“WHY IS EVERYTHING ON FIRE?” Teekay screeched as he rushed up to the small house. “WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?” The angry, slightly panicked Skyavok immediately turned to the solemn Rethan who was just standing there, watching it all happen. “WHAT DID YOU DO? DID YOU TRY AND COOK SOMETHING?”
Elkay tutted. “No. I did not do this.”
“THEN WHO DID?” Teekay glanced around, looking for a hose or some water or something so he could try and douse the flames. Instead, he noticed that his and Elkay’s combined belongings were sitting in a massive pile, safely away from the flames.
“Arkadin did.”
Teekay took a deep breath then instantly regretted it, having inhaled a little too much smoke. After a quick splutter, he calmed down enough to ask some questions without screeching.
“Arkadin did this?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
None of Arkadin’s belongings could be seen on the pile. Neither could the Thraki’s belongings as well, but Teekay just assumed that Phovos had already left. After all, he said he was going to leave that morning and it was now evening.
“I… I may have said something that angered him.”
Teekay pulled a funny look at Elkay. “Like… like what?”
“I was in pain and in the midst of another stupid slime issue. I may have said things I did not mean.”
“LIKE WHAT?”
Elkay finally had the nerve to look back at Teekay. “I blamed him for my current situation.”
Teekay’s shoulders dropped as he stared at the flames. “And he got pissed off and burnt everything down?”
“Yes.”
“Well that… that sucks…” Teekay sighed to himself, then started going through the pile of belongings, organizing them all into neat piles, ready for transportation. Between him and Elkay, there wasn’t a lot, but it was definitely enough to completely fill Teekay’s ship.
“I am sorry…” Elkay muttered under his breath.
“Don’t be sorry…” Teekay tutted. “It is not your fault that the Thantophor is a massive douche who blows up at the smallest things.”
“I said some rather nasty things. I blamed him for all my misery. That this was all his fault.”
Teekay hesitated, then tutted. “And you were right to do so! He has this pattern. I thought it was just me being insane, but he has a pattern of making a new friend and then ruining their life and making them reliant on him in some way. He did this to you, he did this to me, he did this to the Thraki who just buggered off, he did it to Kohra, Tenuk and Levik, he does it to everyone. And he is unaware that he does it.”
“What does-”
“It has everything to do with this. You got him to admit the truth. So he got angry and set everything on fire.”
“This has also left me with a lot of problems. No home, no life and no cure for my issues.”
Elkay closed his eyes, feeling sorry for himself. Teekay felt sorry for him as well. He tapped the Rethan on the shoulder, snapping him from his trance.
“This is definitely a bad scenario, but you are not completely without hope. You can come and stay with me, if you wish.”
Elkay suddenly perked up. “Really? You would care for a ruined Rethan?”
“Of course. It would be wrong to leave you here.”
Elkay smiled, just a little. He then began to sort through the pile of belongings. “Thank you. Now let me help you with this.”
Teekay smiled back. “Of course. Do not fret, we’ll get back on our feet on no time.”