“Alright, while us six adults are gone, Tah is in charge, understood?”
The Thantir all glanced around at each other. Well, everyone did apart from Ret, who was busy helping the Travellers unchain their ship and set off.
“Uh, why?” Tah asked.
“Because you have spent years leading your team of weirdos and know things about running a sect?” Litvir suggested.
“Oh… Fair…” Tah shrugged. “Who’s in charge if I’m busy?”
Litvir thought for a moment. “Hm. Good question. Elksia and Elkay are. Followed by Saahro if they are busy too. Kuta is the leader of the Decaylings for now.”
“What the fuck?” Phovoula suddenly exclaimed. “Why is that fanged prick in charge and not me or Thassalin? Is it because Kuta’s your sibling?”
“Because Kuta has been a Decayling for the longest out of you eight!” Litvir tutted. “In fact, Kuta has been a member of the Thantir for longer than quite a few of you. But either way, we will not be gone for too long. Do not fret too much.”
“I am surprised all six of you are going!” Elkay smiled. “Either way, we will not fret. And we will keep everything in order. After all, you have Elksia and me around here.”
“Of course!” Retvik smiled back. “You will be fine. But if you do need anything, give us a call. Vikalos, Itaviir and Galyn have some errands to run while they are in the Justarian Circle, and our ship is quicker, so calling Litvir or myself will be more efficient should you need us to come back.”
“Why ARE you taking two ships though?” Tenuk asked. “Also, am I allowed to take the Thantir Two for a spin?”
“In answer to your second question, no, unless it is required somehow. For your first, like I said, Vikalos wants to visit a few places before heading to the party!” Litvir explained. “Also, we are taking two ships in case some of us want to leave early. And I wanted an excuse to fly my ship.”
Tenuk frowned. “Alright, fine. But at some point, I kinda want to buy my own ship so I can take Elksia out whenever I want.”
“Save up your money then!” Tah clicked. “At some point, Arkay wants to go ship shopping and Pah, Nuh and I will be helping out, so save up and you can come with us.”
“Ah… Well, alright. I’ll do that. You lot bugger off and have fun!” Tenuk perked up. “Get pissed or laid or whatever.”
“We… don’t really need to leave this place to do tha-”
Before Galyn could finish his sentence, Itaviir picked him up and threw him over his shoulder, then carried him off to the Thantir Three. Everyone else snickered to themselves. After a few seconds of giggles, Vikalos straightened himself out, then headed off to join his partners.
“You all behave. See you again soon.”
“See you there, Vikalos!” Arkay waved. “Anyway, is there, like, anything any of you want while we’re gone?”
Kayel awkwardly raised his hand. “Is there anywhere that sells hoodies that can’t be set on fire?”
“That is a good question!” Retvik immediately nexclaimed. “Vikalos does know of an armoury that sells fire-proof clothing, among other things. We can visit there on the way back.”
“Because you need more armour too?” Litvir smirked.
“Yes. All you Psions are lucky your powers are nice and clean. Anyway, we should get going as well. Litvir here is a slow but cautious flyer.”
“Why are you not letting Arkay fly?” Kaytee suddenly butted in. “He was a damn pilot when he was mortal.”
“I was?”
“Yeah, you flew the Vice General’s ship for a bit.”
Arkay blinked. “Yeah but… I… I don’t remember… But it’s Litvir’s ship, not mine. He makes the rules.”
Litvir nodded solemnly in agreement, then suddenly smirked again. The exact same way Itaviir had carried Galyn off, Litvir grabbed Arkay, threw him over his shoulder, waved to everyone then headed to his ship.
Retvik tutted to himself, before saying one last goodbye. “Behave, all of you. I will not be happy if we get back and Tah says you have been naughty.”
“Hah. We’ll all be fine! Go to your stupid party already!” Nuh clicked in vague annoyance. “The rest of us have work and study to do.”
Retvik smiled a little, then did as he was told, joining Litvir and Arkay on the ship, closing the door behind him. As he headed to the cockpit, he found that Litvir was already strapped in and ready to go. Arkay was busy messing around and sorting out drinks and snacks.
“Are you sure you are happy to fly, Litvir?” Retvik asked as he sat down and put on his seat belts.
“Oh, I have no problem flying, as long as you do not distract me while I am parking!” Litvir smiled, checking navigation, before starting the ship’s engines. “Are you two ready?”
Arkay plonked himself in the seat behind Retvik. “Yeah, yeah. But I can fly too, if either of you want to drink. This ship IS very nice, by the way.”
Litvir shrugged, then started getting the ship into the air, quickly checking that everything was clear before doing so. However, Retvik had a small question of his own.
“Were you a pilot when you were mortal?”
“Briefly, I think? I was trained to be a pilot.”
“But you said, when you were actually mortal, you were very young. You died at the age of 25.”
“I did, but, well… I was a Ksa. Same way Elkay’s Teekay was a super soldier, with accelerated ageing, Kaytee and I were also victims of something like that. Except worse. I’m pretty sure we started working at the age of three.”
Retvik and Litvir both glanced at each other, sighed, then changed the subject.
“So, when we get there, Arkay, if you do not mind, please let Litvir and I do most of the talking at first. I am pretty sure most folks will be fine, and will most likely be distracted by the presence of the Travellers, but we do not really know what Justar Decay Lords are like.”
Arkay shrugged. “Fair. You’re the face of the party anyway, Retvik. Even if Litvir has a tad more charisma. He’s more of a Warlock and you’re more of a Paladin though and Paladins are more trustworthy.”
“Uh…”
Litvir snickered. The ship was now in the air and autopilot was now activated, meaning Litvir could relax a little. “You still planning for that Traps and Thraki session you want to do?”
“Yeah. But also I started a campaign with my little team and I kinda want to continue that at some point too.”
“We will have to arrange a games night then, when we are back home. But in the mean time, we should enjoy ourselves. Vikalos said the Justar are good party hosts, so we should have a splendid time.”
Retvik nodded in agreement. “I think we will be fine. Just need to take things slow.”
Arkay smiled. “Yeah. But honestly, I’m most interested in seeing Tenuk. It’ll… be… weird, I guess. But he is kinda my uncle.”
“Do you have any other vok you consider to be family, outside of the obvious?” Litvir asked. “From when you were mortal, I should add. I know you and Elksia are close.”
“Aside from the old Exaron?” Arkay thought for a moment. “I don’t know. I guess it’d just be Veeyel, who… as far as I can recall, he was in a relationship with my mum and looked after them. And… I think I… spent some time in a hospital with Veeyel?”
“Was Veeyel not the name of Eksi’s father?” Litvir mused.
“Different Veeyel…” Arkay sighed. “Let’s talk about something else… Like how I prepared snacks for us! Because I have no idea how long this trip will be.”
“Oh, a good few hours at least…” Litvir smiled. “But it is all time we can spend together.”
“Yay!”