“I believe your brother is dating the Panelix…”
Tenuk glanced up from his work. Retvik was standing over him, holding a large file which he was desperate to slam on top of Tenuk’s own paperwork.
“So?”
“That is dangerous.”
Tenuk sighed, then moved his stuff out of the way so that Retvik could put down his file. Retvik did just that, opening it up to a page featuring a picture of Kohra walking alongside some weird, floating sea creature that was about the size of a small pet canine.
“Have you been spying on my brother?” Tenuk finally asked, not sure what else he could say.
“Yes. I have been keeping an eye on all of them. I take it from your nonchalant response that you already knew your brother was conversing with a deity and did not inform me of that.” Retvik’s words rang with a rather accusatory tone. “In fact, the New Dessaron, as they have been dubbed by some media outlets, seem to be overly connected with the four main deities in general. Have you seen the Thraki that the Raptor has been spotted roaming around the town with?”
Tenuk didn’t answer. He continued flicking through the file. The detail was scarily impressive. Actually, it was all scarily impressive, especially since Retvik did not seem like the sort capable of sleuthing around. What was even weirder though was that Retvik had printed this all off.
“I assume you have a digital version. You didn’t drag Elksia or Psiksi into this, did you?”
“Sourced it all myself. Backed up twice. But paper is often more persuasive,” Retvik explained. “You would not have liked me dragging you to my computer. As you can see from my work, three out of four of the new Dessaron have had advanced connections with the four deities. Only Timik has held off from any advanced relationships, but that has not stopped the Allbirther from pressuring him with bribes. And since he is a Temthan, he will eventually give in. Temthans are not known for their strong wills.”
With a tut, Tenuk browsed some more of the pages. “Huh. The cute Skyavok is dating the cute god that looks like a Skyavok?”
“Yes, it does seem that Arkadin and Kayen do share some common interests.”
“That’s good.”
Retvik grunted. “Did you just suggest that this situation is… good?”
“Yeah…”
The heavily armoured Rethavok growled under his breath, then took several more, deeper breaths to calm himself down. “Tenuk… could you please explain why this situation could be considered ‘good’?”
Tenuk simply shrugged. “Spending time with another vok grounds you. Makes you less egotistical and more open-minded, and you think about others more than yourself. That’s what happened with you and Gath, right?”
Retvik grunted. “Yes, you are correct in that scenario, but how does that apply to deities?”
“We know from experience that Arkadin is actually pretty docile and vokaic, he understands mortality and morality and he’s as grounded as you and I. If Arkadin hadn’t had a relationship with you, me and Elksia, he would probably be more aggressive. We aren’t so sure about the other deities but surely the same applies to them?”
“Are you suggesting that…”
“I am suggesting that deities dating mortals will help reground them in reality and give then a better understanding of our mortal plight. And at the same time, while the Personifications are messing around with mortals, they’re far less likely to, I don’t know, try and kill each other and attempt to take over the universe.”
Retvik hesitated, then settled down. “I guess you are right. Violence is not always the result of gods meeting mortals…”
Tenuk smiled and dragged a chair over. Retvik tutted, then sat down next to Tenuk. “It’s alright, Retvik. Next time though, please ask me before you go spying on my brother, okay?”
“Of course. My apologies, Tenuk…” Retvik trailed off. “You must admit though, I did a very good job with my espionage work, did I not?”