User blog:GamerNerd i/A Mother’s Embrace

I had to ride a train for 36+ hours and I got bored. But hey, boredom is a great motivator. I finished two Splatoon 2 campaigns and wrote this story, so... I guess you could say I was productive? Others would say that I wasted 36+ hours of my life but frankly 80/80 in Octo Expansion is super satisfying to me so I don’t really care.

Now that I think of it, maybe I should have worked on the other story that I’ve had in the works instead... Ah, whatever. Here’s a very brief thing that’s definitely not inspired by the last 36+ hours on a train. Brief = less two pages in my word processor = almost none of my stories

Mother’s Compassion
Nadia sighed and gazed out the window at the passing terrain. She was on a train, riding the rails to Seattle for a family trip. For whatever reason, her parents had thought it would be fun to use Amtrak rather than to go on a plane like what they’d always done. Other family included her grandparents and the aunt and uncle from Seattle who had flown down to join everyone on the train. Unfortunately (or fortunately in Nadia’s eyes), booking conflicts had made it so that her room was a car away from the rest of the family. She didn’t mind too much. The cabins were made to cram two beds into a space not much larger than a library’s bookshelf, so she was glad to have one to herself.

The day passed in a blur. Nadia spent ten or so hours alone in her cabin, with the exception of lunch and dinner. Thinking, writing, reading... It wasn’t too bad, but she worried about home. She couldn’t even check. The train was passing through a deep wilderness area, so reception was either weak or nonexistent. Either way, soon it was time for her to start preparing for bed.

Nadia returned from the shower — rather small, although larger than an airplane’s bathroom — in her PJs. She didn’t notice that someone was in her bed — the cabin’s two reclining chairs pulled out and covered with a thin mattress — until she’d locked the door behind her and shut all the curtains.

Nadia whirled around in surprise as she heard the sheets shuffling behind her. Her sapphire ring glowed as dimly as possible on her hand so as not to attract attention. “Alright, sneaky, show yourself,” she whispered quietly. “Who are you and why in Hel are you trying to hide in my cabin?”

A head of dirty blond hair peeked meekly from under the sheets. Nadia relaxed and put her hand down briefly, only to raise it again in a scolding point.

“Frey?” she whispered, yanking the rest of the sheets away. “What are you doing here?”

The boy swallowed a lump in his throat. “I... I came to find you. I didn’t know that you’d left for a trip. I got worried. D-Dad wouldn’t tell me anything, and your phone never responded.

Silently, Nadia cursed her partner. Wasn’t the entire point of telling Aidan that she was leaving so that he could tell others if they looked for her?

“I’m fine, Frey. I just got swept into a family trip.” She knelt to put her laundry and toiletries away. “How long have you been here? You haven’t been searching the train, have you?”

Frey shook his head. “I dropped in maybe a minute or two before you came back. I didn’t know that this was your cabin, so when I heard you coming, I had to hide.”

Nadia began brushing her hair. “Which you didn’t do very well. A sheet?”

“It- It was temporary, okay? I’m not fast with the hiding spells you taught me...”

Nadia stopped brushing for a moment. “The spells I taught you?”

Frey nodded. “Yeah. Future you, at least. A few simple things for general utility. Like the ‘destroy’ thing. Ha-something. Ha...”

Nadia glanced over her shoulder warily. “Don’t finish it if you remember. If I taught you that one, you should know that speaking it casts the spell. And I don’t want to be accused for exploding an entire train car.”

Frey nodded and sat as Nadia continued to prepare herself for bed.

“So...” she began slowly. “Are you going to go home now? You know what I’m up to, and you should know that I’m more than capable of handling myself.”

Frey squirmed a little bit. “I... Uh...”

“Oh, for Smaug’s sake, spit it out already,” Nadia said quietly.

Frey flinched. “I... Can I sleep with you tonight?”

Nadia paused. The request came as a surprise, but she realized that it really shouldn’t have. After all, Frey was still a kid. Granted, he was a kid who had witnessed a traumatic event, survived on the street with his sister, fought in defense of his town, tamed giant monsters in his spare time, and travelled back in time to see his parents again.

With that in mind, how could she refuse? Being a mother to him was the least she could do for her son, even if it didn’t feel right to her.

“I... Of course,” Nadia managed, with some difficulty. She had been looking forward to a quiet night alone, and it wasn’t often that she agreed to sacrifice her comfort for another’s. She was only selfless when it was absolutely necessary (which was a lot, considering her whole interdimensional guardian thing). Sometimes, Nadia envied the nonchalant selflessness that Aidan had developed from being a big brother. “Of course you can, mei aurum liberi. Just... Make sure you’re out of here before my parents come in to check on me in the morning. You know that you’re still a secret to them for... Obvious reasons.”

Frey beamed and scooted over as Nadia lay down on the bed beside him. She stiffened as Frey snuggled up to her, but relaxed after a bit. Frey kept shifting to find the most comfortable position, none of which was particularly comfortable for Nadia. Soon, he settled. The two lay in silence for a while, the only noise being the rumbling of the train underneath them.

Nadia heaved a sigh, her chest heavy with Frey’s head across it. She wasn’t sure, but she could’ve sworn that her PJs were becoming damp. Frey shivered like he was cold. Nadia realized that he was crying.

“Thank you, mom,” he whispered quietly.

Nadia ran her hand through her son’s hair as gingerly as she could.

“You’re welcome, my child.”

And the 16 and 11 year old mother and son drifted off to sleep together.

Son’s Obedience
Nadia woke up, her memory hazy. She looked around her cabin, searching for something — or someone — she couldn’t quite remember. Hadn’t she fallen asleep with someone last night?

Her hand found its way up to her chest. It found the fabric there slightly damp. She remembered now. Quietly, she thanked her son for remembering her request.

Someone knocked at her cabin door. She stood and peeked out at the person on the other side. It was her aunt, beckoning urgently for breakfast.

“Alright, I’m up, Auntie,” she called through the glass. “Yes, I slept well. Give me a few minutes and I’ll join you for breakfast!”