“Happy Second Day, Arkay!”
Arkadin glanced up at the tall, gangly, blue and silver Rethan standing above him. He had been sitting on a bench outside a block of apartments for a couple of hours now, just sulking in the rain. The sudden interruption was a welcome one.
“Happy Macromera to you too, Tenuk…” Arkadin sighed. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m going to see Retvik and Elkay. Aren’t you doing that?”
“I wasn’t invited. I completely forgot that it was a holiday and that everyone would be doing things and I really didn’t want to interrupt…”
Tenuk smiled. “Doesn’t matter. You want to go see them?”
“Yeah, but…”
“But nothing. You can be my plus one.”
Arkadin blinked a couple of times, then got up and wriggled a couple of his fingers round. A small, black rip in space-time appeared, from which Arkadin pulled out several bottles of aged Rethan mead. The little portal snapped shut, and Tenuk led Arkadin up to the apartment on the top floor.
As the front door opened, Arkadin was surprised by the emotions on show. Everyone was very happy to see them. Everyone being three Rethans and one Skyavok, all of whom were very drunk.
“Tenuk! Arkay! You made it!” Retvik boomed from somewhere in the room. “Thought you would not show!”
“Long time no see!” Teekay waved from the kitchen, picking at some roasted poultry. “Come in! Come in! Make yourselves at home! I made way too much fucking food!”
“Will do!” Tenuk beamed, making his way over to the pile of cushions where Gath and Retvik were lying. “Arkay brought mead. Good mead!”
“Well open it up!” Retvik rolled over, holding up a large mug. For some reason, everyone apart from Teekay was drinking from a mug. “I have catching up to do, those three have been drinking since yesterday and I just realised I can drink on these meds!”
“Sounds like you guys are having a great time!” Arkadin smiled weakly, not really sure how to insert himself better into this situation. “Did you have a nice day yesterday?”
Elkay shifted his chair over, nodding for Arkay to stop standing around and park his ass on a seat. “We had a great day! Did you?”
Arkay shrugged. “Eh, I wasn’t… doing anything yesterday. No fun things, at least.”
“Work?” Gath grunted.
“Yeah. Work. You could say that…”
Gath grunted again, then drank heavily from his mug, which looked very tiny in his hands. “You should have a drink.”
“I’m not supposed to drink…” Arkadin sighed.
“Why not?” Elkay asked, reaching for a mug, pouring some mead into it and nudging it towards Arkadin. “Why can you not have a drink?”
“I’m just… not supposed to.”
“But why?”
Arkadin hesitated. “I’m… not sure.”
Elkay nudged the drink towards Arkadin a bit more. “Are your siblings allowed to drink?”
“They can do what they want.”
“So why can you not have a drink?”
“Do you want to have a drink?” Teekay added. “I mean, you might not be drinking because you don’t want to. I assume it’s because you think you can’t though.”
Arkadin shook his head. “No, it’s not like that. I want a drink. I would love to get drunk with you all…”
“I’ve already started!” Tenuk interrupted.
“He’s already started…” Elkay giggled, somewhat uncharacteristically. “Do you want a drink or not? Because we have lots of drinks and we are not going anywhere and we would love to have you around, relaxing with us!”
Finally, Arkadin relented. He took the mug that Elkay had been offering him and took a swig. “Sure. I’ll drink with you all. Happy Macromera!”