“Hi Kalis, hi… oh hello!”
Arkay got up out of his chair and stood up straight, not knowing who this new being was, standing alongside Kalis.
“Heya Arkay!” Kalis beamed, holding the hand of the stranger. “Hey Stef, this is Arkay, who is technically my brother. Stef, Arkay, Arkay, Stef!”
Arkay opened and closed his mouth briefly, somewhat in shock. But after a brief moment, he got his mouth working again. “Hi Stef, it’s a pleasure to meet you!”
“Nice to meet you too!”
Stef was quite an interesting being. She was the same height as Kalis was, but lacking in a lot of armour. Arkay would have described her as somewhat reptilian, especially with the massive scythe claws on her feet, with lines of glowing blue scales running from her eyes down her sides, all the way down to her hands and toes. She was wrapped in a silk sheet that obscured the white and silver cloth that hide her more private parts. Stef also had an insanely long tail, which floated in the air behind her.
“So, uh,” Arkay stuttered a bit. “How can I help you? Do you… do you want a drink or anything? We have water, we have tea and squash if you want.”
Stef waved her hand. “I’m, fine, thank you! We just stopped so that Kalis could grab me a couple of towels, since we’re going to the beach!”
Arkay nodded his head. “Alright. Do you guys want to take some bottled water with you?”
“Oh, that’s actually a really good idea…” Kalis muttered. “Don’t worry, I’ll grab one from the fridge, give me a moment.”
Kalis finally let go of Stef’s hand and headed into the bathroom where they kept the towels. This left Arkay and Stef on their own.
“Sooo…” Arkay was still stuttering. “How long have you been together and why hasn’t Kalis told me about you? You seem super nice.”
“Oh, not long, dear. Just a couple of weeks. Didn’t think it’d last long, but your brother is a super sweet guy!”
“A couple of weeks? Neat!” Arkay wasn’t really sure how to carry on the conversation. He was a tad annoyed that Kalis had kept all of this a secret from him, but then again, not all of Kalis’s previous partners had been as charming as Stef so far. “Are you happy?”
“Very happy.”
“That’s good to hear!”
Kalis reappeared, carrying two towels and a bottle of water from the fridge wrapped up inside them. “Is there anything else we need?”
“Sunblock? Armour spray? Heat wax?” Arkay suggested.
“It’s an artificial sun, so we don’t need anything like that!” Stef smiled, taking one of the towels. “The sand and water are real though.”
“I haven’t been to a beach in like, years…” Arkay frowned. “Maybe one day we can join you.”
“Sure!” Stef was still smiling. “I’m going to bring my family down to the beach soon, you can come then!”
Arkay watched as the couple held hands again.
“Alright, we should head off!” Kalis beamed. “Don’t want it to get dark before we get there!”
Stef nodded in agreement. “It was great meeting you, Arkay!”
“It was nice meeting you too!” Arkay couldn’t help but smile back. “Have a great trip!”