“So, where the fuck have you been?”
That sentence was spoken in unison by three different people. But while Kayel and Nyssi were being playful, Tenuk seemed genuinely annoyed.
“Uh…” Retvik stuttered, not really sure where to start.
“You said you were going out for LUNCH! You’ve been gone for two days!” Tenuk pointed accusingly at Retvik. “I was scared! Sure, you texted us and told us you wouldn’t be coming back at the time you said, but you didn’t tell us what was going on!”
Kayel patted Tenuk on the back in a bid to calm him down. “Mate, it’s fine. We’re all adults. Retvik probably just got carried away with Kuta, right?”
“Uh… somewhat…” Retvik was hesitating.
“He’s wearing different armour! And that silver band on your arm is new!” Tenuk exclaimed. “Where the fuck were you? What the fuck happened! I was worried about you! Especially since your bastard brother High General guy is currently in Portalia City too, meeting with a bunch of other leaders!”
Retvik sighed, then made his way to the living room proper, putting down a heavy plastic bag and taking off the bulkier parts of his armour before sitting down. Tenuk immediately sat down opposite him.
“Where were you?”
“Bloody darkness, Tenuk, calm down!” Kayel tutted. “Retvik’s an adult! He’s allowed to change his mind and do other things!”
“His asshole brothers are in Portalia City right now, they’re a threat to him!”
Retvik sighed again. “I am sorry for scaring you, Tenuk, but a LOT happened over the last few days. The most important thing being that I am no longer an exile.”
Tenuk blinked, Kayel gasped and Nyssi screeched.
“So THAT was why your bastard High General brother was here?” Tenuk whispered.
“One of the reasons, yes. Kuta inviting me to the capital was a ruse to get me in front of Rethais, to perform the repatriation ceremony. At the same time, Rethais ended the Rethianos Tradition, so I am also… well, free to have relationships. I am 100% a free Rethan once more.”
Kayel thought to himself for a moment. “If you are a free Rethan, does that mean you need to sign up with a Legion? Every Rethan belongs to a Legion after all, same way every Skyan belongs to a class.”
“Heh…” Retvik smiled. “You are right. But I do not need to worry about that because I was immediately inducted into a Legion. And, for some reason, immediately made a captain of said Legion. The Keeper’s Legion.”
Nyssi and Tenuk glanced at each other, not really sure what Retvik was referring to.
“Isn’t the Keeper that absolute unit of a Rethan that saved like a hundred Rethan eggs, a ton of kids and some nursery staff or something?” Kayel asked.
“Yes. The Keeper is the General of the 1000th Legion, the Legion of Rethan Heroes. I have finally been recognized as a genuine hero by other Rethavok!” A smile grew across Retvik’s face. “All of a sudden, I am… I am a normal Rethan again. I have not been a normal Rethan since I was 18. And because I am now normal, other Rethans tolerate me. These last two days? I spent them with other Rethavok. Kuta took me out for lunch properly and General Gath, who is technically my new boss, took me out for dinner and introduced me to three of my new fellow captains. After that, I was invited to a large party and Kuta, Kuta’s nice captain Taliv, General Ritlir and I somehow managed to convince the Keeper to ask my sibling Relkir on a date.”
“Did they do it?” Kayel asked. “Because, like, I know the Keeper is MASSIVE, but your little sibling is shorter than Kuta, and Kuta’s pretty short.”
Retvik grinned. “Amazingly, they did, and Relkir agreed to it. I mean, most Rethans would accept a date invite from the Keeper, even if they were married.”
Nyssi though had another question. “If you are part of a Legion now, does that mean you could be called to duty at any moment?”
That smile faded, but only for a moment. “Yes, but that is the case for all Rethans. Even as an exile, if the Rethavok went to war, I would be expected to volunteer to fight. But the 1000th Legion is a little more ceremonial than most, it is unlikely I would be called in on the regular, and General Gath specifically told me they want me to stay here and continue what I am doing, as a symbol of Rethan heroism and strength. And as a member of the 1000th Legion, I am now also eligible to represent the Rethavok in External Disputes, although I doubt I would ever get picked due to existing biases.”
“So…” Tenuk hesitated, then sighed. “You had a good time then? Everything is now awesome for you?”
“Indeed. I am still… somewhat mind-blown that it all happened so suddenly. Sure, Kuta kept me up to date on proceedings, but… A lot of the things I have always wanted have happened very suddenly to me and I am admittedly still trying to comprehend it all myself. I never thought there would be a day where I would no longer be an exile, where I would be free to form relationships with other Rethans, but here I am!”
Nyssi sat down next to Retvik and put an arm around him. “That’s so awesome! We’ve figured out Tenuk’s family problems and they’re going to build a democracy, you sorted out your stupid family stuff and you’re a normal, free Rethan, I’m working on finally ending my stupid family shit, all we need to do is sort out Kayel’s stupid family shit!”
Kayel clearly didn’t like Nyssi’s statement. He crossed his arms and tutted. “I don’t have family and I don’t have stupid family shit to sort out. As long as I stay in neutral territories and never interact with the higher ups of the N-Class, I’ll be perfectly fine.”
“Uh…” Nyssi blinked in confusion. “I can’t remember the jobs of most of your classes, but what does the economic stuff from N-Class have to do with you?”
“I… I am not continuing this specific conversation…” Kayel trailed off and turned back to Retvik. “So I take it you stayed in a hotel or something?”
“All the Rethan hotels were full but Kuta let me sleep in their hotel room…”
“Did you ‘sleep’ sleep with them?” Nyssi smirked. “You two do find each other cute, and now you can.”
“Uh, no… I… I considered it but I was too nervous to do anything.” Retvik paused, then frowned slightly. “May I ask something of you all?”
“Of course!” Nyssi beamed. “We’ve just been throwing questions at you.”
“You gonna ask us if you can date Kuta?” Kayel asked back. “Because it’s your choice and your body, you finally have the ability to choose and we can’t take that away from you.”
“That… is true, but I know you do not like Kuta, Kayel. I do not want to hurt my relationship with you three, who I believe to be my true family, over a romantic relationship with someone you all do not like.”
“The only reason I don’t like-like Kuta is because they have deep, dark, manipulative, real telepathy though, and they were honest about it right off the bat. Kuta’s weird but they seem to be a genuinely good person. If being with Kuta makes you happy, you should go for it.”
“Really?”
Kayel nodded. “Really.”
Retvik settled down somewhat. “I appreciate that. Although I will have to wait, Kuta will be busy accompanying the High General on their diplomatic work here on Portalia over the next week or so. Still, I apologise for not keeping you all in the loop.”
“It’s fine!” Tenuk smiled as he got up and joined Retvik and Nyssi on the sofa, patting Retvik on the leg. “It’s nice that we got a happy ending for once!”