“Hello, Letharus! Lovely to hear from you so soon!”
Litvir had weird telephone habits. He found it impossible to just sit still and take a phone call. Instead, he’d wander around the office (or wherever he happened to be) and sit awkwardly on the edge of things, before getting up and moving elsewhere. Retvik and Arkay were currently watching as Litvir did exactly that, with the added extra twirl and tail swish, because Litvir was happy. Why Litvir was happy, no one was really sure, because he’d been miserable over the ev or so due to the broken heating problems Savepoint was having.
“It is good to hear from you too, Litvir!” Letharus also seemed happy. “I was wondering, do you have any plans for the next few days?”
“I have no plans what so ever, apart from trying to find some damn warmth!” Litvir’s happiness was definitely fighting his annoyance.
“Oh dear, what is wrong?”
“The magic Life Goddess machinery underneath Savepoint is malfunctioning and we have not worked out how to fix it…” Litvir sighed. “The temperature keeps on fluctuating and I cannot spend all my time glued to Retvik’s side.”
“That is unfortunate, but perhaps your situation will alter your considerations for an invitation of mine?”
“Oh?” Litvir was curious now, and his tail was swishing all over the place. “What sort of invitation?”
“I wanted to invite you, Kuta, the two Retviks and Arkay over to the Shield and Stave. We are closing for what would have been the winter holiday back in our old universes and Vick wanted to spend that time drinking in front of a fire and making use of his fancy oven and food generator to cook a wondrous meal. How does that sound?”
“Ooooh, I like that!” Litvir exclaimed. “Let me just ask Retvik and Arkay. I am certain Kuta will say yes, and Ret mostly just does whatever Kuta wants to do…”
Litvir trailed off, covered the phone briefly and turned to Retvik and Arkay, who were both still sitting there, looking at him. Well, Retvik was. Arkay was half glancing, half reading through manuals and looking up replacement parts for Life Goddess technology he barely understood.
“Is Letharus alright?” Retvik asked.
“Oh, he is very happy!” Litvir smiled. “He and Vick wish to invite us to the Shield and Stave for what I assume would be Macromera. You two, me, Kuta and Ret.”
Retvik clearly liked that idea, but Arkay sighed.
“I’d love to go, but… well, I have several reasons. Firstly, I don’t feel good leaving everyone here while I haven’t fixed the weird Zontanian machine stuff, and, frankly, only Phovos and I have any real chance of fixing it.”
“Are you getting anywhere with that?” Retvik grunted.
“We are, I think. But it’s gonna take time and I might need to speak to our Matanaiai buddies at the pit stop to order the parts I need in, if I can’t find them at either of the malls.”
“Understandable… What is your other reason?”
Arkay hesitated, then sighed. “It feels weird, being around Vick. He just remembers me as a scared little kid, and that makes me want to revert to being that little kid, which is awkward when we’re all being adults and stuff. But also… he’s gone on and become a different person, but I’m still burdened by the fact that… I couldn’t save his partner or his kid. There’s a lot of people I couldn’t save, a LOT of people, but they… they are high up on the list of people I couldn’t save that still tears me up inside. I like Vick, he’s grown into an old, fun guy, but I don’t think I can cope, emotionally, spending a weekend or whatever drinking with him.”
“Perhaps, with more exposure, you could get over that?” Litvir suggested.
“Maybe, but… not yet. Plus, I’ve got to worry about Elkay-En as well right now. He’s been utterly useless with this Life Goddess stuff AND he’s another reminder of my mortal life who stings way more than Kaytee does…” Arkay paused, realising what he had just said. “I know that sounds bad, but I got over Teekay dumping me, we forgave each other. I still have unresolved mental problems with Elkay-En hanging around lately, and leaving here to go and spend time with Vick is just going to make those unresolved problems worse.”
Retvik glanced at Arkay, then shrugged and turned to Litvir. “Tell Letharus that you and I are coming, Arkay has work and has offered to look after Savepoint while we are gone.”
“I heard everything already…” Letharus muttered on the other end. “Litvir, you ought to put the phone on hold if you want to discuss things without me hearing.”
“I thought I did put it on hold?” Litvir blinked. “Oh well. Either way, you heard what Retvik said. He and I will come down and visit, and I am certain Kuta and Ret will want to come too. I do not think I have actually been to Vick’s pub.”
“You have not.”
“Ah… Wonderful!” Litvir went back to smiling and swishing his tail around. “Do you want us to bring anything? Presents? Food? Alcohol seems a tad pointless…”
Letharus fell silent, thinking to himself. “I suppose, if there is anything in particular you want to eat, that would be good to bring. You could bring a cake too, if you wish. But Vick and I have pretty much everything covered.”
“Well, alright!” Litvir grinned. “When do you want us to come by? We have nothing on our schedule right now, so…”
“How about the day after tomorrow?” Letharus suggested. “Your sect will want to know your plans anyway.”
“That is very true… Alright! It is a date! Retvik and I will inform the boys and girls, then we will grab Kuta and Ret, pop to the mall to grab some nice little snacks and treats, then we will see you soon!”
Retvik nodded in agreement. “See you in a bit, Letharus.”
“See you soon!” Letharus was definitely smiling as they ended the call.
Once the silence had settled, Retvik and Litvir both turned to Arkay.
“Are you sure you do not want to come?” Retvik asked.
Arkay sighed. “Yeah, I’m sure. Plus, I have work to do. Maybe, when you guys get back, I’ll have at least fixed the power issues or something…”
“Very well…” Retvik shrugged as he got up. “Come on, now, Litvir. Let us inform the troops and then put some comfy armour on and get going…”