The sliding sounds of clothes being removed and the soft thunk of someone kicking their shoes off let Zektor know that Lord Mirabilis had managed to get himself down to the… ahem, bare essentials. "Okay, now you can get the stuff out of the box, Your Excellency. Just remember, all you have to do is get into the shirt and pants. I'll help you get the jacket on."
"Okay."
Settling himself down to listen again, Zektor heard the little Overlord getting dressed in the new outfit that had been given… probably by the Council or someone who worked for them. Turning his head slightly, Zektor saw that Lord Mirabilis was just starting to pull on the pale blue shirt he'd been given to wear under his dark blue jacket. He also saw that Lord Mirabilis had one hell of a set of six-pack abs. Hell, I'd take a bite out of that.
"Are you thinking about food?"
Ack! "Sorry, sir. I guess I'm getting kind of hungry, myself." I am not a pedophile. I am not a pedophile. I am not a pedophile. I. Am. Not. A. Pedophile. "What's say I help you get into that jacket of yours, and then we go get that breakfast you wanted?"
"Stupid buttons," Zektor heard Lord Mirabilis mutter, obviously incensed by something.
Eh? Turning to look squarely at Lord Mirabilis, Zektor saw that the little Overlord was fiddling with the row of buttons near the collar of his dress shirt. "You want some help with those?"
"Stupid buttons! I hate buttons. Dad never gave me anything with buttons."
"Hey!" When Lord Mirabilis looked up at him, Zektor spoke in a more reasonable tone. "You want me to give you some help with that?"
"Sure!"
Stepping up to Lord Mirabilis, Zektor took the lower part of the shirt's open collar and started to button up the row of buttons. Of course, this act entailed staring at the bare part of Lord Mirabilis' chest for a prolonged period of time. Lord Mirabilis was fairly ripped, and hairless—just the kinds of things that Zektor looked for… No, damnit! For one thing, this guy was his superior. For another, he personally was already involved.
Mostly there was the fact that this guy, Ingriam Mirabilis, Overlord of the Africa Section, had consistently proved that he was just a kid in a man's body, however the hell that had been accomplished. Even if Zektor had tried to make a move on him – Which I won't! – the guy probably wouldn't even know what he was getting at. Biting the tip of his tongue to try and regain his focus, Zektor buttoned the last of the buttons with a bit more force than was strictly necessary.
"Now, if you'll just get your boots on, I'll help you with your jacket."
"All right," Lord Mirabilis said, happy again.
The kid was kinda mercurial, Zektor had to admit. Maybe it was because he was so young, or maybe that was just the way he was and it wouldn't matter if he'd been an actual adult or not. That would be pretty interesting, working for a guy who didn't hold grudges. Kinda nice, really; the more Zektor thought about it, the more he thought he could like working under Lord Mirabilis. For one thing, they guy never seemed to stay angry for long.
For another, he was pretty damn ho-I am not going to think about that. Watching Lord Mirabilis as he pulled on his boots and fastened up all the clasps on them – a good idea that, since Zektor didn't think Lord Mirabilis would have had the patience to deal with lace-up boots – Zektor saw him stand up.
"You look really good in that, you know."
"You mean it?" Lord Mirabilis asked, looking up at Zektor.
"Of course I mean it," Zektor said, slapping a companionable hand on Lord Mirabilis' left shoulder as he went to retrieve the dark blue suit jacket that his Overlord would be wearing from now on. "Those clothes were made for you. I mean that literally."
"Thanks!" Lord Mirabilis chirped happily.
"Anytime," Zektor said, turning a smile on his new Overlord. The kid really could be a little charmer, and it didn't even seem like he was trying. "Come on, Your Excellency, let's go show you off."
Wrapping an arm around his new Overlord's shoulders, Zektor led him out of his dressing room. The rest of Team Five was waiting for them there.
"Hey! The boss is back," Zancrus said, turning to grin at Chronos Africa's Overlord, newly dressed in his actual work clothes as opposed to something that was more suited to a weekend vacation. "And looking good, I see."
"Thanks!" Lord Mirabilis chirped, smiling happily at Zancrus and the rest of Team Five. Then he got the cutest little confused look on his face. "But who are all of you guys?"
Zektor, meanwhile, was mentally berating himself – for the umpteenth time – for thinking of his Overlord as cute. Chronos' Ninth Zoalord wasn't some kid that he'd been sent to babysit, not someone that he could brush off as cute. He was the new absolute ruler of this Section, a Zoalord who deserved his respect. It was just hard to remember that sometimes—really hard.
"I'm Zektor, Your Excellency," Zektor introduced himself. "And these guys are the rest of my team: Zancrus—" The wiry, scruffy-haired Hyper Zoanoid waved to their Overlord. "Darzerb—" The large, dark-skinned, white-haired Hyper Zoanoid inclined his head respectfully. "Elegen—" The light-skinned, bald Hyper Zoanoid who Zektor was… particularly fond of grinned and bowed slightly. "And this guy with the pink hair is Gaster."
"Why does he have pink hair?" Lord Mirabilis asked, looking at Gaster in that cutely confused way he had.
Zektor just about slapped himself in the face for that: it just wasn't right to think of his commanding Overlord as cute, like he was some sort of soft, fuzzy thing that couldn't take care of himself. The kid was a Zoalord for Chrissakes, and if one of those ultimately powerful beings couldn't take care of themselves, then the world as he knew it had just turned upside-down. He, personally, was just here to provide some backup muscle for Lord Mirabilis. He and the rest of Team Five were Lord Mirabilis' enforcers; they'd only be something more if Lord Mirabilis told them they were, and it was past time he started remembering that.
"'Cause that's the color it turned when I got out of the 'tank," Gaster said, grinning at their curious Overlord.
"Oh," Lord Mirabilis said. "Did all of your hair fall out when you got let out of the processing-tank?" This question was, of course, directed at Elegen.
"Yeah," the brown-eyed Hyper Zoanoid said, nodding. "It kinda did. Even my eyebrows came out. I'm kinda completely hairless."
"You mean you've got no hair at all?" Lord Mirabilis asked, looking at Elegen as if he couldn't quite decide whether or not to laugh.
"Not even a strand," Elegen said, smirking in self-depreciating good humor. "It takes a while to get used to having no eyelashes, believe you me, sir."
This time, Lord Mirabilis did giggle. That wasn't so bad, since Elegen had been trying to be funny. Still, the fact was they were burning daylight here. It was time to get this little party back on track.
"Didn't you say that you wanted to have some breakfast?" Zektor asked.
"Oh?" Lord Mirabilis tilted his head in that way he did, Zektor was starting to realize, when he was just slightly confused. "Yeah!"
As their Overlord bounced lightly on the balls of his feet, obviously happy to be getting some food in him – something that Zektor himself fully agreed with – Zektor stepped forward and put a hand on his back.
"All right then," Zektor said, gently wrapping his arm around Lord Mirabilis' shoulders and squeezing lightly. "Let's go."
As the six of them made their way down to the main cafeteria that all Chronos' bases came equipped with, Zektor wondered what things were going to be like at Chronos Africa from now on. With this ki-Overlord, things were bound to be different than he was used to.