Kairos was rather annoyed. He’d had to do a lot of work that day and he’d left Arkadin to keep an eye on Epani. But as soon as he returned to the planet Epani was resting on, he realised Arkadin was nowhere to be found. The Whenvern did quickly find his errant sibling, although he was somewhat surprised to what he was seeing.
For reasons unknown, the Thantophor had buried himself on a nearby asteroid, quietly humming to himself, ignoring everything around him.
“What in Kinisis’s name are you doing, Arkadin?”
Arkadin dug himself out of the asteroid to see who was talking to him. “Oh. Hi.”
“What are you doing?” Kairos repeated himself. “If I go back to Portalia and find that Yisini is doing stuff, you know I will blame it on you, right?”
“You blame everything on me anyway…” Arkadin sighed. “Please leave me alone.”
“Seriously, Arkadin!” Kairos landed on the asteroid, grabbing Arkadin by the shoulder to stop him from re-burying himself. Arkadin tried to shake Kairos off but quickly relented, allowing Kairos to dig him up and sit him on the asteroid’s surface. “What is wrong with you?”
Arkadin shook his head, refusing to talk.
“ANSWER ME!”
“No.”
Kairos hissed, then extended one of his wings and slapped Arkadin across the face. The Thantophor didn’t really move or react in any way.
“Arkadin, please. Stop being an asshole and answer me. Why are you ignoring your duties and doing this to yourself?”
The Thantophor sighed, still shaking his head, but this time in a way that showed he had clearly given up. “I got too close. Inhaled a bunch of gas. The emotions inside me right now are horrible and I just want to lay down and die.”
Kairos tutted, then flapped his wings, clearing away what little atmosphere the asteroid had. In the distance, he could see the planet of Portalia, where Epani was still resting.
“Is this just the gas, or are you being… you again?”
“Both…” Arkadin sighed. “I really just… I just can’t right now.”
With another tut, Kairos sat down on the asteroid next to Arkadin. “You know you can’t keep on doing this, right? You can’t just… sit here and be miserable all the time. You have things you need to be doing.”
“I like how you say that as if I can magically change everything and always be the perky little death god everyone wants me to be!” Arkadin suddenly snapped. “You don’t get it. I try and I try but times like these, when it hits, I feel so utterly empty and pointless! You three, you all have good jobs and things you are good at and people who like you and want to be with you. Me? I have almost nothing redeemable or interesting about myself…”
The Whenvern sighed. “You’re doing it again.”
“Yeah, but it’s fucking true! No matter how many times you all repeat the fact that I have some value, all evidence suggests otherwise!”
“And you act as if you are the only one who has problems…” Kairos grunted. “Fine, sit here and be miserable. Then get off your stupid backside and start making yourself useful, because we’re all sick of dealing with you.”
Not giving Arkadin a chance to reply, Kairos quickly got up and flew off, leaving Arkadin alone with his thoughts.