Phovos gently closed the door behind her as she left Kohra’s apartment. Timik had left ages ago, but Kayen was still inside, chatting away with his Kronospast friend. Phovos had grown tired and had wanted to leave when Timik did, but they’d both insisted she stay. Only now had she managed to get away.
Walking down the hallway towards the elevator, Phovos noticed that everything seemed darker than normal. The elevator seemed darker as well. In fact, the whole building seemed really dark. Like something was specifically covering that building and stopping any evening sun from getting to it.
Phovos picked up her pace, only to find that, as she exited the building, the darkness had gone. There weren’t any clouds in the sky though, no planes or ships or flocks of birds or other buildings that could cast such a shadow. Instead, there was only a glistening silver and blue dragon, standing awkwardly in front of her.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
The dragon twitched awkwardly. “So, uh, how you doing?”
Phovos sighed. “What are you doing here, Kairos? Don’t you have a job to do, being the god of time and all that?”
“Time can look after itself. I wanted to talk to you and give you a ride back home.”
Kairos began shrinking down. He was no longer the size of a small building, but still large enough to look powerful and menacing. And big enough for Phovos to sit on his back comfortably, which was what Kairos was offering her to do.
“Why?”
After a moment of being on all fours, Kairos stood up on his hind legs, realising that Phovos didn’t want a ride. “Because I messed up. I may be the god of time, the all-powerful Whenvern, but I can’t change the past, no one can. I ignored you, I regularly forgot about you and that was wrong of me. We could have done so much together and I was always busy with other things…”
The Raptor crossed her arms, tutting. “Are you trying to win me back or something?”
“Yes…” Kairos grunted. There was a hint of frustration in his voice. “It’s pretty bloody obvious that I want you back. You’re special. You’re one in a billion. Seeing you regularly made me happy, talking to you made me happier. Being your partner made me happiest.”
Phovos looked off to one side. She didn’t want to say it out loud, but she had really enjoyed having a boyfriend. She’d missed the closeness, the intimacy. Well, maybe not the intimacy. The most they had done was snuggle and Phovos always had clothes on for that. But she’d enjoyed it.
“Okay I’ll just go and fucking say it. Phovos, I love you. You’re the best little mortal ever. Sure you have retarded little mood swings and can go from being as sweet as syrup to as grumpy as a gruffle; sure you have lots of flaws… but you’re wonderful. You really are.”
After a moment, Phovos stopped looking away and looked up at Kairos. “That’s… really kind of you…”
“It’s true. It’s also true that you’re a complete bitch when you’re in a bad mood.”
“I really am.”
Kairos sighed. Phovos sighed as well, but for a different reason.
“I suppose… I suppose you deserve another try…”
“Yeah… wait, what?” Kairos blinked. He’d been running hundreds of future scenarios in his head, and not one of them had involved Phovos saying that. “You’re… willing to date me again?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Rea-”
“Ask again and I’ll say no.”
Kairos shut his mouth, then grinned. “So, you want to go out for dinner at some point?”
“How about lunch tomorrow? There’s a Walkymonster event as well, I could always do with some company…”
“That would be amazing!” Kairos beamed as he leaped into the air with glee. “You’re the best, Phovos!”
“If you say so… now, if you excuse me, I have to head home. I’ve gotta have a shower.”
“Alright!” Kairos grinned as he took off. “See you tomorrow!”