Arkay woke up realising he wasn’t alone in bed. He also quickly realised that his bed had moved to a large, dark room with a glass window facing the wider rivers of Kinigi. He then realised that he wasn’t in his bed, but someone else’s bed. Clearly, someone had messed with him while he was asleep.
“Did you have a nightmare, dear?”
Kinisis’s voice was silkier than usual. She was in a nice mood for a change. Actually, really, Kinisis had been in a genuinely good mood for a while.
“No. Just confused as to how I got here…” Arkay muttered. “Never been a fan of being moved around while I’m asleep. Makes me feel insecure.”
A black, shadowy claw felt its way down Arkay’s back, then pulled itself around his stomach. Kinisis wasn’t in a good mood, she was in a “lovey dovey” mood, as some of the other Veth called it.
“You shouldn’t feel insecure, dear. You’re almost as powerful as I am. If you wanted to, you could cast off your ties to this universe and create your own one. You could kill billions then create trillions.”
Arkay rolled over, onto his back. Kinisis’s hand remained where it was, on his stomach, while she nuzzled his neck.
“Is something bothering you?”
“No, Kinisis. But I feel there’s something bothering you?”
“Not so much bothering me. Making me think.”
“About what?”
“About you.”
Arkay sighed. This conversation was going nowhere. He wouldn’t have minded so much if this wasn’t the first time he’d been allowed to properly sleep for ages. Normally Arkay was so busy that he’d only ever get the odd nap. Then Death came along, took him out of his own bed and stuck him in one of her own sleeping spots.
“I’m sorry, Kinisis, I’m tired. Could you get to the actual point of whatever it is you want?”
Kinisis pulled herself closer to Arkay, holding him tightly. “I don’t know what I want right now. I just want to be with you.”
“Are you…” Arkay paused and reached for the chain he had been wearing around his neck. The chain that Kinisis had given him. “Uh… you know when you took me to the other side of Kinigi the other day… were you serious about the whole… relationship thing?”
“Yes.” Kinisis’s reply was blunt.
“But why? There’s like, tons of much nicer Veth out there.”
“I didn’t fuck all those other Veth up.”
“Yeah you did. Just in a different way.”
“They’re mostly happy. You’re mostly sad.”
Arkay sighed again, then rolled back onto his side and glanced out of the window. There seemed to be a strong wind blowing around outside. In the distance, a handful of Veth could be seen wandering around. Again, he could feel Kinisis’s claws rubbing up against him. But she was being gentle. Arkay had thought that he’d changed a lot since he became a Veth, but perhaps recent events had changed Kinisis too.
“Kenos always said I shouldn’t have partners. I should just get on with my duties. Kairos, he never said it out loud but I know he thinks it. I always thought that they only said that because they wanted me for themselves. But I don’t like either of them. I love my creations, not them.”
The Lady of the Cycle fell silent, not sure what else to say. There was a genuine air of sadness around Kinisis and her words. Arkay couldn’t help but think back to the other day, when she’d presented him with the blades and chains.
“You were being serious when you presented me with those gifts, weren’t you?” Arkay finally asked.
“Kinda.”
“You want a partner, don’t you?”
Kinisis didn’t answer at first. She backed away from Arkay, letting go of him and climbing out of bed. She eventually wandered over to the window, examining the view outside. Arkay hadn’t realised up until now that Kinisis was completely naked apart from her weird shadowy arms and tail.
“Yes. I want a partner.”
Arkay sighed once more, then climbed out of bed. He stood by Kinisis’s side, watching the rivers flow below.
“You really want me to be your partner?”
“Yes.”
“You have to treat me as your equal then.”
“I will.”
Arkay gave in. Kinisis was serious about all this.
“Well, alright. We’ll see how things plan out…”
Kinisis grinned, then grabbed Arkay and hugged him.
“Thank you!”