Narfi was a creature of rage. That was what Bylestir had said, so it must be true. He had said it was a good thing that the fire burned so brightly through his veins, and that the slightest thing would set him into an unquenchable wrath, destroying everything in his path. He'd said Narfi was a berserker. So, he didn't think twice about punching Vali in the nose, when he had tripped in the hallway.

Vali had basically been asking for it. Narfi had been miserable all day, and Vali should have known better than to mess with him in this mood.

Vali stumbled backwards, clutching his face in pain, and tripped over his own shoelaces, landing in a heap on the floor. Narfi sent him a baleful glare, red haze dancing at the edge of his vision, picked up his book, and began to walk off, as Vali stared at him in horror, attempting to stem the blood pouring down his face.

"What was that for?" he demanded.

"You tripped me." Narfi answered. Even as he said it, he knew it was wrong… But he couldn't apologize. He was a berserker. It went without saying.

Fenris appeared in his doorway, most likely having been alerted by the ominous crack Vali's face had made, took one look at the amount of blood pouring from Vali's shocked, betrayed face, and screamed at the top of his lungs.

Narfi glared at his two brothers sullenly, and… fled. He dodged into his room, ignoring the guilty pangs his heart was giving him, and hopped onto his bed. Sigyn's voice was heard in the hall, outside, saying something calm and soothing to Vali, and Gandhi was trying to calm Fen down. Nervously, he chewed on his lip, and earnestly hoped Vali was alright, despite all appearances. He'd been asking for it… right?

Narfi wasn't so sure, anymore.

It seemed an agonizingly long time, before someone knocked lightly on his door. Narfi gulped, and hoped it wasn't Vali.

It was Sigyn. "Hey, Narf." She greeted him soberly. "You want to explain yourself?"

"He started it…" Narfi mumbled, pulling his knees up to his chest. "It's not my fault…"

Sigyn opened her mouth in shock. "And, yet, you're unscathed, while he has a broken nose."

Narfi's eyes widened in horror. "He broke his nose?" He gasped.

"No…" Sigyn shook her head. "You broke his nose. Don't worry, he healed it with his sedir… But, Narfi. You can't just go around socking people."

"He tripped me." Narfi protested.

"That is no excuse," she stated. "What made you think you could do that?"

Narfi shrugged, suddenly extremely unsure of himself. "I… I'm a berserker. It's what I do, how I become a warrior."

"He's not your training dummy." Sigyn said. "There are punching bags in the gym; train with them."

"I… I just get so angry, and I punch people." Narfi explained. "It's what berserkers do. We're very brave in battle."

Sigyn sighed, and cupped his cheek in her hand. "Who told you that you were a berserker?"

"King Bylestir."

"So, he just told you that you could go around punching people if you got angry at them?" Sigyn looked incredulous. "And it's all okay, because you're a berserker?"

Narfi silently nodded.

Sigyn sighed. "Look. Narfi. There is a time when being a berserker is good. Battle, like you said. But on a day-to-day basis, you have got to get this under control."

"It's who I am!" Narfi protested. "I can't change it!"

"Yes, you can." Sigyn contradicted. "And I expect you to."

With that, she stepped outside, and closed the door behind her. Narfi stared silently at the closed door.

He had hurt Vali. Vali, his twin brother, the person he cared about most in the nine realms… and he'd broken his nose. Burying his face in his pillow, he began sobbing miserably, until he slipped into a light doze.

Sleipnir was the first to realize that the house had a pool. As soon as she got her homework done, she slipped into her swimsuit, rallied Gandhi, and discreetly made her way to the patio, outside.

"So, what you think of the new house?" She asked Gandhi, as the both of them lounged, half in, half out of the water, root beer cans in hand.

"We have got to stop calling it 'The New House'." Gandhi pronounced, skipping his sedir across the water with a flick of his wrist. "Boring."

"I know…" Sleipnir sighed. "What would you suggest?"

Gandhi took a long sip from his root beer. "The castle."

"Nah." Sleipnir dismissed. "It's too modern. We ain't swimming in no moat. We're living it up, here!"

"Living it up at the Hotel California…" Gandhi sang softly, and Sleepy clapped her hands in delight. "Perfect!"

He looked up. "What?"

"Hotel California!" Sleepy shrugged, gesturing up at the building. "It's in California."

"But it's no Hotel." Jormungandir pointed out. "We can't rent this place out."

"Still, it's catchy." Sleepy shrugged. "You gotta admit. But you didn't answer my question."

"Oh?" Gandhi peered over his sunglasses at her. "Which question?"

"How are you liking it, here at the Hotel California?" Sleipnir asked, faking a sophisticated accent, and Gandhi choked on his root beer in laughter.

"It rocks." He answered, once he'd recovered. "Like everything does. But what about the new guys? Sans and Papyrus?"

"Vali and Narfi." Sleepy corrected.

"Batman and Robin." Gandhi persisted.

"Frog and Toad." Sleepy giggled. "What about them?"

Gandhi shrugged. "I can't tell if they're best friends, or mortal enemies."

Sleipnir shrugged. "I don't know… Honestly, I always appreciate someone who can take, and return a good burn, so Narfi's cool, in my book. I haven't really talked to Vali, have you?"

"Yeah." Gandhi admitted. "Once. Last night at around two in the morning." He sobered. "I think he was… cutting."

Sleipnir's eyes widened in sorrow. "Oh, poor guy…"

Gandhi nodded sadly. "He's cool, though. I think I'll like him. And Narf seems like the kind of guy who can rap."

Sleepy snorted. "You just want someone who can be your Hamilton buddy."

"Guilty as charged…" Gandhi sighed, with a sheepish smile. "You know me too well."

There was a moment of comfortable silence as the two of them soaked in the summer sunshine. "What about Father?" Gandhi suddenly spoke up, again.

Sleipnir glanced down at her bare toes in the water. "I don't even know where to start, with him…"

"What's to start?" Gandhi scoffed. "I mean, yes, we saw him, for, like, two seconds…"

"You think he's going to wake up?"

Gandhi shrugged, and sunk into the water until it was up to his chin. "I'm open to anything. You?"

Sleipnir shook her head. "I've got no clue…"

Gandhi shrugged, placed his can of root beer on the edge of the pool, and slipped under water. Sleipnir had just enough time to save her own can, before Gandhi pulled her under, too. They tussled in the water for a few seconds, before Gandhi came up, gasping for air with a cheerful grin. Narfi stood by the edge of the pool, looking miserable, and forlorn.

Sleipnir waved cheerfully, and frog-kicked over to where he stood. "Hey, Narfi!" She greeted cheerfully. "You have a suit?"

He blinked in confusion. "Suit?"

Sleipnir nodded. "Swimsuit. You wanna get in?"

Narfi shook his head. "No… Do you know where Vali is?"

"You gonna punch him, again?" Gandhi asked suspiciously, swimming up beside her.

Narfi's brows lowered sadly. "No… I want to say… Sorry? Is that how you say it?"

Sleipnir and Jormungandir glanced at each other. "Last I saw, he was down in the basement, fiddling with some wires, or something." Gandhi answered.

As the younger boy turned to go back in the house, Gandhi turned with a wide smile to his sister. "See? What'd I tell you? Solid dude."

"Are you sure you're alright, Mr. Vali?" Fenris piped, as Vali clipped the insulation from the wires in the basement.

"I'm fine." Vali assured for what seemed like the three hundred fifty-fourth time.

"I never saw so much blood…" Fenris' green eyes were wide in horror. "Why do you bleed purple, Mr. Vali?"

"Cause my blood…" Vali bit off the end of another wire that was too long. "Is a cross between… silver and iron based, since I'm three parts Jotun, and one part Vanir." He answered distractedly, piecing together the new algorithm he desired.

"What's Vanir?" Fenris wondered.

"Another kind of person." That seemed to be the best answer.

Fenris nodded cheerfully, and fiddled with his sneakers. He'd been following Vali around since Narfi had punched him, asking a myriad of questions in his hushed little voice that seemed to never be raised. Vali didn't mind; the child's presence was somewhat soothing, and he wasn't being a real bother. Besides, Vali liked the positive attention.

"I'm one part Jotun, and one part elf." Fenris declared proudly. "Hey, you wanna see my Jotun side?"

Vali glanced down at his younger brother. "Sure, why not?"

"Kay, you gotta promise not to scream, though." Fenris smiled softly. "I showed my friends at my old school my Jotun side, and they all freaked out."

"I promise…" Vali hummed distractedly, and, a second later, Fenris tugged on his pant leg, his hand surprisingly cold. Vali jumped in shock, and peeked down at the young boy, now a rather light shade of blue, with blood-red eyes staring back up at him. He wasn't sure what to say, so he simply smiled approvingly, and went back to his work.

Fenris sat down on the floor, and began wiggling one of his teeth happily, not bothering to change back to his pale skin. "Mr. Vali, what are you doing?" He wondered.

"I'm hacking Friday."

Fenris frowned, and looked up. "Isn't today Tuesday?"

Vali smirked. "No, Friday the robot. That Anthony made. She was shut down in this house to save power, but I'm bringing her back."

"Oh." There was a moment of silence. Then, "Mr. Vali?"

"You know, you can just call me Vali."

Fenris frowned in confusion. "But I'm s'posed to be polite to grown-ups."

Vali's eyes widened in disbelief. Fenris thought he was a grown-up, because he was so disgustingly massive. He turned, and stared at the little boy, who had meant no harm at all, sitting on the floor, behind him, crimson eyes wide and round. "I'm not a grown-up," he protested.

"You're taller than Mother." Fenris pointed out.

Vali's eyes filled with tears, and he turned back to his project. Why had he listened to Sigyn? Why had he thought he could eat, already? Sure, it was only a piece of toast, but little things went a long way… maybe he was going to grow, now… He bit his lip to keep from sobbing outright, before a warm presence wrapped itself around his legs.

He looked down, in surprise, to see Fenris was hugging him. "Don't be sad…" the child commanded softly, blinking up at Vali. "Why are you crying?"

Vali kneeled down to get on eye-level. "I'm thirteen. I'm not a grown-up." He stated.

"Okay." Fenris nodded innocently. "You know, you got Christmas eyes."

Vali frowned in confusion. "I beg your pardon?"

"Christmas eyes." Fenris repeated bashfully. "Red and green, all swirled together. They're pretty."

Vali found himself smiling in disbelief. No one had ever said that about him. "Th-Thank you…"

"Mm-hm!" Fenris smiled, and went back to sitting on the floor. "I wanted to ask you something, but I forgot," he announced, and Vali smiled softly, finishing his work.

"Friday?"

"Hello, Vali." The robot answered, and he grinned widely, his first genuine smile in a while. "What can I do for you, today?"

Vali rubbed his hands together in excitement. "Could you cool this room to negative ten degrees, Fahrenheit?"

"Of course, sir." Friday answered, and the room immediately began to lower in temperature. Vali grinned as a layer of frost appeared on the walls, and his breath began fogging in the air around him.

"That's really awesome." Fenris noticed, as snow began filtering in from the vents. "Hey, are you Elsa?"

Vali snorted. "No, I'm not." He admitted. "I just got sick of all the heat."

"Cause you're three-parts Jotun?" Fenris smiled, and danced as the snow began to settle on the floor.

Just then, there came a tap on the glass door, and Vali glanced over to see Narfi standing miserably outside the door. He nodded for his brother to come in, and he typed in the code, and slipped through the glass door, eyes lighting up somewhat at the comfortable chill. "Oh, this is nice…" he noticed.

"You think?" Vali sighed, raising an eyebrow, and forced himself to not act afraid. "You… wanna talk to me?"

"Ja…" Narfi glanced at the floor in shame. "Uh… I'm sorry I hit you."

Vali cracked a smile. "That's okay."

"Really?" Narfi looked up hopefully. "So, we can be friends, again?"

"Of course!" Vali grinned, and Narfi clapped his hands in glee before darting out of the room.

"He's not scary, is he?" Fenris spoke up quietly, and Vali jumped in surprise. He'd forgotten the child was there.

"No. He's not." Vali replied, his head suddenly spinning, so he sat down.

"Yeah, he played Legos with me, this morning…" Fen nodded. "Why'd he punch you?"

"I don't know." Vali admitted. "And I don't honestly care."

TheOnlyHuman.