“Hey, Vexypoo!” Elksia waved just before she could see Vexer appear at the entrance to her guard tower. “Reksi, baby, say hello to your biodaddy!”
Vexer was very much caught off guard, not by the fact that Elksia knew he was coming, but because Reksi was in fact waving at him and chirping a few sweet notes. Baby Vrekans did take a long time to learn how to speak, but they quickly learned to communicate in other ways. What bothered Vexer more though was that Reksi got up, ran over and hugged him around the leg. That definitely wasn’t normal.
“Um…” Vexer stuttered, not sure what to do or say. He patted Reksi on the head and she eventually got bored and ran back to Elksia. Elksia realised that Vexer was a bit freaked out.
“You alright?”
“Yeah… Reksi is getting very well-developed…”
“She is, yeah. I think it’s because I’m a Time Drake. It’s kinda sad that she’s growing up fast. But it also means she might live forever like me.”
“Does she have time powers?”
“Dunno yet. Won’t know for a while. She doesn’t understand time yet.”
“… Fair enough…” Vexer shrugged. “Can I come in? I want to talk.”
“Of course!” Elksia beamed, patting a seat next to her. “It’s been nice having you here! I get to spend time with another Vrekan. And my babydaddy. Sorry I ain’t actually spent much time with you though.”
“It’s fine. You’re a busy person. Teekay was telling us yesterday how busy and important you are.”
“I guess. But you seem a bit sad?”
Vexer sighed. “I don’t feel sad. I feel bad. Half my little team are either stupid or assholes.”
Elksia thought for a moment, then shrugged. “You’re fine. Atteh’Kus seems fine. Kayenus is dumb, yeah, but that can’t be helped. Fragiir is a bit of a dick but he’s a Temthan, they always were kinda dickish. Vokulunaax is just struggling because he’s in the closet. Lissandra’s the only one of you lot who sucks.”
“I guess… wait… what?”
“What?” Elksia replied innocently.
“Vokulunaax is gay?”
“As fuck, yeah.”
“He’s a homosexual?”
“Yeah.”
“Uh… How do you know?”
Elksia shrugged. “Well, firstly, my time powers keep on picking up strings. Vokulunaax is trying to work out how to talk to Thassalin and Saahro, both of whom are bisexual. He’s struggling a bit. Also, pretty sure the myriad of telepaths already know. I mean, you gotta work hard to hide shit from Eksi. But the biggest thing is that my darling Tennypoo has gaydar.”
Vexer couldn’t help but snicker. “Okay, fair, Tenuk always could spot that shit. I think it’s because he’s a permahorny Kronospast. But like, the little furry guy? Isn’t he also a Kronospast?”
“Tanos? He’s a Spast. Different from a Kronospast.”
“How comes?”
Elksia paused briefly, keeping and eye on Reksi. She seemed unsettled, and Elksia assumed she was hungry. After all, she had been running around a lot. Not caring that Vexer was watching, Elksia picked Reksi up, undid her jacket and held Reksi to her bare breast. Reksi quickly began to suckle and settled down.
“Is she always hungry?” Vexer asked.
“Yeah. I kinda worry my milk ain’t good enough sometimes. But she’s putting on weight properly. As far as I can tell. Only got four more month thingies and Reksi will go to full solid food rather than the half-and-half I’m doing now.”
“I thought babies needed 12 months of milk?”
“I dunno, honestly. I’m just gonna keep on feeding her until I stop making milk. Which, based on my threads, is four 4-evs from now. It’s what Sini suggested. And, like, Sini also explained why Tanos is furry. Because Kronospasts had a ton of Voidborn fuckups in their genetics. It gave them Panvok-like carapaces to mimic Voidborn plating. You take that Voidborn shit out, they become gigantic fox bees.”
“Makes sense?” Vexer shrugged. “It must suck though, not having Sini to guide you through the baby stuff now.”
“It does. Sini was helpful. Not as helpful as Tenuk. But still helpful when I had questions. But…” Elksia leaned forward. “I ain’t alone. Phovos secretly knows a lot of shit. She’s a Life Goddess too. One day she’s gonna be better than Sini. Maybe stronger too.”
“But why isn’t Phovos as strong as Sini or Epani?”
“Because she’s a baby.”
“She’s like, a thousand years old.”
Elksia rolled her eyes. “Yeah, so? Sini and Epani are billions of years old. It takes a fuckton of time to become that powerful. But Phovos is getting there.”
“I guess. I ain’t worried about Phovos though. She’s got her own priorities right now. And a weird Voidborn boyfriend. Or girlfriend.”
“Phovoula wants to be a guy. She’s a Voidborn. She’s slowly making herself into himself. But you also don’t need to worry about Lissandra. Because Phovoula will put her in her place.”
Vexer eyed Elksia. Which was probably a good thing because he had been previously eyeing her exposed breasts. “What?”
“Lissandra has authority problems. Teekay ain’t gonna get through to Lissandra. She ain’t gonna listen to Elkay because she hates him. Phovos ain’t gonna waste time on Lissandra because Lissandra ain’t gonna listen and Lissandra is way below Phovos’s priorities. But Lissandra is 100% gonna piss Phovoula off, and Phovoula is 100% gonna retaliate.”
“I thought Phovoula was kinda chill though?”
“Nah. She’s an angry teenager.”
“Isn’t she the same age as Phovos?”
“Nope!” Elksia grinned. “Phovoula is emotionally stunted. Permanently trapped as a 17-18 year old.”
“That has to suck.”
“Yeah, but it’s okay. The two Phovoses have each other. And you six will be fine as well. Since you have Teekay and Elkay teaching you.”
Vexer grunted. “You sure about that?”
“I can literally peer into the future. I’m sure. You should grab some popcorn though.”
“Oh?”
Elksia smiled. “I know you have thoughts towards Lissandra too. Bad thoughts. It’ll feel great.”
Vexer hesitated, then smiled back. “I’ll take your word for it. You know best.”
“Of course I do! I’m a Time Drake! Best Time Drake in the sector, as far as I know!”
“Hah!” Vexer laughed properly. “You’re definitely right there!”
“Yep. You’d better get going now though. You got a lesson with Teekay.”
Vexer smiled some more, then waved goodbye. “Thanks, Elksia. Have a good one. Bye, Reksi!”
Elksia waved back, then made Reksi wave back as well. “See ya!”