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 Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2024 10:07 am
When Jett got home from work, the first thing he’d planned on doing was taking a shower and changing into something a little more comfortable. He made it to his dresser but his path ended there.
Atop it, resting in plain sight, was a small, handheld mirror decorated in stickers that at first he thought must have come from his daughters until he identified a few profanity laden phrases hidden amongst them.
Really, he couldn’t look at a sticker covered mirror and not think of Jaina, who he knew was home.
He snorted as he flipped it over to give it a good examination, but he suddenly suspected he knew why Jaina hadn’t said hello when he said he was home. She was probably too busy giggling in her room. The door was open but he hadn’t pried. Then.
Mirror in hand, Jett walked from his room to hers and rested against the door frame as he feigned re-examining the mirror.
“Arts and crafts day today? Too early to be my birthday. Are you telling me I need to spend more time in front of a mirror or something?”
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Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2024 4:25 pm
Jaina had been waiting. She was laying on her bed, her Switch right up against her face, practically, but. When Jett finally entered, she tried so hard to pretend she didn’t know what he was talking about, but her lips twitched, and then her shoulders began to shake and finally she put the unseen game down and looked up at Jett, bursting into laughter.
“It just seemed like the right thing to do, and it absolutely got your attention, so mission accomplished regarding that!” She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed, patting the spot next to her.
“I wanted to talk. And hang out and just…spend time with you. It feels like it’s been three lifetimes, and I have a lot to say and some questions I want to ask!”
Her eyes were bright for once, and she seemed…quite…happy.
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Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2024 1:46 pm
Oh, she was so unconvincing while she was lounging there. He saw her lip twitch, and if she’d tried to play it off like she had no idea what he was talking about, he was ready to call her out on it.
The laugh was unexpected, but it was welcome. He huffed but there was a smile on his face. She’d been miserable for so long, every smile and every laugh were more than welcome.
“You don’t need some flashy gesture to get my attention, any time you want to talk I’ll be here. But I’m starting to wonder where you got some of these stickers. They make things like this?” he asked, examining a colorful, unicorn laden expletive plastered on the back of the mirror.
He pushed himself from the wall to take a seat next to her. The mirror was lowered but not forgotten. “What do you want to talk about? I’m all ears.”
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Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2024 4:18 pm
“They make so many strange things, and the internet is great for finding them…honestly, Mal has been such a…maybe not bad but definitely an influence on me. Though, I remember I have always like, liked…right on the fence things. But!”
Jaina flopped slightly, resting her head against Jett’s shoulder. “So, I have discovered my Realm, thanks to Mal, and then a little bit Rhona, but…I want to really figure out how to make it better, and I’m doing my best to shake people down for their crystals, so first off, this is a shameless plug to find out if you have one that I can have, like, a special Remarque-able kind of crystal, not just a normal one. Also I want to invite you to my Realm at some point even if all it contains is a small thing that could be argued to be a waterfall with a pool big enough for two human feet, and a patch of grass that is almost enough to stretch out on…but, still...”
She fell quiet for a moment and shrugged. “I want to make it…like Lenka was. As best that I can. I…really miss going up to Lenka…like more than I really want to admit…and this has helped…a lot. Or…enough that I notice it.”
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Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2024 4:00 pm
Pigs and Star Wars were on the fence? Jett’s lip twitched into a smile as he raised a brow, but he wasn’t going to challenge that when he’d seen how much she’d lit up while talking about her Realm..
“Yeah? Is there anything I can help with?” he asked. He’d buy her a thousand watermelon seeds if that would help. He’d had limited success growing things on his Realm but he didn’t have much of a green thumb and he’d have rather just paid someone else to do it for him. He was going to have to butter up a Mauvian or one of those tech-savvy aliens to see if there was any technology they could make to do the work for him.
He had more pressing things to tend to in Mirrorspace.
“You should come to Mirrorspace with me, maybe we can find some more crystals for you to work with. I’ll give you some of mine. They make flowers. When they’re full grown, the petals turn into crystals, you might like them. I’ve got drawers full of them, not sure what to do with them, but.” He shrugged. “Maybe I’ll sell them to some jewelry makers, never really made time to think about it. I want to see what you’ve been working on, I’d love to visit your Realm. I can take you to mine, too. If you’re interested.”
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Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2024 4:34 pm
Jaina nodded eagerly. “Yes please. I would love that. I’m…I’m really trying, I think. I don’t…I don’t want to be miserable…I know I’m…It’s hard not to be but I’m trying. I would absolutely love some of your crystals and to visit your realm! Just tell me when you’re free, and yeah, I want you to come see mine too, it’s…nothing special, but I want to change that, so let’s…let’s do fun things, okay?”
She gave a little grin and then flopped backwards on the bed. “...I’m still not. Completely comfortable with what happened to me but…it feels a lot more bearable. Like, I won’t just…survive...I might be on my way to like…maybe thrive. Maybe. If I’m lucky.”
Jaina shrugged. “Do you know any others around my age who I should reach out to? Anyone else I can befriend?”
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Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2024 5:18 pm
Jett hummed as he mulled over the list of names. He didn’t know exact ages, but there had to be some close enough. “I’ll see who I can introduce you to. I’ll have to make sure they’re a good influence on you.” He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and laid back on her bed, too. He raised his arm up and turned the mirror so it was reflecting her face. “And that you’ll be a good influence on them.”
They should do more Dark Mirror get-togethers, but he was sure she wasn’t limiting herself to just people her age.
“I’m glad to hear you’re trying new things, though. Proud of you.” He didn’t want her to be miserable. He wanted things to be better than bearable, he wanted her to do more than survive. He wanted her to be happy, to be passionate, to have fun.
He’d do whatever part he could. She hadn’t asked for her life to turn out like this. He hadn’t, either. He was doing his best.
“What’s your schedule like, are you spending a lot of time in Mirrorspace these days?” He was out often, but he always made time for his family, and he made sure they wanted for nothing. “With enough coffee, I can make any night work.”
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Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2024 6:42 pm
“You mean you’ll have to make sure I won’t be a bad influence on them?”
Because…she obviously was, and with the thought, Jaina laughed. “I’m glad that you’re proud of me, and I’m not spending a lot of time, but I’m spending more than I was. I really think that the crystals are neat, and it’s fun to look for them, but….I’m still spending most of my time here at home. Just because I’m trying…doesn’t mean I’m going to become a Mirrorspace hermit or anything. I’m not that crazy yet.”
But…if she could get her Realm to be somewhere worth staying…who really knew what she would end up being. But right now.
“How about Friday? Maybe we could plan something for then? I’ll pack you a whole thermos, and make sure the coffee is nice and strong!”
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 3:22 pm
Jett snorted at first, because maybe it was a good idea to make sure any of Jaina’s troublemaking tendencies didn’t rub off on them. Although he supposed it might be nice to see her having fun and getting into some harmless mischief.
“Friday sounds good to me. Make the coffee strong.” In case he needed to match her energy, he wanted to be ready.
He looked at the mirror once more with great amusement, and laughed once more. “Who knows how late we’ll be out? Maybe we’ll find something interesting in Mirrorspace and want to stay up late. Not that I want you to become a Mirrorspace hermit, I like you around here too much to encourage that. But I’ve been finding some neat things of late. Would be good to have company looking for more.”
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 5:16 pm
“I absolutely don’t want to become a hermit, but yes, I want to explore a bit. Friday it is. What are you going to do with the mirror? Any plans for it? I…would put it in your realm just so the kids don’t find it. I was…creative with the stickers this time. I’m a little old to just to star wars and pigs.”
Not that there weren’t pigs on the mirror. She still did enjoy pig stickers, but. She had absolutely evolved. “I’m…really excited, Jett. I’m glad you want to hang out with me still. And I’m glad you’re just…chill with this. It’s nice.”
It felt like home. Like a real home.
And for the moment, she didn’t miss her mom…too terribly much. The pain of loss was obviously still there but. Whatever else she might have ended up with…she had gotten love.
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Posted: Mon May 13, 2024 5:40 pm
Jett snorted and once more flipped the mirror around to observe it. “I think I’ll show Raven what arts and crafts projects you’ve been up to, first. Then I’ll find a good place for it.”
He was still amused by it but he lowered the mirror to give her a semi-serious look. “Why would you think I didn’t want to hangout with you? We’re family, aren’t we?” He was just trying to respect her sullen emo years while she tried to figure out who she wanted to be. Trying to drag her out of her room when she wasn’t ready to socialize was just going to push her further away and he didn’t want to bury her under stress.
He didn’t want her to bury himself under loneliness, though. He was glad she wanted to get out, glad she wanted to do things.
“I’m excited to get out and do something with you. It’ll be fun.” Just like old times.
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Posted: Mon May 13, 2024 5:52 pm
“Me too!” Jaina grinned and couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Jett telling on her to Raven. It was great. “I promise that I’ve kept the bad stickers away from Chloe and Eloise, don’t you worry about that, but. Me too. I’m excited to make my Realm a home…I’m…excited to want to…”
She wrinkled her nose for a moment. “For lack of a more dramatic thing. To live again, I guess.”
It was horribly over dramatic, but…it felt like the truth. She was living again, and not only that. Starting to really enjoy it. “I love you, Jett. And I know you could have helped me leave but…losing you was always worse than anything else…so.” She shrugged. “You’re worth staying in the court for…”
And everything was going to be right with the world again. Or at least, as right as it could be.
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