Seeking Shelter In An Apartment Block

“Um, there’s someone at the door.”

Kayel blinked, then sighed. He was busy making out with a super hot death god, the first person Kayel had properly seduced in a long time, and just as things were about to get naked and very sexy, something had to ruin it.

“Mind telling me who it is before I get up and answer, mister all-knowing Thantophor?” Kayel hissed slightly, just as a knocking sound echoed through the little apartment.

“Someone called Kayess-Ksi. I don’t know who that is though…” Arkay also sighed. “I kinda shouldn’t be seen…”

Kayel took a deep breath, then climbed off of Arkay and threw on a hoodie so he could answer ther door.. “Please don’t leave. Just, I don’t know… just don’t leave.”

Arkay hesitated, pulled a blanket over himself then turned into a cat and hid under the bed, taking the blanket with him. That whole series of events kinda disturbed Kayel, but he shook his head and decided to just get things over with and open the front door.

As Arkay had mentioned, a Skyan called Kayess-Ksi was at the door. Kayess-Ksi was a cute little purple-plated Skyan, who worked as a sub for the Ξ-Class gladiator teams. She looked rather awkward, standing there though. Most people shortened her name to Kass though, because Kayess-Ksi leaned far more feminine than most Skyan gladiators.

“Hello…” Kass stuttered.

“Hi. What are you doing here?” Kayel got straight to the point.

“I’m sorry… were you busy? I… I heard voices. I… I can leave if you want…”

Kayel sighed again. There was clearly something troubling Kass. “What’s wrong? You clearly came here for a reason. Don’t know how you got my address though.”

“Um, well… I kinda… collect info of other people… Talok gave me your address… Can I, just, stay here for a bit, for five minutes?”

Suddenly, something squeaked behind Kayel. He turned around to see Arkay, still in cat form, meowing at him. Realizing what the kitty was hinting at, Kayel stepped to one side and let Kass in.

“Of course… care to tell me what’s going on?”

Kass entered the main living room. The place was admittedly a mess, but she didn’t seem to care. Arkay immediately trotted up to her and rubbed up against her legs.

“Your… your cat is cute…” Kass muttered as she awkwardly stepped over Arkay and sat down on the sofa. Arkay instantly jumped up and sat next to her, purring loudly. “Didn’t know you had one. Is it an indoor cat?”

Kayel frowned, then nodded. “Yeah. Stray kitty I found outside and raised. It’s a bit mean keeping it indoors, but, well, better than letting it murder all the local wildlife. Is something wrong? You don’t seem right.”

Kass didn’t answer and instead stared at the floor. Arkay nuzzled up against her. Kayel didn’t like that and hissed at Arkay, which made Arkay nuzzle Kass even more. A sharp telepathic message told Kayel to be nice and fetch Kass a drink, since she was clearly distressed.

“So…” Kayel tried again. “What’s wrong? Also, Arkay clearly likes you. He normally hides when people come by.”

“You…” Kass looked yup at Kayel and blinked. “You named your cat after our Silent Blade?”

“Mhm. Thought it’d be funny. He’s as black as shadows and has yellow eyes. Most cats around here are multicoloured. Anyway, what’s wrong? You’re a mess right now.”

Kass sniffed, then rubbed her eyes. “Bad date. Really bad date. Thought it’d just be a one-off fling thing, you know, fan club stuff, but we met at a cafe and chatted and I got bad vibes off the guy and tried to end it early. Was polite, said goodbye, started walking home. Except the dude started following me and shouting at me. I ducked through a shadow to put some distance, remembered you lived nearby and came here hoping to hide for a bit.”

Kayel put an arm around Kass. “That’s awful! You’re free to stay here as long as you like, until that bastard buggers off. Do you want to me to help you file a report or something?”

Kass paused. “I thought you had… problems with the R-Class?”

“I do, I really do, but I’ll put my problems aside if you need help…” Kayel glanced at Arkay, who had snuggled up to Kass and was purring very loudly. This did seem to make Kass feel a bit better. Kayel received a telepathic messaging, suggesting that Kayel get Kass to talk more. “At the very least, can you tell me this creep’s name? Psiksi’s friendly with the gladiator fan club mods, and we can get this asshole blocked.”

“Ugh… Thing is… the guy’s called Gee-Essar. He’s both R-Class, high-ranked and attractive. One of those super attractive bastards with black and gold plating who probably has family in N-Class. Which is why I kinda don’t want to report it…”

“I… uh… I… I get that… I totally get that…” Kayel stuttered. “I mean, I reported what happened to me to the Ksithan authorities because I was terrified of… what happened.”

“What… what actually happened?” Kass asked.

“I don’t really remember. I was just… helping on reception before a lesson. My friend Efess, her husband was ill and she’d stepped outside to call him on her phone. Place got raided, said they were arresting everyone in the family planning centre on prostitution charges, the officer interrogating me realized I was former K-Class and they just shoved a gun into my stomach and filled me with bullets. Woke up in hospital, being guarded by Retvik, and everyone else was dead. The only information I could give was an R-Class name, Jayessar, and it turned out to be fake.”

Kass’s eyes widened. “Wow… No fucking wonder you’re scared of R-Class… Did they ever find out who did it?”

“No, not really. The belief is that it was a secret Spast cult, but nothing was really proven…” Kayel trailed off, then shook his head. “Enough of me though. I want to talk about you. And make you feel better.”

Arkay purred some more, then nuzzled Kass’s hand.

“Uh, Arkay wants you to feel better too. He’s not normally this playful, so you must be special…” Kayel added. “Have you eaten or anything?”

“Ugh… I don’t want to eat. I kinda ate something before the date, because it was just for coffee and cookies, you know? I kinda just wanna go home, but I don’t know exactly how far away my place is to be able to shadowjump back there.”

“I have a dark shadow you can use, and I’ve got Sky.Maps. Or I can just drive you home.”

“Can you…” Kass hesitated. “Can you call me a taxi please? Would probably be safer than you driving me home. Don’t want you getting pulled over or something over some bullshit by some R-Class buddy of his because he’s watching the place. And neither of us want to end up in Zero Zero from a bad shadowjump.”

“Of course!” Kayel smiled. He grabbed his communicator and opened up the local taxi app. “Do you want me to call you a Ksithan taxi? It’s a tad more expensive but I’ll cover for it, and it might be a bit safer too. Ksithans have separate compartments in their taxis and are super serious about safety.”

“You’d do that?”

Kayel nodded as he looked up the closest Ksithan taxi, then handed his communicator to Kass. “Yes, of course. That’s what we do for each other, we help each other! Here, enter your address, and when they confirm, I’ll walk you downstairs to the car.”

Kass smiled as well. “Thank you, Kayel, you’re the best. Totally should have asked you on a date instead but I guess I got too curious or greedy or something.”

Nah, this isn’t your fault. You just happened to run into an asshole, you can’t tell that until you meet someone in person. As for me? Well, maybe some other time, when you’re not distressed.

“Hah, yeah…” Kass trailed off. “I feel… awful for asking… but… you’re close with Psiksi, right?”

Kayel blinked, then snorted. “Yeah. You like him too, right?”

“I do. He’s… so hot.”

“Totally. Want me to put in a good word for you?”

Kass’s eyes lit up. “You… you’d do that? Damn, you’re, like, the best… But also, you’re L-Class, why aren’t you beating people off with a stick?”

“I’m former K-Class, I’m a former Phantasma and I’m the only adult survivor of a massacre. Too much baggage…” Kayel’s communicator beeped, distracting him. He got up and helped Kass to her feet. “Oh. Your taxi is here. Sorry you had a bad date, but don’t worry, I’ll have a chat with Psiksi, I’m sure he’d love a date. Anyway, let me walk you downstairs.”

“Thank you.”

Arkay suddenly jumped up and followed Kayel and Kass to the door, meowing at them both. Kayel paused, then put his arm out so Arkay could climb up and sit on his shoulder.

“Your cat is so weird…” Kass giggled. “Adorable, but weird.”

Kayel rolled his eyes as he grabbed his keys. “Yeah, he really is. Let’s get you home.”

Everyone headed downstairs, taking the lift to the ground floor. As promised, the Ksithan taxi Kayel had called for was there, in the middle of a three point turn to get out from the dead end street Kayel lived in.

“Call me if you need me, alright?” Kayel grunted as he helped Kass into the back of the car. “Anything you need. Also, can you text me when you get home, so I know you’re safe, if that’s alright?”

“Thank you so much…” Kass smiled weakly. “Yeah, I’ll text you. Stay safe, Kayel.”

“You too, Kass.”

Kass waved as the taxi drove off and disappeared around the corner. Once she was gone, Kayel sighed, then made his way back inside, double-checking to lock the front door.

“She’s cute!” Arkay smiled as he turned back into a more Skyavok shape.

“She is, yes.”

“Do you mind if I go and do something quick?”

Kayel paused and turned to Arkay. “What do you mean?”

“I saw the guy. Well, I sensed the guy.”

“Fuck, Arkay, please, don’t kill him or anything! I don’t need cops around here.”

Arkay put his hands on his hips and tutted. “Mate, since when have I ever been that murderous? No, I’m just going to stalk him and scare the piss out him, give him a taste of his own medicine.”

“Oh…” Kayel paused again. “Alright. You go do that. Can we, like, order take out or something afterwards though?”

“Yeah, of course!” Arkay’s smile turned into a grin and he stepped into a nearby shadow. “I shan’t be long. Got a tiny bit of justice to deliver…”