Scandinavian Heartstrings, in Drop D.

Chapter 5.2 Candid camera phone

Nathan and Pickles entered Skwisgaar's bedroom without knocking. Nathan had brought Toki's glucose tablets, insulin, and other diabetes stuff as an excuse to check up on him. He silently looked over at the two Scandinavians cuddled together asleep and thought they looked so innocent, so quiet and peaceful. They looked like a pair who wouldn't even raise their voices to each other, never mind beat each other up on a fairly regular basis.

He stood in the doorway, motionless, and considered the scene. After the hospital fight months ago, Skwisgaar seemed willing to forget, but the distance he kept from Nathan afterwards suggested forgiveness was a long way off. Toki had attacked him not forty-five minutes ago yet he was laying next to him, with Toki clinging to him like a baby chimp, closer than ever.

He shook his head from the thought and placed the medical parcel on the dresser. The click of Pickles's camera phone behind him made him turn to see the red-head taking photos of the two sleeping guitarists.

"What?" Pickles said defensively when Nathan gave him a questioning look.

Nathan shrugged, took out his own Dethphone and snapped a few as well. You never knew when these things would come in handy. Pickles was saving the mattress fort video for one of their birthdays.

"Have you noticed those two have recently been a bit, well, I don't know how to put it." Nathan said to Pickles as they walked down the stairs to the lounge room.

"Touchy." Pickles said quickly.

"Yeah, but like..."

"Physically. Yeah, we've all noticed it. I reckon it started last year after Toki, ahh, had his little pill accident."

"Do you think Skwisgaar, like, cares about him, or something?" Nathan said then waved a hand dismissively. "I mean, we don't have to get into it but, like, we sort of decided not to do that pretty early on."

"Dood, you were there! No one should have to deal with that shit, and if blondie can stop that shit, then, shit, leave it be." Pickles lit two cigarettes and passed one to Nathan. The frontman grabbed a bottle of bourbon from the liquor cabinet, and they drank together in the lounge.

"Should we really rely that much on Skwisgaar, though? He's a selfish prick most of the time." Nathan bounced off Pickles after their first drink.

"Look Nate, I know where you're comin' from. I don't like seein' Toki like this either but I ain't sure there's much we can do. Think about it..." Pickles leaned forward in his chair. "Whenever the little guy has one of his... things, what does he do?"

"He usually flips out or starts crying, or both." Nathan said.

"Yeah, but while he's doin' that stuff?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, do we ever know why he's freaking out?"

"Well, no, he's usually screaming in ..." Nathan paused as a light bulb in his head clicked on, "... in Snow Speak." He said.

"Exactly! He always ends up makin' us have ta get Skwisgaar. I don't know if it's deliberate or subconscious but that's what always ends up happening."

"I hate to admit it but he's the only one that seems to be able to calm him down." Nathan brought his glass to his mouth. "But he starts most of it too!"

"I reckon Toki must really... look up ta him." Pickles changed his sentence mid-way.

"But they fight all the time, and Skwisgaar is a total jerk to him almost constantly?"

"And I'm not sayin' he's not, but I think that's like, a part of it."

"A part of why he looks up to him?"

"Yeah, in a way." Pickles said, swirling his drink in thought.

"Huh, maybe it's like a big brother, little brother thing?"

"No feckin' way, dood! My older brother was a total dick ta me an' I hate him for it, like a normal person." Pickles took a large gulp of bourbon and poured out another. "No, they got sometin' different goin' on." He pulled out his phone and flicked through the photos he'd just taken.

At that point Murderface shuffled into the lounge with his hands in his pockets.

"Hey." He said meekly. The other two greeted him and he sat down. "Scho...." He began not really wanting to have to ask.

"He's fine. Well not fine, but he's with Skwisgaar at the moment." Nathan explained.

"Scho, what did he do to him this time? That asschole has a real mouth on him, you know." Murderface said. The other two realised that they didn't have an answer to that question.

"Errh, I dunno. They were on the couch just like normal, well not quite normal," Pickles began to explain.

"What? Being all gay again?" Murderface interrupted.

"Arrg. Anyway," Pickles continued, "They seemed fine when I spoke to 'em. Hell! Toki was even talkin' ta me a bit, even though it was in Snow Speak." Nathan made a knowledgeable grunt at this statement. "I go away an' then, well, you were there."

"Scho it was hisch fault, then? Why elsche would Toki try to beat the fuck out of him... again?"

"Apparently it had somethin' to do with his father, that's why he flipped out." Pickles said with a sigh.

"Did we schend fucking Skwisgaar to talk to Toki about father stuff?" Murderface asked in earnest.

"Fuck. We did, didn't we?" Nathan looked down sheepishly. "But he wouldn't talk to anyone else."

Pickles flicked through the photos again. "Nah, I don't think he did it this time. Or at least, he didn't mean to." Pickles said distractedly.

"Why do you schay that?" Murderface said, inviting himself to their Bourbon.

"Just 'cause, well, look at this." Pickles held up his phone for Murderface to see one of his pictures.

"Why are you schowing me thisch?" He asked with a look of repulsion.

"I couldn't help it, I just had to take a photo. It's from about twenty minutes ago." Pickles smiled that crooked smile of his.

"Again, why am I looking at thisch gay schit?"

"Dood, think about it. If you fuckin' hit me I wouldn't be doin' that with you an hour later." Pickles said, pointing to the photo.

"I schould fucking hope not." Murderface took one last glance at the phone then turned away. "Okay, guysch, scherious queschion... Are thosche two fucking?"

"Ahhhhhhh, No." Nathan said incredulously.

"Are you schure? I mean, Toki isch fucking obsessched with him, and Skwischgaar would fuck a tyre Schwing!"

"Dude! Seriously, I don't want to think about that." Nathan gave a disgusted sound then found solace in his bourbon.

"Come on, Nathan! Juscht look at how they've been acting reschently. All the schigns are there, they're fucking gay!" Murderface threw his hands up.

"Yeah, except for the fact they both fuck chicks!" Nathan said pointedly.

"Dood, you can do both." Pickles interjected. Nathan turned and looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Errhh, I lived in Los Angeles? Glam Rock? I've met lots of guys who'll do, you know, whoever." Pickles said factually.

"Well, they are European after all." Nathan said, refusing to admit that Pickles could have a point. "They're, arrh, more, well, they've got fewer hangups about touching, and stuff."

"Yeh, I suppose so." Pickles said so as not to argue. He continued to flick through the photos as he thought.

"Yeah. That's all it is." Nathan tried to convince himself. "We'll talk to Charles and have Toki put on some serious medication." This closed the conversation on their bandmate's possibly straying sexuality.

"Yeah, He'sch fucked in the head. He needsch pillsch the schize of bath plugsch!" Murderface concurred, also thankful for the shift of subject.

Pickles flicked through the photos one more time. Murderface was right. All the signs were there.