Joint project

Adolf never spent another night at his place across town. He kept his flat for a while in case Dreufey would start acting strange, but when that didn't happen, he brought the remainder of his things with him to her apartment and settled in as Dreufey's live-in boyfriend.

Half expecting something weird to happen, Adolf remained apprehensive for some time. But Dreufey's only hang-up appeared to be Anton and his buddies down at the beer hall. As long as Adolf refrained from mentioning them, or go to any of their meetings, Dreufey was happy.

This led Adolf to give up on his old friends, which in turn made Dreufey more relaxed and even more of a pleasure to be around. Changing his habits wasn't much of a sacrifice, not least because Dreufey had brought an alternative into his life. Instead of sitting in a smoke-filled beer hall with a bunch of frustrated men, Adolf was with Dreufey in her apartment, working on art commissioned by one of Munich's richest men.

The arrangement was not only pleasurable, but also practical. Adolf needed to be with Deeufey for his work because she was the model that Herr Hoffingen wanted in his painting. She was also something of an expert on Norse mythology, the theme of the painting. However, it remained a puzzle to Adolf why Dreufey's had insisted on being with him in the first place. Why had Dreufey singled him out as her object of desire even before they had met? It was a puzzle he never found an answer to. But the success of their relationship soon obscured its strange beginning. They were not only lovers. They were a team engaged in a project that were to last a lifetime.

This lifelong cooperation started the morning after Dreufey's private exhibition. Eager to get started on Herr Hoffingen's sketches Adolf needed advice on how best to portray Odin.

"I need you to tell me all you know about Odin," he said over breakfast.
"I don't know all that much about him," Dreufey replied. "But I can tell you the few things I do know."
"Go on!"
"He's a misunderstood character. That's for sure. He's not at all like his son, Thor, who likes a good fight. Odin is dreading the final battle and spends much of his time making sure that it will happen as far into the future as possible. In doing this, he sends Thor out to engage in various skirmishes while he himself frequents Earth to make sure that people do the things that are required in order to postpone the battle."
"You're talking about Ragnarok, right?"
"Yes. That's the name of the battle, and there's no way to avoid it. No amount of magic can stop it from happening. However, we can postpone it so that it doesn't happen in our lifetime."
"But why not get it over and done with?"
"Because the longer we postpone it, the more time we'll have to live in peace and harmony, and that's valuable in itself. Odin is constantly working on ways to give us more time to live and love and enjoy life."
"And he does this by coming down to Earth to check on things?"
"Yes."
"That's funny. You see, Anton claims to have been visited by a Norse god."
"Really?"
"Yes. He told me so on Friday, the day before your party."
"You were out drinking with him?"
"No. I met him in the street. He insisted on me joining his party, but I told him no. I'm not going to do it. Politics isn't for me."
"I'm glad to hear that. So, how did he react?"
"It was weird. He said I had to join. It was imperative. Some guy named Loki had visited him. He had told him to get all his friends involved in his new party. So, I asked Anton who this Loki guy is, and that's when he told me that Loki was a Norse god. I absolutely had to join his party. To do otherwise would be against the will of the gods."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Anton is getting a little soft in the head. But enough of that... I need you to describe Odin for me. I want to get this right so that Herr Hoffingen doesn't reject my sketches. Have you been to Hoffingen's place? Do you know what he's looking for?"

Dreufey had to think back to a party that she attended together with Freyr when he was showing her around town. It was held at Otto von Hoffingen's mansion in the outskirts of Munich. From what she'd seen of his art collection, it appeared that von Hoffingen had a preference for images of ordinary life in romantic settings. She had not come across any action filled paintings with people fighting or chasing each other around.

"I think he wants a good rendition of Odin himself, and he wants me to be part of the composition to emphasize Odin's love and care for all those who need his protection. Just Odin and I, with him either protecting me or leading me somewhere."
"Okay, and what does this Odin character look like?"

Adolf stopped Dreufey before she had time to answer. "Wait! Let me get a sketchbook so that we can hammer this out together. Come with me!"

Dreufey followed Adolf into the living room where they sat down together in one of her sofas. Then, she went on to explain the character of Odin, his age and his appearance.

"Have you read Havamal?" she asked.
"Hava... what?"
"Havamal is Odin's speech to us here on Earth. He tells us how we should care for one another, how to value things, and how we should speak and listen. For instance, we shouldn't judge people badly merely for being poor, and we shouldn't judge people highly merely for being rich. Odin is more interested in our character than earthly riches."
"So, I shouldn't depict the man as a king?"
"Not unless you want to have him sit on his throne in Asgard."
"You think we should choose a setting here in Bavaria?"
"Absolutely! Herr Hoffingen is a patriot. He loves Bavaria, so it would be a mistake to choose any other location."
"And how should Odin be dressed?"
"How about a hunter's outfit, with a green cloak?"

Adolf made several sketches based on suggestions from Dreufey until he got Odin looking exactly the way Dreufey remembered him. Tall and strong, but with a haggard look due to his many worries, and his endless love for humanity.

"That's it!" she declared. "Now, all we need is a suitable setting."

Adolf had an idea.

"You have a car, right? Let's go for a spin, take a few days off and explore this beautiful country of ours."
"That's a great idea! Do you drive?"
"I do."
"So, we can take turns behind the wheel?"

What followed was something of a honeymoon for the two. They went from one picturesque village to another, and they stayed the nights in hotels along the way. Four whole days, they were traveling through Bavaria in search of beautiful places to see, and they found them everywhere: There were mountains and lakes, pastureland and farmland, cottages, villages, palaces and castles. Bavaria had it all.

Adolf made many sketches, mostly of scenery, but quite a few of Dreufey as well. He had a nimble hand. Sketches were put quickly onto paper. Details were added here and there. He didn't linger for long on anything. It was all about impressions and feelings. Details would be expanded on if or when Herr Hoffingen gave the all-clear.

Apart from sketches for Herr Hoffingen, Adolf made several sketches for himself. These sketches were of the erotic kind, like the ones he made of Dreufey before their brief break-up. However, unlike the sketches made at home in Dreufey's bed, the sketches made during their outing had her depicted with a man. Adolf put a large manly figure with big muscles and a full beard into his sketches together with her, and he did this in ways that made Dreufey blush.

"Oh my God. What's this?" she asked.
"What does it look like? It isn't that hard to see, is it?"
"But do you think he's that big?"
"He's a god. I'm sure he's well endowed."
"I look like an eager little slut."
"That's because you're worshipping him. You're paying tribute to Odin."
"That's one way of doing it, I guess."
"And it's well appreciated as you can see."
"He does seem to like it."
"Because you're good at it. Trust me, I know."
"But how did you come up with this?"
"You were the one telling me about the old practice of phallus worship the other day."
"And this is what you made of it."
"I've just rendered onto paper what you told me."
"You've added a lot of details."
"That's the job of a good artist. But it's not like it's all about him."

Adolf turned the page, only to reveal another raunchy set of sketches.

"My God! What's going on here?"
"He's returning your favor from the previous page."
"I can see that, but..."
"Or you can read it the other way around. He brings you first to ecstasy, and you return the favor."

Adolf turned the pages back and forth a few times to illustrate that his story worked both ways. Then he handed his sketchbook back to Dreufey who went on to study the sketches in more detail.

"We seem to be having a good time, Odin and I." she said.
"That was the sentiment I wanted to convey."
"Me totally slutty and worshipping him like a god?"
"Exactly, and he loves it and gives you all the pleasures of the world in return."
"You make it sound elevated and noble."
"Which it is. We weren't given the gift of our senses just to hold back and never enjoy."

Dreufey paged through the rest of Adolf's sketches.

"I hope you don't by accident take any of these drawing with you to Herr Hoffingen," she said.
"Don't worry about that. I have a system. I keep my private sketches in this blue sketchbook. My public ones are in that green one over there."

Dreufey gave Adolf a kiss on his lips. Then he handed the sketchbook back to him.

"You have a dirty mind," she said.
"Don't we all?"
"Speak for yourself."

Adolf picked up a pencil from the desk in their hotel room. "Why don't you crawl back into bed so I can draw a few more sketches of you before we head out for dinner?"
"Now?"
"Yes. Why not?"
"Okay. But go gentle on me! I don't want it too rough."

Returning to Munich the next day with Adolf in the driver's seat, Dreufey spotted the country lane where she first arrived with Odin. With so much talk about Odin over the past few days, she immediately got the idea that they should drive up and visit the spot.

She told Adolf to get off the main road and onto the country lane.

"There's an old oak up there that might be just the thing we're looking for," she said.
"How do you know?"
"I've been here before. My father took me up here when I was a child."
"Are you sure we can drive up there? It looks narrow."
"It's wider further up, and the road is in good condition."
"You've been her recently to check?"
"As a matter of fact. Yes."

It was clear that Dreufey didn't feel like explaining herself any further, so Adolf drove onto the narrow lane without more questions, and it turned out that Dreufey was right. The lane turned out to be smooth and wide enough for him to drive up the hill at a brisk speed.

A large oak came into view, situated close to the top.

"Is that it?" Adolf asked.
"Yes. Isn't it fabulous?"
"It's impressive. I like it."

Adolf stopped by the tree and parked the car by the side of the road.

"Imagine Odin's two ravens up in that tree. Or hovering in the sky above it," Dreufey suggested. "A low mist over the fields. Early morning. Just Odin and I. Him leading me by the hand down this lane."

Adolf took out his sketchbook.

"Like this?" he asked, showing Dreufey a sketch of what she had just described.
"That's it! Odin and I in a dramatic but peaceful landscape. I think Herr Hoffingen will like that."

The two remained standing by the car for a while. They inhaled the fresh air. There were birds chirping and the sound of crickets. Then they went up to the old oak, hand in hand. They looked around, and on seeing that there were no-one to be seen, they kissed. Adolf leaned against Dreufey. He pushed her up against the wide trunk of the tree, pulled her skirt up, and with two strong hands holding her in place, he made love to her.

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