Retvik was taking a rather long time in the bathroom. He and Gath were supposed to be getting ready for a stupid party neither of them wanted to go to, but for some reason, Retvik seemed a bit poorly. They still had to go though, as the party was about them. A thank you party hosted by the Raptor herself, a congratulatory event for looking after the city of Palaestra while Phovos was off unifying the rest of Vriskera and creating her own unique mini-nation.
“Are you alright in there, Retvik?” Gath asked as he knocked on the bathroom door. He wasn’t overly fond of the bathroom in the so-called Bunker. But they still hadn’t rebuilt his little cottage on the edge of Palaestra, after it all burnt down. Gath… hadn’t felt safe rebuilding there. It had all gone up in flames so quickly… And really, the Bunker wasn’t nearly so bad now that Elksia had moved out and Tenuk had his own place. He and Retvik had combined two of the bedrooms into one room and the other two, one was now used for storage, the other was… somewhat untouched. Just another plain bedroom, in case someone else wanted to use it.
Retvik didn’t reply. Gath knocked again, and got a response of “not really”. Frustrated, Gath decided to open the door anyway. They’d been married for nearly thirty years now, there was nothing to hide.
“Retvik, you… oh… I shall go fetch you some anti-emetics…” Gath gently closed the door again while Retvik tried to pull himself together. Because their house was meant to be temporary shared living space, the bathroom was very well insulated from both the cold and sound. That was probably why Gath hadn’t heard him.
The medicine cupboard was in the kitchen. Gath opened it up and pulled out a packet of anti-emetics. It was unopened, which was good, meant Retvik hadn’t already taken one. He also picked up two paracetamol tablets as well. He was certain that Retvik probably had a headache now. Gath got a mug of water and took it all up to Retvik, who had managed to at least wipe the vomit off his chest.
“I had just showered as well…” Retvik sighed as he took and quickly swallowed the tablets. “I really do not want to go out tonight.”
“Me neither,” Gath tutted. “But we will get a lot of nice food and free drinks and everyvok will be saying how wonderful we are and how much they appreciate us. And the Raptor does want to give us some sort of… prize… for our assistance. Also, Tenuk will be there. You like Tenuk.”
“Tenuk will most likely be drunk. Nine months later and he still blames himself.”
“Still…” Gath had run out of suggestions on how to make that evening’s upcoming events better. Instead he popped to the bedroom and fetched a new stomach wrap for Retvik. “I like this one on you. Gold has always suited you.”
Was that a small smile Gath spotted as he handed Retvik the wrap? He wasn’t sure. Either way, they were both still going. Maybe a good meal would help Retvik feel better.
“I have not felt like this in a long time… Feels like when… when…” Retvik hesitated as he put his armour on. “Gath, do we have any pregnancy tests available?”
Gath blinked, then headed back down to the medicine cabinet. They had always wanted kids, but something between them just hadn’t clicked. Neither of them wanted to give up, but they hadn’t specifically tried in a while. Luckily, there was one pregnancy test left. He rushed back upstairs and handed it to Retvik, who quickly closed the door.
With a shrug, Gath decided to go back to getting changed. He didn’t need the bathroom or anything, he just wanted to brush his teeth. That could wait. Retvik probably just caught a bug off someone anyway, he always did in the winter months.
Suddenly, the bathroom door clicked open.
“Gath, I think we need to get another few pregnancy tests. This one is out of date and I do not trust it…”
Retvik showed the small stick to Gath. On it was an incomplete outline of a circle.
“Must be…” Gath sighed. “We shall get some more on the way back. But we need to hurry up now, otherwise we will be late…”
“Yeah…” Retvik hesitated. “Probably… probably just an old batch… probably just nothing…”