Relkir sighed to themselves as they stared at the package on their desk. Outside Relkir’s office, the 99th Legion had all just been given their first set of uniform armour, and the boxes at the back of the room contained enough armour for each member of the Legion for a week. Relkir had watched them all put on their new armour and they looked amazing. However, most of the 99th Legion were of average height and, despite being their leader, Relkir was the shortest and least muscular member of the Legion of Advisors.
Normally that didn’t bother Relkir, but the new official armour meant that everyone matched, and Relkir needed to wear their General’s Insignia all the time, because otherwise they didn’t look like a General.
After some more sighs, Relkir decided to put the armour on. Yes, they were in their office, and the only separation between Relkir and their troops was a clear window, but most Rethans didn’t really care about nudity, since they were armoured beings and wore armour on top of armour anyway. Relkir though wasn’t “most Rethans” and, for years, was terrified of others seeing them naked. It was only really since they started dating Gath that Relkir had become more comfortable with themselves.
Now that the armour was on though, Relkir did feel better. They clipped their General’s Insignia around their arm, then glanced at their reflection in the glass. As they did so though, they noticed that their troops had all gathered round the entrance. Relkir could quickly see why. The Keeper was standing at the door, telling the 99th Legion soldiers that they all looked great. One of the captains pointed Gath towards Relkir’s office, and the gigantic Rethan happily thanked the captain and stomped over.
“Hello, dear!” Gath grinned as they entered the office. “Your new uniform is very nice!”
“You think so?” Relkir seemed less certain. “I am wondering if I should have gone for a grey or a black rather than white.”
“I think the white looks good! It means your rainbow strip looks really nice and clean! Plus, us Rethans do like the colour white. That is the main colour of light, after all.”
“Very true…” Relkir nodded. “I think I maybe just got too used to wearing casual armour for work. It is at least far better than my old 47th Legion.”
“It is, yes!” Gath patted Relkir on the shoulder, then sat themselves down. “Are you busy, currently?”
“No, of course not. My troops are on break while we go through armour. But I am thinking of calling it early today, since many of the Below Twenties are not doing much today anyway. I may need to come in early tomorrow though, for the video meeting with the Lanex and the Torr.”
Gath’s smile dropped briefly. “How early?”
Relkir glanced at their calendar. “Oh, not that early. 0700, or round about then.”
“That is rather early.”
“Only an hour early. But it will not take too long…” Relkir paused, then looked up at Gath. “I am sorry, was there something you wanted to ask me?”
Gath nodded. “I want to talk about our wedding and start planning things. Put pen to paper. And I also wanted to take you out for dinner at some point. We have not gone out for a nice, quiet meal in a while.”
“Oh…” Relkir immediately got at what Gath was hinting at. Since Gath was working less, they were getting lonely. But Relkir had been working a lot more than normal as of late. It was unavoidable, Relkir and the 99th Legion provided an invaluable service to every other Legion working in the Kentron. “I have been a bit busy as of late…”
“You have. I admit I have missed you lately. Doubly so because little Litvir has been busy too.”
Relkir frowned, then looked at their calendar again, before heading to their computer screen and checking their schedule there too. They re-read the schedule, then moved a few bits and pieces around, mostly handing the jobs to their least busy captains. After shuffling things around a little bit, Relkir’s frown faded and they looked up at Gath.
“You are clear on Friday, yes?” Relkir smiled.
“I am hardly working in general.”
“Is there a restaurant you want to go to?”
Gath thought for a moment. They actually couldn’t think of anywhere. When Relkir noticed the lack of an answer, they decided to make some suggestions.
“Instead of a specific restaurant, is there a type of food you want? A theme perhaps? We could go down to the tourist district and maybe go to a foreign restaurant?” Relkir paused for a moment. “Is there a reason why you want to go out for dinner?”
“No, not really. I just wish to celebrate being alive and with you, and also just… be naughty for a day.”
“Ah…” Relkir went back to smiling. “So, how about we find a nice buffet place to go to? Lots of food, lots of drinks, lots of fun?”
Gath smiled back. “A buffet does sound nice. Perhaps with seafood and chips.”
“There is actually a place like that near the port.”
“Sounds great… However, my dear, I have another request. Another thing to ask of you.”
“Oh?” Relkir looked surprised. “What is it, my darling?”
Gath looked Relkir up and down, then grinned again. “Would you be willing to wear your work armour when we go?”
“Um, why?”
“I think you are very pretty in your new armour.”
“You… you do?” Relkir blinked.
“Yes. You look confident and powerful. And in my eyes, when you are confident and powerful, you are also insanely attractive. And, of course, you are wonderfully smart as well.”
Relkir’s confusion turned into a little smirk. “Really?”
“Yes.”
“Hah!” Relkir laughed. “I appreciate that. You know what? We should go out for cookies as well, since I am wearing what you claim to be sexy armour.”
“Now?” Gath asked.
“Yes, now.”
Relkir grabbed Gath by the hand, then led them out of the office. They waved at their staff, telling them to lock the place up when they were done, then rushed off outside, to head to the nearest cafe.
“Love you, dear.”
“Love you too, darling.”