“Fuck off, Ret-” Phovos spun around to see who was knocking on her door. With everything that had been going on lately, things on the Thantir Two had been rather busy, especially since they’d kinda picked up some new allies. While it had been lovely seeing Akah and Tahvra again, and Kal were a perfectly nice (if slightly loopy) team of Decay Lords, Phovos felt uneasy around the weird, tiny, mechanical, Lanex-like creature that had been wandering around. And, of course, everyone had been nearly killed by a Voidborn, so that hadn’t helped matters.
Really though, Phovos was angry and tired. With Seimeni having been briefly out of commission and Galyn still being completely out of it, Litvir had taken charge and he had somewhat overworked Phovos, mostly because she was the only person on board who had not been taken out by the Voidborn. That was fine. She’d spoken to the shadowy Rethan and Litvir had apologized and told her to take some time off. No, the problem was with Retvik, the being Phovos was supposed to be having a relationship with.
During the fight with the Voidborn, Retvik did as he always did and charged into combat, only to end up bloodied and beaten. And as Retvik had recovered from his injuries, he had… said things to Phovos. Sure, he wasn’t quite sound of mind when he’d said them, but those conversations had set off major red flags to Phovos, and she’d immediately backed out of the whole mess. Despite Retvik’s repeated attempts to make amends. Standing at the door though was an armour-plated being, but not the one Phovos was expecting.
“Sorry, are you busy?” Eksi asked politely, holding two bottles of diet soda and a hairbrush. “I can come back later if you are.”
Phovos poked her head out into the main hallway to see if anyone (especially Retvik) was around, then pulled Eksi into her bedroom, pulling the door shut behind her. Ever since the event with the Voidlord, Eksi had actually been doing very little. He’d been suffering from a light headache ever since he’d telepathically tricked that Voidborn into not killing them and since he’d saved everyone’s lives, Thantir tradition dictated that Eksi was excused from all the clean up afterwards. Apparently, according to Koh, the headache would go away with time, but still, Eksi wasn’t feeling great either.
“I’m not busy. Litvir said I could have a break and, by the Four, I am fucking taking it.”
“Heh… by the four…” Eksi repeated those words. “Sounds kinda silly now that we’re no longer in a universe. Doubly so when it turns out there were six of them and you saw the Voidlord Kenon die in person. And the fact that we’re all kinda gods now.”
Phovos grunted, not wanting to get into an argument about religion. “Why are you here, Eksi? Did someone send you to talk to me?”
Eksi shook his head. “No, I came here on my own. You know me, I’m an empath who likes helping people. And, out of everyone on this ship, you’re currently hurting the second most, so I came here to help.”
“That is… kind of you, but I don’t want help.”
“Still, I feel like you want to talk.”
Phovos sighed. “I… I do. I feel bad. But, like, Retvik and I, we just don’t mesh. At all. And I don’t think he even really loves me.”
“I’m pretty sure he does love you… Uh, mind if I sit down?” Eksi fidgeted awkwardly. Phovos nodded and they both sat down on her bed. “Thing is, Retvik’s a Rethavok, and despite appearances, the uplifted ones are mental train wrecks because they’re acutely aware that the rest of their kind are pretty stupid, and pretty much every Rethan is trained from birth to be a soldier and thus always be on guard. That means that softer emotions like love, the way you and I understand it, are pretty difficult for them. There’s a reason why 30% of all Skyan therapists worked with Rethans, we are small and weak enough that we don’t seem like a threat, allowing Rethans to open up and actually talk about how they are feeling.”
Phovos tutted, not believing Eksi. “When he was injured, he didn’t want me. He wanted Litvir. I went in to check on him and he wanted Litvir, not me. He wants things I can’t give him.”
“Like what?” Eksi asked.
“Like…” Phovos lowered her voice. There was an uneasy twang in her voice. “Like sex.”
Phovos waited a moment, expecting Eksi to be disgusted. But he simply shrugged.
“I thought you two were already sleeping together? Same way Tenuk and Elksia are?”
“We tried. It doesn’t work. We do other things instead. Like…”
“Considering you’re the Raptor, you get very nervous about intimacy…” Eksi blinked. “Oh. Fuck, I just worked it out. You’re exactly like Arkay.”
Phovos stared at Eksi, angrily demanding an explanation. “How the fuck am I like that deranged death god?”
“Litvir, Arkay and Retvik may be blood-bound, but Litvir wasn’t always in the picture. There were a good couple of months where it was just Retvik and Arkay, while Litvir was still going through the Decayling processing stuff. And, according to Litvir, Retvik and Arkay attempted a singular relationship that didn’t really go anywhere, most likely for the exact same reasons why you’re struggling with Retvik.”
“Yeah, but Arkay is a demented mess of a being and I like to think I’m mostly stable, just a bit… depressed…” Phovos sighed. She didn’t like this comparison.
“Oh, definitely, but you still check a lot of the other boxes. You’re small and hideously deadly, but you also have a heart of gold. But also you physically don’t match up at all. Arkay never matched up with Retvik either, and it didn’t work out. And, if I’m honest, that’s, well, perfectly fine.”
“What?”
“It’s fine that you don’t want a relationship with Retvik any more.”
Phovos took a deep breath. “I thought you were going to try and convince me to stay with Retvik or something.”
Eksi couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Why the fuck would I do that?”
“Because…” Phovos hesitated. “I… I don’t know. I suppose I kinda assumed people wanted me to get back with Retvik because he’s utterly miserable right now.”
“The only people upset about you and Retvik splitting up are you and Retvik…” Eksi hesitated as well. “And, in all honesty, it’s probably healthier that Retvik and Litvir get back together. Sure, it’ll take years for Litvir to fill the large, ex-partner-shaped-hole in Retvik’s heart, but they’re a better fit, they already have their weird blood-bond thing and they’re the same species.”
“Oh…” Phovos frowned, immediately feeling worse. “I forgot about Gath.”
Eksi frowned too. “Yeah, I did as well. Met General Gath during my DBA days, absolute unit. Still, Litvir’s a better fit than you could ever be. Or Arkay, for that matter.”
“But… I thought you and Litvir…”
“It’s purely a friends with benefits situation. That and conversational partners. If I get desperate, I have options.” Eksi turned back to Phovos. “Thing is, you kinda don’t have options, unless you’re into weirdly cold Lanex.”
Phovos allowed herself a small laugh. “Heh, Tenuk actually already tried that, back when the twelve of us were working for Kinisis. Akah said it was awkward as fuck. Then Tenuk and I tried dating but his shapeshifting kept on throwing me off.”
“And I thought my dating habits were weird!” Eksi beamed. “Then again, I kinda never really had a proper relationship, I’ve always been happy to just sleep around, so I can’t judge.”
Before Eksi could ramble further, there was a knock on the door. Eksi immediately got up, knowing exactly who it was. And by the way Eksi was acting, Phovos kinda knew as well. However, Phovos patted Eksi on the shoulder and sat him back down, before getting up and opening the door.
“Hi, Retvik.”
“Hello, Phovos, I…” Retvik glanced past Phovos, then sighed. “I came here to apologize to you. I have not treated you well lately and I understand that you wish for us to part ways. I am sorry that I have not been a good partner for you.”
Phovos smiled, just a little. “It’s alright. We tried. It didn’t work out. We’ll survive. I’m not angry. Not any more, at least.”
Retvik closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His breath was overly warm, as always. “That is… good, I guess. Thank you.”
The Raptor reached up and patted Retvik on the shoulder. “No worries. Are we still scheduled for that lesson in the Decayling Observatory later?”
“No. One of Kal, which ever one the green one is, will be hosting that lesson in my place. I will be doing some studying of my own, on top of trying to recover from this damn concussion of mine, the side-effects of which are… still lingering…” Retvik sighed again. “I will leave you to your break. Rest well, Phovos.”
“You too, Retvik. Thanks for being so calm about all of this.”
“Hmph. I have not been calm in the slightest…” Retvik grumbled as he wandered off. “Good bye…”
Phovos waited a moment, before closing the door and turning back to Eksi, who had been quietly listening in to the conversation.
“Hey, Eksi?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
Eksi grinned. “No worries. Just doing my job of helping people. Can I brush your mane now, please?”
Phovos made her way back to the bed and sat down. ” Yeah, of course. I like having my mane brushed…”