“How are things, Elkay?”
Elkay smiled, then glanced at who was talking to him. Dalosisaar was standing by his side, splitting his attention between Elkay and the members of the Twelve Anew who were busy painting one of the walls of the Library Near The Centre Of the Universe. Better name pending. Although Elkay did like the temporary name for the colossal building that contained free access to a lot of knowledge.
“Things are actually great, for once!”
Dalosisaar was standing on four legs today. Being a Thraki, he was awkwardly shaped, and standing on two legs was a pain for him. But since Dalosisaar wasn’t doing anything important, he didn’t need to stand on two legs.
“Ah, good.”
Elkay paused, then looked back at Dalosisaar. He was also wearing armour, that covered Dalosisaar’s head and back. The plating along Dalosisaar’s spine covered more of him than normal, hiding his light blue stripes.
“You don’t seem well, Dalosisaar,” Elkay inspected Dalosisaar more thoroughly. “You seem somewhat glum, actually.”
Dalosisaar sighed, loudly.
“You’re not doing well at all, deary.”
“I’m just tired. That is all.”
Elkay knew Dalosisaar was lying. “Do you want to talk?”
Dalosisaar turned his attention to the others. Akusasiiri was teaching the younger members of the Twelve Anew how to mix colours and paint within the lines. Litvir and Nanik were having a lot of fun, but Syksis was somewhat annoyed that she’d gotten paint in her fur. Sure, Akusasiiri had explained how Syksis could clean her fur, but Syksis didn’t appreciate the mess.
“Hmph.”
“I’m willing to make it all private.”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s clearly something. You’re not doing right, my draconic friend. You seem like you’re almost in pain.”
Dalosisaar glanced back at Elkay. “How do you know… Wait, why am I asking? Of course you know. You’re the god of knowledge.”
“I am, yes, but, for the sake of my sanity, I don’t know everything. I mostly just know where to find the information I need and get to it in a timely manner. Hence the fact that I’ve built this massive library.”
The mighty Thraki sighed. There was a slight twinge of pain in that sigh though.
“Dalosisaar, please. Talk to me. Let me, let us help.”
Another sigh. Dalosisaar sat himself down. “Alright, fine.”
Elkay smiled, then patted Dalosisaar on the arm. “Come on, what’s bothering you?”
Dalosisaar hesitated. “I feel exhausted.”
“Oh? You know you can take breaks, right?”
“Can’t. Too busy.”
“You know you said the exact same thing to little Litvir not too long ago. Litvir took a break for a bit. Now, look at them, Litvir’s doing great. Also turns out that Litvir can swim and has no issues with water. Didn’t expect that.”
More sighs. “You’re right. But Litvir isn’t in charge of all of us.”
“Doesn’t matter. You still need your breaks!” Elkay countered. “In fact, you have us all trained up so we don’t HAVE to do daily meetings any more. We all just get on with our duties. You can take a well-deserved holiday.”
“I’m busy.”
Elkay rolled his eyes. “Alright, let me put this another way. I’m the god of knowledge. Looking at you, I can clearly tell that you’re stressed. Being the god of knowledge means I know how to fix your stress. And you can fix your stress by taking some time off. Doesn’t have to be a big break. Just a few days will do a world of wonder for you. Just to reset yourself a little.”
“That’s the problem though. I can’t be reset.”
“How comes?” Elkay tutted. “What is so important about your job as the god of unity that you can’t take five minutes off to unite your mind and body and get both back on track?”
Dalosisaar growled. “It’s not as simple as you make it out to be. I’m changing. I’m not just a god of air and a deity of unity. Kairos is… training me.”
“Training you to do what?”
Dalosisaar closed his mouth and growled again. Elkay crossed his arms and tutted.
“Dalosisaar, dear, you need help, and you are not letting us help you.”
“I feel like… I can’t really say.”
“We can keep this private, if you want. We can go somewhere quiet. I can give you all the privacy you need. But you need help and you’re not talking.”
Dalosisaars’ growls simmered down. He took a deep breath then decided to talk.
“You’re right, Elkay. You are almost always right.”
“I’m the god of knowledge, of course I am. So, tell me, Dalosisaar, what is troubling you?”
“Ugh… I feel like I’ve been dragged away from doing my duties as a grand unifier. Kairos keeps on… dragging me off to… teach you things.”
“Things like what?”
“Thing like… how to be a Time Drake.”
Elkay blinked. “Really?”
“Yes. It’s why I’ve been constantly busy. I don’t know why Kairos is teaching me these things, but it’s tiring and strenuous and I don’t really understand any of it, no matter how much I try. I feel like a failure for not being able to learn everything properly…” Dalosisaar paused, then glanced down at Elkay. “In all honesty? I think you’d be a better Time Drake than me.”
Elkay thought for a moment, then shrugged. “Maybe, but I’m pretty sure you have to be a dragon to be a time dragon.”
“Kairos has suggested otherwise.”
“Well… uh… I’m sure, if needed, I could learn. But Kairos and I don’t see eye to eye.”
Dalosisaar blinked. “You still dislike each other? I thought Kairos apologised to you, after he attacked you?”
Elkay tutted. “He apologised, but there’s still… something going on. I’m… not sure what. And we both know what Kairos is like.”
“Hmph. I do now!” Dalosisaar snarled. “He is a grumpy bastard. I almost feel bad for worshipping him so much when I was a proper mortal… Hang on, Elkay, you knew the Dead God personally. Was he an asshole the same way Kairos is?”
Elkay hesitated for a moment. “Firstly, I am surprised you’re being so brunt about Kairos. Secondly… well, Arkay was very, very kind to me. We’d occasionally just chill out and talk, to the point that, before a few years ago, I was the only mortal he regularly spoke to.”
“Oh. That… that is a shame…”
“It is, yes. But as the Silent Blade always promised to those he claimed, Arkay too is now in a better place.”
Dalosisaar sighed. “Well… well, I suppose we survived…”
Elkay patted Dalosisaar on the hand again. “Don’t worry, we’re doing great. But seriously, Dalosisaar, take some time off for yourself. You need it.”
“What about-”
“Aster and I can keep everyone united for a bit while you take a break. It’s fine.”
Feeling a bit better, Dalosisaar settled down. “You’re absolutely right. But for now, I’m, just going to sit here for a moment.”
“No worries, dear. The universe is fine right now. We can both just rest for a bit…”