Retvik wasn’t really sure how to respond as Nyssi, Kayel and Tenuk all hugged him tightly. Tenuk had exploded into a myriad of apologies, Kayel said he felt bad and Nyssi offered Retvik food and other comforts. But Retvik sighed to himself and sucked up his emotions, just like a normal Rethan.
“I am so, so sorry!”
“It is fine. I forgive you.”
Everyone else immediately fell silent.
“You…” Tenuk blinked. “You… forgive me?”
Retvik nodded. “I forgive you. I am very upset about what you did to me, but it was a strange, dangerous situation, and it ended up saving your lives. Because of that, I am doing my best to stifle my anger, and I am forgiving you.”
Tenuk hugged Retvik again, but Kayel eyed Retvik somewhat suspiciously.
“Are you sure you mean what you say?”
Retvik eyed Kayel back. “You think I am lying?”
“Not lying, you’re not really a liar. But you don’t seem emotionally right at all.”
Tenuk let go of Retvik and looked up at him. “You… don’t forgive me?”
“I just said I forgive you. And I mean it. I am just doing my best to not be angry right now, because I am angry, but I am not supposed to be angry.”
“You’re allowed to be angry. A fucked up thing happened to you!” Kayel frowned. “You can’t just bottle up your emotions!”
Retvik shrugged, then patted Tenuk on the head. “Bottling up anger is perfectly normal for a Rethan. We are large, heavy, powerful beings that wear armour on top of our natural plating. At the same time, we are the universe’s designated guards, soldiers and protectors. We cannot risk getting angry lest we become dangerous and shirk our duties as guardians.”
Kayel crossed his arms and tutted. He knew Retvik was somewhat right, but at the same time, he knew Retvik was blatantly bottling up his anger, and he didn’t want that anger to suddenly explode at the wrong moment. Kayel wasn’t sure if Rethans did randomly angrily explode, Retvik never had, however, Kayel was also well aware that Retvik had essentially spent the last few days strapped to a bed on his own, stewing in his own thoughts, and he needed some sort of release.
“Alright, fair, but we should, I dunno, do something for you. We’ve got one day left here at this all-inclusive place-”
“We have 16 hours. Enough time for me to have some food and get some proper sleep in a comfortable bed…” Retvik grunted as he wandered off, towards the stairs up to the hotel rooms.
“You’re just gonna… sleep for your last few hours in an all-inclusive hotel?” Nyssi asked as she rushed after Retvik and put a hand on his shoulder.
Retvik grunted again, then shook Nyssi off. “No. I am going back to my room to have a quick nap and check my messages, then I am going to the buffet for a bit, then I am going back to bed.”
“Do you not want to spend any time with us?”
“Not really, no.”
Nyssi frowned, then sighed. “Well, fair enough. We’ll be in the buffet at 7, do you want to join us then?”
“Hm. Maybe. We will see.” Retvik stomped off, heading back to his room.
Nyssi sighed again, then rejoined Tenuk and Kayel. Kayel tutted some more, but Tenuk was clearly unnerved and upset.
“I’m not sure if-”
“He does forgive you, Tenuk…” Kayel hissed. “Retvik doesn’t lie. He’s just being Rethan-y and grumpy. Don’t blame him, we’ve all been chilling out here, he’s been strapped to a bed for a week. Sure, he had medical attention, but he probably just sat there feeling sad and letting those sad thoughts spin around his head.”
“I feel like we should go and talk to him,” Nyssi muttered. “But I don’t want to, like, anger him. Because I probably would. Cheerful girly Temthan thoughts don’t mesh with grumpy Rethan thoughts. And Tenuk is part of the reason why Retvik’s angry, so him talking isn’t a good idea either.”
Kayel’s shoulders dropped. “I’ll go talk to him. But I want to give Retvik half an hour of quiet time though. He’ll want to speak to Kuta at least. We… kinda didn’t tell Kuta what happened.”
“I don’t have their contact details, and I dunno if Rethans go Defensive Stance over each other. Plus, Kuta’s a busy General and they don’t seem to use the Ola app like we all do.”
Kayel frowned some more. “We should… get on top of that once things have calmed down. But yeah, let’s give Retvik some time, and I’ll go talk to him.”
…
Retvik both expected and didn’t expect to have so few messages. He had told everyone that he was going to a stupid abandon-world, that connection would be spotty and that he would be gone for a couple of weeks, so no one had bothered messaging him outside of saying “okay”. In fact, the only person who had messaged Retvik was his poten-partner, but Kuta’s messages were… nonsensical.
Kuta-Tieridos-290324: Guard duty is boring.
Kuta-Tieridos-290324: How does Thassalin know about my exo-universal experiences?
Kuta-Tieridos-290324: Uh, I bit a time dragon.
Kuta-Tieridos-290324: You never told me Thassalin was so damn large.
Kuta-Tieridos-290324: Sini wanted to milk my fangs.
Kuta-Tieridos-290324: I do not like admitting this, but I am scared.
Kuta-Tieridos-290324: I should not have said that guard duty was boring.
Retvik re-read Kuta’s messages a few times, then sent a message of his own.
Retvik-Rethianos-116902: Hello Kuta, are you well? You seem concerned. Sorry I have not been around.
Annoyingly, it seemed that Kuta was offline, and Retvik’s message remained unread. Retvik sent a second message, quickly explaining why he hadn’t been around.
Retvik-Rethianos-116902: Unfortunately, I went Defensive Stance again to protect Tenuk. Locals did not know how to deal with me and I suffered an overdose of the drugs used to treat Feral Kardia and I only got out of hospital about an hour ago. I am free to talk now.
Still no response. Kuta was clearly busy. Or asleep. From what Retvik could tell, Kuta slept weirdly. Short but very deep sleeps, and not as often as other Rethans. Retvik always needed 8 hours no matter what, and although he didn’t seem to get as tired now he was immortal, he still maintained his sleep schedule.
Grunting to himself, Retvik put his communicator down then spread himself out across the bed. The bed was only just large enough, but it was soft and comfy. Much to Retvik’s bemusement though, someone knocked on the door just as Retvik was trying to find a comfy position. Retvik snarled, then got up to see who it was.
Standing in the doorway was Kayel, who was holding two cans of cola and a plastic tupperware box with what looked like sushi in it.
“Hi.”
“Hello.”
“I know you wanted to be left alone, but we’re all really worried about you. Tenuk’s been almost inconsolable with guilt. I kinda… just wanted to have a little quick chat with you and bring you some sushi. They don’t seem to serve this stuff in the buffet but it’s tasty as fuck and the sushi place is closing soon.”
Kayel handed Retvik the plastic box and waited for Retvik to open it. After a brief sigh, Retvik did, and ate one of the ten pieces of sushi in one bite.
“Hmph. I missed out on this. This is tasty.”
“Yeah. Which is why I wanted to talk. I think you need to book an actual holiday and have some actual time off. Away from us three. Sure, we’re all besties, we’re all basically family now, but we’ve been mooching off you and your strength and generosity for ages. You need a real break.”
“I have work. And I need to keep up with training.”
“You can take a week off. The three of us can do beast battles or something. I can do solo matches, I already proved that. And everyone LOVES it when Tenuk plays the Big Bad. And I’ll have Tenuk stay with me or Nyssi or something so you have the house to yourself. Because things have been fucking awful and you NEED some time to recuperate. Really, we all do, but the three of us just got to spend a few days in all-inclusive goodness while you were tied to a table.”
“Well, you are definitely right about that. But I feel bad kicking you three out.”
Kayel shrugged. “I’ve been paying the rent on my apartment anyway since I need regular breaks from you lot. Nyssi owns her place I think. Tenuk’s the only problem, but I’m sure Nyssi will let him stay in her spare room for a week.”
“You would do that for me?” Retvik asked. “Because you are right, I do need some selfish time.”
“It’s not selfish time. It’s self-care. Everyone needs time to themselves. And the only time you took to yourself was forced and doesn’t count. Either way, we could all probably do with some time apart. I need to spend time with other Skyans, Tenuk needs to make some Spast friends and friends in general and Nyssi mentioned she ought to check up on those four Temthans we saved that she’s also technically related to.”
Retvik ate some more sushi, then sighed. “Have you discussed this with the others?”
“No. I wanted to bring it up with you first because you need some time alone more than we do. Plus I’m sure you are desperate for some more time with Kuta. How are they, by the way?”
“I do not know. Kuta sent me some… weird messages, but they are not online right now.”
“Are you worried about Kuta?”
Retvik hesitated, then shook his head. “Kuta is a very smart, powerful person, they just have a few problems expressing emotions. I am sure they are fine, and Kuta can call me if they need me.”
“Fair enough…” Kayel trailed off. “Anyway, I know you said you wanted to sleep, you probably haven’t slept that well in general and I think you should have a little nap, but I also think you should come and spend some time with us doing holiday things. After all, we ARE in an all-inclusive hotel. We should at least go to the pool bar and have smoothies or something. Or maybe go to the sushi place, I think it’s open for another half an hour.”
Retvik took a deep breath, then sighed. “You are right. I can always sleep on the flights back to Portalia.”
Kayel smiled. He placed everything on the little table by the door to Retvik’s room, then put his hand out, so Retvik could take it. “Come on. Let’s relax a little. You deserve it.”
Retvik smiled back, then accepted Kayel’s hand, letting the little Skyan drag him away. “You are right as always, Kayel. I do deserve some relaxation.”