“Hiiiiiiiii!”
The All-Ksa’s voice always annoyed Teekay. Yes, Kayel was a huge breath of fresh air when it came to ruling over Skyan society, but there were so many things about the All-Ksa that bothered Teekay greatly.
It was mostly because of experience. Teekay had been the Ksa Leader of the K-Class for about fifteen years now. He was born for the job. Literally. One of a small group Skyans used in an experimental birthing system that pushed them to peak Skyavok strength. Teekay was basically a hyper-intelligent super soldier who always put the safety and lives of others before him and had protected the Skyavok from myriad of threats that the average citizen had no idea even existed.
Kayel on the other hand was a former prostitute. Outside of pleasuring others, he had almost no experience in politics or running a tight-knit society.
Sure, today’s meetings with the leaders of each of the Classes had gone well, as had the meeting with the Vrekan King, but Kayel was still just an entertainer at heart.
“Hello, All-Ksa.”
“How you dooooing?” Kayel beamed as he leaned towards Teekay. Teekay had finished doing his head counts and his staff had made sure that everyone was now on the ship, ready to fly to Sky-Ethas, where Kayel wanted to stay the night with his partner. Sky-Ethas was a tourist city on the very edge of Skyan territories, popular with passing Vrekans and Temthans and Kayel had said he always wanted to take his partner there, so that was what they were doing.
Unfortunately, it was going to be a long flight. The change of plans hadn’t caused too many issues, but Teekay never enjoyed long flights. Too much time spent in a place where so many things could go wrong.
“I am fine, thank you.”
Kayel bounced in his seat excitedly. “That’s great! You made sure that Veeyel’s on his way there, right?”
“Yes. Veeyel will land approximately an hour after we land.”
“Wonderful!” Kayel was insanely excited. “Now, you seem like you want something?”
Teekay glanced around the room. The All-Ksa always had their own special room inside their own special spacecraft, giving them all the privacy they needed while also allowing the K-Class to keep them safe. Kayel though rarely used this room, preferring to travel alongside his fellow staff, as well as idly chatting with the Skyan press. Actually, Kayel seemed to just talk to anyone.
“What makes you think that, All-Ksa?”
“You’re hovering and looking around, waiting patiently for the nice lunch staff to leave.”
The K-Class leader had to give it to him. Kayel was attentive.
“Well, there is something I would like to ask.”
“Are you going to ask me if you can take some time off? Please tell me you want to take some time off!” Kayel leaped from his seat, shooing out the staff, then blowing kisses at them from around the corner, hinting that they could come back later. “You want to take some time off.”
“Yes.”
The All-Ksa jumped up and down with glee, then suddenly stopped and sorted himself out. “Ah yes. Professional mode. Well, Teekay, you’ve done a lot of work here. Lots of good work. Let me check my calendar and see how much holiday you have…”
Kayel didn’t actually have a calendar or anything on him. He waved his fingers around, smirking at Teekay as he did so.
“… You’ve taken twenty days of holiday since you became the leader of the K-Class. Which would be great if you’d only been serving for a year or so, but you haven’t taken ANY real time off at all! How have you not exploded from stress and exhaustion, kiddo?”
Teekay lowered his head. “I was born for this.”
“You’ll die working if you ain’t careful!” Kayel reached for a pen and some paper, then started scribbling furiously. “Why are you wanting to take time off all of a sudden anyway?”
“Personal reasons.”
“A partner, perhaps?”
“No.”
“Oh. You could do with one.”
“I do not want one.”
Kayel tutted. “Oh yes. You’re asexual. Forgot about that. You willing to tell me?”
“No, I am not…” Teekay sighed.
The All-Ksa sighed as well, but his smile turned into a grin. He then shoved a piece of paper into Teekay’s hands. “That’s alright. You can keep your secrets. As soon as we land though, you get yourself on a ship and onto some sort of holiday of your own, alright?”
“Yes, All-Ksa, of course…” Teekay smiled back weakly as he backed out of the room. “Are you sure you-”
“In the name of the Void!” Kayel playfully shouted as he slammed the door shut. “Just go and enjoy a damn holiday!”