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It’s some sort of movie night at the Kiske family’s place. Sol only finds out because it happens to be the same night Ky invites him over to talk business, which would maybe be even a little bit believable if Sol didn't know that the First King of Illyria managed his schedule like a maniac. The kid isn’t even trying to be subtle about it anymore. But they insist that if he’s here then he might as well stay and someone shoves a bowl of popcorn into his arms. At least that tradition hasn’t changed in the last few centuries.
So that’s how he ends up in some theater room, standing over the kids as they squabble over what movie to watch.
“Romance movies are boring!” Sin says, and Elphelt pouts at that. “Let’s watch something with some action!”
“You just can’t appreciate a good love story!” she fires back. “Right Ram?”
Ramlethal wisely decides to stay silent on the matter.
Sol relents to the fact that he’s going to be here for at least a while longer and takes the seat as close as he can to the door without it being obvious what he’s trying to do. Dizzy shoots him a small smile as he does so and Sol can’t help the guilt that washes over him. He’d never thought of himself as a father, both before and after the Gear Project, but he knows that a better one would spend more time with her, or at least visit more often.
It’s not that he didn’t want to, but matters like this were… well, complicated would be putting it nicely. It definitely doesn’t help that he sees Aria in her every time she looks happy.
Elphelt and Sin are full on arguing now, and boy does that girl have a set of lungs on her. Perks of being a metal singer, he guesses. Ramlethal is trying to play mediator, but her hushed monotone voice is hard to pick up in the noise and even Ky is starting to look concerned about having two superhuman kiddos duke it out in his theater room.
“Why don’t we watch Star Wars?” Sol suggests, if only to stop the fighting. It’s not his fault that’s one of best movies he’s seen in the last two hundred years. Given he hasn’t watched a movie in forever, but still, Star Wars is a classic.
The kids look at him like he's grown a second head.
Ky, at least, is polite enough not to stare and remarks, “I heard that historians have been making efforts recently to convert older films to the magic stream.”
And then because he's the King of Illyria, he just has to make a few calls before they have the opening scroll of A New Hope projected in front of them.
Sin seems invested in the action, but Sol dreads how eagerly he stares at the blaster bolts and he just knows the pipsqueak is trying to come up with a way he can recreate them with his lightning.
Ramlethal’s face betrays nothing of her feelings, as usual, but Elphelt is almost hilariously invested in the budding romance between Luke and Leia. Sol almost doesn't want to ruin it for her by telling her they're actually siblings.
Almost.
Even Ky and Dizzy seem entertained. The movie reaches its end and the credits are met by the meager cheers and applause of their small group. It's a strange feeling. Afterall, Sol has never gotten to the end of one of these, always slipping out as soon as nobody's looking.
Ramlethal's face is still blank, but he thinks he can see the slightest of smiles when she glances over to where Sin and Elphelt are talking about the movie excitedly.
“It was good,” she says softly. Just loud enough for Sol to hear. He knows that's as much as she'll say on the matter, but she seems to have enjoyed it as well.
“Now it's ice cream time!” Sin declares, like it's the most normal thing in the world. And it must be, because Ky shakes his head with a fond smile and follows him into the kitchen. They all have their own flavors too, as he soon finds out. Elphelt likes strawberry, Ram prefers mint, and Sin is trying to break a world record for how many scoops of ice cream someone can fit in one bowl, flavors be damned.
Ky comes to stand next to him with a bowl of vanilla ice cream. Of course that's his favorite. Not even a single topping, just completely plain.
“Sorry. I would've prepared something for you but I didn't know what you liked.”
And you're usually not here, he doesn't say.
“The Old Man likes chocolate!” Sin exclaims, much to everyone's surprise, including Sol’s.
“Hell… you still remember that?”
It'd been pretty soon after Ky asked him to take care of Sin. He'd lost his temper at him for something or other, he doesn't remember now, and got the kid ice cream as an apology for making him cry. Really, it was only because of Sin’s insistence that he got something for himself.
Dizzy busies herself with something in the fridge and before Sol can insist that he doesn't want anything there's a bowlful of chocolate ice cream in front of him and a set of expectant stares on him.
Fine then, but if he's going to do this, he'll do it right.
It's only after it's covered in a caramel drizzle and an appropriate amount of sprinkles that Sol takes his first bite of the ice cream.
It tastes… nice. Good even. Chocolate has always been his favorite, but he'd die before letting Sin have the satisfaction of knowing he was right. It makes Dizzy smile though, fond and with a care that Sol doesn't know how to digest.
The rest of the night goes by in a domestic bliss, something entirely alien to Sol. But eventually even that too must end as Dizzy ushers the youngers to bed and Ky sees him out the door like a proper man of the house. They've grown up a lot, the two of them, and here Sol is, too emotionally constipated to spend a single decent night with the closest thing he has to a family.
They walk in silence up until Sol starts the ignition for the Firewheel.
“Thank you for staying,” Ky says over the roaring of the engine. “The kids enjoy when you come by, as do Dizzy and I.”
Sol lets out an exaggerated groan. “Yeah well just make sure you have enough chocolate ice cream for next time.”
Ky smirks, and with a sarcastic salute, Sol drives off into the night.