Levik grinned from ear to fluffy ear as he collapsed on the sofa of his new apartment. Sure, it was a tiny little place, but Levik didn’t care. The land lord wanted a pittance for it, since they believed the place to be cursed, but they didn’t ask any questions, and the location was good. It was located in the Skyan sub-district of Palaestra, not in the Spast district, but that was fine. Skyans weren’t much taller than Spasts, and, to them, Levik was old enough to be considered an adult.
Levik also thankfully didn’t need much stuff. The previous tenant had left a lot of stuff behind. Admittedly, Levik didn’t find out until after he started buying extra furniture that he needed that the apartment had been previously rented out by a Vohra of all things, but they had disappeared when the Corruption attacked. And the tenant before that, while they were a Skyan, they had died suddenly, of a heart attack. Levik wasn’t too concerned about that though, since the Skyan was apparently quite old, and heart attacks were the biggest killer of Threanics because their heavy organic plating made it very hard to resuscitate and restart a heart without a defibrillator.
That thought didn’t sit well on Levik’s mind, so he decided to think about something else. Thankfully, Levik was a rich Spast, and, since he was in a sub-district filled with mostly S-Class Skyans with low wage jobs (and most Skyans were poor compared to Spasts), he’d set up automatic payments for everything. Water, electric, internet, mobile, refuse, everything. Levik’s budgeting had gone better than planned, and this meant he had a LOT more money to spare than he expected.
Which was why Levik was going to spend a few days doing nothing but eat take-out and sit in front of the sofa, watching TV. Sure, Skyan food wasn’t that suitable for Spasts, but Levik had discovered a crepe place around the corner that did deliveries, and he could still buy things like honey and sugar at the shops, so, diet-wise, Levik was fine. And, the best thing of all, Levik had spoken to the pharmacy just down the road. The nice Skyan said she didn’t have the exact medication Levik needed, but she had some off-brand ones in case Levik got desperate, and would ask around to see if she could get them ordered in. The medication was a tad more expensive than Levik liked, but since everything else was so cheap, it wasn’t too much of a problem.
Really, Levik was proud of himself. He was being an adult. He WAS an adult. Sure, he was renting and he didn’t have a job yet, but that was fine. Baby steps. Levik had spent his whole life being told he was a stupid, mentally ill child and that everyone had to do everything for him, but no one ever let Levik do anything. Well, now he was doing everything himself. He was going to survive. No, better than that, he was going to thrive.
And, luckily, Levik had plans. He was going to get a job. He was going to be a gladiator. Sure, Levik didn’t have any real combat experience, but that was fine. His hero (and brother) Tanos didn’t have have any either. Sure, Tanos had been trained up by the great Lightbearer, but if Tanos could learn super fast, then Levik could too. Plus, no other Spast had ever stepped up to be a gladiator. Sure, there were Spasts who worked at the arenas, but they only worked in media-specific jobs. Even when Tenuk was at the peak of his popularity, the number of Spast gladiators remained at one.
Until that number dropped to zero.
Levik had expected to fall apart upon hearing that both his brothers had died. Admittedly, he hadn’t had time, what with him nearly dying, recovering in hospital and being disowned. But Levik had admittedly already mourned for the loss of his older brother once. This time, it was… slightly clearer what had happened, and Tanos had died a hero. Or, rather, disappeared as a hero. There were a lot of theories, but Levik liked the theory that the Allbirther took Tanos when she exiled herself. The Devil Serpent (that was a bit of a mean name for her, but the Spasts had never liked the Allbirther) had left because she was contaminated, and some folks thought she had taken other beings with her, because they were contaminated too. Either way, both of Levik’s brothers were heroes.
Also it turned out that Kohra was both alive and a deity now. And, apparently, Kohra had disowned their father, because their father had disowned Levik.
Levik sat up properly, then reached for his communicator. He needed to speak to Kohra. But he didn’t really know what to say. Or how he should get in touch. After all, Kohra was kinda busy. Instead, he decided to speak to someone else first. Someone he knew could give him some good advice. But before he did that, Levik placed an order for some crepes. He was hungry, after all. Once that was done, Levik turned his attention back to his phone.
The phone rang a few times too many, before someone picked up.
“Hello, Lord Prince, how are you?”
“Oh, sorry mister High Advisor, did I wake you?”
“Yes, but that is fine. I have been thinking about you.”
“Oh?” Levik smiled. He appreciated that. “What time is it for you right now?”
“0300 hours. I cannot speak long, I need to be up early, as Gath and I have a meeting tomorrow, and then we are heading back to Phos.”
“Ah that’s okay, I just wanted to call you and thank you for helping me with the flights to Portalia. Also, I just moved into my new place!”
“Wonderful. I am glad to hear you are doing well.”
“Couldn’t have done it without your help.”
A grunt. “You could have. You are a smart individual. You will be fine. And I am happy to help when I can. But I do… somewhat need to go back to sleep.”
Levik smiled. “No worries, Relkir! Hope you’re doing okay as well.”
“I am. I am just tired.”
“You recovered from your defence stance thingy?”
“I have, yes, but I am having some problems readjusting. Especially since vok are calling me a hero, and I do not remember what happened.”
“Heh, that sucks, but you should bask in the glory. Is your girlfriend alright?”
“Hah!” That laugh was unexpected. “Gath… being my girlfriend… That is funny, considering how large Gath is…”
“Oh, sorry, I forgot you use a different term.”
“Yes, we use the term poten-partner, as it is more gender-neutral. But Gath is also fine. They are back to full health, and they are snoring happily next to me right now.”
“That’s good to hear. So, you going back home soon?”
“Yes. Tomorrow. I am looking forward to seeing my sibling again. But I have a long, long day ahead of me.”
“Ah alright. I’ll let you sleep then, sorry for waking you!”
“Not a problem. Good night, Levik.”
Relkir quickly ended the call. Levik got it, Relkir was a busy person. But at least they seemed happy to hear from Levik. That was good. But Levik didn’t really get a chance to ask Relkir about…
With a sigh, Levik decided to just get on with it. He pulled up Kohra’s number from his favourites list, then hit the call button. Much to his dismay though, it seemed like Kohra’s communicator was off or something, he couldn’t get through. A second and third attempt ended the same way.
Clearly, Kohra was busy. He was a god, after all.
Someone knocked on the front door. Levik had forgotten about his order, and since the place was literally just down the road, it meant it didn’t take long. Of course, Levik gave the delivery guy, a purple-plated Skyan, a tip, but the Skyan gave Levik a funny look and tried to give the money back, saying that Levik had paid online.
“It’s a tip. For the fast delivery.”
“Um…” the Skyan stuttered. “You’ve already paid though.”
“It’s an extra little bonus for you, for doing a good job!” Levik explained. “Do Skyans not do tips?”
“No… Also, what’s a Spast doing living here?”
Levik shrugged. “I’m trying something new. But seriously, take the money.”
“I’m not sure I can.”
“It’s a donation!” Levik grinned, forcing the money into the Skyan’s hand as he took his order. “Have a nice day!”
Before the Skyan could argue further, Levik quickly closed the door. He headed to the kitchen, found some cutlery then sat down on the sofa, ready to eat his boxed crepe, with extra marshmallows and three kinds of chocolate sauce. However, before tucking in, Levik decided to try calling Kohra again.
Again, no response.
With one last sigh, Levik decided to send his brother a text message. Maybe he’d see that and respond later.
“Hey, little bro. Congrats on the new gig. Call me when you can. Love you lots. – big bro Levik”