Ret was currently rather concerned. There were thoughts on his mind and a reminder on his wrist band, telling him there were things he needed to do. But currently, Ret was on guard duty because Arkay, Vikalos and the little red robot (Ret thought their name was Tah, but he wasn’t sure, and he certainly couldn’t remember their full name) had al gone out to do some sort of shopping trip, and Ret was technically doing Arkay’s job, patrolling the area.
Thankfully, so far, it had been a quiet shift. And normally, Ret had no problem being a guard. It was a job involving protecting things, and, as far as Ret was concerned, he was very, very good at protecting things. However, this change in shifts was a little awkward because Ret had plans and he couldn’t work on those plans if he was busy being a guard.
Eventually though (after about five hours), Ret was told he could stand down. Sure, Arkay and Vikalos weren’t back, but old weird Tenuk had shapeshifted himseld into something big and scary and had arrived to take Ret’s place.
Ret didn’t need telling twice. He bowed to Tenuk, then headed immediately back to his sleeping quarters to grab a few bits and pieces that Ret really needed.
Once he had found what he was looking for, Ret rushed outside, then looked around. He was pretty sure Kuta didn’t have work right now, but, weirdly, he couldn’t see Kuta. Maybe Kuta was busy or something.
This is throw a spanner into the works of Ret’s plan, but he decided to just go down to the beach and work on his plan anyway. Kuta was probably just busy with work, same way Ret was up until about five minutes ago. A lot fo Kuta’s work was based around helping Eksi (and occasionally their sibling Litvir) in keeping patients telepathically sedated and helping them in overcoming the pain and trauma of nearly being eaten by black goo. And sometimes, that required a lot of work, especially with Life Goddesses, Time Drakes and Voidborns, all of whom had visited Savepoint in need of help.
Not really knowing where Kuta was made Ret a little uneasy. However, as he walked along the beach around the lake of Savepoint (which was regularly frozen then boiled then frozen again to keep it clean), Ret noticed something strange. A large lump, where sand had clearly been dug up. Of course, Ret went over to have a look.
Slowly, Ret approached the lump. On closer inspection, it wasn’t a lump at all. Someone had dug out some sort of pit and filled it with water. The wall of sand around it acted as a privacy barrier, and, to one side of the pit were two stools underwater, and a table that stuck out above the water. On it were two bottles of mead and a plate of sandwiches. Small, fancy sandwiches with fancy bread, with an egg, cress and mayonnaise filling. Admittedly, most Rethans (new-universe Rethans mostly) found small sandwiches somewhat fancy in general, because they had large, clumsy claws, and most meals were made in bulk, designed to fit in large bowls or plates and eaten with a spoon.
Just as Ret was about to inspect things further, he felt hands on his shoulders. Kuta had popped up behind Ret and immediately hugged him tightly.
“Retvik!” Kuta beamed. “How are you?”
“Surprised, actually!” Retvik grinned back as he turned around and hugged Kuta properly. “Did you make all of this?”
“I did, yes!”
“Must have taken you a while.”
Kuta shrugged. “I have telekinesis. It was not that hard. But I think we both know why I have made this miniature pool and added the fancy food.”
“Is it because-”
“Because of you, yes. Do you mind if we undress and step into my miniature pool?”
“I do not mind.”
Kuta went back to smiling. They helped Ret doff his armour and remove his fabric wraps, then doffed their own armour and clothes. Kuta then took Ret by the hand and led him into the water. Weirdly, the water was warmer than Ret expected.
“So…” Ret muttered.
“Yes…” Kuta also muttered.
Both of them were somewhat flummoxed. They both knew what was going on but didn’t know how to put things. Eventually, Kuta opened the two bottles of mead, then helped themselves to a sandwich. They swiftly ate it, then starting talking.
“It has been a year. A whole year.”
“It has, yes.”
“A year of us being together. Of us being poten-partners.”
“An entire year.”
Ret took a deep breath. So did Kuta. Ret helped himself to a sandwich, then reached over to his stomach wrap and fished something out from one of the pockets. Kuta quickly swallowed a second sandwich, then reached for a small box attached to the underneath of the table. As they turned back to each other, Ret and Kuta realised they were both on the same wavelength, but they had different ideas on how to go ahead.
“You… you got daggers?” Ret stuttered. “I… I did not know where to get daggers from and, uh, made something else…”
“Huh…” Kuta blinked, then smiled. “You made rings!”
“Yes. I wanted something traditional though.”
Kuta shrugged and scooted closer to Ret. “Honestly? Daggers can be cumbersome. I admittedly did not manage to make sheaths for my… proposal daggers.”
“You…” Ret gasped. “You were… going to propose too?”
“Um, yes. Because we have been together for a year, and that year, once you remove all the random nonsense we went through, has been the best year of my life.” Kuta placed their daggers on the table, then held both of Ret’s hands. “Retvik, my darling, I love you more than anything. You complete me. You are the best Rethan in the multiverse. And I want… no, I NEED to spend the rest of my life by your side. You are perfection. You are MY perfection.”
Ret smiled, then wiped tears from his eyes. “Kuta, you… you are also perfect. We are perfect together. I also need to spend the rest of my life with you. Together and forever.”
“We will be together. Forever.”
With a smile, Ret took one of the metal bands he had made, then gently slipped it on Kuta’s left index finger. He then handed the second ring to Kuta, and Kuta put it on Ret’s left index finger as well. After that, Kuta took both the daggers they had made and presented one of them, wrapped up with a red ribbon handle, to Ret. They both then hugged each other as tightly as possible, tears of joy streaming from them both.
“Kuta, you and I, we are the best people ever. We will always be together. Through the mud and the sand.”
“Through the eternal darkness and the void-lit skies, Retvik, you and I, we will always be together. I promise.”
“I promise too.”
Ret and Kuta continued hugging each other, then sat together, arms still entwined, and glanced up at the skies.
“I love you, Retvik. More than anything.”
“I love you too, Kuta. More than anything.”
Kuta snickered, then hugged Ret again. The pair of them snuggled up in the warm pool, once again turning their attention to the skies. Pretty pink cloud floated by, one of which was in the vague shape of a heart. Both Kuta and Ret smiled, believing the cloud was a good sign. A sign of fate.
For a blissful moment, everything was perfect. And Ret and Kuta couldn’t have been happier.
“We deserve our happiness.”
“We do. Nothing can take this from us. Nothing…”