Arkay tutted to himself as he went to the front door, fumbling with the key briefly. He knew exactly who it was, and had decided to take his sweet time, putting on an (actually clean for once) Skyan hoodie and some baggy trousers. After all, the Whenvern had all the time in the universe to wait for him.
“Hello, Kairos. What are you doing here again?”
The Dragon God of Time looked rather cramped in the hallway. He wasn’t his normal self though, he had taken the form of a rather standard Thraki, the wyvern-like race that worshipped him. To Arkay, he was still obviously a deity, but only in the same way that Arkay himself looked like a Skyavok.
“I wanted to ask you out on another date.”
Arkay hesitated, unsure how to respond. “Uh, why?”
“Because I want to.”
“Again, why?” Arkay hesitated some more, then opened the door wider. “Come in. Don’t want you to clog up the hallway.”
Kairos smiled a little, stepping into Arkay’s apartment. He never understood why his fellow deity lived in such a pitiful place. While he could somewhat relate to the idea of wanting to live like a mortal, to learn how they ticked, he didn’t get why Arkay didn’t live like a rich mortal. Or even a vaguely well-off mortal. No, he lived in the most basic way possible. And, if he was honest, the place was a bit of a shit hole.
“Do you want anything to drink?” Arkay asked as Kairos sat down on one of the two sofas. They were a bit small for the Whenvern, but it’d do for now. “I have water, diet caramel soda or the worst strawberry milkshake flavour possible. Might also have some coffee somewhere.”
“I am good, thank you. I wanted to take you to a nice cafe anyway!” the Dragon’s smile was a little too toothy as he glanced around the apartment. The large collection of weapons in the corner, next to a hastily set up printer, didn’t seem that welcoming.
“Again, why?”
“Because you deserve better than this. You’re the Thantophor and you are just sitting here on your own!”
Arkay shrugged, making his way to the other sofa. “I’m quite happy. Plus, it’s the weekend, chilling out at home and blocking out the cries of the damned and dying by playing video games is what I do on the weekend.”
“Did you see Sini yesterday?”
“Yeah, I stayed for an hour or so at her nicer palace, the one that isn’t a fortress made of meat. She’s got a pizza oven now.”
“A what?”
“A pizza oven. An oven you can cook pizza in. And other food, I assume.”
“Uhuh…” Kairos grunted. “So, you want to go on a date or what?”
Arkay pulled a face, a face Kairos recognized. One of annoyance and vague anger. “What is this about, Kairos?”
The Whenvern shrugged. “I just want to treat you better.”
“Is this because…” Arkay paused, realizing what was going on. “Every time we have some sort of disaster like this, you start wanting things again! You get all life-goddess-y and lovey dovey and you start wanting flesh again. My flesh.”
“Only because I want to make things up to you. Every single disaster we avert, it’s your blood we spill to fix things. You have mortal desires, plenty of them, but you deny yourself. Because of your weird ideas about trust and consent.”
“And the needless suffering I went through before I became the Thantophor, that warped my ability to trust other beings with my physical form…” Arkay sighed. “You know how broken I am. You know I struggle.”
“You don’t need to struggle alone. Plus, you are jumping to conclusions. I do only just want to take you to a few nice places, sit down, have something nice to eat, have a chat. If you decide you want to go further, then we shall. But for now, I just want to treat you. As the Lord of Decay deserves.”
Arkay shook his head. “I’m not in the mood today, Kairos. I just want to chill out and play my games and watch videos, while wearing no clothes. I had to put clothes on to let you in, you know.”
“You don’t walk around in armour all the time?”
“Not on the weekends, I don’t.”
Kairos shrugged, then stood up. “Well, alright. I shall leave you to it. But I still owe you a couple of nice days out. Will you at least be willing to go on a couple of nice dates with me? Restaurant, cafe, cinema, whatever?”
“Yeah… sure…” Arkay gave in, mostly just to get Kairos to leave. The Whenvern picked up on Arkay’s thoughts, then did as he wanted, heading to the door.
“Have a good one, Arkay.”
“You too, Kairos.”
Kairos waved as the door closed on him, then disappeared in a puff of smoke. Arkay tutted once more, then went back to his computer, which was sitting there, idling away to itself. His favourite game was waiting for him to select a mission. As Arkay sat back down, he felt a bit better.
“Time to actually relax…” Arkay eventually smiled, as he went through his armoury and picked out his favourite gear. “I deserve this.”