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WASTED. TIME. Those were Freyja thoughts entering her home after a whole day of work. Almost 12 hours of work and no progress made. AT ALL. Gods, this was frustrating her. She really needed to calm down.
“Lady Freyja? Are you alright?”
Especially when she was dealing with the girls. If she had learned one thing in the past few weeks is that they reacted rather… personally to her bad moods, thinking it was their fault. What’s more, they took to calling her “Lady Freyja” like she was some sort of royalty. She did not manage to convince them to call her just “Miss Freyja” or “Miss Alfar” so the honorific stuck.
“Do not worry Pulmeria, she answered, it is nothing of concern. Have you two been doing alright today?”
After Plumeria assured her their day went well, she noticed the absence of Triandra. While the older woman was worried at first, the two seemed to get much closer over time, and now it was rather rare for one of them to be seen without the other. Actually, now that she thought about it more, it was the first time the two of them didn’t greet her back home together. When she asked the grey haired girl about this, she led her to the living room.
Now, Freyja cared very little for high-end technologies. However, because of her line of work, she did have a top of the line, Ultra HD 8K TV that took most of the space on one of the wall of the living room, with surround audio set-up of similar quality. At the perfect distance of the screen was a beautiful and comfy couch and in front of it was a little coffee table (on which she did more work than she cared to admit).
Triandra was on said couch, looking at a DVD case in her hands. The second she recognized it, Freyja froze. She… was not proud of that one.
“-Oh! Triandra exclaimed, scrambling to her feet, Lady Freyja, my apologies I did not realize you were back.
-It is fine, she replied swiftly. Where did you find that?
-While I was cleaning (at those words Freyja felt once again that they saw themselves as her servants of sorts. That or they were bored while she wasn’t around. Perhaps letting the TV on would help…?), I found this case in one of the drawers and after dusting it I saw your name on it. Where you in that movie?
-I…was involved in it.
-You were in a movie Lady Freyja?! Interjected excitedly Plumeria. That’s amazing!
-Well not really but…
-Can we watch it? Continued the red eyed girl.”
At this, she hesitated. She really disliked that movie. It was made in poor taste and the woman sincerely hoped never to have it mentioned to her ever again. But looking at the sparkle in the girls eyes, she could not help but relent. She prayed it would not cut her appetite tonight.
“No…no, please don’t… ah…. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! Screamed the teenager in the screen while being dragged in a dark cavern by what seemed to be rotting wines. What followed were more screams, a close-up on the now terrified face of the character, a sickening crunch and what appeared to be blood coming out of the entrance of the cavern.
Disgusting. Such an amateurish work. Really, she could just see the low-level texture in the CGI that was used on her now much higher resolution screen. THAT was why she asked, no begged, the director no to use the cheapest company available at the time, she had this gut feeling it would just not age well. And there she was, looking at this abomination of a movie 8 years later (well, 9 years if she counted the moment the casting started).
Thank the gods people seemed to understand the creativity and beauty of her scenario at the time, even after this mess of aftereffect and audio mixing errors (the fact that the music sometimes overpowered the screams was NOT intended). Else she would never have taken off in the industry as one of the best horror movie writer/producer of her generation. Magazine even called her “Queen of Nightmares”, a title she began to flaunt once her dear Freyr told her she earned it, because really his opinion was the only one she cared about.
It was a true shame to her that he thought that her style did not suit the animation studio he directed (and okay, Freyja was not the best at fluffy, fun and happy stories, but she was sure she would do great if she was given the opportunity!).
As the worst creation of her carreer was played on the screen, she chose to look at the children in order to distract herself from the pain.
Plumeria had been shaking, eyes wide and holding (quite painfully actually) her hand and sometime hiding her face in the armrest when the action appeared either too stressful or too violent for her.
Triandra, on the other hand, seemed captivated. She did flinch when a (cheap if you asked her) jump-scare appeared on screen, but otherwise she seemed completely immersed in the movie.
She looked at the timer on the player and… Oh gods, still a good 45 minutes to go. She chose to at least kill most some of the time by watching over the two, as it seemed more interesting.
At long last, the torture was over, and she had to admit, she might have exaggerated her dislike of the whole movie, some part still seemed decent, and she thought that maybe she would contact some of the actors for her next project, as they had really good acting sometimes, just needed some polish. While the credits rolled, she stretched and saw that Triandra was looking at her with some confusion.
“-Can I ask you a question Lady Freyja? Triandra requested.
-Ask away.
-I did not see you in the movie. Were you one of the characters?
-What? No no no! The woman laughed, amused but not entirely surprised by her question. I wrote this movie’s scenario. That was my first participation in a production. Look, my name appears…(she took the remote and stopped at one point in the credits) here. See?”
The blue eyes girl focused for a second on the screen and recognized her name, her eyes widening. She turned back at the white haired woman, full of admiration and said, almost excitedly for her standard:
“You’re amazing Lady Freyja! May we watch another one you made?”
As she was about to reply positively, thinking of one of her most recent creation she was really proud of, Plumeria shouted:
“NO!!!”
The other two were shocked as she looked at them pleadingly.
“P…Please no, Lady Freyja that was really, really scary…”
As she was about to reply that it was exactly the movie purpose, a thought crossed her mind. Those movies were horror movies. They weren’t supposed to be watched by such young children. I have not thought this through she realized now, seeing Plumeria in this state. She wanted to slap her forehead really hard right now. She turned to Triandra.
“-As much as I appreciate your interest in those, no, she declared calmly. I… may have made a mistake letting you watch this movie.
-Why? Wondered Triandra, disappointed.
-Those movies are not made for children to enjoy. I’ll let you enjoy those when you get older, okay?”
At those word she froze, not even hearing the burgundy haired girl acceptance. Did a part of her just accepted they would be with her for that long? She did ask her brother for how adoption works, but it was in order to prolong the conversation, right? At best, she would give them away to her co-workers that wanted children, right? (Then why did the thought of the girls leaving her felt like an acidic knife in her chest…?) She was pulled from her rumination by the feeling of Plumeria’s hand squeezing hers, probably as a thanks of sorts.
She decided tonight to forego the botany lessons and just eat dinner with everyone and go to sleep.
That night Freyja was woken up by knocks on her bedrooms door. Still groggy, she opened her door to a trembling Plumeria that was clinging to a mildly annoyed Triandra.
“-See Plumeria, Lady Freyja is alright. Can we go back to our room?
-What is this about? Managed the older woman after a bit
-She thought that a monster dragged you down a well and that you were in danger, explained tiredly Triandra. After I told her it was just a nightmare she insisted we check on you.”
Dragged her down a… Wait. Wasn’t it part of the movie she showed them? Freyja once again feeled regret for watching that movie with them. After affirming that she was well, she led them to their shared bedroom once more, climbed under her covers once more and checked the time. About 12 AM? She still had time for plenty of sleep, she figured.
After being woken up for the third time, she realized this cycle was not going to work. Every hour and half or so, Plumeria would wake up from a nightmare, somehow always involving the white haired woman, wake Triandra up and the two of them would go and check on her by waking her up.
“-Plumeria, Freyja begun, exhausted and annoyed beyond what she thought possible by them, this cannot continue. The movie that you watched was pure fiction. It is NOT real.
-I… I know Lady Freyja, she tried to defend herself but what if…
-No “but” little one. It is the middle of the night and you keep waking us up!
-I... I’m sorry…
-Now you will go back to your room. Sleep. And stop bothering both of us. Am I clear?
-Y… Yes Lady Freyja. I’m so sorry…”
Freyja noticed at this moment the tears welling up in the girls eyes. But really, what was she supposed to do? She had to sleep for the gods sakes! While she was having this internal debates, Triandra led once more the other girl to their room. As they were about to close her bedroom’s door, the woman had a realization. If Plumeria wanted to check on her after she had a nightmare, why not make it so she doesn’t have to go look for her, but for her to be right there?
“-Hold on, she stopped them. I have a better idea, come back here.”
The two stopped and turned back at her, their face full of confusion. They joined her at the edge of her bed and she made them climb under the covers (she considered carry them there herself, but she figured the two of them might be too heavy for her, especially in her tired state).
“You will stay here tonight, she explained, that way Plumeria, if you need to check on any of us, you just have to look here, ok? However. Tonight is an exception. Tomorrow I expect you to spend the night in your own bed, little one. Am I clear?”
She watched as both of them as they were looking at her face from above while she was sinking in her pillow (she left the other ones for them). There expression went from confused, to full of happiness, a smile on each of their faces. They both then laid back on the bed and fell asleep in a matter of minutes. After making sure they really were both asleep she decided to finally get her sleep for tonight.
When morning came, she found it very hard to wake up, not only because of the lack of motivation after yesterday’s disaster of a shoot, but also because she was feeling very comfy, with her the girls holding onto her in their sleep in their own way, Plumeria hugging her fully and Triandra almost shyly holding her arm. But she found that she did not mind being late to work this morning. Not this time. And probably not the next time she decided to do that either she figured.
“Triandra, what’s that in your hand?”
Freyja looked up from her computer to look at their interaction, curious. Plumeria seemed to try looking at an object in the other girl’s hand. It seemed to be an old story book Freyr had gifted her once he learned that the girls lived with her.
“-This book seemed interesting so I wanted to ask Lady Freyja if I could borrow it.
- Are books that interesting? The grey haired girl inquired.
-Yes, plus it helps pass time.
- Really? You intend to look at the pictures so you can draw them?
-No, I intend to read the story.
-Wait you can read?”
Freyja could hear her mental wheels coming to a screeching halt. Plumeria… couldn’t read? She assumed both could read, and Triandra recognizing her name on the DVD case comforted her in this idea. She always thought kids their ages already learnt how to read! And then she realized she didn’t even know their ages, and cringed internally.
So Plumeria was illiterate. Well, she thought, I just need to teach her. How hard could that be? How she would come to regret her haughtiness.
After she decided to teach her, Freyja decided to assess Triandra and Plumeria level of reading, she decided to begin with the alphabet. To that intent, she wrote on her computer screen several letters.
“-OK little ones. What is the first letter here?
-It’s the letter “Q” Lady Freyja, Triandra answered quickly.
-Well done Triandra. What about this one?
-“W” Lady Freyja, responded again Triandra”
This test lasted 10 minutes, continuing the same way, with Plumeria looking more and more panicked and embarassed as minutes passed.
“You have done well Triandra, but could you let Plumeria answer the next ones? Plumeria, what is this letter?”
Plumeria looked at the letter on the screen for a full minute before giving her answer:
“-It’s…It’s “E”, right?
-Are you certain?
-I… I don’t… I don’t know…
-It’s the letter “F” little one.”
This went on for another 15 minutes, with Plumeria sobbing more and more. Freyja did not understand. If she didn’t know, why was she crying? As she was contemplating to use a letter she already used to see if she begun to recognize the shapes, the grey haired girl got up from her chair and ran out of the room, tears visible on her face.
Shocked by her reaction, Freyja took a few second before running after her. She caught up to her in the girls’ bedroom. The girl was crying in her pillow, and the view was painful to her.
“-Plumeria, the woman asked once the child seemed to have calmed down a bit, what is wrong?
-I’m sorry Lady Freyja, you must be ashamed…
-Ashamed? Me? Why?
-Tri… Triandra can read, and I can’t, so she is better than me, right? You won’t need me right? I’m useless, useless girl, waste of spa…”
Understanding that Plumeria seemed to have gone in a spiral of self-loathing, Freyja gripped her shoulders and talked in the most authoritative voice she could muster.
“Plumeria look at me. Look at me and do not avert your eyes. Now, listen to me carefully. The only thing I’m ashamed right now is not to realize what you might not know. The fact that Triandra knows how to read does not mean you have to know yourself. Everyone does not start at the same point, and everyone knows how to do different things. It does not makes you less valuable. It does NOT make you useless. You are yourself, and I would want no one else here with me, with us. So never think less of yourself because of what you can do at this point in time. Only make it something to aim for, ok? Tonight, you might not know how to read a letter. But tomorrow, you may know how to read a sentence. And if it’s not tomorrow? Then the day after. And if you still don’t, then the day afterward. Until you get there, we will be by your side, helping you. And the day we need to learn something we don’t know and you do, I’m sure you will do the same for us. So never talk like that of yourself, ever again, ok?”
As she was finishing her speech, Plumeria teared up once again and hugged her, mumbling words of thanks in her chest. Triandra, that seemed to have entered the room in the middle of it all, came to them and begun to awkwardly rub circle on the other girl’s back.
After the red eyed girl calmed down, the three went back to the living room and begin to teach her the basics of reading, as slow as she needed, for as long as she needed.
“-Now, it seems Plumeria knows to read as well as Triandra, thanks to the latter’s lessons while I’m not here I presume.
-I see. I’m happy to hear everything is going fine at your place Freyja.”
She smiled. Her dear brother was happy for her! Those calls CLEARLY were the highlights of her week whenever they happened. Truly, she could just forget all of her worries as she was hearing his voice just talk to her. Shame it was through the phone nowadays as he was spending most of his days taking care of either business projects or his (very demanding compared to Triandra and Plumeria in her honest opinion) children. But she would take whatever time she could take from him.
“-By the way, Freyr continued, where did you enroll them?
-Beg your pardon?
-The girls. At what school did you enroll them? You… did enroll them right?”
The second she heared that she froze. School? They had to go to school? Of course they had to go to school! During the days they spent together, this did not even cross her mind!
“…Shit.”
At those words she promptly said her goodbyes, hung up and searched for the closest local schools to look up how she could enroll her the girls for this school year. She knew it would take her a lot of time, but gods if she were to do this, she would do it properly! Sleep be damned!