Glada Vappen!

[suomi_thunder]

Aarne hadn't celebrated holidays properly in over a year which left him feeling disconnected. Giant bonfires in the streets and rampant reindeer were frowned upon in most civilized cities, unless of course the punks were involved, then that was arson not celebrations.. ok, well for the punks it was a celebration but not for a Saami.

In the Nexus though, oh here he could do whatever he wanted, or that was what he had learned in his few visits. He had been planning and cooking and collecting. The gods probably don't even know where he stirred up reindeer from in the Nexus but he has and Mouka was happy to have a job keeping them corralled. His usual rock gear is augmented with his family necklace and oddly doesn't look too out of place with rest of his wildness.

He didn't have a lot but parties always started this way. The host had some things and then people came and brought more booze and food, ordering all kinds of things. Aarne did bring Mead, alcoholic and non-alcoholic, and a a bunch of lemon tippaleipä batter. He had cooked some but this was something he could show visitors how to make on their own. The honey mead based sugar in a large bowl. Strips of dried reindeer meat and juustoleipä, a Finnish reindeer milk cheese, are out on the table too. There are fruits; strawberries, apples, and nuts which were common as well as a cream from reindeer milk traditional to the culture and nearly like unfermented yogurt.

That all done he looked to the huge pile of logs that he had gotten from various people around the Nexus. The Sami added leaves to it to create smoke at first to attract others. Before lighting it he put up a banner of hide dedicated to the Akka, the female fertility spirits, decorated with the same imagery as his traditional drum. It was sentimental, the first drum he ever learned to play.

Drum in hand he poured kerosene on the log pile and lit it. The reindeer spooked at the sudden fire but soon calmed, especially when the tall Fin went among them.

Comments

[itmeanstruth]

With his dates on the road being sporadic, save for the leg in Japan, Minoru didn’t know the opening acts or their crews nearly as well as he knew everyone associated with the Spiders. And gossip was just that. Gossip.

(Though, maybe Minoru should have been relieved that Vars recognized him as the guy on the lighting rig instead of the lunatic who Joe dared to climb a skyscraper with him in New York.)

“Not actually part of the crew.” He confessed. “Ziggy just put me to work. He’s my koibito.”

Minoru realized almost immediately that the word needed a translation here. English didn’t seem to be Vars’ first language by any means, and with that accent, Japanese didn’t top it.

“He’s my, um... girlfriend.”

Eventually those words would get easier.

He shook the offered hand, nodding his head respectfully. “Minoru Uchiwa.”

[midnight_devil]

(Vars knows that Joe and Aarne are insane and shrugs off most of it.)

He was about to ask what that word meant though he knew enough to expect it to be something about friendship or relationship. The explanation gets a nod.

"Say Stardust has many boyfriends." Vars shrugged at that because the media was full of it anyway. "Good for him."

Though he does pause and consider whether that should be her with the girlfriend term, but no, he's definitely heard Ronno use he so him was right. Vars, despite being very masculine and male is aware that not everyone is male, or even female. His bandmates are all over the place and he does try to accommodate and respect them.

"Heard name Uchiwa in California." He tries not to butcher the Japanese but it really isn't his language, or close to any of the Northern European ones he's most familiar with. "Restaurants with name there. Is your family?"

[itmeanstruth]

It was an interesting combination - male pronouns but female titles. Minoru got used to that far faster than the idea of actually using the terms boyfriend and girlfriend to describe their relationship.

Nor was there any surprise from Minoru about being one of many. He’s said it before and he’ll say it again - Ziggy has more than enough love to go around!

“A restaurant named Uchiwa in California?” He grinned. “No, that’s not anyone I know of. But now I want to go!”

He shook his head, “No, we grew up around Seattle. And most of the family, at least on Papa’s side is still in Japan.”

[midnight_devil]

"Stardust goes for Ramen. He may take for dinner, took us when we were there." All of the bands had learned quickly about Ziggy's love for Japanese food, though they often stopped at anything traditionally Northern European. It almost has Vars laughing while he thinks about the escapade and cop chase involved in trying reindeer burgers in Jersey.

"Born in America?" He asks and then adds. "I was born Drammen, south from Oslo. Good punk scene in Oslo."

[itmeanstruth]

“Okay, definitely going to ask Ziggy to go there. I wonder if there’s one there in the world I’m from.”

There was, as he tried to explain to Vars, a bit of a time difference. And a lot less alien influence.

“Yeah, we were born in America. West coast. Oslo’s in Norway, right?”

[midnight_devil]

Vars easily understood the idea of many worlds, one of the things about this place that might be easier for pagans to understand than other groups.

"Yes, south, near border with Sweden and North sea." He finally sits back with his drink to relax while they talk. "Learning American maps and language, different from British."

He meant that he only had a vague understanding of where Minoru was talking about but at least the lack of knowledge was two way.

[itmeanstruth]

The lack of knowledge definitely went both ways.

“Are you Saami too? Like Aarne?”

[midnight_devil]

"No." Vars tells him. "Sami in all countries in north. I live south. Viking punk follow Fenrir." Vars was using a term he had heard in the media about him that wasn't too far off. He was a Viking punk given his beliefs. Though, he wasn't blind to the idea that it was meant to be an insult when it was said originally but he like the idea.

"Rik is Viking of Bragi but Dane from Sjælland Island; Copenhagen, Denmark." He figures he can fill Minoru in so there isn't more confusion. "Hunter, also Viking from Stockholm, Sweden. Other bands, all Britains."

[itmeanstruth]

‘Viking punk’ might have been a somewhat relatable, although stereotypical, term, but Minoru had to ask, “what’s Fenrir?”

It was pretty cool, though, that the Hammers were from so many different places.

“Isamu and I are American, but our parents were born in Japan and came to America later. Visiting home is a neat mix of Japanese traditions and American ones. And both languages.”

[midnight_devil]

"Wolf son of Loki." Vars pulled off his jacket and had a very beautiful tattoo of the wolf that took up most of his left shoulder and outer bicep. "One of things start Ragnarök but punks believe Ragnarök not end but drastic change."

Which is one of the ways his beliefs varied from the traditional Norse mythology and belief.

"Grew up two languages too. Father worked for Germans so learn German." He had been a teen when his parents died and he didn't miss them much any more since it had been almost ten years now.

[itmeanstruth]

Minoru leaned in for a closer look. "That's a really nice tattoo! I like it!"

He wasn't all that familiar with Norse mythology - didn't even know that Loki had a wolf son - so he couldn't exactly pick out the symbolism. But it was clear how important it was to Vars.

"Mine's not like an ouroboros or anything. It's not eating its tail. But it's still a good symbol for life, change, rebirth, all of that." he explained as he held up his left hand.

[midnight_devil]

Vars leans in to look at Minoru's tattoo.
"Important to only mark body with meaning. All band have tattoos, have meaning for them."

Whether that was his wolf, or Aarne's field of colored stars, or the dainty tattoos of the other two. Vars knew they all had personal meaning even if it was rarely spoken about.

"What put on skin is what comes to life. Fenrir here breaking chains to be free. Important to me." He pointed out the reddish lines on his tattoo that were the chains that Fenrir was pulling against. "What snake mean to you, not what other say it mean?"

[itmeanstruth]

Minoru looked down at the tribal snake winding around his left wrist and smiled softly.

"It makes me happy..." he replied. "Snakes do. They always have. It's hard to explain, but I've always felt some kind of connection with snakes."

He'd grown up enjoying summers in Japan, helping Uncle Sasuke care for his many snakes. (Breeding them was a hobby for him.) He'd visited the temples where snakes were seen as guardians of shrines and finding a snake skin was seen as an omen of good fortune.

"Wrapping around somebody for a big hug. Shedding your skin, like always growing, always changing, it's okay if you fail because you can try again tomorrow. Isamu thought it was hilarious that after trying many odd jobs during his freshman year, I wound up working at a hospital and absolutely loving it. Because snakes are basically the symbol of modern medicine. Like I should have been there all along."

And of course, he had Kazumi, his pet butter ball python - his pride and joy.

For someone who spent most of his time climbing like a monkey, Minoru definitely had an affinity for what slithered.

[midnight_devil]

"Not hard understand. How I feel about music." It was probably true for all of them that were playing in these bands.

He listens carefully because Vars has always been a watcher, who kept track of everything around him, including the people. Especially the people.

"Life not straight line." Vars gets that out of what Minoru has told him and then shrugs while refilling his glass. "Started with motorcycles and planes. Music only when injured and could not ride but belong in music. Not know I belong in music until had to change."

[itmeanstruth]

Minoru thought about that for a second.

“Yeah... I guess it does look more like a snake than a stick.”

For Isamu, he would have sworn the opposite. Everything about academia was like one straight path to yet another degree. Which was what you were supposed to do. The most he’d ever seen his brother branch out was coming here and getting a grant to research at the IRIS. Who knows, maybe that was just the start of a little slithering, and without any life-changing injuries.

“I’m actually taking classes here to become a physical therapist assistant.” He added. “Never thought I’d ever slither back into school. It was hard enough just to make it through the first time.”

[midnight_devil]

"Did same." Vars acknowledges. "Did not finish school but pilot school easy. Learn bass easy. Easy when you like or want. Take time to know you want school."

Vars had a lot of things stacked against him at various times in his life. It didn't stop him though.

"You do good in school now?"

[itmeanstruth]

“If good means not failing out, then... I guess?” He shrugged with a bit of a nervous laugh.

He was definitely not his brother when it came to anything academic. Even though he would swear up and down that he was beyond comparing himself to Isamu, he still did. It was impossible not to.

“The practical stuff, I’ve got. Everything in the books? Yeah... It’s why I was doing those free massages during the tour with my anatomy textbook open. It was Isamu’s idea. To help me make better sense of it.” He admitted. “I think it worked. I did okay on the exam I just took.”

Technically, he did better than okay. He earned a solid B, which definitely put him on track for finishing his first semester with very respectable marks - on top of managing a full time job and training for his American Ninja Warrior runs.

[midnight_devil]

"You sound like Dane." Vars tells Minoru and it is hard to tell if it is a compliment or a criticism. "Boy one of best but always think one step from failure." Then he looks down at his drink on the table. "Hope not same past bring you here."

Vars knew a little about Rik's past even if he stayed quiet about it. It's not a life anyone should have but he turns back to better topics instead of dwelling. "Practical and book same. Think not same and then not. Had do it with plane but better with books after."

He finished his drink and shrugs. "Book in English?" Vars figured it was. "Find same in Norwegian or German, I help learn. Sit with my wife to help with her school when home from tours."

The way he says wife has a tone that suggests his wife is not in his life any longer. He's already refilling his glass because of his wife, any thoughts of her brought his mood down, but he's attempting to keep the mood lighter.

"Bands family." He points at Minoru before picking up his glass. "Now family too."

[itmeanstruth]

Minoru looked over at Vars quizzically. “Like... what?”

He’d empathize with Rik, growing up under the pressure of expectations. But it wasn’t exactly the same. While the Uchiwas stressed academic performance, they didn’t berate Minoru for failing to reach the same level as his brother. As long as he put forth legitimate effort, they praised that. They celebrated his accomplishments, even if there weren’t as many. And they were both extremely proud of his American Ninja Warrior qualifying run. Perhaps even more so than about him going back to school - something Minoru honestly wouldn’t have believed.

“It sure feels different.” He insisted, scratching his head. There was a bit of nervous laughter in his voice. “Reading something doesn’t ever make as much sense as doing it does.”

Which is what made school so damn hard.

“Isamu can read something once and recite it back to you along with a complete analysis of how it fits in to everything else he’s ever read. I can’t. I’m lucky if something sticks after, like, the tenth time.”

But ask him to demonstrate the body mechanics behind a parkour trick or assess what a patient needs, and he had a surprising amount of practical knowledge. Ask the same questions out of a book or off a written exam and watch the struggle (and probably a great deal of fidgeting) begin.

[midnight_devil]

"Think always wrong because parents tell him no good." Even Vars, as punk as he might be, is given pause by what he is thinking and decides it is not his place to talk about something so private. "Ranaway because home so bad."

"You only read words. Need to see words." Vars tells him but there's some struggle and slowing in his speech while he tries to get his meaning into English words he knows. "Read about engine make no sense but see it.." Vars pointed at his temple. ".. see what words mean in mind make sense. Fiction make no sense if not imagine place and people. Non-fiction same. Need picture in mind to make sense."

He wasn't sure he was getting across what he meant but Minoru seemed open enough that he would ask.

"Read and recite not same as read and see in mind. Do something with hands Need picture words in mind."

[itmeanstruth]

Minoru looked down at his hands. Vars could probably see the metaphorical lightbulb turn on above his head. This was one of those things you know, in your head, you probably know, but you didn’t consciously know you knew it.

“Yeah!” He exclaimed, mumbling something in Japanese he just didn’t have the right expression for, and ultimately settling on, “THAT!”

It was kind of at the core of why he was going back to school in the first place. Movement. Helping people move. It was the part he liked best about being an orderly, and as a profession, it was about as hands on as you could get.

“See it. And feel it too.”

[midnight_devil]

"See in mind important." Vars is getting toward the point where he might get frustrated with his linguistic abilities.

"When explain see steps in mind then say. Read and make pictures in mind then explain to yourself or someone." It was the best he had with his English. "I help with skill if need."

[itmeanstruth]

No need to get too frustrated.The smile on Minoru’s face meant that he got it. Or, at least, that he got something. And in the end, that’s what mattered.

“Thanks!!”

[midnight_devil]

"Anytime." And Vars meant that for Minoru. He has a very strong sense of kinship with the bands and by extension Minoru since he is Ziggy's partner.