The six of them sat around the table eating various breakfast dishes. While Retvik and Gath chowed down on sausages and mashed root vegetables, Vel, Elksia and Kass took bites out of their bacon and kotopoul eggs. Psiksi was eating a bowl of porridge with a vast amount of honey on top.
“Well, this is… pleasant!” Psiksi smiled as he reached for more sachets of honey to put on his food. He hadn’t smiled in a while, so this was a bit of a first for him.
“Glad I invited you?” Kass asked.
“I am…”
Retvik looked up, as if he was about to say something, then seemingly changed his mind. Kass was about to ask him about it when Tenuk walked in, carrying a large tray of food. Clearly, Tenuk didn’t properly understand the idea of a 3 Evra all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet.
“Are you going to eat all that?” Gath asked.
“Probably,” Tenuk grinned. “I can be a bottomless pit at times!” Tenuk sat down next to Psiksi, towering over the little Threan-type. “Sorry I am late. Would have teleported in, but I didn’t know where this place was. I mean, a cheap buffet in the middle of neutral territory, how was I to know?”
“Did you not get the directions I sent you?” Elksia asked amidst mouthfuls of bacon.
Tenuk shrugged as he tucked into a large pile of pancakes. “I don’t remember. Oh well…” Elksia watched as Tenuk took some of his bacon, placed it on a pancake, poured a sachet of syrup all over it then wrapped the pancake up and stuffed it in his mouth.
Vel prodded Elksia. “Did you see that, dear?”
“I did… I want to try that!” Elksia leaped from her seat, taking Vel and her plate with her. Retvik and Gath both smiled, while Kass reached for one of Psiksi’s sachets of honey.
“So…” Psiksi stuttered slightly. “Do you do this often?”
“Used to be once a month…” Retvik sighed. “Normally it would be…” The tired Rethan hesitated. “… Just the three of us. We would all stuff our faces. Tenuk never came because he always claimed he didn’t need food. Guess we were wrong.”
Psiksi blinked. One of Tenuk’s platefuls would be two meals for him. Maybe it was because Tenuk was of Deitic origin. As far as Psiksi was aware, they didn’t need to eat though.
“So you used to bring Arkay here?”
“Yes…” Retvik sighed again. “May I ask you a question, little one?”
Psiksi nodded. He had an idea what Retvik would say. Ever since Arkay died, he had been overly kind to Psiksi, treating him as if they had been friends for as long as Retvik and Arkay had. He could see why, Psiksi was Arkay’s younger brother and they had a lot in common.
“Are you and Kass…”
“NO!” Kass rudely interrupted. “Not yet. Too soon, Retvik.”
“You say that,” Psiksi butted in. “I’m interested.”
“But you and Fotin…”
Psiksi smiled. “Turns out we weren’t as compatible as we thought. Fotin constantly wanted to go camping and get high, I’m not into that.”
Kass calmed down and apologised, then got up to get more food. Psiksi continued to smile, before finishing off his own porridge and getting up to join Kass. Meanwhile, Vel and Elksia had returned to the table.
“What was all that about?” Vel scratched his head.
“Nothing,” Retvik sighed.
“Retvik asked if Psiksi and Kass were considering dating,” Gath explained.
“THEY SHOULD!” Elksia beamed through mouthfuls of bacon, pancakes and syrup. All Vel could do was shrug and agree, ignoring the mess his boyfriend was making
“He’s right. Kass and Psiksi would do well together. No excess baggage, no arguments and a lot more in common. Psiksi is also less obviously on guard all the time. As if his Ksa training was different to that of other Ksa.”
Retvik leaned forward, whispering. “That is because he is different.”
“Yet you still feel motherly feelings towards Psiksi.”
“We do,” Gath grinned. “You should nudge Kass though. Help them get together.”
“Isn’t it too early though?” Tenuk asked, his plate completely empty. “Also, you guys want anything?”
Everyone shook their heads. Tenuk tutted then headed off back to the buffet. “Suit yourselves.”
Kass and Psiksi returned to the table, sharing a bowl of ice cream. They didn’t normally serve ice cream that early, but Kass had been coming to this place for years, so he probably just asked the staff. Both of them were smiling.
“What’s up?” Kass asked.
“Oh, nothing!” Elksia waved at the couple as they sat back down. She noticed that Kass had loosened up. Maybe he and Psiksi had had a chat in private. “We were just talking about meeting up more often.”
“That’s a great idea!” Psiksi grinned. “This has been splendid.”