“Vice General, you’re working very late today!”
Elkay Theanon rolled his eyes. He was concentrating on what he was reading. It was a proposal from one of the lower generals to increase pay for Secondeers in the Rethan Stratos. Which seemed simple enough, but many of the less well-liked generals would often try and sneak in their own little proposals. That meant Elkay would have to scan every little bit of the proposal text, looking for anything anyone may have added. Worse, he had been putting off doing these scans for a while and they needed to be done before the Generals’ Gathering at the end of the week. The Vice General could have gotten one of his staff to do this for him, but with most of them either on break or working on other things, there was no one really available. Plus normally Elkay enjoyed these little tasks. Today, he was just in a bad mood.
It suddenly occurred to Elkay that he hadn’t looked to see who was speaking to him. Arching right over the young Threan-type was the High General of the Retha, the Bringer of Light, Photeianos Photeianou himself.
“Ah! Sorry High General, I did not realise you were there! I am sincerely sorry!” Elkay stammered. Rethans hated insulting their peers by not acknowledging them, and this time was no exception. Respect was the Retha’s best kept secret, it was what made them strong. Elkay put down the paper and glanced up towards the clock opposite. the High General was right, he WAS working very late. It was demi-two in the morning. Wait, what was the High General doing here anyway?
“High General, ser, why are you here? You were supposed to be at the celebratory gala for the new Vrekan Maza representatives. Has it ended already?”
Photeianos laughed, a high, squeaky laugh that made a mockery of his power. “Haha! Yes it has, my dear little Elkay! Not enough alcohol though. Hence why I returned here, closer than my residence, but with just as much to drink! There’s also the bonus of having you here, darling Elkay.”
“D-darling Elkay?” That was a new one. Since he’d become Vice General just over 20 years ago, he’d put up with a lot of cutesy names designed to belittle him. Standard Retha didn’t like Threan-types being so powerful. Most of that had passed now, with Elkay’s power, racism between types had dropped dramatically. “Ser, are you methied?”
Photeianos spun around, bottle in hand, his gigantic white and gold wings sending paper flying everywhere. “Methied and merry! Drunk and delighted! Plastered and prancing!” He continued his song and dance further away from the table. Elkay gave up and tried to salvage what was left of the work on his desk, before turning back to the High General.
“This is very unlike you, ser.”
“Drop the ‘phes, Elkay! No need to be so formal with me!”
“Ser, my guards and whoever else is outside will see you.”
“Your guards went home. I dismissed them for the evening. Apart from my two best outside, it’s just…” Photeianos scraped a claw along the desk. “… me and you and this bottle of fine Thanatian bloodwine.”
Elkay had had enough. He pushed Photeianos to one side and got up to collect his belongings. “That is enough, ser. You are methied. I am cranky. This is not a good idea!”
Photeianos backed off and sighed, having realised what he’d been doing wrong. “I… I apologise, Elkay. I am being too pushy, am I not? I apologise for upsetting you and interrupting your work.”
Maybe it was because of acute alcohol poisoning of the brain, or maybe it was just the tone of his voice, but Elkay noticed something was off with the Bringer of Light. Curiosity was one of the few traits that wasn’t beneath him. Plus this whole scenario could come back and bite Elkay in the backside when the sun rises tomorrow.
“General Photeianos, is there a problem?”
“Why yes, yes there is, little one.” Photeianos gloomily sat down on the table, his tail curling around Elkay and his chair. “Do you know how old I am?”
“You have never revealed your age, ser.” Elkay edged away from Photeianos slightly. He may have been the second most powerful Retha alive, but Photeianos was at least 20cm taller than him and much, much stronger physically. Plus he was drunk, which worried Elkay greatly.
Photeianos shifted awkwardly. “That is true. I am very old actually. Unnaturally old.”
“Over 600 years old, ser.”
“Closer than I’d like to admit to 700 years of age, yes. Not at all natural. Something keeps me alive and I do not know what. A spark I have seen in few others.”
Elkay was unsure what the High General was going on about. Most Retha, Elkay included, simply believed Photeianos had been blessed by some sort of benevolent Deitic after he defeated the Vohra swarms all those years ago. No one ever questioned it. There was no reason to. Photeianos spotted Elkay’s confusion and explained.
“I have certainly lived along time and done many great things. I may not be immortal, but I will continue to go on living for a long time. I have watched many good vok come and go. I have shared none of my life with them.”
“For fear of watching them die…”
“Exactly.”
“What does this have to do with me?”
“You don’t know it yet, but I see that spark in you.”
“Which spark?”
“The spark of extended life. Even for a Threan-type, you heal insanely, unnaturally fast. I have seen you on the battlefield, in the training arena, in the depths of space…”
Elkay silently gasped. His little secret, the only one Elkay had, and someone else knew?
“You’re not the only telepath here, little one,” Photeianos continued. “You should know that at least. But I saw everything that happened up there. You survived being in a vacuum. A case for extended, unnatural life, is it not?”
“… Yes… But I do not follow what you are talking about, General.”
Photeianos, forgetting where he was, attempted to lean back. Realising he was on the table, he instead just laid down. “Elkay, you are single, yes? You were the last time I checked.”
“… Yes…”
“I am single too.”
“I noticed.” It occurred to Elkay what was going on. In his drunken state, the Bringer of Light was asking him out on a date. Which seemed completely insane, but with just a hint of sense in it. “Ser, if I may say something briefly?”
“Of course.”
Elkay took a deep breath. He was hesitating. One does not simply say no to such a request. Photeianos was right about almost everything. He had to be wrong now though. “Ser, you are methied. You are completely and utterly plastered and are in a state very much likely to make decisions that you may regret later.”
Photeianos sat up and nodded in agreement. “Go on…”
“May I suggest that you hold on to your feelings and thoughts for now, and come back to them later on when you are more sober?”
The High General got off the table, taking scraps of paper with him. He then lifted Elkay off his chair and stood him up. “Elkay, you are a very wise Retha, and I am proud to have you as my Vice General. I would be prouder to have you by my side forever, but you are correct. This is a conversation for when we are sober.”
With that, Photeianos put Elkay down, picked up his bottle of bloodwine, then turned to leave.
“Thank you, Elkay.”
“Thank you, ser. Have a good night.”
“You too. See you later.” Photeianos left the room with one last nod, leaving a trail of feathers behind him. Elkay breathes a sigh of relief. He watched as his two bodyguards did a quick sweep of the room then followed the High General. Hopefully he’d forget completely about what had just happened. Hopefully.
Once Photeianos had left, Elkay turned his attention back to the desk. Paper everywhere. There was no way Elkay would be able to finish off today, it’d be better off to pick up tomorrow… no, later on… Was the clock wrong? Elkay wasn’t sure. Either way, it was too troublesome to try and continue. Wasn’t like the High General wasn’t attractive or anything but…
The young Retha tried to push those thoughts out of his head. He needed some fresh air. He needed to go home and get some rest.
With one last sigh, Elkay gathered up his things and left, hoping that he too would forget that any of this had ever happened.