“Bloody Void, I know I cooked up a feast and we ate heartily, but there is something about pizza that cures so many ills…”
Everyone present nodded in agreement, but not much was said because everyone was also stuffing their faces with pizza. After a moment though, Litvir managed to empty his mouth enough to make a response.
“That is an odd thing to say, considering you are both a god of perfection and also a medic.”
Ralian shrugged. “I am not as bound to perfection as most would think. But also, pizza is just great.”
“Definitely!” Letalis beamed. “Also, we are great! And you are great! And we are having a great time! Everything is actually good for once and no one died!”
“Please don’t jinx it…” Arkay muttered under his breath.
“That is not jinxing it, Arkay, simply saying that things are good does not jinx things!” Retvik tutted. “We are just having fun. Even if we ended up staying far, far longer than we intended.”
Veeyel nodded in agreement some more. “Exactly! But in all honesty, I didn’t realise how much us Healers needed this break. We just work and work and work and never actually leave things for our team of medical experts to sort out. But I have so massively enjoyed not having someone calling my name every five minutes. Sure, I didn’t get laid like I’d originally planned, but-”
“Hang on!” Ralian interrupted. “You… wanted to get laid?”
Veeyel nodded. “Yes. I mean, you did too. That’s why you went all ultra masculine and perfect, you were showing off in front of Retvik, because you wanted to bed him! Even though, weirdly, he’s not a Teliavok.”
“If he was not covered in scars and kept those pretty but cosmetic fire wings, Retvik would fit in fine among the Teliavok. Heck, Litvir would fit in pretty well as well, if he could make some wings that actually looked good.”
Retvik glanced at Litvir. Litvir just shrugged and accepted Ralian’s words as some sort of compliment.
“I will be blunt, I do not want to be a Teliavok,” Retvik grunted. “If anything, I would rather accept you and Letalis as Rethans. Our society was… much kinder. And new-universe Rethans basically live in paradise without realising it.”
“Assuming you are not exiled, the way Ret was…” Litvir muttered.
“Eh, Ret still did live a fairly good life inside his universe, even if he was exiled…” Retvik muttered back.
“Still, Retvik, you were willing to sleep with Ralian? You accepted his flirting?” Letalis asked.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Retvik thought for a moment. “Well… admittedly, Rethans were monogamous, but there are basically no Rethans left. The only Rethans aside from Litvir and I are my half-brother, Litvir’s twin, a younger version of me from a different universe and a completely random and also rather traumatised fellow that we only discovered a few months ago, working for a nearby sect. But since there are no Rethans left, I no longer have to follow the rules of monogamy. Since I was technically Rethan perfection, I feel I ought to share myself with others occasionally. Admittedly, Litvir was the one who convinced me that it is fine to sleep around. He and Arkay are fine with it, so, well, I might as well enjoy myself if someone offers.”
Ralian found himself agreeing. “I can understand that. I routinely have this weird desire to mate, to try and have kids. I normally manage to catch myself before I do anything stupid, but, well, I think both you and I, Retvik, we were somewhat denied pleasures in our mortal life because of our perfection.”
“Oh, definitely.”
Ralian smiled, but paused and turned back to Veeyel. “Still, Veeyel, my little dear, you… you wanted to sleep with Arkay?”
“Yeah, but it’s complicated.”
Retvik glanced at Arkay. Arkay rolled his eyes but said nothing.
“How comes?” Ralian asked.
“We’re technically related. From before I became a Skiavok.”
“Hang on!” Litvir interrupted. “Arkay, your theory turned out to be true?”
“Kinda. Not in a prove-able way though.”
“Speaking of which!” Veeyel interrupted. “I know there are no other Skiavok out here, I made sure of that, but are there any… Skyavok with a Y that… might be…”
“Probably. There’s probably a Retha or two out there that might be interested…” Arkay muttered. “Although, if I’m honest, they probably won’t want to come here. Considering how Litvir, one of the best telepaths around, was affected by the Telian telepathic network thing, it’d probably be better if you guys came to Savepoint.”
Ralian frowned at that statement. “That is a long way to travel.”
“We have a teleporter point in the Justarian Circle!” Arkay countered. “From there, it’s a 5 hour flight on a fast ship.”
“I mean, we can also just… ask one of Deathven’s ‘Porters?” Veeyel suggested. “They can just teleport us straight to Savepoint. And considering how you’ve described Savepoint as “like a Life Oasis”, I would like to visit at some point.”
“OH!” Litvir suddenly bounced with excitement. “I would love to invite Letalis to a drinking session with Kuta, Eksi, Nyssi, Thyel and Letharus!”
“That… that does sound like fun…” Letalis muttered. “But I think I need some normality. It sounds weird, I have enjoyed this break, but you three being here is weird… good weird… but still weird. I almost want to go back to our normal duties as the Healers.”
“Yeah, I do get that…” Arkay sighed. “I feel similarly. We have Decaylings that are preparing for their trial and, well, I normally sit down with them and go through things.”
“Fair enough!” Veeyel seemed unbothered. “Still, we do have a LOT of pizza to get through. We ought to eat it and relax for a bit longer.”
“Alright, unrelated, why did we order sooooo much pizza?” Litvir asked. “You ordered twenty XXL pizzas for six people.”
Ralian glanced around awkwardly. “Well, normally, we order ten pizzas for three people. One for Veeyel, three for Letalis, six for me.”
“I am not… that much of a glutton,” Retvik smiled. “But I totally get it. We have to fuel that eternal flame somehow! Not that it matters. Whatever is left, we can take home and eat later. Perhaps for breakfast. In the mean time, this has been fun, yes?”
Everyone nodded in agreement, then decided to eat more pizza. After all, everyone loves pizza.