Verlais sat wearily as the world rushed by outside. Ever since he and his new friends had become famous, he’d been so damn busy. Constant briefings and debriefings with Vrekan authorities, conversations with Portalian authorities, vok of all shapes and sizes wanting to see and greet and speak with him. A few wanted to sleep with him as well. For some reason Verlais was the face of the New Dessaron and now his life was a whirlwind of fame.
As he sat in the cafe, sipping a now cold caffiene beverage, Verlais thought about all that had happened. Really, him being the face of the team was really weird. But the more he thought about it, he could see why. Out of all of them, he was the only ‘standard’ one. He was a member of the Myst, but a very low-ranking one. Meanwhile Ct’Era was a former queen, Kindyna was the Royal Spy of the Temthans and Arksi was a former Ξ-Class Ksa, which, while obscure to most, was high-ranking to Rethans. He was also probably the most attractive. Conventionally at least. Arksi was small and scrawny and married, Kindyna looked more like a porn star (did Thanatians even have pornography?) and Ct’Era was… Well, she was a Banikan and not many people liked Banikans until Ct’Era made a name for herself.
Outside, the streets were still busy. Not so much with Vrekans, Rethans and Thanatians all going home, but a larger variety of races had taken to the pavements, all shopping for gifts and the like. The only race not present was the Vrekans. Despite all those years living alongside other races, the Vrekans never got round to celebrating a winter holiday.
They just didn’t believe in it, really. Winter was always a time of strife. Vrekans had always been too busy. They had their celebrations in Spring, the Zestrofi. The return of the warm weather, the flowers blooming, everything being fertile. Even then, it was more of a day-long orgy than any sort of real celebration. Speaking of which, Verlais was almost guaranteed to get some next year…
Verlais’s communicator buzzed. He’d set it to ignore every notification apart from those from his fellow Kronaron. A quick glance informed him that it was Arksi. With a sigh, he opened the message.
“Arksi (17:32) You decided yet?”
Verlais sighed. Arksi had been pestering him for days now. They’d been invited to a Macromera celebration at the home of the ‘original’ Dessaron. The friendly Rethan General Retvik had asked him, and he’d said he would think about it. Arksi said he was going straight away, and that he was going to spend the week afterwards with his husband, as they couldn’t get flights for Nenth. The last thing Arksi wanted to currently was get on a shuttle.
Really, Verlais didn’t understand why General Retvik had invited him. He was a Vrekan and this was a predominantly Rethan event. He had no place there.
Then again, Verlais had nothing better to do. Most Vrekans generally stayed indoors during many of the other races’ holidays. Vrekans weren’t really liked. It just seemed so weird that a Rethan would want a Vrekan around.
With a grunt, Verlais tapped a reply and sent it to Arksi.
“Verlais (17:33) We’ll see. Still thinking about it.”
A reply came back almost instantly.
“Arksi (17:33) Well hurry up.”
A second message quickly followed.
“Arksk (17:34) You don’t need to come for all three days if you don’t want to. But it’s better than spending all that time on your own!”
Verlais sighed again. He could go. Maybe it would be fun. Three days of eating and drinking, as was Rethan tradition, may have been a bit too much for Verlais, but perhaps one day might be nice. It couldn’t be the 24th though, he had a meeting to attend to.
“Verlais (17:34) Can I just come for the 25th?”
He sats back in his chair and waited for a response.
“Arksi (17:34) Of course! 25th is best day.”
Verlais smiled. He had no idea what to expect. From what Arksi had said in the past, Macromera was mostly just eating and drinking. Maybe he should ask Arksi for more information.
“Verlais (17:35) Is there anything I need to know? Wear? Bring?”
This time, Arksi took a little longer to reply.
“Arksi (17:36) If you want, you can bring a bottle of something, but otherwise, wear comfy things and aim to arrive at about 09:30. I’ll give Retvik a call, tell him you are definitely coming.”
Verlais smiled and finished the rest of his drink, before sending one last message.
“Verlais (17:37) Wonderful. I’ll see you on Sunday!”