“You rebuilding the city on your own?” Kass yawned as he watched Retvik moving rubble with his bare hands. “Like, completely?”
Retvik stopped what he was doing and wiped the sweat from his face. He had managed to get a lot done in the last few hours. Most of the roads were clear now. The buildings were a whole different story. Smashed windows, broken furniture, holes from where beings had punched or charged through them. It was a mess.
“If I have to, yes. But I have a little help.” Retvik picked up a chunk of concrete and tried fitting it in a hole in the ground, where it had originally been poured all those years ago. “What are you doing up, Kass? You should be in bed, resting, like everyone else who got infected.”
Kass shrugged. He didn’t know himself. He was completely and utterly wasted from the combination of sedatives and the after-effects of the antidote to the recent plague, yet here he was, upright and looking for someone to talk to.
“Are you looking for Gath?” Retvik asked.
“Oh? No. He let me out. I said I needed to walk for a bit and clear my head, he thought it’d be a good idea…” Kass picked up a couple of smaller pieces of rubble and moved them onto the pavement. “So ARE you doing most of this yourself?”
“Of course not! That would be silly. But I would at least like to have some of this all fixed… Either way though, Phovos is going to kill me.”
Kass blinked. “You, uh, really think Phovos will get bad at you because of all this? None of it was your fault. Kinda lucky really that we still have a city, to be honest. We ARE in Thanatian territories after all…”
Retvik nodded in agreement. “You are very right there, kid. Still, least I can do is get some of this done. I heard she’ll be coming back soon.”
“From where? Her friend Lokmahro? I swear they are secretly dating. Seems weird that a Ksifan would like a Thraki…” Kass muttered between yawns.
Retvik finished up what he was doing. He needed to take a short break. “I don’t see why it is weird.”
“Well…” Kass hesitated. “She’s this little green thing, he’s a giant winged beast.”
“Do you have a problem with Threan-types dating Ethran-types?”
“That’s different. We’re all still essentially the same species! All the bits still, you know, fit together!”
Retvik shook his head. “You misunderstand. Thanatians are like the way we used to be, lots and lots of different variations. They look different but they’re still the same.”
Kass sighed. He still thought it was weird, but Retvik had a point. “So Phovos is coming back? Few days?”
“A week or so. Although she might request that I stay with her for a bit longer. There is a LOT of work to do.”
“But after that, I assume she’s taking over again?”
“Yes.”
“And what will you do then?”
Retvik grinned. “Oh, I have plans…”