The World's Start

Jack

Jack was livid. It didn't matter how many times he had warned Leo about the Deals, his boyfriend just wouldn't listen. And now he had screwed up everything --- again.

"You've never met a Deal you didn't want to make!" Jack didn't care that he was shouting in the cafeteria. There was a time, not long ago, where he didn't use to be so shameless, but he felt better now. Acting reckless got the job done in ninety percent of the cases, or so he'd told himself.

"Some Deals turn out alright," Leo said. "Like the one where we're supposed to date. Though I thought it would do more magical things, like changing your mind about me, or making you more passive..."

Well, now Jack was ready to draw the line. There were some things not even he would talk about in the cafeteria. He wasn't really shameless --- he had just learnt to hide his shame, and his carefulness, for the things that really deserved it.

He remembered, feeling his stomach dropping, how it felt when he'd asked Leo what he had given up for the Deal.

'Nothing,' he'd say. 'Of course... there is a catch. One might say an expiration date of sorts. Technically, it ought to stop when you fall in love with somebody.'

And that had been it, because they both knew too well Jack was never going to fall in anybody. To Leo's great amusements, Jack had always considered committed relationships one of the most dangerous things in the world. He didn't believe in forever, and he'd seen in his parents how painful and disastrous was the aftermath.

So, as long as he knew, he might have stayed with Leo as long as they lived. Of course, even Leo would one day get bored of him --- the moment he'd realize he wasn't a discounted cheap imitation of his father somebody could buy in a store. 

And that was good. Jack wasn't going to miss Leo. His life would go back to the way it was. Alone, and occasionally hooking up with someone.

"Heath ruined everything!" Leo complained. "You should be fighting with him, right now! The Rogues is just us two, and, if one of the task was retrieving the stone, that means it leaves just you alone for our team!"

"Elvors aren't stupid," Jack had to admit. "If they decided it was better for you to never get your hands on the Stone, they might have been right. Actually, I'm more interested in the other things they said. The fact that you'd already seen it once. Maybe at school, or in a mission? That way, other students might have glimpsed it, too."

"You should thank me," Heath joined the conversation. Jack sighed but the cafeteria was only this big. If you talked loud enough, there was no point for other people there to pretend they hadn't heard you.

"I just stopped him, because Elvors always require things of the same, or higher value. They probably would have gone for his heart, or something. But since this Stone is so magical and rare, that might have been enough, too."

"You are also magical and rare," Jack said. Then he added, out of habit. "And still disappointing."

Deep down, he knew Heath wasn't wrong. The Elvors might have wiped away entire bloodlines in exchange for something like that. It wasn't out of their power --- it seemed like nothing was --- and it certainly fit their attitude. Deaths had resulted from Deals before.

"Okay, I might have been rushed," Leo complained. "But it's not my fault if making Deals is better than gambling. I mean, if you think about it, you could make a Deal to always win your gambles, whereas when you make Deals, nothing is certain. The adrenaline is sky-high."

"Talking Deals gives me an headache," Jack stopped him. It was true. Jack had tried smoothing over his bad choices with layers of nonchalant clothing and big-mouthed statements, but there were some things you could not come back from.