Username: 
Password:    
Remember Me

Search by :  Username E-mail Region Interest AOL IM ICQ Number Yahoo! ID MSN Username Jabber

Alyssa Hamilton is Heaven's soldier. (four_leaves) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-05-06 21:06:00

Who: Alyssa, Damian, and Flemeth.
What: Tarot reading!
When: Saturday afternoon.
Where: Flemeth's shop.
Rating: PG-13 for naughty language.
Status: Complete!



Alyssa and Damian were just strolling around, enjoying the afternoon. She’d made him get ice cream, and as they walked, she smiled at him. It was one of those rare days where she wanted to be out in the sunshine.

But as they wandered, she saw an odd looking store with a neon sign in the front that mentioned tarot readings. “Damian! We should do that, that’s just such a California thing. I feel like I should do it, just to say I have.”

Sure they went out on dates every now and then, but for the most part, they usually hung out at the house in one of their bedrooms, watching movies and cuddling, so the fact that they were out was actually a big thing. As they walked, he held her hand with one hand and the ice cream he’d gotten with the other and hadn’t really been paying attention the the buildings they were passing, so when she pointed out a sign, it took him a moment to realize where she was pointing.

“Really? Isn’t that stuff all crap?” Damian had never really believed in palm readings or physics, so he was somewhat skeptical of the thought of going to a tarot card reading.

“Probably, but we’re not about to ask them medical advice, now are we.” She grinned, thumbing the crosswalk button, leaning against the pole and smiling at him. She liked being out with him, holding his hand, just being normal. For so much of their relationship she’d had some sort of terrible drama, and she felt rather guilty about things. It was nice to give Damian the kind of afternoon he deserved.

Damian wasn’t so sure about wasting money on something like a tarot card reading, but Alyssa seemed excited about it and he liked to do thing that made her happy, so he decided to just go with it, “Okay, lets do it. But don’t start freaking out if the death card comes up or anything.” He smirked and ate the rest of his ice cream cone as the light changed for them to walk.

She rolled her eyes. “Given my life, I wouldn’t be surprised if it came up a hundred times.” She beeped his nose with the end of her ice cream cone before giggling and running across the crosswalk. She figured she’d wait to finish her ice cream, so she took another second to eat it, smiling outside the door.

“Well, I’m not looking forward to it coming up.” Damian made a face when Alyssa got ice cream on his nose and he wiped it away as he followed her across the street, “Do that again and I’m not buying you ice cream again.” He stuck his tongue out at her then pulled the door, of the shop, open for her and waited for her to go in ahead of him.

“Aww, but you love me.” Alyssa pouted as she entered the shop. “Woah.” Incense hit her nose first, then she noticed that it looked just like every New Age hippie shop in films looked. Maybe there was a template or something.

A bell had jangled over the door when it moved, and a blonde head peeped out from another room. “Oh, hello, may I help you?” The woman was in her middle years, though which decade wasn’t readily discernable.

“That’s just what I make you think.” Damian smirked and let the door close behind him once Alyssa had entered, “Woah is right. That’s pretty intense.” He wrinkled his nose as the various scents of incense hit him as well. Somehow the shop was exactly what Damian had expected upon seeing the Tarot Reading sign.

When the woman appeared, Damian turned towards her and ran a hand through his hair, “Uh, yeah. She wants a tarot card reading.” He pointed at Alyssa despite the fact that he knew she would more than likely add on that they wanted the reading.

“Mmhm.” She squeezed Damian’s hand, blinking at the woman. She was actually really pretty, and Alyssa smiled. “Um. I was wondering, Do you have time for a reading?” Suddenly feeling nervous and not really knowing why, Alyssa moved closer to Damian.

“Hmm, a reading, eh?” Flemeth smiled to herself, moving more fully into the room. She wore a billowing navy dress made out of gauzey material. “So I do. Sit, young lovers. Did you want a reading about if you should bring a shotgun to the wedding?” Flemeth laughed at her own joke.

Damian’s brows rose at her comment, not entirely sure how to take it, “Uh...no, just a reading.” The woman seemed familiar somehow, as if he’d seen her somewhere before. He squeezed Alyssa’s hand as she moved closer to him.

Flemeth nodded, leaning forward to examine Damian’s blue eyes. “You, sweetheart, need to laugh on occasion. That, dearie, was a joke.” She shuffled the deck, humming to herself.

Damian’s brows furrowed slightly and he tried not to flinch as she moved closer, not wanting her to see that he was slightly unnerved by her. He wasn’t entirely sure what to say to that and glanced over at Alyssa then back at the woman and simply watched as she shuffled the deck before saying anything, “So, what do we need to do?”

“Just need to finish shuffling. Cut the deck a few times, and then let me know the context of your question.” Flemeth sat back, smiling at Alyssa. “He’s cute.”

“I know,” Alyssa beamed.

A question? Damian didn’t know they needed to ask a question and he couldn’t help but flush slightly as the woman spoke to Alyssa. Damian had seen tarot readings on tv and in movies, so he knew how to cut the deck, but he hadn’t known anything about the question, so he glanced at Alyssa, “What do you wanna know?”

Alyssa hesitated, and Flemeth chuckled. “I know. You want to know what young lovers always want to know.” She took the deck and laid the cards out in a cross formation, smiling as she did so. A cat jumped into her lap, and she pet it gently.

Damian was tempted to ask what question that was, but he thought that might make him sound kind of lame, besides, he had an idea of what question that was. “We just....well, we’ve never done this before.” He said, blue eyes glancing from the deck then back to the woman as he waited for her to start flipping cards.

Alyssa smiled, looking at Damian. “Relax, it’s okay.” She kissed his knuckles before snuggling into his side.

Flemeth noted that the boy was a little squirrely, but paid it little mind. “So, each of the cards’ placement means something. And each of the cards stand for something universal. Honestly, they’re a tool to help you think about things. They’re not going to tell you about the future, they’re just gonna make you realize things you already know.” Flemeth smiled. “I might sell hippie bullshit, but this isn’t. This is psychology meets Joseph Campbell.”

Flipping over the middle card, Flemeth grinned. “Well, for young lovers, this is good. I assume you two want to know where your relationship is heading. This is the Star card. I take it you two are in a pretty good place in terms of your relationship?”

Damian was glad that he wasn’t doing this alone and squeezed Alyssa’s hand as she snuggled into him. He listened to what the woman was saying as she explained how the reading worked and when she turned over the first card and spoke, he nodded. Which question he was responding to, he wasn’t sure. Probably both. “Yeah. Now we are.” At least Damian hoped they were. So much had happened in such a short amount of time and he hoped that they were past all of the drama.

“We are,” Alyssa agreed. She kissed Damian’s shoulder, beaming at him. She was quite pleased that they’d gotten to that point; it had taken a lot of effort to do so.

Flemeth flipped the second card. “The knight of wands. Is there someone influencing your relationship? A man who’s integrity first, smarts second? Someone kind of lingering on?”

Alyssa blinked. “Oh, bollocks, that’s creepy.”

Damian’s eyes widened slightly as he glanced from the card then to Flemeth and finally to Alyssa. He didn’t know what to say in response and in the end simply turned back to Flemeth, waiting for the next card to be turned over, but at the same time, not sure if he wanted to know.

The old woman chuckled. “Well, that answers that.” She flipped the third card. Then she bust out laughing. “The ace of wands is the foundation of your problems.” She couldn’t help it, she just kept giggling. “Okay, so this is the phallus card. Which of you fucked the integrity guy? ‘Cause I’m guessing he still wants you. And you.” Flemeth pointed at Damian. “I’m guessing you let your own phallic pride get in the way. Jealousy is bad.”

If Damian didn’t know what to say with the last card, this time he was completely speechless and felt a mixture of shock, embarrassment and jealousy all at once. He had spent the last few weeks telling himself that Logan wasn’t a threat anymore because he was dating Velma now or something, but hearing that he still wanted Alyssa, even if it was from a tarot card, didn’t really help.

Alyssa looked at Damian. “Listen to her. Jealousy is bad. This isn’t about Logan, this is about you being a knob-end.” She suddenly felt flush, and she folded her arms. “I don’t know if he still wants to shag me, probably! He wants to shag everything! He’d shag a canteloupe if I brought one over! But Damian, I love you, I picked you. He’s got a family - he loves Velma madly, and she’s my mate. I wouldn’t touch him now even if I wanted to. Which I don’t.” She almost shook.

Flemeth blinked. She wasn’t touchin’ that one. flipping another card, she smiled. “The past, strength. One of you has had to be too strong for the other one. That’s going to pass. Whichever of you has had hard times and had to tough through them, well, the other one gets to be the hero a bit more now. I’m guessin’ you get to give over the reigns, Red.” Flemeth laughed at the little spitfire.

The wave of emotions that had washed over him subsided as Alyssa spoke and Damian took a deep breath. He knew what she was saying was true and he knew, deep down, that she was over Logan. He knew that he was the one she wanted and not Logan. He just needed to keep that in mind more often and not let little things like this set him off. “I know. I’m sorry.” He leaned over and pressed a kiss to Alyssa’s cheek.

As the next card was turned over, Damian frowned slightly, wondering what exactly she could be talking about. Bellatrix was still out there somewhere and even though the older woman hadn’t bothered Alyssa in sometime, he still worried about her coming back and doing something to Alyssa.

Alyssa kissed Damian lightly, smiling to herself. It made Flemeth smile.

“So, this is what’s on your mind now - the three of hearts. Miscommunication. Wanting to be understood. I think uh. We just saw what that’s about.” So she flipped another card, smiling. “Influences coming into play - justice. The truth coming into light. Oh-kay, just got that one too. Basically, you guys are making my job too easy.” Another card flipped. “This is how you two are dealing with your relationship - the Hermit. You’re focused on your own heads and hearts, not each other. Which is stupid. Son, listen to your lady. Red, talk louder and more often so he’ll hear you.”

Honestly, Damian had thought this was all going to be a crock of shit, but so far it was all pretty much accurate. He’d known that they still had some things to work through, but the fact that the cards were picking up on exactly what it was blew his mind. “Yeah, we’re still working on all that. It’s only been a little more than two months that we’ve been together.” He still couldn’t believe that so little time had actually gone by since they started dating. It felt like so much longer.

Flemeth smiled. “Honestly, that kind of thing is something all relationships have to do constantly. Take it from someone who’s been in a lot of ‘em.” The older woman flipped over another card. “Someone who can influence things for the better. The King of Wands. Someone with male energy who is stable, enthusiastic, steady.”

Blinking, Alyssa looked at Damian. “You must know him, because I surely don’t.”

Damian frowned at that. He didn’t really know many guys and he glanced over at Alyssa, “Only guys I know are Bran and Scoot though.” Yes, he included Scoot, because as far as he was concerned, his friend was every bit of a guy as he was despite what gender he had physically been born as.

When he thought about it, he wondered if it could mean Bran, because if there was one thing that the other boy was, it was enthusiastic and when Damian had gone to him when he’d been worried about his and Alyssa’s relationship, he’d been calm and collected while Damian hadn’t been. “Do you think it could be Bran?”

Alyssa nodded. “Bran’s a rock.” She smiled, tucking her hair behind her ears. “And I know you’re close to Scoot, but Bran’s your husband, yeah?”

It was Flemeth’s turn to almost spittake. “Your hopes or fears,” she said loudly, plowing ahead. “Nine of pentacles. You want to be successful and prosperous. Everyone wants that though, so this is kind of a gimmie.” The last card. “Okay, so this card is the summary. The Queen of Swords. Clarity. Understanding. Getting your point across. This could be a woman, probably Red.” She folded her arms and looked at Damian. “Her. Listen. No charge for this one, it was too easy. Now shoo, go have sex or do whatever it is kids your age do nowadays.”

Damian couldn’t help but chuckle at the comment about Bran. He was quite lucky to have a friend like Bran, considering how they had met. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

When the woman turned over the next cards and explained them, Damian wasn’t too surprised, however he was surprised when she said there was no charge. “Um, thanks.” He flushed slightly when she told them to go have sex and got to his feet, still holding Alyssa’s hand.

Alyssa couldn’t help but laugh at Damian’s blush, smiling and bowing her head to the woman. “I appreciate it.” Looking up at Damian, Alyssa squeezed his hand. “Come on, let’s go home.”