“Thank you, kid…”
“No worries, Retvik. Least I can do considering…”
“Don’t.”
“Sorry.”
Retvik waved as Kass dropped him off on the little path to his partner’s home. Kass revved the engine of his little hovercraft, wished Retvik well then sped off into the distance, probably back to his own little house on the other side of Palaestra.
Everything seemed a bit messy, as if Gath had failed to maintain the outside of the small bungalow house. Plant pots had been knocked over and there was dust and dirt everywhere from a recent wind storm. Retvik heaved his luggage onto one shoulder, then extended and primed his gunstaff. Just in case.
A couple of knocks on the door, and finally Gath answered. He peeked through a small crack, only opening the door slightly.
“Gath? It’s me.”
“Oh… Kass brought you here early? I asked if he could take you round town a bit or something… Can you give me an hour, let me straighten some things out?”
Retvik blinked a couple of times. This was not like Gath at all. Why did he not want to see him? It was clear though that Gath wasn’t going to let him in yet, so there was no point coming home to an argument.
“Very well. Could I at least have the keys to your ‘craft? I’d like to drop some of this luggage off at my place.”
The door opened a bit more, just enough so Gath could slip his huge, clawed hand through the gap to hand Retvik the keys. Once he’d done that, the door slammed shut, leaving Retvik out on his own.
Before heading straight back to the Bunker (Elksia had always called it that), Retvik decided to stop at a small shop, to buy some bread, meat and maybe some milk. It was just a standard corner shop, quite a tiny shop actually, but Retvik took his sweet time examining every shelf. It was seven in the evening, so most beings would be at home having dinner. The lone Vrekan shop keeper eyed Retvik nervously, up until he actually decided to buy something.
When he arrived at the Bunker, Elksia was already there. She’d just thrown her belongings on the floor and was busy making as much cake as she could muster.
“I thought you were staying with Gath?”
“I… wanted to drop some stuff off first.”
Elksia rolled her eyes then went back to what she was doing. She clearly wasn’t doing well and didn’t appreciate Retvik breaking her peace and quiet, so he put his stuff away as quickly as possible before heading out again.
“I’m not sure when I’ll be back, Elksia.”
“Take your time. Tenuk is coming home tomorrow.”
“Has he…”
“No.”
Elksia sniffed and said goodbye to Retvik. He gently closed the door behind him, then checked his watch. It had only been 40 minutes but he wanted to see Gath. He was pretty worried about him. A slow drive back helped Retvik calm down a little, but his mind couldn’t help but wonder what was wrong.
As he parked Gath’s hovercraft back in the garage, he could hear rummaging around inside. A sort of panicked, “he’s back!” rummaging sound. Retvik hesitated for knocking on the door.
After about three minutes of Gath not answering the door, he finally answered it, opening the door completely. He was wearing nothing but his own organic armour, his eyes heavy and red from a lack of sleep, his claws untrimmed. None of that bothered Retvik, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Gath.
“I am sorry for making you wait…” Gath muttered.
“I don’t care. I’m just glad to see you.”
“I look like shit.”
“I noticed.”
Retvik removed his armour and placed his gunstaff in the weapon stand as Gath closed the door behind him. But before Retvik could enter the living room, Gath grabbed him by the wrist.
“I want to say something to you before you go in there.”
Retvik nodded. “Of course.”
Gath sighed, his eyes not meeting Retvik’s directly. “Elksia told me what happened. That the High General had you arrested and forced you to fight. That Arkay is gone. That you… were pregnant… I’m not angry for you not telling me. I know you would have told me. Over the last month or so, I’ve not been very well. Sad. Depressed. New responsibilities. You were gone for a month as well. Luckily when you were arrested and taken away, Lokmahro stepped back in and dealt with things and no one really knew that you were arrested or anything… But I… I thought I would have to go through all of this alone… again…”
“I am so sorry…” A silvery tear dripped from Retvik’s eye. “I…”
“It’s not your fault. I don’t blame you. I… I’m rambling. I haven’t slept. Haven’t left the house since last week… I couldn’t leave the house, couldn’t leave it alone… I’m just going to show you…” Gath gave up trying to explain. He took Retvik by the hand and led him into the living room.
In the centre of the room, wrapped up in a nest of pillows, cushions and stuffed toys, was a single, translucent egg.