Caught in Possession

The Joker Card

Warning: Threat to life of main character, major injury, firearms.

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'I had to find you, tell you I need you
Tell you I set you apart
Tell me your secrets and ask me your questions
Oh, let's go back to the start'

Coldplay - The Scientist

Let's go back to the start 👀.....

~~~

Mew morphing into Gollum, powered and sustained only by the shining, smooth silver fantasy of the ring that weighed nudgingly in the pocket of every jacket he wore. Yet far from being the darkness within, this ring was inner light against the darkness without.

Escapism perhaps - as he and Gulf rode zombie-like on the grisly, cobwebbed rails of the Haunted House funfair train of police evidence boards, interview rooms and strategy meetings, watched grim-faced, hidden hands tightly clasped beneath the coffee table as a team of men with dark caps and blank eyes installed electronic security devices about their apartment home - but in those late Autumn days, the elder found himself consumed, utterly overtaken, by an irrepressible desire to marry Gulf Kanawut.

Had he, like Tolkien's tragic former hobbit, lost grip of reality? The pair had been faens for only a few short months - and together in any form for just less than a year - yet, from that apathetic, eternally cynical, broken man who wanted nothing, Mew now needed more. Needed...everything.

"Are you sure this isn't just some weird way of overcompensating for the guilt you feel for dragging Nong deeper into the Lang shit pile? I mean...you don't even believe in marriage Mew", Mild attempted to reason over video call one morning as Gulf warmed up with the team.

"No its...I can't explain. Shia, it tortures me that those bastards call him theirs. Everything's different with Gulf. In some way it was from the first minutes I laid eyes on him - I tried so hard to hold back and keep him at arm's length. But we weren't...meant to be apart, we're each others' happiness, solace, peace. And now we're too far gone and I just want to be together with him in every way that I can. Fuck, if I could get him pregnant and he wanted it then I'd be dreaming of that too, you know?-"

"-Hoyyyy! My ears! Ok I get it, enough. You're still crazy in love. Or crazy. Go ahead and propose to your man, but just...be careful. There's a lot going on around you - stay safe, focused, both of you. You'll end up blindsided and caught in possession"

And Mew knew it to be true. His love - his truest strength - could be his greatest weakness.

But suddenly that suave, most confident and unruffled man was clumsy, awkward, bumbling even. What if Gulf said...no? Words tangled, steps uncoordinated and uncertain - secretly transporting the black velvet jewellery box about for weeks, as every planned, grandstand romantic moment slipped away, every heart-melting, confessional opportunity lost.

Until there came a day, ten sunrises beyond that on which Mew had seen Aat Lang embrace his faen up on stage, struggling to suppress the bitter bile that rose and gargled in furious, physical retaliation.

'Today's the day, Suppasit', Mew told his bathroom mirror reflection determinedly, dark circles of lost sleep shadowing, hands gripping the porcelain sink below so tightly that knuckles blanched to white. Wild eyed as Gollum once again, familiar weight in the inner lining of his suit blazer. Yes, he would ask Gulf to be his husband at dinner that evening - once the day's checklist of important deeds had been ticked off...

Because the pair had a meeting scheduled with Kittichat Jongcheveevat at the training ground out in Cobham, Surrey. A united front - Gulf would emphatically return torn leaves of the multiple bribery cheques he had received via post following their previous confrontation, Mew set to reveal to his father that he would henceforth sever all personal and financial ties.