---Sister---
---Tuun’s perspective---
My heart is racing and I feel my sprinting muscles tighten, involuntarily, as the call waits to be answered.
I often have to explain to people that, just because my species has the greatest resolution to our perception of time, of any known sapient, it does not mean that I perceive the world in slow motion, the same way that, when I maximise the frames in old footage, it doesn’t cause it to run slower!
Right now, however, this moment does seem to be stretching for an eternity!
My apprehension is utterly overwhelming!
I squeeze Victor’s solid hand with two of mine. A squeeze that he returns, gently enough not to fracture my metacarpals.
The call is answered by a stunning, round faced, freckled, Levantine Neanderthal woman, with long, straight hair.
She looks at Victor and, with a broad grin, says “Vicky! How’s it goin’!?” in a dialect of English which is identical to his.
He smiles fondly back and answers “Not too bad, Tea… not too bad at all!”
She smirks “I’ll bet! Gettin’ given honours by foreign planets must be nice!… This is what? The seventh time that’s happened?”
He waves his hand in the negative “Sixth.”
She laughs “Only six times(!) Wouldn’t want you gettin’ too big for your boots(!)” deploying an English idiom I’ve not come across but am inferring to mean ‘to become arrogant’, from context.
She turns to Fluffy and, for 7.4 seconds, makes cooing noises in infant-directed-speech.
Fluffy yowls, excitedly, and paws at the screen.
Finally she turns her attention to me and, smiling warmly, asks Victor “So… you gonna introduce me to your lady friend, Vicky?”
Smiling just as warmly, Victor uses his right hand to gesture to me “Tea, this is Tuun ‘Elf’, my partner. Tuun, this is Treg ‘Tea’ Leaf… the closest thing I’ve got to a sister…”
“Uh(!)” she interrupts, seeming to be feigning woundedness “You’re sayin’ you don’t think of me as your precious big sister, Vicky(!?)”
Victor smiles and roles his eyes “You’re, like, three weeks older’an me! We’d be twins, surely, if we was gonna be siblings!”
She closes her eyes, turns her face up and to her left and answers “Three weeks is three weeks, Vicky! I’m your big sis and you’ve gotta listen to me!”
“Yeah, yeah(!)” answers Victor.
It’s very clear this is not the first time they’ve run through exactly this tongue in cheek dispute!
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dr Leaf.” I proffer, nervously.
She bursts into raucous laughter and I’m momentarily terrified into thinking that I’ve already made a fool of myself, despite only having spoken eight words to her!
She says “You can call me ‘Treg’, sweetheart… or ‘Tea’, if you like… I’m only ‘Dr Leaf’ to folk I meet in my clinic!… Can I call you ‘Tuun’? Or would you prefer ‘Elf’?”
“Erm…‘Tuun’ is fine… I’d prefer that… Treg.” I say, anxiously.
She turns to address Victor “Your girlfriend’s a real cutie!… Might have to hop a transport out and steal her away from you(!)”
“You’ve already got your own cutie(!) Hands off(!)” he jokes, shielding me with his arms.
Smugly, she answers “One can never have enough cuties(!)”
Victor sighs and, to me, says “She ain’t actually poly, by the way, Tuun… she just likes teasin’ about it!”
“I ain’t poly, to your knowledge, Vicky(!) You can’t assume I’m monogamous just cause I’ve only got one husband, so far!” she grins.
“…And the reason you’d’ve kept it from me, for 30 years, if you were(?)” he asks, turning to her with a sardonically raised eyebrow.
She grins, causing me to notice that, while her face is much more Sapiensoid looking than Thran’s, her teeth look every bit as Neanderthaloid!
“Simple…” She answers “…whether I’m poly or not, you not knowin’ is much more fun!”
He shakes his head, exasperatedly.
“Uhm… I have a question…” I say, tentatively “…why does Victor call you ‘Tea’ if you’ve known eachother since childhood?”
She smiles “That’s ’cause Vicky was the first one to call me ‘Tea’… was very pleased with himself for figurin’ out that the name I chose for myself abbreviates to ‘T. Leaf’ and I love myself some hot leaf juice(!)…”
“In fairness, Tea, it ain’t like you figured that out(!)” teases Victor.
“Yeah! Prob’ly woulda chosen a different name, if I had, wouldn’t I!?” she shoots back before continuing “When I went to Kings, I told all my friends to call me ‘Tea’ so, by the time they had to give me an epithet they’d almost forgotten that ‘Tea’ weren’t actually my name, ’til I reminded ’em that is!”
Here Victor asks “Lloyd and Chelsea gonna be joinin’ us, Tea?”
“Chelsea’s not… Lloyd’s just on his way back from takin’ her to his sister’s, in Llanberis, where she’s gonna get spoiled rotten, all weekend(!)… He shoulda already been back but he said he had a bitta trouble hailin’ a capsule… Almost told you to hold off on callin’ but figured I’d just talk to you ’til he get’s back…” she shrugs.
Victor gives a nod of ‘fair enough’.
“Lloyd’s your husband, Treg? Chelsea’s your daughter?” I ask.
She smiles and nods “Two for two! You go, girlfriend!… I’d have liked to introduce you to Chelsea but… well… hell hath NO fury like Rhiannon ‘Fire’ Morgan denied time with her niece(!)”
She then leans forward and narrows her eyes “I have to say… I’m impressed you’ve managed not to ask about my eyes and hair for this long…”
What’s she talking about?! What should I be asking about her eyes and hair!?
Her hair’s straight… which is quite unusual for a Neanderthal?… But not massively! Not so much that it would be a burning question in anyone’s mind!
But… what else could it be!?
She leans back and studies the highly confused expression I’m sure I’m wearing “Victor tells me you were raised on a Terran world… you’re not at all curious about whether a girl with carmine hair and lime green eyes had them modded that way?”
Victor explains before I can “She can’t see those colours, Tea…”
“I have total monochromacy…” I add “…my cradleworld is an eyeball world so there wasn’t enough light to discern colour, in my species' evolutionary history.”
“Reeeaaally…?” she asks, addressing me while leaning forward with a fascinated expression on her face.
I nod, nervously.
“And… if you don’t mind my asking… what’s with the glowing eyes?”
“Tea!?” chides Victor, crossly.
I put my right hands on his left shoulder and say “Victor, it’s fine! I’m not offended! I don’t mind answering!”
He looks at me for a few moments before seeming to be satisfied that I’m truly not upset.
I turn back to Treg’s freckled face, waiting expectantly for me to account for arguably the most strikingly nonTerran feature of my appearance.
I start “I’m not 100% sure on this… but I’ve heard from some of the Don exiles, on Nova Fennoscandia, that our eyes glow for nonverbal communication, while stalking prey, in our evolutionary past… They let us do things like signal where we where in relation to the prey, which way we were facing, the animal we’re intending to go after etc.”
She nods, engrossed “And… what about the animals you were hunting? Could they not have used your eyes to spot you?”
“They could…” I respond “…but bioluminescence is quite common among DonOlun fauna and flora so it wasn’t as much of a disadvantage to stealth as you’d think… The advantages of silent communication in the dark must have outweighed any disadvantage to stealth… if that is the mechanism by which my species gained our glowing eyes…”
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“And…” she scoots forward in her seat, fixing me with an intent expression “…why is bioluminescence so common on your cradle?”
I shrug “I’m afraid I don’t know about that… I didn’t grow up there… There, unfortunately, wasn’t a Don schoolteacher or biology specialist among those of us marooned in Terran Space.”
She seems, here, to realise that she’s accidentally steered me into a sensitive area and she says “Oh, I’m sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t mean to pry! I was just curious.”
“It’s OK, Treg… like I said, I was happy to answer!” I smile.
“Well, even so…” she starts before trailing off.
“Have you seen Maia recently, Tea?” says Victor with the force of someone intentionally changing the subject.
She nods with a crooked smile “Yeah… saw her a few weeks ago. We had tea… well… I had tea… she simulated having tea. It was nice but… well, you know Maia… she’s always viewed childrearin’ as more science than art(!) It’s clear she ain’t actually that bothered about seein’ me!”
“I don’t know ’bout that!” challenges Victor “Don’t the fact that she agreed to meet mean that she wanted to meet? Like… even if she only agreed for your sake… and not ’cause she’d get anything outta seein’ you, isn’t that its own kinda love?… Like, if she’s seein’ you ’cause she don’t want you to get upset by her refusin’, that means she cares about upsettin’ you, don’t it?”
She nods, concedingly “I never said she didn’t love us… in her own way… just that her ways of lovin’ and carin’ are a bit… clinical…”
“Clinical?” queries Victor.
“Yeah! You remember the nutrition schedules she had us on, growin’ up?” answers Treg.
“Yep… what about ’em? I reckon bein’ on those schedules is why we’re both close to as tall as we can be without gettin’ gene therapy!… Also got me fantastically predisposed to the habits needed to maintain peak physical fitness!”
“I said it was clinical, I didn’t say it didn’t work!… It worked brilliantly for you, at least! I gained 20kg, as soon as I was at uni and makin’ my own food choices!”
With a wry smirk, Victor counters “Oh, I’m sure the weight you gained at uni had everythin’ to do with the nutrition schedules you’d been on up to that point and nothin’ at all to do with the fact that, beginnin’ of second year, you started datin’ a baker (who, by your account, is also a fantastic cook, more generally), then moved in with him, then married him(!) It must be the lack of self control you had from always bein’ prescribed what to eat and not the unlimited supply of snacky-treats(!)
“That’s…” she starts but then cuts herself off, looking away from us “…Ah…Speak of the devil!”
She switches the camera to her holo, stands and walks to a pair of clear doors, leading out onto a lush balcony-garden beyond which is a breathtaking view of the London skyline, from what looks like well over a kilometre up.
The city is a sparse forest of skypiercers (one of which Treg presumably lives in) covered in the profuse foliage of balcony-gardens and parks and towering over the, much lower, buildings filling the spaces between them.
I have never seen such a populous city as London looks to be!
The largest city on Fennoscandia only has about 7 million people and, while I have visited larger cities since I left, London has easily ×10 that many! At least… that’s what it looks like.
A small transport capsule is approaching Treg’s balcony at a decent clip.
As it draws close, the capsule wheels to the side and drifts to the safety railing, deploying a ramp over it once it has drawn level.
Down the ramp comes a slender Sapiens with pale skin, short dark hair, and a friendly smile displayed across his soft-featured face.
“Look who it is!” he beams with a bouncing, melodic cadence in an accent that I’m taking to be Welsh “How are you doing, champ(?)” he continues, with feigned awkwardness.
“I am doing well! How are you doing, sport(?)” responds Victor, matching the pretence of uneasiness.
Seeing me looking at him confused, in his periphery, Victor turns and explains, as the other two make their way back to the sofa “That’s a little in-joke Lloyd and I have, Tuun… The first time Tea introduced me to him on a holochat, we talked for a bit but, then, she went to the loo and left us alone… long moment of silence… then he goes ‘Soooooo…’ and it was so awkward that I burst out laughin’, then he burst out laughin’… Since then, pretending to be super uncomfortable with eachother’s been our thing!” with a chuckle.
I nod my understanding.
It’s nice that Victor’s been able to form an in-joke with a man he’s never met in person.
“Right so… does one of you two want to introduce me to the dwtty next to Victor and then she can tell us all about herself… then I’d like Victor to tell me what’s been occurring on the latest episodes of my favourite soap; Victor on the Bright Plume(!)… I have brought popcorn…” grins the jocular man, producing an empty cardboard container and a bag of popcorn and showing them to his wife, causing her chest to bounce up and down in mirth.
Victor introduces me and then I tell them a little about myself… I don’t go into quite as much depth as I did in my interview, last year, but I’m sure they’re not having much trouble filling in the gaps.
I’m asked a few embarrassing questions, such as what exactly I find attractive about Victor, but mostly we just have a pleasant chat.
After the couple and I have been suitably acquainted, Victor is prompted to recount the latest happenings aboard the ship, which he does, animatedly, as Treg and Lloyd snack on the popcorn that Lloyd brought.
“You’re joking!” reacts Treg, popcorn frozen halfway to her mouth.
“Nope!” negates Victor “Mage ended things with the Shings and immediately got engaged to Felicity!”
“His ex!? The Felis!? The one that hates him!? The one who’s always chopsing him!?” enquires Lloyd, incredulously.
Victor shrugs “’Parrently she didn’t hate him so much as we thought! Complete attitude shift since then… she won’t stop clingin’ to him now!… I don’t think I’d ever heard a Felis purr, before recently!”
“That’s wild! People are complicated!” opines Treg, rubbing her temples as if the strain of processing what she’s been told is causing her a mild headache “How are the Shings taking it?”
“They don’t seem distraught… I’ve seen ’em a few times since… When Nou was fixing my shattered ulna the other day, I asked her about it and how she was doin’, how Nahn was doin’… she basically said that they always knew it weren’t gonna last forever and, while she wouldn’t’ve chosen to end it so soon, she’s not upset that it ended… very emotion’ly mature!” says Victor.
“I don’t like how casual you are about broken bones, Victor!” says his (sort of) sister “You’d get a stern talking to if you kept coming back to my clinic with breaks(!)”
Victor gives an apologetic shrug “Breaks sorta ain’t avoidable with the trainin’ I’m doin’, Tea!”
Treg looks as if she’s about to say more before her husband interrupts “Sorry to say… but we’ve got plans so we’ve got to go, now in a minute… It was bloody tidy to meet you, Tuun!”
“Yes, a pleasure! Perhaps next time we see you on a call will be before Vicky’s therapist sets it for him as homework again(!)” smirks Treg, causing Victor to look abashed.
“I very much enjoyed meeting you two, too! Likewise, I hope to see you again soon.” I smile back.
We all wave our goodbyes and the call ends.
Victor turns his holopad to me “Could you just confirm that that is an ended call, for me?”
I look “It is an ended call, Victor…” I say with a wry, upward curl of my mouth “…are you making fun of me?… It wasn’t you who didn’t end the call, last time?”
He shakes his head, emphatically “Nope! Not makin’ fun! The fact that it was you, last time, don’t mean it can’t be me, this time!”
I smile, warmly, at the man of my dreams and the love of my life before leaning over the arms of our chairs and planting a kiss on the side of his face, his cheek warm beneath my lips
“You’re too kind, Victor… I don’t like it(!)”” I tease.
He gives a mirthful exhale and looks down.
“Sooo…” I prompt “…are you ready to show me the other part of your therapy homework, Victor?”
He turns his face toward me, pressing his forehead to mine “If you’re sure you’re ready, Tuun… I’m ready.”
“Victor… I’m absolutely ready but… well… didn’t you tell me that Alchyinad said that you oughtn’t to push yourself? Might introducing me to Treg and Lloyd be enough for this week?”
He nods “She did, at first, only suggest introducin’ you… This part was my idea… I just don’t want you feelin’ like it’s a part of my life you ain’t welcome in, Tuun… I want you to know that you’re welcome, any time you’re ready. Though, obviously, if you ain’t ready…”
“I’m ready.” I interrupt, with finality.
He searches my eyes for 7/12ths of a second before nodding and getting up.
He makes his way to our bed where, at some point during the call, Fluffy settled, up against the headboard.
He reclines against her side, in a sitting position.
I follow and lie against him, such that he can see over my shoulder. He reaches around me with his two bulky arms and knots them across my stomach.
I would have liked to offer to be the big spoon for him but, given his density and overall weight, that’s an offer I couldn’t make good on, as discomfort would leave the time I could tolerate being crushed unacceptably low!
I settle for placing my lower hands on the tops of his thighs and my uppers against his external obliques.
“Erm… before we start, do you wanna wear your translator? Most of it’s in a pretty thick Lallans, you might have trouble!”
I think for a moment, looking across the room to where I left my translator, on the desk, and wonder if it’s worth getting up from my comfortable position.
“I’ll try it without… maybe I won’t need it…” I decide.
“Alright, let me know if you change your mind… Ready?” he asks.
I nod.
“Holo, play saved video file 1 to the far wall.” he instructs.
The wall is immediately adorned with the likeness of two, sitting Humans, both of whom were dead, years before I was born.
The slim woman has pale skin, a soft featured face which makes her look a lot like Victor, the most voluminous head of long curly hair I’ve ever seen on any creature and wears the subtlest of smiles, bereft of any joy.
The man is tall and bulky looking with dark hair, dark eyes and a sheer, angular face wearing an expression that looks like irritation or disgust but, upon closer inspection, may just be neutral for him!
His arms are folded, defensively, across his front.
I'm struck by just how young they both look!
It does make sense, they were half a decade younger than I am, now… but still! The thought of having to record something like this when you’re scarcely more than a child!
The dazzlingly beautiful woman raises her hand in a brief greeting gesture and speaks sombrely, to camera.
“Hey, Victor… ma name’s Pvt Esme Reid… an’ Ah’m yer ma’…” she gestures to the dark haired man “Thes is, Pvt Oskar Taylor… yer da’… an’ thes, righ’ here…” she gestures to her stomach “…thes is ye... If ye’re seein’ thes, Victor… it means tha’ we… didnae make it… but ye did!… Ye’re still alive… an’ ye’re auld enough tae ken whit ye’re lookin’ at… whit Ah’m sayin’ tae ye… Know thes, Victor; Ah havenae e’en seen yer face yet... an’ Ah awready love ye more than life itsel’! Ah dinnae want anythin’ mair than tae be thare tae see yer first steps, the first time ye lose a tooth, the first time ye get in a rammie at schuil, the first time ye bring hame a lassie... or maybe a laddie... or maybe ye’d have telt us ye’re no’ interestit in aither(!)… Ah wish Ah coud cry as Ah watch ye gae aff tae uni! Ah want that mair than Ah wish ma ma’ an’ da’ coud've dane that fer me! Ah though’ Ah kent, before, whit we were gaun’ae be figh’in’ fer… Ah didnae!!!… But Ah dae, now! We're no’ gaun’ae be figh’in sae we kin come back tae a world where we kin live the rest of our lives... we're gaun’ae be figh’in tae make a world where ye kin grow up safe... an’... well, as ye’re seein’ this, it leuks like we succeedit... an’ tha’ we didnae make it tae be thare wi’ ye... Ah'm sae sorry we coudnae be thare fer ye... coudnae be a mither an' faither fer ye... an' Ah ken thes vid diary isnae a substitute fer that... bit... it’s the best we hae tae offer. Ah wish we had mair tae gie ye, Victor!”
“I’m sorry, *snf* Victor, could you pause?”
He pauses and asks “What’s wrong? Do you need your translator, afterall?”
“No it’s *snf* not that…” I sniffle “…I’m just having *snf* a little trouble seeing…”
My watery eyes are refracting the luminescence of my own irides back into my pupils… turning the footage into a blinding lightshow…