2013-07-12 20:55![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lux_mariko
lux_marikoStory: Papi
Year: 2973
Word Count: 928
Rating: PG
Characters: Rubika, Guardian Sanchez
Warnings: None here.
Notes: Stygian English is the English dialect spoken in the human settlements on Pluto and Charon. Rubika is seven.
Rubika's shoes--in Earth style, not like the ones she wore at home--pinched uncomfortably and made clicky noises on the floor. They'd come to Earth 'cause Mem had gotten phone calls late at night that said to, and that meant leaving Charon, with its familiar, unchanging horizon littered with stars and Pluto looming large, for the multicolored swirly-skied private island on Earth that belonged to the Family.
Which was weird. Because she and Mem were a family, but it meant something different here.
There was an old, dark man with a warm, craggy face waiting for them. He smiled at her, and greeted Mem in Standard with a rolling accent Rubika had never heard before, then Mem pushed her forward.
Rubika stumbled a little, but managed to get out, in Spanish like Mem had insisted, "I'm very pleased to meet you, Guardian Sanchez." Always Guardian Sanchez, or Mr. Sanchez maybe, because he was super-important. Mem had told her that like a million times. "Thank you for inviting me here."
He laughed, and answered her in Standard. "Call me Papi, please."
Rubika sneaked a peak up at Mem, who looked strained.
"Rechil, why don't you go spend some time with my niece?" Papi was saying to Mem. "She's always been curious about the Stygian colonies."
"Of course, Guardian Sanchez," Mem said. "Rubika, come--"
"No, I think I should show Rubika the tree."
"She's only seven," Mem protested weakly.
Rubika looked from one to the other. She was good at Standard, better than anyone else in her class, and she was so proud of herself for following this whole entire thing. It was like a game, and she was pretty sure Papi was winning.
Like he only had to raise his eyebrow and look at Mem to get her to back down with a sigh. "Rubika, I'll come find you in an hour." She switched to the English they all spoke at home, and said, very sharp, almost like she was mad. "Behave."
"Yes, Mem," Rubika answered, stubbornly in Standard.
Mem sighed, and Rubika could feel her watching as Papi took her hand and led her away.
But he didn't take her to a tree, like he said. Maybe she'd got the word wrong. Instead, he pushed some buttons on a door and they came into a big, empty white circle-room, like the projector room at school only shiny and big.
"Papi?" Rubika dared to ask.
"Yes?"
"Where's the tree?"
He smiled, and went over to the console, and a huge projection, more like spiderwebs than a tree, filled the room all around them. "The Family tree, Rubika," he said. "Not a growing one."
"Oh," she breathed. "Can I look?"
"That's why you're here."
She dropped Papi's hand and darted out into the tree. Or the web. It all started with two names--David and Ruth--and another David coming from them, and he was tied to a Meri. And their names were all in white. And then there were four names--Lila, David again, Simon, and Amee, all in different colors. Lila was red, the third David was blue, Simon was green, and Amee was yellow. And from there it got confusing, twining and spilling all over the place, into a net of colors tied to names and dates.
"It's so big," she breathed.
"Here," Papi said, and he pushed a few more buttons and the colors swirled around her and she found herself looking at a tiny, lonely looking red line, surrounded by lots of blue and yellow and a little bit of green.
Rechil Stonei Kesilen, m. Damon Kesilen.
|
Rubika Amei Kesilen
"That's my name!"
"Yes," Papi said. "And here's mine." The colors swirled again, and a purple name growing out of a green line, with another green line growing out of him, stopped in front of her.
Alejandro Martin Sanchez
"What's the purple mean?"
Papi hesitated. "It has to do with protecting the first David. It's why your mother said to call me Guardian Sanchez."
"Oh." Rubika wanted to ask more about that, but her attention was immediately caught by something else. "What's these other white names?" she asked, running over and pointing. They came from a red line, like hers. The only close red line she could see. The last blue name was "Emily Horndil", and then there was another Emily in white, who'd married someone named Kevin Leary.
Emily Ashley Horndil m. Kevin Leary
/ \
Susan Christine Leary m. Joshua Anders Adam Emerson Leary
|
Evan Adam Anders m. Tsuna Yamanaka
|
Mariko Emily Anders
Papi spun the colors again and the white line ran away. "They're the broken branch," he said. "Emily Ashley Horndil didn't want to be part of the family anymore."
"How come?" Rubika asked.
"I don't know," he said, but she wasn't sure he was telling the truth.
Rubika watched the white line get lost in the colors again. "I'll find 'em and find out someday," she promised under her breath, in Stygian English.
"What was that?" Papi asked.
"Nothing," she said, switching to Standard. "I like the colors here."
Papi eyed her for a minute, but accepted that, and started explaining about the second David's four kids and what being from each line meant, but Rubika only pretended to pay attention, working instead on memorizing the white names.
Emily. Susan. Adam. Evan. Mariko.
Emily. Susan. Adam. Evan. Mariko.
Emily, Susan, and Adam.
Evan, Mariko.
Emily.
Susan.
Adam.
Evan.
Mariko.
Year: 2973
Word Count: 928
Rating: PG
Characters: Rubika, Guardian Sanchez
Warnings: None here.
Notes: Stygian English is the English dialect spoken in the human settlements on Pluto and Charon. Rubika is seven.
Rubika's shoes--in Earth style, not like the ones she wore at home--pinched uncomfortably and made clicky noises on the floor. They'd come to Earth 'cause Mem had gotten phone calls late at night that said to, and that meant leaving Charon, with its familiar, unchanging horizon littered with stars and Pluto looming large, for the multicolored swirly-skied private island on Earth that belonged to the Family.
Which was weird. Because she and Mem were a family, but it meant something different here.
There was an old, dark man with a warm, craggy face waiting for them. He smiled at her, and greeted Mem in Standard with a rolling accent Rubika had never heard before, then Mem pushed her forward.
Rubika stumbled a little, but managed to get out, in Spanish like Mem had insisted, "I'm very pleased to meet you, Guardian Sanchez." Always Guardian Sanchez, or Mr. Sanchez maybe, because he was super-important. Mem had told her that like a million times. "Thank you for inviting me here."
He laughed, and answered her in Standard. "Call me Papi, please."
Rubika sneaked a peak up at Mem, who looked strained.
"Rechil, why don't you go spend some time with my niece?" Papi was saying to Mem. "She's always been curious about the Stygian colonies."
"Of course, Guardian Sanchez," Mem said. "Rubika, come--"
"No, I think I should show Rubika the tree."
"She's only seven," Mem protested weakly.
Rubika looked from one to the other. She was good at Standard, better than anyone else in her class, and she was so proud of herself for following this whole entire thing. It was like a game, and she was pretty sure Papi was winning.
Like he only had to raise his eyebrow and look at Mem to get her to back down with a sigh. "Rubika, I'll come find you in an hour." She switched to the English they all spoke at home, and said, very sharp, almost like she was mad. "Behave."
"Yes, Mem," Rubika answered, stubbornly in Standard.
Mem sighed, and Rubika could feel her watching as Papi took her hand and led her away.
But he didn't take her to a tree, like he said. Maybe she'd got the word wrong. Instead, he pushed some buttons on a door and they came into a big, empty white circle-room, like the projector room at school only shiny and big.
"Papi?" Rubika dared to ask.
"Yes?"
"Where's the tree?"
He smiled, and went over to the console, and a huge projection, more like spiderwebs than a tree, filled the room all around them. "The Family tree, Rubika," he said. "Not a growing one."
"Oh," she breathed. "Can I look?"
"That's why you're here."
She dropped Papi's hand and darted out into the tree. Or the web. It all started with two names--David and Ruth--and another David coming from them, and he was tied to a Meri. And their names were all in white. And then there were four names--Lila, David again, Simon, and Amee, all in different colors. Lila was red, the third David was blue, Simon was green, and Amee was yellow. And from there it got confusing, twining and spilling all over the place, into a net of colors tied to names and dates.
"It's so big," she breathed.
"Here," Papi said, and he pushed a few more buttons and the colors swirled around her and she found herself looking at a tiny, lonely looking red line, surrounded by lots of blue and yellow and a little bit of green.
|
Rubika Amei Kesilen
"That's my name!"
"Yes," Papi said. "And here's mine." The colors swirled again, and a purple name growing out of a green line, with another green line growing out of him, stopped in front of her.
"What's the purple mean?"
Papi hesitated. "It has to do with protecting the first David. It's why your mother said to call me Guardian Sanchez."
"Oh." Rubika wanted to ask more about that, but her attention was immediately caught by something else. "What's these other white names?" she asked, running over and pointing. They came from a red line, like hers. The only close red line she could see. The last blue name was "Emily Horndil", and then there was another Emily in white, who'd married someone named Kevin Leary.
/ \
Susan Christine Leary m. Joshua Anders Adam Emerson Leary
|
Evan Adam Anders m. Tsuna Yamanaka
|
Mariko Emily Anders
Papi spun the colors again and the white line ran away. "They're the broken branch," he said. "Emily Ashley Horndil didn't want to be part of the family anymore."
"How come?" Rubika asked.
"I don't know," he said, but she wasn't sure he was telling the truth.
Rubika watched the white line get lost in the colors again. "I'll find 'em and find out someday," she promised under her breath, in Stygian English.
"What was that?" Papi asked.
"Nothing," she said, switching to Standard. "I like the colors here."
Papi eyed her for a minute, but accepted that, and started explaining about the second David's four kids and what being from each line meant, but Rubika only pretended to pay attention, working instead on memorizing the white names.
Emily. Susan. Adam. Evan. Mariko.
Emily. Susan. Adam. Evan. Mariko.
Emily, Susan, and Adam.
Evan, Mariko.
Emily.
Susan.
Adam.
Evan.
Mariko.
