As Witnesses

3💚

Monday, April 2, 2007

~*~

Aside from the fiery red hair, aquamarine eyes are a trait every Valor can be recognized for. When you stare into them, it's as if you can see the courage and longing for adventure through the bright blue sky. Yet that courage and adventure has dwindled down, seemingly bottled up for those Valors in more recent times, who have instead invested themselves in the world of business and finance. Only in their eyes can you see their slivers of the family's true bravery remaining.

Athena and Odin Valor stare into those same eyes of their children, Lil' Catty and Ginny, while breaking the news to them: they have to leave for work half an hour earlier than usual.

"But why?" The uncertainty is apparent in Ginny's voice. Uncertainty is a feeling that someone like Ginny doesn't come down with very often.

"It's complicated, Ginny," is all Odin can say about it. "How about this: we'll try to explain it to you two when we get the chance."

Lil' Catty shrugs at that. "Is it okay that we don't get it now?"

What Odin says next comes as a relief for both children. "Of course it's okay. Both of you are very young. That's something to enjoy. In the meantime, no one is expecting you to know any of this just because we do."

"And you don't have to be in business at all if you don't want to," Athena adds on.

"Yeah, maybe not," Lil' Catty laughs. "Ginny and I have been playing a lot of basketball together lately."

Ginny finally smiles again. "We could do that today before school actually starts!"

"Very nice idea. In the meantime, we'll miss you two," comments Athena. The four of them get together in a brief group hug, and Athena gives each child a kiss on the forehead. "Be good, little ones."

With that, Lil' Catty and Ginny leave their house through the front door, waving one last goodbye to their parents, and walk across their street to the corner leading to the next block of their neighborhood. That's where they run into the Airlet siblings waiting for them.

~*~

It's late in the morning, around eleven o'clock to be exact. As with most employees in the headquarters of Cross Continent Company, Exa and Zeno Airlet could definitely have a break from work right about now. The couple has agreed to meet in the break room in their section of the building, as they usually do around this time every work day.

Exa continues her walk through the section of the building she and Zeno belong to. On the way to the break room, she runs into several of her coworkers. It does seem inevitable in a work environment like this. The short interactions between her and a coworker usually go like this:

"Hi, Eva."

"It's Exa," she corrects with a sigh.

"Whatever."

To be honest with herself, Exa is surprised that her coworkers don't properly remember her name. Sure, it is hard to remember everyone's names in a workplace as large and spacious as this, but Exa is named after the prefix for ten to the eighteenth power, and as this business is closely related to mathematics, these prefixes for powers of ten should be easier for them to remember. Then again, how would they remember that she is the person they know who is named after one of them, and which one?