn't put any out. Or sunflower seeds, pee-yoo."

"I could do so." He considers, then commands - er, scratch that, requests that the cloud settle down, and soon they are on the roof of his house, the cloud floating overhead placidly.

"See, that's my window there. It has a child lock on it so that babies don't fall out the window, but it was easy to circumvent. Are you SURE you can get home from here?" Concerned.

She spreads both her arms and her stubby little wings and flaps both.

"Take care then!" He says, and with a (POLITE!) dismissal, the cloud palace wafts away until just a trace of cloudstuff reveals that it may reform again at a moment's request.

"And remember, tap three times!" Perry reminds her about the mysterious little square.

She tips a salute at him. "Aye-aye, Cap'n Perry."

"Captain?" He considers, then nods. "I like it!" Waving back as he shimmies through the window.

"Oh. And THANK YOU!" he says, as a tickle of cloudstuff threatens to make him sneeze, then fades away at the pleasantry.

"You're welcome!"

And soon enough, a little grey bird launches off the eave, not-chicklet clutched in her talons.

He looks a bit surprised, and grins. Who would have thought that "you're welcome" could feel so much nicer than "Of course, your grace" or "As you wish, sir."?

.....

Later, Amity finds herself back at home, perhaps in her room or yard, with a curious little square to contend with.

Listen, she's been SO GOOD.

She even waited until after dinner.

But it IS a weekend. So! Time to tap!