Bad Date

“Didn’t think you’d show up…” Phovos muttered as she idly stirred her spoon in her cup.

Kairos wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He looked a little dishevelled, halfway between his normal godly self and the form he normally used whenever he met Phovos.

“What are you drinking?”

“Gravy stock.”

The Whenvern glanced around the small cafe. It was obviously a Ksithan one because there was not a single vegetarian option on the menu, and a whole glazed carcass of an animal was slowly cooking on a spit behind the counter.

“Is that what Ksithans normally drink?”

“If they want a hot drink, yeah.”

Kairos hesitated some more, then sat down at the table opposite Phovos.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

“It’s just that, being the God of Time, I tend to get busy and caught up with work and things and-”

“I said it’s fine.”

Clearly, none of it was fine. Phovos hadn’t even looked up from her drink. In fact, she hadn’t even drunk any of it. She’d just been stirring it continuously.

“You’re being very dismissive, Phovos. Clearly my not being around is not fine at all. We both agree that I should have been spending more time together. Unfortunately the fabric of reality tends to get in the way of pleasantries.”

“I understand. Maybe this sort of relationship isn’t good for either of us.”

Kairos blinked. “Did you just…” He stopped, having no idea what to say. Everything else stopped as well. Phovos looked up from her cup to see that time had slowed down. The world quickly snapped back to normal though as Kairos snapped out of his confusion. “Are you dumping me?”

“I guess…” Phovos seemed uneasy. “I just never see you. What’s the point of being with someone if we never spend time together?”

“You do realise that you’re dumping the Dragon God of Time, yes?”

“Yeah…” Phovos took a deep breath. “It’s all too hectic though. Being with you. Wondering when I might hear from you. Worrying that you might ask things of me that I don’t want. I just want a little bit of normality. I’m not getting it from work or home and if I keep on dating you, I won’t have a normal relationship either.”

Kairos tilted his head to one side. “You want normality?”

“I know, it sounds retarded. I’m THE Raptor. Everyone thinks so highly of me. That I’m this super powerful super smart Ksithan that will solve everyone’s problems when I’m really not. I’m tied up in so much bullshit that I can’t really relate to other raptors and I just feel so distant. Like I’m a dumb freak who can’t work a normal job or whatever.”

“So I’m too weird for you.”

“No…” Phovos sighed. “Sure, I’m annoyed that I never fucking see you. But I could have called you or whatever. My problem is that I just want to be a fucking normal Ksithan yet I just can’t because I’m stuck in all my own crap. I can’t even start to be normal if I’m dating A FUCKING TIME GOD!”

“That’s… fair…” Kairos’s shoulders dropped. “I guess you don’t want to be friends either. Although I don’t think you know what you want. You just have a vague idea of normality and feel like you don’t fit in.”

“I feel like…” Phovos didn’t continue her sentence. She fell silent, thinking to herself. “Yeah, I don’t know what I want. I think I made it worse for myself as well. Every fifty or so years, I kinda… It’s like I reset, so that my brain doesn’t get overloaded with over a thousand years worth of memories. Last time I did that wasn’t that long ago, so mentally I’m about 26. But this time round, I feel so damn burnt out…”

“Maybe you are burnt out.”

“Maybe. No matter how much time I take off, no matter how much ‘me time’ I have, I still feel burnt out.”

“I don’t think dating me is helping with any of that.”

“It’s not.”

Kairos shrugged. “Can we be friends at least?”

Phovos shrugged as well. “I… I guess.”

“Friends with benefits?”

Phovos glared at Kairos.

“Sorry. Bad joke.” Kairos got up from his seat. “I’ll leave you to it. Have a good day.”

“Yeah, thanks, you too…” Phovos muttered as the Whenvern disappeared.