It would have been clear as day to everyone who walked past Litvir that Litvir was insanely nervous, had Litvir not been making themselves telepathically invisible to everyone but their travel companion. Miisa had been trying to keep Litvir calm as they sat on the bus to the small farming village of Trofi, but perhaps trying to hold Litvir’s hand was a little too much.
After an hour and a half, an hour and a half mostly filled with driving through farm fields, the bus pulled into the village centre, and Litvir got off as quickly as possible, looking for some sort of reprieve from their own emotions but not finding one. Instead, not knowing where they were, Litvir sighed then silently followed Miisa, as they had already head off down a small, steep road. They didn’t walk far though, and Litvir noticed the houses were all a bit different from the houses in the cities and vastly different from the apartments Litvir lived in. They were made of stone, with vine covered fence perimeters, herb gardens in the front and farming equipment at the back. And none of the houses were painted, but the edges were decorated with pretty rocks.
The house Miisa headed to was very average, the same as all the others, but it also had a two-seated tricycle chained to the gate at the front. While Litvir was curious about the tricyle, Miisa seemed vaguely annoyed all of a sudden, noticing an absence that Litvir was unaware of. Nonetheless, Miisa grunted, made their way to the front door and knocked almost impatiently.
The door swiftly opened, revealing one average-height Rethan with very large muscles and one Rethan that was clearly an older, taller version of Miisa. A very, very pretty Rethan.
“Hello, mum, hello dad!” While Miisa was hiding their annoyance from the two Rethans who were obviously their parents, Litvir could sense unease. “I have brought my forever-friend! Litvir, these are my parents!”
The very pretty Rethan seemed to smile. “Hello, darling. Welcome, Litvir, Miisa has told us so much about you. Please, come in!”
Litvir managed a small wave but not much else. Miisa nudged Litvir, silently telling them to follow the two adult Rethans inside.
The house was a warmly lit one, a familiar-looking half-house layout with three bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs and the kitchen and living area downstairs. There was already food on the dining table, and clearly the parents were waiting for them, doubly as they sat Litvir down at the head of the table and gave them a glass of cola before Litvir could say anything.
“Uh… Hello…” Litvir finally muttered. “It is nice to meet you, Miisa’s mum and Miisa’s dad.”
“It is nice to meet you too!” the bulky Rethan grinned. They had black skin (the same as Miisa) but also black plating, and they were a standard-class Rethan. The other Rethan was the same light purple and lilac as Miisa, and they were higher-class as well. “Our little deity! How are you?”
Litvir frowned. “Nervous…”
“Why?”
“Because…” Litvir sighed. “I am nervous because you see me as a big important person but I am not, I am just doing my job and also Miisa’s friend. Also… you have not told me your names, so I apologise, I do not know what to call you.”
The bulky Rethan blinked, then went back to grinning. “Ah! Sorry! My name is Dethis, I am Miisa’s father. My darling partner and the person who essentially hatched a clone of themselves is Kiithira.”
Litvir bowed some more. “Hello, Kyr Dethis. Hello, Kyr Kiithira. Thank you for letting Miisa invite me here. Are Miisa’s grandparents coming?”
Dethis’s smile faded again, briefly. “Ugh. Mum and dad cancelled because my sibling Delk needed help with their kids and their homework again.”
Miisa tutted in disapproval. “Theia Delk does that all the time! Granma and granpa can see Theia Delk and their kids in baby stratos whenever they want! I came from two hours away, from the capital, and they do not want to see me? And they do not want to meet the literal deity I am friends with?”
“How did you become a poten-partner a deity anyway?” Dethis asked, rather abruptly, only to be very weakly slapped by Miisa.
“Daaaaaaad!” Miisa protested. “Stop it!”
“You are not poten-partners?” Kiithara exclaimed. “You are very close.”
“Muuuum! I have explained this to you already. We are not in a relationship! We are just friends! Forever-friends, yes, but only that! Litvir is too young!”
“Well, uh…” Dethis changed their tone. “Sorry. I forget that you are very small, Litvir. Like… in age. Not in height. You are… tall… Well… uh… how did you both become forever-friends anyway?”
Litvir could tell that Dethis was definitely not the smartest person around, but a quick (and unwilling, unwanted) glance into Kiithira’s thoughts and memories revealed that Kiithira hadn’t married Dethis for their intelligence. Still, Dethis meant no harm, they were just a little excited.
“I protected Miisa from a bully at school. Miisa was nice to me and gave me a lucky medallion. So we decided to be friends. That… is kinda it, I guess?” Litvir shrugged.
“Oh…” Dethis wasn’t sure how to respond. But, eventually, Dethis shrugged and went back to smiling. “So you both did good things and became friends! As things should be! Anyway, Miisa told us you like pizza, so I made pizza. Is that alright? I do not know what else gods eat.”
“I eat and do the same thing as all other Rethans do.”
“But you have fangs?” Kiithira asked. “And purple eyes?”
Miisa eyed their mother. “I told you, mum, do not pick apart Litvir’s looks. They were made by the Allmaker, the Allmaker has… reasons for Her work. Plus, Litvir’s dad has blue eyes! And they are a Bloodline Rethan!”
Dethis grunted. “Kitty, please, listen to Miisa. After all, they have found a big, strong person to be best friends with, the same way you found a dumb, ugly but super strong person to be partners with. Let the kids be. Also, let us eat pizza now! It is getting cold! You like pizza, yes, Litvir?”
Litvir smiled at that comment. “I like pizza a lot. It is one of my favourites.”
“Well, tuck in!” Dethis beamed. “I made it myself! Thank you for joining us, Litvir, and thank you for coming, my darling Miisa!”
“Heh…” Litvir smiled properly as they picked up a slice. “Thank you for inviting me…”