Letharus was a little tired.
Throughout his journey, Letharus had stopped at the occasional pit stop, in order to stretch his legs and eat nice food. But most of the areas he had visited so far were Decay Lord-run territories. Lethaus was following safer void lanes, avoiding any territories connected to Voidborns or Corruption. In fact, in one pentacluster, he’d been briefly stopped by a group of roaming Time Drakes. Letharus was somewhat terrified by that, but it turned out that the Time Drakes had peered ahead and Letharus had taken a wrong turn, so they gave him some better directions.
Right now though, Letharus was about to go through a sector that didn’t have any major ruling group. That made Letharus slightly concerned, but at the same time, the only alternate routes to his intended destination were ruled by Life Goddesses, or full of Corruption. So Letharus did try to push on.
Weirdly though, while this sector didn’t really belong to anyone, it did at least have service stations and the occasional Life Oasis. However, Letharus was drawn to a specific pit stop and pub, one with a nice wooden look to it. Sure, Letharus was nearly close to his intended destination, but right now, a good, cold glass of cola, or perhaps a bright, fruity cocktail, or, well, any fancy drink, that was all very alluring to Letharus. He’d been mostly drinking recycled water, occasionally flavoured with fruit juice, for most of the trip.
Yes, Letharus had passed a couple of other pit stops, run by Decay Lords, but this one looked… comfortable. Cosy. A good place for Letharus to spend a few hours at, peacefully and on his own, while also not being on his ship.
Somewhat thankfully, this bar seemed to have an automatic landing system. Which was great because Letharus had nearly fallen asleep a few times. The Third Chance landed quite gently in the weirdly small ship parking area, and, surprisingly, there didn’t seem to be anyone around, and only one tiny little ship was parked, around the back and somewhat out of view. The bar was open, they had a neon sigh saying they were open, but the place was nearly empty.
Once the ship was parked, Letharus locked up, then decided to head inside. the actual building was made out of different colours of wood, and the windows were made of stained glass, decorated with a repeating pattern of a stave and a shield. That made some sense, since this place was called the Shield and Stave pub.
The entrance to the pub was just a basic (but large) wooden door, again with a little glass window in it. This window was frosted though, not stained. The door was also ever slightly ajar, signalling that yes, the place was open and the neon sign was correct.
Letharus decided to just let himself in, but as he nudged the door open, a small bell rang, notifying whoever was inside that they had a visitor.
With a yawn, Letharus headed inside properly. There didn’t seem to be anyone around, but he could both hear and telepathically sense someone in the kitchen, probably washing dishes. What surprised Letharus though was, outside the booths that lined two of the four walls, most of the chairs were in fact heavily cushioned stools with round tables. It all felt weirdly familiar.
Having heard the bell, someone appeared in a doorway that led to a kitchen and storage room.
“Hello! How… how are… how are you?” the barkeeper stuttered.
Letharus found himself stuttering too. “Um… uh… hello…”
Something about the barkeeper seemed both… right and wrong at the same time.
“Uh… well… stranger, um, what do you want to drink?”
Letharus shook his head to clear his thoughts, then made his way to the main bar. “I, uh, um… can I… just get a cola for now? Diet, please?”
The barkeeper shrugged, then immediately got Letharus’s order, fetching a cold glass bottle and placed it and a straw in front of Letharus. He then pulled up a barstool and sat down in front of Letharus.
“So, excuse me for my bluntness, but… you seem very nice. What’s your name, stranger?”
Letharus didn’t answer at first. He needed a moment to switch off his psionic powers. He didn’t want them getting in the way of talking with this being.
“I am Letharus, codename Dreameater.”
The being smiled. “Nice to meet you! My name’s Vick, codename Shieldbearer. So what’s a pretty armoured being doing around here? I’d assume you were a Beh’evok, but your star-shaped plating and fancy white cape suggests you’re not local.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you too, Vick. Technically, I was.. somewhat a local, as in I originally lived in this eniapent. But I worked at Deathven Sector Ypsilon for a bit and decided I needed a holiday and a change of pace…” Letharus trailed off, then inspected Vick further. “You are not a Beh’en either.”
Vick smiled. “No, I’m definitely not. Had a few folks calling me one. As far as I’m aware, I am a “Standard-type Retha”, but I don’t know what that means, since I don’t remember anything from my universe.”
“Ah…” Letharus shrugged. “I do not remember much from my universe either, but I know that I was called an Astravok when I was mortal.”
“That explains the star plating. I won’t lie, you seem like a nice guy and a genuinely interesting one too. You said you were from around here?”
“Somewhat. I… used to be a slave bound to a Voidborn, but I was saved by a tiny sect called the Thantir. They helped me get to a Deathven sector, I got a job there for a bit but…” Letharus paused. “Well, my job was helping Decaylings get over their grief. It was a very draining job, so I decided to take a break and head back out here.”
“The Thantir, eh?” Vick grinned. “I’ve heard a lot about them. They’re a bunch of purifiers now, or something.”
“Yes, as far as I am aware. Litvir, one of their leaders, said I could pop by their base whenever I wanted, but I wanted to explore a bit first.”
Both Vick and Letharus trailed off. Letharus started sipping his drink, while Vick got up to continue cleaning up. However, Letharus noticed that Vick kept on glancing at him. He also noticed that Vick was both a bit lonely but also quite handsome too. A bit short, but that was fine. However, as Letharus read a clock in the bar, he realized he had come here at quite a late hour, and Vick was somewhat getting the place ready to close.
“I am not disrupting anything, am I?” Letharus asked.
“Oh no! Not at all! I’m used to having late visitors.”
“Ah, I see. May I… may I say something awkward?”
Vick grinned. “May I guess?”
“Uh, sure…”
That grin only got bigger. “You like me.”
Letharus sighed, then nodded. “I do find you attractive, yes. I never thought I would be the sort to fall in love at first sight, but, well…”
Vick finished what he was doing, then made his way back to the bar, pouring himself a beer and handing a new, fresh bottle of cola to Letharus. “I’ll be blunt, I didn’t think I was the sort either. But mostly because the only armoured beings around here are colossal, male Beh’evok. We’re not like them.”
“Not at all.”
“Mhm…” Vick hesitated slightly. “Alright, normally, I wouldn’t ever consider this, but… do you want to stay the night and chat over some more drinks? And don’t worry about flying, I got a spare room in the back. And there’s… always my bed…”
Letharus smiled. “You know what? That sounds lovely. Count me in.”
“Wonderful.”