Tenuk didn’t expect to wake up and see a yellow blur next to him. As his eyes focused, Tenuk realized that, no, the yellow blur wasn’t part of the hospital room he was currently in, it was in fact his friend Kayel.
“Uh… hi…” Tenuk was groggy, and his stomach felt weird. As he glanced down, Tenuk noticed that a thin line had been shaved down his chest. Clearly, Tenuk had been cut open. The memories of getting shot very suddenly returned. “What happened? How did you get here?”
“Nyssi called me and told us what happened. Retvik was getting defensive-y and I shadowjumped us both here to see you.”
“Is Retvik alright?” Tenuk asked. “And is Nyssi okay?”
Kayel laughed somewhat. “Mate, Retvik’s fine, he’s standing outside the door, doing what Rethans do best. Nyssi’s fine too, angry though, and a bit shell-shocked. She feels uneasy though and I don’t blame her. Anyway, welcome to the coffee club.”
Tenuk blinked all four of his eyes, then immediately panicked, looking down at himself again. He calmed down though as he realized he was still two-tone blue. “I… I was scared I’d… gone back to my old colours…”
“Apparently your furry mane turned white, but Nyssi said you remained dark blue mostly. You want a drink?”
More blinks. Tenuk looked around the room. It was a private hospital room. Kinda large, built for Temthans, not Spasts or Skyans. The bed was way too big. Tenuk was connected to a heart monitor and some sort of drip, which was gently feeding him painkillers and saline.
“Yes please. What’s the coffee club?”
Kayel laughed again, but more awkwardly this time. He got up from his seat, made his way to a water cooler in the corner and filled two plastic cups up with ice water, one of which he promptly gave to Tenuk. “It’s a K-Class tradition. All of K-Class, not just Phantasma Skyavok. In the middle of each K-Class base, there’s a kiosk, and if you have proof that you’ve been shot, you get… free stuff. A can of coffee for every five bullets you have taken. You took sixteen bullets to the chest and stomach, you can get three free cans! The coffee’s actually pretty nice too, and I’m not a fan of coffee myself. The first free coffee you get, you are also invited to a large Skyavok chat group that’s called the coffee club, and it’s mostly just a channel filled with K-Class memes no one else gets.”
“That…” Tenuk didn’t like how nonchalantly Kayel had made that explanation. “That’s kinda fucked up.”
“It’s a silly morale booster. An inside joke to help ease the pain.” Kayel sat back down, sipping his cup of water. Tenuk eyed him uneasily.
“Are you in the coffee club?” Tenuk saked.
Kayel nodded. “I’ve been a member since I was 20. Kinda shouldn’t be telling you this, but my second Phantasma mission went a bit… iffy. Completed the mission, but I was given bad intel and there were way, way more guards than I expected. Ended up getting shot through my leg and tail as I disappeared through a shadow.”
“That’s horrible.”
“Eh…” Kayel shrugged. “I’m a Phantasma. For most of my life, the military was all I knew. Although I’m probably owed quite a few free coffees now…”
Tenuk eyed Kayel some more. “How many?”
Kayel fell silent, thinking to himself. “Uh… Um… Well, I… I never collected the two I was owed from… from before I defected… And then there was the… family planning centre raid… plus I got shot when we went to my apartment by that R-Class coward… That’s… Huh, I’m owed seven free coffees.”
“YOU’VE BEEN SHOT THIRTY FIVE TIMES?” Tenuk couldn’t help but shout.
“Well, forty six times, but I already claimed those first two coffees. Admittedly, twenty two of those times were from the family planning centre, which does skew the numbers a bit.”
“How the fuck are you alive?”
Kayel went back to shrugging. “I was an active soldier and I have unholy shadow powers…”
A knock on the door interrupted them both. Thankfully, it was just Retvik, checking in on them both.
“Hello, is everything alright?” Retvik politely asked. “Tenuk! You are awake!”
“We’re fine!” Kayel chirped, patting Tenuk on the head. “Was just telling Tenuk about the times I’ve been shot. Everything alright out there?”
Retvik nodded. “Everything is fine. I told Nyssi to get some rest, since she is stressed. She spent a long time talking to the Temthan police and the Ksithan police and the Raptor. The medics put her in the room opposite so I can protect all of you. There are some Temthan police officers that want to speak to you tog et a statement, Tenuk, do you want me to tell them to wait?”
“Yeah, please do…” Tenuk rubbed his head. “I’m still groggy.”
“He just woke up…” Kayel added.
“Understandable, I will say that you need some more time. Do either of you need anything?”
Kayel glanced at Tenuk. Tenuk hesitated, then frowned. “Can I get some candy?”
Retvik smiled. “Of course. Kayel will protect you until I return. I will be back in a bit.”
The door gently closed, and Kayel and Tenuk could both hear Retvik stomping off down the hallway. Once everything had fallen silent again, Tenuk turned to Kayel and sighed.
“He’s really protective of me.”
“He’s a Rethan. He’s always protective. It’s why there aren’t that many Rethan gladiators, despite being perfect for the format.”
Tenuk sighed. “No, it’s more than that. I think Retvik sees me as… I dunno… a little brother or something.”
“You two are, like, bestest best friends. Nyssi called me because she knew that Retvik might have lost it if she’d told him you got hurt. I didn’t tell Retvik until we got here that you got shot because I was kinda scared he’d go defensive-state on me. But, like, just go with it, mate. You never got to have a big brother and Retvik’s siblings abandoned him so he never got to have a little brother…” Kayel paused for a moment. “Admittedly, he’s being overprotective of Nyssi as well right now. We’re all protective of each other, because we’re all best friends. I mean, I haven’t left your side since we got here.”
“You’ve… been here this whole time?”
Kayel nodded cheerfully. “Of course! The four of us, we’re all in this together. Same way you saved Nyssi, I’m here to help you. You should be proud of yourself, by the way. Fucking brave thing you did, charging into a room of evil Temthans.”
Tenuk snorted. “I was just doing what I could to protect Nyssi.”
“See, that’s exactly what I mean. We protect each other all the time. We’re best friends forever. We’re family forever.”
A knock on the door interrupted once more. Retvik cautiously let himself in, then poured a massive pile of chocolates and candy on Tenuk’s lap.
“Is this enough?” Retvik asked. “I admit, I am still unsure how much sugar you require.”
Tenuk stifled a laugh. “It’s more than enough, thank you.”
Retvik bowed slightly. “Not a problem. I am going to go and sit with Nyssi. She needs comforting.”
“You go do that then, and tell her that Tenuk’s perfectly fine!” Kayel beamed. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on Tenuk.”
Another bow. “Thank you. I will see you later.”
Retvik swiftly left, leaving Tenuk and Kayel in silence.
“See, we protect each other…” Kayel smiled. “We’re best friends forever. Nothing in the universe can stop us.”
Tenuk smiled back. “You know what? Considering what we’ve been through together? You’re absolutely right…”