Elkay sighed as the door opened and Teekay let him in. He waved at Teekay then dragged over to the large pile of cushions and pillows that filled the centre of the room and threw himself onto it.
“How was your day?” Teekay asked.
“Meh…”
Teekay smiled, ever so slightly. “Welcome to the world of work. Must be a stark contrast to your old life.”
“I do not have a problem with hard work…” Elkay sighed, flipping himself over so he could see Teekay. “But today’s work was not… what I expected.”
“Too much?” Teekay gently sat down next to Elkay, putting a hand on his shoulder. To his surprise, Elkay nuzzled his hand a little, showing more affection than the normally rather cold Rethan would. Elkay was an all-round nice vok, but he rarely showed genuine affection, just professional friendliness.
“No, not too much. In fact, I could have done several more hours of work with ease…” Elkay sighed some more, nuzzling closer to Teekay. “I have never been scared of hard work, as it was hard work just to get to where I… I was…”
“So what is bothering you then?” Teekay positioned himself so he was behind Elkay, so he could massage his shoulders. Doing so was a bit of a pain, especially since Elkay’s shoulders were partly armoured (what with him being a Rethan and all that) but he knew Elkay would appreciate it.
Elkay tutted. “I… I was unaware just how vocal Skyans could be… about various things…”
“What do you mean?”
“The number of… comments… Everyone worked fine, but I could hear everyone talking behind my back, commenting about… me…”
Teekay started massaging Elkay’s neck, the only real part of his upper body that wasn’t armoured. Elkay closed his eyes, wanting to hide his enjoyment at first, but slowly becoming more relaxed.
“What sort of comments?”
“The comments of appreciation I did not mind. I think they liked the fact that I made their lives easier. But they were constantly talking about… how… attractive I was…”
Teekay smiled a little more. “Really?”
“Yes. All sorts of comments. It was… distracting and bewildering and I am not sure I enjoyed hearing them…” Elkay opened his eyes and turned to Teekay. “I feel like I am cheating in some way.”
“Cheating how?”
“For starters, I am far stronger than everyone working there. I have a significant advantage in my work in comparison with everyone else. But also… I… I feel like I… might be cheating… on you…”
Teekay stopped what he was doing, got up and sat in front of Elkay so he could see him.
“Are you being serious?”
Elkay hesitated. “Uh, sort of? I am not used to being showered in remarks about how I look. Especially not in a… positive manner… Most normal Rethans considered me average-looking at best.”
“No, I meant about the cheating part.”
“I… I like you and I do not like how others could theoretically be interested in me…”
“But you are not interested in any of them?”
“Of course not!” Elkay exclaimed. “I do not like any of them!”
“Well then, what’s the problem?”
“I… I do not know…”
Teekay rolled his eyes, his smile turning into a stupid grin. He leaned forward, wrapping his arms around Elkay.
“You’re a fucking idiot, you know that, right?” Teekay beamed. “Don’t worry about them. Just worry about working towards your new life… And what we’ll be doing this evening…”