“You alright, mate?”
Tanos looked up from his communicator and his large ice cream. He’d been sitting on this bench at the Pink Paradise for about ten minutes, well aware that he’d be sitting there for a while. Luckily, Kayel was on hand to give him some company.
“Yeah, I’m alright. Kinda sad that Elkay-En has decided to stay here and live here most of the time instead of living Savepoint, but, well, I think he prefers helping Sini than he does being with his brothers. Are you alright?”
Kayel shrugged as he plonked himself down. He also had an ice cream. “Yeah, I’m fine. Making myself comfy. But yeah, I can see why Elkay-En would stay here.”
Tanos sighed. “It’s kinda sad. He feels smaller than his brothers.”
“He is getting over that though. He’s been better since he became a Decay Lord. Didn’t manage to convince him to join the snuggle parties though.”
“Yeah, but Elkay-En is kinda like me and Akah, he’s not really interested. And I think he’s not interested for the same way Akah is, not because he’s like me and young. People hurt Elkay-En bad and he can’t escape it…”
Tanos trailed off, then glanced around. He hadn’t seen Ret in a while. Oddly, Xeno Dessaron One’s little Corruption purge trip had also included Elkay-En and Kuta. Mostly because Elkay-En was moving back to the Pink Paradise, and Kuta had wanted to speak to Sini, alongside Ret.
“Is Ret with Sini?” Tanos asked.
“Dunno, I think so?” Kayel shrugged some more. “They’re kinda getting serious about having kids. That’s why Kuta tagged along. So they could get their contraceptives removed and get some advice. I suppose at least neither Kuta nor Ret have time powers or anything, so they won’t make us all want kids again.”
Tanos frowned. “Kuta has telepathy. And we all have telepathy when we borrow it off Nyssi.”
“Yeah but we mostly keep our stuff contained, and Kuta is very much aware how powerful they are…” Kayel paused then smiled. “I mean, Kuta didn’t even know you were secretly the Lord Prince until shit went down at Ret’s birthday party! Kuta respects the minds of other people enough that they utterly refused to pry your biggest secret from you and respected your wish to just be Tenuk. Also, pretty sure that Kuta and Litvir have fought each other and hurt each other a lot, telepathically, mostly when they were mortal, so Kuta knows what awful things bad telepathy can do to people.”
“That’s true. But Kuta really went hard on the Corruption purging!” Tanos smiled. “Really went for it.”
“Definitely!” Kayel swiftly agreed. “Like, we all met Kuta, they introduced themselves as a General and we kinda assumed they just bossed everyone else around, but Kuta’s strong as fuck and can hold their own. Dude was genuinely aggressive and angry…”
“It was pretty damn cool!” Tanos paused briefly. “I wonder if Kuta has ever gone Defensive Stance over Retvik?”
“Honestly? Kinda doubt it. Kuta’s special. They trained to be an assassin. Rethans are kinda deeply programmed to protect others. I think us Skyans kinda have that trait too. I was trained out of it, I’m pretty certain Kuta was also trained to bury Defensive Stance things, or whatever Rethans call it.”
“Retvik calls it “bubbles”, because he says his mind goes all bubbly and frothy and angry whenever he can feel the defensive adrenaline rising…” Tanos trailed off again, then glanced around behind him, back at the oasis proper. His eyes focused on the ship parking area, which was actually somewhat busy. After a few moments, he turned back to Kayel.
“So, uh, where’s Nyssi? Is she chatting with Fragiir again?”
“Nah. Fragiir’s asleep right now.”
“Oh. I thought they were friends or something.”
“They are, but there’s a bunch of those Thrastarii guys here right now and Nyssi is… well, she’s horny.”
Tanos eyed Kayel.
“What?” Kayel protested. “She is! And those Thrastarii are more like someone like Timik than someone like Thassalin or Saahro or Fragiir are, so she’s trying her luck! Nyssi has needs and those needs aren’t being fulfilled…” Kayel paused, fell silent, then shook his head. But it was already a little too late. Both he and Tanos had both accidentally borrowed Nyssi’s telepathy and made themselves nauseous.
“That is a very fucked up thought…” Tanos muttered.
“I know. I’m sorry. Brain’s not been right since Vekeus headed off. He said he’d be back… but… well, Nyssi isn’t the only one who’s not getting her needs met. But you know we’d never force you to do anything… Wait, are you even old enough yet?”
“Um…” Tanos went quiet. “I… I don’t know. Maybe… maybe next year? But like, Nyssi’s struggling, you’re struggling, what the hell would I even do?”
“Nothing saying you have to sleep with another Spast. Nyssi’s trying to sleep with a not-Temthan. I slept with Vekeus and he’s half Voidborn. And don’t get me started on Teekay and Elkay being married.”
Tanos tutted. “That’s different. You’re all kinda… close enough. The only other fluffy people around here are lesbians… And I am kinda including Vikalos in that.”
Kayel blinked, then snorted. “That is true, Vikalos is definitely gay as heck. But I’m pretty sure we could find someone, if you were really desperate. We all have options, some of us kinda just have to work harder than others… Speaking of which…”
Heavy stomps interrupted the conversation. Ret grunted as he sat down next to Tanos and Kayel.
“You alright, big guy?” Kayel asked. “You seem off.”
“I am not alright at all. But I do not want to talk right now.”
Kayel and Tanos both glanced at each other, then shifted closer to Ret. Kayel put an arm around Ret and Tanos turned himself into a cat to cheer Ret up.
“It’s okay, best buddy!” Tanos smiled. “We all have problems. And we’ll be here for you when you want to talk, alright?”
“I appreciate that…” Ret smiled a little as well. “Thank you.”
“No worries, Ret. We’re all in this together.”