Cruise Control

[Hephaestus]

And then, there he was, looking over the pair of them. Two handsome young men, he had to admit to himself, except they were kidding themselves.

He wasn’t certain if he wanted to speak up, but how could he not, now?

He puffed his chest out and pulled further into view, just above the two from the vantage point where he’d overheard their conversation. “You won’t rule this valley,” he said to them, half a call, half a command. “All creatures will bow to their one true God. You will be given that same opportunity now.” He raised his brows subtly. “If you choose to do so, I will help you find the power you desire.”

[Nico]

A brow rose with mild interest as a starlit gaze rested among the man. His offer was tempting. Be it childhood naivety or a gross need for companionship, Nico considered the offer.

Two bodies were indeed better than one.

Better for survival, better for command…

Nico’s lips parted, ready to speak his acceptance to the white stranger, but alas, his voice was ripped from his blue chest as another sound entered the space.

Who the fuc—

A single ear swiveled against the noise and with a gaze tearing away from one stranger, it landed against another. Clearly, Nico had made an immense mistake in his calculation of occupants. This valley was not empty as he had first believed.

The blue man held back a grumble of distaste, easily ignorable at the sound of the words that followed from the unwanted visitor. Bow to their one true God? Who made this lanky..and towering..kid a king?

“And who exactly are you?”

[Yukon]

The stranger's brow rose and it look little effort for Yukon to do, well, absolutely nothing. It wasn't like he'd lied. It wasn't like he would lose anything out of the deal if the other man didn't take it. So he stood there, the same grin on his face, expectantly waiting as the other's lips parted—

But, unfortunately, he'd been cut off. Yukon's expression hardened as he turned his gaze farther up the mountain, where an absolutely enormous man cloaked in red addressed them. Addressed them like.. a member of a cult might have.

So it was Yukon's turn to raise an eyebrow, except this one wasn't with interest. It was with annoyance, perhaps, or incredulousness. An ear turned as the man beside him pointed a finger at the third Spiderman, thus completing the meme.

Then he snorted, taking a half step as if to take the side of the stranger whose name he hadn't cared to learn yet. "Yeah, who the fuck are you? Wandering around the mountains, preaching for some god that I bet you've never even met."

[Hephaestus]

He was met with an incredulous hostility that made his lip want to curl, made the skin along his nape prickle. Easy, Hephaestus. Violence was not the answer. Not yet. Not in this form.

“Never met?” he echoed pompously. A coarse, ridiculing laugh rippled up and out of him. “He is me.”

He sobered up quickly as he looked down at the two wolves from his perch as if they were ants. “I am the god Leviathan. ”

[Nico]

Nico had heard many tales of delusion in his past. He had heard stories of spirits and monsters, of shadows that crept through the dark and entities that haunted a forest floor. But never before had he come across another who believed in one so vehemently enough to think themselves a god.

This dude took the cake, and whatever scraps that were left.

He flashed a glance towards the white stranger. A look that conveyed the message: ‘get a load of this guy,’ before nodding solemnly at the red Giant.

Delusional could be a terrifying curse, Nico knew. The affliction causing another to go mad and rabid. So, Nico would play. If not for the man’s towering size, but for the sheer understanding that madness could cause irrational behavior, and well, Nico enjoyed his life.

“Alright, Leviathan, tell me, who appointed you to this Godly status?” Nico assumed it had been nothing more than sweet nothings whispered by his mother in the man’s youth.

“And if you claim you’re a God, then show us. Do something godly.”

A challenge, but a fitting one nonetheless.

[Yukon]

The red man laughed, obviously deranged as he elaborated — that he was the god he served. A god named Leviathan. Yukon caught the other boy's sideways glance, his eyebrows raised as if to say, "this guy for real?"

Then, well, all he had to do was sit back and hold in his own laughter, because the other boy — whom he really aught to get the name of after this — asked the perfect questions.

Do something godly.

My, this was going to be fun to watch.

[Hephaestus]

The blue one’s probing question burned beneath his skin, but he would not entertain it with an answer. A god need not be appointed; a god is born, as he was.

Instead, he tilted his chin to stare down at the pair of them as they cheered him on. Do something godly.

“You’ll see,” he rumbled, not quite a growl but a menacing sound nonetheless. “If you refuse to pay your respects, then you will later be crushed by the full might of Leviathan.”

He wanted to leap down there and tear them limb from limb. But he wouldn’t. He would wait for a more advantageous situation to show his might to nonbelievers, and once he’d instilled fear in their hearts, they would spread word of his name for him.

He turned and bounded away in the direction he’d come. He’d reroute himself, find another way into the valley below.

//Honestly he’s just attempting to exit now hehe.

[Nico]

A starlit gaze made of the muted blues of an incoming storm watched the red giant with ease. Deceptive humor hid behind Nico’s inexpressive facade, and he waited with a calm sense of confidence for the man to do something. Anything. At all.

When he ultimately did not, nothing spectacular or Godlike, but instead decided to flee from the challenge with his metaphorical tail tucked between his legs, Nico smiled. It was a faint curl of his lips and a small twitch in the usual tightness of his brows, but nevertheless, he grinned.

The red giant threatened and spewed ominous words, but that wasn’t enough to scare Nico. Not here, not in this valley, not when he was so certain he’d become a different man than the one he was raised to be. In this valley, in this world, Nico would not be scared off by empty threats nor delusional men.

It was only after the towering man had left did Nico return his attention towards the white stranger, a snort following in the quiet space between them. “So much for being a God,” he quipped, “I was kinda hoping for something spectacular to happen.” Oh well.

“Now that we’ve been condemned to a crushing death by some fearsome ‘God’, guess an introduction is due,” The words were said with hidden laughter, “I’m Nico, by the way.”

[Yukon]

The tension between the trio reached a crescendo, with two pairs of eyes locked together against one, the expectation of something great lingering in the space that separated them. But much to Yukon's disappointment, the red man couldn't rise to the challenge pitted against him. Idly he watched the other flee, letting his gruff words and empty threats roll right off his shoulders.

He would have laughed then, had he still found the encounter amusing. Now he felt empty, let down, annoyed at the waste of time. A singular ear twitched in the direction of the blue man as he spoke — he was entertained, at least — and only when the other man gave his name did Yukon turn his gaze unto his once more.

Nico. Simple, powerful. Here Yukon let a small grin enter his expression, a way to seal the quickly growing bond between the two by way of camaraderie.

When the pressure to give his own name fell between them, his decision was quick. He was an unknown man here, not to be degraded by his blood or his past. He would be reborn, a creature of his own doing, a menace to those that might stand in his way.

"Name's Izhinu," he said calmly. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance."