Then they fall against each other, laughing.
“Hey,” I try to explain, “he’s shown me his design choices for the cabin. They’re always spot on.”
“He did?” Bestla says, wiping her eyes. “When was this?”
“During our nightly vid talks,” I answer as I keep opening boxes. “Berg likes to show me the progress he’s made. He recently brought the front porch on his hunting lodge back to an exact recreation of Hyrrokin porches from the molten era.”
“Nightly talks?” Bestla blinks and looks at me quizzically. “My son pinged you every diurnal and you two would talk? As in, complete sentences and lengthy conversations?”
“Y…yes.”
Methone and Bestla exchange glances.
“What? Berg and I are friends. You guys know that. That’s why I agreed to be his surrogate and why he bid so high for me.”
“Uh huh,” Methone answers. “I guess we just didn’t realize how close you two were.”
“Bergelmir doesn’t talk to anyone about his secret cabin in the woods,” Bestla says. “And he never invites anyone over.”
I give them a confused glance. “That’s not true. I know he has his friend over there a lot.”
“Friend? What friend? Are you talking about Aegir?”
“No.” I shake my head and wipe sweat off my forehead. “Hannibal. He has his friend Hannibal over, and I think other members of his team.”
“He does?”
“Wait, who is Hannibal?” Bestla asks.
I bite my tongue. I can’t believe how secretive Berg is about himself. Why doesn’t he tell them these things? And why is he sharing parts of his life with me that he’s not even telling his family?
“I’ve been to Bergelmir’s cabin many times,” Grandma Narvi blithely cuts in.
“Oh hell no,” Bestla chokes out. She jabs a gleaming silver-tipped claw at the wizened old female. “Why do you get invited to go there and not me? That’s not fair.”
Grandma Narvi lifts her pointy nose in the air. “I get invited over because I’ve got great taste, and you don’t. That’s why.”
A growl rumbles in Bestla’s throat and black smoke seeps from her nostrils.
“Hey,” I loudly break in, trying to change the subject and divert Universal War Three. “How about we all pause in this unpacking to take a real tour of the house? I don’t even know what we’ve got here or what this place really looks like. Wouldn’t it be good to understand the layout before we finish unpacking, so we know what we’re up against?” Yesterday I only got a quick look around at the first floor of my friend’s new house. But today, I’m moving in and taking care of this place while Berg is busy saving the world, so I’m way more interested in it than before.
“Okay,” Methone agrees. “I like this idea. How about we start at the top and work our way back down?”
“Sure.”
Grandma Narvi insists on making her way up the dragon stairs without assistance. She trails behind but eventually puffs her way up the first and second flight. Finally, we all make it to the third floor and find the biggest attic I’ve ever seen. There’s an ocean of old crates, chests and furniture lying around. The detritus of the last one hundred years of families who’ve lived here. Ancient household items and clothing with layers of dust and at least a hundred years of neglect. The moment I see this through the dim light of the small windows, a squeal escapes my lips.
“What’s wrong?” Methone asks. “You won’t have to clean this up, you know. You could have it all hauled away to the incinerator.”
I gasp in horror. “No, I’d never do that. I just…I love this. I love old things.” And suddenly this home is taking on a whole new light to me. I rush into the room to give it a quick once-over. I love collecting old things and giving them new life. I’d had so many items from the open-air market that I took home and polished up and fixed, that I’d started selling them. It had actually turned into a little side business just before I’d left. I miss it. I shift on my feet, eager to dive into here later to see what gems I can find. This attic is going to keep me busy for sure.
This is basically one of the best moments of my life.
And I’m really, really sad that Berg’s not here to share it with me. He wouldn’t mind if I excavated items from here and fixed them up? Right?
“I love old things too,” Grandma Narvi says from behind me. “I collect items from Touchstone ancestry.”
I turn to find her standing super close. “Oh, you’re so lucky to have that connection to your family’s past. I don’t have any ancestry and not much history. My ancestors were kidnapped off of our original home planet. The Hurlians dumped us on a planet they named New Earth, wiping our languages from our brains and implanting us with the language they wanted us all to speak. They erased our history and culture. And I’m never going to be able to go back to the home planet of my species because we’re banned. All humans have left are the bits of culture and oral traditions passed down from the first kidnapped humans. Or what we can observe from the original planet’s media channels that we tap into.”
Grandma Narvi’s eyes water. “That’s terrible.”
I shrug. I’m used to it. “I like finding old, well-crafted objects from other species and learning their stories, what that item used to mean to those beings. It keeps me connected to the past, even if it’s not my own. I think it’s sad when beings think so much of the future that they forget old things are still beautiful and valuable.”
“I agree,” Grandma Narvi declares. She reaches out a delicate claw and pats my arm. “Human, would you be interested in learning Touchstone ancestry?” she questions.
“Me?” I ask in wonder. I can’t believe she’s asking this. I’m not even part of their family. She’s staring at me, waiting for an answer, so it must be real. I think about it for sec. “Yeah, I really would,” I answer.
It makes sense. I tend to think of myself as a bit on a Hyrro-phile. I’m kinda of a nerd. I had the Hyrrokin language implanted in my brain the moment I found out Riley had moved there. It wasn’t cheap, but I wanted to be able to speak the language that she did. And also, I could get onto their vid channels and understand what they were saying, and I was able to talk to Bergelmir. Yes, I initially freaked out over their appearance like my sister did. Riley fainted when she first met Aegir! They may all look like Mephistopheles or Beelzebub, but I like the way these Hyrrokin lead their lives. To me, they’re actually easier to get along with than my own species back on New Earth. I really like the idea of coming here to start a new life for myself.
“Good,” the older female answers. “We’ll start your lessons tomorrow.”
“Lessons?”
Methone snorts. “Chloe, you do not even know what you’ve signed yourself up for.”
“Yeah. Good luck with that,” Bestla laughs.
“Ignore these two idiots,” Grandma Narvi grouses. “You’ll get your currency’s worth.”
“Currency?”
Methone shakes her head, indicating that we should let this go. I agree.