Kairos crossed his wings as he watched Arkadin sip some sort of sugary drink. They’d both visited a little Portalian shopping mall and bought a few little trinkets, confusing and stunning the poor cashiers who had to deal with them. The Whenvern’s purchases included precious gems and expensive furs, while Arkadin had gone and bought what Kairos considered to be a pile of random junk. Why he had bought a stuffed black Thraki, Kairos had no idea.
Their last stop had been at a cafe that was part of an open cafeteria, shared by various restaurants and other fast food joints. Kairos had bought several meat sandwiches, while Arkadin had bought that strange, sugary drink of his.
Arkadin had finally noticed that Kairos was staring at him. “Is something wrong?” he asked as he wiped away some of the drink from his straw.
“No…”
“But you’re staring at me.”
“I was lost in thought.”
“No, you weren’t. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong.”
“Stop it.”
Kairos sighed. “It’s just… why did you buy all that crap? I went and bought nice things to decorate my palace with, you bought chocolate, stuffed animals, a bag of fuzzy bendable wires and two packs of energy drinks filled with goodness knows what!”
Arkadin shrugged. “So?”
“It’s weird.”
“No it’s not.”
“It is!” Kairos protested. “You’re a deity but you damn well don’t act like one! I mean, I love the fact that you finally took a slightly more menacing form, the shape of a Rethavok rather than a skinny little Skyavok, but still! You just… pretend to be something else…”
“Because I don’t really feel like a god…” Arkadin shrugged some more, as he took another sip of his drink. “I just kill things. It’s not like I create anything or do anything obvious. And I don’t have many worshippers either so no one cares what I look like, aside from death-y. Plus, we’re both among mortals. Why SHOULD I look godlike?”
“I’ll give you that…” Kairos admitted. “Disguises around mortals are useful… But still, why do you not make yourself more death-y?”
“I feel like we’ve had this conversation before.”
“Almost certainly. But you don’t change.”
“Why should I?”
The Whenvern hesitated. “That’s… fair, I guess? Maybe I’m wrong to try and force you.”
Arkadin went back to his drink. Kairos just sat there, not sure what else to do.
“So, uh, what’s going on with Kenon?”
“Nothing.”
“Really? You just…” Kairos tutted. “You just told me off for lying.”
“It’s complicated. I can’t seem to talk to him in any way. Pain and torture get the most out of him, being a decent being gets nothing but disrespect. But he’s… just… He just won’t cooperate. We’re worthless scum, this whole universe is, as far as he’s concerned…”
Kairos leaned forward. “That sounds genuinely like he wants us all dead.”
“I think he does. But I’m struggling to find a way to properly kill him.”
“Because he’s Voidborn?”
“Yeah…” Arkadin sighed and finished off his drink. “I can’t help but think that he’s plotting something else, that we’re just falling into more and more of his traps.”
“So…” Kairos leaned closer. “Do you need help?”
“With Kenon? To kill him?”
“Yes.”
Arkadin nodded. “I think I need all of your help. That’s what’s been bothering me. Having to ask. Because it’s a massive task to ask of you… but we’re going to have to kill him together…”
“Very well…” Kairos grunted as he got up, picking up his shopping as he did so. “You work out what we have to do and we’ll do it. He may be our step-father, but our universe is more important.”