“Oh, uh… hi Retvik.”
Phovos had been minding her own business, gazing out into the darkness. She was supposed to be changing shifts soon, but for some reason, her boss had dragged everyone else into a meeting, so Phovos had the guard balconies to herself.
That was, until a rather fiery Rethavok appeared.
“Hello, Phovos, how are you?” Retvik bowed slightly. “It has been a long time since we spoke.”
“Yeah…” Phovos muttered, straightening herself out. “What are you doing here? Are you waiting for Tenuk?”
Retvik nodded. “I am, but I admittedly arrived here way too early. I just needed to, well, get away for a bit.”
Phovos growled and rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it. I’ve wanted to get away from both this place and Kinisis for a while. Feels somewhat inescapable.”
Retvik grunted in agreement, then sat down next to Phovos, looking out into the void. Phovos took this as an opportunity to see how much Retvik had changed. While Retvik’s deep voice still sounded the same, the rest of his body was very, very different. His organic plating was scratched and tattered and almost non-existent over his forearms. But his natural armour was covered up with both sleek and somewhat bulky gold plating, and gentle flames rippled up and down his body.
“Is everything alright, Retvik?” Phovos eventually asked, breaking the silence.
“Not really, no. But I will cope.”
Phovos tutted. “Do you want to talk? I know what it’s like, to have thoughts eat you from the inside out.”
“I do not wish to hang my problems over you.”
“If it was a problem, I wouldn’t have asked.”
The Flamebearer sighed, then turned to face Phovos. “Sometimes I just wish everything was back to normal. A normal life doing mostly normal things.”
“Yeah, I totally get that. It’s all just… so chaotic now. And no one can really, like, understand us.”
Retvik took a long, drawn out breath. Something in particular was on his mind, and Phovos couldn’t help but be curious.
“Is there something in particular that is bothering you?”
Retvik sighed some more, then nodded. “I will be blunt, I am very lonely. What happened between Arkay and myself… Well, it still bothers me. I wanted us to be friends, maybe even partners. But he never let me in. And now he is gone for, well, a really long time.”
“You two fell apart?”
“Yes. He became a monster. I could not follow him down that same dark path. It had to end. I am just having troubles accepting it. Of course, those troubles carry loneliness with them.”
Phovos didn’t respond immediately. She eyed Retvik up and down several times, then grunted. However, Retvik quickly noticed this odd behaviour.
“Is… something wrong?”
The Raptor paused, then looked up at Retvik. “Uh… Sorry…”
“What are you looking at?”
“Um…” Phovos stuttered a little. “Ugh. I can’t lie. I’ve been lonely lately as well. Everyone else here has partnered up and I’m on my own. Normally doesn’t bother me. But sometimes I desire physical contact.”
“Understandable.”
Phovos waited for Retvik to continue talking, but he didn’t. He left the conversation open.
“I’m sorry about Arkay.”
“Hmph. Do not worry about it. Things change. Nothing ever stays the same.”
“Well, not always…” Phovos closed her eyes for a moment, then turned back to Retvik. “I was, uh, thinking, would you like to go grab dinner or something?”
Retvik suddenly turned to Phovos. “You… want to date?”
“I want to be friends. We’re both lonely, we’re both in pain. Suffering together is better than suffering alone.”
Retvik paused, then sighed again. “I have plans tonight. But I will… definitely consider your suggestion.”
“You will?” Phovos found herself smiling. “I mean, of course, whenever you are free.”
Unexpectedly, Phovos noticed that Retvik was smiling too.
“Actually…” Retvik glanced behind them. There seemed to be movement in the rest of the base. “Do you want to join Elksia, Tenuk and myself? Tonight?”
Phovos’s smile grew. “That sounds lovely…”