“Milk?”
“Yes, milk.”
“Really?”
“Apparently.”
Arkay had wanted to get out of the sector as fast as possible. As soon as Retvik and Litvir were done in the local hospital, they’d sped off, and Arkay had headed towards the nearest Deathven Sector. He didn’t want to specifically go to the Sector, Arkay wasn’t even sure if he was allowed to go near it, but he was certain it was safer than most other places. Now though, the Deathly Soulflame was on autopilot, orbiting Deathven Sector Ro at a distance, making sure that they weren’t officially in the sector’s territories, but were close enough that they could go to the sector if they got into trouble.
“Like, actual milk?”
“Apparently.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
Retvik crossed his arms and grunted. “Arkay, you are being silly.”
“I’m not being silly, I just don’t fucking believe you both!” Arkay exclaimed. “You’re telling me that the horrible white shit that messed up Litvir’s arm was just some sort of strange unique corruption strain, and the way you fix its side effects is to use the milk from a fucking Life Goddess?”
“Well, I assume there is more than just Life Goddess milk in this medication…” Litvir muttered. “At the very least, there should be some pain reduction stuff in it.”
Arkay turned to Litvir. “Do you have the medication so I can have a look?”
Litvir swiftly pulled a tube from a pocket in his stomach wrap and handed it to Arkay. Arkay immediately inspected it, reading the ingredients on the side. However, to his dismay, Litvir’s assumption was wrong. It was just milk with some preservatives and thickening agents. Apparently the milk was UHT, but it was exactly what it said it was. And Arkay proved that by tasting some of it.
“Huh. I guess you weren’t lying. It really is just milk.”
“You just ate some of my medication.”
Arkay paused, then blinked and handed the tube back to Litvir. “Sorry.”
“It is fine. But I suppose, at least, we know what to use against that strange Corruption, and it is somewhat easy to obtain.”
Arkay paused again and stared at Litvir. “Fucking what?”
“Milk is easy to obtain, yes?” Litvir turned to Retvik. “Am I wrong? I assume, by the look on Arkay’s face, I might be a little wrong.”
“Oh, only very wrong,” Retvik shrugged. “Milk is not easy to get, but we do have a Synaisthyn here who already has Life Goddess saliva, I am sure we can work out a way to make milk.”
Arkay stopped staring at Litvir and started staring at Retvik.
“What?”
“You two do know why milk is produced, yes?”
Retvik grunted, but Litvir thought for a moment, then shook his head.
“I do not know, actually. I assume it is used to feed… something?”
“It’s used to feed newborn babies, until they can eat more solid foods.”
Litvir glanced at Retvik. “Can they not just feed them the standard food slurries we use? Or even just chew up food in advance, if we are talking about pre-modern times?”
“Mammalian races use their breasts to feed younglings, it is actually a little more convenient, but they also carry their babies inside them for longer, while baby Rethans hatch from eggs and are more developed…” Retvik explained somewhat.
Arkay tutted loudly. “You use milk to feed babies. But in order to produce milk, guess what, you need to have a baby! That’s what alters the body and makes breasts start producing the right hormones to make milk!”
Litvir tutted back. “While I assume that is the case for mortals, I am going to assume, since I am holding a tube of Life Goddess milk, there is a much easier way to make this stuff, and in large enough quantities to just have tubes of it on hand. Surely we can do something similar?”
Arkay stared at Litvir some more. “Litvir, are you being serious right now?”
“Somewhat.”
“Why?”
Litvir shrugged. “You can turn into a Life Goddess, right? You have turned into one before. And as far as I recall, you did have a pair of breasts.”
Arkay continued staring. Litvir ignored Arkay’s annoyance then continued.
“You turned into a Life Goddess with breasts. You can do all sorts of Life Goddess things. And I assume that this also includes making things as simple as milk, without having to make oneself pregnant constantly. Life Goddesses can do whatever they want, after all. Milk does not seem that complicated.”
“Yes, but…” Arkay stuttered a little. “I… I don’t know how to make milk. Not Life Goddess milk anyway. It’s not a fluid that naturally comes out of me since I’m not a mammal.”
“Can Phovos make milk?” Litvir asked. “She is a mammal, yes? She has breasts. Also, I do wonder if Elksia can make milk, and if Time Drake milk does anything. But Arkay, surely you can make something? You are a deity, you can make some things. Also, I would like to see you with breasts again.”
That last statement caught Arkay completely off guard. But it not only also caught Retvik off guard, Litvir’s words stirred up some odd thoughts in Retvik’s mind. Thoughts Litvir immediately picked up.
“You want to see Arkay with breasts again too. More than I do, now that we are discussing it. Actually, you seem to like breasts in general.”
Retvik hesitated, then chose not to say anything.
“You like breasts a lot!” Litvir teased. “After all, you dated two beings with breasts. In fact, two fifths of the beings you have dated had breasts. Perhaps three fifths, if you include Arkay occasionally having breasts.”
Arkay went back to staring at Litvir. “Is this all just some perverted way to make me have tits so you can touch them?”
“Are you offering?” Litvir asked back. “I am curious about how breasts feel, but I am admittedly just not particularly knowledgeable when it comes to mammals and the production of milk.”
Retvik slapped Litvir across the back, a very obvious hint that he should shut up.
“Alright, my dears, let us calm down. We do not need to worry about this milk issue, we will just keep it in mind for future reference. Arkay, do you want to get us going elsewhere? We do not have a job right now, so we can head back to Savepoint, if you wish.”
Arkay took a deep breath then calmed down, wanting to forget the entire conversation. “Yeah, sure. I miss the family. I’ll get us out of here…”