Revenge of the Deities- Thorki

Chapter 2

At five, we stand in the garage. As Hela and Loki toon their guitars, Loki sighs "We've got an hour set. We're going to play ten songs. We'll start of with the week."

Loki does all of the song writing. Last month, he wrote a song for every day of the week. Disassociative Sundays, Manic Mondays, Post-traumatic Tuesdays, Bed Wetting Wednesday, Therapeutic Thursday, Freedom Friday, Substance Abuse Saturday.

All of which have a different beat and tension. Weeks after they dropped it, they started getting really gigs at clubs and college bars.

He looks my way "You know the music to Locker Room, right?" I nod and he declares "After the week, we'll go with Locker Room, Vampire, and Kiss of Death."

I nod, before tapping my sneer to insure it's on "Sounds good." I grip my sticks and ask "Are we doing the original or the alternative of Vampire?"

He thinks for a moment, before looking to Hela "It's fuck college pricks. They're not even going to know our songs. We do whatever the fuck we want." Hela states.

Loki shrugs "Alternative?" She nods and tapes a few picks to his microphone.

Silently, we set up, before Loki motion to Hela to kick off.

~

After practice, as I spread Nair over my pubes, Hela barges in with Loki hot one her trail "Woah!" I roar, before pulling a towel over my junk.

Loki looks at my ass in the mirror and states "I've seen big, I've seen small. I've set curved, and I've seen straight. That doesn't phase me." He holds up the Nair as Hela grabs nail polish remover "I'd wipe that off, before you burn your pubis."

When he walks out, I ask "Are you gay?"

He calls through the door "Any human of age and consent. Pan." I hum and he asks "Just saying, Nair is for girls and queers. You even been with a dude?"

"Nah." I call through the door and he hums "Not that I can remember. I can't really remember my last year of college. I was on a lot of shit."

"Like what?" He asks as I finish wiping the Nair off.

"Booze, coke, molly, acid." I shrug, before pulling up my pants "I've tried just about everything."

When I open the door, he sits in the opening of Hela's room. He looks up to me and I smile down at him, before I start to my room.

Once I'm dressed, I walk out to find he hasn't moved "Don't we need to get going?"

He quickly pulls on his shoes, before I ask "Didn't you need to do some at seven?"

He gives a confused look, before asking "What, you wanna go with me?"

~

At seven, we park in front of a building. Loki looks my way, before asking "Stay in here, would you? I'll be out in about ten minutes."

He slips out of the black Volkswagen hippie van and walks into the building.

My mother was a flower child. She was raised on a hippie commun. The van is a big part of our family. Originally, it was my mum's mum's van.

The middle bench was ripped out, decades ago, by my grandfather on my mum's side.

My mother and father always made it a point to tell their riveting story of their star-crossed love, every time we went on a roadtrip.

The story went something like this: Frigga's family was protesting against the draft. My father's father wanted Odin to enlist, before he was drafted.

They were both barely adults when they crossed paths. Frigga's parents didn't want her with a solider. Bor didn't want Odin to be a hippie.

Before Odin could enlist, he was drafted. The night before he was supposed to ship out, he ran to Frigga's parents and begged to take her hand. When they turned him away, they ran away and eloped anyway. They consummated their marriage in the open spot where the middle seat was supposed to be. Odin was in the military for a decade, before he lost an eye and came home to her. Hela was born the next year, I was born four years after Hela.

Now, it's twenty-three years later, 2009. Either way, I loved that story growing up.

My focus drifts to the wheel as I remember learning to drive in this van. Sudden, the side door opens and closes.

When Loki jumps in the front seat, I give a confused look and glance over my shoulder to find two dark red eyes staring at me "Jesus fucking Christ!" I scream as I move away from the black wolf-like dog in the back seat "What the fuck?"

Loki gives a weak smile "It's my therapy dog, Fenrir. He's a groenendael." I give a confused look and he shrugs "I had a shitty childhood."

I look back at the dog, who stares at me, intensely. I look to Loki and ask "You really meant that you needed to see a man about a dog?"

He nods and I shrug, before I start the van. As I start driving, I ask "What kind of shitty childhood?"

"Really?" He asks and I hum "Do you really not remember?" I glance at him to find he's pissy.

I sigh "Loki, you're going to have to throw me a bone. You're dark and mysterious. I've known you for two years, and I don't even know your full name."

He presses his lips into a fine line and tells me "Loki Gabriel Laufeyson." I hum. It does sound slightly familiar.

I think for a second, before asking "Were you in my class?" I think for another "Were you my valedictorian?"

He nods, before remarking "And I hated you!"

I furrow my brow "You hated me?" When he nods, I scoff "Why?"

"Your friends were tyrants!" He reminds and I sigh "Seriously, fucking arseholes!"

I give a weak smile "I don't really remember you... you didn't show up at graduation."

He hums "Yeah, well. I really couldn't."

He slips into silence and I decide against pushing him for more.