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TFC was alone in the little building.
He was used to being alone, but it was still boring. He slept quietly, head resting on his paws. There was a rustling, and TFC cracked open an eye.
A boy, perhaps nineteen, dressed in power armor with a helmet over his head and a brass shotgun in hand stood next to TFC proudly.
"Monster of Ragnarok!" The child exclaimed, "I've come to take your head!"
TFC chuckled, closing his eyes, "You can have it. It's not like I'm using it."
TFC waited for the shotgun to go off, or for a blade in his belly, but it didn't come. He opened an eye, looking in confusion at the boy, who looked just as confused as he was.
"But--but you're meant to fight me! Y'know, like chuck a fireball at me or eat me alive," The boy squeaked, gesturing with his shotgun.
TFC rolled his eyes, "I don't have any reason to fight you."
"I threatened your life!"
"I could care less about my life."
The boy shoved his shotgun back in his belt and sat cross-legged on the stone floor.
"Well, I'm staying here until you fight me," The boy huffed, folding his arms.
"That sounds like a waste of your time, Demon Slayer," TFC sighed, going back to sleep.
When TFC awoke again, the child was still there, picking at the grass and moss on the floor.
"That weed to your left is catmint," TFC raised his head off of his paws and stared down at the boy, "If you're adamant about staying here, at least eat something."
"There's a couple of mushrooms over there," The boy pointed to the far wall, "I had some a bit ago."
TFC hummed, "Reishi Hemlock. That's what the red ones are called."
"And the white ones?"
"White Oyster Mushrooms. They're one of the only white tree-growing mushrooms you can eat."
The boy looked over at the fungus, "How do you know that?"
"I had many friends before I was imprisoned," TFC sighed, "One of them taught me about edible plants. I'd go into the forest and caves and gather them for dinner."
"Oh," The boy said.
Neither of them spoke for a while. TFC didn't know how long he stayed quiet, but he respected the silence.
"You mean the gods, right?" The boy asked, going back to picking at the floor.
TFC sighed, pausing as he chose his words, "Gods are different depending on the culture, language, timeline...a lot of things. They're heathens to some, gods to others. Different for each person."
"Is that a yes or a no?"
"Both," TFC chuckled, "From your perspective, they'd be gods. They were friends of mine, especially the god of war."
"Tyr?" The boy asked.
TFC nodded, "I loved him very much, like the brother I never had...but...good things don't last."
"You can say that again," The boy grumbled bitterly.
"You, too?"
The boy huffed, flopping back on the stone, "My stupid dad and evil clone."
"Ah."
"Dad wanted me to go out and kill a demon," The boy explained, "I wanted to impress him, so I came after you, but now I'm just depressed."
The boy huffed, "If I didn't have a scar to show for the experience, dad would never believe me."
"That doesn't sound healthy."
"Your relationships don't sound healthy."
"Fair."
They were quiet again. The sun had begun to set, and the boy looked off in the distance in disdain.
"I'm going to sleep here for the night," The boy said, "And annoy you until you fight me."
TFC chuckled, "Best of luck."
The boy flopped over TFC's great paws, using them as a pillow. TFC laughed softly, setting his head down--careful not to squish the boy--and fell asleep.
"You leave your bishops open. Knight to E-4.383."
"Shush! I'm trying to focus!"
TFC chuckled as the boy moved the board, pushing bits aside and around in an attempt to find where E-4.383 was. There were a couple of timelines layered on top of it, and the boy moved one backwards six seconds to place down a rook.
"Rook to E-3.9234."
"Clever. Queen to E-3.9234. Checkmate."
The boy, Xisuma, threw his hands up, "Dangit! How do you win so much?!"
"Practice and patience," TFC laughed, "Two things you have little of."
"Oh shush! I haven't played 5-D Chess in three years."
"Rusty, are you?"
"Yes, now let's go again."
Another round was played, and TFC won yet again. Xisuma huffed, complaining about TFC cheating as he unwrapped his lunch. He handed a thick, uncooked steak and a big bowl of vodka to TFC, who began to eat as Xisuma chatted about his day.
"Y'know..." Xisuma edged, taking a bite out of a rice dumpling, "A friend of mine is starting a private server, if you'd be interested in joining?"
"Are you going to try to fight me there?"
Xisuma shook his head vehemently, "No! I just wanted a friend to...go with. I don't really...know all of the other people."
TFC paused at the term, "Friend?"
"I mean, yeah," Xisuma turned back to his dumpling, "You told me about the mushrooms and plants down here my first day and let me sleep on you...you've been...kind, I guess. Isn't that what a friend is?"
TFC didn't answer for a while, and Xisuma worried that he had upset him.
"I'm...I don't think...Listen, X, I don't really want a friend right now," TFC said, and Xisuma visibly wilted.
"But, getting out and onto a server sounds nice. The issue is that you would have to break me out of my chains," TFC gestured to the chains wrapped around his thick torso and paws.
Xisuma brightened, "I know someone who can help! Hold on, I'll be right back!"
Xisuma left his rice dumpling on the ground, hurrying out of the building. He returned not long after with a stout man with a curly red beard.
The man said nothing to him, responding to Xisuma's incessant questions and comments with nods and hums. He took a great hammer to one end of the chains, pounding at it and shattering the link.
TFC realized the man was a dwarf, and a powerful one at that.
How in Asgard does he know a dwarf that strong?
At last, the chains fell, and TFC was free.
He jumped out of the building in a single mighty bound, howling at the early morning sky and shaking out his fur.
"Thank you, Xisuma! Thank you!"
X rushed up to him, grinning brightly, "You're so big!"
TFC chuckled, bending down, "Hop on, we'll get to the server faster by portal."
X clambered up to sit between TFC's shoulder blades, and paused once he was up there, "My dad's gonna kill me for hanging out with Fenrir."
TFC laughed, "Use a nickname, then."
X thought for a while, "How about...Chef? You taught me about plants and...no--tinfoil, you look like tinfoil. You're that shade of grey, so...Tin Foil Chef!"
"I like it. It's a bit long, though," TFC grinned, "How about just 'TFC'?"
"Can do, Mr. TFC-Not-Fenrir," Xisuma playfully saluted him.
"Oh hush, you make me sound like an old man."
"You are an old man."