“What is that?”
Arkadin pointed at the very large box that was taking up the majority of the space on the table. After a very nice day out, Kairos had brought Arkadin back to one of his luxury floating capsule homes. Kairos’s homes were always amazing in vastly different ways. This particular home was particularly luxurious, a home built around natural waterfalls and hot springs, with elevated pads filled with soft bed spreads or mountains of food in between them. Glass walls and a crystal ceiling protected it all from the invasive weather outside.
“What is what?”
“That box.”
“Which box?” Kairos smiled cheekily. He knew exactly which box Arkadin was talking about, but he wanted to be silly.
“That massive, wrapped box on the table that says “To Arky” on it.”
“Oh, THAT one?” Kairos laughed. “Yeah, that one’s for you.”
Arkadin stared at the box, then looked at Kairos, with a confused expression on his face.
“Why?”
“Why do you think?”
The Thantophor thought to himself for a moment. As far as he was concerned, there was no reason why he should be given any gifts. In fact, he had been a miserable bastard lately, having been aggressive towards others, alienating himself from everyone and being an all-round twat.
“I don’t know.”
“Oh come on!” Kairos exclaimed, pushing Arkadin towards the box. “Surely you can think of one reason!”
Arkadin sighed. “I’ve been horrible lately. I have been grumpy and mean and hateful and I did nearly try to kill the universe. There’s no reason why you of all people should be giving me anything. Honestly I didn’t even deserve the nice treats today…”
Kairos’s smile faded. “What did I just say the other day about being so harsh on yourself?”
“I know, I know, but that’s how I feel. Undeserving…” Arkadin sat himself down in the nearest chair. Kairos wandered over, putting his clawed hands on Arkadin’s shoulders, massaging them gently. But as soon as he did, Arkadin pulled away uncomfortably.
“Come on, brother. You always do this to yourself.”
“You lot don’t help either…”
Kairos nodded. “I know, but we can all do better, right? And just because you did some bad stuff, doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world.”
“I nearly killed the universe in a fit of anger.”
“But you didn’t. You chose not to.”
Arkadin sighed. “I still don’t think-”
“Stop thinking and listen!” Kairos snapped. “No matter how much you hate yourself, that doesn’t mean we can’t stop and briefly appreciate your continued existence! I’m claiming today as your birthday!”
The Thantophor blinked. “What?”
“It’s your birthday.”
“What?”
“IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY!” Kairos shouted. “AND I GOT YOU A BOX!”
Arkadin stared at the box and slowly approached it. The gift was literally a massive box. One big enough for Arkadin to comfortably sleep in.
“Why did you get me a box?”
Kairos shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t know what to get you, because we’re gods and we technically have everything we could want. But that’s a very nice box.”
With a shrug, Arkadin climbed into the box. It was a very, very nice box. The insides were lined with that soft felt stuff Arkadin could never remember the name of. And the walls were pretty sturdy as well. He could lean against them and the box hardly moved.
“It is a nice box…” Arkadin smiled. “Thank you.”
Kairos beamed as he peered inside. “No worries, little brother. Don’t forget, even if others say they hate you, even if you hate yourself, I’ll always love you.”
Arkadin leaned out of the box and put his arms around Kairos. “Thank you, big brother…”