Relkir didn’t mean to frown, but they did as a timer went off, reminding them to take their medication. Sure, they were finally out of hospital, and had been staying at Gath’s parents’ place for the last few days, and things overall were pretty good, but Relkir was concerned that they were now in the exact same boat their poten-partner was in, health-wise.
Well, not the exact same. Relkir was young, fit and healthy, but just like Gath had done 40 years prior, Relkir had gone defensive stance for a long time. Apparently for a full 20 hours. And, annoyingly, Relkir remembered none of it. But to make matters worse, doctors were suddenly interested in Relkir, because not only had they gone defensive stance for nearly a universe-wide record (the record, 25 hours, was set about 300 years ago, by the previous owner of the title of the Keeper, an unhappy Rethan who ended up dying five years later) but experts were shocked that Relkir was mostly fine outside of an inability to sleep. On top of that, apparently Relkir had been conscious and semi-aware the entire time, to the point that they had been talking and responding to others while being Defensive Stance. It wasn’t true conversation, but that was a level of awareness that most others hadn’t seen before. In fact, everything about Relkir’s Defensive Stance was annoyingly different.
Worse, while Relkir had literally no memory of what happened, it turned out that others had recorded Relkir’s feats of heroism. They had seen Relkir growling and talking nonsense, but they also witnessed Relkir digging people out of rubble and, most importantly, carrying an unconscious Keeper to safety.
“Are you alright, deary?” Lesii asked as they watched Relkir fiddle around with a packet of hormone settlers.
“Yes, I am just not a fan of these utterly massive pills…” Relkir grunted. They downed the tablets, then went back to what they were doing, helping Lesii knead bread. Lesii and Kazim had been absolutely wonderful. Thankfully, they had been evacuated swiftly before the Corruption got bad, and, miraculously, their home was untouched and perfectly safe. And they had offered Gath and Relkir a place to stay while they recovered from their assorted injuries. While yes, Relkir did want to head back home, the High General had insisted that Relkir remain in place until they were fully recovered, doubly since it seemed that Relkir’s home on the edge of Phos, alongside other parts of the Rethan capital, had been damaged.
“Well, you are nearly through them!” Lesii smiled. “You are getting better very quickly!”
“I guess…” Relkir returned to the kitchen and went back to kneading. Lesii noticed that Relkir was being very rough with the dough. That was fine, that made for better bread, but Relkir seemed rather angry.
“Is something wrong?”
Relkir sighed. They glanced over to the living room, where Gath was sleeping in one of the arm chairs. Kazim was up on the roof garden, tending to their plants. Gath hadn’t been too badly hurt, apart from some cracks in their plating where their arm had been caught in some rubble, and a nasty concussion. But Gath had been stressed and worried about Relkir, and Relkir had forced Gath to relax and get some sleep to get rid of their headache. A weird side-effect of the concussion was that Gath was oddly horny, but thanks to Relkir’s post-Defensive Stance medication (and the fact they were staying at Gath’s parents’ house) meant Relkir really wasn’t in the mood.
“A little. But those things will pass. Eventually.”
“Do you want to talk about them?”
“No. I… I want to bite something.”
Lesii thought for a moment, then went back to smiling. They rummaged in a nearby cupboard, then pulled out what looked like a well used silicon cushion. They handed it to Relkir, who inspected the object with caution. It was rubbery and soft, but covered in bite marks.
“When little Gathy had their bad period after the event, they had an urge to bite things as well. The lingering adrenaline makes you want to grit your teeth, which our silly brains turn into a desire to rip and tear. We normally used big steaks of meat, Gath was a growing kid even in their late 20s, and the taste of meat helped satisfy the primal urge, but when we did not have a meaty stick to chew on, we used this.”
Relkir hesitated, then bit the cushion. Immediately, they felt a bit better.
“I suppose you would know best about this… Thank you…”
Lesii patted Relkir on the shoulder. “I do not know the best, not at all! But we have been in your place. You should be proud by the way. You saved lives. Proved yet again that you are strong!”
Relkir sighed. “Yes, but I do not remember what happened. I have a massive gap in my memory, and I am scared that it will affect the rest of my memory and my intelligence too. I know how badly going Defensive Stance affected Gath and I had the same thing happen to me!”
“It is scary, darling, but you, thankfully, are not a giant like little Gathy is. Even before the event, even when they were young, Gath knew they were at risk of heart problems later on. And, admittedly, the grief, depression and being shot thirty times meant Gath did not look after themselves as well as they should have. But you are the best case scenario, dear.”
“I feel like a mess right now.”
“Understandable.”
Lesii decided to change the subject a bit as they finished off with the dough, then started cutting up some vegetables, mostly tomatoes, garlic and onions. Gath had been craving pizza again, so Lesii was determined to make their giant baby happy. At the same time though, they were concerned about Relkir too.
“May I ask, has anyone else in your family gone Defensive Stance?” Lesii asked.
“Hah…” That was a very half-hearted, somewhat concerning laugh. “Retvik went Defensive Stance on live TV a couple of times. But Retvik recovered quicker than I have, and could deal with Half-Stances better too…” Relkir sighed again, then sniffed. “I… I will miss my big sibling… Did not… spend as much time with them as I wanted…”
Lesii stopped what they were doing and wrapped their arms around Relkir. “I understand. It hurts, losing a loved one. But… well… I have a theory.”
“What theory? Retvik is gone. Forever. A lot of vok are!” Relkir snapped, before pausing and biting the cushion again. This calmed them down quite quickly.
“A lot of people died, yes. But… I do not think Retvik died. Because there is footage of exactly when Retvik disappeared.”
“I… have not seen that footage. I cannot bring myself to do so.”
“I have. I saw it the first time by accident. But when I watched it again, the time at which it all happened… matches the weird time thingy that all the smart people recorded, when the Allbirther left the universe and went into exile. My… theory is that She took some people with her. After all, we were all told that the Allbirther was tainted, from fighting the darkness head on. Perhaps poor Retvik and their friends were tainted as well, and She took them too, just in case?”
Relkir rubbed their eyes. “That… is a comforting thought, but most likely not what happened. After all, the All-Ksa was literally cut in half because of the Corruption, and Secondary Minister Aesop’s ship was found crashed and partially consumed, but they are both now deities somehow. Surely Retvik, or maybe even General Kuta, Oath Keeper bless their souls, would have been saved and deified? Instead, we have… a child representing us.”
Lesii smiled. “I think Litvir is adorable. The Spasts have a child deity too, and the Vohra have a Vahla representing them instead of a Vahyra or Vahrga”
“Yes, but Litvir was almost literally born yesterday. I have met Lord Prince Kohra, he is young but very smart.”
“Eh. I am certain our little deity will learn quickly.”
“True…” Relkir hesitated, then lowered their voice. “I do think Litvir is pretty cute though, aside from the fangs. They do remind me of Kuta though, and I feel bad about that because I hated Kuta for years, we made amends and I never developed that relationship. I suppose, and I feel horrible saying this, at least Retvik left without knowing the heartbreak of losing their poten-partner as well…”
“Regrets like that are common, darling. But, miraculously, you and Gath are both still here, and still strong. Retvik in particular would want you to make the most of things. After all, Retvik sacrificing themselves for others is… admittedly what they did best.”
Relkir sighed and fell silent. After a few seconds, they sighed again, then hugged Lesii tightly. “Thank you for calming me down and being here for me.”
Lesii hugged Relkir back. “No worries, my angel. We all love you, understand? And, now, everyone else loves you too. But in the mean time, let me and Kazim look after you. You did your job, let me do mine.”
“I will…” Relkir muttered as tears trickled down their face. Lesii smiled, then wiped the tears away. “Thank you so much…”
“You deserve it, little hero.”