Retvik had been genuinely surprised when the nice nurse had told him he could go home, as long as he stayed at home and rested as much as he could. He thought he would have been stuck in that room, fastened to that bed, for at least a week, awkwardly waiting for the vast amounts of adrenaline and other hormones in his veins to fade away. But no, it had only been a couple of days, most of the adrenaline had already decomposed and Retvik had managed to fall asleep on his own. In the eyes of the doctor and nurses, that meant Retvik was healthy enough to return home.
So that was exactly what he did.
Well, mostly.
Nyssi had driven him and his friends home, but they stopped by a supermarket to pick up some food and drinks. Apparently this weekend was some sort of Temthan holy thing and a lot of places were closed and Retvik hadn’t realized, but thankfully the Ksithan shops were open. Retvik had just sat in the car, feeling too tired and delirious to go inside, but everyone had kindly bought him some nice drinks and snacks to cheer Retvik up.
As soon as they came back, they stopped by Kayel’s apartment so Kayel could pick up some fresh clothes, they went to a small pharmacy to grab a prescription for Retvik, then they returned to Retvik’s house. Thankfully, Retvik had given each of his friends a spare key, because he was admittedly too disorientated to handle opening the front door.
Once everyone was in, Retvik immediately removed all his armour and clothing apart from his loin cloth, then wobbled over to the largest of his three sofas and fell onto it, tossing and turning slightly before covering himself with a blanket.
“You look happy to be home!” someone, probably Kayel, exclaimed as they handed Retvik a drink and the box of tablets he had bought. Retvik struggled with the packaging. Although it was made for Rethan-sized fingers, Retvik just seemed to lack any real coordination, made worse by the fact that he’d randomly tense up, making him unable to move his hands properly and occasionally cause his whole body to shake.
Retvik nodded a reply, then attempted to read the instructions on the back. The medication was a combination of muscle relaxants, a sedative and a couple of hormone balancers. Tenuk had mentioned something about it being weird that Retvik could get a hold of this medication so easily, but, while not exactly common, a Rethan going Defensive Stance was well known enough that standardized medication already existed to treat the illness.
“So… three a day, one with every meal…” Retvik muttered, then glanced around. It was getting dark, he had completely lost track of time. “I think I need to eat something. I am very hungry. But at the same time, my jaw hurts.”
“I’ll cook you up some creamy mince and pasta then. Nice and easy to swallow, alright?” the yellow blur beamed from the kitchen. Retvik shook his head, unable to focus. “Tenuk, Nyssi, do you two want pasta?”
Tenuk sat down next to Retvik and shrugged. “Yeah, I’ll have some pasta. Can you do mine plain though? I’ll put some honey on it or something. The meat doesn’t sit well in my stomach.”
“I’ll take Tenuk’s mince then!” Nyssi smiled. “You know me, I don’t really do carbs. Kinda amusing though how Tenuk and I kinda just eat half of what you two eat! You want any help, Kayel?”
Kayel waved his hand dismissively, then rummaged through some cupboards, looking for some saucepans and the pasta. Retvik watched as Kayel worked, almost hypnotized as the little Skyavok worked. However, a beep distracted Retvik, forcing him to focus on something else. Nyssi handed Retvik the source of the beep, his personal tablet, before throwing herself on the sofa next to Retvik.
After another brief tense up, Retvik unlocked the tablet. He had messages. Messages from other Rethans. There were two, one from Vel and one from Kuta. Retvik found it weird that he now somewhat had Rethan friends. Kuta in particular had wished Retvik a speedy recovery and had offered to talk if Retvik wanted to. However, staring at the screen of his tablet was a bit tricky, so Retvik typed out some thank yous, then put his tablet back down.
“You alright, Retty?” Nyssi asked, realizing that Retvik was struggling.
“All things considered, yes, I am alright,” Retvik shrugged. “I just feel weird. My body aches from all the tensing up though, and there is this horrible feeling in the back of my head that I am in danger, even though I am safe and at home.”
Tenuk snuggled up next to Retvik. “It’s alright, you’re already getting better! And you have us to protect you!”
“I am supposed to protect you…”
“We protect each other!” Nyssi beamed. “That’s why we stayed at the doctors with you! Well, except for Kayel.”
“Hey, don’t be like that!” Kayel snapped from the kitchen. “I had to sleep off all those damn sedatives I got hit with, and me and Psiksi wanted to chat in private!”
“That’s not all you did!” Nyssi teased, hoping to piss Kayel off. “You two sneaked off and did the dirty!” However, Nyssi was quite surprised when Kayel just shrugged and continued what he was doing.
“Yeah. Psiksi’s hot as fuck, we both like each other, we decided to be friends with benefits.”
“And you’re… just… flat out admitting that?” Tenuk looked confused.
“Yeah, I don’t see a point in lying. We’re both consenting adults, who cares? You don’t have a problem when Nyssi does the same thing.”
“But…” Tenuk stuttered. “Temthans are almost expected to sleep around. You’re a Skyavok. You’re different.”
Kayel tutted as he started dishing everything up. He put everything in bowls, with standard mince and pasta in a creamy sauce for him and Retvik, plain pasta with honey and chocolate syrup on top for Tenuk and a bowl of mince with some spices and a bit of sauce for Nyssi. Kayel brought everything down to the sofas alongside a couple of spoons, still tutting. Retvik muttered a thank you and took one of his required tablets, before scoffing down food, while Tenuk continued to look confused.
“I swear, no one knows what Skyans are like!” Kayel frowned. “We’re pretty liberal when it comes to sex. Not as much as Temthans or Vrekans or Athrens, but we’re fine as long as it’s all consenting.”
“You just blatantly arranging to be friends with benefits with a famous house fighter though…” Tenuk looked rather awkward.
“So? Psiksi sleeps around all the time. Pretty sure most House Fighters do. But Psiksi in particular is Ξ-Class and it’s almost tradition that they sleep around instead of settling down in proper relationships. And being L-Class now, I’m supposed to be pretty liberal, even if my old K-Class ways kinda get in the way.”
Nyssi nodded in agreement. “Nothing wrong with being open about sex. That and starlight are what make the universe go round, right?”
“Well, that and decay and the forward movement of time,” Kayel shrugged. “But yeah, Psiksi’s nice. I like him.”
“I like him too…” Retvik muttered, not at all paying attention. Really, he was more glad that Kayel had given him a bowl, as the several shudders he’d felt would have certainly spilled his food everywhere if he’d had a plate. “Very friendly. I like talking to Psiksi. Was very kind of him to hang around with you three.”
“I mean, a couple of House Fighters did come by to say hi!” Tenuk licked some sauce off his spoon. “I think Vel from Retha Squad Three popped by, and so did a few Temthans, including Timik Lilac-Crown.”
“Mmmm…” Nyssi put her bowl down and leaned back. “Timik is a hunk and a half. Purple is a pretty rare colour for us, and Timik’s utterly beautiful. I wonder if Timik would be interested in me?”
“Probably!” Kayel smiled. “You should ask him. You’re a famous Temthan yourself, and there’s no other female Temthan House Fighters, I’d bet that he’d love to at least go on a date or something.”
Nyssi thought to herself, then grinned back at Kayel. “You’re right, I’m totally gonna ask him. I bet he’s beating them off with a stick, but I’m, like, the sexiest Temthan House Fighter aside from Timik so I’m sure I have a chance!”
Tenuk though was just tutting. “Can you two stop? It’s annoying, you two talking about sex when me and Retvik can’t have it!”
Retvik blinked several times. “What are we talking about again?”
“Kayel and Nyssi are talking about sex and I don’t like it.”
“Considering you can shapeshift to have whatever body parts you want, you’re a prude!” Nyssi joked. “But we’ll calm down, I guess. You know what us girls are like.”
“Kayel is a gu-“
“I’m both!” Kayel interrupted, before turning his attention to Retvik. “You alright there?”
Retvik shrugged. He’d finished his meal and was feeling a bit better now. To his surprise, his tablet beeped again, so he went to check it. He had more messages, from Kuta.
Kuta-Tieridos-290324: Hello, Retvik. I hope you are feeling better. Just so you are aware, a new law went into action today, re-enacting an old tradition allowing for repatriation for exiled Rethans, following a review of their status and past history.
Kuta-Tieridos-290324: I have made arrangements for your file to be pushed to the top, speeding up the process of repatriation for you. As your record is clean, it should pass without issue. That being said, I recommend keeping your schedule clear, because the scheduling and the repatriation ceremony itself are somewhat random.
“Huh…” Retvik re-read the messages he had been sent, then quickly typed a message back.
Retvik-Rethianos-116902: Thank you very much, Kuta. I appreciate your kindness. I would type more but my head is a bit funny.
Kuta-Tieridos-290324: Understandable. Going Defensive-State is very disorientating, I have experienced it myself. Rest well, I will message back when I have more information.
Retvik-Rethianos-116902: Again, thank you.
“Retvik?” Nyssi asked, looking concerned. “You alright?”
“Yes…” Retvik eventually replied. “If what Kuta just told me is true, I… I might not be an exile any more…” Retvik shook his head. There was too much going on, and he was tired. “I think I need to sleep. I have not had much of it. But I also do not want to go to my room.”
Tenuk took Retvik’s tablet and his bowl and put them down on the table, then snuggled up next to him. Kayel tidied everything up, while Nyssi grabbed a few extra blankets and used them to cover Tenuk and Retvik up.
“Sleep down here then. We’ll keep you safe.”
Retvik smiled, then settled down, finally able to close his eyes. “I appreciate all of this, thank you.”