Relkir normally hated the large mansion that the High General traditionally lived in, and avoided going there at all costs, but since it was Macromera, Relkir had somewhat been forced to stay for a couple of days.
Macromera, at least for Rethans, was always a family get-together. Three days of festivities. Gifts and a light meal on the first day, a massive feast on the second day and snacks and naps on the third day. For Relkir though, for their entire adult life, Macromera would just be one day long. Going to Rethais’s stupid mansion, opening some gifts, cooking a meal together, eating and then going home, to spend the next two holidays on their own, either working or thinking about work.
This year was different. Oh so different. The High General’s Quarters was a six bedroom house, designed to be used by every High General and their immediate family. Rethais though had been single up until six months ago, so the mansion had always been rather empty apart from their bedroom, their office and a bedroom that had been converted into a smaller living room, because Rethais disliked the much larger living rooms meant for more people. And because Rethais had a poten-partner now, as did Relkir, they had invited folks around for Macromera, and had set the place up to let people stay the night.
Really, the High General’s Quarters hadn’t been so full for six years. Rethais and Lysar were taking up the master bedroom, but Rethais had also invited Relkir and Gath, Lysar’s parents, Lysar’s older sibling and their partner, and, as a surprise for Gath, Rethais had flown their (in Relkir’s opinion, perfect) parents in too. And, for some reason, Rethais also invited Litvir, the Rethan member of the Twelve Anew, who spent way, way too long staring at the lights on the decorated silver birch tree, and was absolutely delighted just to be around and be involved.
Right now though, everyone else was asleep. It was about 5am, and Relkir was sitting on one of the fancy plush sofas in the large living room, on their own, somewhat unable to sleep. The parents were all upstairs, snoring away, so was Gath, so was Lysar. Relkir had spotted Malyr, Lysar’s sibling, going to the bathroom briefly but they had quickly returned to the warmth of their bedroom too. Apparently Litvir was also asleep, but it turned out that Litvir turned themselves invisible whenever they were asleep, as some sort of strange defence mechanism.
Rethais though was not. Relkir didn’t say anything as they watched Rethais make their way downstairs, head into the kitchen and start rummaging around. After about five minutes, Rethais returned with two cups of hot chocolate and a plate of cookies, and sat down in the arm chair next to Relkir.
“You are up early.”
“So are you.”
Rethais shrugged as they handed a mug to Relkir. “This is all very new for both of us. Having loving families, spending time together that is not forced. Accepting each other as siblings. Living our lives as almost normal Rethans… It has been genuinely lovely having you around and seeing you happy though, little sibling.”
Relkir sipped their drink. “I appreciate that. You seem happier too. More open. No longer utterly afraid to show weakness.”
“I showed a lot of weakness during the… the… event. The whole universe got turned upside down. But we survived, I guess. I want to celebrate that.”
Relkir shrugged. “Fair enough. I am somewhat thankful that I remember none of it, and came out the other end with most of my loved ones intact and no lasting medical damage… And Gath is fine. Absolutely fine.”
Rethais nodded in agreement. “There were definitely some miracles. And Macromera was traditionally a holiday celebrating surviving the harshness of winter, the worst of times, and the return of the light. Still, I am surprised that you are up. Lately, you are glued to Gath’s side.”
“Hah! I just had a bit of a bad dream, but I did not want to wake Gath up and trouble them.”
“Same old dream?”
“Same old dream. Made worse by the fact that Retvik is no longer here. And even if the… rumours are to be believed, Retvik is genuinely gone forever. They only protect me in my dreams now.”
“You may have lost one person but you got so much more. We both did…” Rethais paused briefly. “We both have poten-partners and, even better, their parents are wonderful, they have accepted us. And Malyr has been a laugh. I was worried I would not get along with Lysar’s family.”
“And Litvir has been surprisingly sweet too…” Relkir admitted. “I… I get what you mean, when we last spoke about them. I almost want to see Litvir as a little sibling.”
“Hah… a fourth Rethianos… The Master of Generals would have hit us for such a silly idea. But I stand by my position that we need to make our godly representative feel like they are one of us, make them part of our traditions, and keeping Litvir close to us both is the way to do it.”
“Their childish ways are rather cute and endearing…” Relkir muttered as they sipped their cocoa. “And if what Litvir has said, about them being a combination of bloodlines, is true, technically they are related to us anyway. Speaking of whom…”
Rethais glanced at the stairs. Litvir was cautiously stepping down them, fully dressed and carrying all their belongings. “Good morning, Litvir, you are up early!”
“Good morning, Kyr Rethais, good morning Kyr Relkir. You are both up earlier than me?”
“Mhm. We were having siblingly chat time. Litvir, little one, you seem like you are in a hurry to leave.”
Litvir nodded awkwardly. “I have a meeting with my fellow Twelve Anew at some point and I need to go.”
“What time is the meeting?” Relkir asked.
“Uh… six… pm? It is 0515 currently. With my jumpy fast speed light powers, it will take 30 minutes to get to the fortress at the centre of the universe.”
“Did you say PM?” Relkir frowned. “PM means afternoon. That will be 1800 hours. Assuming you mean our current time zone.”
Litvir blinked in confusion, as they often did. “I was twelve hours out?”
“Yes.”
“Oh…” Litvir thought to themselves. “Does that mean I can stay here? And we can have more food?”
Rethais nodded. “Indeed. Macromera is a three day holiday. You are welcome here for all three days.”
“Can we… can we have more sandwiches? I like those. And the fizzy apple drink. I like that too.”
Rethais nodded some more. “Today is a day of rest and snacks. You are free to do those here, if you wish.”
“Also, I can get an alarm for you, Litvir, so you have plenty of time to pack up and leave later!” Relkir added.
Litvir smiled and clapped their hands together with glee. “Yay! I like that! You are all so kind to me!”
“We are kind to each other!” Rethais explained. “As we have said before, we are all Rethans, you are a Rethan as well, and that means you get everything we do.”
“I like that!” Litvir beamed as they put all their stuff down and sat down on a nearby sofa. “You are nice. Thank you.”
“No worries, little Litvir. Happy Macromera.”