Gath grunted as they lugged their carry-on bag and Relkir’s carry-on bag up the mobile stairs and onto the shuttle, to where their seats were. Their main suitcases were already in the hold, all they needed to do was climb aboard themselves. Thankfully, the flight was going to be somewhat quiet, and there had only been a handful of other Rethans at the gate, as well as a couple of Lanex, Temthans and Torr, but there had been some sort of hold up earlier on. Apparently someone ‘of high importance and security’ was boarding the flight, and they had to be seated before everyone else.
This did somewhat annoy Relkir, as they considered themselves as someone of high importance. And Gath was also of pretty high importance as well, to the point that they had been offered a discount on an upgrade to first class. Gath had refused, mostly because they didn’t want to spend extra money, but also because Gath believed themselves to be of the common vok, despite their rank. They had already paid for business class anyway, since Gath needed the extra leg room.
Either way, the ‘important person’ (Relkir assumed they were a Torr politician, one had visited the Kentron recently) had boarded already, and now everyone else was boarding, starting with business class then economy class. Gath and Relkir had settled down at the front of the business class section, and Gath effortlessly placed their carry-on luggage in the compartment above them. However, Relkir’s much lighter luggage was to be put between them. Not just because they had space to do so, but because Relkir’s carry-on stuff was mostly just filled with snacks, blankets, two tablets and a couple of battery packs. The flight from Threa to Portalia was about twenty hours, so they had a lot of time to kill.
Admittedly, Gath planned to sleep through most of the flight, while occasionally waking up to eat snacks. Relkir on the other hand wanted to spend their excess free time both snacking and writing, while maybe watching a movie or something. There wasn’t a good olanet connection on the shuttle (it was an old Rethan shuttle) so Relkir had downloaded some movies and TV shows onto their tablet, including a whole series of Mythbreakers, a show where a team of Spast scientists put various myths to the test.
Because of the lack of people, there was an empty seat between Gath and Relkir, and most of the passengers were pretty spread out. Relkir had opted for the window seat, but Gath had no problem with that. It was easier for Relkir to scoot past Gath if they needed the bathroom rather than the other way around, and Gath didn’t really like looking out the window.
“So, are you excited?” Gath asked as Relkir settled down, strapping themselves in and immediately reaching over for some snacks and a drink.
“Yes! I really am!” Relkir grinned. “We are going on holiday! Together! As a couple! This is so… new and strange for me… Have you been on holiday before?”
“Hmph…” Gath grunted. “I have… I used to make regular trips to Thresisa, and once a year I would go there on holiday.”
Relkir thought for a moment. Thresisa was a neutral world, and, alongside Alsana, it was one of very few neutral worlds that ran under mostly Rethan laws and contained Rethan territories. Most neutral worlds ran on “agreed multi-species laws” (and were mostly Torr, Temthan, Vohran or occasionally Spast or Ksithan) But Relkir couldn’t think as to why Gath would regularly go there. Thresisa, unlike Alsana, wasn’t the nicest place. Relkir knew because they had been there before, dragged there on a diplomatic outing alongside the High General to meet with the Torr and Lanex.
“So, uh… why did you go?”
“I grew up there, I was a captain in the 705th Legion, which was an external protection Legion. That also was where Vikal and my… kid were buried, until I had their remains moved to Threa. So I would go back to see old friends and family and pay my respects.”
“Oh…” Relkir frowned, now feeling somewhat sad that they had accidentally dug up bad memories. “Sorry.”
Gath turned to Relkir and smiled, putting an arm around them. Sure, there may have been a seat between them, but Gath was absolutely huge and could reach Relkir no problem. Admittedly, they were also taking up a lot of that second seat. Even in business class, the seats were a bit too small.
“It is fine. I am admittedly rather quiet about my past, I would not expect you to know.”
“I am the High Advisor, I ought to know things.”
“You know the things that matter. And we can always learn new things, yes?”
Relkir smiled back. “You often call yourself dumb and slow, but you are much smarter and far more eloquent than you realize…”
Relkir paused, then turned their attention to the two air hostesses, who were checking that everyone was strapped in. One was a green and silver Lanex (Lanex somewhat dominated the travel industry, despite being rare everywhere else), the other was a female Temthan, also in green, with dark green scales and hair tendrils. Both of them were wearing collared blue shirts with short sleeves.
“We all strapped in, General?” the Lanex asked.
Gath glanced down at their arm, wondering if they were wearing their General’s Insignia, but Gath had taken it off while going through security (which was always awkward for Rethans in their often metal-covered armour, to the point that they had separate security lines).
“We are, yes!” Gath smiled. “No need to call me General though, I am not on duty. You can call Relkir Captain though, if you wish.”
Relkir giggled and playfully nudged Gath. “Hah! No need there either! Are we taking off soon?”
“Indeed we are! Just doing final checks now! Should be a quiet flight, there’s only you two and two other couples in business class, and economy class is pretty empty too.” The Lanex hesitated briefly as they looked Relkir up and down. “I apologize, sir, but you have some very unusual and pretty blue eyes… Oh! You are the High Advisor! It is an honour!”
“Oh… thank you…” Relkir replied hesitantly as the Lanex reached out to shake their hand, and Relkir awkwardly shook it. Despite Relkir being small for a Rethan, they were still slightly taller than the Lanex. “What is your name?”
“Heh! You can call me Seear. My Temthan co-hostess is Sinisara! We’re looking after business class on this flight. Pleasure to meet you both!”
“Same to you.”
Seear smiled beneath her mask some more, the backed off a bit. “Alright, I have to get back to work! Got seatbelts to check and a safety demonstration to do! Please keep yourselves strapped in until the seatbelt light turns off! See you round!”
Gath and Relkir both bowed their heads.
“Thank you, dear!” Gath smiled as the air hostess rushed off. They then turned to Relkir, whose mood was somewhat off all of a sudden. “Relkir, dear, are you alright?”
“I forget that blue eyes are normal for a Lanex.”
“Well, I think your blue eyes are pretty too.”
Relkir looked back up at Gath and went back to smiling. “I appreciate that, thank you. Would you like a snack?”
Gath thought for a moment, then leaned over and kissed Relkir on the cheek. “I am good, I just had a snack.”
“Hah!” Relkir giggled. “You are so silly. We are going to have a great holiday!”
“We are, yes!” Gath giggled back as they settled down in their seat. “Time to make some nice memories…”