“I find it so weird that a collective species shut down most of the city last week and the same thing is kinda happening this week…” Tenuk tutted as he sat on the sofa, browsing on his tablet, swishing his fluffy tail back and forth. “It’s been weird that Nyssi’s been doing nothing but beast matches and is constantly driving back to the Torn Islet for ceremonies there.”
“Palaestra’s a massive, multicultural city but most of the population are Ksithans or Temthans, and the local Temthans just happen to have celebrations just after a massive Ksithan celebration!” Kayel explained. He and Retvik were both fiddling around on their communicators too.
Kayel spent a lot of time on his communicator, normally browsing memes, reading through various discussion sites, and occasionally posting on Sky.Net, the main Skyavok communication app, which mostly allowed direct messages to other Skyavok but was also heavily focused on a large, large array of servers. There were servers for each Class, local servers, work servers, hobby servers, everything. Kayel in particular regularly posted in The Coffee Club, a K-Class-run server mostly filled with memes and military jokes, but he was also several servers related to his many jobs, and he had recently joined a Ξ-Class Gladiators Only group. Kayel was currently ignoring that server though because it was full of pictures of him during a ceremonial battle and everyone saying how hot he looked.
The name Sky.Net was actually a bit of an in-joke among Skyavok, because the name was actually somewhat infamous in Temthan, Torr and Spast circles, being a silly name for a fictional technological virus in a movie that caused machines to rise up and enslave the universe. In the movie, the first place to blow up was a Skyavok-ruled territory, filmed to be a blatantly racist remark suggesting that Skyavok were weak, dumb and incapable of surviving an apocalypse even though, out of all the Twelve Races, the Skyavok had survived the second most species-ending situations, and the gap between them and the third race, the Banikans, was pretty huge. That being said, the gap between the Skyavok and the Lanex, who seemed to be permanently clinging on for dear life at all times, was also pretty large. Either way, taking the name Sky.Net and using it for their main communications service was irony that Skyavok like Kayel absolutely loved.
On the flip side, Retvik didn’t really spend that much time on his communicator. Kayel and Tenuk were pretty sure that, before Retvik let them live with him, he spent most of his free time at the gym and his home was normally empty. But considering Retvik lost most of his friends in the fires at the old Rethan gym on the other side of town, it was pretty clear why Retvik stopped going, even when the area was rebuilt. Instead, Retvik had tried to pick up the same browsing habits that Tenuk, Kayel and Nyssi did, but when he wasn’t watching workout videos or browsing weapons catalogs, they’d all regularly just catch him staring blankly at pictures of fluffy animals, or blankly at a wall if he didn’t have anything in particular on his mind.
Right now though, Tenuk and Kayel noticed that Retvik was messaging someone. They were glad that Retvik finally had a poten-partner, because he needed companionship and stimulation, and they were sure that the companionship from his non-Rethan friends was causing Retvik problems. Then again, Retvik had been an exile for most of his life, and he found it hard getting along with other Rethans anyway.
Tenuk tutted, reminding Kayel that they were in the middle of a brief conversation. “I forget that Ksithans and Temthans are religious.”
“Are Spasts religious?” Kayel asked.
“Eh. Depends. Older Spasts, definitely. There hasn’t been anyone alive to remember the Whenvern’s Curse being put upon us, but those with grandparents who were alive then, they definitely became very… uh… I dunno how to describe it. Grovel-y, I guess.”
“Lots of sucking up to the Whenvern?”
“Basically, yeah. People hoping the Holy Whenvern will change his mind one day. Worshiping Arkay or Sini though isn’t allowed, because the idea of worshiping a god of death is considered heretical to existence itself and, well, the Allbirther’s followers have a habit of, uh, kidnapping and killing Spasts. It’s why we do everything digitally, it’s way safer.”
“But Arkay-“
“I know, I know!” Tenuk tutted some more. “Arkay’s a good guy. Does the job no one else wants to do. But the old bastards in charge aren’t willing to open their eyes or ears.”
Kayel snorted. “Hah. I get that. Things are so, so much better now that K-Class are in charge. Ideally, would be nicer if a less… violent Class was in charge, but at least K-Class care about protecting people and are backed up by the L-Class, rather than just hoarding money and power like the N-Class did...” Kayel abruptly fell silent as he got a text message. “Oh darn! I gotta go!”
“Where are you going?” Tenuk asked.
“Arkay’s waiting at my place. Gotta go meet him!”
“Oh. So that’s why you’re wearing that black, translucent stuff…” Tenuk sighed. “Have fun, I guess.”
Kayel waved goodbye, then leaped upstairs to his bedroom, where he disappeared through a shadow. Tenuk settled down, but he jumped in surprise as Retvik grunted, spoiling the silence.
“Hmph. Kayel did not give me a chance to say goodbye…”
Tenuk shrugged. “He’s… doing a thing for Sini, the Devil Serpent, he’s a bit all over the place. I don’t blame him. Are you alright, Retvik?”
Retvik frowned and shook his head. “Not really, no. Can I ask something of you, Tenuk?”
With a wag of his tail, Tenuk got up off the sofa he was sitting on, grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the fridge then sat himself down next to Retvik.
“What’s up, Ret? How can I help you?”
“It seems silly, coming from an armoured behemoth like myself, but I feel anxious right now. Would you… can you…”
Retvik was clearly struggling. Tenuk looked up at Retvik, trying to work out what he wanted. After a moment of thought, Tenuk grinned, then turned himself into a massive, fluffy cat. This caused Retvik to stop frowning and immediately start petting Tenuk.
“Thank you.”
“No worries! Care to tell me why you’re upset?”
Retvik grunted. “It is stupid.”
“You’re not having problems with Kuta, are you?”
“Oh, no. Kuta has been very considerate, if a bit busy. The problem is… I have been invited to a family gathering. Rethais seems to want to make up for lost time and they have invited Kuta and I to a place called the Lake, which… I admit, my history is a bit rusty… it is some sort of very fancy villa built on the edge of a lake near Phos.”
Tenuk started purring, then tilted his head to one side. “You don’t want to go?”
“Not really. I accepted the invite because I get to spend time with Kuta in a nice place. But I feel anxious about spending time with Rethais and with other normal Rethans in general. I may no longer be an exile, but I have been exiled for so long that I do not really know how to properly… act around them. Like, sure, I get on really well with Kuta, but Kuta is a little weird too. But everyone else? My little sibling Relkir is, well, small, but they are still a normal Rethan. There will also be a lot of important vok there, not just my sibling Rethais, who happens to also be the High General. And, like an idiot, I trimmed my shoulder strips this morning despite not needing do, because I was on autopilot, so now I am going to go to this stupid gathering looking like an exile even though I am not one any more.”
“Hm… Could you, like, wear some armour to cover your shoulder strips?” Tenuk suggested. “But also, you trim that strip on your head plate anyway? One thing I’ve found that’s cool, living with other races, is how you all need different tools to look after yourselves. Like, I just need a brush and a comb and occasionally some spray, and you have three sets of clippers and a hand-held mini electric belt sander so you can smooth down the rougher parts of your natural armour!”
“That is true, I do trim my head plate strips anyway. They get very sharp and they make putting a helmet on awkward…“
Tenuk smiled, then nuzzled up closer to Retvik. “Then, if someone asks about your trimmed armour, just say it’s because you’re a gladiator! Like, you’re semi-famous anyway, if there’s anyone who knows tons about being a gladiator, it’s you!“
“Still, I will not fit in.”
“Nothing wrong with not fitting in.”
Retvik sighed. “I am spending a weekend with the High General of the Retha. I am concerned I will make a fool of myself. Assuming people will not immediately look at me and think I am a fool already.”
Tenuk got up and sat directly on Retvik’s lap. “I don’t think you’ll make a fool of yourself. Will people think you’re different? Probably. But you’re a, uh, higher-caste Rethan, you’re smart and you’re strong as heck! And you’re a hero! They made you a captain of that 1000th legion thingy for a reason, right?”
“I… I guess…” Retvik sighed some more, then tickled Tenuk around his ears. Tenuk liked that a lot. He realized he should turn into a cat and let Retvik pet him more often.
“Honestly though?” Tenuk purred. “Like, if anyone thinks you’re stupid or weak or strange or whatever, just invite them to the Great Dessaron Battle Arenas and ask them to prove their point there!”
That last comment made Retvik smile just a little. “Well, you do have a point there. I have the second longest unbroken streak in modern history. And I am so, so close to the big 300… You know what, Tenuk? You are right, I will probably be fine.”
“Probably? You’ll be 100% fine.”
Retvik smiled properly this time. He continued to pet Tenuk, which made him purr more.
“You know what, Retvik?”
“What?”
“You should pet me more often. It’s good for both of us.”
Retvik nodded in agreement, then hugged Tenuk tightly. Tenuk shapeshifted back to his normal Spast self so he could hug Retvik back.
“Best friends?” Retvik asked.
“Best friends!” Tenuk grinned. “Best friends forever!”