“Well, that is convenient!” Gath smiled as they and Relkir lumbered down the path, dragging their luggage behind them. They had just gotten off the bus that had taken them from the space port to the collection of holiday villas they were due to be staying at. “In fact, this has all been rather convenient so far. I did not think the bus would bring us this close to our destination.”
Relkir shrugged. They glanced at a note on their communicator, looked up at a sign, then headed down the path some more, to the reception. “These are the most popular holiday villas in the area and the main centre for villas for larger beings. Apparently Skipou in general is a mixed race sub-district meant for larger beings too… Also I think Retvik lives near here, but I am not sure where.”
The reception was rather quiet, but then again, it was about 5pm. After the 20 hour flight and the 2 hour bus trip, Gath was already pretty tired and was glad that there was no queue. Running the front desk was, oddly, a Banikan with light orange fur, wearing fabric wraps across its body.
“Aieg! Hello!” the Banikan beamed. “Welcome! You must be General Gath and Captain Relkir, ai?”
Gath nodded. “We are, yes. We booked a villa here, can we get the keys please?”
The Banikan bared its teeth, its equivalent of a smile, then turned around and unlocked a cabinet filled with keys. They eventually grabbed a key marked “Evioni’s Shade”, then opened up a nearby drawer and pulled out a white plastic card. They handed these both to Gath, then pointed to a map on the desk in front of them.
“Your villa is this one here, right on the end! Follow the sorkim somord, the little road all the way down, and there is a big tree in front of your place with pink flowers. Extra big bed, just for Sogitartis Gath! Also has complimentary food basket with basics for your first night.”
Gath glanced at Relkir. Relkir smiled. “Sogitartis is the Banikanspeak work for General.”
“Ai, ai!” the Banikan smiled some more, then handed Gath a second card. “Iolif, my name is Vra’Tis, if you have problems or questions, call number, I or my coworkers are here all of the hours. We help you with everything.”
Gath lowered their head slightly. “Thank you, uh… miss Vra’Tis.”
“Miss, ai, ai! Do you want me to call you General and Captain?”
“There is no need, neither of is are on duty right now.”
“Ah, solak, solak, good good! Please can you sign here. You did the pay online, this just approval that you are you… although you are obviously you… especially you, Sogahol Relkir. Very pretty blue eyes.”
Relkir was taken aback by that statement. “My eyes are not pretty.”
“Are to Banikans. We all have red eyes. No variation. Anyway… is all good and set up! There is flyer in the villa with instructions for things. Put white card in socket by door to turn power and lights on. Is phone in the room with front desk number if you need it, plus chargers for communicators. Enjoy!”
“Thank you!” Gath smiled back as they handed the key and cards to Relkir, then picked up all the luggage themselves. Vra’Tis led them both to the main path and pointed them in the right direction.
As they walked, Relkir noticed that every house had a solar panel on its roof, and they were all surrounded by tall stone walls. The paths were wider than even Gath and Relkir were used to, and some of the villas were utterly massive, with perches on the top levels – those ones were clearly meant for Thraki, and Relkir spotted one sunbathing on the roof of its villa.
Evioni’s Shade wasn’t that large. It was a two bedroom villa surrounded by trees, including a massive willow tree with purple-pink flowers on it. There was a tiny gate and garden at the front, and a shady garden at the back, which could only be accessed by going through the villa.
Relkir quickly opened everything up and Gath carried everything inside. Rather oddly, the villa was very open plan, with almost everything being in one room – an unlit fireplace in the centre of the room, a colossal bed in one corner, a kitchen in the other, a dining area with bean bag chairs and a small table in the third. The last corner was walled off, containing a toilet, sink and shower room. On the opposite side of the villa was a set of glass doors that lead onto a stone patio. Just past that was the shady garden, but the end of the garden was filled by a large infinity pool, which offered a wonderful view of the lower lakeside areas of Palaestra.
“Wow… this is nice… Not what I expected at all!” Relkir exclaimed.
“It is apparently a Banikan and Skyavok fusion style villa…” Gath muttered as they put everything down by the front door, then took off their foot plates and heavier bits of their armour and chucked them to one side. “I thought it would be nicer than just hiring a Rethan-made villa.”
“I love it!” Relkir beamed. They stuck the white card into the slot on the wall, which caused the lights to turn on, then made their way over to the patio door and opened it up. The garden was perfectly shady and just the right temperature. However, Relkir paused, then suddenly took off all their armour, and their stomach wrap and loin cloth too.
“What are you doing, dear?” Gath asked.
“I want to use the swimming pool!”
Not caring that they were now naked (as naked as a Rethan could be), Relkir headed outside and tiptoed over to the swimming pool. It was rather shallow, only 1.6m deep all the way through apart from the thick steps leading into it, and the edge of the pool looked like it just fell off a cliff, but in fact the water would trickle over the edge and be filtered that way.
Relkir tested the temperature of the water with the tip of their tail, then, satisfied with how warm it was, they quickly walked into the water, sitting down on the steps.
“Huh. Did not know you did not have a problem with water!” Gath muttered as they too took their armour and clothes off, but didn’t immediately climb in.
“I am a small Rethan. A Rethan’s compatibility and comfort around water actually scales linearly with how tall a Rethan is, so the smaller the Rethan, the more confident they are in water and the more likely they are capable of swimming without too much effort!” Relkir explained. “When I was young, I did once consider joining a naval legion, but I am not particularly physically strong and I felt my intelligence would be better used elsewhere. I, uh, take it you do not like water?”
Gath shrugged. “Is the water deep?”
“Not at all. Only just half your height.”
This boosted Gath’s confidence. They inched into the water, being careful not to slip, then sat down next to Relkir and put an arm around them as they gazed off at the view.
“This is nice.”
“This is amazing.”
In the distance, the sun could be seen, slowly making its way towards the horizon. Most of lower Palaestra hadn’t turned its lights on, but the Temthan sub-district could clearly be seen, as small, orange and red lights filled that area, since they were preparing for All Spirits’ Eve, a major Temthan holiday.
“So, what do you want to do first?” Gath eventually asked.
“Hm…” Relkir thought for a moment. “Well, we are both a little tired from the flight, so I think we should take it easy. Maybe order some food in from a local restaurant and just chill out tonight. We can head into town proper tomorrow and wander the city centre, then we are meeting Retvik and the other gladiators at the Great Arenas the day after. Aside from that, I… I do not know.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Relkir glanced up at Gath, then swallowed nervously. “There… there is one thing I want to do… like, now…”
“What is it, dear?”
Relkir got up, then stood in front of Gath. They hesitated briefly, then leaned forward and whispered in Gath’s ear.
“I am a bit tired, admittedly.”
“I am happy to do all the work.”
Gath smiled, then leaned back, pulling Relkir on top of them. “Well, well, be my guest, my dear…”