The young Thantir Life Goddess and the Newling Thantir Voidborn had been in the same room for a while. Sure, Phovoula had her own room, but it felt lonely in there. Phovos’s room was pretty much identical, apart from the vines and white flowers which covered one of the walls of her place. However, Phovos was well aware that Phovoula preferred being in the dark. Voidborns in general didn’t like bright lights, and she didn’t mind turning the lights off to make Phovoula more comfortable.
Neither Life Goddess nor Voidborn had spoken much though. Phovos preferred listening to Phovoula talk, but lately, Phovoula had very much settled down now that she was officially a Decay Lord, and Phovos didn’t have much to offer either. Both of them had similar jobs too, mostly as greeters for other Life Goddesses or Voidborns that had come to Savepoint needing assistance. They didn’t look like conventional Two-Main-Types entities though. Phovos didn’t make herself stupidly attractive or sexy or anything, and Phovoula tried to stick to her original mortal form as much as possible, because she didn’t like feeling too metallic, and going full Voidborn may have troubled other patients.
Right now though, things were quiet. Both Phovoula and Phovos had finished their duties, and they were now just relaxing, taking it in turns to brush each others’ hair and fur. Phovos did have a lot less fur than Phovoula did. Phovoula was covered in fur from head to toe, but it was a thin layer of fur. Most of her thicker fur was on her head, around her neck and running down Phovoula’s tail. Phovos’s thick fur was similar, but most of her body outside those furry areas was scaly.
Currently, Phovos was brushing Phovoula, and was taking her time because she loved how smooth Phovoula’s hair got after being washed and de-knotted. Phovoula had already brushed Phovos, and she too loved the softness. In fact, both of them were looking after themselves better. Before Phovoula and the youngest set of Decaylings turned up, Phovos always struggled to look after herself, and it seemed that Phovoula did the same. Now they could help each other stay clean and pretty.
After a while, Phovos spoke. Phovoula hadn’t expected it.
“So, it seems that Kuta and Ret want to get married.”
“Apparently…” Phovoula snorted. “They are weirdly cute together.”
“How well do you know them?” Phovos asked. “Because Ret and his little team are inseparable, but Ret also seems head-over-heels in love with Kuta. Didn’t know they’d only been together for a year.”
“Retvik worked for me as a gladiator for 30 years, he was one of the best gladiators I ever had.”
“Sounds about right.”
Phovoula thought for a moment. “How well do you know fiery Retvik?”
Phovos grunted. “Too well. He was never a full time gladiator, he was both a diplomat between other races on Portalia and he was an adventurer, but he’d also go back to the Rethan home world alongside his Legion to protect one of the major port cities on Retha once every five years. Once he was a Decayling, we… talked about a lot of things. It was… awkward friendliness.”
“Huh. Your Retvik was a General.”
“Yep. Mostly.”
“Did you know Litvir?” Phovoula wondered. “I met Kuta via both Retvik and the Death Wolf. Kuta and Litvir are twins somehow.”
Phovos shook her head. “I only met Litvir like two or three years ago, when he was a Decayling. Never knew him as a mortal.”
Phovoula opened her mouth briefly, but paused. “Everyone seems to say that. Most of you came from the same place but I don’t know how Litvir fits in.”
“He doesn’t. Litvir got caught up in the friendship net solely because of Retvik, and later because of Retvik and Arkay. The same thing happened to Kuta. They both apparently almost died then got put in new bodies by a Voidborn called Kenon. Or something like that. Neither of them have told anyone the full details.”
“Huh. That’s weird. Because, when I first met Kuta, they somewhat implied they had no family what so ever.”
Phovos shrugged. “They probably didn’t know at the time. Arkay, Kuta and Talok all seemed to discover that something weird was going on at the same time, while Thassalin, being a Time Drake, was aware of what was going on but couldn’t escape in time.”
Phovoula smiled a little. “I never used to get along with Thraki, but Thassalin is a very nice Thraki. I would have also loved to see him fight in my arenas, but never really got a chance to suggest it.”
“You know what? That’d be pretty cool. Still, I find it so charming how Kuta and Ret are so blindly in love. Sure, Retvik, Litvir and Arkay are in some sort of relationship, but Kuta and Ret are more like Teekay and Elkay. Especially since they both want a wedding now.”
“They are two strange Rethans. They’ve got a lot more in common, things we don’t really see.”
“Oh!” Phovos smiled as well. “That’s exactly the case with Teekay and Elkay. They’ve been through hell together, but came out the other side stronger than ever. Honestly, there’s a lot of strange relationships around here.”
Phovoula turned around and faced Phovos. “Like us!”
“Hah. Funnily enough, we’re kinda not that weird at all. Well, we are really weird in one way, since we’re both called Phovos and we’re weird-looking. But Life Goddesses get Voidborn partners all the time.”
Phovoula shrugged. “You’re right. But, like… I’m getting over my… my bad opinions now. It sounds nonsensical, but being trapped inside some sort of strange sleep prison after we did our Decay Lord trial and being saved by Retvik and Itaviir of all people, it made me realise that I do actually belong and that I’m not a monster any more.”
“You are not a monster.”
“Well, I was when I was young. You and I were both warlords before we settled down and did different things,” Phovoula shrugged. “But still, we’re better now. And I have you, someone who understands me.”
Phovos grinned, then gave Phovoula little pat on the shoulder. “We understand each other. It’s what friends, girlfriends or otherwise, do for each other. I’m glad though that you’re feeling more comfortable now.”
“I appreciate that. Can I now brush your mane?”
That smile got bigger. Phovoula started grinning too. Phovos handed her brush to Phovoula, then turned around.
“Of course, bestie…”