It was very rare that all three members of the Missing were in the same room together during normal working hours, but since the Thantir was now a much larger sect, it meant that the Thantir’s leaders didn’t have to work all the time.
Currently, Retvik was browsing through supplies, to see if there was anything they needed to order in. Litvir and Arkay though were keeping to themselves, with Litvir leaning back in his chair and text chatting with some of his non-Thantir friends, and Arkay seemed to be looking things up.
“Hey babes?” Arkay suddenly asked. “What do you two think about camping?”
Litvir instantly grunted. “No. We are not going camping. Never again. We are called the Missing in part because of our stupid Decay Lord trial.”
“Litvir, dear, that was about three year-strings ago,” Retvik tutted. “Are you still-”
“No, I am not over it. Same way I am not over the time that Kuta ripped himself out of my body, same way I am not over Galyn telling that stupid joke about me hitting a rock on my first ever time flying a ship.”
Arkay glanced at Litvir, then shrugged. “Alrighty then, I’ll look at some other holiday options…”
Litvir’s tone swiftly changed. “Oh, you are actually rather serious about this holiday?”
“Yeah, of course. I want to go somewhere else, maybe visit some other pentaclusters or even new eniapents. Just as a nice holiday thing.”
“Other eniapents?” Retvik glanced over. “That is a lot of travelling. And we do not have teleport pods like larger sectors have…” Retvik paused briefly. “Hm. I wonder if we can even purchase teleport pods. The Phantai and the Pentathax have them, I assume the Justar have some too. Perhaps we should order some.”
“Would be a good idea, actually,” Arkay shrugged. “Sure, I can teleport, but I can’t go very far, and the only reason I managed to save my four little lunatics is because of a promise I made and forgot about.”
Litvir sat up straight. “Speaking of which, Arkay, are Retvik and I capable of being killed without you interrupting now, since you fulfilled your promise?”
Arkay immediately paused, then fell completely silent for a moment.
“Arkay?”
“Sorry, just… I don’t know. I want to make a new promise to you both, but I don’t know how to phrase it. Because I want to protect you both forever. But I don’t know how to put it into words. And I also somewhat want to make the promise in a special way. Sorry for saying this, but more like a marriage proposal rather than in a text message. And I am considering doing the same with the Thantir overall, but I don’t know how to even begin phrasing that…” Arkay sighed, then decided to change the subject. “So, what do normal people actually do on holiday?”
Litvir and Retvik both thought to themselves, but Litvir was having problems too.
“I do not think I have ever been on a proper vacation!” Litvir exclaimed. “When we were mortal, I really did not do much. I allowed my non-powered soldiers two days off a week plus paid holiday time, but I never took vacation for myself.”
Retvik turned to Litvir. “Was your life really that sheltered? I recall, when we went to that space mall for the first time, you admitted that you had never been to a mall before.”
“Well, not a multicultural mall like that. I would just go to the closest supermarket, or, more often, send out some soldiers to shop for the whole 11th Legion.”
Retvik eyed Litvir a bit more, then sighed. “You were very sheltered.”
“I was not sheltered at all, I was too busy being essentially as well hidden as possible. Most people hated me, even when we were mortal. I spent my early years in fear, my middle years trying to hide the fact that my twin killed half of the 11th Legion and my older years were spent building a super computer while also trying to stop even more Rethans from blowing themselves up.”
Arkay shrugged. He somewhat understood. Admittedly, Arkay had gone on very few holidays too. However, he and Litvir had both somewhat overshared, and Arkay wanted Retvik to overshare as well.
“So, Retvik, babe, where did you go on holiday, apart from Portalia?”
Retvik was now eyeing Arkay, but for a different reason. Because Retvik didn’t really have an answer. Litvir picked up on that.
“You are not sure either!” Litvir frowned. “You went travelling across the universe, sure, but all of that was for work, not for a holiday! And all the holidays you did take, you-”
Arkay flicked a scrunched up ball of paper at Litvir. “Babe, calm down. Turns out all three of us have never had a proper holiday. No reason to argue about it!”
Litvir calmed down. “Fair. But what would we do while on holiday? We are definitely not camping. Sight-seeing sounds interesting, but we do not where are good places to go. Maybe we could go shopping, but Retvik and I are low on cash and we do not want to rely on you, Arkay. As for things I would have liked, like museums, I do not think those are common out here. In fact, I think the only thing I want to do is visit Letharus, as he has a new home and a new friend as well.”
“Litvir, that might be-”
“Arkay will be fine.”
“What do you mean, I’ll be fine?” Arkay butted in. “What are you both talking about?”
Retvik grunted, then sighed. “Letharus has found a poten-partner. That person just happens to be someone from your original universe, who knew you and particularly cared for you when you were mortal.”
Arkay though for a moment, then for a bit longer of a moment, then for a good several seconds. Retvik and Litvir glanced at each other, wondering what Arkay was thinking but not wanting to interrupt Arkay’s silence.
“You met the mortal Retvik from my mortal universe, didn’t you?”
Retvik nodded. “We… did not want to tell you, because we thought you would be upset.”
Arkay tutted, then just shrugged. “I would be annoyed, but I completely understand why you’d keep that from me. Probably for the best, because just springing that on me at that time would probably emotionally destroy me. But I would like to see him, I guess. And I want to see Letharus as well… Either way, I am sure we can go and visit Letharus and the-person-who-was-essentially-my-step-dad when we go on holiday. Where do they live?”
“In the Ventra Expanse, it is actually somewhat close.”
“Huh…” Arkay muttered. “Maybe I could go see him once I have bought my own ship.”
“I would recommend you taking someone with you, but that is a good idea.”
“I’m not a child.”
“Yes but you are not great when it comes to powerful emotions…” Litvir shrugged. “However, we have not discussed anything else about this holiday we want to take.”
Arkay and Retvik both snorted.
“We do that a lot, I guess…” Retvik smiled a little. “We will think of something eventually…”