Now that Relkir was definitely, permanently in a relationship with Gath, they were spending more and more time just living at Gath’s place. Sure, Relkir was a Captain of the 47th Legion, with their own nice place and all that, but Relkir’s home was tiny, and it only really fit Relkir. That was why, these days, they mostly spent their time at Gath’s place, which was huge and accommodating. Gath had even given Relkir a key, in case they wanted to visit more regularly or if Relkir was home earlier than Gath was.
However, today, as Relkir let themselves in, there was someone else present.
Sitting at the main dining table, covered in melted ice cream and holding a few large shards of broken bowl, was Litvir, the Rethan member of the Twelve Anew. While Relkir was surprised by Litvir being around, Litvir seemed to almost panic, and turned themselves invisible. Relkir could still see Litvir though because they were covered in ice cream, and while they and their armour were somehow transparent, the ice cream certainly was not.
Thankfully, heavy plodding down the stairs distracted both Relkir and Litvir, with answers at hand,
“Gath, my dear, what is Litvir doing here? This is not a visitation weekend!” Relkir demanded answers. “And why is there ice cream everywhere?”
Gath grunted. “Well, the ice cream problem is quite simple. Litvir wanted to know which flavours and colours of ice cream melted the fastest. So we got several bowls, and, while cleaning up, Litvir dropped one of the bowls, which shattered and covered the kitchen with ice cream.”
“That is… strange but reasonable. But why is Litvir here in the first place?” Relkir suddenly paused. “Were you… expelled from school?”
“No! No!” Litvir seemed genuinely scared, as if they more scared of Relkir than they were of Gath. “It… was a mis… misunder… under… a confusion!”
“Litvir does not know their own strength. Let me and Litvir finish cleaning up and I shall explain.”
Relkir tutted, then wandered over to help. They noticed that Litvir seemed rather shaken and jumpy (even through their invisibility), but Relkir had no idea why.
Once everything was cleaned up, Gath fetched several, new, fresh bowls of ice cream, sat Relkir down then started talking.
“It is nothing bad. Litvir tried to protect someone from a bully, the bully struck Litvir and Litvir struck them back. You know what Junior Stratos is like before they give you the final, actual rules. Because Litvir struck back physically when the bully was already weakened, the headmaster sent Litvir home for the weekend. We have already done the assignments Litvir was given.”
“What happened?” Relkir turned to Litvir. Litvir calmed down somewhat and stopped making themselves invisible.
“They took Miisa’s lucky charm. I told them to give it back. They did not listen. Ketiis punched me in the stomach and broke their hand on my under-plating. Their friends all got too close to comfort. So I punched Ketiis in the face to show strength and force them and their friends to back off. I did not want them to hurt Miisa and I got angry.”
“You… went Half-Stance?”
“More of a Quarter-Stance…” Gath muttered. “I did not think Litvir needed to be punished, but the headmaster disagreed. So I decided to bring Litvir back here for a bit and do some fun things.”
“And you have time for this?” Relkir asked.
Litvir nodded nervously. “I have border patrols to do in… some time in the future. Will need to do those. And a meeting with the other Twelve Anew. But… I am just doing border patrols on my own. Because Aster and Kyr Murum’Va and Kyr Elkay are helping Kyr Aesop with some political things. I am sorry.”
Relkir blinked in surprise. “Why are you apologising to me?”
“I did a bad thing. And am taking up your private space. And caught you by surprise. You are angry.”
“I am not angry at you though. I am angry because you stopped a bully and were punished for it.”
Litvir shook their head. “Should have just… knocked them over or something. Or just use words. Did not think. Oh… You… you feel bad…”
“I do yes.”
“Kyr Rethais and Kyr Retvik used to protect you from bullies. You are reminded of that.”
Relkir nodded. “Rethais and Retvik took… a lot of punches for me. Retvik in particular, because they were strong enough to take the physical blows, and they learned when to retaliate or when not to. It is… hard to learn. But you did the right thing. And Gath was right to bring you back here.”
Gath shrugged somewhat. “I did not really have much say in the matter. But Litvir’s punishment will be brief. And we did go out and get treats and snacks as a reward for doing the right thing.”
“Fair enough. Litvir, you are a good, smart cookie, you will learn!” Relkir lightened their tone.
“And Litvir has not been given the final, actual rules yet. They are fine!” Gath smiled.
“What is… oh…” Litvir fell silent as something beeped on their person, then rubbed their eyes. “I hate the mind-reading. But I also hate being dragged away. I have to go now. Kyr Nanik says there is a metal meanie up north that I have to deal with.”
Litvir sighed, wiped some ice cream off their hand, then went to grab their belongings.
“Little one, feel free to come back here when you are done!” Relkir smiled.
“I… will try. Goodbye.”
With one last sigh, Litvir let themselves out, then disappeared in a flash of light. Once Gath and Relkir were certain the coast was clear, they both leaned closer to each other.
“You want to adopt him.” Gath whispered.
“You want to do so, officially.” Relkir tutted back.
“And why not”
“We both want to look after them, yes, but I do not think being full time parents is something we can do right now. And we do not know officially how old Litvir is. They may actually be over the age of 21 and not eligible for adoption anyway.”
Gath grunted. “So what do you suggest?”
“We are already Litvir’s parental guardians in terms of Junior Stratos, and while they are in the 900th Legion, they will not be doing much outside of visits anyway. But when things have settled down and when Litvir graduates from Junior Stratos, we should ask them, officially, if they want us to adopt them…” Relkir paused slightly. “In the mean time, I want to focus on our wedding. Once we are legally partners, we can apply for a singular, familial home instead of the two solo homes we have now, and then we can work on having a kid ourselves.”
“Hm… Well… that sounds fine to me. And that last bit sounds fun. For now though, what do we do?”
“We give Litvir the assistance they need, and let Litvir make their own choices. Because Litvir never seems to have a choice. Same way I never had a choice.”
“That is definitely true. Alright, sounds like a plan to me!” Gath smiled properly now. “Right now though, what do you want to do?”
Relkir glanced at the massive bag of treats on the kitchen counter, a smirk growing across their face. “I say we chill out and watch television for a bit, until Litvir comes back. When Litvir does, we will order takeout. If Litvir does not come back, then I will take you instead.”
“Sounds wonderful. Let us do that then.”