(no subject)

[andhiswife]

Greta hesitates outside her own front door, apprehension stilling her hand. It's stupid, really. She didn't do poorly, or embarrass herself, or any of the other things she feared might happen. She'd actually done well. They all had; the judges and the hosts had gone on about what a difficult decision it was.

Part of her is relieved, even. She'd been wanting to get her life back, and now she has it -- minus next weekend, of course, when they'll all be gathering to watch the grand finale. Things can finally start getting back to normal. She can think about Christmas, and their upcoming anniversary, and other things that are more about them and not just her.

But it was the hosts who delivered the bad news back in the tent, and now she has to be the one to share it. However she feels about being out of the running, it seems vaguely unfair that it's suddenly her job to tell people. There's no cheerful way to spin I lost.

There's a quiet snuffling on the other side of the door, followed by an impatient, canine groan. Well, there's no use hiding out here; the dogs know she's home, which means Thomas does, too. She shakes her head, then lets herself inside.

Sadie and Cú mob her immediately, and she seizes the excuse to focus on them, letting them sniff her hands and then ruffling their ears. "Yes, yes," she murmurs. "I'm home."

Comments

[andhiswife]

It's impossible not to smile at the sound of Saoirse thumping down the stairs -- you wouldn't guess how little she was from the amount of noise she manages to make -- even though it means she's going to have to account for herself once again. And to someone who might not immediately grasp the more subtle benefits of losing.

"I'm afraid I didn't," she admits, her smile taking on a rueful slant. "But -- this means I don't have to practice anything this week. And when we all go to the film the final next weekend, we'll all be able to sit and wait together." Her eyebrows tick up hopefully. She doesn't want Saoirse to take the loss too hard, certainly not harder than Greta's taken it, herself.

[very_sharpe]

Thomas pours the rice into a serving bowl and sets it on the table, followed shortly by the chicken curry in another bowl. He stares at everything for a moment, then recalls he has naan bread that needs warming. A quick turn in the microwave sees to that. He looks up when Saoirse appears with the dogs in tow.

"There will be a lovely picnic or party or something," he says to Saoirse, as if he might need to hype the idea of Greta not being in the finals. There is some part of him that is sinking into the relief of it all. No more stressed out Greta, no more kitchen in disarray with a quietly distressed baker on the floor in the middle of it all. She's done admirably, and he's proud of her, but he has to admit... it'll be nice to get back to normal.

[selkiesaoirse]

They both sound... Not happy that she's lost, but not sad about it, either, and Saoirse is confused. She wants to be angry. Greta is the best baker in all the world — there's no way she could lose! But she has, somehow, and she isn't upset about it.

"But you can't lose," she argues. "They're wrong."

[andhiswife]

Well, then. Greta blinks, not having braced herself for outright denial. It’s flattering, in a way, but it’s one thing to argue that losing isn’t the worst thing and another to argue that it happened at all.

So she pats her lap invitingly, hoping she can coax Saoirse over for a brief cuddle before they eat, and gives Thomas a slightly hapless look. “It was a very tough challenge,” she explains. “I don’t think any of us did our best work. But they had to send someone home at the end, and they picked me.”

“It’s not all bad, though,” she adds bracingly. “It means things can start going back to normal, and we can spend more time reading or playing games. I’m rather glad of that, to be honest.”

[very_sharpe]

Thomas hides a smile at Saoirse's blunt denial. It's sweet, actually, and he can't blame the little girl for not liking the idea. Greta's a wonderful baker, and Saoirse is rather bias.

"It's how things go sometimes, in competitions," Thomas says to the little girl as he finishes setting the table. "Not everyone can win first place, but your mum did wonderfully, and you and I both know how talented she is. That will never change."

[selkiesaoirse]

Saoirse tries to wrap her head around this. But no matter how she looks at it, it just sounds like the people on the show think that there's someone better than Greta. That's how it is in footie: one team wins because they're better, because they practiced longer or differently from the other team, or maybe got a lucky shot in.

She thinks about that for a moment. A lucky shot. One moment when the keeper is a moment too slow, or there's a bug, or a bird, or a blade of grass that's just right for a shot to go in the net instead of the keeper's mitt.

Maybe this was the lucky shot that got Greta out of the game.

She frowns, because she still doesn't like it, but she supposes they're right. This is just the way of it.

"And... You're not upset?"

[andhiswife]

Thomas's words might be meant to reassure Saoirse, but they leave Greta feeling better, too. She had trusted him to not be disappointed -- or perhaps just assumed he wouldn't be, because of the adjustments he'd had to make and the stress it had injected into their household, and because of his own clear-eyed awareness that it was just a silly television show (something he'd had to remind her of on several occasions, often while picking her up off the kitchen floor). But it's still a relief, hearing him speak of it calmly and insist she did well, and she gives him a warm, grateful smile.

Saoirse doesn't look entirely convinced, though Greta can just about see the gears turning inside her head. "I'm a little disappointed," she admits, because she suspects the lass would see through any outright lies. "But I'm mostly relieved that I don't have to worry about it anymore, and that we can go back to normal."

[very_sharpe]

Thomas returns Greta's smile and gives her a wink. Of course he's proud of her. Through all her breakdowns and uncertainty, through all her triumph and determination, he's believed in her. That isn't going to stop just because she didn't win a silly competition.

"And it's alright to be disappointed," Thomas adds when Greta admits to it. "Of course it is. But now we're going to find out who will win, and it will be fun. And you don't have to worry so much about me burning dinner."

Despite his comfort as a sous chef, Thomas is fairly certain Saoirse side-eyed him the first few times he made dinner in Greta's stead.

[selkiesaoirse]

Saoirse considers this all a moment longer, then nods her head at last.

"Well. Alright. I suppose not worrying about burnt dinner is good. And now we can snuggle more on the couch. There are new episodes of PUMA Squad to watch, too!"

PUMA — Pubescent Unique Martial Artist — Squad is a show about five young teens with strange abilities, who use these abilities to fight crime. There are usually interesting vocabulary lessons in each half hour episode, and it's one of Saoirse's favorite shows to watch.

[andhiswife]

Greta levels a playfully incredulous look at Thomas's self-effacing joke -- he's come far enough in the kitchen that she can't even imagine him burning dinner -- but if it helps jostle Saoirse into a better frame of mind, she won't argue the point.

"We certainly can," she agrees, curling her arm around Saoirse and pulling her close, just long enough to press a kiss to her hair. She could take or leave PUMA Squad, but there are worse things for Saoirse to watch, or for her to knit to. It's the thought of downtime that appeals more than anything else. "Maybe we can pick out a book after dinner, and all of us can have a good snuggle. Provided you're all done with your homework, of course. Otherwise, it'll just have to be me and Thomas," she says. She punctuates it with a heavy sigh of regret, as if that would be a terrible shame, but then winks at him in turn.