Fireside Chat

I’m pretty surprised when Emma asks me to sit down and have a chat with her and Lena, after I’ve finished training for the day.

Sensing my anxiety over the request, she immediately reassures me that it isn’t anything bad, and that they just want to get to know me a little better.

So I suggest going into the castle library. The armchairs are comfy and the fireplace is nice and warm, so it’s an ideal place to talk.

They agree, so after showering and having dinner, we make our way there. I carry a mug of hot chocolate in my hands, while Emma and Lena are both more partial to matcha. Ivy learnt how to make it specifically for the two of them.

Lena sits down first, and as Emma and I sit down with her, a sound fills the room.

Air escapes from under Emma and I, and we check where we sat to find whoopie cushions placed carefully on our seats.

Lena cackles at her own joke, as I reach under me to retrieve the still farting cushion, enchanted to keep the sound going long after it’s been sat on. Emma shakes her head affectionately at her girlfriend, and I can’t help but chuckle along with her.

“Classic.” The brunette says, wiping an imaginary tear from her face.

“This girl. Can’t have a serious conversation for more than a minute.” Emma shakes her head in exasperation.

“I can be serious!” Lena whines immediately.

“When?” Emma pokes at her girlfriend.

Lena spends a few seconds trying to think of an answer before ultimately picking up one of the discarded whoopie cushions and squeezing it, emitting another round of fart noises as her answer.

Emma sighs again with a smile on her face. “I promise we didn’t bring you here for pranks.” She says, turning to look at me.

I nod, taking a sip of my hot chocolate. “Alright then, what’s up?” I ask.

“We wanted to chat to you a bit more.” Emma says. “Things have been crazy as heck around here, and we haven’t had much of a chance to spend time together.”

“No, I guess not.” I say, nodding. “We’ve all kinda been training and trying to get stronger. I’m sorry it’s been hard to make time to just hang out.”

Emma laughs. “That’s okay. You’re running this whole shebang, we get it. I just figured it would be nice to talk to you a bit, just us.” She says.

“Yeah, yeah it is.” I say with a smile.

Emma smiles back at me. “Well is there anything you were wondering about us? Anything you’re curious about?” She asks, inviting my questioning.

I look down at my hot chocolate, swirling the liquid around in the mug for a few seconds as I ponder my response. “Actually yeah.” I admit. “Lena, you must be pretty close with your brother. I am curious what your family’s like.”

The bright smile on Lena’s face dampens slightly as she remembers how much danger her brother is in.

“Yep, I love Johnny, and all my family.” Lena says. She smiles, as she thinks back to her home. “We all grew up in Willow Springs, Missouri.”

“We were kinda poor, but everybody there was. Didn’t really matter though, we got by and made our own fun. We didn’t need money for that.” Lena reminisces.

“Johnny and I figured out we both had water magic as kids. We also figured out that nobody else in the town could do that. Nobody believed us, and we could never do it in front of them to prove it. So we played with it in secret.”

“Life was great. Simple, like me.” Lena joked. “Pop worked to support us, and Ma stayed home to take care of us. When Noah was old enough, he got a job to help out.”

“The religious people there were weird. We just stayed away from them though, mostly kept our heads down and didn’t make trouble.” Lena said.

“You, not making trouble? I have a tough time believing that.” Emma interjects with an amused jab.

“I’m making up for lost time.” Lena says defensively, holding up her hands and grinning.

I share a chuckle with the both of them as Lena takes a sip of her matcha and keeps telling her story.

“The highlight was always the town fairs. Everybody was so happy, there was so much fun and laughter and love. The games and rides were awesome and I always loved going.” Lena says.

“Sometimes I got to go to theme parks for my birthday and I was always so happy. The happy vibes are what I loved most. I wanna own one, one day. Making a bunch of people happy like that would be awesome.” She says with a smile.

“Anyway, Ma and Pop had a small business they’d work on sometimes. They ended up getting kinda rich just after Johnny graduated. We loved our town, but we wanted to move, so we came here.” Lena says.

She drains the rest of her matcha, setting the mug down on the small table next to her. “Been here ever since. I love it here, and I got to meet Emma, so I’m happy.” Lena grins, leaning over and kissing her girlfriend.

I smile at her. “You know, if it helps, you make everybody here happy.” I tell her.

Lena smiles at me. “Thanks G-spot. I try.” She replies happily.

I damn near choke on my drink laughing. “G-spot?” I giggle.

“What? It’s a good nickname.” Lena snickers.

“You think every nickname is a good nickname.” Emma ribs her.

“Well duh, everything I think of is awesome.” She replies.

I chuckle at Lena’s antics. That girl really does light up every room she’s in.

“What about you Gemma? What’s your background like?” Emma asks me curiously.

Lena leans in slightly, immediately attentive and ready to listen to what I have to say.

I wince slightly at the question. The answer isn’t very pretty.

Emma notices instantly. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.” She reassures me.

I wave it off. “No no, it’s okay. You said you wanted to talk to me, and I’m happy to talk about this.” I say.

Emma nods, listening intently.

“My home life wasn’t the best.” I start. “I wasn’t very happy for a lot of my childhood, and I only had a few comforts that got me through everything.”

“My parents were abusive and I was bullied fairly consistently at school. I didn’t feel very safe most of the time, and pretty much ended up having to learn how to take care of myself fairly early on.” I continue.

“When my parents found out I was trans, that was it for them. They kicked me out the day I turned 18. I’d saved up a decent chunk of money from a job in high school, so I picked myself up and made the best life I could for myself.”

“My magic didn’t show itself until the day after my 19th birthday, and that was when I found out the abyss existed.” I say.

“When I found out, I was really happy, especially with the way my magic manifested. I had a way to improve myself, and a chance to build my life beyond what I thought was possible.”

I start to smile as I reflect on my journey through the abyss. “I’ve met so many amazing people, made some amazing friends and have formed some incredible romantic relationships with an amazing group of people, probably none of whom I would have met otherwise.”

“And yeah sure, it majorly sucked finding out the abyss in Sydney isn’t all I thought it could be. It’s not a safe place for most people, and that really sucks.” I admit.

“But knowing I have the power to change that, and to build a safe life for myself, for the people I care about, and for everybody here…that makes me happy.” I conclude, happy with my lot.

Emma puts a hand on my knee. “I’m sorry you had such a difficult childhood. I’m really proud of you for using it as motivation to make the world a better place.” She tells me, the genuine admiration flowing into her voice.

Her words warm my heart, and I find myself looking into her eyes, knowing she understands. She’s seen plenty of cases like mine before. I know she understands mine.

“Wow Gemma…” Lena says sympathetically, shaking her head. “I didn’t know you’d been through so much. You’re such a reliable person. I didn’t know.”

I chuckle, slightly awkwardly. “It’s okay. Thank you.” I tell her.

Lena smiles at me. “No, thank you. It’s cause of you that I get to be my goofy lil self.” She says earnestly.

“And your goofy lil self is great.” I reply with a grin. And I mean it. She’s a breath of fresh air to be around, especially when I can be so serious myself.

Then I turn to Emma. “Anyway, enough about me. How about you?” I ask her.

“Oh there’s not much there to tell.” Emma replies. “I grew up with queer parents, and my whole family were super involved in theatre. That’s where I met most of my friends growing up.”

“My childhood was great. I didn’t do the best in school, but that didn’t really matter. I had my friends and I had my family, so everything turned out okay in the end.” She says.

“A lot of my friends didn’t have it as good as I did. I wanted to help them, which is how I ended up as the manager for a nonprofit, doing casework for queer and ND kids.”

Emma shrugs. “I love what I do. Hopefully I can do something similar in this world too. It seems like there’s plenty of people who need the help.” She says.

I nod in response. “From what I’ve seen, there is. I guess it’s a lot more personal when you’re focusing on helping individuals.” I reply.

“Yep. I’ve met so many amazing people doing this too. People like you Gemma, who could do amazing things if they had the right support.” Emma says, with a smile.

“I think it’s really great that you’re so dedicated to helping them. You’re a good person Emma, and it’s really nice having you around. Both of you.” I say, looking between Emma and Lena.

Their smiles are warm in a way that lifts my heart into the clouds. “You are too.” Emma replies.

“You’re great to be around.” Lena says affectionately.

They really are lovely people.