Fray had been overwhelmed by so much since her arrival in Atlantis, and she’d overcome a few very intense obstacles in the process. School was a tremendous source of stress for her, rivaled and beaten only by the guilt that had eaten away at her over Eliot and then subsequent self-consciousness that came from his exceptional grace and offerings to her. She still couldn’t wrap her mind around how a person could be as open and wonderful as him, much like she still had no concept of what algebra could even begin to be. Kyna’s arrival had thrown her very fragile state into even more of a whirlwind. While she offered proof that things had gone fairly well in at least one future, she was so very perfect by comparison (in Fray’s mind, anyway).
This beautiful, intelligent, magical, biological child of her father was a lot for Fray to take in, especially so crippingly uncertain as she was in herself and her place in her ‘family.’ It was all so new, and that meant that she’d been a bit walled off to her apparent sister.
The little necklace had been a surprise for her, because Christmas was a big surprise anyway and she was still very new to getting gifts from anyone. Still, it’d reminded her that she really did need to go spend some time with Kyna before she didn’t have a chance to do so, because she really did want to know her. She had Squeak in her arms, because Kyna had wanted to meet him and he made a good safety net for the churning nerves that Fray felt as she knocked on the door to the hotel room she knew Kyna spent some time in.
Kyna had a plan. She was going to sleep every night with a bag full of her gifts attached to her so that if she got taken back home, she’d get transported with them. Since she had been brought here with all she had on her person the first time around, it made sense to assume the same would happen with her return, and so she had spent the last bits of change she had borrowed from half of known Atlantis to buy a big enough bag and some belts to tie it to her body. The door knock forced her to pause in her assembly and, adjusting the towel wrapped around her freshly washed hair, Kyna rushed to open the door, looking through the little hole beforehand. It was Fray, which was a surprise. Possibly, hopefully a good one.
“Fray! Hi!” She greeted upon opening the door, and then looked to her sister’s arms. “Ohhh, what a cutie! Come in, come in!”
She rushed to grab all her stuff from the couch onto a smaller chair, bag assembly put aside for the moment. “Have a seat!”
Fray greeted her with a rather shy smile, and Squeak squirmed in her arms so that he was facing out instead of over her shoulder the way he had been. “Thank you,” she said, and stepped through the door.
She nodded at the offer, moving towards the couch but eyeballing the weird assortment of bags with curiosity. “What are you doing?” she asked, sitting down on the couch and looking at her with a furrowed brow.
Kyna closed the door behind her and returned to her sister, sitting on the couch and cooing at the little puppy before scratching his chin softly. “Oh, I’ve decided to sleep with my Christmas gifts all tied to me in a bag so that when I get sent back I get them to come with me.” She explained with a smile. “It’s not guaranteed that it will work, but I thought I’d try anyway. So I’ve been arranging a comfy bag to fit all my stuff and tie it to my body in a way that’ll let me sleep.”
Squeak sat curiously on his mother’s lap until the scritches got his attention, and then he stepped tentatively from Fray to head towards Kyna for more of that. “Oh,” she said, thoughtfully. She nodded then, accepting the answer because it was definitely something she’d have tried. “Thank you for the necklace, by the way. I’ve never had anything like it.”
Kyna smiled at the little pup, this time scritching him behind the ears with one hand. When he came closer she finally used both hands, and pretty soon Squeak was on his belly and Kyna was delighted. But about to be moore so, after Fray’s thanks. “Oh, you liked it? I really hoped you would, but I wasn’t sure…” Kyna smiled. “And your treehouse, you’re having a good time there?”
She smiled as Squeak flopped, because that had been the case for him since she’d brought him home. He was usually a little hesitant at first, and then gave in completely and submitted himself to whoever was petting him. “I do, yes. It’s very pretty, and I will wear it,” she said, gesturing to where it was on her neck. “I am, yes. Eliot told me you helped him with it; thank you.” She reached to tuck some hair behind her ear, a little shy. “I’m sorry I’ve not been a very good sister since you got here. I don’t want you to think I don’t like you.”
When Fray showed her the necklace around her neck, Kyna pulled the other half from under her shirt and showed her where it said ‘LIL SIS’. She was wearing both that one and the one her dad Ian had given her, as well as the bracelets her mom had given her too. The bracelets might have to come off come sleep time, but not the necklaces. She smiled and nodded, glad to know she had brought a little joy to her little big sister. “It was a pleasure. I like working on stuff and it was even better when I knew who it was for!”
Fray’s apology warmed Kyna’s heart a little, though her smile turned a little sad. “I know you have reason to not like me on principle, but I’m glad you don’t. What matters is what you feel right now, you need time to grow into who you are and will be before Astrid or I come along and throw things for a loop. I get that.” She continued rubbing Squeak’s belly. “I just want you to know that we love you a lot, Fray. Now, in the future, in forty years, whatever...”
Fray nodded a bit as Kyna spoke, because it all was true enough except the first bit. “It’s never about not liking you. I’m just jealous of you, but that’s something that can get better,” she said, acknowledging it aloud, even though she knew it couldn’t possibly be a secret. “Thank you. Really. You being here has been… really overwhelming for me, with everything occurring at once. But you definitely confirmed that some of my fears about the future weren’t things I needed to be scared of, and that helped a lot. It’s nice knowing that I have a real family in the years to come.”
Kyna didn’t voice it, but she did think Fray’s whole reason for not liking her was a little bit jealousy, a little bit resentment. It wasn’t her fault that Kyna was Eliot’s biological kid or one who happened to do magic, but she could understand Fray having something against that. She nodded in understanding; Atlantis could be overwhelming even to those who were born there, and Kyna knew, from Eliot’s warning, that this was a hard time for Fray. From what she knew, Fray hadn’t been here long at all, and it hadn’t been long since she had told Eliot the truth about the deception the fairies told her to carry out.
“Well… I guess I’m glad to have helped ease your mind a little. It’s really good to have something to look forward to, and you do. That’s kind of why I’m not staying. You deserve time with dad all on your own. To really feel how much he loves you, rather than us just telling you.”
Fray nodded at the explanation, because she really did appreciate not only that it was something Kyna could see and understand but also something that Kyna could articulate for her. It was hard to say aloud still that she mostly just wanted a chance to feel what Eliot could really be for her.
“I still have so much trouble wrapping my mind around him,” she admitted, shaking her head a bit. “I am very fortunate that he doesn’t hate me.”
Kyna gave her sister a smile and, a little bit daringly, reached for Fray’s hand, squeezing it with her own gently. It was really weird and a little bit hard to be here having this conversation with her own oldest sister while being older than her. More settled. “Fray you don’t have to be thankful he doesn’t hate you. You don’t deserve hate from anyone! You deserve all of this, a family, love, a normal life!”
Fray might’ve panicked a little at the hand when she’d first arrived, but Eliot was a physically affectionate man so she’d gotten accustomed to it now. As it was, she smiled a little. “People keep saying that,” she said, shrugging a little. “I’m just… happy with what I’ve got for now, I think. And I’m happy to know about the future too.” Squeak made a little noise, nosing at Kyna’s hand again. “He likes you.”
“People keep saying it because it’s true, Fray. And you’ll think so too, soon.” Kyna reassured her sister, nodding. “The future is great. You’ll love it, I promise.”
Well, she wasn’t one hundred percent sure, having never actually read Fray’s mind, but surely she would love it more than she was loving life right now. She giggled at Squeak’s cuteness, and rubbed his belly with a little more vigor again. “He’s such a cutie. I bet it’s great up at the treehouse with him keeping you company. It’s a sign, you know. Things are looking up.”
Fray was rather happy these days, more than she’d ever been before, and it was hard to put a proper finger on why. It was the combination of events, really. She smiled as she watched Kyna and her puppy, drawing her knee up and settling her chin on it. “You’re right,” she said, nodding. “I think they very much are.”