“This is the third time in three days that you have had nightmares.”
Kuta stood in the kitchen, arms crossed and tutting, as they watched Arkay make an impromptu midnight snack of fried eggs and buttered bread.
“Yeah. Third night where I’ve had nightmares about you…”
“You said you get nightmares regularly though. What is different now?”
Arkay sighed, not answering the question. He plated everything up, covered his plate in cheap tomato ketchup, then handed one plate to Kuta, alongside some cutlery.
“I am not hungry. And you are not right.” Kuta pushed the plate back into Arkay’s hands. They were angry. Angrier than they should be.
“If I say it out loud, it will happen.”
“If you do not say it out loud, it may happen anyway!” Kuta snapped. “You are not right. And you do not seem to be doing anything about it. You cannot ignore problems and hope that they will go away, you know that!”
Arkay sighed again, then put both the plates down, suddenly not hungry in the slightest. “Normally, I’d agree. But the… nature of these dreams… nightmares… They’re… something else. Something I am too cowardly to face.”
“You are the Thantophor, why are you a coward?”
“Because…” Arkay trailed off. He looked up at Kuta, sighed yet again then made his way to the sofa, sitting down and sniffing. Kuta realized that there was something genuinely wrong and sat down next to him.
“Arkay, what is going on?”
“I’m scared that these are not nightmares. They’re future flashes. Glances into the future.”
Kuta blinked. “You can see into the future? But you are not the God of Time, you are the God of Decay. That makes no sense.”
“I know, it doesn’t make sense, not at all. But… well, you know I’m not a normal deity. You know I’m a hybrid mimic. I can become a Life Goddess, a Time Drake, even a Voidborn. And sometimes I… I don’t do that willingly.”
“So you can occasionally glance into the future? Can you do that right now?”
Arkay tutted. “I can’t actually control it or anything. Epani has… ugh, rules, about who has what powers, and those rules mean that Sini and I can’t really access Time Drake stuff whenever Kairos is active. But when he is suitably distracted, I subconsciously pick up on Time Drake stuff. Never in a clear or concise manner though. And these… these nightmares, I am scared that they are future flashes, because they coincide with times where I know Kairos is distracted.”
Kuta edged closer to Arkay. “What happens in these future flashes?”
Arkay’s reply was overly blunt. “You die. You are snatched out of my arms and stabbed to death. I can’t see who does it, but it’s someone powerful. And no matter how fast I move or what I do, it still happens, you still die, and I can’t reach you.”
“Oh…” Kuta had no idea how to respond to that. “But… you said…”
“You can’t die from old age. You can almost certainly die from being stabbed repeatedly.”
“Hm, that is definitely a problem, because I do like being alive and I also like you. Is there a chance though that these are just nightmares? Because I have certainly had nightmares where I lose people I care about. Including you.”
“You… you have?”
Kuta nodded. “I had a nightmare where you were consumed by a horrible black and purple substance, sacrificing yourself for your fellow deities. But I woke up, calmed myself down and snuggled up next to you, reminding myself that dreams are not real, and nightmares are very much caused by stress and pain that we cannot quite process while awake.” With a small smile, they scooted over to Arkay and held his hand. “My dear, I will be honest, I have lived my entire life knowing I would die one day, and it was only recently that I discovered that I am… was a Decayling. Like most Rethans, I do not fear death, and understand that something better will grow from my remains. And at the same time, these are most likely just nightmares. But sitting up and being sad about these things will not do anything.”
Arkay took a deep breath. There were tears in his eyes. Inky, black tears. “I know what I have to do. And I am scared of that too.”
“What do you have to do?”
“I have to… I… I have to…” Arkay put his head in his hands, sobbing loudly. “I don’t want to go back to being cold and alone! I just want to be normal and have relationships and a life and… I don’t want to have to let you go…”
“I… do not follow…”
“You will die because I love you. I don’t want you to die, so I have to stop loving you!”
Kuta frowned, then put their arm around Arkay. “I think you are jumping to conclusions. We do not know whether these even are glimpses into the future or not. Is there… not someone you can talk to? Maybe… ask the Whenvern, get a confirmation whether I am going to die or not, before we go straight to the breakup?”
Arkay rubbed his eyes, then straightened himself out. “You’re right… You’re always right. I’m… overreacting. Maybe they are just nightmares. Or maybe there is… I don’t know, something else I can do… But I can’t risk your life for my happiness. You are more important than I am.”
Kuta fell silent, then thought to themselves for a bit, before pulling Arkay close. Arkay continued to whimper and nuzzled up against Kuta, holding them tightly.
“Dear, while we may have to close this brief chapter in our lives, it is not the end of the universe. Assuming that these future flashes are even true, they are not permanent. I may not understand much about the flow of time, but it can only go down one specific path, yes?”
Arkay glanced at Kuta. “Uh… yeah…”
“Well, whatever happens to threaten me, if we break up, you will deal with the threat and I will remain unharmed, yes?”
“Yeah.”
“Then the answer is simple. We go on a temporary break. We wait for the danger to pass, then we get back together. Assuming that this nightmare of yours is a genuine glimpse into the future.”
“It might be years though until these potential futures become impossible though…” Arkay sighed. “Decades, centuries even.”
Kuta just shrugged. “Maybe so, but I am long-lived. I can wait. And I have options in the mean time. But right now, there is pretty much nothing we can do. So will you do something for me, Arkay?”
“Do what?”
“I want you to come back to bed and make out with me for a bit. After that, we will go to sleep, then get up early and go somewhere nice for breakfast, before I head off to work. While I am at work, I need you to speak to the Whenvern and work out what these stupid nightmares are about. Once we do know, we will meet up and work out what to do. Can you do that?”
Arkay hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah, I can do that.”
Kuta smiled, then helped Arkay to his feet, leading him back up to the bedroom. “Good. Come on, now. Let us make the most out of our time together. Hopefully, these are just nightmares, but I know a good way of making you sleep better.”
“You do?”
Kuta’s smile grew larger as they whispered something in Arkay’s ear.
“You know what?” Arkay smiled back. “That IS a good way to make me sleep better…”