“It wasn’t Yisini, was it?”
Kairos was lying on the fluffy carpet of his ‘bedroomland’, the room his mother had always set aside for him whenever he was sad or ill. His wings were completely outstretched but they didn’t come close to brushing against the walls. Running water from a small fountain gave the room some much needed ambience, while delicate beams of light tried to get in through the silk curtained windows.
“No. She admitted to sealing a millisecond to make a new species, but she swore it wasn’t her. She can’t control any of it.”
Arkadin stood in the doorway, leaning awkwardly on a small cabinet. He was holding a large suitcase, almost overflowing with notes and paperwork.
“So Yisini realised something was wrong, tried to fix it, couldn’t, handed it all to you and stole a millisecond?” Kairos grumbled. “I suppose I can’t be too angry with her. I think all of us would have done the same in her position…”
The Thantophor shrugged, not really sure what to say. He carried the suitcase over to where Kairos was lying and placed it somewhere near Kairos’s head, so he could inspect it. With a grunt and a tut, Kairos knocked the suitcase over, rummaging through the paperwork with his snout. He was somewhat impressed with the work Arkadin had done, he didn’t think his little brother would have put so much effort into what had been a rather awkward request.
After a while of waiting around, watching Kairos shuffle through notes, Arkadin sat down next to Kairos, gently placing a hand on his chest.
“Are you alright?”
“No.”
“Do you want to talk?”
The Whenvern snorted, raising his wing to swat Arkadin away. But Arkadin remained where he was, within Kairos’s focus.
“I should talk. It always helps.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
“How I think none of this was accidental.”
Arkadin hesitated, then scooted closer to Kairos, sitting right by his head. “Could you talk me through this?”
Kairos hissed. “Why are you pretending to be professional, like you’re some sort of therapist or something? I already had mum and dad check me over and they did it too.”
“I’m not trying to be professional. I’m just… a bit disconnected right now. And I want to understand how you are feeling.”
The Whenvern picked himself up and sat up straight. He folded his wings over himself and Arkadin, creating a little tent with the delicate wing membranes.
“Mum doesn’t know why I was ill. Yisini can’t physically hurt me like that. Nor can Epani. You can’t have done it because you have no idea about the four seconds and you’re the idiot who resuscitated me. Kenon… well he’s been awkward and he’s really the only suspect but… I don’t know, brother… I really don’t…”
“You don’t believe it was an accident.”
“I don’t. But I also can’t bring myself to blame Kenon.”
“Why do you think it was an accident?”
Kairos tutted. “If it had been an accident, if I was genuinely ill and dying and having a heart attack or whatever, Kinisis would have instantly revived me and you would have taken over instantly as well. SOMETHING happened. SOMEONE intentionally did this to me! And it is driving me insane!”
“But you are also scared of it happening again.”
The Whenvern looked down at his little brother. “Yeah. I’m scared it will happen again, Arkay.”
Arkadin smiled a little. “I know. I get that feeling a lot. Do you want me to stay here with you, for a while?”
“I would really like that, yes.” Kairos loosened up, letting his wings flop down by his side. His tail swished around, swatting at nothingness.
“All you had to do was ask.”
“I know. But asking is hard sometimes…”