“You picked a bad time to visit, little Cassid…” Gath grunted as the door slammed shut behind him. “Probably the worst time.”
Baxavius Thynanium shuffled awkwardly, placing a large gift box on the kitchen counter. He wasn’t sure why Gath bothered to close the door when there was a massive hole in the wall right next to it. “I know, but I feel I need to apologise.”
Gath ignored Baxavius’s statement and proceeded to ask if he wanted a drink. “We have water, milk, some sort of fruit juice and a weak mead.”
“Water is fine…” Baxavius hesitated. He wanted to sit down, but Gath’s home was rather Cassid-unfriendly. He peered into the living room, which was boarded off with various pieces of furniture.
“Sure?”
“Yes.”
Gath tutted and poured a glass of water for Baxavius, then helped himself to one of the bottles of mead before sitting down at the dining table.
“As I was saying…” Baxavius got back on track. “I feel I should apologise.”
“Oh fuck off!” Gath immediately snapped. “Why the fuck are you apologising for the piss your government has done?” The mighty Rethan paused, then sighed. “I apologise, Baxavius. You do not deserve my scorn and anger. I am rather stressed currently.”
Baxavius nodded understandably. “Hence why I have bought you a gift…” The Cassid lifted the box off the kitchen counter and handed it to Gath, breaking the clear tape seal with one of his claws. “Here. Have a look.”
Gath peered inside. “It is… a Cassid egg incubator? You do realise Rethan eggs need to be kept far cooler than Cassid eggs, yes?”
“Uh, not really. But you don’t need the heating system!” Baxavius tried to explain. “It’s a clear plastiglass case, I got it for you for security reasons. It has a surveillance system built into it that you can hook up to your smart phone or, in your case, an electronic tablet, so you can monitor your egg as it develops, as well as monitoring various things like heartbeats and pulses and temperature and anything like that!”
Gath blinked in confusion. “Really?”
“Yes!” Baxavius paused to take a sip of his drink. “You could go out and feel secure.”
“How do you know about this?”
The Cassid shrugged. “Well, apart from the fact that what happened here is all over the news, local and international and interracial, and the fact that everyone’s favourite Happy Cold is a really chatty child in the locker rooms, well… we are friends in a way, yes?”
Gath stared at the gift. He felt awful. He had basically forgotten that Baxavius existed. “… Sorry…”
“Sorry for what?”
“For not being a friend…” Gath sighed.
“Well you’ve been really busy. And your life has been, well, super super shit.”
“Was that gift expensive?” Gath couldn’t help but ask. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was still on the defence, what with every other Cassid he’d seen lately being angry at him.
“Uh, kinda. But I wouldn’t have bought it if I didn’t have the money. I have a lot now that I am a House Fighter. Even if being a House Fighter is kinda dull. You deserve some repayment after the injustice that has fallen upon you and General Retvik.”
Gath shrugged. “I am more worried about you. You are a good Cassid, I feel that many will see you as a big, bad, scary thing. A monster like other-” Gath stopped mid-sentence. Something lit up in his eyes. “I feel rather bad suggesting this, but perhaps you could put this new unpopularity to your advantage?”
“How so?” Baxavius asked.
“A new arena fight. Six challengers must survive, unarmed against one House Fighter. A stalker sort of thing. Like in your strange horror films.”
“You mean like Predator or Freodheric Chrouergerus or Iason?”
Gath smiled. “Exactly like those…”
Baxavius thought to himself, then grinned. “I like that. That would be… fun.”