“You have been awfully cold over the last couple of days, are you alright?”
Arkay grunted, glancing around the corridor. This was the first time he and Retvik had been alone lately, but Arkay really wasn’t in the mood for any sort of communication with other beings.
“I’m fine.”
“Please do not lie to me.”
The little Decayling frowned, then stomped off, heading towards his room, fully aware that Retvik would follow him. He hastily unlocked the door, only for Retvik to get in the way.
“What is wrong?”
“Come in and I’ll tell you.”
Retvik stood to one side, allowing Arkay to properly open the door. The pair of them headed inside Arkay’s tiny room. While Retvik sat awkwardly on the bed, Arkay locked the door, then began to tidy up a little. At least enough to make the floor visible underneath the piles of… whatever that stuff was.
“Normally you are a little bit neater than this.”
“Well, things have been a bit fucked up lately. Haven’t had the time or the energy or the willpower. You should know.”
“It seems like there is something more than that…” Retvik shrugged as he shifted over, making some space for Arkay to sit down. “You have been completely out of sorts since… well…”
“Since they took you away and put you in a room and told you not to have a relationship with me.”
Retvik paused. “That… is not what they said.”
“It is basically what they said. I mind-control people into liking me. And one day I’ll bind you to me and turn you into my slave.”
“They, uh…” Retvik stuttered. “They said that could be a possibility. But they also gave me advice on how to avoid that.”
“By taking ‘regular breaks’, correct?”
“Yes.”
Arkay sighed, turning away from Retvik. “I don’t think I can be in a relationship with you. I want to be, but it would be morally incorrect. I have most likely been mind-controlling all of you for decades without even realising it. And that means I have no idea if the feelings we have between us are legitimate or not.”
Retvik took a moment to answer. “Well… you can not have been doing this… mind-control thing all the time, right?”
“That’s the thing. I have no idea and I have no way of being certain. Which is why I think we shouldn’t be in a relationship. It’s wrong for you to be in a relationship where the other half could be controlling you.”
“But we have not even gotten to the part where we have a relationship yet…” Retvik frowned, realising where this conversation was going. “We have not tried or done anything. Do you not even want to try? The way they worded it suggested this was a recent thing anywa-”
“No. I… I can’t… risk hurting you again…” Arkay whimpered, putting his head in his hands. “The whole fucking reason we’re here right now is because I hurt someone who hurt you… and it turns out I’ve been hurting you all along… I can’t do it.”
Retvik grunted. He wasn’t at all happy with this conversation. “So this is it? You want to give up before you even start?”
Arkay wiped tears from his eyes, and looked up at Retvik. “When this stupid voidborn thing is over, when it’s safe to transport things across the space between universes again… They’re going to send me away to a place where I’ll be with… other anomalies.”
“When did you find this out?”
“When we got back from today’s work and I split off from you three for a bit. I had a… long talk with them and came to the realization that I don’t have any real… control. Because of what I really am. And I… I can’t say what I am, because it’d… cause panic.”
“So… this is it?”
“Yeah. This is it.”
“Well…” Retvik sighed as he stood up and headed towards the door. “I shall leave you to it. If you change your mind, you know where I am. But I doubt you will.”
“Alright…” Arkay stared at the floor, not daring to even look at Retvik. “Bye.”
“Bye…”
Retvik left the room, closing the door behind him, before sighing loudly.
“Well, that was a fucking waste of time…” Retvik finally tutted, as he headed back to his own room. “Sometimes I wonder why I bother…”