Whoever said this was a junker planet ought to be slapped. Zas thought. He was tired and achy and in a bad mood from work. Most of that was normal, except the bad mood part. Humans worked hard. He didn’t remember working this hard in the academy. Of course they had way better technology than this planet. Here they weren’t as tech savvy as most planets in the galaxy, but what they had come up with was downright exhausting and painful. A sturdy race to be sure. The curse of his bad mood came walking up to him as he sat at the table.

“You’re mad at me aren’t you? I’m sorry Zas,” Ezza said. “I didn’t mean to, but I’m just good at tasks like that. At least they like you. Working hard is all I have going for me.”

Zas scowled. Ezza was right and he knew it. Everyone at Make A Dish adored him, but he didn’t get the latest promotion; Ezza did. That’s what stung.

“Zas, I…” Ezza stopped what he had been going to say. “I’ll quit if that’s what you want. I’ll stay home and tend the garden and cook meals, clean the house, stuff like that.”

“Wash my back, snuggle close at night. Whisper sweet nothings in my ear?” Zas said sarcastically. “You’re not the ugliest thing I’ve slept with in the universe, not even the worst I’ve seen. Heck, not even the worst I’ve heard about, but you’re too skinny, it’d be like cuddling a stick.”

“Is it even possible to have a serious conversation with you?” Annoyance creeping into his voice, Ezza looked down at the table.

“Yes, it’s possible, just not at this moment Ezza. I’m just a little sore that you’ve gotten this last promotion without me. I’m also proud that you got it. I’m just mixed up at the moment. I just need some space.” Zas sighed and looked at Ezza. It was all true, that just made it all the more confusing.

Ezza nodded and headed to bed. Zas stayed up for a bit thinking about everything that had happened.

*********

It had been a few days since they had both started working for Make A Dish. Ezza and Zas had found a natural rhythm between them and dishes were getting cleaned at a dizzying pace. It was quite the operation they had going in the kitchen. All of the other kitchen staff laughed at their antics, Clara herself smiled and the restaurant gave off a happy joyful vibe.

“So, you boys are both down for tomorrow right?” Mila asked. Ezza nodded his head as he finished scrapping food off a plate into the garbage. He gave it a rise with the sprayer and then slid it down the metal counter to Zas.

“Of course! A spa, who would pass that up? Are you sure you want to take us with your guest pass though?” Zas asked.

Mila nodded. She waited until Zas had slid the rack into the tall dishwasher and slammed the door.

“Yeah. If anybody here could use it, it’s the two of you.” She said shuddering as she watched Ezza use a knife to slide the half chewed steak down the plate into the garbage. His hand brushed the mashed potatoes and he cursed. Shaking his hand over the garbage to get rid of the food, he smiled at Mila.

“Thanks. I won’t forget it.” Ezza said.

“Oh, I know,” Mila said. “I’m going to call in a favour from each of you one day. I’ll be like ‘you remember when you were a lost little kitchen waif, and I rescued you? I showed you the finer things in life, and now you owe me’.” Zas let out a laugh.

“Unless it’s about dirt, bugs, plants, or animals, don’t bother calling in one from Ezza.” Zas said. Mila laughed, Ezza took the sprayer and gave Zas a squirt. The rest of the kitchen started to chuckle. Just then the kitchen door slammed open and Clara came rushing in.

“Forty! Forty people just came in all together. Has everyone forgotten about a thing called reservations? We need to hustle tonight. Boys,” she said turning to Zas and Ezza, “Ralph just called in sick. So you’re on your own. I need you both to stay. If you can pull this off, you’ll be rewarded. The rest of you do as you’ve always done. Let’s win this battle, and keep going. You’re the best staff in the world. Let’s do this!”

“Clara,” Mila said getting the other women’s attention, “We’ve got it in here, but you’re needed out there. I can see one of your waitresses freaking out and looking for you.” Clara let out a gasp, turned and rushed back out the door.

“Better start a sink.” Zas said. Ezza nodded and sped up the scraping. Zas made up the triple sink as the rest of the kitchen kicked into high gear.

“Thank you so much for today boys. You’re always there when I need you.” Clara said as she pulled to a stop outside their house.

“No, thank you,” Zas said opening his door. “We’re grateful for the promotions.”

“The new counters too,” Ezza said closing his door. Clara said her goodbyes and made arrangements for Bob to drop the counters off in a couple of days. Then she left.

Zas sighed and rolled his shoulders as he went to light a fire in the pit. Ezza smiled and headed to his beloved garden. It had really grown, and after Summer had shown him how to get more seeds it had expanded quite a bit. He began picking the weeds and watering. Zas had toasted a few marshmallows and then doused the fire. As Ezza finished watering the last plant, Zas walked over and shoved a marshmallow in his mouth. Laughing and talking about their promotions to head dishwashers they went to bed. Tomorrow they would experience a spa.

“So, this is the yoga room. There’s a video player there, just follow what they do on the screen. Next to this room is the gym area. I’ll be back there getting a massage. Feel free to use anything or try anything out. It’s on me today.” Mila said tugging her robe a little tighter. She smiled and satisfied she’d explained everything turned and walked back down the hall.

“Well, shall we start here?” Zas asked smiling a little nervously. He had hoped Mila would stay with them, but that’s not how Spas worked apparently. Ezza nodded and moved further into the room. Zas went and pressed the button on the player. The video started and both men began to imitate the woman on the screen.

                                                   

“That felt amazing.” Ezza said laying on his back on the mat. Zas just nodded. It was almost like the exercises they did back at the Academy. It felt almost like a piece of home.

“We should get some of this equipment at the store downstairs before we go.” Zas said. Ezza agreed wholeheartedly. He felt calm and sure of himself for the first time in a while. “What now?”

“Maybe a massage? Mila seemed to be happy about getting one of those.” Ezza said sitting up. Helping each other up off the floor, they made their way back to the massage room. It was occupied however. Watching the Masseuse work on her client and trying to figure out what to do next, Zas jumped when he heard the man behind him speak.

“Everything ok fellas?” A tall black man stood behind them. He wore the uniform of the Spa, and gave off a friendly air.

“Just thinking about what to do now. We’re new here, visiting with a friend. She recommended a massage earlier, but the Masseuse seems busy.” Zas said.

“I think I can help with that. I’m Eric Lewis. I may not be able to give you a full massage, but I can give hand or foot massages. Little slices of heaven if you’d like.” He said gesturing to a chair in front of a waterfall sculpture. Ezza shrugged his shoulders. Zas started walking towards the chair with Eric and Ezza following behind.

By the Mates, this is almost as good as a woman! Zas was stretched out languidly in the chair as Eric massaged his foot in his lap. The things Humans came up with for pleasure, it was incredible. After Eric finished his other foot, Ezza replaced Zas in the chair. Ezza was a bit squeamish about his feet being touched, so he got a hand massage instead. The three of them chatted and then Eric took them downstairs to the store portion. They purchased their own yoga mats and the video, then went looking for Mila. She was in the sauna relaxing. They joined her for a bit and then they all left feeling refreshed and ready to go to work again.

                                                  

That night Mila introduced them to her favourite watering hole The Shrieking Llama. They settled down with a couple of drinks at a table, and were chatting when Mila’s phone rang. It was her Son calling. Leaving them with cab fare to get back, she took off muttering something about her house burning down or else.

With nothing else to do and not wanting to go home right away, Ezza and Zas watched a bit of tv, and then discovered the game Don’t Wake the Llama. It was great night and at the end they called a cab and collapsed into a deep sleep once they got home.

                                           

A couple of days later after work Bob dropped off the counters they had received from Clara. There were six in total, and they were sleek, black and Chrome. Zas was elated, but quickly deflated as Ezza pointed out how they didn’t really have room for them anywhere. Bob offered to drop them at a storage place for them for now. When they told him they didn’t have one, he took them into town and showed them how to rent one. They stored the counters there and then he took them home.

They spent the day doing as they liked. Ezza tended his garden and even witnessed some of his plants evolving into better specimens. Zas spent the day teasing and flirting with Ezza. Finally finished with Zas’s attitude and loneliness, Ezza left Zas with a few remarks on what he could do with his obsessed flirting and went inside and sorted through all the herbs and bugs he brought back from Granite Falls and stuffed into a corner. Zas eventually joined him inside, commenting on how messy Ezza’s hobby was.

“We don’t have a lot of room or storage.” Ezza stated stirring his brew on the stove. He’s right, Zas thought looking around. They worked and got paid but hadn’t really done anything with their money except food and that day at the Spa and Bar with Mila. Ezza grew most of their food except the meat.

“We need to fix this place up. Make it an actual home. It’s needs to be bigger, but it’s already expensive.” Ezza said screwing the lid onto his ointment. Zas nodded and placed the jar on the table. It was funny, when they had first seen the bill in their mailbox they hadn’t known quite how to handle it. After a few days the company had called and Ezza and the company man fixed everything. It seemed like most of their pay went into paying for this place, but they had scraped together some savings. When the girls at work found out that Ezza could brew ointments, most of them had ordered jars of soothing balms among other things. With the herbs he was growing, he managed to carve out some extra money on the side. It wasn’t much, but it was something. Zas felt useless, he had no real skill aside from cooking and woodworking to help bolster funds with. Just as he was about to ask what to do about it his phone rang.