Arkadin scanned his strange new surroundings, not sure what to make of it all. He was clearly inside a small Skyan property, with a tiny kitchen and dining area to his left, a tiny sleeping area to his right and a small door leading to a bathroom in front of him. Around his feet was a circle of DIY furniture, its components scattered around in an almost random pattern.
“Hi…”
Standing behind Arkadin was a Skyavok, probably about thirty or so years old, with pitch black armour and astounding purple eyes. Some of the Skyan’s plating glowed with purple runes, and a chunk was missing from their tail.
“Uh, hi…”
“Are you… here to help with my furniture?” the Skyan asked.
Arkadin glanced around again. “Your furniture?”
“Yeah. I kinda requested that the delivery company help me put this together but they kinda just came in, saw me, dropped the stuff off and bailed.”
“So you… summoned me?”
The Skyan blinked, clearly looking confused. They were sitting on a very crude sofa, looking utterly defeated. Arkadin sighed, then stepped out of the circle of furniture and sat down next to the Skyan.
“Tell me, what’s your name?”
“Veeyel-En, but if I had friends, I’d like it if they called me Vel.”
“Vel is a nice name,” Arkadin frowned a little. “I take it you don’t really have anyone to help you out?”
“No.”
“No family, nothing like that?”
“My siblings live far away and have their own lives. My parents are both assholes.” Vel had a confused expression on his face, as if he wasn’t quite sure what he was talking to. “I thought you were one of those teleporting delivery guys?”
Arkadin shook his head. “No. I am not.”
“Will you help me put all this stuff together? That’s… that’s all I need help with. I just can’t hold it all together and screw everything in at the same time.”
“So you…” Arkadin paused. “So you summoned me?”
“Yeah.”
“You… summoned the Thantophor, the Lord of Decay, the God of Death… to help you put your furniture together?”
Vel glanced at the pattern of the unbuilt furniture, then glanced back at Arkadin.
“You’re the Thantophor?”
“Yep.”
“Huh.”
Arkadin also looked at the pieces on the ground. It was clearly some sort of new dining table set, a round table and some legs and stools, laid out in an almost flower-like pattern. On closer inspection, there was a drop of blood in the centre.
“Were you getting angry and threatening to harm yourself?” the Thantophor asked. “Because I think that’s how you summoned me. I tend to appear to those who are trying to end themselves.”
Vel shrugged. “I say a lot of things like that. Might go through with it one day.”
“I hope you don’t. I mean, it’s up to you, but you do seem like a nice vok…” Arkadin got up from the sofa and picked a sheet of paper up off the floor. “Are these the instructions for this dining set?”
“Uh, I think so…”
“You wanna help me put all of this together?” Arkadin asked.
Vel nodded.
“Alright!” Arkadin beamed. “I’ll grab us a couple of drinks and we’ll get this bastard furniture built in no time!”