"You know, father-in-law, I’m enjoying this frank version of you," Erik grinned, raising an eyebrow. "I don’t think we’ve ever spoken like this, have we?"
Ankhur appeared contemplative and then shook his headed wryly. "No, I don’t think we have. I think it’s the... absurdity of this situation that’s making me speak like this."
He waved his one biological hand helplessly in the air, while his elbow remained on the armrest. "I mean, my kingdom was on the verge of falling before you showed up, and now, a few months later, we’re subjugated under an empire, yet thriving, my daughter has married—something I was starting to doubt she’d ever do—and now my sister... Well... I don’t even know what to say there."
Ankhur chuckled strangely and shifted in his seat, his eyes not focused on Erik, but staring in the distance. "I love my sister a great deal, you know? It’s been frustrating seeing her crawl more and more into her shell and being unable to do anything about it. She constantly wanted our parent’s approval, even while they treated her poorly because she was unwilling to give them the one thing they wanted."
He looked at Erik again and pointed at him with strange, joyous disbelief. "But then you come along, and after years of my failings, you put a smile back on my sister’s face! I nearly fainted when she came into my room with an expression I hadn’t seen in so long! And that was before she even told me about falling into your clutches!"
His expression faltered a little as he wryly shrugged and dropped his arm. "I mean, I would have preferred she make up with our parents rather than denounce them completely, but I guess I’ll take it. It’s not like they don’t deserve it..."
Ankhur sighed and relaxed back in his chair. "Anyway, I just mean this situation is absurd. I’ve always tried to keep a professional distance between us out of fear that your influence rises before I can determine more about who you are, but it was clearly pointless. With both my sister and daughter head-over-heels, I really have no other choice but to forge a good relationship with you."
Erik had listened patiently to Ankhur’s tirade, and when he was done, Erik grinned mischievously. "You seem awfully calm about the fact they’ll both be ending up in my bed regularly... Perhaps at the same time?"
His father-in-law immediately scowled and palmed his face. "Dammit, Erik. You really can’t help yourself, can you? Do you get so much enjoyment out of saying the exact things you know will annoy me the most?!"
"Hehe, a little, perhaps," Erik chuckled, unbothered, but then looked at Ankhur sincerely. "I’m not above apologising, though. I actually see potential for becoming friends, you and I, assuming you can look past my more annoying qualities..."
Ankhur smirked and scoffed. "Look past, huh? I guess that means you’re not going to work on it?"
Grinning, Erik shrugged. "Such is the privilege of being the boss..."
"Hmpf," Ankhur grumbled, narrowing his eyes. "If you expect us to be actual friends, you can’t lord that over me in unofficial matters."
"Agreed!" Erik smiled before jumping out of his chair and extending his hand towards Ankhur. "I know you’re a bit older than me, but age is far less important nowadays. So, how about it? Should we create some more opportunities to talk and see if there’s a chance for friendship?"
Ankhur smirked, slowly stood up, and then grasped Erik’s hand with his biological one. "Fine. I suppose you are quite a fascinating person, at least. I look forward to learning more."
"Good!" Erik nodded jovially. "So do I!" Then, he winked. "And don’t worry too much about not being able to help your sister, huh? It’s not like you could have given her what she truly needed... She simply needed to be claimed."
Immediately, the older man’s face flushed with embarrassment and frustration. Finally, Erik saw a glimpse of the frustrated discomfort that suggested Ankhur had actually noticed the little message he’d left in Leia’s stomach before sending her to him.
He growled, with flaring eyes, and squeezed his hand tighter. "You—!"
Before he could finish, Erik activated his spatial displacement to slip out of Ankhur’s grip, then lightning-flashed out of the room. "Anyway, see you soon, new friend!" were the last words he left behind, accompanied by an infuriating snicker.
In the study, Ankhur’s face twitched for several seconds... before letting himself drop into his chair with a palm covering his face. "Gods, that brat is going to be the death of me..."
Silence reigned for a moment until a small smile appeared on Ankhur’s face. "Still... at least he isn’t boring... Perhaps we really could be friends..."
***
Not much later, Erik entered the training room again. ’Talking to Ankhur took less time than I expected,’ he thought to himself, a small grin tugging on his lips. ’I guess I’ll take a little time to internalise my recent insights into the spatial affinity, and meet with Emily tonight.’
He messaged Emily, telling her to keep her evening open, and she naturally agreed enthusiastically.
’I hope she’ll still be that enthusiastic when I tell her my plans for her,’ he smirked inwardly. ’I guess I’ll have to make sure to compensate her accordingly...’
His lower body stirred excitedly at the prospect of compensating her just the way she’d surely want to be. Still, he quickly wiped those thoughts from his mind, lest they distracted him from what he was about to do.
Sighing, he put his large body down on one of the meditation pillows and erected the isolation barrier. Unfortunately, Elora wouldn’t be able to help him as she once could, because she’d lost her place in his soul, so there was no point in getting her. Although with some luck, that problem would soon be solved.
Wasting no time, Erik closed his eyes and perfectly recalled the moment space both stretched and elongated, back during Naeku’s trial. The insights he received in that moment flooded his mind again, but this time, he actually had the time to integrate them with his own understanding of the spatial affinity.
Immediately, he started making immense progress... Although, this was only the preparatory phase. After he was done making the last arrangements regarding Azania, he’d have to spend at least a few weeks, if not months, purely focused on advancing the spatial affinity, just to bring it to the required second rank.