Chapter Text
"Hello, 🎵🎶🎵" Agnes greeted in her usual secret untranslated nickname, dressed in her EVA suit. A rare occurence as any time she watched him sleep when his mates could not she would stay in an atmospheric room and not a suit. Too harsh on old joints for long periods.
It was nice to call them that, his mates. Adrian and Rocky had accepted him as part of their cluster, Eridian's were not inherently polygamous, Agnes for example only had one mate and when they died never mates again, but they had qualms about polyamory. Anywhere from 0-5 was a perfectly expected number of mates so long as you were loyal and attentive to them. In Grace's care he was treated like something benath a romantic relationship but far above a typical human platonic one; instead a hard to name third thing he had never heard of being a thing with humans until Rocky's proposition. On Erid a non-romantic non-sexual mate was completely normal. On earth he'd never heard of it but a search on his pirated database explained queer-platonic relationships to him. And he liked it.
He was distracted and Agnes was speaking. How rude of him.
"You have no classes today. Yes, question?" She asked, he was sure she knew the answer but she wanted his confirmation
"No classes." He assured "why, question? Have anything planned, question?" He was so used to adding question he even tapped his foot lightly on the floor as he settled to sit on his soft. Agnes standing in front of him, the EVA's suit's modifications to support the elderly woman were locked into place supporting her joints to stand more comfortably for long periods like a exosuit.
"Yes. Is death anniversary of Alice. Year on Erid faster than earth, Eridian honour death every 15 Eridian years. Agnes invite Grace." She said with a nod, a habit she got from him. She tapped the floor to gauge his reactions and if he made any non verbal response.
"Me, question?" He blurted surprised "but i did not know Alice while alive?"
Agnes made a sound that Grace after years of living on Erid associated with a furrowed brow or exasperated confusion.
"Grace remember stories of Alice, Question? Agnes has told many." He paused then slowly nodded "Grace friends with Agnes, question? Grace accept being called 🎵🎶🎵, question?" ...he supposed he did. He nodded
"Grace mate of rocky, descendent of Alice, question?" What. He choked on his spit, gross. Coughing for a moment, he quickly held a thumbs up to stop Agnes from overly worrying.
"What. Question? What did you say, question? Rocky descendent of Alice, question?" He asked almost franticly. Years. Years! Of having known Rocky, Adrian, Agnes and being told stories of Alice; Agnes' late mate. "That means you are Rocky ancestor, question?!"
"Yes. Agnes Alice name written in Rocky family crest. Call Rocky 🎵🎶🎵 too. Same Grace." She replied calmly, carapace tilting in curiosity.
"No no no. Noone said anything. Rocky did not introduce you as Grandparent." Grace argued
"Did. Rocky say this is Rocky elder. You translate correct, yes?" She now seems equally as lost as him. "Elder. Of parents, parents, parents, parent."
Fudge. Not elder. Or yes elder worksa but he saw it as community elder, he was new to erid and still recoving from maladies of starvation. Sure elder worked but in recent years where similar but differnt words had come up they had used ancestor and decendent. In this exact context.. Alice and Agnes were Rocky's great great grandparents. And he felt stupid. This whole time everyone thought he knew that he was being babysat by Rocky's great great grandma, beacuse rocky had said as much but he has mistranslated this whole time..
Another thing kicked. He knew the nickname had been somewhat sweet and familiar but Rocky was called the same?
"What do you call me, The nickname, What does it mean? Question." He tacked on the question at the end, almost forgetting but it felt wrong.
Agnes made a surprised trill. "i thought Grace not care to know"
"Grace care to know now." He replied without a break.
Agnes hummed "is... uh.. not easy describe. Like 'one of my dearest descendants', 'descendent i hold most close'." She made a trilling, happy but embarrassed to have to explain.
"But i am not descendent i am an alien"
"Mmm no." She replied simply. As id he was simply wrong "Agnes remember when descendent hatch you." She lied. A joke.
"Grace not from Erid. This does not matter." She replied more seriously. "Agnes decide who is descendent, Grace very dearest. Listen to Agnes stories and entertain elder" no, the translation wasn't elder, it was grandparent. Great great whatever grandma but Eridian's didn't seem to specify as much in casual convocation, they lived so long it would be annoying to say great great great grandparent every-time.
"But-" he didn't know what his argument even was but he started anyway even as he was immediately cut off.
"Grace mates with rocky. Statement." She hardly used statement, seemed that was a quirk of the younger generation like slang. But clearly she was trying to make a point. "Humans have idea of brother/sister in law. Grace same. Descendent because mate. Make easier for Grace to understand, question?"
Agnes had been calling him 🎵🎶🎵 or dearest grandchild as he now knew it in his mind *long* before he was mates with Rocky. Yet it did honestly make it easier for him to accept. Take the boy out of earth but not earth out of the boy or something.
"Thank you, Agnes." He smiled at her, he wasn't tearing up for once in his life, which was a major miracle. "Can't believe i didn't know Rocky was related to you this whole time. How did i get this far not knowing" he mused more to himself than Agnes.
Oh. Right.
Alice's death anniversary.
"When is the anniversary?" He asked, implying his acceptance of the invitation. Agnes gave a happy trill in response.
"Amaze." Another habit from Rocky. He should have know.
"Ceremony at 🎶🎶🎵🎶" a time in Eridian, he was getting very good at calculating all math in Eridian, time was as easy was a digital clock to him now. The event was only a few hours away but enough time to have a mean, get ready, into his eva suit and walk to the location though he's sure Rocky or Agnes would fetch him.
"What do i wear?" He asked lamely, he had a very limited wardrobe, Agnes had made him some clothes but her fabric texture skills needed work as they didn't have earth natural fibres so the clothes looks slightly lumpy. Not uncomfortable he still wore the pretty green shirt she made him often but it wasn't exactly fancy or mourning clothes.
"Eh. Human clothes not matter. Everyone know human clothes not fancy now." She gave a laugh, that chittering sound like birds. "Beside, rocky come with accessory soon. Must go. Final planning to be gone."
She un-triggered her supportive frame to her EVA and stretched, a sign telling him she was preparing to leave.
"Wait." He blurted, She did. "Thank you.... uh... Thanks for inviting me."
"See you soon, 🎵🎶🎵" the human saying rolling in amused notes.
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The metalic spikes jingled musically at his ears, nothing like the clammering comming from his left as an old woman danced on fatigued old limbs, Rocky nearby to support her should her joints give way. Agnes' Half a millennium old celebratory garb was designed by the old ways as he well knew and it was a clamour of noise and metal. the younger family members, Grace included, had more aesthetic sounding dress. His ears felt heavy as he jumped with everyone trying to keep up. When he had heard death anniversary he had not expected such a party. They had sad speeches, then stories of life, then jokes and funny memories of Alice in the eyes of those that knew her, now they sang to her life and danced. As if going from sadness to happiness in an exponential curve. He liked the sentiment, when he died to be remembered in joy by those that knew him.
One aspect he would not be able to have at a potential death anniversary unless they wished to use his bones was the stage. The whole gathering was orbited around a circular centre stage, where family members had stepped up to tell stories.
In the centre of the stage raised slightly again was an Eridian dressed in Celebratory garb, unmoving. Alice themselves. After death once confirmed dead. Organs are removed and cleaned, like with human embalming or mummification or some Eridian version of it. Leaving only a pristine carapace like a statue. They are laid to rest at a location, like a rock becoming part of the natural ecosystem again. Except every 15 years where they are celebrated for one night.
He's not sure for how long after they die this happens but the practice is heartwarming. And now he can see how accurate his mental image of Alice was all these years. More worn than he had thought but most of Agnes' stories were from their youth. The colour tone of her brown carapace was perfect to his imagination but the green stripes held far more green tone variation than he had been expecting.
The colours reminded him starkly of earth. But instead of an ache he felt a gratitude.
A reminder of earth in everything he loved of Erid. He missed earth but had every opportunity to go home. He could live, he could live tomorrow if he wanted. He didn't want to.
Erid was his home, he had friends, mates, family, a job. He had a real life. And he didn't have to bike to work for economical reasons. He walked to work for fun reasons.
A chittering laugh sounded, matched by its pair in Rocky, and a harmony in Adrian, a joke he had been to distracted to listen to.
"Rest in Peace Alice, i wish i could have known you too. Thank you for sharing you family with me." He whispered, even if Eridian hearing he doubted anyone heard over the music of the night.