“What was all that about?”
Arkadin watched as Psiksi wobbled over. He’d been sitting on a bench, staring out into the void. There were no stars in the night sky, only that horrible, empty darkness, the hollow that reminded the Thantophor of his uncaring ‘father’, the Voidborn.
“What was what about?”
Psiksi wobbled some more, nearly missing the bench and only successfully managing to sit down on a second attempt.
“You being here. And that nice blue vok.”
“You mean Kairos, the Whenvern, the dragon god of time.”
“Is that who he is?” Psiksi was holding a small cup. In it were the dregs of some sort of mead. He, like most other Skyavok, had been drinking heavily all afternoon, ever since the younglings all went to sleep. Sugar comas for the kids, alcohol-induced blackouts for the adults. “I thought the Whenvern was a dragon.”
“We’re deities. We can shapeshift.”
“I also thought he was a horrible cunt who everyone hated and only ever got worshipped because he forced people to, while in the process forcing the results of his time duties on you because he’s too cowardly to accept the fact that death and decay only exist because time flows forward.”
Psiksi yawned, then got up from the bench and went back inside. He came back, about 30 seconds later, holding two half-filled cups of mead.
“I get talky when I’m drunk!” Psiksi beamed, nearly throwing one of the cups all over himself. “You want?”
“No thanks…” Arkadin smiled politely.
“Your loss…” The drunk Skyavok downed one cup, dropped it on the floor then stared at the other. “Why ARE you hanging out with your douchebag brother anyway? He’s a cunt. He hurt a lot of people.”
“Says the mortal to the death god…” Arkadin sighed. “I can’t hold grudges. I’ve got to spend the next trillion years with my siblings, being angry at them doesn’t get me anywhere.”
“Yeah butttttttt…” Psiksi trailed off. “Aren’t you all really kind of a cunt? Like, some idiot could have made this universe thingy however they wanted and they went and stuck shit like death and time and all that in it? Why didn’t your mum or whatever get off her fat ass and make it so there’s no death?”
“If there was no death and decay, then complex life wouldn’t exist!” Arkadin tried to explain. He knew though that Psiksi wasn’t really concentrating on anything and just rambling mindlessly. “There would only be limited single-cell organisms that can only create a limited number of things. Complex life requires the ability to break down and kill other components to create energy.”
“Buttttttt…” Psiksi leaned forward, slurring his words and his drink. “But why make it do we die toooo?”
“You should ask my mum one day. See what she says.”
“Your mum’s stupid.”
“I totally agree…” Arkadin smiled. “How much have you had to drink this evening, Psiksi?”
Psiksi downed his drink, then got up, looking for the cup he had dropped. “Plenty! More than your blue friend anyway! Think he tried to chat me up or something. Or was that Kass? I told him I had a partner and he went back to drinking. I think.”
“So you’re really drunk.”
Psiksi grinned as he picked up the fallen cup. He then clambered to his feet, glanced over his shoulder then inspected both his cups, realising they were both empty. “You should try it some time!”
“Maybe I will one day, but not tonight…” Arkadin sighed, watching with amusement as Psiksi wandered off to get even more drunk.