“Looks like somevok got carried away!” Eksi smirked as Teekay edged past him, carrying a tray of hot macaroni, mince and cheese. “What are you doing anyway?”
Teekay grunted as he placed the tray on the only table in the small office. “It’s Macromera.”
Immediately, Eksi’s smirk vanished. “Oh.”
“Oh indeed. Did you forget?”
“Yeah, I kinda did. I still ain’t right when it comes to measuring time out here. No suns or moons to give me hints…” Eksi sighed a little, following Teekay back out of the room. “Can I help?”
“Help? Hm… I’m sure Relkir can find you something to do. You can tag along if you please.”
Eksi cheered up, then frowned some more. “Why are you doing dinner in that office though? There’s a lovely table that overlooks the void out over there!”
“It’s easier.”
“Why?”
“The table in that office has wheels on it.”
“Oh…”
Eksi trailed off, then quickly turned his attention back to Teekay. “You do realise that we have telekinesis, right? We’re almost literally gods. We should, I dunno, have little robots to do all this. At the very least, we could be moving food with our minds.”
Teekay simply shrugged off the suggestion. “I assume you haven’t seen Relkir cook. Almost like a factory in the kitchen.”
“Hang on a second!” Eksi exclaimed some more. “We have magical vending machines that make you whatever you want whenever we want or need it. Why is Relkir cooking stuff manually?”
“He likes to make some things on his own.”
“But if he’s cooking for all of us…”
Pushing past a plastic curtain, Teekay and Eksi both stepped into the main kitchen. Despite having been told what Relkir had been doing, Eksi was stunned by how much was going on. Pots on the stove were swirling around on their own, vegetables were being peeled and pancakes were being flipped, all at the same time. A small cart rolled up to the two Skyans, with a tray of potato chips, cheesy nachos and various sauces.
“Want me to take these to the table?” Teekay shouted above all the cooking.
“It is for the Dessaron!” Relkir’s voice was only just audible, but was swiftly clarified by a telepathic message. “Snacks before they go on their first mission!”
“Alright, I’ll take it out to Retvik!” Teekay shouted back. “Eksi wants to help too!”
Another cart appeared, alongside the first. This one though didn’t have crisps or chips. It was covered in an array of carefully decorated cookies. Although the icing on the cookies were in the shape of palm trees, the cookies themselves were a rather odd, unfortunate shape. Eksi stifled a giggle, glancing at Teekay to see if he was seeing the same thing.
“I know…” Teekay whispered, grabbing one cart and wheeling it back out of the kitchen. Eksi did the same with the cart of cookies. “It’s amusing.”
“Are these for us?” Eksi asked.
“No, these are for Retvik and company,” Teekay exclaimed. “They are due fort their next mission, but Relkir won’t let them leave before they’ve eaten.”
“Ah….”
Both Skyans trailed off, pushing the carts with them. They quickly made their way to the edge of the Life Oasis, where the ship hangars were docked. Elksia and Tenuk could be seen darting around playfully. Both of them stopped though when they sensed Teekay and Eksi.
“Oh!” Elksia giggled “Food!”
“Indeed!” Tahanhos beamed. “Is this all from Elkay?”
Teekay nodded. “Yes, he wants you all well-fed before you leave.”
“Lovely! Do me a favour and say thank you to Elkay for me, alright?” Tenuk patted Teekay on the head, then went back to what he was doing.
Teekay and Eksi both shrugged, then made their way back towards the kitchen. However, on their way, they bumped into Litvir.
“Our dinner is ready, little ones!” Litvir was smiling, leading Teekay and Eksi to a table to one side. The table was heavily decorated with both large and varied dishes, and lots of small tubs of sauce and various breads. “We could not persuade the others to come, but there is more than plenty for the four of us.”
“Wow…” Eksi’s eyes widened. “That is… a lot of food…”
“Well!” Relkir abruptly interrupted, placing two final dishes on the table. “With the Oasis being briefly closed, SOMEone should try and at least use up all the more perishable goods. It is time to eat, my friends!”
“Sure thing, boss!” Eksi and Teekay grinned, sitting down at the table. “Bon appetite!”