The Descendant

When I got up to go to work the next morning, I found that Iris had sent the measurements of the canopy bed that I'd requested, so I knew how much fabric to buy. Although she really liked my room, she thought that the bed nook would be claustrophobic, so I planned sheer hangings for the bed. I went in early to make my fabric choices and found a lightly embroidered ivory sheer for the canopy and hangings, bought enough of the beautiful embossed velvet for a duvet cover pillow shams, and a couple of throw pillows, a sturdy ivory silk for borders for the duvet cover and shams, and some of the greens and coppers she'd liked for pillows and draperies plus lining fabric and sheers. I planned on the living room being mostly the coppers with some green, and greens, ivories, and touches of copper for the bedroom. The velvet took up a sizeable chunk of the budget, even with my discount, but I knew she'd love it. We'd agreed that she'd do preliminary shopping during the week and we'd go on Saturday, my day off. I felt the most important thing was whether the furniture was comfortable; we could always reupholster if necessary. It all depended on where the pieces were found; some shops had floor models and then made the pieces to order, which meant that we would have a lot more control over the fabric. I made plans for other touches and confirmed with Alfred that he was equipping the small kitchen. Iris wasn't the domestic type and probably wouldn't use it much, but she needed basics. We talked about colors so that he could get appliances that would fit in. I love working with Alfred. There were overhead lighting fixtures in each room which were largely inadequate, so task lighting would need to be a priority. Lamps would have to wait, though, until I had a better idea of her personal style.

Tuesday, I went out in the afternoon with my friends, a happy circumstance where we all had time off from our jobs. I had little souvenirs and sweets for them, and they told me about what was going on and I told them about the classes I'd taken. Imogen seemed more secure and was friendly again like she'd been before Christmas, such a relief. I just hoped it would last. Everybody had fun things to share as we caught up. Jinx was irritated with Harley as she'd stood him up for lunch, but she was kind of flaky anyway and as he said, she was probably doing something of questionable legality. When she was working for the Suicide Squad or off on one of her own ... activities, she kept her distance so as not to bring attention to her son. I got a lot of suggestions for sports to try out, places to take lessons, and I listened as people talked about the dates they'd gone on and things they'd done while I was in London. I took pictures during the afternoon, trying out some of the information I'd learned in class.

Later that week, Dad asked me if I'd made decisions about sports to try; he and Mom wanted me to try two to start with. I felt that this was a way of getting me to spread out my interests; in case something happened and I couldn't continue, it wouldn't break my heart to give it up. I'd stuck everything to do with dance (besides the legwarmers, they were still useful and the clothes that I put out to donate) in a box and put it up in the attic. All the programs, the little awards I'd earned in classes, every physical scrap. I'd even downloaded the recordings of my performances off my devices, out of the cloud, put them on a single drive, and put that in the box too. "Tennis and rowing," I said. Dad blinked. "John was talking about rowing and it sounds fun," I explained. "And tennis looks interesting. A good workout, anyway." The idea of getting to smash a ball seemed to me like it could be a good stress reliever. Mom said she'd look into getting me lessons, and I requested group learning when possible. A way to expand my circle of acquaintances and interest in a shared activity.

On Friday, she came home with registration for a beginner's rowing class at Rikers Rowing. It was headquartered on the island that had formerly housed a prison and now was mixed use. The program, I discovered, was well-regarded, especially for developing new rowers. For tennis, I'd be taking a class at Columbia, where students ran classes for credit. I perked up at this, since I might be able to visit Uncle Loki now and then. He had an endowed chair in the Alien Races department that he'd held since its inception a few centuries ago. He was able to attract speakers from all over the galaxy, experts in physiology and culture, and other worlds in the Nine Realms accepted graduates from the programs to work in their governments, businesses, and Earth governments used their expertise in their trade legations. Occasionally he'd leave for twenty or thirty years, take a break and allow others to advance their careers, but he'd returned from one of those just before the Great Winter. Both classes were early, starting at seven, so that I could learn my activity and get to work in a timely manner and lasted a month. Rowing: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, tennis Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. All equipment would be supplied and I just had to dress appropriately. For rowing, close-fitting shorts that wouldn't get caught in the sliding seat were key, and for tennis, a good pair of shoes.

I worked on the soft furnishings for Iris's apartment on the weekend; there were a lot of them and it was going to take time, especially the sheers. Why had I decided to use them so much? Hemming them took a lot of time so that the stitches weren't really obvious. I went with her to look for the rest of her furniture and found that her aesthetic sensibility was rather... undeveloped. The couch she wanted was comfortable but blobby, the same with the chair. The bookshelves (the return had prompted a boom in printed books, one we'd all glommed onto) were flat-pack, just somewhere to park the books. "No," I said, finally putting my foot down. "Look." I pushed the display model gently with a finger and we watched it sway gently. "You can't anchor it to the walls, it's in the lease. You have to do better." Iris was vexed, so we went to a nice second-hand store where I knew from judicious online scouting that there were nice freestanding bookshelves with nice rope carving finishing the front of the case, and while the wood was rather battered, it could be refinished or painted. I also rejected the flat-pack desk and showed her a few different styles; she was rejecting the detailed, ornate furniture in her parents' home, I figured out, and she loved a desk that was industrial; a base of bronze-washed pipes, cast feet, but with a top made of some kind of dark, silky wood that had two small drawers underneath. We got three bronze wire baskets with woven wood strips to put on the bookcase shelves, and she looked a lot happier. A reproduction furniture store yielded a glamorous, kidney-shaped sofa with an asymmetric back that sloped gently, completely upholstered that would look great with her coffee table. We got it in a coppery sort of tweed that went with the drapery fabric, and a fun wing chair with a moire-print green on the inside and a green folate pattern on the outside. It came with a little footstool in the folate print.

On a roll, she chose a couple of plush rugs in copper, browns, and golds for the living area and two smaller, delicately patterned green and ivory ones to flank her bed. Small tables for the ends of the sofa, a differently shaped one for the chair, and two bedside tables completed the shopping. She would shop for her desk chair, needing to replace her worn out one, and since she was losing patience with details, left the lighting to me. She was interning at her mom's firm over the summer and could carve out time for deliveries, and gave me a key so that I could come and do my thing too. I spent Sunday mostly at the sewing machine and had finished the things for the bedroom by the time I quit. Good progress, but Iris was itching to get her independence and I wanted her to be happy, so I'd have to burn through the rest of the curtains and pillows for the front room fast. Fortunately, she decided that she didn't want the sheers for the living room , and I gave up without a struggle. It would look better, but she thought they looked fussy. I put the fabric on a shelf in case she changed her mind after seeing how nice the bedroom draperies looked.

I showed up at the rowing club bright and early Monday morning, and we were put into boats with eight girls or boys. We each had one oar, and were informed that this was sweep rowing; where a rower had two oars was called sculling. Our first lesson was spent learning the four parts of a rowing stroke, the Catch, Drive, Finish, and Recovery. Legs were just as important as arms, and there was a definite and important order to things, beginning with the drop of the oar blade vertically into the water, a strong push with the legs, arms drawing the blade through the water to a layback position that required strong abs, the removal of the blade called 'feathering' where the blade turned horizontal, and recovery back to the crouched position at the start. Over and over. I wasn't as strong as I'd been when I was dancing, and I really felt it by the end of the class. Getting all of the rowers in a boat to stroke at the same time was a challenge, but we'd managed a reasonable attempt by the end of the class. Then it was off to work, a four-hour shift, then home to sew.

Tuesday I learned how to score a tennis match, what the lines on the tennis court meant, and how to play tennis for beginners--mini-tennis--from the service lines. Since we needed to learn fundamentals before we could play with speed and power, we learned to hit from the point of contact and add a follow-through, and this gentle sort of volleying took us through class. I felt encouraged by my ability to pick up basic skills in a new sport and went home with a positive attitude. To sew. Wednesday was more of the same in rowing, and I had an eight-hour shift at work. After that, I went shopping for lamps and the bulbs which would provide a warm white light. I had to replace the bulbs that came with the place, too; they were too yellow. Thursday had us practicing volleying and adding a split step. We learned how to serve, easier to get over the net at the shorter distance. After a four hour shift, I managed to finish up the sewing for Iris. Friday had us spending time on the water but we went in early to learn how to use rowing machines called ergs and the coaches set up personalized weight lifting regimes for each of us since rowing is very much a strength sport. We could use the club equipment at any time during the duration of our class, and we also had the equipment in the family gym, which would be easier for me. An eight hour shift, then I took the night off and went to a movie with my friends. Saturday had us moving to full court distance and adding stroke preparation to our swing, learning a proper forehand. The coaches worked to get us to stay relaxed and feeling control in our swings in order to improve our precision. I had brunch with my friends before going in for an eight hour shift.

Sunday was free, completely. I loaded up my pod after sleeping in (I had to make two trips) and set up the lamps first of all, rearranging the furniture according to my design, putting the pads under the rugs, and making sure everything met standards, adding other little touches. Alfred had been by already to set up the kitchen and make the bed (I grinned) and left a stepstool that was high enough to replace the bulbs in the ceiling fixtures. I went home and loaded up the rest of the fabric and spent an enjoyable hour hanging draperies at the windows and dressing the bed with the hangings, duvet cover (I struggled to stuff the duvet inside and get it all smoothed out, wondering if Alan and Alfred knew any tricks), and shams over big firm pillows for reading in bed. A throw in shades of green went across the foot of the bed, and I looked around, pleased. I went to a nearby florist and got a pretty arrangement with the last of the money from the budget, and looked around, checking for flaws. Alfred had polished the wood and the floors, and had painted the bookshelves to match the walls, picking out the carved detail with copper wax. I called my cousin.

It took her about half an hour to arrive with her brother, both of their pods stuffed full of her belongings. In the best tradition of the makeover shows we screened at work, I made them come in with their eyes closed first, then had them open them at the same time so I could enjoy their reaction. "Wow," said Miles, looking around with wide eyes. "This is great, Lys. I love that desk." He moved away to poke around. Iris was stock still, taking it all in.

"Do you like it?" I asked, a little worried now. I'd pushed her away from things that she'd liked, maybe I should have been more accommodating.

"I love it!" She grabbed me in a tight hug and wiped tears away when she let go. "This is amazing. You did such a good job!" She started to move around, stroking the upholstery fabric, sitting at the desk for a moment, and when she turned back, I could see her eyes full of plans and dreams. I smiled in relief.

"Alfred put a vacuum cleaner over under the breakfast bar," I said. "You've got to empty it daily, it'll charge itself each day and clean the floor and rugs each morning. There are extra light bulbs in the pantry; you don't have a hall closet so I got a little hall tree out of the attic where you can hang three coats and store your shoes when you first come in. It's got a little umbrella stand as well and the two drawers under the seat are cedar-lined for storage of hats, gloves, and scarves." There was a chenille throw draped on the sofa for coziness, since the air conditioning was particularly aggressive. "Your wall space is pretty much taken up by the architecture, furniture and your tv, so you'll have to bring in your personal tastes with little knick-knacks instead of wall-mounted art." I'd framed two candids of her family and one with of her and her brother and placed them in the bookcase to start, though. I'd also gone to Grandma Alex for one of her shed small feathers and had it framed in a shadow box.

We went into the bedroom to find Miles crashed on the bed. Fortunately for his life, his feet were hanging well off the side. "This is awesome, Iris, try this." She flopped down too, stroking the velvet with her fingers.

"This is so perfect," she said. "The hangings are beautiful, everything is delicate in here. I absolutely love it." I'd found lampshades with high-quality crystals for the bedside lamps and added crystals to the ceiling light as well for a special effect. I'd gotten rolls of a transparent material that could be applied to the walls without damage and cut strips, alternating the satin finish of the paint with thinner strips of matte finish to add a small note of distinction, building the design from the walls out, and a tiny diffuser released rose oil into the air. The rose garden out the back of her family's home was her favorite place on the entire estate to hang out when the flowers bloomed.

"I want my own place," Miles said dreamily. "Lys, what do you think goes well with blue?"

"I told you to start looking when I did," his sister said acerbically. "It took me almost six months to get this place." Miles groaned. He and I helped her carry her things upstairs and left after she had thanked me effusively and repeatedly.

"That really is something else, Lys," Miles said, and insisted on taking me to dinner. "Iris doesn't pay much attention to her personal surroundings, you've seen her room at home, you know, but you managed to get her to form some opinions, and then you got it to look so welcoming, a home and she's not even unpacked. It's too bad that it's not a sleeper sofa." I smiled, thinking of how Iris had avoided sleepers when making her choice.

"So get looking for your own place, and I'll help you decorate it too," I said peaceably. "And you're more tuned to aesthetics, so start thinking about what style of furniture you want. You could even shop for a few necessary pieces if there's nothing in the attic you want, you can always store it in Iris's room now."

"I want blues and whites, with dark furniture," he said immediately. "I'll get some chips from the paint store that I like." And so we talked about that, how things were going at the company, my new sports, and my schedule for next year. English, modern history, calculus, environmental science, photography, cyber security, and in place of Comparative Religions, shop.

"I got all As except for a B+ in chemistry last year," I said. "Environmental science is said to be easier, and calculus harder than pre-calculus, so it still evens out the difficulty level. I think it would be fun to learn how to build things. Give me a break, I've got to study for college boards this year and start researching majors and colleges." I sighed. It still seemed like a daunting challenge.

"You can always do a gap year if you need the extra time," he pointed out as our desserts arrived. I had panna cotta with strawberries. Yum. I nodded and changed the subject, asking if I could shoot him dancing some time in order to get more experience in portraiture andcontrolling motion in photographs. He agreed and said he'd check at the company for a time when I could come to use an empty studio.

When I got home from work on Monday, Iris had sent me what seemed like half my weight in chocolate, an enormous bouquet in shades of pinks with lots of greenery for my room, and a gift card for a sporting goods store where I could equip myself in the pursuit of new sports. I'd refused payment, not feeling like it was right to charge my cousin, but she'd gotten around that pretty neatly. I put the chocolates in the library for everybody to share.