Medusa

Medusa

In the middle of the darkness, he waited.

He felt at ease in the deserted room, enjoying the peace only solitude could bring. He had learnt long ago, that only in moments such as this could he drop his perfectly sculpted mask and achieve a degree of freedom.

A kind of freedom he wasn't allowed to enjoy otherwise.

He felt like a lonely Medusa who would turn into stone anyone who dared to look at his true face, wishing for brave Perseus who would make the beast surrender and shatter the façade in a million shards.

But this wasn't the time for bitter reflections. This was the time for waiting.

So he waited.

He relaxed, sat on the floor, his back against a cold stone wall and silvery eyes fixed on the door at the opposite side of the room. The comforting silence surrounding him like a warm blanket was only broken by tiny raindrops hitting against the glass of a lonely window and the ticking of an old clock.

Right then for him, seconds lasted hours.

If the Gods knew what mercy was, they would listen to his silent prayer, repeated again and again in his turbulent mind.

Don't let him come. Please, don't let him come.

But the celestial divinities had long ago forgotten how to take pity in mere mortals, and the door creaked when it was opened.

Emerald eyes found grey ones, and then, for a second suspended in time, only they existed.

Blinking, he turned his silvery gaze from the newcomer and fixed it on the wall near the door. There was still a chance...

"I'm here," was the hesitant greeting from the boy at the entrance.

"You've always been terribly good at stating the obvious. It's a wonder anybody bother to listen to what you have to say, honestly."

The harshness in his voice was carefully calculated. If the Gods didn't know what mercy was he would have to fabricate his own.

Insult me and leave. You've still got time. It's not too late to turn around and forget this room. To forget me.

Green eyes narrowed for a moment, but he knew it hadn't been his words what had caused such a reaction but the intention hidden behind them.

He had the distinct sensation of being an open book for the other to read at will.

Those beautiful emeralds had cut with their sharp edges right through his illusion.

Soft footsteps thundered in the room while the dark haired boy crossed the stance towards him, but he refused to take his eyes from the stone wall and follow the graceful movements.

He felt trapped yet did nothing to run away.

The other boy let himself slide down the cold wall until he was sitting by his side, shoulders touching, fingers barely brushing.

But still, he didn't move.

He wouldn't have been able even if he had wanted to.

"And you," the other's voice was made of steel wrapped in velvet, "were always amazingly good at blending situations to fit your own likings. But that won't work now."

He let out a silent sigh, realizing that every possible chance this had not to happen, had vanished.

"Well, yes. You know me. Always the manipulative bastard. Or so they say". Feigned lightness coloured his voice. The façade was back if only for an instant.

"No, I don't really think I know you at all."

A pause heavy with sadness.

"But I would like to." The indomitable determination that always had characterized the other boy shone as he stated the heartfelt wish.

He allowed himself a sad smile.

No you really don't. You'd have to face the beast then, and that's something you don't want.

Or need.

"That doesn't matter anymore. Because there is no backing out now."

A silence. Only then he turned and silver found emerald.

"I guess there isn't." A little smile that held the promise of softness and bare skin, and his blood sang in his veins.

Gone was the little streak of altruism he had felt before the other had arrived. Extinct was the wish for things to remain how they had been before.

The safety of the already known replaced by the forbidden sweetness of that yet to discover.

Now he wanted it all. And he wouldn't take no for a response.

A pale hand traced the delicate line of the raven-haired boy's jaw and a shiver was its reward.

What he saw in the green depths that burned him made his world swirl in bittersweet wonder: Desire, passion, fire and... hope.

The first three were perfect to describe whatever there was going on between them, the intensity filling the air every time they were in the same vital space. But hope...

Only someone with so much innocence and faith in the world could hold hope for them and what they had together.

He knew the rules better. There was no room for that feeling in their private world. Theirs was the night and lonely rooms, the fire and the ashes that would be left behind.

But nothing more.

Hope was a shining sun and promises that would be kept, open caresses and shared joy deprived of mar.

And that, they couldn't afford.

He didn't need to be a seer to know that the other boy would try to be a light for his darkness, not knowing that there was darkness that couldn't be enlightened and swallowed the light instead.

But he wasn't one to not use an advantage given in his own favour. If the other one chose to only see what he wanted to see and lose himself in delusions of perfection, let it be. He had been taught to never reject what was offered in a silver plate.

Not when it was something he deeply craved.

"I have the feeling that there will come a day when we will both regret this." Green depths clouded with sad foreboding.

"Do you regret it now?"

"No."

It was amazing that such a little word could hold a world of meaning.

"Good. Because Now is what only matters."

Tomorrow doesn't exist. Not for us. Never for us.

They shared a look, and a breath and as the clock ticked its way into the night, lips joined in the darkness.

The lonely Medusa joyfully welcomed in his arms the arrival of his heroic Perseus...

... and in the middle of the night the monster put his waiting to an end.

*Finis*