“Damn, that is a lot of food…” Teekay muttered as a strange, Lanex-like person somehow managed to completely fill the table with various dishes, all on his own. “And this is the platter for two?”
“Mhm!” Norik, the waiter (and seemingly pretty much everything else at this restaurant) nodded. “We have large portions here! Most visitors are… a tad larger than you though. Anyway, enjoy your meal, and let me know if you and your darling Life Goddess need anything!”
Before Teekay could say anything else, Norik disappeared. Instead, he turned his attention to his beloved wife. Elkay was looking at all the food, not really sure what any of it was, and feeling a little silly for also ordering some chips on the side. Around Elkay’s wrist was a pink band, because, yet again, the sensors at the front had detected him not as a Decayon but as a Life Goddess, and that got him a 40% discount at this restaurant. Oddly enough, the four new Dessaron kids had also been given pink wristbands, and they had quickly made the most of those discounts.
“Well, babe, this is awesome so far!” Teekay smiled as he picked up what looked like a purple prawn. “Sometimes being a Synaisthyn has its benefits.”
Elkay blinked, then looked up at Teekay. “Pardon?”
“I said, sometimes being a Synaisthyn is a good thing.”
“I… I guess…”
“Is something wrong, angel?”
Elkay blinked some more, looked down at the food then back at Teekay. “No. I am just… having a stray memory, I guess. I am reminded of when… when I was staying at your little home. We had just started being a proper couple. I was working in the supermarket, you were retired. Someone… crashed into your home. Set it all ablaze.”
“Yeah… That’s not exactly a happy memory.”
“I know. But I am reminded of when we were at the restaurant afterwards. We were eating a three course meal. Stew, I believe. You kept on staring at me and thinking I was beautiful. But I looked more… Skyavok-y back then.”
Teekay thought for a moment. “You remember that way more clearly than I do. I just remember being tired and you suggesting we move to Portalia or something. Turned out to be a good move.”
“Mhm…” Elkay considered continuing that thought, but decided to say what was bothering him. He sighed, then leaned forward, looking directly at Teekay. “I do not say this enough, Teekay, but I am so, so thankful for you. You make me a whole person. I sometimes feel bad that I cannot always articulate both my feelings and my thankfulness for you.”
Teekay just shrugged. “You really don’t need to be that thankful to me. Sure, I saved your stupid butt, but, well, we saved each other. And we both KNOW that we are thankful for each other. Don’t need to say it all the time. Is that why you brought me here?”
“It is, yes. I wanted to treat you and tell you how amazing you are. I do not do that enough.”
“HAH!” Teekay suddenly laughed. “Elkay, babe, you tell me all the time. Sometimes you go over the top and tell me too much. You’re a wonderful person… Actually, I say that, you’re pretty much perfect in my eyes. I love you exactly the way you are.”
“But…” Elkay stuttered. “I… I am a permanently shifting mess…”
“Oh, definitely, but you’re my permanently shifting mess. There’s nothing wrong with that. But I don’t think you’re a mess. You have bad days, everyone has bad days. But no matter what, you are always by my side, and I’m always by your side. That’s what we promised each other…” Teekay trailed off for a moment. “Elkay, is something wrong? You’re treating me to a nice meal and you’re also incredibly down and not yourself right now.”
Elkay didn’t respond at first. He poked at some sort of shellfish thing nearby, sighed a few times then looked back at Teekay.
“I have been thinking inappropriate thoughts.”
Teekay rolled his eyes. “I’ve told you a million times, you can fuck Arkay if you want. He’s your freebie.”
“That… is not the problem. I think Elksia’s motherly desires that were affecting everyone, they are still affecting me.”
“Oh… Well…” Teekay fell silent, then decided to peel and eat the prawn he was still holding. “You know that ain’t gonna work.”
“I know. I just feel bad thinking about it and this is my bid to try and make things up to you for thinking about bad things.”
Teekay blinked, then stared blankly at Elkay. It took him way too long to answer. “Fucking… really? You think one vaguely bad thing and then think you need to make to make it up to me? Babe, Elkay, darling, come on, you’re being silly! We all have stupid thoughts occasionally! And you’re allowed to sometimes think about kids because, like, we’re genetically programmed to want to reproduce. You don’t want kids, do you?”
“No…”
“See, me too. We agreed.”
“But… I had thoughts…” Elkay trailed off again. “Have I always been like this?”
“A little. You’ve always been a messed up little bitch who gets trapped in his own emotions. But I forgive you. There’s been a ton of weird piss going on lately. Which is why I agreed to let you take me out, because I think you needed a quick break from it all…” Teekay paused briefly. “Actually, I think you and I ought to go on holiday somewhere. We never had a proper honeymoon.”
Elkay perked up a little bit. He had realised he was in fact being a bit silly. “You are right, as always. And a honeymoon would be nice. Surely there is somewhere interesting we can go. The Justarian Circle is apparently full of actual life and contains more actual society, according to Vikalos.”
“Sooooo!” Teekay grinned. “You wanna go on holiday? On a proper honeymoon?”
“We would-”
“Of course they’d agree to it.”
“Well, alright then…” Again, Elkay trailed off. “Oh dear. We forgot about all this food.”
“It’s still warm. And whatever we don’t eat, I’m sure they’ll let us take it home.”
Elkay sighed, then smiled properly. “You are right as always, my darling. I love you, Teekay.”
“Hah, I love you too, babe.”