Rayan's house was small. One main room, two small bedrooms, a narrow kitchen, a window that let in good morning light. It was clean and warm and had more space than anywhere Aarav and Meera had ever lived. Of course not including the mansion where aarav was given birth to.
Meera walked through every room on the first day with the serious expression of someone conducting an inspection. She opened the kitchen cupboards, looked under the beds, examined the window latch.
Rayan watched her with amusement.
When she finished she went and stood next to Aarav and gave him a small nod.
'So cute' Aarav thought to himself.
Rayan also found her antics too adorable, there was a warm smile on his face.
'Rahul and Soina also would have been like this. Maybe god compensated me with these two children in place of them.' sadness covered Rayan's eyes.
The first weeks were careful on all sides.
Rayan was clearly trying not to overwhelm them. He gave them space, kept his voice calm, didn't push for more conversation than they offered. He was a naturally quiet man anyway — someone comfortable with silence, which Aarav appreciated more than he could easily express.
Meera warmed up faster than Aarav expected.
By the end of the first week she had claimed the corner of the main room near the window as her spot and arranged her few possessions there with great seriousness.
By the second week she had started following Rayan around the house when he did his evening tidying, not helping exactly, just observing him with those big eyes.
Rayan pretended not to notice and kept tidying.
And so, life goes on.
Rayan had a simple routine life. He came home from his shift, made sure they had eaten, sat with them in the evening and talked about small things — what he had seen in the city that day, something funny that had happened at the guard post, questions about what they wanted to learn. He taught them to read the local script in the evenings, patient and unhurried, never frustrated when Meera lost interest halfway through and wandered off.
They had also gone to walk around the city many times. Looking around the street market and shops. Aarav felt that Ashvara is middle sized city although not as prosperous as the big cities from his previous life but not much less either. This looks like peaceful city and locals live happily. Aarav felt that this is a great city to live in, peaceful and beautiful.
Meera had been too enthusiastic the whole time during their outings. She just runs around the whole time, running from here to there. Too energetic. And whenever she found anything interesting she would look at Rayan with her puppy eyes. Just like now.
"No. I am not buying you that bell. That is a heavy bell, you could get hurt from that."
In the end Rayan still couldn't beat her puppy eyes and a little girl was seen holding a bell, which looked heavy for a child to lift. She still managed to lift it and ring it somehow looking at it producing high pitch sounds with eyes full of interest.
Aarav was a little too amused by her antics. It had been few months since they had been adopted. Aarav had completely let go of any suspicions about Rayan and gradually accepted him as a family. Rayan was just that much kind and Aarav could feel his sincerity.
Rayan had started teaching them basic things from the first week. Reading and writing the local script. Numbers. Simple history of Ashvara and Tamas. He was not a formal teacher but he was a patient one and he clearly enjoyed it more than he let on.
Meera was sharp when she paid attention, which was inconsistent. Some days she absorbed everything immediately and asked questions that made Rayan blink. Other days she lasted ten minutes before something outside the window became more interesting.
Aarav absorbed everything without showing how fast he was doing it. He asked questions at the pace of a bright but normal child, made occasional small errors to stay believable, and stored everything away.
His reading of the local script took about three days to become completely fluent. He took three weeks to demonstrate that level.
Rayan thought he was a quick learner. He was satisfied with this assessment.
About six months in, Aarav started training properly in the small patch of forest behind the residential area near their street.
He went early in the morning before Rayan woke, or in the evening when Rayan thought he was playing outside. He kept the intensity calibrated — nothing that would make him visibly different from a normal child by the time he came home. Slightly tired, slightly flushed, easily explained.
The strength gains continued their steady accumulation.
[Strength +0.01]
[Strength +0.01]
The increments had increased from the mountain days. His body was stronger now, his training more intense, the basic function working harder as he pushed his limits further each session. The numbers were still small individually but they were building on a foundation that was already well above anything his current size should suggest.
He was careful about where he trained and what he showed. In front of Rayan he moved like a normal healthy child. Slightly coordinated, slightly energetic, nothing remarkable.
He had been doing this for about two weeks when he came back one evening to find Meera waiting for him at the edge of the forest path.
She looked at him with her arms crossed.
"Meera," he said.
"Av goes to forest," she said. It was not a question.
He looked at her. "I was just walking."
She gave him the look she reserved for things she didn't believe. Then without another word she turned and walked back to the house.
He followed her, thinking that was the end of it.
It was not the end of it.
Two days later he came back from his morning session to find Meera in the small yard behind the house.
She had clearly been there for some time. Her dark hair was slightly damp and her face was flushed and she was in the middle of what appeared to be her own exercise routine — small arms going up and down with extreme seriousness, small legs doing what might have been intended as squats, expression set with fierce concentration.
Aarav stopped and looked at her.
She saw him and stopped. She stood up straight and looked back at him with complete dignity as though this was entirely normal.
"Meera training," she announced.
"I can see that," he said. "Why?"
She looked at him with an expression that suggested this was obvious. "Meera will get strong," she said. "To protect Av."
He looked at her for a moment. She was completely serious. Four years old, flushed from her own invented workout routine, absolutely certain of her purpose.
"Av doesn't need protecting," he said.
She gave him a look that communicated clearly that she had assessed this claim and rejected it.
"Meera will get strong anyway," she said, and went back to her exercises.
He stood there for another moment. Then he went inside and when Rayan asked why he was smiling he said it was nothing.
From that day on Meera had her morning routine in the yard. She invented her own exercises with complete confidence and performed them with total seriousness every single morning without fail. Rayan discovered her at it one morning and stood in the doorway watching for a full minute before she noticed him.
"Meera training," she explained to him.
"I can see that," Rayan said, in exactly the same tone Aarav had used.
"To get strong," she added.
"Very good," Rayan said seriously, and went to make breakfast.