“Come on, dear!” Relkir grinned as they grabbed Litvir by the hand. “Come on, let us have daddy-daughter time and get ice cream!”
Litvir wasn’t expecting Relkir to immediately grab them, so they stopped and stayed in place. Relkir seemed to predict that, then tried again. Litvir relented a little but didn’t move too much.
“Come, Litvir.”
“I just finished work.”
“I know, I know. But you are sad, you are not going to see baby Retvik until tomorrow because they and Gath are at the doctor, being checked up, and you need distractions. I want to give you those distractions! So we are going to play Walkymonsters, go to the shop and get ice cream!”
Litvir hesitated, inspected Relkir a bit, then sighed. They noticed something off about Relkir. While it couldn’t be seen in normal, visible light, Litvir could see very faint ultraviolet glows around Relkir’s eyes. They knew those glows meant Relkir was using their time powers, and considering that Relkir tried to keep the intentional use of those abilities to a minimum, Litvir decided to relent and let Relkir take them on a walk.
“Alright. But may I change into lighter armour first? This armour is stained.”
“Of course!” Relkir smiled. “Take your time. But I am not allowing you to go back to your apartment until you are happy, so please use the spare wardrobe we have here for you.”
“Alright…”
Litvir disappeared briefly in a flash of light, then, five minutes later, they reappeared again, wearing as little as they could. It was very hot lately (it was the middle of the hot season) and Litvir was already a little sweaty.
“You ready, dear?” Relkir asked.
“I am, yes.”
“Wonderful!” Relkir pulled out their communicator and held it in one hand, and grabbed Litvir with their other hand. “Come on, let us catch some Walkymonsters! I heard there was a new special research for us!”
Litvir shrugged. They let Relkir drag them outside, although Relkir did let go of Litvir’s hand briefly so they could lock the front door. Once that was done, Relkir took Litvir’s hand again, and they both started heading down the street. As they walked, Relkir was happily catching stuff and somehow doing so one-handed, but they would constantly glance at Litvir, who wasn’t doing much.
“You want me to do something…” Litvir grunted.
“Your thoughts are showing.”
Litvir tutted. They knew what that phrase meant. It was Relkir’s way of saying that Litvir was accidentally mind-reading.
“Sorry. Also, can I stop holding your hand? It is hard to play with one hand. I cannot do it like you can.”
“It is fine!” Relkir remained perky. “I just want you to be happy and you are just starting at your screen. Are you not going to do the special research?”
“Where is it?”
Relkir pointed at Litvir’s screen, swiping it a little. “There!”
“Oh. It… Hm…” Litvir read through what they had to do. “Is that all? That seems pretty easy. I already started it.”
“Most likely!”
“Have you already done the research?” Litvir asked. “I will assume you have. You already have all the good stuff.”
“I have already done it, yes. It is not hard to catch 10 Walkymonsters and then upgrade a Walkymonster 10 times.”
“Why… why is it always 10?” Litvir was confused for a moment. “Oh. Wait. The anniversary thing. This game is… somewhat old.”
“It is, which is why they keep on doing these events and doing the cool stuff!”
“I guess…”
Litvir fell silent and went back to catching things. After not very long though, they managed to finish the catching task, and now they had to do the upgrade task. They weren’t quite sure what to do though.
“Dada?”
“Yes, dear?”
“What should I upgrade?”
“Can I see what Walkymonsters you have?”
Litvir nodded and handed Relkir their communicator. Relkir sorted Litvir’s collection of critters by their level, then scrolled up and down, checking certain ones but also examining how many resources Litvir had. After a few moments though, Relkir shrugged.
“Darling, what Walkymonsters do you like?”
“Oh!” Litvir lit up. “I like the fiery fluffy puppy with the horns! And the silly little purple pontik! I also like the big wriggly evil worm thing. I do not know why but it looks like everyone hates it and it just wants to be friends but it looks evil so people do not go close.”
Relkir glanced down at Litvir’s collection, trying to work out which Walkymonster Litvir was talking about. Eventually, they found one that matched the description of the last creature, and Relkir was pleased to see that Litvir had both one with good stats and enough resources to upgrade it ten times. Oddly, it had been upgraded one single time (most Walkymonsters needed about 20 upgrades) and it had the Best Friend upgrade but nothing else had been done. Also, for reasons unknown, it had been renamed in a very strange manner.
“May I upgrade this one?” Relkir asked.
“Oh! Wrigglebutt! My favourite evil worm! I can upgrade it?”
“You can.”
Litvir took their communicator back from Relkir. “Is it good to upgrade? I do not know if it is… useful.”
“It is useful, but also, you can just upgrade what you want, if that is what you want to do!”
“Oh, alright…”
Litvir did as they wanted, and counted up each individual upgrade out loud. When they hit ten, a pop-up appeared in the corner. Satisfied, Litvir then went to open the rewards for doing the special research.
“Oh! It is the big, special Walkymonster! The naughty science not-fluffy kitty! But…” Litvir paused. They glanced at Relkir, who was now grinning way too much. “Dada, why is the naughty science not-fluffy kitty green?”
“You got the super rare alty Walkymonster.”
Not really sure why Relkir was smiling so much, Litvir shrugged, then started throwing probably too many balls at the creature. They did eventually catch it, and Litvir seemed somewhat satisfied. However, Relkir was still smiling too much.
“Dada, why are you so happy?”
“Check its stats.”
Litvir blinked. They did as they were told, then blinked again. “Oh. All its stats are… perfect.”
“You basically just got the best Walkymonster ever.”
“Cool!” Litvir started smiling as well. “I will name it Dada! I can see why you were so excited now. You saw the future.”
Relkir nodded. “I did, yes.”
“That is silly! But I appreciate you cheering me up” Litvir grinned as they put their communicator away and grabbed Relkir’s hand. “Can we get ice cream now?”
“Of course, my little angel, whatever you want…”