“How did the date go?”
Abius span around to see who was talking to them, and they were surprised to see that it was another Rethan. Abius had just left the Cheesy Bee and was making their way back home on foot, taking a little shortcut down a dark side path, when they’d heard heavy footsteps.
Worse, it was more than one Rethan, and both of them were people Abius knew, two coworkers, two gladiators. Even worse, one of those Rethans was Kayess-En. Kayess-En was the leader of Retha Squad One, and was nearly as tall as Abius was. She was an odd Rethan who gendered herself, and also a rather powerful one, locally. The other gladiator was Kazik, who was a member of Retha Squad One and wasn’t exactly known for their intelligence. They mostly just seemed to follow Kayess-En around. Oddly, they were also the one who had spoken.
“Uh… why are you asking? What are you doing here?” Abius asked.
Kazik shrugged. “I do not know. Kayess-En brought me here and told me to keep an eye on you, in exchange for Kayess-En buying me lots of cheese fondue.”
“You like cheese fondue?” Abius queried. They knew what was going on, and Abius knew that, by addressing Kazik, who had clearly messed up by approaching Abius first, they could get the answers they needed.
“I love it!” Kazik smiled. “It is so good. Warm hot liquid cheese, what is there not to like? Kayess-En said I could have as much as I want, as long as we watch you. I did not know you were on a date with that little yellow vok.”
“Why are you talking?” Kayess-En hissed. “Shut up, Kazik.”
“Am I not allowed to talk?” Kazik was confused. “You said you wanted to keep an eye on that little yellow vok and you brought me here and told me to give you some cover because I come here a lot and…” Kazik suddenly paused. “Oh. You did not want Abius knowing we were following them.”
“You are such an idiot!” Kayess-En snapped at Kazik.
“Is Kazik really an idiot when you, the very noticeable Kayess-En, came here to spy on me and Arkiir?” Abius grunted. “Why are you even here anyway? What right do you have to follow me?”
“I wanted to keep an eye on you. You are trying to poach Arkiir from us and make them want to be a legionless fool like you!” Kayess-En snarled.
Abius crossed their arms and tutted. “I am NOT a legionless fool, I am quite successful without the crutch of the 798th Legion, thank you very much! And Arkiir is free to make their own damn choices! Considering how you keep on using Arkiir to boost your streaks, no wonder they no longer want to serve the 798th Legion…” Abius paused. “You had better not have sent someone to follow Arkiir home.”
“That is none of your business.”
“Did you ask someone to follow… their name was Arkiir?” Kazik butted in. “I thought you just wanted us to watch Abius and the date?”
Kayess-En didn’t answer. Abius growled, then lowered their voice. “What do you really want?”
“I want you out of my way and I do not want you stealing gladiators from me.”
“I am doing no such thing, and you are frankly bothering me!” Abius snarled. “You also have no business in following me or following Arkiir! In general, not just while we are working! You also have no right to drag Kazik into your insane schemes! First thing tomorrow, I am reporting your actions to General Kaiga, and I will go higher up the chain if I have to!”
Kayess-En hesitated, then grunted. She took Kazik by the hand then stormed off. Kazik waved innocently, not really sure what was going on, but understanding why Abius was angry.
Once the coast was clear, Abius was about to grab their communicator, but they heard another familiar sound. The gentle whoosh of someone stepping out of a shadow.
“You alright?” Kass immediately exclaimed, examining Abius.
“Were… were you stalking me as well?”
“No! No no no! Levik and I caught wind that Kayess-En and Kazik were coming here and I wanted to make sure nothing was going on, and it turns out, I was right! Do you need help? You kinda seemed to handle all of that yourself no problem but I recorded audio and stuff and-”
Abius put a hand on Kass’s shoulder. “I am fine. I dealt with myself. I have bigger concerns though.”
“Why?”
“Kayess-En did not answer properly about whether she had Arkiir followed or not. Arkiir has not lived here long, and it is a bit of a trot back to their place. I was just about to message Arkiir and make sure they are alright, but would you be able to make sure no one is following them?”
Kass nodded. “Of course! Where do they live? I can go and speak to them and-”
“Please do not speak to Arkiir, I do not want to worry them. I just want to make sure no one followed them home. I will call Arkiir and make sure they got home alright, and then I am going to call General Kaiga and report this behavior.”
“Ah, alright. Where does Arkiir live?”
Abius pulled up their communicator, opened up the map and showed Kass. Kass knew where that was. She looked up at Abius, smiled, saluted, then disappeared back into the shadow she had popped up from.
Once Kass was gone, Abius sighed to themselves, then sent Arkiir a text. Just a short one, thanking Arkiir for the date and asking them to text Abius back when they got home. Knowing there wasn’t much else Abius could do, they put their communicator away and started walking. Their home was a good ten minutes away by foot, and it was annoyingly warm.
“I hope this was just Kayess-En being dumb…” Abius muttered to themselves. “I do not want any damn trouble…”