“Wow, this place is… not what I expected!” Litvir exclaimed as he gently and somewhat awkwardly landed his ship in the little car park.
“What were you expecting?” Kuta asked.
“Not a fancy little wooden cottage! Honestly, this place has a bit of a Savepoint feel to it. I like it!” The ship landed and Litvir swiftly turned around to face Retvik. “Dear, when we retire, I wish to live in a place like this.”
“You really think we will ever be able to retire?” Retvik tutted as he undid his seatbelt. “You and I are of a Hidden Trio, I am pretty sure we are somewhat doomed to be doing Decay Lord stuff forever. Reksi has a better chance of being able to retire than we do.”
“But… Reksi is a baby…” Litvir stuttered.
“Indeed, but we are all immortal. And you and I have been designated as “special” because we befriended and bedded a death god who turned out to be even more special. Which means our chances of retiring are slim.”
“Plus, are Vikalos, Itaviir and Galyn not all ancient?” Kuta added. “They have been doing Decay Lord stuff for a long time, yes? You are almost certainly cursed to have a long, twisting life like them.”
Litvir frowned, then turned to Ret, who hadn’t said anything yet. “Kid, dear, do you have anything to add to upset me before we get up and head inside? Those two have already annoyed me, you might as well annoy me too.”
Ret blinked, not sure how to answer since he had not really been paying attention. “Um… well… there is nothing stopping you from going in and out of retirement?”
“True…” Ret’s words settled Litvir down enough for him to drop the subject and focus on the thing they were going to. “Anyway, let us get going!”
Litvir and Kuta both got up then stepped through a nearby shadow, jumping to the mini kitchen and storage room to grab a few bits and pieces before heading outside. Retvik glanced at his younger companion, grunted, then headed off himself.
Ret hesitated for a moment, then picked up his communicator and sent a message to Tenuk, Nyssi and Kayel, telling them he had arrived but was feeling a little uneasy. Nyssi quickly sent a message back, saying Ret would be fine and to have fun, and that did calm him down. Ret then decided to get going and follow everyone else into the pub that Ret had helped fix not too long ago. It was Ret’s job to fetch the large pallet of food anyway, since he had gravity powers.
The sign at the entrance was flipped, saying the place was closed, and all the tables and chairs had been pushed to one side. In the middle of the room was a fireproof mat with a BBQ device sitting on top of it.
“I really think we ought to do this outside…” Kuta was muttering to themselves.
“It is just a fire. The walls are fireproof anyway!” Letharus protested. “Apparently Vick and Tim used to do this all the time!”
“Who is Tim?” Ret asked as he put down the pallet. It was mostly filled with different meats and some other food.
“Ah… Tim was the guy I built this pub with…” Vick explained. “He’s… not around any more. No idea where he went. He just left one day…” Vick trailed off, sniffed, then smiled. “That’s okay. I’m sure he’s living a better life now. Same way I am. Anyway, Retvik, Ret, welcome back. Litvir, Kuta, welcome to the Shield and Stave pub! Today, I will be cooking a feast! With all the meat you brought.”
“Also, we will be getting drunk!” Letharus beamed. “Well, more drunk! I admittedly started drinking earlier.”
“How comes?” Litvir asked. “You are not overdoing it, are you?”
Letharus shrugged. “I normally do not drink at all but I am celebrating being happy and having a boyfriend and things like that. Anyway, shall we light the fire? Ret, can you do the honours?”
Vick glanced at Letharus. “Babe, Ret doesn’t have fire powers. Retvik does. Ret has… gravity and light powers or something?”
“Actually, I can, uh… borrow some powers from my friends… And Kayel has fire powers…” Ret admitted. “Should I show you? Or will it annoy Retvik?”
Vick snickered. “Yeah, I want you to show us. And yeah, it’ll probably annoy Retvik too.”
Retvik simply tutted. “Your very existence annoys me. Vick is fine, he is an older version of me who lived his own life. Ret, you are both Vick and I but somehow younger, kinder, stronger and more powerful.”
Ret just shrugged. “None of that is my fault though? I just, well, happen to exist. Also I somewhat lived my life to be as kind as possible since others were not kind to me. My being physically stronger is on you two though. I still work out, constantly. Always have done.”
“Whatever… Just light the damn fire…” Retvik growled.
Ret smiled a little, then looked down at his hands, closing them into fists. He closed his eyes briefly, concentrated then looked at his hands again and opened them up. Two little balls of flame appeared, which Ret then used to light the coals underneath the strange BBQ machine. However, Ret briefly forgot how to un-borrow Kayel’s fire powers, and instead borrowed Nyssi’s water powers to put out the flames in his hands.
“Still learning, dear?” Kuta asked.
“Yes, still learning. Borrowing powers from my friends is tricky!” Ret smiled as he rubbed his hands on his stomach wrap. “Anyway, I guess it is time to cook?”
“It is indeed!” Vick beamed. “Alright, first off, I need to get drinks for everyone, as well as our starting snacks and the cooking stuff I need. But either way, the place is all yours, make yourselves at home, just do me a favour and ask before taking anything from the locked cabinet.”
“What is in the locked cabinet?” Letharus suddenly interrupted. “All this time I have been staying here, and I still have no idea.”
Vick thought for a moment, then shrugged. “Tell you what, let me get started, and then, later on, I’ll show you…”