Ruinous Fortune

[ruinous_fortune]

He was leaning outside his door, waiting.

Gorlim had to come out sooner or later.

And when the Man did, the card would be waiting.

Ruin could wait a very, very long time.

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[gorlim]

Ruin doesn't have to wait too long, though if Gorlim knew it he might have decided to take a stroll in the garden for an hour or two just to rub it in. But sooner than later, he comes 'round the corner from the stairway, slowing as he approaches just a little when he sees his double standing there, but keeping a steady pace.

He stops in front of his door and doesn't even pretend not to know the card wants to talk to him.

"What is it?" he says shortly. "We're done."

[ruinous_fortune]

Ruin smiles.

"Yes. We are."

His fingers touch his flesh.

"He did it. I wondered if he would foul it all up with his sense of Duty." Ruin's eyes meet Gorlim's. "Are you happy now?"

[gorlim]

Gorlim looks straight back into his eyes. There is no fear. There is anger, but perhaps Ruin understands that. And there is... a kind of understanding.

"Yes," he answers truthfully. "As any man can be, I suppose. People rarely realize such generalities. We muddle it all up with doubts and hypothetical considerations. But yes. I am happy. You have done me a great service," he adds slowly, but sincerely. "In your way. And I thank you for it."

[ruinous_fortune]

Ruin leans back against his door, crossing his arms.

"I didn't have to do it the way I did."

Headtilt.

"But it was appropriate for you. It was time." He produces his tarot deck. "And now... finally... you've drawn a new card."

[gorlim]

Gorlim breaks his gaze to look down at the deck. He raises a brow. "Oh?" he asks simply. Again the piercing grey stare into Ruin's mirrored image. "I trust you have your reasons for doing what you did to me," he says, and again there is that undeniable anger. "All of it. I won't even demand to know what they are. I know enough to know there are some reasons I wasn't meant to know." No MANY reasons, granted, but in this case, he would trust anyone who told him that if he doesn't know already, he shouldn't. "And I don't think I want to know whether you're implying that it could have been better or it could have been worse. Either way it's almost nice to know that things won't change between us." He gives a smirk, mocking right back with a touch of a sneer, but in spite of the face...

...he might even mean it.