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"Death makes angels of us all and gives us wings

where we had shoulders smooth as ravens claws."

-Jim Morrison

STORY II

Chapter 1, Part 1

The New Plan

Everything was different now. It had been three months since Toki had broken Skwisgaar's heart, and things just hadn't gone back to normal—how could they? It wasn't that everything had been particularly 'normal' to start off with, but now almost no one in the band could even look each other in the face.

Murderface tried to keep to himself because he still believed that becoming gay was contagious—he often used Skwisgaar as a prime example of just how bad it could be. Nathan acted just like he had before, grumbling and growling under his breath and glaring at whatever wasn't Pickles or Toki. Skwisgaar usually didn't speak to anyone. He continued his old life of screwing sluts and practicing on his Gibson. What else could he do?

Pickles and Toki seemed to be the only ones that were unfazed by it all. They would sit together, hold each other's hands...it was enough to make Skwisgaar and Nathan sick. That's why one day Nathan came up with a plan...a horrible plan...

"We have to break them up, Skwisgaar," he had said.

The Swede didn't look up from his guitar. He just sighed and said dully, "We already trys to do 'dat, Nathans, but it didn't work."

"Yeah, but this time it will!" he said confidently as he took his Dethphone out of his pocket. Skwisgaar stared at him with a brow raised.

"What ammnest you doing with 'dat?"

"Listen, I have a good plan...a really good plan..."

Never before had Skwisgaar ever heard him sound so desperate. He swallowed. What was going on in Nathan's head? "I...uh...okay. What is it?"

Nathan began dialing a number and smiled evilly. "Who are the people that Pickles and Toki hate the most in this whole world?"

Skwisgaar racked his brain and finally came up with, "Thems family?"

Nathan nodded and said in his deep voice, "Exactly!"

Then it clicked. It all began to make perfect sense. What Nathan was about to do was the worst possible thing...Skwisgaar couldn't let him put Toki thru that. He snatched the Dethphone from him and said, "Looks, I know that you want Toki back, but you can'ts just be callings hims parents and making thems break them up!"

"Why not?"

"Because that ammnest not fair to Toki and Pickle!"

"And you're telling me what that little fucker did to you was fair?"

Skwisgaar closed his mouth and looked down. He let Nathan have his phone back without resistance, but as he began redialing the number he gave the quiet warning of, "This ams wrong, bringing their parents down heres..."

"They'll hate it...they'll hate it so much they'll yell at each other and piss each other off..."

"Ja, they'll do 'dat."

"Pickles might get so fucking mad that he even hits him..."

Skwisgaar looked up, his face alarmed. "What? You ams hoping that he will actually hits him?"

Nathan shrugged. "I dunno, whatever breaks them up faster."

And Skwisgaar had sat back, strummed on his Gibson, and let Nathan call Toki and Pickles' parents. He listened as they were invited to Mordhaus...Nathan told them. He told them everything. 'Your son is fucking another guy...uhhuh...yeah, I know...' and finally, when Nathan had hung up and put his Dethphone back in his pocket, he turned to Skwisgaar and said, "They're catching a flight right now; they'll be here by tonight."

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Chapter 1, Part 2

The Best Thing In The World

Later, at around nine at night, Pickles was alone with Toki in his room, laying on his bed and staring up at the ceiling. He sighed and scratched at his stomach distractedly, chewing on his lip. Toki frowned. "What ams you thinking about?"

"Huh?" he looked over at him.

Toki was trying to learn a song on his guitar. He sat on the other side of the bed, staring down at the lyrics and notes. "What ams you thinking about?" he repeated, strumming out a string of disjointed notes. Toki frowned and wrinkled a nose a little in thought. His brow knitted together, and for one moment he looked as though he was concentrating intensely on the music. Then, "Cause you know what Is was just thinking?"

"What?" Pickles asked, looking over at him.

"I was thinking abouts what it would be like if I gots to do a solo."

Pickles couldn't help but smile at this. "A solo? As in Skwisgaar writes the notes and he lets you get up on stage and play them?"

Toki nodded and his eyes lit up. "Yeah, a really longs one too!"

Never gonna happen, Pickles thought with some amusement. He didn't have the heart to crush Toki's childish fantasies, though, so he he merely said, "Huh, that would be somethin'..."

"Ja, but he'd never lets me do that. Skwisgaar cans be such dildo."

And there was more silence as he continued trying to memorize the song. It was a silence made Pickles sigh. He had planned a surprise for Toki tonight, but he wasn't sure if it was the right time...perhaps he should wait until later...

"Pickle?"

"Huh?" he asked again. Toki had scooted closer. The Norwegian leaned down and gave him a kiss on the lips before pulling away and smiling. He was blushing a little, Pickles noticed. Usually it was the drummer who initiated this kind of thing, so tonight something very special indeed was about to happen...

Without restraint Toki let his hand sneak up Pickles' shirt. He laughed a little and rested his forehead against Pickles', inquiring cheerfully, "Pickle, if you was lead guitar and wrote my songs, woulds you give me solo?"

He nodded. "Yeah, absolutely. As many as you wanted."

He snickered and let Pickles' fingers play with his hair; he twisted it around his index finger and grinned. "Whadda wanna do tonight?"

"I don'ts know...just haves fun?"

" 'Kay," he said, immediately snapping out of his drowsy state. He rolled to the edge of the bed and reached over for a bottle of vodka that was sitting on the nightstand. He drank some and offered it to Toki, who shook his head.

"Pickle, you saids..."

"Oh, right. Sorry." and he returned it to its spot and said, "I forgot; no drinkin'."

"Don't be stupids, you can stills drink, just not when you about to kiss me, please."

Pickles nodded. "Yeah, I know, I know. Sorry. But look, my breath ain't that bad," and to prove this, he leaned forward and kissed Toki. The Norwegian giggled a little before ending it; he was biting his lip in that shy, childish little way.

"You wants me to drink?"

He bit back insane laughter; the last time Toki had gotten drunk he hadn't even been able to stand up. "Toki, you know how bad you are when you-"

"But I'd dos it for you."

"Hmm..." he considered this seriously, itching at his chin. Toki let out a sigh and propped himself up on his elbows. It wasn't common that he was the one lying on top of Pickles, and he actually liked this change quite a bit.

"Comes on, I get drunk just for tonights."

"What happens when ya puke?"

"I won'ts drink that much, just enough to haves fun."

Pickles frowned. "Toki, ya ain't gotta drink to have fun."

He shrugged. "I knows, but I wants to, just for tonight. Please?"

It wasn't often that he was actually begging Pickles for alcohol. The drummer grinned. Tonight was going to be very special indeed. Just as he had grabbed the bottle again, a knock came at his door. The voice of a Klokateer came thru to them, saying dully, "My Lords, a group of visitors has arrived to see you."

Pickles let out an annoyed sigh and yelled back, "What the fuck? Whose here?"

"My Lord, it is your parents and brother."

His eyes grew wide. The vodka bottle fell out of his hand and slowly rolled off the edge of the bed, where it shattered. The Klokateer's voice came thru again. "My Lords? I heard a crash. Are you two alright?"

"I...uh...Jesus..." Pickles tried to put a sentence together, but found that he could not.

Toki frowned down at him. "Why your family here, Pickle?"

"I...I dunno..." and he shook his head and swallowed. "No, I don't wanna see 'dem! Make 'em go away!"

"My Lords, they insist that they see you! They're coming up the stairs right now..."

Toki looked around wildly. "Whose ams coming up? Pickle? Pickle, ams you okay?"

The drummer had closed his mouth and his eyes were wide. He could say nothing as there came more heavy knocking at the door then, "Hey, hey, Pickles? It's Seth, don't you remember me? Come on out so me and ma and dad can have a look at your sorry fuckin' ass."

"Toki," he whispered, grabbing the other man by his shirt and pulling him down, "Toki, look, I dunno why they're here, but they found out about us, I know it."

"What that mean?"

"It means that no matter what they say—I mean no matter what—you gotta ignore 'em. We love each other, okay? You know that?"

He nodded and said worriedly, "Course I do, Pickle."

"You gonna remember that?"

"Course I a-"

The door burst open and Seth stepped inside, giving his brother one of his malicious half-smiles. "Ma, dad, it's true. Pickles is gay! He's in bed with another dude!"

In a few moments Pickles' parents were standing in the doorway as well, looking solemn. Upon seeing his brother there, with Toki perched above him, biting his lip, Seth began laughing. "Oh, holy shit. I can't fucking believe this..."

Pickles laughed awkwardly and nudged Toki to the side. "Uh...hey, my dear family. How are you doin' here in my room, totally uninvited?" he said this thru gritted teeth. Toki rolled off of him and began combing his fingers through his hair, in an effort to smooth it out and tame it.

He could feel the eyes of Pickles' parents boring into him as he said, "Hellos, Pickle parentses. It ams nice to see you again."

"Huh, yeah," Seth said, walking over to him and shaking his hand. "And what was your name again? Ski-elf or something?"

"Nos, it ams Toki."

He struggled to hold in laughter as he nodded and repeated, "Yeah, right. Toki. Toki Wartooth."

Pickles' mother let out a scoff and said loudly, "Dear, couldn't you have done better? I know you're suddenly gay and all of that good stuff, but the boy's not even from here."

His father nodded in agreement. "He can't even speak English."

And people that can't speak English belong in a garbage can, too, right? Pickles thought darkly as he glared at the both of them. "He is too speakin' English!"

Toki suddenly grabbed his hand and held it tightly. Pickles glanced over at him, his anger melting away. Toki was staring out the door, his pale blue eyes wide. His face had become expressionless. Pickles frowned and leaned over. He pushed him gently in a futile effort to get his attention.

"Toki? Hey, Toki? You alright?"

All he said in a dull, mono toned voice was, "My familys ams here...they came..."

Behind Pickles' parents there were the two bleak outlines of Toki's mother and father. Pickles cursed. Tonight had indeed turned out to be special, but not in the way that he would have liked.

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Chapter 1, Part 3

Family Reunion

Pickles' parents—mainly Seth, who was getting a good laugh out of all of this—nearly dragged their son and Toki downstairs and into the kitchen, where the Klokateers had already brewed some coffee. Nathan, Skwisgaar, and Murderface sat at the table, looking tired but anxious.

As soon as Toki entered the room, a small smile spread over Skwisgaar's face. Perfect. Next to him Nathan cleared his throat and took a sip from his cup of black coffee. Murderface just sighed tirdley. "Why did you guysh wake me up?"

"We didn't, dickface," Nathan growled. "you just came downstairs and invited yourself."

"Well, ain't that funny? Everyone in the whole god damn world is inviting themselves to places where they're not wanted," Pickles said, glaring at his parents. He repeated, "Where they're not wanted."

"Hey; Pickles, Toki, you two should take a seat." Seth said.

This made the drummer scoff. "You're inviting me and my boyfrie-"

"Stap being gay," his mother snapped, slapping him sharply on the shoulder. Pickles recoiled and grimaced.

"Ow! Ma, don't hit people! Anyways, you're inviting us to sit down in our own house?"

His brother shrugged and said nonchalantly, "Yeah, sure, I guess so. Fuck, you sure do think into stuff, like, oh, say, bein' gay..."

"Stap sayin' that! Those things don't even have anything to do with each other!"

"But it's true!"

"Fuck you!" was all that Pickles could think to exclaim as he plopped down in his chair and crossed his arms.

As soon as he said this, Seth turned to his mother and whined, "Hey, Ma, he just fuckin' cursed me out. I mean, fuck, ain't you gonna do a fuckin' thing about that?"

She slapped Pickles' shoulder again and scolded, "Don't yell at your brother."

"Fine, just stap hitting me!"

Over in his chair, Skwisgaar chuckled and mumbled, "Ha, he says 'stap' instead of stops..."

"You shut up!" Pickles snapped. Nathan glared over at him.

"Whoa, hey, don't yell at Skwisgaar just because you're parents know you're fucking another guy."

Pickles' father shuttered at this and repeated, "Fucking another guy? Sick..." and he turned to his wife and asked, "Is this how we raised him? Didn't you ever give him that talk?"

Pickles let out a loud yell and pressed his hands to his ears. "Oh, Gad, stap talkin' about givin' me talks an' everything!"

His mother ignored him and said, "No, no, I gave him the sex talk. You were supposed to give him the other one, dear."

"Which one?"

"The one about how little boys are supposed to love little girls, not other little bo-"

"Fuckin' parents talkin' about sex and me in the same sentence...please, someone kill me! "[2] Pickles begged, letting his head fall against the table. Seth began laughing madly and went to sit next to Toki, who was still quietly staring off into space, oblivious to everything and everyone around him.

"So, hey, Toki? You wanna fuckin' talk for a sec?" he said nothing, so Seth continued, "Okay, great. Hey, look, I was just wondering...I mean, what is it like? Being a fuckin' queer-assed fag? Do get, like, a kick outta fuckin' my brother or something?"

Pickles felt his face grow red. His mother saw this as well and slapped him again. "Don't blush like that! It makes you look like a tamato!"

"Stap hitting me!" He yelled as he got up and went over to Seth. He grabbed his brother by his throat and asked in a deadly voice, "What the fuck are you askin' him? Somethin' about fuckin' me?"

"Relax, man, I was just trying to get to know the guy, that's all."

"You stupid, fucking idiot! I'll kill you!" just as he really began to do it, Toki's hand shot out and stopped him. Pickles looked over at him. He still looked scared—downright terrified of his parents—but there was also something else now.

He stared up at Pickles lovingly and said, "Don'ts dos it. It's fine, reallys."

Pickles released his brother and pulled his chair up next to Toki. Without shame he rested his hand on his thigh and allowed the Norwegian's head fall on his shoulder. "I ams tired, Pickle."

"Yeah, me too. Just go to sleep."

He didn't know why. He couldn't explain it. Toki had always just made him feel calmer, more collected. He sighed then, and took a drink of coffee. Everyone in the room grew silent at this display. Toki's parents glared ominously at their son. His mother clasped a rosary tightly in her right hand, against her heart. His father just shook his head and sat down as well, next to Skwisgaar, who shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

Toki nudged Pickles a little and gave him a little kiss on the cheek, sighing deeply. It all seemed quite peaceful for a moment before Seth let out the exclamation of, "Ugh, gross! They kissed!"

And Pickles' mother ripped the two apart and warned, "Son, don't kiss other boys. It's rude." just to get her point across, she slapped him roughly on the shoulder again, and this time she did the same to Toki, who frowned.

"Ow. Pickle, your mom hits me."

"I know, Toki, I know," he growled, glaring up at his mother. Just to annoy her, he scooted his chair even closer to Toki and grinned. "Stupid motherfucking parents..."

"Son, do you know what happens to gay people like you?" Pickles' dad broke in, staring at Toki. The Norwegian shook his head.

"What happen?"

"They go to a very bad place called Hell where they-"

He shrugged and said simply, "I don'ts care where I gos, as long as Pickle with me. Besides, I don'ts believes that Bible stuff anyway."

Pickles' parents gasped, along with Toiki's. The drummer smiled. "Yeah, and neither do I, so why don't you all just-"

"But do you know what happens in Hell?" his father persisted. It seemed as though he were positivley determined to strike fear into the Norwegian.

Once again, Toki shook his head and said in utter disinterest, "Nos, but I guess yous am going to tell me."

"If you go to Hell you'll never see Pickles again, and he'll never see you again."

Now his pale blue eyes grew wide. He glanced at Pickles and pulled at his shirt, asking, "Is that true? Does that really happens?"

"Course it dosen-"

"Does." Pickles' mother interjected. "It happened to Hitler, so I can happen to you."

"But...but...moms? Dad, ams this true?" Toki asked, turning to his parents, who nodded gravely.

"Yes, but that's why we're here, dear. To make you better, and after we do, your parents have arranged for you to move back to Norway with them."

Pickles' mouth fell open. He sputtered "N-Norway?"

His mother nodded and continued brightly, "Yes. It's only practical, son." and at the shocked, lost look on Pickles' face she added, "And they've already arranged for him to marry a nice little Norwegian girl."

To this, Skwisgaar let out a yell of, "A girls? Whats the fu-"

"Hey, that'sh no fair!" Murderface interjected. "I wanna get married to a Norwegian girl too!"

Nathan rolled his eyes at this and said in an oddly calm manner, "Listen, Mr. and Mrs...ugh...Pickles, we called you here to-"

Suddenly Pickles came back to life. He glared over at Nathan and asked, "You called them? What the fuck? Why would you do 'dat to me? Why would you do 'dis?"

"-just break them up, not to make Toki move back to Norway."

Toki frowned, an obvious look of confusion on his face. "I don'ts understand..."

"You ain't got to. In fact, you don't have to do anything. Come on," and Pickles rose from his chair, took Toki's hand, and pulled him to his feet. Seth's smile faded as Pickles and Toki turned and began walking out the room.

"Wait, where are you two goin'?"

"To bed," Pickles called back. "Toki's tired and we're not interrupting our whole lives for you dildos." he slammed the door.

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Chapter 1, Part 3

Yopo

"Pickle, I can'ts...I don'ts..."

"Ssh," he said as he guided a trembling Toki over to the bed and sat him down. "It ain't nothing, okay?"

"But my parents..."

"Yeah, I know. They suck."

Toki looked up at him, his mouth twisted downwards in a little frown. "They want to take me back to Lillehammer?"

"Yeah, they do."

"What ifs I don't want to go?"

"That's good, cause I don't wanna let you."

There was a moment of silence before Toki asked in amazement, "You would let me go?"

Pickles shrugged. "Yeah, sure, I mean, if it would make you happy. If it was something that you wanted to do then-"

"But I don't wants to."

"Then I won't let them take you."

"Oh." he looked down, his face expressionless.

Pickles smiled a little. What had they been doing earlier, before all of this madness? Oh yeah, they had been about to—the surprise! He remembered! Guess it's as good a time as any, he thought as he went over to the nightstand, opened the little drawer, and pulled out a little plastic bag of yellow dust. Toki watched him with brow arched.

"Pickle what ams you-"

"I got a surprise for ya," he said as he threw the bag on the bed and sat next to him. "Do you remember when we were in the Amazon? You and Skwisgaar had that little 'stop copies' me game?"

Toki nodded. "Yeahs, and he still dos it—he still copies me all the times!"

Pickles chuckled. "Yeah, and the natives, they had that stuff that they shot at us called Yopo?"

Toki's eyes darted back over to the bag and a little smile spread across his face. "Pickle, how ams you get it?"

"Don't worry about 'dat." he said as he reached over and opened up the Ziploc. "Just worry about this; I wanna start a brand new game with you, kinda like you and Skwisgaar's game...only better."

"Pickle, what ams you-"

"Here." he sprinkled some of the fine yellow dust into his hand and presented it grandly to Toki. "Just sniff it."

Toki bit his lip nervously. "You sure this will work?"

"Sure. I guess it's just like takin' cocaine, only better. Trippier. Here," he held it under his own nose. "You want me to do it-"

"Nos, wait!" Toki reached into the bag for himself and deposited the Yopo into the palm of his hand. He held it out for Pickles and said, "You from me and Is from you."

Pickles nodded and watched as Toki bowed his head. His nose brushed against the palm of his hand as the Norwegian sniffed in deeply. When he sat back up, there was a fine, yellow powder on the outside of his nose. Pickles gently wiped it off with his hand before asking, "You feel it yet?"

Toki nodded. His pupils were already so dilated that the once placid blue was a deep, threatening black. He held out his hand to Pickles. "Sniff."

And he did, feeling the rush of the Yopo as it entered him and rocked through his senses. Then he exhaled and looked back up at Toki. Both of them seemed amazed at what was happening—colors were twisting, their own breath could be seen as they breathed out...every nerve was tingling, and their bodies seemed magnetically attracted to one another; in a second they had begun kissing, hugging, feeling. Soon they were trapped in a hopeless tomb of bedsheets and pillows, each struggling to have more of the other. Somehow it was terrifying, wanting this much of someone...

But they could not pull away.

They could never let each other go, for fear that if they did somehow the other would be lost. And that night, despite whatever had happened before, they had the best sex they had ever had.

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**A/N**

[2] Cause sometime in our lives, our parents have

embarrassed us THAT much.