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tikificTitle: Exchange Student (Mythklok AU interstitial)
Author: tikistitch
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Valhalla gets a visitor
Warnings: Slash, AU, OCs, swearing
Notes: I do nearly have the next proper chapter ready. Sorry for the lollygagging. Just wanted to check in on my AU's Sariel.
Another universe, far, far away....
“Eyes or glasses.”
Sariel glared, slivery.
“Eyes or glasses,” Ganesh repeated, holding out the dark tinted eyeglasses. “You know our rule when you’re out in public.”
“I’m not gonna be in public! I’m gonna be at Valhalla with a bunch of other angels,” Sariel groused.
“I would call venturing over to another universe quite public. You have no idea who you might meet upon the way,” Ganesh lectured. Pickles, standing in the background, silently tried not to smile.
Sariel sullenly grabbed the eyeglasses. “I don’t even need these.”
“You do actually. Now, you will accompany their Pickles. You will go straight to Valhalla. You will ring me when you get there….”
“How the fuck do they get a cell phone to work across universes?”
“Their Lady Raziel is quite ingenious.”
“She’s sort of a hard ass.”
“She is raising angels. It is a task that presents its own set of complexities. You should consider yourself rather fortunate that you are being allowed this, after sneaking off like that. Their Sariel made a rather convincing case of it to me.”
“He’s nice,” Sariel muttered. Ganesh raised an eyebrow. The unspoken but nevertheless blindingly clear next part, “...and you’re not.” Ganesh wondered if it would be possible to go back in time and erase everything he had said and done as a teenager. Or perhaps this was his karma? To see his one true love as a sullen teenager?
Even as a disgruntled adolescent, he was forced to acknowledge, Sariel was still terribly cute. Ganesh smiled and ruffed his silvery hair, knowing quite full well that Sariel despised (or claimed to despise) such treatment. “I am your guardian. I will continue to act as such until your eighteenth birthday. You shall go and do as I suggest. And kindly express our thanks to your hosts for enduring a bloody-minded little snot. Now, go get your things, don’t let’s keep Pickles waiting!”
Sariel gave one last glare, and nodded to Pickles, whom Ganesh thought did a splendid job of not grinning. That expression erupted as soon as the boy had left the room.
“Kindly don’t let him be too much of a trial,” Ganesh warned.
This Pickles had gotten somewhat silvery himself, his braids now a fine weave of red and grey. Ganesh had looked twice when he had first appeared in his living room. The band members in his own universe had seemed to him slightly younger versions of their alter egos in the Dethklok universe, but he had not been aware of the extent of the dischord until that moment. He had tried to limit his contact these past few years, though he was aware that Ogoun Sen Jacque was not longer in residence.
But, effects of human aging aside, Pickles' smile remained undiminished. “Dood, it’s a trip t’ see him as a kid.”
“As you know, he isn’t your Sariel – he is a different person. But, yes, I suppose there are inevitably similarities.”
“Yoo doods sure dis won’t bring down da yooniverse?”
“If anyone would be capable, it would be that boy,” Ganesh sighed. And they both smiled at this. And, bare minutes later, the two had departed for another world.
“You don’t really think they’ll bring down the universe do you? Because I kinda like it!” Ganesh turned to the sound of Raziel’s voice. She had been hovering, just not making her presence known. Although Ganesh suspected Sariel could see her, or at least sense her.
“Sariel – their Sariel – made a rather convincing case.”
“He’s a lawyer.”
“As am I.”
“You went to law school because you were bored.”
Ganesh sighed. “You know, he thinks he would perform better at band management than I. And, I’ll have to admit, I think he is correct.”
“You could let him-“
“Absolutely not! Not until he reaches 18! And then he will attend university!”
“You’re hot when you get parental,” Raziel laughed. “What exactly did their Sariel say?”
“He thinks our Sariel would benefit from passing some time among other young people.”
“You mean the time when he’s not in school or swimming or on the fencing team or in the debate club?”
“I mean other young people who are capable of destroying the universe.”
Raziel grinned.
“Angels,” sighed Ganesh.
“You went right from one to another! You can’t be that exasperated with us!”
Ganesh smiled and reached out to finger a lock of Raziel's dark hair. "I rather enjoyed our time together."
"And you don't even like girls."
"I liked you. Would you care for me to take a look at your wings since you're here?"
Somewhere between here and there....
“Dis is a long way t' walk, dood. I’m surprised yoo found it. You shoulda seen me an’ Skwisgaar da first time we found da way.” Pickles didn’t mind the silence, but he had to admit, he was intrigued. Charles had seemed captivated by the boy as well.
“You guys made a path,” Sariel shrugged.
"Yeh, but not everybody would be able t' follow it."
"I'm not stupid."
"If yer anyt'ing like our Charles, yer definitely nawt stoopid. But bein' smart an' knowing how t' stay on da path ain't da same t'ing."
"So. He manages you guys? In your universe."
"Yeh. Dat he does. An'.... Udder stuff."
"Like what?"
"Like he said t' me first time I laid eyes on him, he's kinda our guardian angel doof."
"Oh." Sariel was silent for a long moment. "I don't know a lot about being an angel, actually."
"Probably best yoo don't. Dey're douches. Mostly."
"You think I could manage a band?"
"Well, mebbe. Yoo know, Boon's alreddy an artist. An' he's jest a kid."
"Boon. Sariel's son?"
"Yeh. An' I wasn't too much older dan yoo when I left home. Dough, I may'a been a total douche at dat age. Hey, here we are."
They were walking out of the familiar woods to a grand castle. It resembled his own Uncle Wotan's place, although it seemed far less overgrown. And there were the unmistakable artifacts of children strewn about: a neglected swing set over here, some bicycles parked over there, a basketball hoop with a badly deflated ball against a wall.
There were four figures standing outside, apparently awaiting them. He recognized the one - the shortest - immediately. She was dressed in something that looked like it was constructed from ostrich feathers and used tinfoil.
“Thank you, Pickles! Buzz Cut Sariel! We’re glad to have you back, sweetie!” Queen Raziel sang. And to Sariel’s eternal embarrassment, she thenceforth grabbed him by his collar, pulled him down to her tiny height, and smooched the top of his shorn head with a terribly undignified mom kiss.
"I'll go get your father," she told her children. "And I'll call your Ganesh," she informed Sariel.
"Uh, thanks," Sariel muttered.
And then to Sariel's barely disguised glee, she went around and subjected all of the cringing teenagers to the same horrible kissing treatment, including Liam, who already fairly towered over her, and did himself absolutely not good by whining, "Moooooooom!" But Raziel already had her phone out and was babbling nonstop, though whether it was to Pickles or the party on the other end, it was unclear.
"It's good to see you again, BUZZ CUT," Liam, the tall one, grinned through curly bangs.
"You don't have to be IMPOSSIBLE," Abby, his sister, scolded him. "It's nice to see you, SARIEL."
"Uh thanks. Uh, Abby," Sariel told her.
"Is this your new boyfriend?" Liam chuckled.
"You know, I would behead you, but I don't think it would make any difference, Harpo!" Abby grumbled.
"Er," said Sariel. "Hey, Elias. Uh, Boon."
The slim dark-haired boy was wearing a loose vest instead of a shirt, as he currently had two sets of arms out. Both pairs of arms were now crossed, as he glared at Sariel with Ganesh's lovely eyes. Sariel shuddered involuntarily. He'd been subjected to that glare more than once, and, more often than not, because he had very richly deserved it.
"SO, ARE WE READY?"
The four children looked up to the sound of Wotan's rather bone-rattling voice. Liam was big for his age, but his father still dwarfed him.
“Young Sariel!" Wotan thundered, giving the young angel a hearty slap on the shoulder. "It's good t' see ye. Now, I take it ye know how to ride, so ye are not completely useless?”
"No sir. I mean, yessir, I can ride."
"Good! Then ye'll follow right along on the hunt today."
"A hunt?" Abby whined. "Daaaaad!"
"You have a different opinion, young lady?"
She sighed dramatically. "Do I HAVE to go along with the BOYS? I'd rather-"
“Signhild Leia Tzaphkiel Lakshmi Abigail,” said Wotan.
“Uh. Yes Father?”
“Make preparations! Ye are goin’ on a hunt.”
“Yes Father,” she said, scampering off.
“You! You two useless Seraphic good for nothings!" he said, pointing at Liam and Boon.
“Yes Father?”
“Yes Uncle Wotan?”
Wotan hooked a thumb at Sariel. “Ye two get him saddled up, and no funny angel business!”
“Yessir!” “Yessir!”
Sariel followed the other boys down to the stables. Unsurprisingly, the stables were lovely and well kept.
"You have any preference?" Liam asked him, indicating the stalls full of sleek horses.
Sariel didn't really - he sort of agreed with Abby, he could take or leave hunting - but he saw the two boys look at him appraisingly, so he decided to consider for a moment. He noticed one of the smaller horses eyeing him with intelligent, curious eyes, so he reached out his hand, and stroked its snout. "This one would be OK," he said.
"Huh," replied Liam. He was standing with an elbow on Elias’s shoulder, Elias standing with two sets of arms crossed. They looked like they spent a good deal of time in this posture.
“Are you guys boyfriends or something?” Sariel asked them.
“Maybe,” grinned Liam.
Sariel was a bit taken aback. That was the sort of thing that would have immediately put off human boys, but they didn’t move. Finally, Elias shrugged and said, “That’s one my dad usually rides.”
“Oh. Really?” asked Sariel. He struggled not to smile. He heard a soft snort from the back of the stables. Intrigued, he looked back. There was a mare with strange, snake-like eyes glaring at him. “What’s the story on that one?” he asked the others.
“Oh, that’s a long story,” Elias said. “You wanna tell it?”
Liam, who had grabbed a saddle, asked, "Did you want to hear a story of magic and betrayal, of a beloved son lost, treachery and punishment?" he asked breathlessly. Sariel had actually heard the tale of Loki and Baldr. But if this guy was telling it, he had to admit, he sort of wanted to hear it again.
The story eventually wandered away from familiar territory, and somehow wound its way to this universe's Sariel and Ganesh pleading Loki’s case on a wedding day, and the rather strange sentence. Sariel wasn’t certain if any of it was true, but at that point, but Liam made it sound like he'd been there for the whole thing, which was of course impossible.
The boys were by this time saddled up and riding out to meet Wotan and Abby. "Uh," Sariel asked, feeling a bit awkward, "Is there a reason Abby didn't come with us?"
"'Cause the Lizard spends the whole damn morning getting dressed!" Liam chuckled. Sariel frowned. But, as they approached the other riders, he noticed that Abby was indeed dressed in riding gear the likes of which he had never seen before.
"That's, uh, an interesting outfit," he told her.
"This is a copy of an early prototype of Elizabeth Taylor's riding outfit from National Velvet!" Abby cheerily announced.
"All right, you lot pay attention!" Wotan warned. "Today we're goin' on a snipe hunt!"
There were moans all around.
"This way," Wotan ordered, riding off on the magnificent eight-legged Sleipnir.
"C'mon Buzz, see if you can keep up!" Liam laughed.
"Quit calling him that," Abby grumbled.
"Why don't you make me?"
"Why don't I?"
And they both roared off, charging after each other.
"Have you been on a snipe hunt before Buzz?" Boon asked as they rode off behind the pack.
Sariel cringed at the terrible nickname, but decided to endure it. "No. You?"
"Not a lot. My dad doesn't care for hunting. Though my dad is mad for it."
"Which dad?"
"They're both my dads."
"People don't give you shit over it?"
"Over what?" Elias asked.
"Over the two dads thing?"
"Why should they? I was Created. He owed us a Boon. That's how I got my nickname."
"Boon?"
"Yeah. Do you know him? The Creator?"
"The Creator? He had me killed," Sariel grumbled.
"My dad doesn't like him. But my dad gets along with him OK."
Sariel shook his head. Ganesh and I have a child in this universe, he thought. And he's a complete idiot. "You're doing it again," he chided Boon.
"Do you think you'll have kids? When you're with Ganesh?"
"I dunno. I hate kids."
"But you are a kid!"
"Probably why I hate 'em."
"I always sort of wanted a brother. It's cool that Abby and Liam have each other."
"I mean," Sariel stumbled. "Me and Ganesh? I don't believe in that destiny stuff anyway."
"You don't?" Elias asked, sounding a bit scandalized.
"Yeah. It's kind of.... Bullcrap."
"Wait. What's bullcrap?" inquired Liam. Sariel hadn't noticed him riding beside them.
"He doesn't believe he's destined to be with Ganesh!" Boon told him.
"Boon and Abby are destined! To be idiots," Liam laughed, riding off again.
"Uncle Wotan says we're fated to marry!" Elias told Sariel, ignoring the jibe.
"And you believe it?" Sariel asked skeptically.
"Well. I dunno." Elias batted those amazing brown eyes. "She's awfully pretty," he said.
"She is pretty," Sariel agreed, thankfully stopping himself before he blurted out, "And you are too." "I think I might be destined to manage Dethklok," he allowed.
"Oh! Are you gonna go to law school and all that then?"
"I dunno. I think I may just start in on it. I think Ganesh is gonna force me to go to college though."
"I'm not going to law school either!"
"No?" Now Sariel was intrigued.
"No. My dad says three lawyers in the house, we'd never get a word in edgewise anyway. Though I think my dad was disappointed. But I'm gonna be a visual artist! I had a show!"
"Wait. You already had a show? How old are you?"
"I'll be fourteen in June. Though, that's not really my birthday, because I wasn't-"
"Boon!" Sariel was holding up the "time out" signal with his hands while he was trying to hold the reigns.
"Yeah?"
"You've already had a show? An art show?"
"Yeah, I think my dads liked it, though I couldn't really get them to say what they thought."
"Boon!"
"Yes?"
"I think they liked it."
"You think so?" And the eyes. Boon gave him a final smile and rode up to get beside Liam.
Sariel slowed down. He suddenly felt his stomach doing flippy-flutters.
"Do you hate it when he does that?"
Sariel looked over to Abby, riding beside him.
"Uh. Does what?"
"The eye thing," Abby said, pointing at her own ice blue eyes.
Sariel looked around to see if Liam or Boon was riding nearby. And then he brought his mount closer to Abby. "Can he turn it on and off or something?" he whispered.
"I dunno."
"But it makes you go all....?"
"Yeah." She looked at him appraisingly. "Can your Ganesh....?"
"I dunno. He's never tried it on me."
"Oh. Huh. I guess he sort of wouldn't, huh?"
"Naw. He's real strict about that."
"They're pretty strict with us," Abby confessed. "Mom makes us take all sorts of lessons. We were sort of getting away with doing French until stupid Liam shot off his mouth that we already picked it up."
"You speak French?"
"We just have to hear a language a couple times. It just comes."
"Oh! Raziel can do that."
"Yeah. Elias has trouble with it. It's one of the few things we can do that he can't."
"Ganesh says I could speak when I was really tiny."
"Oh, yeah, you were probably speaking Angelic!"
"Really?"
"Yeah! We'd talk to each other when we were babies and conspire and shit," Abby grinned.
Sariel felt a small pang, wishing now that he had had Angelic co-conspirators.
"All right! Everybody! Gather up!" The children rode up to gather around Wotan.
"The snipe are near! I can tell! You all know what to do?" There were nods, although Sariel actually had no idea. "I will ride forth. You all await my signal!"
There were more nods, and they watched as Sleipnir took the king out of sight.
"Um, what do we do?" Sariel asked.
There were shrugs.
"You're supposed to ride at full speed," Liam said.
"I can never see them," Elias confessed.
"I haven't seen one my whole life," Abby complained.
"That's 'cause you're too goddam slow a rider," Liam laughed.
"I'm faster than you, lazy butt," she told him.
"So, you've seen a snipe, Liam?" Sariel asked.
"Actually, no," Liam grinned.
"Do they even exist?" Sariel asked.
The other three exchanged sheepish grins.
"Then why are we even here?" Sariel persisted.
Grins and shrugs.
"I dunno. It's dumb," Abby admitted. "I think we like to be dumb together."
"NOW!" came Wotan's booming voice.
And suddenly, four children were urging horses down the path at breakneck speed.
"All right," said Wotan. "Your horses are all fed and watered?"
There were nods.
"Ye wait here. We've got some visitors coming for dinner." And he turned and strode off towards the house.
"Dad!" Elias called. He ran off to where Sariel had just emerged from the woods hooked some arms around him and walked him back, chattering all the way.
"Hey Uncle Sariel," said Abby when they had arrived at the front entrance, giving him a quick kiss.
"Unky Sariel!" yelled Liam, hooking an arm around his shoulders and holding out his knuckles.
"You try to give me noogies, Harpo, you're one dead kid," Sariel warned. He got a half hug instead.
"Sariel," he said to his young self, who muttered something and looked down. "I get it. You're a kid so you need to pretend you don't like me." He hugged him anyway, and young Sariel colored.
"The red looks good with the silver," Abby giggled.
"Don't tease, Liz Taylor," Sariel warned.
"Oh, do you like the outfit?" Abby gushed, entwining her smaller hand in his and dragging him off towards the residence. "This was an early costume design for National Velvet...."
"I do not believe we have been introduced."
Sariel's heart skipped a beat. He turned. It was Ganesh. Or this universe's version of Ganesh. Extending a courteous hand. "Hi," was all Sariel managed to choke out. His knees were quaking. Ganesh looked every bit as lovely as his own, back in his place. Sariel felt for the first time that day a tiny pang of homesickness.
"It is good to finally make your acquaintance," Ganesh wasy saying, shaking Sariel's hand. "I know it is unconventional, but I always had hankering to make contact with my counterpart in your domain. I should think we would have much to discuss regarding the wrangling of angelic beings."
"Uh. Yeah," Sariel mustered as he watched Ganesh make for the residence.
"Oooo, I'm not destined! That's romantic bullcrap!"
Sariel looked up at Liam's mocking voice. Boon and Liam were grinning down at him. They walked towards him, and Liam hooked an arm around his neck.
"You try and give me noogies, Harpo...." Sariel started. "And.... And you're dead!"
"Let's get dinner, Buzz," Liam laughed. "I hear there's pie."
Another universe, far, far away....
“You’re home, dear?” Ganesh asked the general thumping and thrashing noises. Before long, there was a boy sitting across the dinner table from him, eagerly shoveling forkfuls of food into his face. “Ah, I am sorry. They obviously starved you terribly.”
“Wha’?”
“Nothing, jaanu.”
“So, Ganesh, are we gonna have kids?”
“Well, that is a rather big question! It is a way off though. What do you think?”
“Yeah.”
“You think we shall?”
“Yeah.”
“All right, then, that is something to consider. Oh, and somewhat related, you should know, when Lady Raziel was here earlier, she confided to me that she is intending to accept King Wotan’s proposal of marriage.”
“Oh. She finally said yes?”
“Apparently. She shall.”
“Oh.” Sariel poked a fork into his paneer. “Are they gonna have kids?”
“Well, I do not know! That is definitely a possibility.”
“Hrmmmm.” Sariel chewed thoughtfully. “Wul. When they have kids. They should wait for us to have kids. And, then we’ll bring them up. All together. Because that’s better.”
“You seem to have been giving this a great deal of thought.”
“Nah.”
"Of course not. What could I have been thinking?"
"And. Uh. They call me Buzz there. It's kind of stupid, huh?"
"Yes, it is very stupid."
"It's because of...." Sariel ruffed his own hair.
"Ah! So, did you communicate to them that this new nickname displeases you?"
"Oh. Uh. No. I don't want them to get, you know, confused? Because, there's two of us?"
"Ah. Yes."
They ate in silence for a short while.
"Ganesh?"
"Yes?"
"Did Uncle Wotan ever take you on a snipe hunt!"
"A very long time ago! Would you like to hear the story, or would you find it awfully tiresome?"
Sariel shrugged. "I think I might wanna hear it."
"All right then," Ganesh smiled.
Author: tikistitch
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Valhalla gets a visitor
Warnings: Slash, AU, OCs, swearing
Notes: I do nearly have the next proper chapter ready. Sorry for the lollygagging. Just wanted to check in on my AU's Sariel.
Another universe, far, far away....
“Eyes or glasses.”
Sariel glared, slivery.
“Eyes or glasses,” Ganesh repeated, holding out the dark tinted eyeglasses. “You know our rule when you’re out in public.”
“I’m not gonna be in public! I’m gonna be at Valhalla with a bunch of other angels,” Sariel groused.
“I would call venturing over to another universe quite public. You have no idea who you might meet upon the way,” Ganesh lectured. Pickles, standing in the background, silently tried not to smile.
Sariel sullenly grabbed the eyeglasses. “I don’t even need these.”
“You do actually. Now, you will accompany their Pickles. You will go straight to Valhalla. You will ring me when you get there….”
“How the fuck do they get a cell phone to work across universes?”
“Their Lady Raziel is quite ingenious.”
“She’s sort of a hard ass.”
“She is raising angels. It is a task that presents its own set of complexities. You should consider yourself rather fortunate that you are being allowed this, after sneaking off like that. Their Sariel made a rather convincing case of it to me.”
“He’s nice,” Sariel muttered. Ganesh raised an eyebrow. The unspoken but nevertheless blindingly clear next part, “...and you’re not.” Ganesh wondered if it would be possible to go back in time and erase everything he had said and done as a teenager. Or perhaps this was his karma? To see his one true love as a sullen teenager?
Even as a disgruntled adolescent, he was forced to acknowledge, Sariel was still terribly cute. Ganesh smiled and ruffed his silvery hair, knowing quite full well that Sariel despised (or claimed to despise) such treatment. “I am your guardian. I will continue to act as such until your eighteenth birthday. You shall go and do as I suggest. And kindly express our thanks to your hosts for enduring a bloody-minded little snot. Now, go get your things, don’t let’s keep Pickles waiting!”
Sariel gave one last glare, and nodded to Pickles, whom Ganesh thought did a splendid job of not grinning. That expression erupted as soon as the boy had left the room.
“Kindly don’t let him be too much of a trial,” Ganesh warned.
This Pickles had gotten somewhat silvery himself, his braids now a fine weave of red and grey. Ganesh had looked twice when he had first appeared in his living room. The band members in his own universe had seemed to him slightly younger versions of their alter egos in the Dethklok universe, but he had not been aware of the extent of the dischord until that moment. He had tried to limit his contact these past few years, though he was aware that Ogoun Sen Jacque was not longer in residence.
But, effects of human aging aside, Pickles' smile remained undiminished. “Dood, it’s a trip t’ see him as a kid.”
“As you know, he isn’t your Sariel – he is a different person. But, yes, I suppose there are inevitably similarities.”
“Yoo doods sure dis won’t bring down da yooniverse?”
“If anyone would be capable, it would be that boy,” Ganesh sighed. And they both smiled at this. And, bare minutes later, the two had departed for another world.
“You don’t really think they’ll bring down the universe do you? Because I kinda like it!” Ganesh turned to the sound of Raziel’s voice. She had been hovering, just not making her presence known. Although Ganesh suspected Sariel could see her, or at least sense her.
“Sariel – their Sariel – made a rather convincing case.”
“He’s a lawyer.”
“As am I.”
“You went to law school because you were bored.”
Ganesh sighed. “You know, he thinks he would perform better at band management than I. And, I’ll have to admit, I think he is correct.”
“You could let him-“
“Absolutely not! Not until he reaches 18! And then he will attend university!”
“You’re hot when you get parental,” Raziel laughed. “What exactly did their Sariel say?”
“He thinks our Sariel would benefit from passing some time among other young people.”
“You mean the time when he’s not in school or swimming or on the fencing team or in the debate club?”
“I mean other young people who are capable of destroying the universe.”
Raziel grinned.
“Angels,” sighed Ganesh.
“You went right from one to another! You can’t be that exasperated with us!”
Ganesh smiled and reached out to finger a lock of Raziel's dark hair. "I rather enjoyed our time together."
"And you don't even like girls."
"I liked you. Would you care for me to take a look at your wings since you're here?"
Somewhere between here and there....
“Dis is a long way t' walk, dood. I’m surprised yoo found it. You shoulda seen me an’ Skwisgaar da first time we found da way.” Pickles didn’t mind the silence, but he had to admit, he was intrigued. Charles had seemed captivated by the boy as well.
“You guys made a path,” Sariel shrugged.
"Yeh, but not everybody would be able t' follow it."
"I'm not stupid."
"If yer anyt'ing like our Charles, yer definitely nawt stoopid. But bein' smart an' knowing how t' stay on da path ain't da same t'ing."
"So. He manages you guys? In your universe."
"Yeh. Dat he does. An'.... Udder stuff."
"Like what?"
"Like he said t' me first time I laid eyes on him, he's kinda our guardian angel doof."
"Oh." Sariel was silent for a long moment. "I don't know a lot about being an angel, actually."
"Probably best yoo don't. Dey're douches. Mostly."
"You think I could manage a band?"
"Well, mebbe. Yoo know, Boon's alreddy an artist. An' he's jest a kid."
"Boon. Sariel's son?"
"Yeh. An' I wasn't too much older dan yoo when I left home. Dough, I may'a been a total douche at dat age. Hey, here we are."
They were walking out of the familiar woods to a grand castle. It resembled his own Uncle Wotan's place, although it seemed far less overgrown. And there were the unmistakable artifacts of children strewn about: a neglected swing set over here, some bicycles parked over there, a basketball hoop with a badly deflated ball against a wall.
There were four figures standing outside, apparently awaiting them. He recognized the one - the shortest - immediately. She was dressed in something that looked like it was constructed from ostrich feathers and used tinfoil.
“Thank you, Pickles! Buzz Cut Sariel! We’re glad to have you back, sweetie!” Queen Raziel sang. And to Sariel’s eternal embarrassment, she thenceforth grabbed him by his collar, pulled him down to her tiny height, and smooched the top of his shorn head with a terribly undignified mom kiss.
"I'll go get your father," she told her children. "And I'll call your Ganesh," she informed Sariel.
"Uh, thanks," Sariel muttered.
And then to Sariel's barely disguised glee, she went around and subjected all of the cringing teenagers to the same horrible kissing treatment, including Liam, who already fairly towered over her, and did himself absolutely not good by whining, "Moooooooom!" But Raziel already had her phone out and was babbling nonstop, though whether it was to Pickles or the party on the other end, it was unclear.
"It's good to see you again, BUZZ CUT," Liam, the tall one, grinned through curly bangs.
"You don't have to be IMPOSSIBLE," Abby, his sister, scolded him. "It's nice to see you, SARIEL."
"Uh thanks. Uh, Abby," Sariel told her.
"Is this your new boyfriend?" Liam chuckled.
"You know, I would behead you, but I don't think it would make any difference, Harpo!" Abby grumbled.
"Er," said Sariel. "Hey, Elias. Uh, Boon."
The slim dark-haired boy was wearing a loose vest instead of a shirt, as he currently had two sets of arms out. Both pairs of arms were now crossed, as he glared at Sariel with Ganesh's lovely eyes. Sariel shuddered involuntarily. He'd been subjected to that glare more than once, and, more often than not, because he had very richly deserved it.
"SO, ARE WE READY?"
The four children looked up to the sound of Wotan's rather bone-rattling voice. Liam was big for his age, but his father still dwarfed him.
“Young Sariel!" Wotan thundered, giving the young angel a hearty slap on the shoulder. "It's good t' see ye. Now, I take it ye know how to ride, so ye are not completely useless?”
"No sir. I mean, yessir, I can ride."
"Good! Then ye'll follow right along on the hunt today."
"A hunt?" Abby whined. "Daaaaad!"
"You have a different opinion, young lady?"
She sighed dramatically. "Do I HAVE to go along with the BOYS? I'd rather-"
“Signhild Leia Tzaphkiel Lakshmi Abigail,” said Wotan.
“Uh. Yes Father?”
“Make preparations! Ye are goin’ on a hunt.”
“Yes Father,” she said, scampering off.
“You! You two useless Seraphic good for nothings!" he said, pointing at Liam and Boon.
“Yes Father?”
“Yes Uncle Wotan?”
Wotan hooked a thumb at Sariel. “Ye two get him saddled up, and no funny angel business!”
“Yessir!” “Yessir!”
Sariel followed the other boys down to the stables. Unsurprisingly, the stables were lovely and well kept.
"You have any preference?" Liam asked him, indicating the stalls full of sleek horses.
Sariel didn't really - he sort of agreed with Abby, he could take or leave hunting - but he saw the two boys look at him appraisingly, so he decided to consider for a moment. He noticed one of the smaller horses eyeing him with intelligent, curious eyes, so he reached out his hand, and stroked its snout. "This one would be OK," he said.
"Huh," replied Liam. He was standing with an elbow on Elias’s shoulder, Elias standing with two sets of arms crossed. They looked like they spent a good deal of time in this posture.
“Are you guys boyfriends or something?” Sariel asked them.
“Maybe,” grinned Liam.
Sariel was a bit taken aback. That was the sort of thing that would have immediately put off human boys, but they didn’t move. Finally, Elias shrugged and said, “That’s one my dad usually rides.”
“Oh. Really?” asked Sariel. He struggled not to smile. He heard a soft snort from the back of the stables. Intrigued, he looked back. There was a mare with strange, snake-like eyes glaring at him. “What’s the story on that one?” he asked the others.
“Oh, that’s a long story,” Elias said. “You wanna tell it?”
Liam, who had grabbed a saddle, asked, "Did you want to hear a story of magic and betrayal, of a beloved son lost, treachery and punishment?" he asked breathlessly. Sariel had actually heard the tale of Loki and Baldr. But if this guy was telling it, he had to admit, he sort of wanted to hear it again.
The story eventually wandered away from familiar territory, and somehow wound its way to this universe's Sariel and Ganesh pleading Loki’s case on a wedding day, and the rather strange sentence. Sariel wasn’t certain if any of it was true, but at that point, but Liam made it sound like he'd been there for the whole thing, which was of course impossible.
The boys were by this time saddled up and riding out to meet Wotan and Abby. "Uh," Sariel asked, feeling a bit awkward, "Is there a reason Abby didn't come with us?"
"'Cause the Lizard spends the whole damn morning getting dressed!" Liam chuckled. Sariel frowned. But, as they approached the other riders, he noticed that Abby was indeed dressed in riding gear the likes of which he had never seen before.
"That's, uh, an interesting outfit," he told her.
"This is a copy of an early prototype of Elizabeth Taylor's riding outfit from National Velvet!" Abby cheerily announced.
"All right, you lot pay attention!" Wotan warned. "Today we're goin' on a snipe hunt!"
There were moans all around.
"This way," Wotan ordered, riding off on the magnificent eight-legged Sleipnir.
"C'mon Buzz, see if you can keep up!" Liam laughed.
"Quit calling him that," Abby grumbled.
"Why don't you make me?"
"Why don't I?"
And they both roared off, charging after each other.
"Have you been on a snipe hunt before Buzz?" Boon asked as they rode off behind the pack.
Sariel cringed at the terrible nickname, but decided to endure it. "No. You?"
"Not a lot. My dad doesn't care for hunting. Though my dad is mad for it."
"Which dad?"
"They're both my dads."
"People don't give you shit over it?"
"Over what?" Elias asked.
"Over the two dads thing?"
"Why should they? I was Created. He owed us a Boon. That's how I got my nickname."
"Boon?"
"Yeah. Do you know him? The Creator?"
"The Creator? He had me killed," Sariel grumbled.
"My dad doesn't like him. But my dad gets along with him OK."
Sariel shook his head. Ganesh and I have a child in this universe, he thought. And he's a complete idiot. "You're doing it again," he chided Boon.
"Do you think you'll have kids? When you're with Ganesh?"
"I dunno. I hate kids."
"But you are a kid!"
"Probably why I hate 'em."
"I always sort of wanted a brother. It's cool that Abby and Liam have each other."
"I mean," Sariel stumbled. "Me and Ganesh? I don't believe in that destiny stuff anyway."
"You don't?" Elias asked, sounding a bit scandalized.
"Yeah. It's kind of.... Bullcrap."
"Wait. What's bullcrap?" inquired Liam. Sariel hadn't noticed him riding beside them.
"He doesn't believe he's destined to be with Ganesh!" Boon told him.
"Boon and Abby are destined! To be idiots," Liam laughed, riding off again.
"Uncle Wotan says we're fated to marry!" Elias told Sariel, ignoring the jibe.
"And you believe it?" Sariel asked skeptically.
"Well. I dunno." Elias batted those amazing brown eyes. "She's awfully pretty," he said.
"She is pretty," Sariel agreed, thankfully stopping himself before he blurted out, "And you are too." "I think I might be destined to manage Dethklok," he allowed.
"Oh! Are you gonna go to law school and all that then?"
"I dunno. I think I may just start in on it. I think Ganesh is gonna force me to go to college though."
"I'm not going to law school either!"
"No?" Now Sariel was intrigued.
"No. My dad says three lawyers in the house, we'd never get a word in edgewise anyway. Though I think my dad was disappointed. But I'm gonna be a visual artist! I had a show!"
"Wait. You already had a show? How old are you?"
"I'll be fourteen in June. Though, that's not really my birthday, because I wasn't-"
"Boon!" Sariel was holding up the "time out" signal with his hands while he was trying to hold the reigns.
"Yeah?"
"You've already had a show? An art show?"
"Yeah, I think my dads liked it, though I couldn't really get them to say what they thought."
"Boon!"
"Yes?"
"I think they liked it."
"You think so?" And the eyes. Boon gave him a final smile and rode up to get beside Liam.
Sariel slowed down. He suddenly felt his stomach doing flippy-flutters.
"Do you hate it when he does that?"
Sariel looked over to Abby, riding beside him.
"Uh. Does what?"
"The eye thing," Abby said, pointing at her own ice blue eyes.
Sariel looked around to see if Liam or Boon was riding nearby. And then he brought his mount closer to Abby. "Can he turn it on and off or something?" he whispered.
"I dunno."
"But it makes you go all....?"
"Yeah." She looked at him appraisingly. "Can your Ganesh....?"
"I dunno. He's never tried it on me."
"Oh. Huh. I guess he sort of wouldn't, huh?"
"Naw. He's real strict about that."
"They're pretty strict with us," Abby confessed. "Mom makes us take all sorts of lessons. We were sort of getting away with doing French until stupid Liam shot off his mouth that we already picked it up."
"You speak French?"
"We just have to hear a language a couple times. It just comes."
"Oh! Raziel can do that."
"Yeah. Elias has trouble with it. It's one of the few things we can do that he can't."
"Ganesh says I could speak when I was really tiny."
"Oh, yeah, you were probably speaking Angelic!"
"Really?"
"Yeah! We'd talk to each other when we were babies and conspire and shit," Abby grinned.
Sariel felt a small pang, wishing now that he had had Angelic co-conspirators.
"All right! Everybody! Gather up!" The children rode up to gather around Wotan.
"The snipe are near! I can tell! You all know what to do?" There were nods, although Sariel actually had no idea. "I will ride forth. You all await my signal!"
There were more nods, and they watched as Sleipnir took the king out of sight.
"Um, what do we do?" Sariel asked.
There were shrugs.
"You're supposed to ride at full speed," Liam said.
"I can never see them," Elias confessed.
"I haven't seen one my whole life," Abby complained.
"That's 'cause you're too goddam slow a rider," Liam laughed.
"I'm faster than you, lazy butt," she told him.
"So, you've seen a snipe, Liam?" Sariel asked.
"Actually, no," Liam grinned.
"Do they even exist?" Sariel asked.
The other three exchanged sheepish grins.
"Then why are we even here?" Sariel persisted.
Grins and shrugs.
"I dunno. It's dumb," Abby admitted. "I think we like to be dumb together."
"NOW!" came Wotan's booming voice.
And suddenly, four children were urging horses down the path at breakneck speed.
"All right," said Wotan. "Your horses are all fed and watered?"
There were nods.
"Ye wait here. We've got some visitors coming for dinner." And he turned and strode off towards the house.
"Dad!" Elias called. He ran off to where Sariel had just emerged from the woods hooked some arms around him and walked him back, chattering all the way.
"Hey Uncle Sariel," said Abby when they had arrived at the front entrance, giving him a quick kiss.
"Unky Sariel!" yelled Liam, hooking an arm around his shoulders and holding out his knuckles.
"You try to give me noogies, Harpo, you're one dead kid," Sariel warned. He got a half hug instead.
"Sariel," he said to his young self, who muttered something and looked down. "I get it. You're a kid so you need to pretend you don't like me." He hugged him anyway, and young Sariel colored.
"The red looks good with the silver," Abby giggled.
"Don't tease, Liz Taylor," Sariel warned.
"Oh, do you like the outfit?" Abby gushed, entwining her smaller hand in his and dragging him off towards the residence. "This was an early costume design for National Velvet...."
"I do not believe we have been introduced."
Sariel's heart skipped a beat. He turned. It was Ganesh. Or this universe's version of Ganesh. Extending a courteous hand. "Hi," was all Sariel managed to choke out. His knees were quaking. Ganesh looked every bit as lovely as his own, back in his place. Sariel felt for the first time that day a tiny pang of homesickness.
"It is good to finally make your acquaintance," Ganesh wasy saying, shaking Sariel's hand. "I know it is unconventional, but I always had hankering to make contact with my counterpart in your domain. I should think we would have much to discuss regarding the wrangling of angelic beings."
"Uh. Yeah," Sariel mustered as he watched Ganesh make for the residence.
"Oooo, I'm not destined! That's romantic bullcrap!"
Sariel looked up at Liam's mocking voice. Boon and Liam were grinning down at him. They walked towards him, and Liam hooked an arm around his neck.
"You try and give me noogies, Harpo...." Sariel started. "And.... And you're dead!"
"Let's get dinner, Buzz," Liam laughed. "I hear there's pie."
Another universe, far, far away....
“You’re home, dear?” Ganesh asked the general thumping and thrashing noises. Before long, there was a boy sitting across the dinner table from him, eagerly shoveling forkfuls of food into his face. “Ah, I am sorry. They obviously starved you terribly.”
“Wha’?”
“Nothing, jaanu.”
“So, Ganesh, are we gonna have kids?”
“Well, that is a rather big question! It is a way off though. What do you think?”
“Yeah.”
“You think we shall?”
“Yeah.”
“All right, then, that is something to consider. Oh, and somewhat related, you should know, when Lady Raziel was here earlier, she confided to me that she is intending to accept King Wotan’s proposal of marriage.”
“Oh. She finally said yes?”
“Apparently. She shall.”
“Oh.” Sariel poked a fork into his paneer. “Are they gonna have kids?”
“Well, I do not know! That is definitely a possibility.”
“Hrmmmm.” Sariel chewed thoughtfully. “Wul. When they have kids. They should wait for us to have kids. And, then we’ll bring them up. All together. Because that’s better.”
“You seem to have been giving this a great deal of thought.”
“Nah.”
"Of course not. What could I have been thinking?"
"And. Uh. They call me Buzz there. It's kind of stupid, huh?"
"Yes, it is very stupid."
"It's because of...." Sariel ruffed his own hair.
"Ah! So, did you communicate to them that this new nickname displeases you?"
"Oh. Uh. No. I don't want them to get, you know, confused? Because, there's two of us?"
"Ah. Yes."
They ate in silence for a short while.
"Ganesh?"
"Yes?"
"Did Uncle Wotan ever take you on a snipe hunt!"
"A very long time ago! Would you like to hear the story, or would you find it awfully tiresome?"
Sariel shrugged. "I think I might wanna hear it."
"All right then," Ganesh smiled.
