“You want a holiday?”
“No, I want paid vacation time for me and my fellow guardians, which we can take as and when we need it.”
Tenuk closed his eyes, mentally recapping the speech he had just given to Kinisis. He had outlined how remaining in one place was detrimental to one’s health, how doing the same job over and over would lead to anger and disobedience and he had given a list of solutions, which would allow the six Guardians to be able to leave their southern hemisphere base occasionally, allowing them to refresh their minds. Not once had Tenuk said the word “holiday”, yet that was the only thing Kinisis seemed to have taken from his spiel.
“So you want a paid holiday.”
“Did you… just ignore everything I just said?” Tenuk asked, crossing his arms. “We have worked tirelessly for you, we have spent this entire time at that tiny little base, stopping beings from coming and entering as you demanded us to. But we are getting stir-crazy there, and need a break.”
“You can just say you want a holiday.”
“I want scheduled work breaks, where we can individually take time off-”
“You want a holiday. I’ll let you have a holiday.”
Tenuk grunted. “It’s just not wanting a holiday. It’s staggering our time, so we can all take holidays, on a regular basis. We need to be cycling though so that we all get a break. Once every two weeks, preferably once a week though.”
Kinisis shrugged, not really sure why Tenuk seemed so annoyed. “Well, sure, we can do that as well. Shouldn’t be too difficult. Already have something in place for the Northern Guardians.”
“Yeah… wait, what? You give them actual breaks?”
“They actually do stuff, Tahnahos. When was the last time you actually reported something other than an all-clear or a visit from one of the other deities?” Kinisis asked.
Tenuk paused. “Uh… we have not reported anything bad. But just because our job isn’t as-”
“The northern guys fight off errant deities on the regular.”
“Yeah, so? You could easily switch us around occasionally to give all of us better breaks and more work to do! You didn’t HAVE to split us up but you did! And just because we do more or less work than the other half of our team, doesn’t mean we don’t deserve breaks too!”
Kinisis grunted, realising her little Guardian had a point. “True. Very true. Alright, I’ll let you all arrange time off for yourselves. But no more than 2 days every 3 weeks. You guys have a super important job down there-”
“You just complained that we don’t do enough.”
“No, you just don’t do as much as your northern equivalents. But you are right, you do need to take breaks!” Kinisis tutted. “If you hadn’t interrupted me, you’d already be back at home explaining to the southern crew what time away from base you’re allowed. Two days every three weeks. Only one of you is to leave at a time. You arrange the transport. I assume you still have your ship?”
Tenuk paused. “Oh… Uh, I actually… don’t know… I think I gave my ship to my brother.”
“Fine, I’ll give you a ship. But you’d better stick to those rules. I don’t want to hear any of you abusing this.”
Tenuk bowed, satisfied with Kinisis’s set of rules. “That’s fair. Thank you, Kinisis.”
“Yeah yeah,” Kinisis waved her hand dismissively. “Now get back to work…”