“Hmm… That… that is doable… dangerous, difficult, but with some planning, doable…”
Epani slowly stopped what she was doing, reading multiple books at once, then rubbed her eyes and the lure on her head. She had been reading one book by running her fingers across the letters, one book with each eye and a fourth book via the lure on her head, which she did occasionally use as a third eye. The reason she had stopped though was rather innocent. A handful of her little child deities had approached, knocked on the door and were waiting patiently outside.
The Allmaker glanced at her work, but after a few moments, she decided that her kids were more important. They may have needed her for something. And Epani had time to work on her plans and schemes later on.
Shrinking herself down, Epani placed some book marks and notes in each of her books then turned her attention to the tiny door. She was still a bit too large, but that door was designed for her children, not her.
“You may come in, dears.”
Epani was somewhat surprised at who was present and who was leading the way. Maresia was the laid back deity, she normally did as little work as possible. Admittedly, that was somewhat by design, as Kairos had picked her to be a replacement for the more lusty, relaxed side of Sini, Epani’s lost sister. Also present were Valksia, Akusasiiri and Syksis, and Syksis’s presence (and Epani’s slowly developing new strengths) heavily suggested what the young deities wanted.
“Hello, Mistress Epani!” Maresia waved cheerfully. “Syksis told me she’s worried you’re overworking yourself again!”
Epani smiled. “I am not overworking myself, but I appreciate your concern. Is there something you need help with?”
“No, no, we don’t need help, not at all! Dalosisaar actually told me to tell you that things are going smoothly right now. Doubly so since we stuck Murum’Va on duty to keep an eye on Kairos for a bit, and it seems like he’s behaving right now, and Kohra says that the ball is not doing anything new or interesting.”
“That is good, very good indeed. May I ask, my dears, why are you here?”
Syksis grumbled. “I am still concerned that you’re working too hard. Maresia suggested that we give you a distraction for a bit.”
“What sort of distraction?”
Maresia glanced at Syksis, silently asking that she explain the complicated stuff, because Maresia had clearly forgotten.
“Elkay had some free time and he did some research about the correlation between deities and taking time off, and he worked out that both the Life Serpent and the Death Wolf were at peak performance when they stopped what they were doing and did normal, mortal things. You and Kairos don’t seem to do that, and Elkay thinks it might help you relax and it might help Kairos be less of an asshole.”
“I… I see…” Epani mused to herself briefly. “What sort of things did Arkay do? Because I am well aware that Sini routinely went partying and visited orgies and things like that. However, none of that is what I am interested in.”
Syksis shrugged. “As far as I’m aware, and from what Elkay has mentioned, Arkay would just sit and have drinks with mortals and listen to them, or he’d play Spast video games and stuff. Very simple things, to get away from the complications of being a god. I mean, us Twelve Anew, we all do these things too, to relax. Even Litvir does, and Litvir has essentially always been a god.”
“Hm. Very… curious. I suppose you do have some good points. I have also always been a deity, so mortal things do sometimes not cross my mind. What do you suggest that we do as a mortal activity, so we can all relax?”
Maresia grinned, retaking the reigns of the conversation. “We should have a girls’ night!”
“A girls’ night?”
Maresia nodded. Akusasiiri and Valksia also nodded. Syksis grunted, then nodded,
“What is a girls’ night?” Epani asked.
“Well, basically, we all go to my place, we put on some super comfy pyjamas, we get a bunch of blankets and snacks, do some face masks and massage thingies and stuff and we eat pizza and drink cheap wine while watching some funny romcom TV shows and movies. I wanted to watch MATES but Syksis has insisted that we watch Shaun of the Dead, which is apparently a Torr-made romcom but I’ve not heard of it.”
“It’s a really good movie. You’ll love it!” Syksis smiled.
“This is also a good way for you to do something mortal-like!” Valksia added. “It is low risk, it doesn’t require any energy and if something comes up, you can leave whenever you need to.”
“That is a good thing, I guess… Will we just be watching a movie and eating snacks?” Epani queried, definitely seeming rather interested.
“Oh, no, not at all!” Akusasiiri beamed. “Maresia has some very nice make-up stuff and massage oils, and I’ll be bringing not just my collection of beautiful woollen blankets that I made myself, but I have an armoury of nail varnishes, with which I shall paint ALL your nails, and I will also paint your horns as well, if you girls want.”
Epani glanced down at her claws. They were black, as always. But the idea of someone painting them in pretty colours did sound nice. The whole idea of a fun night with her young female deities did overall sound enjoyable. However, Epani had a question.
“Why is Murum’Va not here?”
Valksia rolled her eyes. “We invited her. She was not interested in the slightest, she’s super grumpy and she told us to leave her alone. Syksis took a little persuading as well because she was supposed to have guard work right now, but Litvir kindly offered to cover for her.”
“I see…” Epani thought some more, then smiled a little. “Well, since you are all here and I am in need of a break, I think I shall accept your invitation.”
“Wonderful!” Maresia beamed. “We’ve just got one little problem though.”
“What is that, my dear?”
“You… may need to make yourself a bit smaller.”
Maresia’s statement made Epani smile properly. She shrank herself down to a reasonable size, then took Maresia’s and Syksis’s hands “That is a good point. Shall we?”
“We shall.”