“Hey! You came back!” Kayel beamed as he opened the front door to his tiny apartment.
Arkadin, the Thantophor and god of death, glanced around awkwardly. “Uh, yeah, I guess I did.”
Kayel dragged Arkadin inside, then closed the door behind him, before gently forcing Arkadin onto the sofa. Kayel then playfully patted Arkadin on the head and zipped off into the kitchen, returning with two bottles of water. It was at that point Kayel noticed that Arkadin was holding onto a plastic bag with a box in it.
“Oooh, what’s that?”
“Uh, I didn’t want to turn up empty-handed so I brought donuts.”
With a big grin, Kayel disappeared into the kitchen again and came back with two small plates. He took the bag from Arkadin and opened it up, placing the donuts on the plates.
“Oh, naughty, you got four. Who else is coming?”
Arkadin blinked. “Um, no one? It’s… just a force of habit I guess. I always buy four of things since, well, there’s four of us and I always get something for everyone. And, like Epani and Kairos get upset if I don’t get anything for them if I get something for Sini.”
Kayel tilted his head to one side, doing that cute thing most Skyans did when they didn’t quite get something. “So, uh, you basically live in a state where you constantly have to please the other deities?”
Arkadin shrugged. “Yeah. I’m amazed I got to spend a couple of hours with you last time I was here and no one summoned me or dragged me away or opened a portal beneath my feet and pulled me through it. Don’t be surprised if I suddenly have to go.”
“I mean, back when you’d spend time with us, you’d constantly have to leave early. The one time you stayed the night, we didn’t see you for two weeks afterwards, and Epani wanted to throw you into a star because you got infected with some corruption.”
“Hmph…” Arkadin tutted, then took a bite out of one of his donuts. Before he knew it, he’d already finished it. Kayel picked up on this before Arkadin did.
“I take it you’re hungry?”
“I’m always hungry. All the time. No matter what I eat, there’s a nagging feeling of emptiness underneath. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a god of entropy and decay, or if it’s something else. Whatever it is, I just know I wasn’t made right and, despite me ironically being the best thing around when it comes to protecting this universe from Corruption, I’m the most likely to accidentally turn into one for some reason, and I think the permanent hunger stems from that. I’ve not been eating again to try and avoid it but it’s not working.”
Kayel thought for a moment, then took a bite out of his donut. He took a second one, then shrugged. “Maybe you’re always hungry because you aren’t eating food?”
Arkadin stared at Kayel.
“What? You just said you’ve not been eating! People eat food when they are hungry, and that makes hunger go away!”
“I’m a deity, I shouldn’t need to eat.”
“Kairos is a deity, he shouldn’t need to try and bang ancient psychotic Ksithan warriors, but he tries to anyway.”
“I thought you said Phovoula dumped him?”
Kayel tutted. “Kairos has been messaging her constantly wanting to get back together. Apparently, after that Demon Rat Death Wolf ceremony, Phovos got back to her office and had four missed called from the stupid dragon.”
“Ugh… I’m going to… I would say I’d talk to Kairos, but he doesn’t listen to me, so I’ll tell Sini and have her speak to him. Because Kairos needs to fuck off.”
“Agreed!” Kayel continued to tut. “That does prove that you’re a complete pushover to the other deities though. You’re the god of change, the force through which the goddesses work, yet you bow down to them.”
“They know I can kill them. So they keep me on a leash.”
“Yeah, so? I’m perfectly aware that Retvik could totally kill me, Nyssi and Tenuk with relative ease, we don’t keep him on a leash. Although… the visual image of Kuta keeping Retvik on a leash just popped into my brain and that amuses me greatly.”
Arkadin frowned, then ate the second donut he had in one go.
“Come on, now!” Kayel tried to be a bit less mean. “We need to work on your self-esteem!”
“I still feel like I am being set up for something. None of this feels right…”
Kayel frowned back, then scooted over so he could better look at Arkadin. “Mate, Arkay, I’ll be blunt, yeah, I’m gonna guess you were set up, because you were dumped outside my apartment. But, come on, you’re a mess. Like, I watched you slowly get better and loosen that leash, and now you’re tightening it to the point you’re choking yourself.”
“I… I guess… It’s all… just… so… I don’t know. And the fact that you are clearly wearing sexy clothing and flirting with me really isn’t helping matters. Feels like you want something from me. All everyone does is ask things of me.”
“Well, uh, gonna be blunt again, I do want something. I want you. Because you’re hot. And you came back here in the shape of a Skyavok, so I think you want something from me too.” Kayel did that thing where he uncrossed and recrossed his legs again. He was definitely hitting on Arkadin. Arkadin wasn’t sure if he liked it or not. “And before you say “oh I’m a death god I don’t deserve it!” again, YOU came back here.”
“I came back here because I promised to do so. I keep my promises.”
“Because you’re a good person!” Kayel turned away and went back to his donut, smiling again. Once he finished his donut, he grabbed a remote control, turned on the television then leaned back and put an arm around Arkadin. “So, Arkay, what do you want to watch?”
“Um… I don’t know. I don’t really watch television or anything at all.”
“Oh? What was the last thing you watched then?”
Arkadin thought to himself. “Um… I think… I watched the Doom Drums ceremonies… Oh, that was you. Uh, thanks, I guess.”
Kayel smiled some more. “You’re welcome. I can’t help but ask though, what did the Demon Rat look like? I kinda assumed she looked like either the white-skinned bitch with needle legs that stabbed Epani, or the perfect dark green Temthan we fought on the Earth Bones at the bottom of the universe.”
All of a sudden, Arkadin grabbed the box that had contained the donuts and crushed it in his claws. “I HATE not remembering any of this! Clearly, some vastly important things happened and I have no memory of any of it!”
Kayel immediately backed off. Not because he was scared, well, he was a little scared, but he didn’t want to make Arkadin lash out further. “Well, how about we talk about something you do remember? Do you remember the actual, original fight against the Demon Rat?”
The Thantophor hesitated, then closed his eyes. “Somewhat. She… she was ugly. Reforming. Bones made of rubber, endless claws, rows of teeth, her body regrowing before her beauty could come back. And all she did was go on and on about how she was going to take every single being I had ever cared for and hurt them. Before telling me that she’d tear me apart and rape me again. I killed her by crushing her to death. But…” Arkadin paused, then moved part of his stomach wrap, revealing a scar on his side. “Kinisis got the last laugh. She died, then I died. Epani and Sini found my body and brought me back to life. And bound me to the universe we built on Kinisis’s bones.”
“Do you remember anything from before then?”
“I remember… very little. There was a time where I was free. It was nice, but I don’t… know what actually happened… And I don’t like thinking about it… Can we talk about, I don’t know, literally anything else?”
Kayel shrugged, then put his arm back around Arkadin and started flicking through channels. “Yeah, no worries. Do you have any hobbies? Pretty sure you used to play video games or something.”
“Hm… yeah, you’re right… maybe when I have some more free time, I’ll see if there’s any updates… After watching some-” Arkadin suddenly fell silent as something on his wrist beeped.
“Don’t tell me, you need to go?”
“I do. At least they’re calling me and not forcibly summoning me.”
Kayel tutted. “That’s a shame. You only just got here. Will you come back, Arkay?”
Arkadin hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah. I’ll come back. I… It’s awkward, but, well, I… I like… this…”
The Thantophor stood up, sighed then made his way to the door.
“See you round!” Kayel smiled weakly as he got up too and put a hand on Arkadin’s shoulder. “Thanks for coming!”
“Yeah, thanks…” Arkadin sighed as he stepped outside, then disappeared in a puff of smoke.