"So, this is a little different that what I was expecting," Gaster said, leaning back against the wall of the room with a distinctly incredulous look on his face.
"I know," Zancrus said, running his hands through his perpetually disordered black hair. "I mean, did you guys see how… nice he was being to all of us just now?"
"It wasn't really the niceness that got to me," Elegen said, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall next to Gaster. "It was what he was doing. Did you guys see him in that hallway? He was skipping. I may not have spent that much time around the Overlords, since that was always your job." Elegen nodded in Zektor's direction, and Zektor smiled. "But I do know that Zoalords don't skip."
"And none of them would get so excited over a little thing like waffles, none of them would be caught dead carrying a stuffed animal, none of them would have slept in this late, none of them would have sat in my lap, none of-"
"Okay, okay; we get it already," Zancrus interrupted before Darzerb could get up any real momentum, and for that Zektor was extremely grateful. "He's definitely a strange one, but the real question is, do you guys think he has what it takes?"
"Not at the moment," Zektor said, thinking back on the way Lord Mirabilis had been acting ever since he woke up. "But that's where we come in. He's going to need to know the ins-and-outs of running this place, not to mention how to get the humans to actually respect him." Zektor folded his arms over his chest, putting on what he liked to call his "resolve face". "And we're going to teach him how to do that."
The rest of Team Five had just agreed to Zektor's plan when Lord Mirabilis came sauntering out of his dressing room. Right away, Zektor noticed that something was wrong. Lord Mirabilis' outfit, while a tee-shirt and jeans was perfect for casual wear, wasn't going to work for him now that he was one of the Overlords.
"I don't think you're quite ready to go out and make your presence known out there, sir," Zektor said respectfully.
"What do you mean by that?" Lord Mirabilis asked, obviously genuinely curious and nothing more.
"You're not dressed right."
"What do you mean? I'm just having breakfast." Lord Mirabilis looked a bit petulant now, but Zektor knew that he couldn't just let this one go.
"I know you are, but you have to think of the impression you're trying to make on the humans now. The Zoanoids are going to be just fine with you leading them, just because of what you are. It's the humans you're going to have to think about making an impression on, because— none of this is really sinking in, is it?" Zektor asked, seeing the adorable look of confusion on Lord Mirabilis' face.
Wait, I didn't just think of my new commanding Zoalord as adorable, did I? The realization that he had in fact done that very thing almost made Zektor slap himself on the forehead. Only the fact that Lord Mirabilis was watching him, and probably taking cues from him, judging by the intent look on the baby Zoalord's face, kept the leader of Team Five from acting on that thought.
"Why do I have to get all dressed up if all I'm going to do is go have breakfast? I don't get it."
"I'll explain it to you while I help you get dressed up right, okay?" Zektor asked, gently steering Lord Mirabilis back towards his dressing room.
"All right then," the baby Zoalord said as he and Zektor walked back into his dressing room together.
Zektor was hoping to get at least some idea of how to broach the subject of what Lord Mirabilis could expect now that he was one of the Chronos Overlords, but the kid wasn't really giving him anything at all. As Lord Mirabilis sat down on the cushy stool in front of his grooming mirror, Zektor made up his mind to just tell the Zoalord outright. No sense sugarcoating things, after all—it wasn't like anyone else was gonna do that, and Lord Mirabilis needed to get used to the way things were.
"You're going to have to get out of those clothes, you know," Zektor said, trying to be reasonable even as Lord Mirabilis stared at him, openly curious and obviously wanting answers.
"Why?"
"Because you have to change into your new outfit," Zektor said, hoping that that would convince him, and then they could go eat.
"Why?"
"Because you're not going to make a very good impression on the humans if you go out there wearing… well, that," Zektor said, gesturing at the utterly casual outfit that the Ninth Zoalord was wearing.
"Why do I have to worry about that?"
"Because you're the Overlord of this place now." Seeing the look of utter, bewildered incomprehension on Lord Mirabilis' face, Zektor realized something. "You really aren't playing around here. Okay, first up, do you even know where you are now?"
"I'm back at Chronos, Japan Section, in Cloud Tower," Lord Mirabilis said, with such complete and utter certainty that he might as well have added "duh" to the end of his sentence.
"Not even in the right hemisphere, kidlet," Zektor said, pausing to bite his tongue and mentally slap himself in the face. He really should have remembered not to do that. "You're still in Chronos, so you at least got that right. But this is the Africa Section, Nigeria main base. You're standing in your office at the top of the Genesis Tower."
"Wait a minute, how did I get all the way to Africa?"
"I don't know," Zektor admitted, folding his arms over his chest and leaning against Lord Mirabilis' dresser just enough to not be intimidating without being too casual. "Teleportation; a transport helicopter; maybe your dad flew you over. Point is, you're here now, and you've got a job to do." Seeing the way Lord Mirabilis was nodding, obviously taking in what Zektor was saying to him, the Hyper Zoanoid pressed on. "And you're not going to be able to do it very well if the humans don't respect you. And they aren't going to do that if you keep dressing like you are now."
"Oh. But why?"
"Look, you've noticed how your Dad dresses, haven't you?"
"Yeah."
"Well, the reason he wears those kinds of things is that he wants to make an impression on the humans who work for him."
"But Dad doesn't work with humans."
"Okay," Zektor said, absorbing that fact and wondering briefly just what it was that Lord Imakarum Mirabilis' job actually was. "Then he'd probably want to make a good impression on his fellow Zoalords, right?"
"I don't know, maybe," Lord Mirabilis shrugged, still looking confused about the whole thing.
"Well, there you go, then," Zektor said. "Now, let's get you out of those clothes so you can go eat, eh?"
"I'm not going to eat naked, silly," Lord Mirabilis said, smiling and laughing.
"Wha-" Mentally, Zektor reviewed the last full sentence he'd said. "Cute, kidlet." Damn, there was that nickname again. "You're also not going to go out in those weekend clothes, so off with 'em. I'll help you get into your uniform. And no, you don't have to change your underwear."
"But where's my uniform?"
"It's on the box on top of your vanity," Zektor said, turning away to give the Overlord of Chronos Nigeria at least some privacy. "You see it?"
"Oh, here it is."
"Good, we'll open that up once you get out of your clothes." Zektor blushed lightly, thinking of what the obviously well built physique of his new Overlord would do to his composure. "I mean, you'll open that thing up when you've got your clothes off. I think you'll be able to get into the shirt and pants on your own." Then, realizing that he was lusting after someone who was basically six years old, Zektor mentally bashed himself upside the head.
"What bad thoughts?"
"Nothing, Your Excellency. Nothing at all," Zektor said, folding his arms over his chest and trying not to think.