“Have either of you two seen Arkay?”
Both young Decay Lords shrugged. Litvir had just returned from checking on the ammunition in the ship’s mounted turrets, while Retvik was holding a sandwich that Galyn had requested he make for him.
“No, ser, we have not.”
Galyn frowned. “That is annoying. He was supposed to have rejoined me here after he requested a quick break, yet he has not returned. Arkay does not normally disappear without warning.”
Litvir shrugged, handing his report to Galyn. “I cannot comment. He did seem very upset at being put in his place. But that is on him, not us.”
The elder Decay Lord spun around on his chair, then stood up slowly. He had spent most of his time in the cockpit and needed to stretch his legs anyway, but Litvir’s comment needed addressing.
“What do you mean by that, Litvir?”
“He was angry at us for having sex and not muffling ourselves, then demanded that we never have intercourse ever again. So, after apologising for not muffling ourselves, I told him to go fuck himself, because Arkay has no right to interfere with our sexual desires.”
“You two had sex?” Galyn asked. “When did you have time to do that?”
“Uh…” Retvik hesitated. “Yesterday, when Litvir went off to shower.”
“I thought your mortal mating rituals took hours?”
“No, not at all!” Litvir smiled. “When one is desperate, we can whip it out quick. All that aside, I have not seen Arkay since yesterday. Saw him briefly in the kitchen not long after, and that was it.”
Galyn grunted, then turned to Retvik. “Have you seen Arkay?”
“I have not, ser.”
“At all?”
“No.”
“When was the last time you saw him?”
“Same time Litvir saw him yesterday. He was upset that I agreed with Litvir.”
Galyn grunted some more, seeming quite disappointed. “That is annoying. I had hoped that one of you two had seen him. Does not seem the sort to completely vanish.”
“Well…” Retvik grumbled.
“Am I wrong?”
“Very much so, unfortunately…” Retvik wanted to tell the truth without sounding too mean, but that was somewhat unavoidable here. “Arkay is exactly the sort to disappear completely. Quite often, if he is upset, he will disappear off into a safe space of his, cry for probably a little too long and then eventually come back a bit later, maybe having learned his mission.”
“He does this on the regular?”
“Yes.”
“He comes back though, yes?”
Retvik nodded. “Eventually. Although he is not always the same when he does return.”
“Oh. Would you say that Arkay is unreliable?”
“A… a little…” Retvik admitted. “He does not take… criticism well… I mean, the first time we found him, he was running away and hiding, and only came to us because he was inches away from death.”
“Hm…” Galyn trailed off, frowning. “He will definitely come back though?”
“Yes, of course. He does always come back. It just… can take a while. And he is often… a bit different.”
“Well, we do not require Arkay’s presence right now, so he can sulk as long as he likes…” Galyn was still frowning but less so. “As long as you two remain competent and level-headed, we should be fine…”
“Yes…” Retvik paused. “Wait, what do you mean by that?”
The Elder Decay Lord tapped on a nearby console. “We are entering uncharted territories. So we need to be careful…”