[fic] tsubasa, "endless - chapter 2"
Oct. 23rd, 2008 02:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
damalurbackupTITLE: Endless - Chapter 2
CHARACTERS: Kurogane/Fai, Karen
NOTES: Originally written for 30 Kisses prompt #06: the space between dream and reality.
SUMMARY: In the land of Hail, a soldier named Kurogane eats lunch every day at a magician's restaurant.
ENDLESS
Chapter 2
i.
Fai hated fall for one reason: every year, he had to drag out a ladder and climb up it and sweep leaves off the top of the Grill's awning. He had to do it almost every morning while the trees were shedding their leaves. The Grill was, unfortunately, located next to a vacant lot filled with maple saplings and one ancient, scarred oak; even worse, the leaves had a tendency to clump together and rot after a hard rain.
"I don't know why you make such a fuss," Karen said. She was leaning loosely against the wall below him, one slim hand raised to shade her eyes.
"It's just a nuisance," he answered. "Be glad that I don't make you do it."
"I think I'll leave the manly jobs to you. Tending bar, cleaning leaves, lugging crates - " She glanced up just in time to see Fai release a handful of dried leaves over her head. A quick dodge carried her out from under the worst of the barrage, but a few leaves clung to her hair. Fai thought they blended fetchingly with her natural color, but she picked them out with a disgruntled scowl.
"Such a child," Karen sighed. Fai jabbed at the awning with his broom and ignored her.
"So," she said, running a hand through her hair one final time. "Still haven't heard from him?"
"No," Fai said. "It's been two and a half weeks. His name isn't one any of the missing or confirmed dead lists at the registrar's office, though." He gave the awning one last sweep and tossed the broom to the ground; it landed with a ringing clatter against the bricks. Instead of climbing down, he folded his arms on the top step and let his chin drop.
"Poor Fai," Karen murmured. She set a comforting hand on his ankle. "Chin up. It can't be long - " She cut off abruptly; Fai watched the top of her head swivel to the right and then tilt back.
"Karen?"
"Nothing," she said. "It's nothing." A small smile flitted across her face; she gave his ankle one last comforting pat and turned to the door. "I just remembered something inside."
"Sure." Fai's brow crinkled as he watched her slip away, but still he didn't move. It was crisp out, just cool enough for a sweater, and the sun had barely crested the horizon. He wanted nothing more than to enjoy the weather, but his thoughts always drifted back to Kurogane. He hadn't heard from the soldier since the middle of September, and in truth that made him a scared, nervous wreck. He didn't show his worry, of course, just plastered on a smile and went about his work, but -
"Che," interrupted a gruff voice. "Did you fall asleep up there?"
Fai shot up and around so quickly that he nearly fell off the ladder, and there, mere yards from Fai and his ladder - a man. A man with his arm in a sling, his dress coat tossed lightly over his shoulders, wearing a look of guarded expectation that shot straight to Fai's core.
"Kurogane," Fai breathed, but the sound caught in his throat. The next instant he launched into the air; the ladder went clattering over, and Fai barely caught himself from landing on the other man. Kurogane's crimson eyes locked with his own, and for one heartbeat - two - three - they simply looked at each other. Then Fai scowled.
"I thought you were dead," he said.
"Yeah, well, I had to - " Kurogane started to say, but Fai drew back a fist and slugged the soldier cleanly on the jaw.
"Ow!" Kurogane stumbled back, one hand flying to his face. "What the hell was that for? I'm a wounded war veteran, here, and you can't just go around hitting - "
Fai stepped forward, grabbed the front of Kurogane's uniform, and cut him off again - this time by kissing him. Into the kiss he poured nearly two years of longing and every ounce of devotion that he couldn't express in his letters. Kurogane responded almost immediately in kind, his good arm sliding around Fai's waist and tugging the shorter man even closer.
When they finally broke apart, Fai pulled back and smiled up at Kurogane. "Well, Kuro-tan," he said. "Now you see my dilemma. It seems that somehow while you were away, I managed to fall in love with you."
"Huh," Kurogane said. Then a miracle happened: for the first time, Fai saw Kurogane truly smile - not his usual smirk or even that rarer fierce grin, but an honest, unabashedly gleeful smile.
"That's good," said the soldier, "since I've been discharged and you're stuck with me full-time."
Fai tapped a spidery finger against one of Kurogane's brass buttons. "I think you're in luck. It just so happens that I have an opening for an awning-sweeper..."
ii.
They spent that first evening after Kurogane's return on the Grill's roof. Fai brought up an assortment of bottles, a blanket, and no glasses; as the shadows lengthened and the stars came out to shine, they toasted each other.
"To your safe return!" Fai declared, nearly knocking Kurogane in the head with his upraised bottle. "How did you hurt your arm, anyway?"
Kurogane snatched the wine from Fai's hand and took a long pull. "Some sort of fire spell," he said. "The Cimmerians had war mages."
Fai went still and something indecipherable flitting across his face. He pulled away from Kurogane, enough that the wind gusted between them. "Did I ever tell you why I wasn't drafted?"
"No," said Kurogane. "I assumed your number didn't come up; Hail has a strong army, even now. We're not lacking bodies."
"I was drafted, actually," Fai said. "I petitioned for excuse by rite of bloodline, since I'm the last person in my family." He stole a glance at Kurogane; there was no recrimination on the other's face, though, and Fai relaxed. "Your parents were career military; mine were career pacifists. My mother was - she'd seen some horrible things in her childhood, and had some horrible things done to her. She opposed violence of any sort."
"So you're a pacifist?"
"No," said Fai. "I do believe violence is a last resort, but I won't hesitate to defend myself or those around me. Mom's philosophy did influence me enough that I question any war. In this case - we're really in Cimmeria only because we want their resources. They didn't attack us. Hail's government just wants the new regime to be sympathetic to us, so we can use their trade routes."
Kurogane took another pull from the wine bottle, then reached out a long arm and tugged Fai back against his side. "I don't disagree with you," he said slowly.
"Wait," said Fai. "Let me finish. The other reason I petitioned - they wanted to use me as a war mage. They offered me money, riches, rank, all sorts of things. I refused, but now I wonder if should have accepted - " He touched a hand to Kurogane's sling instead of finishing the thought.
"Idiot," Kurogane growled. "You probably couldn't have helped, anyway. Besides, you stood by your beliefs; that's worth a burn on my arm."
Fai gave him a wry, sideways look. "You think?"
"I know," Kurogane said, and lifted his bottle to Fai's mouth. "Here. Drink." Fai tilted his head back, and Kurogane did his best to pour the wine in the barkeep's mouth. He wasn't entirely successful; red rivulets stained Fai's lips and ran down his chin. Somehow Kurogane found his mouth fastened to the other man's - purely as a matter of sanitation, of course - and by the time they broke apart, Fai looked more like his usual imperturbable self.
"How powerful are you, if they wanted you for a war mage?"
"Powerful enough," Fai said. "I'm not formally trained, but I have...a sense for magic. Intuition." He let himself fall backwards; the shingles were uncomfortable against his back, but the blanket provided enough padding for the time being. He tugged Kurogane down half on top of him, so they were both facing the sky and the soldier's head was tucked beneath Fai's chin.
"Show me some magic?"
"Sometime," Fai promised. His voice was a tenor rumble in Kurogane's ear. "Do you really want to work for me? It's hard to see you doing something so...civilian."
"I can be your bouncer."
"I think the position you're thinking of is maintenance man, actually. I do all the peacekeeping."
"I look more intimidating than you."
"Mm, that's true," Fai said. "It is my restaurant, though."
"Fine. So long as you don't make me dress up and wait tables."
Fai closed his eyes and chuckled. "I don't think you'd be suited to that, anyway. You'd scare away the customers." Kurogane grunted in response, and they both fell silent. The stars were gorgeous and crisp, as crisp as Fai had ever seen them in the City. The moon was waxing, and the night so clear that he felt he could see forever.
"Fai?" Kurogane said at length.
"Yes, Kuro-pon?"
"I...hn. It's...I care about you too, you know."
Fai hid his smile against the soldier's inky hair. "I know, Kuro-pon. I know."
iii.
Soon enough they settled into a routine. Kurogane would arrive early and sweep the awning, then lurk about for the rest of the day while Fai directed business at the Grill. Occasionally Fai would corner Kurogane and saddle him with some task: repairing a table, or restocking the kitchen, or hanging posters advertising some new singer. Late in the evenings Fai would either leave the Grill under Karen's supervision while he and Kurogane went elsewhere, or they'd cloister themselves in the back booth and order one dish after another from the Grill's kitchen. One such evening Fai disappeared for thirty minutes, only to return with a battered deck of cards.
"What're those?"
Fai set the cards on the table and slid into the booth opposite Kurogane. "Tarot cards," he said. "I did promise to show you magic, didn't I?"
Kurogane cocked one skeptical brow. "You can tell the future?"
"My gifts aren't in fortune-telling, but I can do basic divinations." He propped his chin in one hand and poked at Kurogane's cheek with the other. "Shall I do a reading for Kuro-chan?"
"I don't believe in that stuff," Kurogane said, dismissal clear in his voice. At the same time he hadn't moved his gaze from Fai's deck.
Fai laughed and took up the cards. "I'll just do a three-card spread, then. Nothing too fancy."
"Hn." Kurogane leaned back and assumed a sprawl meant to convey his doubt, but forgot to look skeptical once he got caught up in the nimble patter of Fai's fingers as they shuffled the cards. Seven times Fai riffled the deck; then he cut once and dealt three cards, all in a straight line.
"Past, present, and future," Fai explained, tapping each card in succession.
"What does it mean?" Kurogane was leaning forward now, all pretense at haughtier abandoned.
"You have two major arcana cards and one minor arcana," Fai said. "That means you aren't in control of your own fate."
Kurogane huffed at that idea. "And what do the cards mean?"
"Your past is the Seven of Wands," Fai said. "That's valor. Courage through difficulties, fortitude, and advancement."
Kurogane bent over the card. It depicted a man standing with wide-spread legs, wielding what looked like a staff. "Huh," he said. "And the next one?"
"That's The Lovers, your present," Fai said, and then smirked. "Or The Twins. It represents love, new relationships, passion, and connection - but also doubt, choices, or a dilemma."
Kurogane let a sly smile curl across his lips. "I wonder what that's referring to?"
"I do wonder, Kuro-sama," Fai drawled, and set a hand on the last card. "This one is your future. The Wheel of Fortune, reversed."
"Reversed? That means it's upside-down?"
"Mm." Fai nodded and absently drew in his lower lip. "Reversed, The Wheel of Fortune signifies misfortune and unpleasant surprises - but that's temporary, since soon the wheel will turn up. It also means superior forces, a turning point, movement, cycles, and - "
"And what?"
"Fate. Or destiny, I suppose."
Kurogane picked up the card and held it to the light. "You can't really tell anything from a deck of cards, though, right?" He set the card carefully back on the table, then reassumed his casual sprawl. "Not that I believe you could."
"Of course not," Fai said, eyes dancing. "It's a very general divination. You can do more detailed spreads - " He jerked around at a sudden shattering from the bar. One man had another pinned against the counter; a third was raising a plate to crash against the second's head.
"Bar fight," Fai muttered. Kurogane was already on his feet, a hand at his belt, but Fai slid past him with a placating pat. "Let me," he whispered, and then raised his voice. "Gentlemen!" he called. "I'm afraid I have to ask you to leave."
The third man wheeled around, plate still raised. He was rather good-looking, with long hair pulled back in a queue, but there was something wild behind his face. "This ass insulted my brother," he snarled. "Am I just supposed to let that pass?"
Fai smiled. "Of course not. Please, feel free to step outside and murder each other in the street. I won't let you fight in here, however."
The man sneered. "Like you could do anything, lightshoes." He turned and whirled the plate through the air at the same time as the man pinned to the bar shoved his attacker to the ground. Kurogane leapt forward, but Fai grabbed him by the elbow, opened his other palm, and shoved. There was an explosion of light -
And then all three of the men and the plate flew into the air to hang, suspended.
"Gentlemen," Fai said, "and I say that with the utmost irony. You are not welcome here anymore."
"But - " started the long-haired man. Fai flicked a finger, and a rune sketched across the man's lips and sealed them shut.
"Don't come again," he said, and drew the fingers of his outstretched hand together. The door whooshed open, and one - two - three men sailed out, to land the street with an audible thud. Fai sketched another symbol in the air, and the plate flew into his hand.
Kurogane stared.
"Something the matter, Kuro-pi?" Fai produced a rag from his apron and began to polish the plate.
"That," Kurogane said, "was a much better demonstration than the Tarot cards."
iv.
Life wasn't always so harmonious, though; inevitably, they fought. Kurogane was stubborn, Fai hard to pin down, and they were both too used to getting their own way. They'd argued before, of course, but their first real fight began when they were in Fai's little apartment over the Grill. Fai was feeding Nadeshiko; Kurogane was leaning against the wall watching him.
"We should move in together," Kurogane said abruptly.
Fai's head shot up. "Move in together? That's a big step, Kuro-rin."
"We already spend all our time together anyway." Kurogane shrugged. "We might as well split the rent."
"Maybe later," Fai said, and ran a hand over his cat.
"Maybe later?" That was Kurogane's first mistake: trying to push Fai. "Maybe now."
"Maybe not," Fai answered. Kurogane growled and slammed his fist against the wall. He'd always had a hair-trigger temper.
"I don't see why you dodge the subject every time I bring it up!"
"I don't see why you make it such an issue," Fai shot back. He was speaking in the distinct, too-quiet tone that meant he was truly outraged. "I'm not one of your soldiers. You can't just bark orders at me and expect me to fall in line."
"At least I'm not afraid of commitment! You act like I'm going to leave you, or die, or - or get kidnapped off the street, like your - "
"Get out," Fai said.
"I'm not - "
"Get out," Fa repeated. His eyes were ice; Kurogane felt the chill in his bones. "Get out, or I'll make you." Fai started to trace a symbol. One glowing stroke shimmered in the air, and he posed his hand to finish the spell.
Kurogane caved. "Fine," he spat, and spun towards the door. He could feel Fai's glare at his back; it pricked his danger sense and made the hair on the back of his neck rise. "I'll be seeing you then - or not." He made a point of slamming the door behind him.
Back in his own apartment, he paced like a caged lion: nineteen steps from the entry to the back wall, thirty to his bed, thirty back to the wall and nineteen to end up at the entry. "I do not bark orders at him," he snarled. "God, does he not trust anyone?" He whirled, jerked open his closet, and hauled a pile of equipment to the center of the room. From the top shelf he snatched a rag and a jar of polish, then collapsed next to the pile with a huff and began to sort out belts and swords and daggers. Cleaning his military brass was one of the few guaranteed ways to calm his ire.
He managed to work his way through his sword and a set of daggers and was working on his dress coat's buttons when the knock came. A quick glance at the clock confirmed the time; he'd only been away from Fai for two hours, and he could hardly imagine the other man had come to talk. He crossed the room, wiping a smudge of polish from his face as he went, and opened the door.
Fai's face was neither angry nor apologetic; instead it was utterly still. All of his expression, all of his feeling, was concentrated in the rising tide in his eyes.
"What's wrong?" Kurogane asked. This - whatever it was - went beyond their argument. He'd never seen Fai looking so beaten, so fragile, before.
So empty.
"I - you - when you went away, I started cleaning my closet because I was angry, and I found - " Fai choked, and instead of continuing held up a yellowed envelope. Across the front, in tight, precise letters, was written one word: "Fai."
"What is it?" Kurogane asked.
"It's a letter," Fai said, "and a spell. From my mother."
<< | >>
CHARACTERS: Kurogane/Fai, Karen
NOTES: Originally written for 30 Kisses prompt #06: the space between dream and reality.
SUMMARY: In the land of Hail, a soldier named Kurogane eats lunch every day at a magician's restaurant.
ENDLESS
Chapter 2
i.
Fai hated fall for one reason: every year, he had to drag out a ladder and climb up it and sweep leaves off the top of the Grill's awning. He had to do it almost every morning while the trees were shedding their leaves. The Grill was, unfortunately, located next to a vacant lot filled with maple saplings and one ancient, scarred oak; even worse, the leaves had a tendency to clump together and rot after a hard rain.
"I don't know why you make such a fuss," Karen said. She was leaning loosely against the wall below him, one slim hand raised to shade her eyes.
"It's just a nuisance," he answered. "Be glad that I don't make you do it."
"I think I'll leave the manly jobs to you. Tending bar, cleaning leaves, lugging crates - " She glanced up just in time to see Fai release a handful of dried leaves over her head. A quick dodge carried her out from under the worst of the barrage, but a few leaves clung to her hair. Fai thought they blended fetchingly with her natural color, but she picked them out with a disgruntled scowl.
"Such a child," Karen sighed. Fai jabbed at the awning with his broom and ignored her.
"So," she said, running a hand through her hair one final time. "Still haven't heard from him?"
"No," Fai said. "It's been two and a half weeks. His name isn't one any of the missing or confirmed dead lists at the registrar's office, though." He gave the awning one last sweep and tossed the broom to the ground; it landed with a ringing clatter against the bricks. Instead of climbing down, he folded his arms on the top step and let his chin drop.
"Poor Fai," Karen murmured. She set a comforting hand on his ankle. "Chin up. It can't be long - " She cut off abruptly; Fai watched the top of her head swivel to the right and then tilt back.
"Karen?"
"Nothing," she said. "It's nothing." A small smile flitted across her face; she gave his ankle one last comforting pat and turned to the door. "I just remembered something inside."
"Sure." Fai's brow crinkled as he watched her slip away, but still he didn't move. It was crisp out, just cool enough for a sweater, and the sun had barely crested the horizon. He wanted nothing more than to enjoy the weather, but his thoughts always drifted back to Kurogane. He hadn't heard from the soldier since the middle of September, and in truth that made him a scared, nervous wreck. He didn't show his worry, of course, just plastered on a smile and went about his work, but -
"Che," interrupted a gruff voice. "Did you fall asleep up there?"
Fai shot up and around so quickly that he nearly fell off the ladder, and there, mere yards from Fai and his ladder - a man. A man with his arm in a sling, his dress coat tossed lightly over his shoulders, wearing a look of guarded expectation that shot straight to Fai's core.
"Kurogane," Fai breathed, but the sound caught in his throat. The next instant he launched into the air; the ladder went clattering over, and Fai barely caught himself from landing on the other man. Kurogane's crimson eyes locked with his own, and for one heartbeat - two - three - they simply looked at each other. Then Fai scowled.
"I thought you were dead," he said.
"Yeah, well, I had to - " Kurogane started to say, but Fai drew back a fist and slugged the soldier cleanly on the jaw.
"Ow!" Kurogane stumbled back, one hand flying to his face. "What the hell was that for? I'm a wounded war veteran, here, and you can't just go around hitting - "
Fai stepped forward, grabbed the front of Kurogane's uniform, and cut him off again - this time by kissing him. Into the kiss he poured nearly two years of longing and every ounce of devotion that he couldn't express in his letters. Kurogane responded almost immediately in kind, his good arm sliding around Fai's waist and tugging the shorter man even closer.
When they finally broke apart, Fai pulled back and smiled up at Kurogane. "Well, Kuro-tan," he said. "Now you see my dilemma. It seems that somehow while you were away, I managed to fall in love with you."
"Huh," Kurogane said. Then a miracle happened: for the first time, Fai saw Kurogane truly smile - not his usual smirk or even that rarer fierce grin, but an honest, unabashedly gleeful smile.
"That's good," said the soldier, "since I've been discharged and you're stuck with me full-time."
Fai tapped a spidery finger against one of Kurogane's brass buttons. "I think you're in luck. It just so happens that I have an opening for an awning-sweeper..."
ii.
They spent that first evening after Kurogane's return on the Grill's roof. Fai brought up an assortment of bottles, a blanket, and no glasses; as the shadows lengthened and the stars came out to shine, they toasted each other.
"To your safe return!" Fai declared, nearly knocking Kurogane in the head with his upraised bottle. "How did you hurt your arm, anyway?"
Kurogane snatched the wine from Fai's hand and took a long pull. "Some sort of fire spell," he said. "The Cimmerians had war mages."
Fai went still and something indecipherable flitting across his face. He pulled away from Kurogane, enough that the wind gusted between them. "Did I ever tell you why I wasn't drafted?"
"No," said Kurogane. "I assumed your number didn't come up; Hail has a strong army, even now. We're not lacking bodies."
"I was drafted, actually," Fai said. "I petitioned for excuse by rite of bloodline, since I'm the last person in my family." He stole a glance at Kurogane; there was no recrimination on the other's face, though, and Fai relaxed. "Your parents were career military; mine were career pacifists. My mother was - she'd seen some horrible things in her childhood, and had some horrible things done to her. She opposed violence of any sort."
"So you're a pacifist?"
"No," said Fai. "I do believe violence is a last resort, but I won't hesitate to defend myself or those around me. Mom's philosophy did influence me enough that I question any war. In this case - we're really in Cimmeria only because we want their resources. They didn't attack us. Hail's government just wants the new regime to be sympathetic to us, so we can use their trade routes."
Kurogane took another pull from the wine bottle, then reached out a long arm and tugged Fai back against his side. "I don't disagree with you," he said slowly.
"Wait," said Fai. "Let me finish. The other reason I petitioned - they wanted to use me as a war mage. They offered me money, riches, rank, all sorts of things. I refused, but now I wonder if should have accepted - " He touched a hand to Kurogane's sling instead of finishing the thought.
"Idiot," Kurogane growled. "You probably couldn't have helped, anyway. Besides, you stood by your beliefs; that's worth a burn on my arm."
Fai gave him a wry, sideways look. "You think?"
"I know," Kurogane said, and lifted his bottle to Fai's mouth. "Here. Drink." Fai tilted his head back, and Kurogane did his best to pour the wine in the barkeep's mouth. He wasn't entirely successful; red rivulets stained Fai's lips and ran down his chin. Somehow Kurogane found his mouth fastened to the other man's - purely as a matter of sanitation, of course - and by the time they broke apart, Fai looked more like his usual imperturbable self.
"How powerful are you, if they wanted you for a war mage?"
"Powerful enough," Fai said. "I'm not formally trained, but I have...a sense for magic. Intuition." He let himself fall backwards; the shingles were uncomfortable against his back, but the blanket provided enough padding for the time being. He tugged Kurogane down half on top of him, so they were both facing the sky and the soldier's head was tucked beneath Fai's chin.
"Show me some magic?"
"Sometime," Fai promised. His voice was a tenor rumble in Kurogane's ear. "Do you really want to work for me? It's hard to see you doing something so...civilian."
"I can be your bouncer."
"I think the position you're thinking of is maintenance man, actually. I do all the peacekeeping."
"I look more intimidating than you."
"Mm, that's true," Fai said. "It is my restaurant, though."
"Fine. So long as you don't make me dress up and wait tables."
Fai closed his eyes and chuckled. "I don't think you'd be suited to that, anyway. You'd scare away the customers." Kurogane grunted in response, and they both fell silent. The stars were gorgeous and crisp, as crisp as Fai had ever seen them in the City. The moon was waxing, and the night so clear that he felt he could see forever.
"Fai?" Kurogane said at length.
"Yes, Kuro-pon?"
"I...hn. It's...I care about you too, you know."
Fai hid his smile against the soldier's inky hair. "I know, Kuro-pon. I know."
iii.
Soon enough they settled into a routine. Kurogane would arrive early and sweep the awning, then lurk about for the rest of the day while Fai directed business at the Grill. Occasionally Fai would corner Kurogane and saddle him with some task: repairing a table, or restocking the kitchen, or hanging posters advertising some new singer. Late in the evenings Fai would either leave the Grill under Karen's supervision while he and Kurogane went elsewhere, or they'd cloister themselves in the back booth and order one dish after another from the Grill's kitchen. One such evening Fai disappeared for thirty minutes, only to return with a battered deck of cards.
"What're those?"
Fai set the cards on the table and slid into the booth opposite Kurogane. "Tarot cards," he said. "I did promise to show you magic, didn't I?"
Kurogane cocked one skeptical brow. "You can tell the future?"
"My gifts aren't in fortune-telling, but I can do basic divinations." He propped his chin in one hand and poked at Kurogane's cheek with the other. "Shall I do a reading for Kuro-chan?"
"I don't believe in that stuff," Kurogane said, dismissal clear in his voice. At the same time he hadn't moved his gaze from Fai's deck.
Fai laughed and took up the cards. "I'll just do a three-card spread, then. Nothing too fancy."
"Hn." Kurogane leaned back and assumed a sprawl meant to convey his doubt, but forgot to look skeptical once he got caught up in the nimble patter of Fai's fingers as they shuffled the cards. Seven times Fai riffled the deck; then he cut once and dealt three cards, all in a straight line.
"Past, present, and future," Fai explained, tapping each card in succession.
"What does it mean?" Kurogane was leaning forward now, all pretense at haughtier abandoned.
"You have two major arcana cards and one minor arcana," Fai said. "That means you aren't in control of your own fate."
Kurogane huffed at that idea. "And what do the cards mean?"
"Your past is the Seven of Wands," Fai said. "That's valor. Courage through difficulties, fortitude, and advancement."
Kurogane bent over the card. It depicted a man standing with wide-spread legs, wielding what looked like a staff. "Huh," he said. "And the next one?"
"That's The Lovers, your present," Fai said, and then smirked. "Or The Twins. It represents love, new relationships, passion, and connection - but also doubt, choices, or a dilemma."
Kurogane let a sly smile curl across his lips. "I wonder what that's referring to?"
"I do wonder, Kuro-sama," Fai drawled, and set a hand on the last card. "This one is your future. The Wheel of Fortune, reversed."
"Reversed? That means it's upside-down?"
"Mm." Fai nodded and absently drew in his lower lip. "Reversed, The Wheel of Fortune signifies misfortune and unpleasant surprises - but that's temporary, since soon the wheel will turn up. It also means superior forces, a turning point, movement, cycles, and - "
"And what?"
"Fate. Or destiny, I suppose."
Kurogane picked up the card and held it to the light. "You can't really tell anything from a deck of cards, though, right?" He set the card carefully back on the table, then reassumed his casual sprawl. "Not that I believe you could."
"Of course not," Fai said, eyes dancing. "It's a very general divination. You can do more detailed spreads - " He jerked around at a sudden shattering from the bar. One man had another pinned against the counter; a third was raising a plate to crash against the second's head.
"Bar fight," Fai muttered. Kurogane was already on his feet, a hand at his belt, but Fai slid past him with a placating pat. "Let me," he whispered, and then raised his voice. "Gentlemen!" he called. "I'm afraid I have to ask you to leave."
The third man wheeled around, plate still raised. He was rather good-looking, with long hair pulled back in a queue, but there was something wild behind his face. "This ass insulted my brother," he snarled. "Am I just supposed to let that pass?"
Fai smiled. "Of course not. Please, feel free to step outside and murder each other in the street. I won't let you fight in here, however."
The man sneered. "Like you could do anything, lightshoes." He turned and whirled the plate through the air at the same time as the man pinned to the bar shoved his attacker to the ground. Kurogane leapt forward, but Fai grabbed him by the elbow, opened his other palm, and shoved. There was an explosion of light -
And then all three of the men and the plate flew into the air to hang, suspended.
"Gentlemen," Fai said, "and I say that with the utmost irony. You are not welcome here anymore."
"But - " started the long-haired man. Fai flicked a finger, and a rune sketched across the man's lips and sealed them shut.
"Don't come again," he said, and drew the fingers of his outstretched hand together. The door whooshed open, and one - two - three men sailed out, to land the street with an audible thud. Fai sketched another symbol in the air, and the plate flew into his hand.
Kurogane stared.
"Something the matter, Kuro-pi?" Fai produced a rag from his apron and began to polish the plate.
"That," Kurogane said, "was a much better demonstration than the Tarot cards."
iv.
Life wasn't always so harmonious, though; inevitably, they fought. Kurogane was stubborn, Fai hard to pin down, and they were both too used to getting their own way. They'd argued before, of course, but their first real fight began when they were in Fai's little apartment over the Grill. Fai was feeding Nadeshiko; Kurogane was leaning against the wall watching him.
"We should move in together," Kurogane said abruptly.
Fai's head shot up. "Move in together? That's a big step, Kuro-rin."
"We already spend all our time together anyway." Kurogane shrugged. "We might as well split the rent."
"Maybe later," Fai said, and ran a hand over his cat.
"Maybe later?" That was Kurogane's first mistake: trying to push Fai. "Maybe now."
"Maybe not," Fai answered. Kurogane growled and slammed his fist against the wall. He'd always had a hair-trigger temper.
"I don't see why you dodge the subject every time I bring it up!"
"I don't see why you make it such an issue," Fai shot back. He was speaking in the distinct, too-quiet tone that meant he was truly outraged. "I'm not one of your soldiers. You can't just bark orders at me and expect me to fall in line."
"At least I'm not afraid of commitment! You act like I'm going to leave you, or die, or - or get kidnapped off the street, like your - "
"Get out," Fai said.
"I'm not - "
"Get out," Fa repeated. His eyes were ice; Kurogane felt the chill in his bones. "Get out, or I'll make you." Fai started to trace a symbol. One glowing stroke shimmered in the air, and he posed his hand to finish the spell.
Kurogane caved. "Fine," he spat, and spun towards the door. He could feel Fai's glare at his back; it pricked his danger sense and made the hair on the back of his neck rise. "I'll be seeing you then - or not." He made a point of slamming the door behind him.
Back in his own apartment, he paced like a caged lion: nineteen steps from the entry to the back wall, thirty to his bed, thirty back to the wall and nineteen to end up at the entry. "I do not bark orders at him," he snarled. "God, does he not trust anyone?" He whirled, jerked open his closet, and hauled a pile of equipment to the center of the room. From the top shelf he snatched a rag and a jar of polish, then collapsed next to the pile with a huff and began to sort out belts and swords and daggers. Cleaning his military brass was one of the few guaranteed ways to calm his ire.
He managed to work his way through his sword and a set of daggers and was working on his dress coat's buttons when the knock came. A quick glance at the clock confirmed the time; he'd only been away from Fai for two hours, and he could hardly imagine the other man had come to talk. He crossed the room, wiping a smudge of polish from his face as he went, and opened the door.
Fai's face was neither angry nor apologetic; instead it was utterly still. All of his expression, all of his feeling, was concentrated in the rising tide in his eyes.
"What's wrong?" Kurogane asked. This - whatever it was - went beyond their argument. He'd never seen Fai looking so beaten, so fragile, before.
So empty.
"I - you - when you went away, I started cleaning my closet because I was angry, and I found - " Fai choked, and instead of continuing held up a yellowed envelope. Across the front, in tight, precise letters, was written one word: "Fai."
"What is it?" Kurogane asked.
"It's a letter," Fai said, "and a spell. From my mother."
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