Letharus yawned, then grinned as he stretched himself out and put an arm around Vick.
“Hey, darling…” Vick whispered as he snuggled up closer. “Did you sleep well?”
“I slept like a well-fed puppy. Is it time to get up?”
“Mhm!” Vick smiled.
“But I want to snuggle more.”
Vick shrugged. “I know, but we can snuggle more later. I have a pub to run.”
“Fair enough.”
Both Vick and Letharus climbed out of bed, stretched some more, then made themselves look decent. Vick playfully slapped Letharus’s tail before heading into the next room, which was the kitchen. Past that was the bar, but Vick didn’t need to do much to open up. The dishes were already clean, the snacks had defrosted and were all ready to be microwaved. The kegs of alcohol were three-quarters full so he didn’t need any more. The only thing he was low on was iceberry vodka, but, admittedly, Vick and Letharus had drunk a lot of that the previous night.
“What do you need me to do?” Letharus asked as he joined Vick in the main bar.
“If you can just put all the stools down, that’d be great. But we were good last night and cleaned up after ourselves, so I don’t have much to do.”
Letharus went back to smiling. He used his telepathy to put all the chairs and stools in the right place. “Anything else?”
“That’s it, I think. Honestly, having you around has been absolutely amazing!” Vick beamed. “I missed having constant company.”
Letharus paused, having caught a stray thought. “Did you… have another partner before this?”
Vick’s smile faded. “Yeah, a guy called Tim. He was the Stave part of the Shield and Stave pub. We were more like best friends though. I’d die for the guy. But one day, I woke up from bed and he just… vanished. All his stuff was gone. His ship was gone. No note, nothing.”
“Oh… I am sorry…”
“It’s fine. You weren’t to know. But I’m happy that you decided to hang around. You’re a really nice guy.”
“I appreciate that, and I enjoy your company too.”
Vick went back to smiling, then headed to the entrance and flipped over the sign to say that they were open. As Vick glanced out of the window though, he already spotted a familiar sight. Three folks and a little golden sprite, all casually chatting outside. Clearly they were waiting for the bar to open. So Vick decided to open the door and call them in.
“Good day, how are you all?” Vick asked as the three beings made their way over.
“We’re good, thank you!” Vekeus exclaimed. “We arrived a bit early though. The field of corruption we just cleaned up didn’t take as long as I expected.”
Vick moved back inside, letting the Voidborns in. As always, they took the seats in the corner. And the little gold sprite danced around them.
“So, same as always? And do you want a glass of water for the, uh, tiny guy?”
“Yes, please!” Kesistatir was in particularly high spirits. However, rather awkwardly, Theocydes was somewhat frozen, as he spotted someone in the kitchen. Vekeus nudged Theocydes into a chair, then muttered to not be rude. “Decay Lord Vick, I see you have hired new staff!”
Vick turned around, realizing that Letharus was hiding away somewhat. “Uh, is something wrong?”
Theocydes sighed, then decided to be honest. “Your new little friend used to… work for me.”
Vick glared at Theocydes, putting his hands on his hips. Despite being rather short, Vick seemed far too menacing all of a sudden. “You mean he was your slave?”
“Um… yes… He, uh, freed himself and became a Decay Lord. I didn’t know he was… here though.”
With a snarl, Vick pointed at the door. “Out. Now.”
“Fair enough. I guess I’ll see you all later.” Theocydes shrugged, then got up and headed to the door, disappearing outside. After a few moments, the engine of a ship sparked into life and quickly faded away. Once Theocydes was properly gone, Letharus inched his way out of the kitchen, grabbed the drinks that the Voidborns had requested, then returned to the bar.
Vekeus immediately apologized. “Sorry, Vick. Didn’t know that Theocydes had bad history with your new friend.”
Vick calmed down. “It’s fine. You weren’t to know. You alright there, Letharus?”
Letharus nodded. “I did not expect to run into the monster that enslaved me around here… I do not forgive him either.”
“Perfectly understandable!” Neither Kesistatir nor Vekeus seemed too bothered. Vekeus snapped open his drink and took a sip. “There are crimes that are unforgivable. Being a formerly culted Voidborn myself, a former Golden Protector, a lot of us were crazy, fucked up bastards who did a lot of bad things.”
Vick headed over to Letharus and put an arm around him. “Letharus, this is Vekeus, a Voidborn who keeps the area clear of Corruption, and the colossal black thing is Kesistatir, who now helps Vekeus.”
“And… what is the sprite?”
Kesistatir gently patted the sprite. “This is Staton. He is a pure baby Voidborn.”
“Huh…” Letharus bowed slightly. “Hello, I guess. I am Letharus, a somewhat fresh Decay Lord, codename Dreameater.”
“Oh, you are what most Decay Lords call a Psion?” Kesistatir asked. “That is very interesting.”
Vekeus was about to nod in agreement but briefly paused. “Um… hang on… is every-”
“Seeopisteps…” Kesistatir muttered. “Afinevse tan anthreopesa, dene chriastastise.”
“Yiatese?” Vekeus asked back.
“Ponevese. Dene thelise vapos xeriese.”
“Dikaioma exeseis.”
Vick and Letharus glanced at Kesistatir and Vekeus, who had both suddenly started speaking the language of the Voidborns. Vick was completely confused, but Letharus had an idea what the two Voidborns were saying, what with him having been a Voidborn slave in the past.
“Xeriese tona Letharus…” Vekeus tutted.
Kesistatir turned back to Letharus. “Dene eisine etioimazese.”
Letharus frowned briefly.
“You know what they are saying?” Vick asked.
“I have an idea…” Letharus hesitated. “They were saying how Theocydes was a bastard.”
“Oh. Alright…” Vick grunted. “Anyway, Vekeus, you’re fine, you didn’t know, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t bring Theocydes here any more. Unless Letharus allows you to.”
“No worries,” Vekeus perked up somewhat. “Not a problem. It’d be unfair for us to stress out your new friend.”
“We appreciate that, thank you!” Vick perked up a bit, but paused as he realized he had more customers. A couple of Time Drake regulars had turned up. “Enjoy your drinks. Letharus, can you get a glass of water for the little spark guy? I’ll deal with the customers.”
Letharus smiled. “Of course, dear…”