Death of a Bachelor

Micheal wasn’t sure about this. He was starting to have second thoughts,  he was still stressing out about everything he lost when he came here, he was incredible nervous because he didn’t know what to expect from this. Grior was a very, odd, determined individual so he wasn’t sure what he considered as a ‘date’. He somewhat recoiled from that term, he seriously didn’t know how the ginger managed to get him to agree to this. Obviously Grior was a master at this sort of things because Michael hadn’t even thought about calling off today’s little adventure prior to this point.

The guy was a master at flirting. His resistance to his advance we’re gradually lessened, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Yet he made it a week without caving in, so that how to count for something. Judging from the occasional glares he got from some of the female patron, and a couple of the man ones as well, he was fully aware that there was a ton of people who would love to be in his position.

Tying the laces of his boots, the sound of the familiar deep voice and the clattering against the door alerted him to the presence of the other man. He straightened his posture, biting down gently on his lower lip as his eyes dance from his bedroom to the door where the ginger was currently knocking. His hand on his baggy jean pants, the ends of which tucked delicately within the folds of his thick winter boots, his sports sweater, with the logo Adidas and sign on it,  creased against his abs.

Jumping to his feet he grabs his winter coat, slinging it across his shoulders, and a pair of gloves which he tucked into the folds of his pocket. Turning the knob he opened the door and gave Grior an annoyed look. “Seriously Ginger? You didn’t have to knock so loudly” He pointed out irritably. Ginger, yeah that had someone become his little pet name for the giant man who still was capable of snapping him in two if he wanted. It wasn’t that Michael was weak or scrawny, far from it, it was just that Grior was far more in shape and just got the bulk of Norse Deity strength.

He pushed down any lingering regrets and close the door behind him,All the wild stealing quick glance to the red-head, and while he hope that he was being secretive enough he was sure that the other Demi-god caught him once or twice, it was ridiculous how attractive this guy was. “Yeah… I guess I am ready.” He said swallowing anxiously.  “‘Lead the way,” he was unsure if he should give the other his hand or just follow him, the red-head was rather confusing so he wouldn’t be surprised if he did want to take his hand.

“Where exactly in the arctic are we going?”

Michael nodded in response to Grior’s answer. When he had asked, he had been referring to which part of the Arctic ocean, but decided that he would wait an see instead of bugging the taller man with his questions.”Impressive huh? Where did you even get a viking ship around here?” He inquired curiously.

When the redhead stepped closer to him, Michael didn’t pull away, only eyeing the other man with a curious look on his face. He felt his breathe his at the other’s compliment, and his eyes drifted away from Grior’s face as his hand thumb circled the bottom of his lips.Letting out an awkward, yet natural, laugh in response he peered back up him. “Thanks, that’s really sweet of you to say.” He said rather coyle. “You look amazing,” He muttered, ignoring the feeling of loss that welled inside when Grior pulled away to the head towards the elevator.

Following behind him, Michael couldn’t help but feel weird, cause Grior made him feel weird when he did or say things like that. It was so astonishing how sweet he could be, even with all that macho bravado he had going on. When Grior turned to look back at him and spoke, Micheal was taken off guard by his suggestion.

So he had noticed the looks? He look away from his… he didn’t know what Grior was to him right now, the redhead was way to intimate with him to be considered a friend but he didn’t want to say that they we’re… well boyfriends. Pet names and oddly intimate touches and compliments aside. “ I... “ He swallowed, he appreciated that Grior wanted to help but he could handle it himself. Stubborn, maybe, but he didn’t want anyone here to think he would just run to Grior whenever a problem occurred. “I can handle it myself, Ginger.” He reassured weakly.” It’s just a few stares, nothing serious…”

Michael was both impressed and slightly jealous at the fact that Grior’s dad had gotten him an entire Viking ship as a gift. He barely remembered his mother, she had only been in his life for a years before disappearing a few months after giving to his sister. He hadn’t heard from her since his arrival here, and she never cared to visit him or to check up on them, which they desperately needed because his dad was a mess and his sister sanity was barely intact. “ I wish my mother care enough…”He accidentally said out loud, and winced, quickly looking away from the red-head. He really didn’t want to sound like a brat right now, his mother issues was his own problems he didn’t need to burden Grior with them.

For a moment it had looked like Grior was going to actually kiss him and Michael honestly felt the proverbial butterflies in his stomach flutter a bit. Yet when the redhead pulled away, instead of feeling disappointed there was a feeling of… relief? He attributed that to the fact that he didn’t know if he was ready to commit to this… courtship.

“I can handle it Ginger,” He asserted softly, pressing his back against the back of the Elevator. “Why does it even matter? It’s not like death is permanent here anyway.” He couldn’t understand why Grior seemed so worried about him getting killed, it wasn’t like he’d die permanently anyway, the man himself had even stated he had been killed multiple times over the millennia of him being here.

When they stepped out into Midgard. In particular, Greenland, the temperature drop did hit Michael. Being the son of Sol, the Sun Goddess, it hit him hard. He shivered visible, and quickly pulled on his gloves and zipping up his jacket. Unknowing, he moved a bit closer than necessary to the taller demi-god, as they moved to the edge of the water.

To say that he was astonished by the sight of the boat appearing out of the bottle, was an understatement. “Wow,” He gasped, taking in the ship and all it’s glory. He hadn’t been lying, it was very impressive. His eyes moved from the ship to Grior, and he bit down gently on his lower lip.

“Ready?”

Michael reluctantly held Grior’s gaze, he hated letting his feeling about the situation at home out. He couldn’t help but feel insignificant, because there was nothing he could do to change anything, not when he was alive and certainly not now as he was dead. “How would you know,” He muttered, bitterly. “I've been dead for months, months Ginger, and she hasn’t tried to communicate with me once.” He forcefully pulls away from Grior. “ At least Loki cares for his demigod children.”

He sighed. He knew there was no point in arguing with him about this. With the finality in his voice, it was clear that Grior was done talking about it. He’d just have to hope that Grior didn’t do anything too extreme, he could handle the looks. He wasn’t hopeless. Grior was just being overprotective. Though the fact that he did care so much was… an interesting change. "You're too protective." He muttered under his breathe.

Following the red-head inside, Micheal help but to be fascinated with the decor and the presence of the ship itself. “Honestly… this is impressive,” He said, he hadn’t expected it to be so fancy, it had been pretty grand on the outside but this was on a totally different level. “ This is totally you dude,” he said motion towards the animal furs as the two made their way to the top of the ship.

“How in control of your powers are you?” He inquired curiously, watching his fellow demi-god pull the ship out to sea.The sudden presence of a gentle breeze, caused Michael to shiver, deciding to take off a glove, he tried producing a  flame in the palm of his hand, but the flame came out as much smaller than he wanted and even as he tried to concentrate it refused to grow much larger. “ Of course my powers don’t work properly in cold weather,” He cursed, putting out the fire and putting back on his gloves. He clutched himself tightly as he stared off the side, watching as the ship moved away from Greenland.

Michael  was silent  because, in a way, Grior was right. Time flowed differently for the Gods, and being that his mother was the Goddess of the Sun she was probably far too immerse in her work to be able to have to free time to check up on him. Yet that didn’t make up for her overall absence. In 20 years you would have thought she’d pop up at least once. “Yeah, whatever you say.” He finally said after a moment, content with ending the conversation right then and there.

He wanted pressed on, to argue with the taller demi-god about this problem, but decided that now probably wouldn’t be the right time. There was always time to do that later, he didn’t need the other man to upset with him for the rest of this “date” because he couldn’t accept the fact that Grior was worried about his well-being and wanted to protect him. So he simple huffed in response, but made no further attempt to comment on the issue.

“That makes sense,” Michael commented. “You’ve had a millennia to practice after all.” quite an unfair advantage he thought. He was still getting the hang of his own powers and controlling them to the best of his abilities. His sister on the other hand, well she had been drilling herself so much that he would be surprised if she wasn’t in complete control of her abilities at this point.

“Hey Ginger?” He called softly. ‘Do you have any sibling?” he wanted to know, because the gods we’re known to take many lovers over a vast time period. Though as far as he was aware Cashmere and himself we’re the only Demi-God children of Sol currently at residence at Valhalla.

When Grior approached, placing his hand on his waist, Michael looked up at the tall male. “I’m fine Ginger,” he reassured. Hesitantly, he placed a hand on the other’man’s tone chest. “ I’m not going to just leave you up here bro, wouldn’t be must of a date if I did that” he reasoned. He raised his hand from Grior and cupped his face. “Besides you have warmth to spare.” He joked.

He looked down at his hands, flexing his fingers a bit, maybe he’ll give it a chance later on. He did feel slightly less in control than usual, maybe it was just the colder temperatures messing him up. “Yeah… I can understand why she would’ve been happy about that. The way you eat,  i’m just glad I don’t have to make meals for you.” He had seen seen the bigger man eat before, and well, it was aweing that he was so fit given how much he consumed on a daily basis.

“Well,” he scratched his chin awkwardly and avoided eye contact. “Was just curious is all,” He probably shouldn’t drop the fact that he had a sister to him yet. That was a can of worms that he didn’t want to open today, or ever really, thought he knew it was something unavoidable with her being his Valkyrie and all.

Maybe it would be for the best, that he didn’t tell him how he ended up dead in the first place. As much as he resented her for her actions, she was still his sister and he still cared for her, he didn’t need her dead. She was the only person capable of watching Nathan after all, what with him being dead and his father not being useful at all.


So he really needed to choose his words more careful. “H-hey!” he sputtered in protest, the tip of his ears reddening in response to Grior’s actions.”That...I was joking” Despite all his protest, he didn’t try to move away like usual. “Even then I meant that...I meant we could share warmth or something…”

Griorgair snorted. "The way I eat? What is that supposed to mean?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. "I eat just fine!" He looked at Michael with raised eyebrows. "I have a healthy appetite."

"...Oh. I know how to share warmth." Grior finally got the idea and moved closer to Grior so that their chests were touching. "Here, take your hands and place them on my chest like you did before." He ordered. "If you would like, we can go below deck and keep warm there."

Michael snorted in response to the man’s comment about his eating habits. “You eat like a pig man,” He commented lightly. “A cute one, but a pig nonetheless.”  He scratched his chin and simply raised a brow at the man when he claimed that he had a healthy eating habit. “I think the entire feast hall would disagree with you on that one Ginger.”

Doing as he was instructed, Michael placed his on the man’s chest and locked eyes with Grior for a moment. Mulling over his words, he was unsure if he’d rather risk the cold or go down stairs, biting down gently on his lower lip, he nodded in agreement. “Sure,” He relented, pulling away from the taller man, before lacing their hands together although his gaze did drop to the floor when he did so.

Tugging the older demi-god gently as he lead him downstairs. It wasn’t until they were both in the comforts of the ships inside that he turned back to Grior, his lips pressed in a thin line. “ So um, what did you have in mind?”

“Only in comparison to you,” Michael shot back. He didn’t eat like a little elf, he ate like a normal modern day man in his early twenties. He paused slightly, realizing what was happening. We’re they really going to argue about each other’s eating habits right now? They weren’t even official yet, and they were bickering like an old married couple over the simplest of things.

Michael ran his tongue across his lips. His eyes staring ahead towards the fireplace, as Grior wrapped his arms around his waist, he was slightly tense in the older demi-god hold not because he was uncomfortable but because he unsure of himself. Things we’re getting really intimate a bit too fast and he felt that moving over to the love-seat was just a very bad decision in the long run.

He twisted in Grior’s hold. “Um, we can just stand here if that’s ok with you,” He was blatantly aware how close the other man was to him, if he just bent down he would be able to kiss Michael no problem. Yet Michael was unsure if he actually wanted that to happen.

“So uh…” He swallowed, his hands twitching as he ratcheted his brain for what to say. “beautiful days isn't' it?” He offered weakly, cause damn he didn't know what else to say. He was just going to leave it up to Grior.

Michael chuckled. “Going to the basics eh?” He mused, biting down gently on his lower lips as he formulate the answers in his head. “Well, I was born in modern times obviously, about 21 years ago” He paused, looking down at his head. “Although I did die a few few weeks before I turned 21 so I guess i’m physically still 20?”

“Um, you probably might have never heard about this place, but i’m from Alberta Canada, the city of Edmonton to be specific.” He tried to figure out a way to explained it. “It’s a country that was born out of the British Empire.” Thinking a bit harder on the topic, he tried to think about when England had really came into existence. He believe it was the year 1066 AD so Grior more than likely didn’t even know about England. “Basically a Kingdom on Southern Great Britain conquered the entire island before conquering all of Ireland and the majority of the World but collapsing.”  He said, trying to condense a millennia of information into basic easily understable knowledge. “ But it still sorta exists, As the United Kingdom, which consists of Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland.”

“And I just went off track didn’t I?” He winced. “Sorry about that…but my favourite colour is yellow.” He looked up towards Grior’s hair. “But orange is a close second.”

“So ah what about-” The ship rocked violent and before Michael knew it, he was accidentally being pinned to the ground by the tall man, after the both of them had stumbled and fallen down. “Woah, rogue wav-” He winced at the sound of a piercing screethe. “What the hell is that!” He tried getting up, but you know, being pinned to the ground made it somewhat difficult.

“Yeah it must be the scruff,” he commented, not really affected by the fact that Grior thought he looked older than he was, he was use to it. “Or stress, either one could be equally at fault.” When Grior asked what season he was born in, he was pretty quick to respond. “ Summer”

He liked hearing about Grior’s passed, it was always interesting. Though he wasn’t expecting him to have died defending his mother from being raped. “Oh… sorry that had to happen…” he was silent for a moment. “Do you still miss her?”

Seeing as Grior was so willing to share how he died it was only fair that Michael return the favour, although he was somewhat reluctant to do so. “ I… I died protecting my son… my sister when insane and well… let’s just say our relationship wasn’t the best at the time.” He chuckled darkly. “Funnily enough, I was crushed to death because I tried protecting her from the chaos she caused.”

He gulped. “Y-yeah ,maybe… just a little”

Michael was really confused about what was happening. The way Grior sprinted off and suddenly was telling him to stay below deck was both confusing and worrying at the same time. He thought about listening to the red-head, but when the ship rocked violently once more and the sound of cracking wood grew, he was determined to see what was happening.

Running up to the deck, he was dumbstruck by what he saw. “What the f-” He didn’t even have time to finish his sentence, when a tentacle came down upon him. Leaping out of the way just in time he watched, fear stricken, as the tentacle smashed into the deck of the ship.

Throwing off his gloves, he tried to summon fire but found that the flames we’re still dull. Gritting his teeth, he slowly moved backwards as the beast prepared to strike at the demi-gods on the ship again. “What is this thing?”

Michael nodded, and bit down gently onto his lower lip. “Yeah? He would be 2 years old now, his name’s Nathan…” He really missed him, he wished that there was some way he could communicate with him but he knew that was impossible or at the very least unallowed. Then again, Nathan was a quarter norse god, maybe that accounted for something?


“Oh,” He said when it became apparent that Grior didn’t hear what he said about his sister. “She-” he paused, took in a deep breathe, and responded once more. “She’s my valkyrie, I said she collected my soul when I died.” It wasn’t a lie, she did collect his soul after his death, he just left out the bit about her playing a major part in his demise. “You might see her around…” That was something that he wasn’t looking forward to seeing.

“I meant specifically!”  He knew it was a God-dam squid, he wanted to know what the hell kind of Norse creature it was suppose to be. When the squid’s tentacle comes slamming down upon the deck once more, Michael sent the red-head a look. “Yeah like that’s any f*cking better!” He was more exasperated than angry. He was even more terrified and it showed with how much he was shaking.

“Holy sh*t” Michael gaped in surprised at the display in power. “That was flipping amazing, Ginger.” He turned somewhat starry eyed at the taller male. The creature wailed, and relinquished its whole somewhat on the ship. Grior’s attack clearing doing more than a number on it.

Yet no one, especially Michael, would anticipate the beast suddenly snatching the darker skinned demi-god.

Michael yelped in shock as he was suddenly lifted several feet into the air. “Get the f*ck off of me,” he squirmed, pressing both hands on the tentacles that wrapped around his waist, and concentrating all his energy on burning the beast. Which he managed to do successfully.

Unfortunately that only served to anger the beast, with rapid motion the creature slammed the demi-god into one of it’s more tentacles, knocking him out almost instantly. Slumping in the creatures hold, the world around him becoming black.

Michael shrugged. “ I mean sure I guess? If he was born a girl I wouldn’t have loved him any less.” He admitted, Nathan was his light in a world where everything seemed to always go bad for him. One could argue that his sister got the worse end of the stick. She lost her sanity. Yet Michael lost his life.

“Just…” He reached up and cupped the tall man’s face. Staring him directly in the eyes, his voice calm and gentle as he spoke. “Just ignore what I said, It’s all in the past Ginger, ” He pleaded. He didn’t want the other man to go after Cashmere, not because he was afraid that they would harm each other, but because he genuinely wanted to keep things civil.

Michael was very disoriented. The pain of having hit the ground, added to the pain of having been knocked out, was almost unbearable and he certainly wasn’t able to discern what the actually f*ck was going on around him. All he knew was that there was someone shaking him and gently slapping his face. As if that made it any flipping better.

“Go away Cashmere…” He groaned,his vision still blurry. “Let me sleep!”

It took several long moments for Michael’s vision to come back enough and for  his hearing to adjust enough to realize that he wasn’t in the comforts of bed being prodded by his annoying sister. Blinking up towards Grior, Michael sat up and squinted his eyes. “Ginger?” He inquired before his eyes lit up and he laughed in an almost hysterical manner. Suddenly flinging his arms around the better built male and embracing. “Holy crap man, did you save me? Dude..” he pulled back. “I could… I could,” He moved his hand towards Grior’s face and smashed their lips together briefly, before the younger demi-god pulled away. “I could do that.”