Raymond.

**Bella's POV**

The image of Birger and his family had suddenly froze before everything was happening in reverse. It sped up until I couldn't even track anything with my eyes. It came to a sudden halt and I saw Birger sitting on top of a building that was still being constructed.

He was wearing jeans, some heavy duty boots and a hard hat. He was shirtless and covered in sweat.

He reached down and picked up some kind of lunch box and pulled out some sandwiches before stuffing it into his mouth. He was staring into the city silently.

I couldn't see what he was looking at, but I wish I could.

As he was eating, some more people came down, dressed in a similar fashion as him. They sat and ate as well.

𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨. He thought.

What was? He was just eating, no? Was it the people?

A few minutes passed and most of the men had gotten up and left. Now, only Birger and one other remained on the rooftop.

Birger turned to him with a sour face. "I can help you?"

The man tilted his head.

Birger scowled. "You been staring at me since you came up here. A man can't eat in peace?"

The man continued to stare at him for a long moment before speaking. "…not… human?"

Birger's eyebrows rose. "I'm human?"

The man shook his head. "No. Can tell."

Birger's eyebrows rose even further. "You don't think I'm human? Why?"

𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘺… Birger's voice echoed in the room.

The man tilted his head in thought for a moment. "…hmm… Feeling."

"I'll be damned…" Birger said in a shocked tone. "You know, you got a gift, kid."

The man, again, tilted his head.

Birger chuckled. "Quiet guy, huh?"

The man shrugged and motioned Birger to continue. Birger threw a sandwich at him and the man caught it. "Eat."

The man unwrapped the sandwich and hesitantly took a bite. Then another.

Birger nodded before speaking. "There aren't many like you. Like I said, you got a gift. You're able to tell if someone is a vampire, or a werewolf, or whatever, right?"

The man nodded.

"Lots of people can do that. They take simple things like, 'oh he's got fangs' or 'he looks jacked to all hell' and it's pretty obvious. Some see the minor details like an unbelievably beautiful person being a vampire, seeing as how they get more beautiful as they age. But some, probably close to one in a million, just have this 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘵. I'm guessing it's the same with you?"

The man nodded. "…yeah. Instinct."

"Well, the one's that I've met could tell right of the bat that I wasn't human. Caused me quite a bit of trouble, sometimes."

The man froze.

"Woah, there. Chill out, man. I'm talking the early days! Like when people thought you could get possessed by demons and shit."

The man slowly relaxed and nodded his head.

Birger chuckled. "Anyway, to be honest with you? I've met some pretty powerful people, and even 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 thought I was human. I've lived a 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 time, and I've only met maybe… 4 people like you."

"So… I won the lottery?"

Birger laughed again. "Man, you didn't win the lottery! You bankrupted every single casino that's ever existed! It's a damn rare thing!"

"Name?" The man asked.

"If you're asking for 𝘮𝘺 name, it's Birger. Birger Age. If your asking for the name of your… instinct, it doesn't have one. Had one guy refer to it as 'Intuition,' though. What about you? You got a name?"

The man nodded. "Raymond."

Birger stuck his hand out to Raymond. "Nice to meet you, Raymond. Can I call ya Ray?"

Raymond nodded. "So… what are you?"

"I'm human, honestly." Birger tilted his head before speaking again. "Well… I'm human, now, I should say."

"Why?"

"Hmm… it's hard to explain…" Birger looked beyond the roof, presumably at the city below. "You see all that? All the bustling people?"

Raymond nodded.

"That's why. The people. The culture. Everything! There's no other experience that compares. Actually feeling something. The excitement when you learn something new. It's all part of being human, right?"

"And… why tell me all this?"

Birger looked at him with a confused expression. "Why not? It's not like I'm hiding it."

Raymond nodded again. "Beer?"

"Beer? Oh, you wanna go to a bar?"

He nodded.

"Dude… you really are quiet. Don't you get dizzy? Always moving your head around like that?"

He shook his head.

Birger scarfed a laugh. "You're weird, Ray. Sure. Let's get some beer after work."

The man nodded and walked away.

𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢. 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘳, 𝘩𝘶𝘩?

Birger laughed again as he got back to work.

"…go to the time where he meets up with Raymond at the bar." I tell Clair.

"This isn't even important, at this point. You're just freaking curious!"

I grinned and stroked Birger's face absentmindedly. "Well… you never know if this is important or not. And besides, seeing my brother so free, it's… refreshing."

Clair shook her head at me. "You owe me big time for this, alpha."

I nodded as I watched the hologram-like Birger sped up until he stood in front of the bar. He had pulled out a tin box and pulled a cigarillo out before leaning against the wall. He lit it and took a few puffs. Right as he finished, Raymond had walked up to him.

"Birger."

"Raymond." Birger mocked him with a smile.

"C'mon. First round's on me." Birger walked inside the bar and waved at the bartender. "Hey, Mikey. Busy night?"

Mikey nodded sharply. "Fuck yeah, man. Can't even catch a break to go smoke!"

Birger nodded. "Gimme the usual. And whatever the guy wants." He pointed behind his back at Raymond with a thumb. "After I'm done with it, I can take over for a bit so you can have a smoke."

Mikey nodded quickly. "Awesome! You're the best, Birger!" He pulled out a glass bottle that was devoid of any branding and poured it into a mug.

He handed the mug to Birger and turned to Raymond. "What're ya havin'?"

Raymond pointed at the mug in Birger's hand. Mikey looked at Birger for a moment and opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Birger interrupted him.

"Eh, give him some. I told him it was my treat, so it'll be." Birger shrugged and looked at Raymond. "It's mead. The owner of this place keeps a fresh stock of it for me. It's an original recipe, by the way."

Raymond nodded as he was handed a twin mug of Birger's. "Bartender?"

"Me? Nah. Did it a long time ago and hated it. Doesn't mean I'm not good at it, though."

Mikey spoke up as he refilled one of the patron's glasses. "Birger here is a damn good bartender! You can ask him to make any drink in the world and he'll do it perfectly every time."

Raymond took a sip and his eyebrows shot up. "Damn."

Birger grinned at him. "Glad ya like it. Took a few years of work to get it that good!"

Huh! So Birger looked like a Viking, had a beard like a Viking, said he was from Scandinavia, AND drank mead? That he made? Did he just like the culture?

They drank for a few minutes longer before Birger walked up to the bar. He stepped behind it and Mikey quickly walked out while shouting his thanks.

Birger really 𝘸𝘢𝘴 a good bartender! He made short conversations with people, made sure everyone had their alcohol of choice in front of them, always refilling it before they even asked, and even started making some more complicated orders! Hell, he was throwing the shaker in the air while he refilled a beer!

Even Clair's eyebrows rose at that!

Raymond, it appeared, had gotten a bit tipsy. He'd drank a few mugs of mead and had a couple of shots. "Damn… that mead is pretty good, y'know? Doesn't taste like alcohol at all…"

Birger chuckled as Mikey came back to the bar. He quickly wiped his hands with a towel before putting his mug on the bar, which was promptly refilled by Mikey.

"You talk more when you're drunk, huh? 𝘐𝘯 𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘴."

"What was that, Latin?" Raymond asked.

"Yup. 'In wine, there is truth.'"

"Huh. So how old are you, anyway? You a Viking or something?" Raymond asked with slurred speech.

"Uh… in a manner, yeah. When I first… became human, I wandered around for a bit. At some point I ended up in Scandinavia and decided to stay. Fought many a battle with my battle-brothers."

Raymond's eyebrows rose and he grinned. "Daaang, man… that's pretty badass!"

"Yeah. It was fun. Feeling the rush of battle. I've long outgrown those days, though."

"You never thought about your buddies dying?" Raymond asked in a quiet tone.

"Hell, no!" Birger laughed, surprising me. "They fought tooth and nail! It was an honorable death for us. I hope one day I can visit Valhalla and see my battle-brothers again."

Raymond laid his head on the table and turned to look at Birger. "Valhalla's real? What about Thor and Odin? And Loki?"

"Oh, yeah. They're real, too. I had fought alongside them, before they became gods. Well, Odin and Thor, at least. I've never met Loki."

"That's… hella badass…" Raymond's head shot up suddenly. "Wait… does that mean we're standing on Ymir?"

Birger laughed. "Well, you got some knowledge about Norse mythology, huh? No, we are not standing on Ymir. He's very much alive."

Raymond pondered for a moment. "What about the other pantheons? Like Zeus and shit?"

Birger laughed even harder at that. "'Zeus and shit!' Hah!"

Raymond turned serious. "No, for real. The government don't tell us shit! Does Zeus not exist? What about Anubis?"

Birger jumped and looked around for a moment. "Shit, man… don't mention Anubis… that guy's fucking scary!"

Raymond's eyes widened. "I'll be damned…"

Birger sighed. "Uh… for starters, The Greek and Roman pantheon exist. I don't know how they became two separate pantheons, though.. they're the same people, just different names. Norse, obviously. Mayan, Slavic, Chinese, Japanese, hell even the lovecraftian pantheon exists, to a certain extent."

"Oh, shit… like Cthulhu?"

"Yeah, but he's actually pretty chill. The ones your really gotta look out for are the Slavic pantheon. They're pretty… well, they're nut jobs."

Raymond whistled through his teeth. "What about God? Like the trinity? And Jesus?"

"Yeah, he's real. And no, God and Jesus are not the same person."

What the fuck am I hearing? What the actual fuck… Moon Goddess, are you messing with me? I spared a glance at Clair and she was just as shocked as I was.

What the hell? Birger? Brother? Are you okay? Like, mentally? I mean, no you're not, but like, come on! You've met Cthulhu? What does that even mean?

Am I freaking out? Obviously! And why the hell was he just talking to some random guy he'd met not even 10 hours ago?!

Raymond laid his head back on the table. He tried to take a sip of his mead while he was lying down but nothing came out.

"You good, ray? That was like your fifth mug."

"Yeah… I think I'm just gonna… sleep it off…" aaaand he fell asleep.

Birger chuckled. "Yo, Mikey! I'm heading out! Put it on my tab!"

Mikey called back to him. "Alright! I'll let my dad know! He probably isn't even marking this shit down, y'know?"

Birger grunted.

He lifted up Raymond in a fireman carry and walked out the door. He pulled out a car key and walked to a… very beautiful car. I didn't know what kind it was, but it was probably made in the '60's. He made sure the doors were locked and shoved the key back into his pocket.

"Wow… how responsible." I muttered.

Birger stumbled lightly and hoisted Raymond further up on his shoulder as he called a cab. "Ayo, taxi!"

The taxi stopped in front of him and he threw Raymond in before following.

"Fun night?" The driver asked.

"Yeah. I needed the company, I guess." Birger said as he pointed at the unconscious Raymond.

The Cabbie chuckled. "Where to?"

"Take '80 east. After you pass the Smith's, it'll be the first house you see. It's a few miles out."

The man nodded and took off. A few minutes later, Birger had dragged Raymond out after paying the Taxi driver and brought him in to his home. It was the same place we'd seen when he ate his late breakfast with Chelsie.

He unlocked the door and stumbled in.

"Birger?" Chelsie called out as she yawned from the bedroom door. "Jesus. Why are you back so late?"

I noticed that neither of them wore a wedding ring, yet. This must have been before their wedding.

Birger scrunched his eyebrows and pulled out his phone. It read that it was half past midnight.

"Ah, shit. My bad, Chel. Didn't realize it was so late." He walked to Fords room, which at this time was a simple spare bedroom, and threw Raymond on the bed. "Met this guy at work. Had a few drinks."

"Alright~" Chelsie yawned. "I'll wait for you in bed."

"Sure, baby." Birger pulled the covers over Raymond.

He stared at Raymond for a moment longer before standing up with a giggle. "Interesting guy!"