Psiksi sat on the edge of the little tree house, unsure what to do with himself. He was supposed to be visiting local Rethan villages and trying to convince them that they should register to vote (and potentially get them to vote for his brother) but Psiksi just couldn’t be bothered. He’d only managed to convince two people so far, and one of them said he’d ‘probably vote for Photeianos like everyone else does’, which was disheartening. He’d only been at it for a few days, but his success rate was bothering him.
On the plus side, it meant he didn’t need to go on the campaign trail alongside Elkay and everyone else. If it was just the K-Class and a few others, Psiksi would have been fine, but because of Elkay’s choice in running mate, the V-Class were tagging along as well. Then there was all the people who were also coming along, assistances, friends, big names and celebrities, reporters and photographers, all sorts, all hounding them.
No, Psiksi couldn’t do it. He was always supposed to guard a single location. That’s what he enjoyed. Dull but simple. Getting Rethans registered wasn’t dull and simple, but it was better than all that campaigning nonsense.
So there he was, just sitting there. Behind him, a small group of brightly coloured Rethans muttered about goodness knows what. Two of them were the Rethans that Psiksi had managed to convince to register. Out of the other three, one of them wasn’t really participating, just listening. That one happened to be Psiksi’s older brother Arkay. Well, half-brother. The other two, Psiksi didn’t really know at all, but one of them was really cute.
Psiksi rolled his eyes. Although everyone saw him as a super nice and awesome person, deep down, he was never so happy. He always felt a twinge of self-hatred whenever he considered relationships. The only one he had ever had, it was… a disaster wasn’t good enough to describe it. He’d never really recovered.
“Psiksi?”
The little green Rethan looked up to see who was talking. It was the really cute guy. Psiksi swallowed, not sure what to say.
“Uh, hi?”
The cute Rethan sat down next to Psiksi. “Sorry about the wait. We all totally want you to join our League of Brightly Coloured Rethans. Except Aysee, who still wants Fanati to join.”
“I don’t even know who Fanati is…” Psiksi shrugged. “I… I don’t know your name…”
The Rethan, in his bright red armour, with bright red eyes and what Psiksi swore were red claws and teeth, smiled. “I’m sorry, I didn’t tell you. I’m Fotin. Aysee’s the white guy in there, Thalass is my old buddy in blue. Fanati… She was Kass’s ex-partner. And Aysee’s ex-partner, but he’s still friends with her. She’s… a bitch.”
Psiksi tutted. “I know what that’s like.”
Fotin smiled. “I guess you’ve been in iffy relationships too?”
“Just the one. I kinda said never again… But…”
“But?”
Psiksi paused. A big part of him wanted to remain silent, he didn’t want to go through more potential pain. But a tiny part of him was saying it was okay, that Fotin might be a decent Rethan.
“Are you scared to have a new relationship in case it all goes bad?” Fotin interrupted.
“… Yes… It’s so silly. I’m a fucking Ksa and the only things I am scared of are my brothers dying and being in a relationship.”
“Well… I promise I’d never hurt you. If anything, I’m terrified of doing that. You could, like, kill me.”
“With ease, actually.”
Fotin flinched at the thought, but quickly relaxed. “Oh well. You know what I mean. I don’t think it would ever come to that though…”
Psiksi blinked, feeling confused. Did the super awesome cute Rethan just suggest he was interested in him?
“Can we… go on a date maybe?” Psiksi finally stuttered.
“I’d love to go on a date,” Fotin smiled. “That would be awesome.”