Disclaimer: See chapter 1.
Note from Author: I am basing this story on my own plot and the characters are based on the game...not the anime, since recently they've decided to...change...some things about the characters in the show.
Prose 3:
The next day gave the Norse plenty of nerves. They tried to avoid the obvious question, but no one addressed it. Which would have been fine, if Apollo would stop giving them anxious glances and staring confused at Balder's empty seat. One thing was for certain: the absence of Balder most certainly did not go unnoticed. Of course leave it to the human to bring it up.
"Guys, where's Balder?"
Loki cringed but answered, "He's not coming to class."
"He has to—"
"It's a voluntary suspension," Loki clarified and that only seemed to confuse Yui more.
"Voluntary?"
"It's where you suspend yourself…in a way," Hades clarified. "It's self-punishment. Better than flagellation, I suppose."
"Or a way of shaming," Loki said under his breath. Perhaps Balder was right in suspending himself. These wary looks from almighty gods made him uncomfortable. For Yui, she resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Zeus' rather improvised version of "punishment". Clearly he didn't know much about the disciplinary methods of human schools. Then again these weren't ordinary humans, so maybe different methods were needed for gods.
Yui asked Hades, "For how long?"
No one knew, judging by the shrugging. The only one who had a response was Takeru, who was still smarting and obviously pissed about yesterday. His nose was horrendously bandaged and the bruising spread to under his eyes. He tried to forget what Balder did to him, but when he woke up to find his face looking like a lost plumb, he wasn't so keen on forgiving.
"I don't care when that simple-minded bumpkin comes back," the small god said gravely.
Obviously those were fighting words. Loki immediately stood from his seat, "What was that, Shorty? A bumpkin is he?"
Takeru met his challenge by standing up and defending his words, "Yes, a ham-fisted dumb ox."
"Take that back, kid. You've got no idea—"
"Do I not!" Takeru shouted back and the class stood from their seats, poised to break up a fight should one start. Takeru made a point by rubbing his bandaged nose. "I don't know why we should be surprised."
"Excuse me?" Loki's tone was deadly and normally a lesser god would shiver upon hearing such a tone.
Takeru's face however, remained sour, his flustering over being beaten down quickly turning to anger. He stared directly at Loki not flinching. Not backing down.
"The people you govern…"
"Uh oh…" Yui heard Apollo say under his breath as if Takeru had broken some sacred rule.
In truth, there was no rule against gods slinging insults on the people who worshiped them. But some gods who may not have minded a personal insult would go rabid with anger at having their worshipers insulted. The standard unwritten rule was that the people were off limits.
"…are complete savages."
And Takeru broke it. Oddly, Loki wasn't too upset with the insult on his subjects…but to equate Balder to such activity made his gut sour. That's what made Balder so different in the eyes of the gods and the Norse. He was the opposite of what the common Northman stereotype was. Rather than shoot back a list of facts about his "savage" people, Loki candidly placed his hands on his hips.
"Oh really?"
Takeru nodded glancing around at the dismayed other gods who all groaned inwardly.
Takeru was fiery, "Yessir. Those Norse folk you rule…they are…" he turned to the rest to make a point , "…more often than not." He turned back to Loki. "Are big, loud, hairy, dirty pig farmers who get so worked up over how the sun revolves around the earth decided to use his fists to answer his confusion. Notice here Loki? All of us here are known for putting up huge progressive civilizations. Whereas your Norse do what? Sit on their frozen asses ice fishing all day, not knowing when they are numb enough to come in out of the cold. Perhaps your boyfriend has too much of a frozen skull to even think where he's punchin'!"
Loki jumped towards the sea god prepared to attack, but Thor wrapped his arm around his neck and pulled him back, "Loki, enough! It's not worth it!"
"Dammit! You heard what he said!" insulting his subjects or even himself, but Loki wasn't going to let anyone smear Balder right in front of him.
"Guys!" Yui thrust herself between the two gods, Takeru now being held by Hades, face red with hunger to strike the trickster god. "Come on, get back in your seats and Takeru, leave Balder alone."
She turned to Loki with equal fury, "And he don't mean anything by it, he's just blowing off steam. Now just back into your corners and…be strange by yourselves."
The room settled, but the atmosphere was tense. Yui struggled to make it through the lesson. The gods didn't seem to be paying much attention, their thoughts on the tension the last few days. It was almost better if someone snapped and just raged out their feelings. Finally, the gods were let out. Yui, however, stopped both Thor and Loki.
"Hey, you two," she said, gathering her books. Both Norse glanced at her with grim faces, itching to leave. Even Thor's brow was scrunched together, as if he too wanted to avoid the obvious.
Be a god, Thor. Solve your own problems. Getting others involved isn't a fitting solution for a god.
Leave it for his fearsome father, Odin All-Father, to instill a sense of independence, despite the all Norse being close as brothers and sisters. Confiding in others may have been the preference of the other gods, but not to Thor and Balder, or even Loki.
Leave her out of this.
Yui stared up at him and then to Loki, "Is Balder really okay?"
"He's fine," was Loki's rigid response. "What's it to you anyway?"
"I'm just concerned. I didn't mean to upset him, had I known…"
"It doesn't matter," Loki cut her off. Yui flinched. Had she really offended them that much? No one had yet told her what caused Balder to snap like an enraged bull.
"Either way, do you know the terms of his suspension?"
Loki's rigid posture eased slightly and he arched an eyebrow, "Terms?"
Yui nodded, "Yes. What can he do, and what can he not do. I know in school you aren't allowed to go to classes for a few days. Like an out of school detention."
Loki explained to Yui what a voluntary suspension entailed. Balder could not go to classes and could not engage in extracurricular.
"What about tutoring?" she asked.
"Meaning?" Loki begged on, confused about what she meant.
Yui shrugged and smirked slightly in amusement, "Balder likes to meet up with me every other day so he can learn about Japanese culture."
"Hunh?"
Yui nodded, "I know right? But he's fascinated. Takeru is obviously not going to teach him anything about Japan now, and Tsukito—"
"I get the picture…I didn't know you guys had private sessions?"
"Just a few for only an hour, Apollo joins in every once in a while."
Suddenly it dawned on Loki. A sneaking suspicion of what his friend was up to. Balder, while not the sharpest tool in the shed in social situations, he was quite academic. He got good grades and as far as Loki knew, he wasn't struggling with trying to understand humans. Was he? And why the hell did he like the Japanese culture?
What the hell goes on in your head, boy?
"He cannot step on school grounds," Thor reiterated, but there was a pause in his voice indicating that there was more. He ignored Loki vigorously shaking his head to shut up, and continued, "But as far as I know, as long as he's not on school grounds, study sessions are permitted."
To Loki's surprise, Yui smiled, "Oh! Well that's good. I'll come over tomorrow night to give him notes."
Loki was about to deny her invitation, but Thor pulled him out of the classroom, saying quickly, "Very good. See you then, Kusanagi."
Throughout the day, Balder went through many phases. He woke up feeling good about himself, but with nothing much to do and all his friends in class his thoughts pulled back into anxiety. He resolved that anxiety with exercise, learning how humans developed their body. He jogged, did push ups, and pull ups on the banister. Afterwards he was so exhausted that he took a nap. He woke up feeling better again. That was until a knock came at his door.
Apollo stood out in the front swaying on his feet, the conjured chill surrounding the Norse dormitory quickly numbing his body. How do these men deal with this cold? Obviously humans dress in layers during winter but these gods were sometimes seen in only underwear doing housework in this blistering cold.
Hairy ass bodies, Dionysus told him once. He assumed it was a joke until that silly No-Shave November joke Loki pulled.
But the large pile of wood outside told him that even these Norse gods needed something to help them during the icy cold winters.
The door in front of him opened, and Balder peeked outside, "Apollo?"
"Hi Bal-Bal," the cheery god greeted. He waited for Balder to respond back, but it was obvious the other god wasn't sure how he should respond.
"Hi," Balder let door open a bit more. He paused, silently cursing himself for not being a good host to a freezing god, "Would you like to come in?"
Apollo took a few steps towards the door, feeling the warm air from the inside lessen the chill he was feeling, "No, I cannot stay long. I'm sorry. Ze—Father told me to give you this."
The Sun God reached inside his jacket and pulled out a letter. Immediately, Balder swallowed, not sure if he wanted to see the inside. Regardless, rather than have Apollo wait, he took it, "Thank you Apollo."
After a brief pause, Apollo shoved his hands in his pockets, "Did you hear about Loki?"
What now? Loki did many things that annoyed people and they would all come to him, as if Balder could do anything about it, "What did he do this time?"
"He and Take-Take almost got into a fight," Apollo said and still Balder didn't think it was new news. Loki and Takeru were always at odds.
"I guess with this much tension it was bound to happen, but I never thought Loki-Loki would resort to fisticuffs," Apollo casually continued but it grabbed Balder's attention. "Well, it scared me, but luckily nothing happened. Anyway, I'd better get going. I'm starting to lose feeling in my nose."
Balder and Apollo exchanged goodbyes and Balder retreated back inside, shaking his head. Now he had two things to deal with. What the hell was Loki thinking? Balder glanced at the letter in his hand and turned it over, breaking the golden seal.
Balder Hringhorni Your request for a leave of absence has been reviewed. Unfortunately, it has been determined that you are not to step out of this facility until you graduate-
Balder didn't read the rest and dropped it on the kitchen table, his hand gripping the back of the nearby chair. Why should he be surprised? There was no way Zeus was going to make things easier for him. Dammit.
He was barely conscious of the back of the chair cracking under his tightening grip. He tried breathing, but the reality that he was stuck here even in 'punishment' sent a spider bite poison burning through his chest and before he knew it, his consciousness switched off and he slammed the chair on the ground so hard that it splintered into pieces.
He rubbed his eyes after his mini black out, terrified. He just wanted to go home. Home he could keep things under control better. He hadn't had much of a problem keeping his emotions in check until coming here.
Don't think Balder. Don't think.
Perhaps a bath would ease his mind.
Thor and Loki returned from class, both relieved to be out of school. Even Thor was getting annoyed with all the hesitant looks he was getting. Plus the extra harshness from Thoth whose eye was still a nasty purple. Of course, Loki didn't make things any better by calling attention to it. All Thor wanted was to relax in his home.
They opened the door and Loki immediately caught sight of the mess. A single chair in splinters next to the table.
"Well…that's new," Loki said in a sarcastically cheerful tone.
Thor bit back a holler at the obvious culprit and rested his suitcase on the table, picking up the letter lying there.
"You know," said Loki trying to make light of everything, "if you squint it could be some modern pop art trend."
Thor passed the letter to Loki and they pieced together why their blond friend decided to destroy one of their chairs.
"Damn him," Loki hissed as Thor bent down to pick up the pieces, "Zeus…ergh! I'll slit his throat in his sleep."
Thor rolled his eyes at the very empty threat, but froze when Balder descended the stairs, looking and smelling clean. He took one sour look at Loki and went straight for the kitchen.
"Hey, Balder—"
"I don't want to talk to you right now. I'm very angry with you," said Balder as he opened the fridge and pulled out what Loki assumed was somewhat of an alcoholic drink.
"What? What did I do?"
He slammed the bottle on the counter, "What were you thinking getting in a fight with Takeru Totsuka? Are you hell bent in getting all the Norse gods expelled?"
Loki's ears flushed defensively, "You didn't hear what he said about you-"
"I DON'T CARE LOKI!" Balder raised his voice to a roar, beautiful blue eyes flashing. The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop. Even Thor stopped from his gathering, shocked at hear such a tone. It was a joke in Asgard that Balder didn't really resemble his father very much in personality and in looks, but in those flashes of rage everyone could see Odin inside that temper. The flashing of the blue eyes, the vein in his neck popping, he could've been a twin to the Raven God when the latter was flustered. Of course there were parallels. Thor and Loki knew the mighty Supreme God of the North had a long threshold, like Balder, but when that temper snapped it was…terrifying.
Balder took a deep breath and continued, "I don't need you to fight my battles for me."
Loki was hesitant to say anything else, but whatever he said, he wasn't going to yell. That would just make Balder more defensive.
"Okay, I'm sorry," he whispered softly, feeling hot sweat forming on the back of his neck.
Instead of shouting back, Balder ran a hand over his face, covering his eyes and biting his lip.
"No, I'm sorry," he said, his voice lowering as he braced himself on the counter. "I shouldn't take my issues out on you. I'm sorry."
Normally, Loki would've smiled, relieved, but not this time. This was becoming an issue and try as he might to prevent the inevitable, it would only make things worse. For now, he had to put on a brave face, and hope and pray to whatever gods pray to that Balder's haywire emotions would pass with the seasons.
"It's alright," he said, watching as Balder ripped the top off the bottle with his bare hands.
Balder nodded, "I want to be alone right now, but I'll be in my room if you need me."
After Balder left, Thor finally eased out of his frozen state and finished picking up the last of the wood.
"What are going to do Loki?"
"What do you mean?"
Of course he knew what Thor meant, but he just hoped that Thor would just avoid it like the plague. The God of Thunder tucked the wood under his arm, giving Loki a rather pointed look with his calm eyes.
Immediately, Loki shook his head refusing to even think of that option, "I will not go that far. Not now."
"But what if there's no choice."
"NO!" Loki yelled. "I don't want to do this anyways, and I sure as hell do not want to do that during Yule."
Thor kept himself tight-lipped. There was no use in arguing. Inside he cursed himself for thinking about such a thing, but every so often he felt he had to remind Loki of fate…and fate's horrible joke it's played on their lives.
Opening the refrigerator, Loki muttered to himself, "Ugh, I could use a stiff drink."
Thor unfortunately gave him more bad news, "I think Balder took the last ale. All that's left is crappy beer and Tang."
Loki ducked down to examine the contents of the refrigerator more closely, "That bastard. First he destroys our furniture and takes our good stuff." Loki paused before laughing to himself, "Heh, our Scandinavian subjects would be proud. Tang it is then."
A/N: It's kind of a head canon that talking about worshippers were "off-limits". I imagine with different cultures in one place there is bound to be some tension about 'others'. Especially if one culture is known for wreaking havoc across several countries :)