“Are you alright, Kohra?”
Kohra looked up, then further up. He’d forgotten how tall Kayen was. Kayen wasn’t tall, but he was now taller than Kohra.
“No.”
“Do you need, like, some water or something?”
“No, no thank you.”
Kayen shrugged as he sat down next to Kohra. “I’ve not seen you like this before. Only ever seen you when you look like a Rethavok.”
“This is what I normally look like. I think… Things are really fuzzy right now…” Kohra looked at his arms. They looked normal, but he couldn’t remember if he’d had a scar on his left elbow or not.
“So…” Kayen looked concerned. Kohra wondered whether he was genuinely concerned or not. “What’s actually wrong with you? Is this kinda normal when a Kronospast gets drugged? Because I’ve been hinting at the others that maybe we need to get you to a medic and they were both like “maybe you should ask Kohra, he might not want to”. You look rough as heck, I think we should take you.”
It was clear that Kayen did care. But he didn’t know much about Kronospasts. As memories slowly started to come back, Kohra remembered that the Kronospasts and the Skyavok weren’t exactly allies. So this had to be genuine.
“I got given a dose of sedatives meant to knock out someone twice my height and weight.”
“That’s why I suggested we take you to a medic.”
Kohra took a long, deep breath. He was reminded of the time he met Kayen for the first time. A scared, little Skyavok. Hold old was Kayen again? Did he even know?
“Can’t.”
“Why not? There’s Skyan hospitals in Palaestra and Rethavok and Ksithan hospitals all over…”
“They don’t have the equipment required to detox a Kronospast. Don’t want to anyway. It’s like being strained through a sieve.”
“This has happened to you before?”
Kohra nodded. He found it amusing that one of the first memories to come back to him was of when he’d gotten black-out drunk when he was younger and got stuck in the form of half a Thraki. Him and… Levik… His brother… They were in those healing chambers for days.
“Maybe he… never healed up properly…”
“Who are you talking about, Kohra?”
Kohra blinked. In this drugged state, he was struggling. Couldn’t quite work out whether he was thinking or talking. “My brother Levik.”
“I thought your brother was called Tenuk or Tahnos or something.”
“No, my other brother. He… ran long before Tahnahos did. The last I heard of him, he was spending his days living as a Vohra or something.” Kohra reached for his communicator, hesitated then put his hand back in his lap. “I wonder how he’s doing these days.”
“He’s probably fine. We’re more worried about you.”
With a sigh, Kohra looked at Kayen. “I’ll be fine. What are the others doing?”
Kayen shrugged again. He seemed to do that a lot. “They’re going over the data we collected. Phovos is calling her lawyer and asking how we can deal with the whole thing. But seriously Kohra, are you sure you’re alright?”
“I’m fine…” Kohra smiled. “I just need to sit and think for a bit.”
“Is there anything I can get you?”
Kohra glanced towards the kitchen. “A strong coffee would do me wonders…”
Kayen smiled back. “Sure, five sugars and milk, yes?”
“Yes please. Thanks, mate.”