Kuta did not at all expect the cheers that erupted from this very nice four bedroom Rethan home as the front door opened.
“ARKAY!”
“GUYS!”
Arkay almost exploded with joy, opening his arms as Retvik, Nyssi, Kayel and Tenuk all hugged him at once. Really, the four of them completely swamped the Death God, who was currently using one of his in-between forms. Once everyone had settled down, Arkay then stood up straight and dragged Kuta forward.
“Guys, this is Kuta, my girlfriend. Kuta, I mean, you’ve already met Retvik, Kayel and Tenuk, but this is Nyssi.”
Nyssi waved, blinked, then grinned.
“Dude! You got fangs!” Nyssi exclaimed. She suddenly opened her mouth wide, showing off her own pair of cute, rounded fangs. After an awkward couple of seconds, she closed her mouth again then put her hand out. “Nice to meet ya! Your fangs are awesome.”
Kuta smiled back politely and shook Nyssi’s hand. “Nice to meet you too. I, uh, appreciate the compliment about my fangs. That is… rather rare.”
“You don’t get compliments… Oh wait, sorry, forgot that Rethans aren’t supposed to have fangs. Still, they’re neat!”
“Thank you.”
Before Kuta could ask why Nyssi showed them her fangs, Kayel quickly started pulling everyone into the house proper. It turned out, Retvik’s home was both exactly how and exactly not how Kuta expected it to be. Yes, one of the walls was completely covered in weapons, but the main living area was incredibly cosy. And Kuta hadn’t realized that Kayel, Tenuk and Nyssi essentially lived with Retvik now.
The middle of the room was already set up, with three sofas and a coffee table in the middle, already overflowing with drinks and snacks. Tenuk took over seating, sitting Kuta and Kayel on one sofa, Arkay and Nyssi in the middle but in a way that Arkay and Kuta were still technically next to each other, then Retvik and himself on the last sofa. Drinks had already been arranged, Nyssi had made a custom drink for everyone.
“So, how have you guys been?” Arkay asked, sipping the weird cocktail in front of him. It was lemonade but it was way too yellow. Still, it was tasty. “How was Kolasi? I kinda just realized I was supposed to check on you weekly but it’s been ages.”
Retvik snorted somewhat. “We have all been busy. Kolasi was nice though. The hotel stuff at least. The camping and the hunting of large beasts not so much. You though, you have been doing all sorts. You have a poten-partner now.”
Nyssi slapped Retvik across the knee, then regretted doing so because, although he was wearing the most casual of clothing and she had avoided Retvik’s armour, Retvik’s skin was still rather thick and tough. “Retty dear, poten-partner is a stupid term.”
“Oh totally! Kuta, are you Arkay’s boyfriend or girlfriend?” Tenuk joked.
“I prefer the term poten-partner, but I suppose both are applicable?” Kuta shrugged.
Tenuk paused. “Oh piss. I forgot you’re like, an actual Rethan. Do I have to call you ‘they’ or something?”
Retvik glanced at Tenuk, clearly but silently asking him what he meant by that. Tenuk responded by turning into a bright blue cat, but he still remained talking.
“Sorry, but I ain’t really met other Rethans up close apart from Retvik and, let’s be fair, Retvik isn’t normal in the slightest.”
Kuta struggled to answer at first. They were too distracted by the fact that Tenuk had just effortlessly changed into something so cute and fluffy.
“Uh… No, no, I do not mind if you use gendered terms. If you are to… uh…” Kuta trailed off, then turned to Arkay. “Can you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Turn into a fluffy kitty?”
Arkay glanced at Tenuk, smiled, then sat back slightly and tugged at the skin on his hand. In a single swift action, Arkay’s skin seemed to come away and turn to ash, and in his place was a large, black, fluffy cat.
“Like this?”
Kuta hesitantly reached over to pat Arkay on the head. As they did so, they picked up a stray telepathic thought, that Retvik was desperately trying to fight the urge to pet Tenuk. Kuta petted Arkay a few times then stopped, allowing Arkay to turn himself back to normal. Tenuk glanced at the two Rethans then turned himself into his normal Spast form as well.
“Huh!” Nyssi exclaimed, immediately cutting through the brief awkward silence. “So the Rethavok’s biggest weakness is cats? Tenuk and Arkay both instantly triggered a much more docile version of your otherwise really dangerous Defensive State.”
“Are you a zoologist, Nyssi?” Kuta asked.
“I am, yep! Used to be a beast hunter on the Torn Islet, providing exotic beasts to the Great Arenas!”
“That sounds like a very interesting, yet dangerous job.”
Nyssi smiled, then did that thing where she showed off her fangs again. Kuta hesitated, then did the same, which only made Nyssi smile more.
“Mate, your fangs are so cool.”
“Nyssi?” Tenuk butted in. “You’re being kinda weird.”
Kuta grinned. “I very much appreciate SOMEONE not judging my fangs for once.”
“Oh, so everyone judges you too?” Retvik leaned forward.
“All the time.”
“I understand how that feels.”
“I…” Kuta hesitated yet again. “I was going to say that you are… uh…”
“You can say that Retvik is attractive, Kuta!” Arkay smirked.
“You would-”
“Of course not. I…” Arkay abruptly stopped, then rolled his eyes. “I’m really sorry guys, Sini is calling me, I have to answer her.”
With a sigh, Arkay got up, created a shadow and walked through it. He clearly didn’t go far, because Kayel and Kuta spotted his yellow plating outside. However, no one apart from Kuta seemed that bothered.
“You are all used to him being pushed around by his siblings.”
Tenuk nodded. “Totally. He’s doing better but sometimes they do totally get to him. It’s gotta be important if it’s Sini calling though, he normally makes the other two wait.”
“Huh…” Kuta sighed, then allowed themselves to relax a little. After all, they were in good and interesting company.
“Anyway, enough about the damn Death God, we wanna know about you!” Nyssi beamed.
“Understandable. I will answer your first question though, since you all probably want to know, no I am not a real Phantasma the same way Kayel is.”
“Yeah but you have telepathy though…” Kayel muttered. “That’s way worse.”
“I, uh, yes, I do, but I try very hard to keep it to myself. I…” Kuta very, very quickly glanced into Kayel’s mind but quickly withdrew. There were secrets and trauma there Kuta did not want to see. “Unfortunately, because the only other natural telepaths in this universe are either deities or Vohra, my telepathic control is completely self-taught, so I apologise if I occasionally accidentally slip up.”
“Is that why you’re, like, the boss of Rethan secret intelligence agencies then?” Tenuk asked.
“One of the reasons.”
Nyssi blinked. “So, like, you’re, like, the Temthan Investigation Bureau then?”
“I am the General of the 11th Legion, of Hidden Internal Affairs. It is a similar job, yes. Admittedly a much simpler job though because us Rethavok are admittedly simpler beings who are bad at things like committing crimes against other Rethans.”
“See, that’s why we don’t call you guys a predator race. Sure, you’re carnivores, but predators have a self-above-all-else trait as well and you Rethans completely lack that.”
“There are selfish Rethans though?” Retvik butted in. “The previous High General was-”
“-was a cunt, totally!” Nyssi agreed. “But that only applies to your higher caste or whatever you call it, the slight smarter, more armoured types like you and…” Nyssi paused and quickly inspected Kuta. “Like you and Kuta here, and even then, we’re talking about a 1% of a 1%. By the way, Kuta, your shoulder strips are really, really sharp and you got the fitting pale eyes! I don’t know if Rethans can get it, but do you have Vrykolaxia?”
Kuta didn’t mean to angrily sigh, but they could not help it. “No. I certainly do not! I once spent a year in quarantine because that was what medics thought I had. They were even going to call it ‘Tieridos Disease’ until it turned out I was just a freak. Yes, this was at the peak of that first initial breakout but it was horrible.”
“Oh, so you’re kinda old then?” Nyssi was filled with questions. “You must be pretty old, the Vrykolak panics were before all of our time.”
“I hit triple digits a couple of months ago.”
“Really?” Retvik exclaimed. “You do not look older than 40!”
Kuta edged back slightly. “I am not used to these positive comments about my body. Especially from another Rethan.”
Retvik tilted his head to one side. “You are not unattractive. Sure, the black, scary, Below Twenty armour makes you look scarier than you are, and yes, you do have fangs, but your pure white plating is pretty, and I always disliked how other Rethans judged based on eye colour. If you wore some nice, silver armour with a blue trim to match your eyes, and maybe a thinner, silk cape in white, it would help soften your look and allow you to show off your better features.”
Kayel poked Kuta in the side. “Sounds weird, but Retvik is weirdly good when it comes to fashion tricks. You should try it.”
“Maybe I will, when my insurance money comes in. I need to purchase new clothes anyway…” Kuta helped themselves to some snacks, specifically some bacon-flavoured crisps. “You are all very kind and friendly towards me. I appreciate that. I am not exactly an approachable being.”
“You seem fine to me…” Kayel muttered. “The telepathy bothers me for reasons I can’t legally say, but you’re just another weird Rethan that Arkay really, really likes… Wait, are you, like immortal the way we are or something? Because you and Arkay both kinda freaked when we first met you.”
“Also Rethans get weird with telepathy, Retvik barely tolerates the stuff we use for arena battles, so it’s weird that you got it too!” Tenuk added. “You like, an exo-universal alien or something?”
“You got any siblings? Are they as weird as you are?” Nyssi also added.
Kuta took a deep, uneasy breath, grabbed another handful of crisps and ate those, then took a second deep breath. “It is… very complicated.”
“We got time. And you can baby it down for us.”
“I barely understand it all myself.”
“Mhm…” Kayel smiled weakly, enjoying the fact that he was making Kuta uncomfortable. “I’m sure you know enough to explain why you are 100 years old but look like you’re 40.”
Kuta glanced down at Kayel. “I take back what I said. Retvik, Nyssi, Tenuk, you are all fine. Kayel, you concern me.”
“Oh, you concern me too, mister Vampiric Telepathic Shadowjumper Rethan. How are you immortal? I bet it’s not the same way Phovos is immortal.”
Kuta gave in. “I will tell you on the condition that you keep this confidential.”
Everyone else shrugged.
“Of course, Kuta.”
“As far as I can tell, I am some sort of former minor god-like entity, a Decayling, that got trapped in this universe. While I was somewhat stripped of any real divinity, I have retained the immortality and a handful of abilities. Something happened in Dekem last year and I just… woke up, living my life as Kuta Tieridos but also having a handful of memories from being somewhere else, somewhere where I knew Arkay.”
Kuta fell silent, waiting for some sort of response, but no one seemed to have one at first.
“So… a Decayling… as in a Decay Lord?” Retvik eventually asked.
“I never became a Decay Lord, no.”
“But you know what they are.”
“And you do too?”
Retvik nodded. “Arkay mentioned that he has two friends that live outside this universe that he is very close with. They were his companions before he helped make this universe.”
“You, uh…” Kuta lowered their voice and leaned forward. “You know of Litvir and Retvik?”
“Yep!” Nyssi beamed. “Arkay’s buddies! Do you know them!”
“I… uh…” Yet again, Kuta was stuttering. “Litvir is my sibling.”
Again, everyone fell silent.
“Well, no fucking wonder Arkay likes you then…” Kayel shrugged as he reached for his drink and took a sip. “You seem decent enough though. Definitely seem like a freak but we all just worked out why.”
“You’re being pretty judge-y, Kayel!” Tenuk tutted. “Kuta here is fine! He… uh… they have answered all our questions, they haven’t judged Retvik at all like all other Rethans seem to, they don’t seem bothered by our collective weirdness and they just, well, seem fine!”
Retvik and Nyssi both nodded in agreement.
“Kayel, is this because Kuta has-”
“It’s because they’re a telepath…” Kayel didn’t let Retvik finish. “I have… I had a run-in with a, uh… rogue Vohra before. I have absolutely no problem with the high level tactical telepathy we’ve used, but the dark, low level stuff Kuta has, puts me on edge.”
“I know it will not soften any past trauma, but I try very hard to keep my telepathy to myself and keep its usage to a bare minimum. In my studies, I am well aware how it can affect some beings and I understand and apologize for making you feel uncomfortable,” Kuta offered their own words. “In fact, I can offer support if you require it, as I have been on the receiving end of ill-intended telepathy myself.”
Kayel finished his drink, then sighed loudly. “Ugh. Fuck. You’re actually a decent guy. But no, I don’t want to talk about this any more. I just want to move on and eat snacks.”
“Understandable. I am no longer enjoying this barrage of questions and personal reveals either…” Kuta picked up what they assumed to be some sort of chocolate bar. “I understand though. You four are, weirdly, oddly protective of Arkay, the same way he is with you…” Kuta paused, then glanced up.
“I am so fucking sorry!” Arkay grumbled as he returned, weirdly holding six takeaway boxes. He checked each box then handed them out to everyone, alongside some plastic cutlery. “Sini is pissed off at me and just verbally tore me a new one. Apparently you four killed a bunch of corrupted entities and you kinda didn’t tell me. Anyway, fuck all we can do about it right now, plus I ordered waffles for everyone as an apology. You all getting on alright?”
“Heh,” Kayel perked up a little. “Yeah, Kuta’s not a bad guy. Could have done a lot worse…”