“I… do not know why you are inviting me…” Litvir muttered as they arrived outside the building where Relkir currently lived. Then again, “currently” wasn’t quite the correct word, because Relkir spent 99% of their time living in Gath’s apartment across town and only really came back to their own apartment to pick things up or wash their armour.
Relkir was wearing casual armour today, which made a change, since they had mostly been wearing their 99th Legion armour any time they went outside. A lot of Generals did that, and most Generals wore their General’s Insignia all the time too, and Relkir never thought they’d be one of them, but Relkir had designed that armour themselves and it was a shame not to wear it. Today though, since Relkir had been packing things up, they didn’t want to get a set of work armour dirty.
“Why do you think I am inviting you?” Relkir asked, as they waited patiently.
“You do not need me. You are choosing a new home for you and mama. I already have a home, even if it is small and all I really do is sleep there.”
Relkir smiled, then held Litvir’s hand. “It is not just a new home for me and Gath. It is also a home for you, and for your little sibling, when that time comes. You will have your own space in this home that you can do whatever you want with, and you will not have to sleep in Gath’s office or on the sofa whenever you stay the night, you will stay in your own room. That is why we invited you today, so you can look at the houses we are looking at too!”
“Oh…” Litvir wasn’t really sure how to respond to that. They didn’t get a chance to though as Gath appeared, exiting the building and handing Relkir a set of keys.
“Apologies, my dear. Also, your bathroom is tiny.”
“Are you done?” Relkir asked. “Is your stomach settled?”
“It is for now… Litvir! Hello!” Gath looked up and spotted their adopted kid. “How are you doing? Relkir did not tell me you were coming!”
“I did tell you.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
Gath paused. They paused for an unreasonably long time, staring at the ground blankly before snapping back to reality. “Well… I must have forgotten, I apologise. This damn recurring prostaxia is annoying me.”
Litvir silently inspected Gath, then sighed. Prostaxia was an unusual illness suffered by those who had gone Defensive Stance a lot in the past, and it did cause both memory loss and moments of fogginess, where one would forget what they were doing. While Gath had been doing better, the last few weeks, they had multiple cases of prostaxia, and were taking prolonged medication for it.
“Either way, let us get going!” Gath suddenly announced. They grabbed Relkir and threw them over their shoulder and marched off down the road to the nearest bus stop. Relkir pretended to protest, but they secretly liked being carried by Gath. Litvir rolled their eyes and simply followed.
The bus was swift, as always. Inner city buses were always standing room only, so Gath had to put Relkir down as they paid the fare with their bus card and boarded. The fares were always tiny, mostly because public transport was heavily subsidised. It had to be, almost all Rethans used it.
The trip wasn’t too long, but Gath did get several people wanting to talk to them as they travelled. Gath never minded too much, they were famous. Relkir did have a few folks wave at them, but Relkir was a different sort of famous. Oddly, no one spoke or even noticed Litvir, and as they arrived at their destination, the slightly more posh part of Phos where many Rethan Generals already lived, Relkir decided to comment on that.
“So… how comes no one recognised you?” Relkir asked as they stepped off the bus and onto the main street. The row of houses that were available were at the very end of the street and off to one side, but this particular bus didn’t stop there, so they needed to walk the rest of the way.
Litvir grunted. “I can make myself mentally invisible as well as visually invisible. Others just do not see me. It is a god thing that Dalosisaar suggests we do when we are out on our own but not doing work.”
Gath glanced at Relkir, Relkir glanced back, and they both shrugged and started walking. Litvir shrugged and started walking too, following at a distance.
“Why are these houses bigger?” Litvir muttered as they walked.
“They are family homes. For Rethans with kids!” Gath answered.
“This area is mostly for Rethan Generals and Captains in important Legions who also have kids!” Relkir added. “We fall into that category now. Things just took a bit longer to sort out because we needed to get married and get you officially adopted first…”
Relkir suddenly trailed off. They had reached the end of the road, and the section of new houses that were available could be seen. All of them were large and square, but they all also had roof gardens. And standing on the corner of the road was a Rethan in basic brown armour, with a sash and a name tag on them, a clip board in their hands.
Gath nudged Relkir, then stomped over to the Rethan, who waved cheerfully.
“Good day, Kyr Gath, Kyr Relkir! Hello, little one!” the Rethan smiled. “I am Spetis, I represent the Housing Legion and will be taking you on a tour of these homes.”
“We definitely qualify for these properties, yes?” Relkir hesitantly asked.
“Of course! This area is built for Generals and their new, young families!” Spetis smiled some more. “You have a kid here, and a new one on the way soon, so you completely qualify! There is even a nursery a block away for when the next kid arrives. Anyway, do you want to come with me and we can start looking at the properties?”
Gath grinned, grabbing both Relkir and Litvir by the hand. “Yes, we would love to. Lead the way…”