Most Rethan kids stayed within their local Junior Stratos sub-legion, where they’d live together and learn together at the same time, and they only went home on the weekends. Litvir though normally stayed until Monday morning, at the barracks of their sub-legion, only occasionally staying with one of the other Twelve Anew. Either with Elkay at his library, or with Aster in his little space caravan. Occasionally, Litvir would just spend the night at the large castle at the centre of the universe if everyone was busy, but that was always a bit uncomfortable because there were no beds. Rarely, Litvir would go back to their parental guardian’s home, but often found themselves working on their godly duties and not staying for very long.
This weekend, Litvir assumed they would be staying at the barracks again. They preferred it over staying with Elkay or Aster. At least Litvir technically had their own room. The room was mostly just a bed, a desk and some boxes for Litvir to put their stuff in, but the bed was at least long enough for Litvir to sleep in without their feet sticking off over the end. At some point though, someone had arranged it so Litvir could stay with their parental guardian.
That was fine. Litvir liked that. It was just a little awkward standing outside at the pick-up area, watching the buses come and go. Public transport was very efficient, but Litvir’s sub-legion was located halfway between Phos and Vretania, the two largest Rethan cities, and it took a bit longer for buses from Phos to arrive because there were more people moving about.
The pick up area did slowly empty out. Everyone going to Vretania had already gone, as had those who lived in the smaller towns nearby. Litvir did find themselves waiting a little too long, but that was fine. Their only concern was that their belongings were a bit awkward to carry, but they wouldn’t be carrying them for very long.
Admittedly, Litvir could have just used their godly powers to essentially teleport home, but they wanted to be a normal Rethan for a change, and they were unsure whether their belongings, some of which were quite delicate, would make it through the journey.
Eventually, a silver bus from the centre of Phos arrived. It was the second to last bus for the day. But luckily there were only a few kids left, including Litvir. The last bus was coming from the space port areas of Phos and that was due in 20 minutes.
Litvir waited patiently for the teachers to tell them they could get on the bus. There were only ten students left, and as soon as the teachers had counted everyone up, they let Litvir board. There was plenty of space, and Litvir managed to grab a window seat with no one sitting near them. It meant they could put their belongings on the seat next to them.
As the bus headed off back to Phos, Litvir gazed out of the window. They hadn’t really seen things move at this speed before. It was all somewhat slow. It seemed weird, especially since Litvir could travel very fast on their own, and, for some reason, Junior Stratos sub-legion bases were always really far away from major cities. But Litvir was enjoying looking at the view, at all the forests and hills.
The journey wasn’t very long, but Litvir did somewhat lose track of time. They were also sure they briefly fell asleep. But they did wake up at the right time for their stop, which was three stops before the last. All Litvir needed to do now was get off the bus and head down the road to a small residential area.
It wasn’t a long walk at all. This area was quiet calm and quiet, and the apartment blocks were only single storey buildings. The place Litvir was looking for wasn’t too far down, but, weirdly, there was a single purple balloon tied to the fence at the front.
Litvir hesitated a little, then opened the gate and made their way to the door. They couldn’t see a doorbell, so Litvir knocked.
Almost immediately, they heard movement inside. Big, heavy stomps. The door opened up, revealing a familiar gentle giant.
“Hello, Litvir!” Gath smiled. “Come in!”
“Sure…”
Litvir followed Gath inside, nudging the door closed behind them. At the top of the nearby stairs, they spotted Relkir, who was heading down to the living room.
“Hello, little one!” Relkir also smiled. “How are you doing? How was school?”
“It was… weird…” Litvir muttered as they put everything down on the floor, except for one box. “I am not used to not having to rush off every five seconds. Also… uh… I… I made you something.”
“You did?”
Litvir nodded, then handed the box to Relkir. Relkir inspected it briefly, then opened it up. Inside were two small clay figures, painted to look like Relkir and Gath.
“You made these, dear?” Relkir immediately asked as Gath peered inside the box too.
“Yes.”
“Wow, they are really nice!” Gath beamed. They took the box from Relkir and took it over to a nearby shelf (Gath’s Special Shelf as Relkir called it) that contained some important things, like Gath’s original title declaration, and their original Captain’s Insignia. They very gently took the two models out of the box and placed them on the shelf, right at the front, so they could easily be seen. They were a bit delicate, but Relkir and Gath didn’t care, they were very happy.
“You like them?” Litvir asked.
“We love them!”
Litvir smiled a little, feeling a bit more confident. “I am glad. Can we have ice cream now, please?”
Gath patted Litvir on the head. “Of course, little one. You deserve it. What flavour do you want?”
“Um… Do you… still have that strawberry icy one?”
Before Gath could answer, Relkir had already gotten three flavours of ice cream out of the freezer, as well as three bowls.
“We do, yes. I knew you’d want some.”
Litvir’s smile turned into a grin. “Yay!”