The vehicle parking area was mostly empty now, but Kass was too lazy to move his hovercraft. He’d been waiting there for about an hour now, and was idly fiddling with the electric roof and windows to pass the time. But finally, he spotted a familiar figure walking over, their armour shining under the orange street lights.
“You took your time!” Kass smiled as Arkay opened the passenger side door, threw a bag into the back seats then climbed in, slamming the door shut behind him.
“Security…”
“How so?”
Arkay rolled his eyes. “Apparently my ID wasn’t enough for the Cassid security tonight. It’s fine when any other race do security at the space port, but the Cassids are always like “oh shit he’s armed, we should arrest him” even though I have a carry license for both my blade and my rifle, not to mention my Ksa ID that should allow me to pass without even needing to go through security!”
Kass smiled again, and started the engine. “I assume the flight wasn’t good. You’re in a particular mood this evening.”
“It was shit.”
“How so?”
Arkay’s bad mood wasn’t a good sign. Kass decided to let him talk it out as they pulled out of the parking area, onto the main motorway back to Palaestra. It would be a somewhat long drive, three or four hours, but it was cheaper (and often easier) than getting a connecting flight to the Vriskera local port.
“Oh, don’t get me started. It’s supposed to be a five hour flight from Threa to Portalia, fricking flight was delayed for an hour because some idiot was unable to tell the time. At least security in the Thre-Vretania space port was alright, they just waved me through as always. But half the shops were closed because no one’s travelling right now, all celebrations, so I spent my two hours before the flight sitting on my own. Then I spent the entire flight pretty much on my own. For a ship with a capacity to carry 500 people, I don’t think I saw more than 50. What a waste…”
Kass shrugged. “You’re upset the ship was wasteful?”
“The films were shit as well. Some stupid Cassid documentary then what was essentially a slide show of pretty pictures. I was tempted to buy in-flight olanet connections but you know how much they wanted?”
“How much?”
“Thirty evra for three hours.”
“Fuck me.”
Arkay grunted. “Maybe later…”
All Kass could do was smile. “Was that a…”
“Just… Gah…” Arkay was clearly tired. “This is hard to explain…”
“We’ve got several hours ahead of us.”
“I know…” Arkay’s voice trailed off. “It’s just… I saw Teekay. He’s… He’s the reason why we never really got together. Because I’ve always loved him, but his love… Some days he loves me, some days he doesn’t. And he’s been doing this for the last two years.”
Kass remained quiet, and concentrated on the road. It was mostly empty, but even in the more populated and civilized neutral areas, bad drivers were ten a penny. One could jump out at any second.
“A lot of this is my fault. I haven’t been around for Teekay. He always put his duty above everything, except when I was around. But I haven’t been, I’ve been dicking around here on Portalia. Essentially on vacation, then getting annoyed when he doesn’t have time for me. So then I fall back on you, and as much as I like you, I’m too scared to commit just in case Teekay changes his mind.”
“Hang on!” Kass exclaimed as he pulled over and flicked on the indicators. “Teekay has been stringing you along for two years now?”
“Yes.”
“Dude…”
“What?”
“I know I’m basically his competition and it’s uncharitable of me to say this, but you gotta fucking drop him.”
Arkay grunted, then leaned back in his seat. “But…”
“I mean it, Arkay. You ain’t gonna be young forever. You’re both twenty five now, he’ll just keep on stringing you along until it suits him. And that might be like ten years down the line. Are you really going to hold yourself back for ten years, for some guy who’s not even sure he loves you?”
“I…”
“You shouldn’t.”
“You’re just…”
“I wouldn’t care if you said you’re not interested. I’d be a little sad for a bit, but I’d move on and find someone else. It’s bloody easy from where I’m standing. What bothers me is that my friend is being hurt. Teekay probably doesn’t even realise he’s doing it. You’ve been through enough pain though. You deserve someone who loves you the same way you love Teekay.”
Arkay didn’t say anything. Kass didn’t expect him to. He knew Arkay was tired, and chances are, his rant was probably the last thing he needed. If only he had known though, he would have tried to shake Arkay out of all this earlier.
Briefly adjusting his mirror, Kass pulled back onto the motorway. Being late at night, he could get away with going a little faster than normal.
“Would you like me to turn on the sound player?” Kass eventually asked, as the silence began to bite at his heels.
“No thank you…” Arkay sniffed, before going back to his silence.
After a few minutes of long, dark silence, occasionally broken by the sound of an indicator or Kass flicking the headlights to dipped and back to full beam, Arkay finally gained the ability to speak again.
“I’m sorry.”
“What for?”
“I kinda… wasted you…”
“It’s fine, Arkay. You’re not the only one who’s chased tail and never caught it. I mean, you could always make it up to me, if you wanted to. Not like I’m going anywhere any time soon…”
Arkay smiled, ever so slightly. “What do you have in mind?”
Kass glanced at Arkay, then quickly returned his focus to the road. “Well, tomorrow, you’re going to be jet-lagged as fuck, plus I’ve got stuff to do, Gath wants me to finalize a bunch of stuff because he’s dropping the DBA scene again. But how about we go somewhere nice on Friday? There’s this Cassid place I really want to try. Tsainiz, they call it. I’ll treat you.”
“That sounds nice… What time?”
“8-ish?”
“Sure! It’s a date! You’ve gotta send me directions though, got no clue where this restaurant is.” Arkay’s smile turned into a loud yawn. He quickly covered his mouth, slightly embarrassed, but Kass just grinned at him.
“That’s fine, not sure exactly where it is myself. Now I think you should get some sleep.”
“Good idea…” Arkay yawned again. “Wake me when we get home?”
“Of course. Sleep well.”
“Thanks…”