Wisteria

Galactic

Ranboo didn’t remember walking back to the cabin until his hand was just above the door, knocking position. He glanced back to the shack, where Orlen was seated on his bed, giving him a sympathetic look. The door opened, he must’ve knocked already. Phil was behind it and stepped aside so he could come in, maybe giving a wider berth than necessary. Techno was just inside and snorted.

“You don’t have to knock Ranboo, you live here,” He said.

Ranboo mumbled something in Ender- an apology, Techno correctly guessed- before walking up the ladder to the top floor. Phil and Techno watched him ascend before looking at each other.

“What’s up with him?” Phil asked. Techno shrugged. “Think you should check up on him?”

“Dunno- he seems kinda out of it. Maybe we give him a bit,” Techno replied. Phil nodded.

Hours later, Ranboo was sitting in his messy reading nook, trying desperately to read, but ultimately failing. Though the books had originally given him a sense of comfort and familiarity, now every word, every native symbol, reminded him that he’d never go back home. He’d just been trying to read this one book for the past who-knows-how-long, but his mind is far too busy.

He’d never see his parent again. He’d never see his home again. Would he ever feel truly comfortable again? Would he ever feel safe again? The most present he’d felt was when silent tears started falling down his face. He didn’t even try to stop them. The burning grounded him.

But his tears had long since run dry and now he was just staring at the page, not seeing any of the words before him. He didn’t hear Phil coming up the ladder or see him wait for Ranboo to notice him. Ranboo only looked up with a start when he cleared his throat.

“Hey,” Phil said. Ranboo blinked at him. “You don’t understand a word I’m saying, huh?”

Ranboo didn’t respond. He did not.

Phil hummed and walked over to where Ranboo was seated. He  pointed to the floor, a way of asking permission to sit. Ranboo took a second to comprehend, but once he did, nodded and quickly scooted to the side to give him as much space as he might’ve needed. Phil calmly took a seat next to him, pretending not to notice the now obvious burn streaks down his face. 

He looked up at the bookshelves. Much like they’d been earlier, nearly all the books had been taken and put into various piles, except for a select few. Six to be exact. And all six of those books seemed to be written in the form of Galactic Phil understood- the form that was now known as Old Galactic. Phil pointed to one, bound in old red leather. Ranboo furrowed his brows as he followed his finger and picked up the book. He started trying to communicate that he couldn’t read this one, that it wasn’t a script he understood enough. Phil shook his head and took the book from him.

Phil was a bit rusty, and he honestly didn’t totally know if Ranboo would even understand him, but it was worth a shot. If Phil was right- though he wouldn't be surprised if he wasn’t- then spoken Galactic had stayed mostly unchanged. The syntax might’ve gotten a bit muddled, but for the most part, he should be coherent.

He opened the book and stared at the page. Fuck, it’d been a while since he’d seen these symbols. He took a deep breath, and started reading aloud.

Ranboo- who’d been watching him, curious- was taken aback at his reading. That was what Old Galactic read like? It was just… well it was just spoken Galactic. His teachers spoke that, he’d known it his whole life, and it was strange to think it sounded exactly like the elusive ancient language he’d given up on ages ago.

He was seriously starting to regret never learning to speak Galactic properly.

How did Phil know Galactic?

Phil noticed the confused- astonished- look on his face and laughed. He tried to form a sentence in Galactic. Speaking it from scratch was always more difficult than reading it.

“Guess you weren’t expecting that.”

Ranboo shook his head.

“I wasn’t much expecting it to work, to be honest. Can you speak Galactic?”

Again, Ranboo shook his head.

“Damn,” Phil said. Galactic was coming easier to him than he expected. “Ah well- look, Ranboo, I came up here to make sure you were alright. I didn’t think I’d be able to speak so easily, actually. Either way, are you alright?”

Ranboo took a second to reply. Was he? He thought so, but he also considered if he thought someone else feeling like he was would be alright, and he came to the conclusion that they would not. But he didn’t know how to explain how he was feeling and why in convoluted hand movements, so he just nodded. Yes, for right now, he was alright enough.

“Good. That’s good,” Phil smiled kindly. “In that case, d’you want me to go? I don’t mind if you do.”

Ranboo was going to say yes, but hesitated. He really didn’t want Phil to go, actually. So, he shook his head. Phil seemed kind of surprised.

“You’re sure?”

Ranboo nodded. He pointed to the book that now lay shut on Phil’s lap. Phil picked it up and glanced at Ranboo.

“This? It’s a novel from ages back, a classic, you could say. I read it when I was younger, as a matter of fact, so it’s ancient.”

Ranboo processed that, but didn’t ask for an explanation. He saw Phil’s dusty grey wings, the way they resembled the grey Elytrian wings kept in a glass case at the library. He remembered reading about the infinitely long life spans of the historic winged creatures. He was connecting the dots.

Ranboo opened the book to the first page and looked back up at Phil. Phil had a sort of confused smile.

“You want me to read it?” Ranboo nodded. Phil chuckled, “I mean, alright. I can’t complain.”

Phil started reading the familiar paragraphs out loud. Occasionally, he’d say a word and Ranboo would glance up at him, looking puzzled. Phil realized pretty quick that this was because whatever word he’d just said was lost to time, so he’d try and bang out a synonym. A few pages in, Ranboo scooted closer to Phil to read over his shoulder- the word “read” used very lightly.

They’d gotten a good four chapters in when Phil realized he’d gone through the past dozen or so paragraphs without interruption. He looked down to make sure Ranboo was still following and found he absolutely was not. Phil chuckled and glanced out the window. It was fairly late, and Ranboo seemed to have adopted a circadian rhythm that he and Techno had not- Phil wasn’t surprised he’d fallen asleep.

Slowly, carefully, Phil set aside the book and picked up Ranboo. No easy feat, as Ranboo was miles taller than him, but aside from that was fairly light. Phil set him in the white bed and lingered a bit by the ladder.

Phil’d gone up there to make sure Ranboo was alright, and he seemed to be fine. That goal was accomplished and, as far as anyone else was aware, it was the only one he’d had.

Phil went back downstairs.