The sun's shining directly on his face as he gets the last of the scrambled eggs from the stove onto a plate. Any other time he'd at least have pulled the blinds down but, it only adds to his joy today. From how he hums to the chirping of the birds and Ignes' habit of constantly tapping her foot on the ground, everything he hears elevates his emotions. There are fresh flowers in the vases and his heart's thrumming. It's strange. Never before has Roctis looked forward to breakfast with his wife.
But then, as he turns the stove off and places the plate on the table with a smile to her, never before has he been married to Edian.
It's their first morning together after having the Court officialise it (that memory makes him smile too. neither of them were particularly interested in a wedding but having both the Emperor and Urokai weep as they signed off as witnesses made it clear enough what it would have been like), and there's a deep wonder in not having to see her off because she can't be caught with him. He doesn't even fear the thought that his heart might burst with how tight his chest is. Edian will never let that happen. Even if she does, he doesn't mind it.
Taking a seat, he glances amused to Ignes mowing through her food with an intensity she usually only has when scrutinising the local wildlife. She even has a knife in hand like she often does then, though of course a different one. A simple butter knife would be inefficient for the sorts of traps she makes.
"Are your classes today that interesting?" he asks her since there's little else he can pinpoint as the cause for her excitement.
She pauses with a similar gusto, her cutlery clattering onto her plate, and it makes Edian snort. Almost out of sight but not quite, he sees her cover her mouth and look away in thinly veiled amusement.
"Mr. Vaktel said Uncle Lagus will be covering Uncle Zarga's lessons until he's back! He always lets me open the animals myself!"
"Ah, so that's from today on. I'm surprised Urokai didn't mention it yesterday," he muses, "I suppose he didn't want to detract from the signing."
That or Urokai had been too distracted from crying to remind him of the matter. The explanation is just as likely considering that he's hot-headed. Not that his being emotional makes him bad at his work. Even Roctis can't match his skill and speed in dealing with their administrative workloads.
Edian frowns, looking between the two- "Mention what?"
"They're going to have a baby," Ignes answers with a serious nod and hops down from her chair to place her dirty dishes in the sink, "Tilde told me."
"Another one already?" Edian's frown deepens though her expression shows traces of respect- "This one's what? The third?"
Roctis chuckles, pouring himself a drink as Ignes goes off to get ready for school- "Fourth. Another daughter apparently. Though Urokai said he wanted a son for the sixth."
"They want more too? Fuck. There's something wrong with those two," Edian says, this time genuinely appalled and he can't help but laugh.
"Urokai is the youngest of eight. With Zarga just as eager for children, it's more of a shock they're planning to stop at six."
"Small mercies, I guess," sighs Edian, "Though why is Zarga teaching Ignes anyway? Isn't she too old for kindergarten?"
"He teaches some of the science classes for the primary students. As you know, he's always been very…" Roctis' brow furrows as he searches for the right words.
"Oh. Yeah. He can be a bit eager," Edian nods, "Hands on too, as long as he has a few pairs of gloves on him. I love to watch him work."
With a strained smile, Roctis nods. There's nobody else among the Generals who's queasy with all the bloodier matters like him. Well, perhaps not considering Gradeus but… that's a different case altogether. Rather than queasiness, he'd describe the man's demeanour as being derived from something else entirely. Disgust perhaps? Horror? Fear? Whatever it is, everyone's sure that the only reason he hasn't been dealt with for what is effectively treason is because of the amusement the Emperor derives from his suffering.
As for Zarga himself… Roctis has never had the courage to ask what he does with all of the trophies (or are they specimens?) he collects. Whether he has a room to display them or a lab, he doesn't really want to know. Ignes does though, so he drops her off with the man fairly often. Whether she plays with his daughters or with him, she always has fun.
"Yes," he says, "Though unlike Lagus he prefers to simply show the children rather than let them dissect the animals themselves. Less of a mess."
Edian tilts her head as she takes a bite and chews, then asks, "Isn't that a bit early?"
The question makes him pause. It's a strange one but then he remembers a conversation from a while back where she'd once simply shrugged and uttered, "Home-schooled," upon being questioned by another General on her spotty array of knowledge. Her father must have simply taught her these things later on.
"Outside the Empire, yes."
"Huh. Makes sense," she says, face showing her to be in deep though, "No reason for them to-"
Edian's abrupt stop has him looking with concern and he goes to stand but she shakes her head with an annoyed grin- "Just one of the brats kicking hard and making a fuss. Nothing to worry about."
Instinctively he looks to her abdomen. Even while half hidden by the table, it's obvious and there's no surprise about that. There's two weeks left and she's having twins; something that Edian is understandably nervous about. She avoids the topic instead of talking about it, false bravado when she does, and they both know they aren't having more children after this. It's been made clear enough that Edian doesn't enjoy this – even now she doesn't have a hand on her belly to soothe herself as she winces – and though he had asked if she'd wanted to end it midway through, she had refused.
Honestly, Roctis isn't sure just how they both didn't piece this together from her nature and eagerness for all things wild beforehand. And yet, Edian herself had said she wouldn't change how things were. Something about 'the mania of slaughtering your lover's wife while with child'. Although he didn't agree, and only because he sorely wished he had the nerve to end things sooner so that they could have spent more time together, recalling the rain of blood splattering her red was… attractive. If it was anyone else, if it was any other time, it would leave him with sleepless nights.
Instead, the show she had put on in front of the Court some two months ago just left a soft smile on his face. The same one as when it had happened. The other Generals had looked between the two of them then and put it together quickly enough, though their incessant questions had left him exhausted.
"I won't, then," Roctis says, and the way her smile brightens is infectious.
He's poking a joke at himself here, since they both know he worries too much and that he won't stop, but there's nothing he wouldn't do to make Edian smile. Just the little while he's had without threats hanging over his head has shown him that. Anything, anytime, for her.
She's about to say something else, obvious from the mischief in her eyes, and then the phone rings.
She shoots him a quizzical look and he shakes his head in response. He doesn't know who it is either. After all, it's not either of their smartphones making a racket and instead the one hooked up to the wall in the hallway. Few people call those anymore, and even fewer have them. The only reason he does is because his uncle has a fondness for them and had insisted that it be in the plans for this house.
"I'll go get it," Roctis says, getting up.
"Maybe it's a telemarketer."
"That's illegal, and has been before we were born."
Something about one of the previous Generals hating the practice, if he remembers right. It has been a long while since his lessons as a child. He can't blame them though; the entire thing sounds like an utter waste of time. Advertisements in general are. The idea of there being images out in public and constant audio promoting this or that is insane.
Edian snickers as he leaves the kitchen, "Here maybe. Outside the Empire? Not so much."
There is something amusing about the idea of some poor soul from outside cluelessly calling him, enough so that he almost wants it to be the case. It would be a good joke at the very least. Annoying though since they will need to trace the call and deal with whoever it is who has their number and then figure out the root source. So, between how unlikely it is and the problems that will have both caused it and stem from it, he knows it won't be the case.
When he picks the receiver up to his ear, he wishes it had been the case.
"Hello, darling! Been a while, hasn't it? Oh, or not. I do leave you hanging plenty for much longer than this," a peppy voice says, and Roctis doesn't know how to respond.
"Not going to say anything? Well, I can't blame you, really. Anyway, all I'm calling to say is that I'll be coming in two weeks, so, ta~"
There's a click and the call ends, leaving him there staring blankly at the receiver. The familiar voice has him unable to think even, aside from a single thought, and he doesn't move. It's how Edian finds him a good few minutes later, looking at the receiver still in his hand. He doesn't notice her until she takes it from him and he flinches, spooked.
"Roctis, what happened?" she asks, worried but voice steady.
"I-" he looks at her but can't find any words to say, much less the ones needed to explain it all.
The silence lingers and she sighs, placing the receiver down where it belongs and taking his hand in both of hers. Meeting his eyes, she smiles softly and brings his palm to her lips. Then she trails kisses up to his wrist, and then she presses even more to the back of his hand and his knuckles, and then his fingers. Each one calms him the slightest bit more, and when his heart steadies, he realises she's been doing it for a good five minutes.
"What has you like this?" she asks again, concern weaved into the creases that appear with her frown, "I didn't hear you saying a word even though you were here for a while, and you even missed Ignes as she left so I came to check on you. But you were like this."
Ignes had left for school already? She always called out a loud goodbye as she did and he would always respond, but he had even missed that? Was he really that shocked? He must have been, and in actuality, it isn't that surprising that he didn't hear her. Even now the world seems wrong. Heavy.
Roctis still isn't sure how to answer so instead he reaches to the telephone and presses the buttons, causing the call to be played out for Edian to hear. Her eyes narrow and when it ends, she pulls him into a hug.
"You're so soft," she murmurs as he wraps her arms around her in turn, "Too soft for these sorts of things. Someone must have sent a pre-recorded message to try and fuck with us."
Roctis' eyes widen and relief floods him. Of course. A pre-recorded message. That's all it is. What had he been thinking?
"She can't be the one who called since I killed her.," Edian continues, "We'll just get someone to trace it."
"Of course," Roctis murmurs in response.
They'll do that in a bit. But, of course Edian's right. He doesn't know why he didn't realise it immediately. There's no way that she actually called.
His previous wife is dead after all.