While it was almost time to head back home, Vikalos had decided that he wanted to end things on a high note and had arranged for everyone to have dinner at the large fast food restaurant at the back of the mall. The place served nothing more than chips, fizzy drinks and a large variety of burgers, all at low costs, and Vikalos certainly took advantage of both that and the 50% discount that Retvik and Litvir got to make sure that all fourteen present members of the Thantir could have a hearty meal, a drink and a friendly chat.
And by hearty, Vikalos meant it. He’d let the Decaylings order whatever they wanted, he’d insisted that Retvik and Litvir both order something even though they’d already eaten (then again, Retvik was still hungry – Vikalos knew that feeling, he and his fellow Flames were always a little hungry, since they’d burn so much energy keeping the eternal fires lit inside them.) and Vikalos had ordered for himself and Galyn some food as well. Probably a little too much food, but Vikalos didn’t care. He’d had a wonderful time.
Currently, the Decaylings were all sat at one table, Litvir and Retvik were keeping to themselves and Galyn and Vikalos sat in the corner, watching them all enjoy themselves.
“Feels like the early days…” Galyn muttered as he shoved a whole burger into his mouth and swallowed it without much chewing. Granted, in his massive Beh’en claws, the burger was tiny, but it was still a bit silly. “Back when we were on the Shimmer’s Blight, before we got an official ship for our sect.”
Vikalos snorted, then sipped his drink. It was already slightly flat, he had forgotten to order his drink without ice. “Hmph. That was a long time ago. You, me, Itaviir, we picked up Saahro as a Decayling, and the rest of us consisted of the Ventra Three, Reternity and old Krendoviing.”
“Yes. We were just setting things up, found that big, empty expanse between the old Ventra territories and were making our first navigational maps of the area. Even today, there are a lot of places we missed. But I think we did a good job with what we had.”
Galyn swallowed two more burgers. Vikalos was glad he had ordered twenty small patties each, because Galyn was clearly hungry and wasn’t even chewing. But Vikalos could tell, there was something on Galyn’s mind. Perhaps something similar to what was on Vikalos’s mind.
“I miss being a proper sect…” Vikalos muttered, biting into a burger and not enjoying the errant pickle that had fallen out. The pickles were fine in the burgers but Vikalos hated them on their own. “It was nice, having a duty, leading others, having a big family.”
Vikalos didn’t go any further. He instead went back to glancing at what remained of his sect, mostly focused on Retvik and Litvir, who had been doing their best to keep things afloat. He noticed that they were mostly just talking. But under the table, Vikalos could see that their tails were curled up together. The two of them were in love, despite all that had happened between them. And it was a fresh romance, unhindered by local politics.
Vikalos couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy. He, Galyn and Itaviir had once been young, fresh lovers. But over the many year-strings, problems had arisen, and both Galyn and Itaviir had slowly ‘gone cold’. The term was a Phantai one, referring to the fact that, unless kept happy, a Beh’evok would gradually lose their ability to feel deeper emotions over time, and would start to struggle to connect with others. Itaviir had gone cold a long time ago, but Galyn had thrown himself into Decayling work to try and stop himself from going cold. It hadn’t really worked, and Vikalos couldn’t remember the last time either of them had acted romantically towards him, while Vikalos had done his best to act warm and loving back.
“Well, I… I do want to fix that…” Galyn had slowed down somewhat, at least when it came to the burgers. “Those eight will become Decay Lords soon, I am sure of it. After that, I do not know, but we are slowly building our numbers up again. There are enough of us that we could re-establish ourselves as a separate sect.”
“I do want to be a proper sect again…” Vikalos grunted, finishing off his first drink and moving on to a second one. “Saahro messaged me the other day, when I added our Decaylings to our Wyvern server. He wants to rejoin us.”
“Huh…” Galyn trailed off. “Really?”
“I think all of us older folks miss being part of a strong sect, and Retvik and Litvir, having seen how the Phantai work, they… they want to be better than that. They want to make a name for themselves and the Thantir in general.”
“Litvir did mention how he wished to get into purification full-time!” Galyn smiled, shoving another burger into his maw, pausing to swallow it whole. “We already have Kal, Retvik has proven he is skilled enough to safely kill Corruption without harming someone and the Decaylings all have their uses too. Tahvra in particular, Kal have called ‘dibs’ on him when he becomes a Decay Lord.”
“Exactly! We could make the Thantir the first Decay Lord sect in the local pentacluster that works on purification full time. It is certainly needed around here.”
“We would need a proper base of operations though. The Thantir Two, plus Shield Six, plus the Thantir Three, they are fine for transport and for living quarters, but I want a proper ship, like the Thantir One used to be, with dedicated areas for our work.”
Galyn eyed Vikalos. “You are fine with doing full time purification work?”
“Yes. And I am sure Itaviir will be fine with it as well. While yes, you and Itaviir are both soldiers, you will always be soldiers, you still need time to recover from what happened, and if Itaviir goes back into combat, he will freeze up entirely…” Vikalos lowered his voice. “And if I am really honest, I have been talking to Retvik and Litvir, and they say that you are more submissive to them now. Not because of what you were forced to do to them, but because we are back in Phantai territory. This place messes with you both.”
Galyn didn’t respond at first. He ate a few more burgers, actually chewing them this time, before glancing over towards the Decaylings, who all seemed incredibly happy. More full of life than usual. Eventually, he edged closer to Vikalos.
“You are right. Being in Phantai territories is messing with me. I do not feel quite right. Granted, I have not been feeling right for a while, but here, I need to keep my head down and do as I am told. I have done a lot of damage recently, I need to pay for a lot of my mistakes, and I am also in a place where, had Retvik and Litvir not stood up for me, I would instead be rotting in a pit, doing forced labour for eternity. So yes, I am acting more submissive.”
“Hmph. Fair enough…”
Vikalos and Galyn both fell silent and went back to eating and watching over their fellow Thantir. However, Vikalos found himself lost in thought. Well, not really lost, more stuck in circles. He was well aware of Retvik’s new project, their secret plan to sneak around and steal data from the Voidborns, collate the information and locate the headquarters of the Crystal Doom, a powerful Voidborn cult, so they could blow it up. But Retvik had asked Vikalos to not inform Galyn or Itaviir of the plan. And Galyn had blatantly proved why he couldn’t be told. Still, Vikalos felt bad. He hated keeping big secrets from his partners. What made matters worse was that Vikalos KNEW that Galyn would absolutely love this insane plan, since it contained three of Galyn’s favourite things: data gathering, subterfuge and murder.
That being said, now that Vikalos thought about it, Galyn could still help without knowing he was helping.
“You feel bad, yes?” Vikalos abruptly asked. “You want to make up for what you did.”
Galyn’s shoulders dropped as he let out a rather defeated sigh. “Yes.”
“You should go on some patrols with the Decaylings then. I am sure they would love it if you kept them company, rather than being stuck under the annoying gaze of Measureblade.”
“Hm… That is a good idea, actually. I… have been wanting to commit righteous murder for a while now.”
Vikalos patted Galyn on the shoulder. “You should do that. As for me, I think I might go and order a few more drinks. Do you want anything?”
Galyn picked up a large cup and shook it, revealing nothing but ice clicking around. “Can you get me a drink too please, dear?”
A smile grew across Vikalos’s face. It had been a long, long time since Galyn had casually used a term of endearment like that. “Of course, my angel. Lime flavour fizzy soda, extra ice, yes?”
“Heh, as always. You know me too well, Vikalos.” Galyn smiled back. “Thank you, darling.”