“What in the name of the damned Light are you doing here?”
Important Rethans making awkward doctors appointments later in the day when there were less people around wasn’t that uncommon, but Kuta was genuinely surprised at how aggressively Relkir had just hissed at them. In fact, Relkir’s anger was so loud and obvious that they nearly considered laying their hands on Kuta.
“I, uh, have an appointment.”
“You are following me!” Relkir sneered as they grabbed Kuta by the shoulder and the cape, then pulled them to one side, out of the way and down an empty corridor. “You have to be! Why else would you be here?”
“I am here because I have an appointment!” Kuta repeated themselves. “Also, remove your hands from my person.”
“Not until you stop lying!”
“I am not lying. I am quite an honest Rethan, despite my shadowy ways. Remove your hands from my person before I make you remove your hands.”
Relkir hesitated, then backed down. “It feels like you and General Ritlir are following me.”
Kuta snorted. “Why would we do that?”
“I am a very powerful Rethan with the ear of the High General.”
“Yes, so? I am a very powerful Rethan too, even if I am no longer in charge of the Legion of Hidden Internal Affairs. Yes, the 10th Legion does have watchlists, but those are only intended for genuine threats. You are as loyal as they come, Relkir, there is no reason for you to be tracked or followed.”
Relkir sighed, then calmed down somewhat. “You are absolutely right. I apologize.”
“It is fine! Still…” Kuta paused briefly. “I must ask though, why do you hate me so much? Because I do not hate you, and I feel your anger is rather one-sided.”
“I, uh, thought you hated me…”
“I do not, no.”
Relkir frowned some more. “I just… I always saw you as competition. We are both intelligent Rethans shunned for our abnormal shorter height and appearance. But vok always seemed to respect you and no one ever respected me properly. So I guess I just… considered you to be the enemy and I was intimidated by you. Plus, well, you… are a telepathic freak assassin…”
Kuta shrugged, then smiled. “Fair enough. But, in all seriousness, I am not following you and I have never had any intention of harming you. However, as a fellow abnormally sized Rethan, I do feel we should not take our frustrations out on each other. Now, please, excuse me, I do have an appointment that I am too early for but want to get over with as soon as possible.”
“Understandable… I am… sorry…”
“Hah…” Kuta made their way back to the clinic entrance, but stopped in their tracks. “No harm done. Although I am curious as to why you are here. Your age is not a multiple of five… Also, you are of a Bloodline Tradition so you have not been allowed to use contraceptive in general up until recently.”
Relkir crossed their arms and grunted. “I will not say unless you tell me why you are here. Although your age IS a multiple of five. But you are also old, so maybe you are here because you are menopausal.”
“I am not that old!” Kuta immediately protested.
“You are one of the older Below Twenty Generals.”
“Only because your sibling got rid of most of the older ones! I used to be one of the YOUNGER Below Twenty Generals before Rethais decided that they needed to get rid of everyone connected to Photis. In fact, one of the reasons Rethais had a chance of winning was because I was making sure to tear down the myriad of disinformation and misinformation campaigns that were running wild!” Kuta trailed off briefly. “Another reason why I dislike the Torr. They were definitely bankrolling Photis’s re-election campaign… Although you were also pretty masterful in the running of your campaign too, to be fair.”
“Fair, fair, but why are you here?”
Kuta went back to frowning. “None of your business.”
“You asked me.”
“I do not talk. You do.”
“You are not expecting, are you?” Relkir smiled somewhat cruelly. “You have put weight on. Fat, not muscle.”
Kuta glared at Relkir, then sighed. “No, I am not expecting. My recent life has been very, very stressful and I have been stress-eating because of it. A month ago, I went on a secret mission, was nearly extradited and, once my legal problems were over, I was thrown into a wall by an angry Lady of Light, who I was trying to stop from stabbing my ex-poten-partner in the head. Meanwhile, you have been having a wonderful time enjoying a growing relationship with Gath, who is one of the best respected Rethans alive, and you are going on holiday with them soon! But for me, the annoyances just do not stop!”
“Are… are you alright, Kuta?”
“I am not, not in the slightest!” Kuta hissed. “The reason why I am here is to get various scans done, because, when I went to get my IUD changed, the doctor noticed a growth on one of my ovaries, and they think it may be cancerous. I am trying to settle down and actually live my life, but no, now I potentially have sudden and complicated health issues too!”
“Oh. Again, I am sorry. I did not know you were here for a, uh, serious reason… Do you… do you want some company?”
Kuta’s anger immediately fizzled away. “You are offering me comfort?”
Relkir nodded. “I am. It was wrong of me to insult you. Doubly so as you are under duress. The least I can do is sit with you for a little bit, to help settle your nerves.”
“Well, it seems I have misjudged you, Relkir.”
“We have misjudged each other. But we can make amends, yes?”
“We can, yes…” Kuta grunted. “However, I do need to hurry along, I do not wish to be late. The sooner I work out what is wrong with me, the better.”
Relkir started walking, making their way inside. “Might not be anything serious. And, thanks to the Ksithans and the Spasts, medical technology is pretty nifty these days.”
Kuta shrugged, then followed. “You are right. I might be worrying unnecessarily. Still, the last six months have been hectic for me. Also… you never said why you are here…”
Relkir glanced at Kuta. They thought to themselves for a moment, before smiling. “It is funny, you have telepathy, but you do not use it.”
“Well, of course. That would be rude, cruel and potentially illegal. But I have been on both sides of ill-intended telepathy in the past and the less I use my awful curse the better. All my other deranged abilities are fine, but the telepathy and constantly having to silence the endless murmurs of others is annoying, to say the least.”
“I, I guess?” Relkir didn’t seem to understand. “Anyway, in answer to your question, I am here to do a genetics test, to make sure I am capable of having a healthy kid. Never bothered when I was younger because I never thought I would be in a relationship. But if Gath and I are going to consider things, I ought to check, just in case.”
“Well, uh, congratulations on the sex, I guess?” Kuta was surprised at Relkir’s honesty and bluntness. “You two are a cute couple.”
“I appreciate that, thank you! I ought to head onwards now though. I am running ever so slightly late.”
“Very well. Good luck.”
“Same to you, General!”
Relkir and Kuta both bowed to each other, and Relkir skipped off down the hallway to the doctors reception. Kuta sighed to themselves, then decided to hold off for a bit. After all, they were twenty minutes early, having arrived too soon because of their nerves.
“Eh, maybe I will be fine…” Kuta muttered. “I am technically a demi-god, after all.”