Kuta tutted to themselves as they wandered around their temporary new home. Most Rethans lived in what were normally dubbed half-houses. Not because they lacked anything, but because they tended to have one and a half floors, with the second floor only covering half the area, generally above the kitchen and storage area, making the living room large and open. However, Kuta was currently in crisis accommodation, since Kutas home and the entire building Kuta lived in had somewhat collapsed. That meant that Kuta was now living in a tiny studio apartment, with a bed, kitchen and living area all in one room, and a tiny shower and toilet in what was essentially a closet to one side.
Worse, Kuta had basically no belongings now. Recovery crews were still going through the rubble, meaning Kuta hadn’t had a chance to collect anything. They were wearing the same armour they had been wearing for a week.
On the plus side, Kuta had been discharged from hospital and was now perfectly healthy once more. The doctors were all surprised how quickly Kuta had got back on their feet, considering they had broken both their legs. Admittedly, this was because of a combination of advanced medical technology and the fact that Kuta was wholly unnatural, and was technically some sort of semi-divine being (or they used to be? Kuta wasn’t sure) but part of it was sheer stubbornness. Like most Rethans, Kuta hated being weak and defenceless, and Kuta was determined to get back to normal health as soon as possible
What bothered Kuta more though was that their injuries had cost Kuta most of their (somewhat forced) vacation time. In fact, Kuta had been working while in hospital, advising their captains on various tasks and working via a backup laptop. Kuta may have recovered from their injuries, but they were still exhausted and stressed. Kuta was more stressed now than they were before they started their vacation, which annoyed Kuta greatly. Now Kuta only had two days before they had to go back to work proper. Sure, they could have scheduled some extra time for themselves, but with the entirety of the Rethan government scrambling to rebuild the capital, Kuta felt bad taking more time off. They were a General, a Below Twenty General in a powerful, unelected position, they needed to act like one.
Still, at least, right now, Kuta had some time to themselves. It had taken a bit longer than predicted to get to their current housing from Kentron, the governmental buildings where Kuta worked, mostly because the crisis housing was all located at the edge of the city. Kuta was very, very thankful that Kentron had been mostly undamaged. They did not want to imagine how bad things would have been had the non-residential areas of Phos been heavily damaged or even destroyed.
Tired of pacing, Kuta decided to sit down and watch some television. They rarely did this, even back at their own place. In fact, the television here was larger than the one Kuta had owned before their apartment had been destroyed. But since Kuta no longer had access to their collection of Spast-made graphic novels, their soft ambience sound system which they used to meditate, or really anything that Kuta would have normally used to relax, the television was their only option.
Except the television wasn’t connected to anything. It did have a port in the side, which Kuta could have connected their laptop to with a bluetooth dongle, but Kuta currently didn’t have one. Kuta didn’t have a lot of things. This annoyed Kuta, especially since they did not know if they would be reimbursed for their lost belongings. Sure, all Rethans had some form of state-run insurance, but it could have been weeks or months before Kuta would receive a payment and be able to start buying new things. And they needed to wait until they got a new home as well. One nicer than this tiny temporary accommodation.
Sure, Kuta had stayed in similarly sized places, particularly that of their poten-partner, their boy/girlfriend, but at least that tiny place had some life to it.
A knock on the door dragged Kuta out of their funk. With a growl, they got up and went to answer the door, not really sure who was knocking at… Kuta paused and glanced at their battered wristband. It was 8:44pm. Kuta had been pacing back and forth for an hour and they had not noticed.
Another knock. Kuta growled again. They opened the door up though and immediately smiled.
“Arkay!”
“Kuta!”
Normally, seeing the Personification of Death Itself at one’s door would have been a bad thing, but the Thantophor was technically Kuta’s best friend. Arkay often walked around as a yellow and black version of whatever species he was talking to, or as yellow-plated Skyavok when among multiple mortals, but today, he was in what Kuta assumed to be a more battle-ready form. Currently, Arkay was only about 2m tall (a good 30cm shorter than Kuta) and in a Panthreanic shape, but more heavily armoured than a Rethan, with plates of black and silver running down his back and chest, natural, spiked silver pauldrons and black horns sticking out behind his head plate and running down his back, shoulders and tail. There seemed to be a strange, golden sheen across Arkay’s body in general.
Kuta immediately grabbed Arkay by the hand and dragged him inside, slamming the door shut behind him.
“Sorry I’m late!” Arkay exclaimed as he placed a rather full paper bag on the bed. “This group of six overconfident youngling Voidborns decided to rip a hole in the side of the universe and I had to kill them and as soon as I was finished, I got a message from Theocydes warning me about those same six Voidborns. Theocydes isn’t too bad now but he has the worst damn timing.”
Arkay sat Kuta down on the bed, then changed his form into that of some sort of cross between a Rethavok and a Skyavok. Rethavok-levels of plating, Skyavok-levels of muscle mass and tail length, but a size somewhere between both species.
“Uh, who is Theocydes?” Kuta asked, feeling a little confused. Arkay didn’t answer at first, glancing around Kuta’s temporary home, before emptying out the bag. He had bought take-out, some sort of sweet and sour meat and noodle arrangement, as well as a couple of cans of diet fizzy drinks.
“He’s… uh… he’s a Voidborn who tried to kill me a few times when I was a Decay Lord, but I teleported him into a sun and he decided to change his ways. Don’t actually remember doing any of that, but, eh, it’s nice knowing that some Voidborns are not completely evil cunts.”
Kuta shrugged, not really knowing what to say. Instead, they scooted up closer next to Arkay. Kuta had been admittedly a little lonely and they were a little too happy to see their boyfriend. Arkay quickly noticed this, handed Kuta their meal then put an arm around them.
“You alright, dear?” Arkay asked.
“I am better now that you are here…” Kuta sighed. “I am a little upset that all my belongings are gone. My digital stuff, I have backups for. But my physical items need to be salvaged still.”
“Yeah, that’s understandable. And you’re stuck here in a strange place that isn’t your own. Have you eaten today? Not eating can make you extra sad, on top of all the other piss that’s gone on lately.”
Kuta glanced down at the food Arkay had offered them. “I had lunch, but I am not hungry right now.”
“Are you… hungry for something else?” Arkay waved his free hand. Being a deity, he had telekinesis, and he was using his godly powers to move everything off the bed and onto the bedside table, while holding Kuta tightly.
Kuta smiled somewhat. Once everything was out of the way, Kuta twisted themselves round and faced Arkay directly.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Arkay smirked, pulling Kuta close, then licking Kuta’s cheek. Being the Lord of Decay, romance was very much outside Arkay’s scope, but he was trying his best to be romantic.
Kuta often struggled with being romantic as well. However, as Kuta hugged Arkay, they noticed something was off.
“You feel very warm.”
“Well it is heating up in here!” Arkay replied playfully, once again licking Kuta.
“No, you genuinely feel much warmer than usual. Your skin is normally cold to the touch, because you are the death god. You told me that you keep your internal temperatures high, but I normally cannot feel that on your skin, especially around your neck. You are also sweating.”
Arkay blinked and backed off slightly. “Now you mention it, I do kinda feel hot… It’s probably just stress or something though, I’ve been so fucking stressed and overly emotional lately.”
Kuta frowned. “That should not make you feverish. I worry that you might be ill.”
“You know I am a god, right?”
“You can still get ill…” Kuta hugged Arkay tightly. “I am concerned about you. Will you get yourself checked out?”
Arkay hugged Kuta back. “Yeah, of course. I’ll speak to Sini. But is it alright if I spend the evening with you? You’re going back to work soon, I’m permanently busy, we have some free time now and I want to make the most of it.”
“That is fine. I want to make the most of this time too.” The smile returned to Kuta’s face. They were glad that Arkay was being reasonable. Smiling properly now, Kuta pulled Arkay back onto the bed, so they could snuggle properly.
“I love you, Kuta.”
“I love you too, Arkay.”