Abius had been sleuthing around for a while, waiting for the perfect opportunity to approach the cute new yellow-plated Rethan gladiator. But all of a sudden, Abius found that they… didn’t need to do any of that. Just after they finished a beast match, they exited the arena, only to find their potential friend Arkiir waiting for them.
“Hello!” Arkiir waved.
Abius froze, not really sure what to do. Too many thoughts and future actions were racing through their mind. A lot of questions too. Had Arkiir come looking for Abius? Was this coincidence? Or what?
“Uh… Hello…” Abius eventually muttered. “How… how are you?”
“I am good, thank you! Are you busy?”
Abius glanced down at themselves. That fight against a large Banikan-like monster was rather bloody. Abius was literally covered in blood. They had killed the creature, because it had been imported to be killed, since it was a nuisance beast that had seriously harmed a lot of innocent people back in its original habitat.
“Uh… not really?” Abius stuttered. “I… I am a little bit messy though.”
“Oh…” Arkiir paused, realising that Abius was indeed rather busy. “Oh. I am sorry. I will…”
“No, no, it is alright!” Abius exclaimed, realising they had a chance to talk to Arkiir in private. “I can talk, it is fine! I have been wanting to talk to you lately anyway, but I have not had a chance!”
Arkiir paused some more. “You wanted to talk to me?”
“Yes. But since you came and found me, you should say what you want first… Actually, we should walk and talk because I am covered in blood and I do not want to say what I have to say while… while looking like this.”
“Oh. Alright. Can we walk and talk?”
“Of course.”
“Alright…”
Abius started making their way towards the showers, and Arkiir followed closely.
“So why are you here?” Abius eventually asked.
“Well, um, I do not get along that well with the other 798th Legion soldiers. I get along with the vok in the Retha Squads, but the solo gladiators do not like me much and all four Retha Squads already have full time members so they do not really need me…”
“Why do they not like you?” Abius exclaimed. “You are very nice!”
“You think I am nice?”
“Yes.”
“They think I am weird because I am a bit short but I hit really hard and I prefer light armour compared to heavy armour. And also because I am obnoxiously yellow-plated.”
“You cannot help your plating though.”
“I know, I know. But some Rethans get a bit funny when they get a little bit of power. I still want to be a gladiator, but I do not want to deal with those who do not like me. So I was thinking…” Arkiir suddenly paused. “Oh, we are at the showers already.”
Abius nodded. “We are, yes. They have to be close. Cleaners to not like having to sweep sand away and mop bloody floors.”
“Oh. I see… Anyway, I was thinking… what if I signed up to be a House Fighter?”
Abius blinked. “You… you want to be a House Fighter?”
“Yes. I like fighting animals. I like fighting big things. It might be fun.”
“Well, you are right, it can be fun. It can be stressful though. I am expected to build streaks the way Timik, Kass and Levik do and I cannot. And many vok look down on me.”
Arkiir shrugged. “Everyone already looks down on me. Well, other Rethans do, because I am a bit short.”
“Other Rethans will look down on you even more. You become a House Fighter, you become Legionless.”
More shrugged. “Other Rethans already look down on me no matter what. I do not really care. Plus… you make more money, yes?”
“Um, yes.”
“That makes things better, I guess… But the problem is, I do not know how to become a House Fighter. I need someone to back me up, to get me in. And the obvious person to ask would be you. You can help me, right?”
Abius thought for a moment. They were still covered in blood. That clearly didn’t seem to bother Arkiir at all.
“So you want help?”
“Yes.”
“You want me to vouch for you so you can become a House Fighter?”
“Yes.”
“Hm…”
Arkiir eyed Abius. Abius allowed themselves a small smile. “I will definitely help you. I can speak to Kass and Levik, the three of us will speak to House Master Tanok, he will do an inspection of you, see what you can do and then, if you are good enough, we all go to Lord Tromos and he will make a decision.”
“Oh. So it is not that simple?”
“Not really. But as I am the only Rethan House Fighter currently, your chances are much higher.”
“Ah. That is good.”
“However…” Abius hesitated, then frowned. “Ugh… I was… I was… I was going to be mean for a moment.”
“You were?” Arkiir looked confused.
“Yes. I have been wanting to talk to you for a while. Timik said that I should… I do not know, make some sort of offer thing. Offer to help you with a thing in exchange for a date, since you are new and learning. Like, with this, I would offer to help you only if you agreed to a date. But that feels mean. I just want to help you. I do not like that predator race thing where everything has to be some sort of exchange. But I would also like to go out for cookies with you, because you seem nice and we have things in common.”
“We can go out for cookies, if you want!” Arkiir smiled. “It would be fun!”
Abius paused. “What, really?”
“Yes, really. You are cool. I would like to get to know you. Especially if you will be helping me become a House Fighter! When are you free?”
“Oh. Good!” Abius smiled back. “I… I really need to shower, but are you busy this evening? At around 2100?”
“I am free then.”
“Do you know where the Cheesy Bee is?”
“I do, yes! Shall we meet there? At 2100?”
“Yes.”
“Alright!” Arkiir grinned as they headed off. “I shall leave you to your shower. See you later!”