American Gods (Akshay)

Akshay Malik was on cloud nine. For a while now he had been tracking the rumors. At first he couldn’t believe it. He never thought he would see this day happen, but apparently it was true, Mahadevi, THE Mahadevi, one of Bollywood’s greatest movie stars (at least in his opinion) was going to be coming to New York! Akshay squeed when he found this out. Actually, from the bottom of his toes to the tops of his hairs, squeed at the thought.

Mahadevi played in some of Bollywood’s great movies. She was known in certain circles, namely for playing supernatural creatures, usually goddesses. Rumors were that it was not all special effects, though, that she was a mutant with some rather…interesting ability. Akshay could not wait to find out.

Following the instructions for where she was going to be, Akshay found out that her first stop was supposed to be a devotional worship. People came, offered their prayers and brought offerings. It seemed a little…strange, to say the least. Did she really believe that she was a goddess or was she just playing it up for the cameras and press?

Akshay guessed that he would find out.

When the day came, Akshay showed up, dressed nicely in a black suit with a sweater vest underneath. Strolling through the building, Akshay arrived at the room that the great Mahadevi was supposed to be in but was surprised by the fact that did not seem to be a lot of people here. The few he did pass seemed to be more curious and giggling in secret than actually interested in who Mahadevi was. Then again, it was not as if Akshay Malik were here to strictly worship.

But when he turned the corner to step into the room, he was floored by how elegantly decorated it was. They did an absolute beautiful job, he remarked to himself, as he looked through the whole room…that was empty. Then, as his eyes settled on a lone, seated figure in the distance, Akshay paused. It was Mahadevi…and she looked every bit the goddess he had ever seen her be on film…

Meekly he stepped forward…his offering of a red, silk scarf with gold embroidery gently in hand…

She really was a pretty sight to behold. But what was most attention grabbing was the fact that she had eight moving arms. This…was obviously not special effects. It seems that the rumors about her being a mutant must have been absolutely true! And no wonder she was being paraded around as a living god! Look at the way her arms moved, completely with their own functions and none of them looking like clunky robotics or anything weird like that. It was true…he was staring at a goddess in mutant’s clothing.

Akshay, ashamed to say, was just a little smitten by her. Not only was she pretty but she definitely had that mutation factor that Akshay loved to learn about. He certainly did love mutants since, not only was he one, but because they embodied everything he loved about comic books and the future of human potential.

This day was already awesome so far. It only became better when she beckoned him to come towards her.

Then…she spoke in a very, lyrical voice…

>> "We accept your offering…Your name."

And he…barely understood her. Though Akshay was of Indian heritage, his adopted parents really didn’t speak the language. That didn’t mean that the wordsmith was not interested in learning about it. He bought the Rosetta Stone program and tried, several times, to learn it. Though he did get a couple of the phrases and words down, he still had trouble understanding it, mainly because he was not constantly learning the language.

But…he was able to pick up the just of what she was saying and responded…in broken Hindi…

“Umm..I…err…” he stammered as he tried to recollect his lessons. “I…Akshay Malik. Nice…meet you…”

One of those many hands slowly reached out and held the palm open towards him. While one beckoned him to come closer, the other was splayed open, ready to take in the offering that he had brought. With a slight, nervous smile, he reached over and very gently placed the silk scarf onto her palm. Once she had it, he took a step back and waited for her to continue.

He really didn’t notice how she felt about the scarf. Only that she had taken into one of many her hands and was setting it off to the side amongst other offerings that had been brought to her. If she were just researching a role, she was definitely playing it out to the very core. If anything, Akshay believed that she could be a goddess.

Even though that was obviously impossible. Gods among men, these days, usually turned out to be nothing more than mutants among men. Still…while there was always a possibility, Akshay was not 100% ready to believe that this woman was indeed a goddess.

He raised his dark eyes to her when he noticed her move again and ready to speak…

>> "What do you seek, Akshay Malik?"

OH! Thank god (goddess) that she knew English! He sighed a bit in relief.

Seek? He sought many things: world peace, the success of his comic series, a chance to get a limited edition lightsaber prop from the original Star Wars IV: A New Hope, but were all those realy things that he would ask for of this proclaimed goddess? No. Those were more personal wishes. Instead he would ask for something different…

“I...I would love your autograph…” he said, suddenly beaming. Reaching around to his coat pocket, he pulled out a slip of paper before he managed pull out and unfold a miniature poster, but not just any poster; a Bollywood poster…with a very familiar printed on it. “I…I’m sorry but…I just…I LOVE your work. You play your parts so…true to life that I would simply love to have your autograph…if you can…”

Her lips had pressed into a tightened look but Akshay did not seem to grasp that maybe, just maybe, she was irritated with him. Instead he was still marveling over just way her arms moved. Akshay had met a lot of mutants in his time, many of which were indeed physically mutated, but still he found himself in awe of this woman’s abilities. Her extra arms moved with a fluid grace that the young wordsmith was just in awe over. How was she able to do that? How did her brain compensate for extra arms? It was simply a marvel to behold.

Then, she graced him further by maneuvering a pair of her hands, one to snatch up a pen, and the other to offer to take the small poster from him. Akshay was just on cloud nine over meeting both a celebrity and an extremely interesting mutant.

>> "Fine…You know us from the movies, then."

He beamed, brightly, as he gently held out the poster for her to take into her sweet hand. When she did, she had directly a question towards him. What…how did he know her? It actually took a second for Akshay to remember his whole business for being here, even though he had already handed her his answer.

The poster. A movie poster. A Bollywood movie poster. She was in movies!

“Oh!” he finally startled himself long enough to remember. “Yes! Movies. I have seen, I have to say, all of your movies! You are simply one of the best actresses out in the Bollywood scene. They should really give you more starring roles, though. Even though it was not that much of a commercial a success I loved you in that remake they did of ‘Mahadevi’ last year. I, heh, have a director’s signed DVD.”

He beamed a little proudly. Yes, it was safe to say that Akshay was a bit of a nerd. And he bore the title proudly…

>> "We accept your compliments, Akshay Malik."

He had to say that this was turning out just slightly better than his experience with Riley Sommers. When he fawned over the supermodel, she had merely twisted her lips and acted as if he were some freak that was stalking her! Akshay couldn’t help it though! When he was around famous people, or people he admired, he tended to gush. But it was never done in malice or anything like that. It was only done in order to show how much he appreciated them.

At least Mahadevi here was more prone to accept his praises and flattery. It was enough to make the comic nerd grin with joy. He liked it when celebrities accepted their fans and their little quirks. It showed that they really were not so above them.

The signed picture and the pen were handed back. Akshay gratefully accepted them both and took a quick glance at the picture. The signature was written with beautiful penmanship! He would make sure to have this framed and added to his collection in his apartment when he got home.

>> "What is it that you do, in this country?"

Little realizing that there simply was no one else in the room, Akshay looked up as the young woman addressed him again. She actually wanted to know a little about him? Well now THAT was extremely awesome.

“Oh, I run a comic book store in the city,” he said with a grin. But quickly he followed it up with something that was hopefully a little more impressive than just being a clerk. “And, um, I’m an artist. I actually write an indie comic series that is doing pretty well. You should drop by my store some time! We just got in a shipment of some awesome Hindu mythology themed comics. You may like them.”

>> "An artist…And you work with the tales of gods? Tell me, which one is your favorite?"

He beamed. Yes, he was an artist. Though he was a comic artist, to Akshay, it was all part of the same thing, no matter what anyone else said. Da Vinci, Van Gogh, they were just all comic artists at heart, wanting to tell a story with pictures they created themselves. He was sure that if comic shops existed back then, then these artists were sure to take part in them. Probably would have ended up creating some rather interesting comics.

But as he thought about this, the young woman turned her attention back to him and actually asked him a question. Did he work with stories of the gods? He did a couple of one-shot issues that did deal with them, from various mythologies, but had he ever done a comic that was purely on one mythology?

He smirked as he was questioned as to his favorite. He certainly did have his favorites but there was at least one that he was sure was both his best and technically a failure. A small, sad smile appeared on his face as he looked up to Mahadevi…

“I actually produce a comic that is my favorite, it delves a lot into the supernatural world and such and I enjoy it. But, my absolute favorite is a comic that I never finished. I attempted to draw and create the ‘Ramayana,” he said with a little bit of struggle. “I read it, well, a translation of it, in college and I always thought it would make an awesome story for people to know and read about. Unfortunately, I only got about halfway done before I produced this other comic that I have created and…I just haven’t had time. I need to get back into it.”

He really did and hoped that he would be able to find time, even with his attention on the Slaggathor comic.

The smile that stretched across her lips was a glorious one and it actually made the young wordsmith smile appreciatively. She apparently was very happy with his answer. He had to admit that it was a quite a feat to undertake, especially since he knew so few people in his own social circles that actually knew anything about Hindu mythology. Really, what was the point if no one knew what you were talking about?

>> "The Ramayana…A worthy story of being told again by artists. It has everything a tale needs to be heard. It has truth."

He beamed. That was why. It was because he felt it was a story that needed to be told and offered up for the masses to have a chance to enjoy it as well. Akshay loved all stories from all over the world but not every one of them gets their chance in the sunlight. The current trend of mythology tended to circle around more European stories such as Greek or Roman, while others tended to fall to the wayside. That was why Akshay wanted to take a chance at offering up a story that had never been told before.

Now that he was thinking about it, he really felt like he should pick up his inking pens again the second he got home. He probably could get a few pages of it done tonight since he knew exactly where they were in his house…

>> "And you have never worshipped a goddess before? I was told there are no deities in this part of the world. That is one of the reasons I was sent here. People would want to see me."

He shook his head “no” to that first question. To be honest, his adopted parents were not really all that religious so he had little experience with worship. And he definitely had no idea about worshipping a goddess that would actually talk back to you. But…did this woman actually think she was a goddess? Really and truly, or was she just playing her character to the T?

“Well, I know of only one deity really, and it he ‘lives’ in the churches around the country,” he said with a small shrug. “but you are right I don’t think most people have met an actual goddess.” he smiled innocently at he tilted his head to look at her closely. He could definitely see how people in her country would consider her a living goddess but was it all just an act? “W-When did you, you know, find out you were a goddess? If you don’t mind me asking…”