“Damn. He’s busy again…”
Arkay was supposed to be working, but he was in the middle of a work break, and had gone outside for a little fresh air. Technically, he wasn’t outside, he was sitting in a room that simulated a peaceful garden, and being outside was somewhat impossible on a Deathven ship, due to the periuniversal void they were sailing through. But as far as Arkay was concerned, he was taking a quick, calming break and messaging friends.
“Who’s busy again?” a voice echoed slightly behind Arkay, somewhat ruining the background ambience.
“Oh, Kallis, what are you doing here?” Arkay turned around to face his friend, putting his communicator down. “I thought you had work too?”
“I don’t need to work,” Kallis shrugged. “I’m a retired deity, I can do pretty much whatever I want. I don’t get why you don’t do the same.”
Arkay sighed, his glance falling downwards. “I’m not like you. I need some sort of structured work week with segmented and normal things to do, so I don’t go mad. As much as I[‘m not a fan of my job, it keeps my head on straight.”
“Are you sure about that?” Kallis sat down next to Arkay, looking a tad concerned. “You don’t like your life, so why are you living it?”
“I do like my life. It’s just… not happy all the time. It’s a balance I am still trying to figure out. I need a bit of everything, I need to be like others so that I feel normal. The temptation of doing nothing can really hurt me, and I start getting thoughts that I really don’t need.”
“But you can do stuff while retired too…” Kallis paused. “Is a normal, boring, basically mortal life really working for you?”
“Yeah. Normality is something I crave. I swear, it keeps me stable and stops me from actively trying to put myself to sleep.”
Kallis tilted his head to once side. “Is it really that bad?”
“Yeah.”
“You are seeing a, uh, medic or something, right?”
“I take my medication, as directed, yes.”
“All of it?”
“Mostly…” Arkay frowned. “Some of my meds require the odd break between taking them. Why are you here talking to me about stuff?”
Kallis shrugged. “You seemed sad. I wanted to check in on you.”
“I’m fine.”
“Are you though, really?”
“I can’t say for certain. I’m doing alright. Let’s leave it at that.”
Kallis shrugged some more, then let the conversation drop. Before the silence dropped away completely though, Kallis had one more question to ask.
“So who is busy again?”
“What?”
“You mentioned someone being busy.”
Arkay tutted. “Xelas has family around this weekend so I can’t go and stay with him.”
“Ah, I see. This kinda seems to happen a lot.”
“Yeah. His family is weird. And mostly still around, all on speaking terms mostly. Well, they’re not tearing each other apart.” Arkay sighed some more. “Neither of us really want to announce ourselves to each other’s family. It’s a complicated mess but I feel it’s worth it.”
“Are you happy with Xelas?”
“Yeah.”
“Even despite all of the family stuff and all that?”
“Yeah.”
Kallis smiled a little, then patted Arkay on the shoulder. “Good. You deserve to be happy. Even if you’re a really weird guy…”