“Don’t answer it…”
There was a knock on the door. Whoever it was had only knocked a couple of times and it was clearly a polite, soft knock. But the occupants were currently busy. Well, not busy, but lazy. And not exactly well-dressed.
“Elkay, please don’t answer it…”
“Teekay, they will not go away otherwise.”
“Whoever it is can wait.”
“They clearly can’t.” Elkay got up, grabbing the first piece of fabric he could find and wrapping it around himself. He glanced over at Teekay, who quickly did the same but remained in bed.
Elkay headed over to the door, unlocking each of the three locks carefully and slowly. He didn’t want to peer out of the window, he wanted to look at this interruption straight in the eye. The door creaked open, revealing the being who dared knock on the door this late on a Sunday.
“Oh. You’re not Teekay.”
Immediately, Elkay slammed the door, locked it then headed back to the pile of cushions in the middle of the room that made up their bed. Teekay eyed Elkay, wondering what was going on.
“So, who was it?”
“Guess.”
“The universe is a large place, you’ll have to narrow it down.”
Elkay rolled his eyes and uttered one word: “Yellow.”
“Oh.”
Teekay fell silent. He remained where he was, fiddling with his fingers, not sure what to say.
“Did he… want anything?”
“You just saw me slam the door on his face.”
“Maybe you… shouldn’t have?” Teekay asked. “I mean… he is… kinda making a deal with us all…”
Elkay sighed, then turned around. Teekay though got up and stopped him.
“Actually, why don’t I go and open the door? Seemed like he wanted me anyway…”
“Fine.”
Elkay went and sat on the bed, briefly enjoying the warmth Teekay left behind. Teekay hesitantly went up to the door and opened it. Amazingly, the Thantophor was still standing there.
“Hello, Arkadin.”
“Please, call me Arkay.”
“Why?”
“Makes me sound more Skyan-y. Plus that’s basically who I am anyway. Can… can I talk for a moment?”
Teekay crossed his arms. “What do you want?”
“Well, firstly I want to apologise…” Arkay looked down awkwardly at his feet. “Because clearly I must have done something to have the High General of the Retha answer the door. My memories of the last two years are fuzzy since I, uh, respawned. But I am sorry for whatever I did.”
“The Allbirther did most of it, I guess…” Teekay shrugged. “What else did you want?”
Arkay looked back up. “I wanted to ask permission to have an alliance with the Skyavok.”
“You… are asking me for permission?”
“Yes.”
Teekay blinked in confusion. “Why?”
“Because…” Arkay obviously wasn’t sure. “Like, you lost everything because you worshipped me and your fellow Skyans judged you for it. But everyone else has now changed their minds and they think I’m fine. You probably won’t ever get an apology from everyone else.”
“I do not want an apology though…” Teekay continued to blink. “I have no idea why you are asking me about this.”
The Thantophor tilted his head to one side. “I’ll be honest, I don’t either. But I know I did wrong by both you and General Elkay, so I want to make amends. It’s the worst feeling in the world, seeing someone who has done you harm rise in power and have some control over your life.”
Teekay turned to one side. Elkay had appeared, looking both frustrated but also… some what forgiving? As if he was accepting of what the Thantophor had to say.
“You are a very strange being, Arkadin…” Elkay sighed. “Vastly different from your power-hungry siblings.”
“The difference is, I just want to do right by everyone…” Arkay explained. “I don’t like hurting people. And I hurt you both. I think. Which is why I’m asking you both permission. I already got permission from everyone else…”
Teekay turned back to Elkay. “What do you think?”
“Why are you asking me?”
“I don’t know. Why is he asking us?”
Elkay grunted. “Just do what you want, Thantophor. As long as it does not bother us.”
Arkay smiled, just a little. “Thank you…”