The Locksmith Part I

He sat cross-legged on the bed and lay the cards down deliberately, letting his companion watch the spider like arcs of his fingers release each one to whisper against the sheets. His face, its ivory hues framed by the long bangs that hung down past his jaw, wore a look of dramatic intensity, and as he worked it seemed to his observer that the dark waves of his hair curled at the ends, like antennae. He smiled as he arranged his cards. It was a smile of fierce and childlike joy, and it revealed the glittering row of seven silver spikes pierced in a line down the center of his tongue. He ran a gentle and possessive hand across the carefully organized cards, then looked up into the frustrated green eyes of the other boy on the bed.
“What game would you like to play today, Egris?” Surprisingly, the spikes did not seem to affect the clarity of his speech.
Egris scowled at him as only a lover could scowl, filling the expression with every desire he had ever felt and radiating cold in inverse proportion to the rich red of his hair. “I’m tired of games.”
The boy laughed. “You didn’t seem to feel that way last night. Why this sudden change?”
Egris looked away, seeming hurt and a little ashamed. “I just realized you’ll never touch me the way you touch those cards. No matter how close I get, I’ll only be a partner. Your deck is tied to your soul.”
The dark eyes on the pale face widened, and the slim fingers ran guiltily through dark hair. “You know it’s not the same thing.”
“But I want it to be. I can’t keep doing this, I can’t be with someone who knows my fate better than he knows me.”
The boy flinched. “I would never…”
“But you do. You unravel time to watch us and you won’t even admit it to me. I’m not going to stay here while you track our pretty paper futures and forget that I’m here right now.”
“Please, Egris. You know it won’t always be like this – as soon as they find an heir I can pass on my post and it’ll just be us again. Where I am now, I can see that time coming. I’m only watching to help get ready. I’m doing it for you.”
“For me, and the cards, and the key.”
“Things will get better, I promise.”
“I don’t trust you, Actaeon.”
“I know – you’re the only one with the strength to question fate. That’s why I love you.”
Their eyes locked, an embrace and a challenge. Egris pointed at a card, and Actaeon turned it over. The ink patterns shivered, then resolved into the form of The Lovers. Actaeon looked up, questioning. Egris smiled.
“Are you truly offering me a choice or merely obliging me by giving that impression, my little oracle?”
Actaeon smiled back. “Not even I know how much of life is predetermined, my sweet, reluctant pilgrim. Come here and make me forget about the future.”
“As the voice of the gods demands.” Egris leaned in as Actaeon pushed his Tarot deck aside. Dark hair tangled, red hair tousled, and for a few precious hours nothing was certain but Now.