“Did you request my presence?”
Elkay stepped cautiously as he made his way to the very edge of Savepoint. Waiting for him, sitting in that familiar deck chair, was Vikalos, sipping a beer.
“I did, yes!” Vikalos beamed.
For the first time in ages, Elkay noticed that Vikalos was wearing the same scarf. The one he had worn for his wedding, that he hadn’t taken off the entire time. It was a very simple scarf, it was just red, blue and green stripes, with gold tassels on the end. But Elkay knew exactly why Vikalos had picked it.
“So… how can I help?” Elkay asked as he pulled out a deck chair and sat down next to Vikalos. Vikalos immediately handed him a drink, then patted Elkay on the shoulder.
“How are you feeling, my dear?”
Elkay shrugged. “I am, doing well. It was my two year wedding anniversary yesterday. Teekay and I had a nice time. The wedding overall was also very nice. I assume you had a nice time?”
Vikalos nodded. “I had an amazing time. It genuinely could not have gone better! This here is the first few hours spent by their sides in a while, and I had Itaviir, formerly the coldest person around, pining for me and asking me to come back. I told him I’d be brief, because I wanted to speak to you.”
“Oh. So we had better be quick then!” Elkay exclaimed. “How can I help?”
“I don’t need help. I wanted to thank you.”
Elkay looked up at Vikalos, not understanding what he had just been told. “You… you want to thank me?”
“Yes. It was your idea for the three of us to get married. You planted the seeds in my mind, and those seeds grew into a powerful, fruitful tree, under which me and my partners now rest under. We could not be happier!”
Elkay smiled. “Well, I am glad. But all I did was make the suggestion. You three were the ones who came together and made everything work, you guys got everything together and you guys all got married.”
“Still, we wouldn’t have done any of this had you not giving me the idea in the first place. And I wanted to thank you for convincing me, because you deserve thanks…” Vikalos trailed off briefly. “Well, actually, there was something else I wanted to ask you about. A more private thing.”
“Oh? What sort of thing?” Elkay asked.
Vikalos seemed a little less confident now. “I am… considering changing my body a bit.”
“How do you mean?”
Vikalos leaned forward. “I want to make myself more feminine.”
Elkay thought for a moment. “Do you mean you want to give yourself breasts and a motherly figure, or what?”
“I am not sure.”
“But is this a change you want?”
“Again, I’m not sure. I desire change. I desire something, but I don’t know what it is. I just know I want to be more accommodating for both my darling angels.”
“Like… physically? Sexually?”
“Sexually.”
Again, Elkay thought a little. “Well, the thing is, I do not think you need to change yourself. Because Itaviir and Galyn love you for who you are. They do not care if you cannot, please excuse my language, service both of them at the same time. They do not care. They married a wonderful person, they love you as they are.”
“But I have a desire to do something. After all, I can change myself to be however I want. I can do almost anything. I am nearly as flexible as you are, Elkay.”
“That is true, you can change yourself, but you do not want to change yourself and be unhappy. I have done that a lot, and it has taken me a very long time to be happy with myself, to feel safe and content. And a lot of that is because Teekay accepts me as his “permanently shifting mess”. Itaviir and Galyn accept you as you are, you build yourself around them. If you want to change yourself, if that desire burning at you, then you need to sit down with Itaviir and Galyn and talk them, ask them what they think. But I am certain they think you are perfect exactly how you are.”
“That…” Vikalos fell silent, lost in thought… “I… I suppose you are right…”
Elkay inspected Vikalos somewhat. “Are you well, Vikalos?”
“I am. It’s just that an awful lot has happened. When Itaviir, Galyn and I got somewhere private, Itaviir burst into tears. He’d been bottling up his emotions all day. And then Galyn started crying properly as well. They are both a little shellshocked. And so am I.”
“I get that, I really do…” Elkay sighed. “When Teekay and I tied the knot, I cried for hours. Teekay cried a little bit too… They are not still crying, are they?”
“No. But they are asleep. They wore themselves out. And the emotions overcame them.”
“I get that. I like to think that Rethans are more emotionally open than Beh’ens, but we are still rather closed and we do definitely bottle things up. That is why I need Teekay and Itaviir and Galyn need you. At the same time though, I… I think you need them right now.”
“You think?” Vikalos asked.
“Yes. You do not think that Teekay is sometimes desperate to snuggle into my arms, after he has had a bad dream or a stressful day? You have had a very stressful few days. You ought to go to Itaviir and Galyn and snuggle with them.”
“We have… things to do though.”
Elkay waved his hand dismissively. “Retvik, Litvir and Arkay said that they will keep everything sorted. You three are free to spend as much time as you need. So you should make the most of that. Go back to them, snuggle in bed then have a nice, long nap.”
Vikalos didn’t answer at first. After a while, he sighed and got up. But he was also smiling. “I shall go and do that. Thank you, Elkay.”
“No worries, Vikalos. Look after yourself.”
“I shall…” Vikalos grinned as he packed up his deck chair, then wandered off.