ALL NOVEL 69: Routine Affection
Now settled in the Library of Truth headquarters, Astrid and the others took half an hour to clean themselves off, rest up, and eat some food before reconvening. During that time, of course, some people put away their divine artifacts, others made a trip home, and some attended to some administrative matters.
“What now?” Estelle asked as they all sat around the meeting table. “This feels strangely official for no reason.”
“Well, I’d hope it's official,” Solomon chuckled. “This is one of our nicest meeting rooms after all. I just want to debrief the whole battle. First of all, is everyone feeling alive? Healed up for the most part other than just being drained of energy?”
With a chorus of “yes”’s sounding out around the room, Solomon fired up the holographic projector in the center of the table. “So, very quickly, before I let you all go, I just want to calibrate all of our goals moving forward. It’s mundane though, so don’t fret too much.”
Zooming in on the little red exclamation mark indicators popping up, Solomon spent a couple minutes explaining the current situation of the city, which factions needed help and support and who’d be in charge of what.
Beyond that, Solomon asked Valencia to help with transporting the scorpion’s carcass from the ocean to a processing facility on shore, Sylvia to help replenish the nature outside of the city’s outskirts, and for Estelle to... focus on her work.
Running through it all, Solomon dismissed everyone after a couple minutes as promised. Having spent the last few hours at the minimum fighting, and the last few days at the maximum, no one had the energy for a get together as they all went home to just... rest.
Solomon, having sent each person off with a couple of cupcakes gifted from the other executives in the Library of Truth organization, returned home with Joanna.
Sylvia and Estelle went off together while Rainier dipped alone to... wherever his home was.
As for Astrid and Valencia, they stood outside of the Library of Truth headquarters with their cupcakes in hand. Mirroring Estelle from earlier, Astrid sighed. “What now?”
Looking at Valencia before looking at the busy city bustle weaving around them, Astrid stood there, a bit... lost in all honesty.
Not directionally, but in terms of purpose.
“I guess we just go back?” Valencia yawned while wrapping an arm around Astrid’s waist. “Take a nap? I’m sure you’re not as tired as I am though.”
“I don’t mind, it’s nice to get some sleep anyway. I’m not that used to fighting, so resting would probably be smart...” Astrid trailed off as she and Valencia began walking through the crowd. Feeling the wind caress her neck and blow back her hair, she smiled while staring up towards the sky. Thankful for how everything turned out, she gave Valencia’s hand a squeeze. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” Valencia leaned over and kissed Astrid’s cheek, relishing in the chance to show off her affection in public. “Why the sudden statement?”
“I’m not sure,” Astrid turned to look left and right as they crossed the street. “Maybe it’s because I’ve been thinking about you a lot recently. I mean I always do, you’re Cia, but, you know, like in the other context. The whole confession thing you did recently.”
“Mhm, yeah?” Valencia squeezed Astrid’s hand. “I’m sorry for hiding it all from you. I’ll... make it up to you.”
“I’ll look forward to it. Just take me out to eat more or something,” Astrid shrugged as they neared their house. “To be honest though, I’m... pretty much over it now. Maybe just because of this battle too. It helped me let go, it helped me realize that it didn’t matter as much. I’m alive because of you, I have a comfortable life because of you, and, well, I still have time with you. So why not enjoy it to the fullest?”
“A nice attitude,” Valencia smiled while looking down at her feet. Pushing back the tears, she gathered her thoughts for a second before cracking her lips open. “You saved me too. Without you, I don’t know what I would’ve become by now. I was on the way to becoming something horrendous. Some heartless killing machine...”
“Well, I’m glad you’re not,” Astrid unlocked and pushed open the door to the cafe. “Anyway, I have a confession to make of my own. It’s related to why I was thinking about all this too...”
“Wait what?” Valencia froze as a myriad of possibilities ran across her mind. “Did you know the whole time?”
“Of course not,” Astrid laughed while dragging Valencia through the doorway. “Who do you think I am? No, uhm... it’s related to our anniversary. I won’t have a good gift this year.”
“But your drawing, did it not turn out how you wanted it to? I’m sure it's still beautiful,” Valencia reassured Astrid. Her reassurance didn’t help much though as Astrid began shifting on her feet. Stepping forward she wrapped an arm around Astrid’s waist before giving her a stream of kisses. “Don’t feel bad. What’s wrong, my dear?”
“Just... follow me,” Astrid pulled Valencia into a hug. After detaching and walking to the stairs, she motioned for Valencia to follow her. “You’ll see.”
They walked in silence as Astrid felt embarrassment warm her cheeks. She was sure her cheeks were red, even her ears felt like they burned with shame! Covering her ears with both hands, she tried her best to cool them down as she and Valencia arrived at their room.
Pulling out her artwork, she handed it to Valencia before covering her face with both hands. “Well, you see... I themed my drawing wrong. I did ‘let’s become deities together’...”
“Ohhhh,” Valencia broke into laughter. Clutching her stomach as she unfurled the piece, she wiped a tear. Stumbling, she grabbed the edge of the bed to support herself. Unable to stop laughing, she stood there for a couple minutes as Astrid burned up from embarrassment.
“You’re so mean, Cia...” Astrid whispered, lowering her hands to reveal teary eyes.
Struck in the heart, Valencia felt her whole body stiffen as Astrid’s look stirred both her maternal instincts along with some other instincts. “Nooo, I love it, and I don’t mind if you don’t have a gift. Your presence and acceptance of me is more than enough.”
Sat on the bed, she pulled Astrid closer. Letting Astrid straddle her to sit on her lap, Valencia leaned in close. She brushed her thumbs against the corners of Astrid’s eyes to wipe away any wetness before cupping her face.
Calmed down, Astrid looped her arms around Valencia’s neck before touching noses with Valencia. “Meanie.”
“Your meanie though,” Valencia teased back before leaning forward and kissing Astrid again. “Now that I’ve won a big battle I feel extra affectionate. So I hope you’ll indulge me, princess.”
“... F-Fine...” Astrid turned away as a smile began tugging on her lips.
---
Already in the bedroom, the two cuddled for a bit, cleaned up, and napped. Awoken once more a few hours later as the sun began dripping golden rays against the ocean horizon, they went for an evening date before returning home to sleep once more—the fatigue was no joke! Opening the shop the next day, the two settled back into their routine without even realizing it.
Passing the days without too much worry, they participated in a fair few activities to keep themselves occupied and social. They hosted parties with the other Primordial Deities, they joined Estelle whenever she hosted a training session for the up-and-coming students, and they went on dates to explore the new shops and places all throughout the city.
Settled in this peaceful little routine of theirs, the days marched on and before they realized it, Marcen’s Cliffs had returned to its hustle, energy, and craziness from before the citywide war.
And, well, life had returned to... fun, love, and serenity.
Astrid enjoyed the days waking up with Valencia, even if they were mundane, and she hoped, hoped from the bottom of her heart they could continue on without rest.
