Tahnahos smirked to himself as he opened the door to his personal living quarters, leading Akah inside. Each of Kinisis’s Twelve Guardians had a personalized bedroom, decorated exactly how they wanted it. The perfect living space with everything each Guardian needed to feel comfortable and at home, sprinkled with subtle hints of their previous, mortal lives.
Tahnahos’s room in particular was rather fancy. Like most fancy Kronospast homes, he had fluffy shag carpets lining the floor and walls, fluffy pillows and luxurious sofas in one corner, and a tiled, partially walled off area in the other corner. The tiled corner featured a shower and small jacuzzi, as well as a delicate water feature made of crystals and rounded pebbles. In the middle of the room was a round bed, covered in silk blankets and light linen sheets. And, of course, there was a well-stocked mini-fridge by the bed, filled with essentials.
“Make yourself at home!”
Akah hesitated, standing awkwardly by the door.
“Does your bedroom… always look like this?”
“Yep,” Tahnahos smiled. That wasn’t entirely true. He had dimmed the lights and lit a few candles to make the place seem a bit more relaxing, but clearly that had had the opposite effect on Akah. “If anything, this is somewhat modest for the average Kronospast. No chocolate fountains or wine racks. But I can get all that from the infini-kitchen.”
With another smile, Tahnahos threw himself onto the bed, stretching himself out. Akah slowly wandered deeper into the room, then sat on the very edge of the bed, clearly looking nervous. Realising that he wasn’t making Akah comfortable, Tahnahos sat up and shifted closer to the Lanex.
“If you prefer, we can go to your room.”
“No. This is fine.”
“You look really uncomfortable. I didn’t mean to make you look uncomfortable.”
Akah closed his eyes, sighing. “This was going to be uncomfortable no matter what. You are searching for something I cannot offer.”
Tahnahos looked Akah up and down. He was what most would call “thropic”, a completely upright, tail-less being with more than four digits on each hand and no snout or jutting jaw or anything to speak of. Being a Lanex, Akah was also quite heavily armoured, a strange mixture of organic parts supplemented with mechanical parts, buried under metal plating.
Akah was also covered in various chains, and Tahnahos never asked why.
“Well alright…” Tahnahos shrugged. “Let’s sit and talk. What do you think I am searching for in you?”
“Romance. You may be a deity now, but you are still a Kronospast. You want to fulfil your desires. Including the more lustful ones. You can’t do that with someone as incompatible as me. No matter how hard you try or how much I pretend.”
Tahnahos tutted. “I’d never, ever force anyone into anything like that. I may be a Kronospast but I have standards far above the norm. No, what I’m looking for is someone to confide in, and someone willing to confide in me.”
“You… want someone to talk to.”
“Yes. And I think you need someone to talk to as well, since you are the most obvious outlier among the twelve of us. You’re lonely as heck.”
“That… is a fair assumption. Everyone is friendly to me but I do… clearly not fit in.”
Tahnahos smiled. “I want to change that.”
“But what about you?” Akah asked. “What about your needs?”
“Eh, my needs can be dealt with. I may have high standards compared to most Kronospasts, but my standards aren’t that high…” Tahnahos giggled slightly at his own joke. “I mean, it’s not like we’re bouncing between Life Oasis bars filled with horny Life Goddesses…”
A knock on the door interrupted Tahnahos’s amusing spiel. Akah immediately turned to Tahnahos, a worrying aura emanating from him.
“What?”
“I don’t want anyone to think…”
Tahnahos tutted, clapping his hands together. This caused the lights in the room to brighten and a small desk with some books on it to appear beside the bed. He then got up to answer the door.
“You realise I’m on my break, right?” Tahnahos snapped.
Vexer grunted, not really caring. “We received a message from someone called Retvik, saying they wanted to speak to you and Relkir. They are a Decayling who claims you know them.”
“Retvik… Is that the same Decayling the Thantir used to find Kinisis’s son?”
“Apparently, yes.”
“We should check it out then…” Akah interrupted, pushing past Tahnahos and Vexer. “It might be important…”