Tarot Drabble

Guns and Pocky on Y!gallery posts drabble bits in his journal every now and again to get us up and running on creating.  This is one I picked up and ran with.  It actually might make its way into Maki and Baby’s story.

Baby sat at the table and deftly turned the card with only his thumb and forefinger, placing it back on the table as he looked over it intently. His eyes turned up as a small smile crept over his lips. He watched the dark haired man as he slowly strolled in, rounding the corner of the table to look over the younger boy’s shoulder. “The Wheel of Fate,” he vocalized, catching Baby’s attention with a slight dip of his head. “What’s it mean?”

“The Wheel of Fate means change. What goes up must come down. It means that although things are good now, they can always change or, vice versa, what is bad can always turn back up.”

“It’s unfortunate that the Wheel may turn very slowly.”

Baby nodded, making a sound of agreement. “Sometimes. Mine’s been four years.”

Dark eyes shaded black, turning away from the boy who watched him very intently as he rounded the table again and put quite a bit of distance between the pair of them. He took a breath to steel himself and regain the bearings the simple comment had knocked away so easily. “Surely your time here hasn’t been so bad, has it? You’re well fed, clothed and housed. You’ve gotten your GED and you’re attending classes for college. So far your grades have been excellent and you’re doing well at a part time job. It seems to me you’re doing quite well for yourself.”

Baby smirked and let his eyes fall to the table once again, turning over the next card. A woman bearing a set of scales was presented and the boy’s smile grew as he tapped the card, his fingernail clicking against the plasticized card. He drew a breath to speak and said nothing, waiting for Maki to give him the definition of the card he knew was coming. It took him awhile, but eventually, with a sigh, Maki gave in and sat on the stool opposite the expectant boy and turned his eyes to the card again.

“Justice. You will have a favorable outcome in legal matters.” He knew that wouldn’t sate him, but he still looked into the blue orbs as though he were finished.

“And…?”

“If you know, why are you asking me?” he teased, a faint laugh barely kept in check as he leaned away from the table and Baby who had been leaning into him.

“It also means a return on an unfavorable action. The wrongs committed against me will be righted.”

“And what wrongs have been done against you since coming here, hm?”

“I don’t think you want me to answer that, do you?” Their eyes met and locked, holding for a long time as Baby put his intent into his stare and Maki resisted pulling away. Baby could see the wheels turning in Maki’s mind before their gaze broke and one long finger gestured at the last remaining card.

Baby turned it over, looking at it himself before he finished turning it over. “All Major Arcana,” he commented lightly as he placed The Lovers very carefully on the table.

“Very powerful,” Maki returned, staring holes through the card and the table to the floor.

“The Lovers. Passion. New love and new beginnings.”

His eyes flicked up, meeting Baby’s with a warning. “Baby, The Lovers also means choosing between duty and your heart.”

“It also means if you choose your heart, things could be better. Choosing duty means it all stays the same.”

“It means intense temptation in the face of one’s morals.”

“It also means a change to happier times. Maki, you’re miserable. You deserve–”

“Happier to what end? If it defies my morals, Baby, then I cannot. It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly agreeing ‘neither to harm nor be harmed’, and it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living a pleasant life.”

Baby scowled at him. “One who, while himself seeking happiness, oppresses with violence other beings who also desire happiness, will not attain happiness hereafter.”

“Don’t throw quotes back at me, Baby.”

“You’re only upset because I’m right. How long are you going to ignore this?” His fingers flicked over the table and the three cards laid out before them with meaning.

Maki rose from the stool, not meeting Baby’s eyes as he turned to leave. “Until you get over me,” he replied, taking a card off the top of the stack that was tossed down as he turned and walked out. Baby watched him go until he was out of the room and only then did his eyes drop down to the card he’d laid down.

Baby laughed when he was greeted by The Chariot, tracing the man in the golden cart with his finger. “So we both think we’re gonna win, hm? Well, if we both keep going, one of us is going to win, but which one?” He let his index finger rest over the top card on the stack and took a deep breath to decide rather or not he should turn over the other card. “It could mean Maki’s being insecure, which certainly fits and I have self confidence in spades, so…”

Flirting with it for a moment, he turned over another card and put it atop the other. “Hm. So asking for the wrong reasons, am I? Okay.” Baby took a deep breath, letting it slowly slip out through his nose. He wasn’t happy about the results, but he would accept them. It was time for a new journey, but not so much for Maki. Scowling deeply, Baby reached over for another card and, after several moments fingering the top of the next card, he withdrew his hand and rose with a final long look at the cards and wandered out.