“I’m exhausted and hungry…”
“Not surprising…”
Retvik, Litvir and Arkay all stumbled out of the small office, clutching various sheets of paper. While most of the perks of slowly learning to be Decay Lords had been pretty enjoyable, there were definitely some slow parts. Like the exam the three of them had just taken.
Exams weren’t that uncommon for Decaylings, but this one had been particularly hard. It had been a test on the manipulation of time and how to move around in various aspects of folded, unfolded and unbound time. Even Arkadin, who was already somewhat experienced in time aspects, had struggled a bit.
“Well, I am pretty certain I failed that test,” Litvir shrugged. “But at least I am more aware of what I need to study for next time. That really was a brain-melting couple of hours though.”
“We were in there for a couple of hours?” Retvik blinked. “Felt like an eternity. And somehow I did not have time to answer the final question.”
“I don’t think we were supposed to…” Arkadin muttered, thinking back to that dreaded question. “I think it was literally unanswerable in a finite amount of time… At the very least, you’d need a time loop to even get close to an answer.”
“And what about the super task questions?” Litvir suddenly exclaimed. “How DO you answer those?”
Retvik and Arkadin both shrugged, not sure themselves. The test had drained them mentally, but also physically. Because, for some reason, they had been forced to wear full Decayling armour, rather than their normal garments.
“Oh well…” Arkadin yawned. “We should get out of here and unwind for a bit or something.”
Arkadin made his way down the main corridor, clearly heading to the kitchen. Retvik found himself staring at the little Decayling as he wandered off, only to be snapped back to reality by a playful Litvir.
“You are staring romantically.”
“I guess I am…” Retvik grunted, lowering his voice a little. “I cannot help it. Arkadin does not realise just how attractive he is in a full set of proper, form-fitting armour. Yet he normally wanders around in just basic plating and clothing. The baggy attire that obscures his shape.”
Litvir smiled, somewhat sympathetically. “Well, no wonder. When he’s properly dressed, he looks like a proud, beautiful adult. When he wears that… casual stuff, he looks far less mature. There is more to attraction than looks though, you become more attracted to Arkadin when he is more mature in general, and not when he is acting like an abandoned kid. Because that is basically what he is.”
“I think abandoned is the wrong term. He never had the space to be himself. Now he can…”
“True, true. I suppose you would know better than me, since you actually spent time with him before… well, the universe exploded.”
Retvik nodded solemnly. “When he was stuck with his family, Arkadin… carried a lot of extra weight. Now, I believe he is free of that.”
“He can still be very grumpy though.”
“Yes… But he is… getting better, I guess…”
Suddenly, a voice echoed down the hallway. Arkadin’s head could be seen peering around a corner.
“Are you two coming? I’m making sandwiches!”
Litvir glanced at Retvik and grinned, before making his way over. “Yes, of course! I am starving!”