[center][h1][color=LightYellow][b][u]Company[/u][/b][/color][/h1][/center] The pleasant thing about traveling through portals is that, for however short a time, you briefly get to cease to exist. For mortals and the less observant of gods, this period of time is so short that they are either incapable of or not bothered to go about perceiving that it had ever even happened. This gives very overworked and stressed minds a brief respite from all the worries and troubles of existing. The problem is, not existing quickly goes back to existing and all those problems punch you in the gut like a ton of bricks, sending you pinballing back to square one of Not Having a Good Time. And, as it happened, square one was exactly where Iternis was as he tumbled head over heals through the portal and into Antiquity. Iternis skid face first along the marble floors of Antiquity, his gray cloak fluttering about like the most useless of sails in the middle of a summer storm. The god ground to a halt, and lay on the floor for half a second, groaning. It was strange to feel pain, he hadn’t had to deal with unexpected outcomes for so long. The fact that his nose felt like it had been torn off and his palms were shredded by the stone flooring made Iternis exceptionally happy. Iternis sprung to his feet and with a very excited look about him, his eyes flying around wildly and his body being forced to follow. [color=LightYellow]“Hey! It’s me! Is anyone here!?”[/color] Iternis bellowed at the top of his lungs as he scrutinized every corner of the enormous arena. Iternis took a deep breath to shout again but then his eyes locked onto something, onto someone. Specifically, a very naked, very shiny someone who was walking away from a portal. All the breath ran away from Iternis and he was briefly frozen in place. That quickly faded, however, and the god let out what could only be described as an excited squeal and then exploded into a cloud of small songbirds and swarmed over to the unclothed god in a blur. Tekret et Heret hardy had time to react before the frenzy of feathers that had suddenly filled his vision coalesced into a man with a wild look in his eyes who tackled the God of Contracts, wrapping his arms around his waist in a desperate hug, babbling the whole time: [color=LightYellow]“...Oh thank the Lifeblood, another person! It’s been so long! So Long! I’m Iternis, I don’t think we’ve met! It’s been 2000 years! I’ve been working so hard! Two Thousand years!”[/color] Iternis’s words ran together as he clutched tightly to the first soul he had gotten his hands on, tears starting to well in his eyes and his voice cracking, [color=LightYellow]“I shouldn’t’ve counted, it made it feel so much longer! I was alone! For so Long! But I’m Here! We’re here! Seven Hundred and Thirty Thousand Days! I’m so happy! I'm free! I’m so happy, so happy--”[/color] at this point Iternis had collapsed into a sobbing ball of relief slumped against Tekret with his face buried in the other god’s stomach as tears of joy freely slid down his face, [color=LightYellow]“Anyway… How are you?”[/color] In lieu of a reply Tekret started lightly smacking Itneris’s head while demanding, [color=6fb887]“Damnit, get, get off me what are you even doing you ridiculous-”[/color] After about the twentieth smack, Iternis released his vice-grip hug on Tekret and slumped into a puddle on the floor. [color=LightYellow]“I’m sorry,” [/color]He blubbered, trying to wipe away his tears, [color=LightYellow]“I just thought I’d never see another person again. It’s been so long. Have I mentioned that?”[/color] The naked god glared at his sibling and huffed, [color=6fb887]“You thought you’d never see another person? What? Right now I’m [i]wishing[/i] I could never see another person! Did you do that!?”[/color] Tekret demanded, pointing at the nearest rift, [color=6fb887]“Because if you did, oh do I have words for you.”[/color] [color=LightYellow]“Did what? The portal?”[/color] Iternis blew his nose into his robes before continuing, [color=LightYellow]“I wish! I had tried for so long to make a way back to Galbar or even just to find another god! I just could never do it, I just found this one and then I made it real big and then I fell through it and then I was here and then I saw you! Hi, I’m Iternis.”[/color] He extended his hand which only had the slightest bit of snot on it. Tekret glared at the hand, at Iternis, and with a massive sigh grabbed the Iternis’s hand and pulled him to his feet before actually shaking it. [color=6fb887]“Tekret et Heret,”[/color] The porcelain god began, a hint of annoyance in his voice, [color=6fb887]“God of Rulership and Contracts. And what do you even mean, you thought you’d never see a person again? Just because we were cut off from Galbar didn’t mean we couldn’t see it. Influence it. Are you [i]seriously[/i] telling me you spent [i]two thousand[/i] years trying to break through the Lifeblood’s resistance and get to Galbar, instead of doing your job, whatever that is?”[/color] [color=LightYellow]“Well…”[/color] Iternis flicked his robes around as he talked, “[color=LightYellow]My job can’t really be done from afar. And even when I could see people, I couldn’t [i]see[/i] people, if you get what I mean. I’m the God of Journeys and of Travelers, I can’t be that if I myself am not travelling! I was stuck in an empty cage with nothing to do and no one to talk to! So of course I spent my whole time trying to get out!”[/color] He paused, as if he was going to go on but decided to just fall back into a lean on the floor with a harumph. There was a long silence as Tekret stared at Iternis, wordlessly. The God of Rulership and Contracts worked his mouth, but time and time again words failed him. Eventually he just joined Iternis on the floor and muttered, [color=6fb887]“Two. Thousand. Years. I spend two thousand years doing my job, keeping mortals to their oaths, teaching their rulers, recording every fucking agreement ever made, and you did nothing but fail to get out of your own realm. Oh. Oh my. They all did that, didn’t they. That’s why I never heard about them. Two thousand years of work, and I was one of the only ones who even...”[/color] The alabaster god held his face in his hands and yelled. Iternis slipped so that he was laying flat on his back and twiddled his thumbs as he watched the God of Contracts and apparently Being Overworked scream into his hands. He waited a while for the stress to die down a little before talking. [color=LightYellow]“If it is any help at all,”[/color] The God of Journeys began, [color=LightYellow]“I’m pretty sure that I am not a good case study of what everyone else did. I… probably handled it worse than everyone else. Counting each day as it went by certainly didn’t help it go swimmingly… I’m sure someone out there was doing their job?”[/color] Iternis went to pat Tekret’s back to comfort him but decided that that role reversal was probably not what the god needed. He settled for drumming the ground awkwardly. [color=LightYellow]“What about that Fe’ris fellow,”[/color] Iternis offered, [color=LightYellow]“He seemed like a very industrious fellow, did you meet him before?”[/color] [color=6fb887]“Fe’ris?”[/color] Teket asked, [color=6fb887]“I haven’t heard a thing about the man since he threatened me [i]two thousand years ago[/i]. Not a peep. If he’d been doing something someone would have noticed! Ambition. The God of Ambition. If that ridiculous bat didn’t do a single thing I swear I’ll-”[/color] The god stopped, and for the second time that day fell into breathing exercises. Iternis layed next to Tekret the whole time, watching his heaving chest. After Iternis felt the other god was sufficiently calm, he sat back up and looked Tekret in the eye. [color=LightYellow]“Hey man,”[/color] Iternis started tentatively, [color=LightYellow]“I know this isn’t my place, but... You seem a little stressed out. I know you value work and all, but have you considered taking a vacation?”[/color] [color=6fb887]“A... Vacation?”[/color] Tekret’s voice shook, [color=6fb887]“Have I considered...”[/color] Hands. Face. Yelling. Breathing exercises. Tekret, for the third time that day, went through those motions. The breaths failed to come and hitched in his throat. A deep flame burst out of his chest and flushed into his face, all that was holding it back was the smallest of corks, plugging up a volcano. The god exploded to his feet, screamed, [color=6fb887][b]“Fuck!”[/b][/color] And stormed off, leaving a bewildered Iternis alone, again. [hider=Summary] Iternis is having, what one would call, a Not Very Good Time. He is super lonely and has spent the full 2,000 years trying to just find someone else. When he finally gets into Antiquity, he sees the bucknaked Tekret and tackles him, descending into a blubbering mess because he is just so happy to finally talk to another god. Tekret whacks him on the head a few times and insults him a little bit before the two get to talking. Tekret gets hella offended that ternis wasted his whole 2,000 years just trying to escape his realm and not doing his goddamn job. Tekkie then realizes all the other gods were probably doing the same and he was probably the only one doing any work at all. This causes his to scream into his hands; he is now also having a Not Very Good Time. Iternis sees that Tekret is a bit more stressed than he is and offers some helpful advice: Maybe he should try and take a vacation. At this Tekkie just fucking looses it and storms off. [/hider]