“That battle was so cool! I never thought I’d be friends with a dude who literally choked a Thragger to death!”
Nyssi had been beaming with joy, ever since she’d watched the previous day’s gladiator battles on television. It had been a whole day of various fighters taking on and murdering various local wildlife, mostly Thraggers, the monsters that had nearly claimed Nyssi’s life not too long ago. Part of her wanted to enter the Arena herself to challenge such a beast, but she knew she wasn’t quite up to the challenge yet.
“Yeah, that was some pretty quick thinking on your part!”
Retvik shrugged as he carried a large plate of meat to the table. It was strange having other vok in the house, especially when he had expected to spend the holidays alone.
“I do not think it was quick thinking. I did not have much choice.”
Helping him carry plates was Kayel, who had also helped him cook a lot of the food. Not only did they have roasted alogon, but Kayel had kindly prepared a whole roasted poultry bird, a pasta, cheese and broccoli dish, roasted potatoes and perhaps the best gravy Retvik had ever tasted. His other guests on the other hand, Nyssi had just brought tons of alcohol, and Tenuk busied himself with a large array of chocolate, sweets and cakes. It turned out, a Spast’s diet consisted mainly of pure sugar.
“Did it hurt, having your arm bitten like that?” Kayel asked as everyone started sitting down. Nyssi only remained upright because she was fetching drinks. And because most of them didn’t have to drive or anything, they were all drinking. Quite heavily. “You just seemed to shrug it off.”
“It was rather painful…” Retvik grumbled. “But I think the sensation of it all healing up was more disturbing.”
Kayel glanced at Retvik oddly. “Yeah I get that. When I got shot, it felt so weird just having my skin stitch itself back together. Was kinda itchy too.”
“Speaking of which,” Tenuk interrupted, sugar stuck to his cheek. “Any of you lot noticed that you have more energy now? I’ve never had an easier time shapeshifting, and I’ve managed to stay blue with pretty much zero effort on my part. Used to be hard holding a colour I wasn’t used to.”
“It’s taken me way more alcohol to get drunk!” Nyssi grinned, making sure everyone had both an alcoholic and non-alcoholic drink, before placing her butt firmly in her chair. “Not sure if that is a good thing or not.”
“Well, alcohol is cheap on Portalia…”
“True.”
“Speaking of which…” Nyssi turned her attention to the table. “We need a toast! To Retvik, who has graciously let us idiots stay with him this… uh… what’s this holiday called again?”
“Macromera.”
“This Macromera!” Nyssi continued. “Also, an additional thanks for getting revenge for us, on behalf of my village.”
“I appreciate the kind words, Nyssi, but I am only doing what a good vok should. And also just doing my job as a gladiator. That battle was picked out for me, I did not… choose to fight that beast.”
“Still, a toast to you anyway!” Nyssi beamed.
“Yeah!” Tenuk didn’t add much to the conversation but raised his glass as well. “To us idiots!”
“So we’re all proper friends now, right?” Kayel asked awkwardly.
“Of course!” Retvik had started smiling too. “I feel like we all need a shoulder to lean on, what with… recent events…” Retvik paused, then grunted, raising his glass. “Enough of that though, we have food to eat. Cheers.”
“Cheers!”