Excerpt: The affairs of Gods/Tarot/Une petite histoire d'amour/Cinnamon Swirl

a good bit from 'tarot.' sporadically capitalized as i ran it through the ms word spell check.
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"why did you want to go to the desert?:" manuel demanded, staring at Vasili. "or, rather, why do you want me to go to the desert with you?"
Vasili sighed. "I simply wish to introduce you to my family and show you my home," he said once more. "and your lady employer has given you leave to go away, so why should you not come with me?"
Manuel grimaced. "because people might notice?"
"they know that we are friends. it is hard to conceal that we know each other. they need not know anything more."
"and your family?"
"my family will know no more than the people of this city."
Manuel sighed. "I hate heat," he complained.
Vasili laughed. "if you hate heat, then why do you live in this city?" he wanted to know.
Manuel shrugged. "I don't know," he muttered. "I didn't consider the climate when I chose to come here, more's the pity."
"you are saying that the heat would have kept you in your mountain town?"
Manuel shrugged again. "it might have made me choose a different city."
"why did you choose to come to dawn valley?"
"why did you?"
"my family gave me a map and said go."
"my family gave me a map and said please don't. I went anyway."
Vasili laughed. "you disobeyed your family in coming?" he wanted to know.
Manuel nodded. "I did," he agreed. "they wanted me to stay and become a shoemaker like my father." he shuddered. "I had no intention of doing that. I wanted to study, to do great things. so I came here. I cannot say that I am sad that I did it."
"no, nor can I," Vasili agreed. he sighed, moving his weight so as to sit more comfortably in the chair. they had had dinner together, for once, and Manuel enjoyed the company. he could not help wishing they did that more often. but there was little point in bringing it up, as neither was at liberty to see the other often. it was not that society condemned them -- society would, if they knew, but both Manuel and Vasili went to great lengths to keep them from knowing -- but rather that both had demanding jobs. they simply did not have the time to meet more often, and they certainly did not often have the time for such long get togethers.
"why are you going back now?" Manuel wanted to know. "you haven't been back in years, have you?"
Vasili shook his head. "no," he admitted. "but my little sister is becoming a woman soon, and she would have me at the ceremony."
"there is a ceremony required to become a woman?"
"in the desert, there is a ceremony required for everything," Vasili said, amused.
"truly?"
"truly."
Manuel shook his head. "that is astounding," he said firmly. "how do you have time to get anything done, if you are forever having ceremonies?"
Vasili grinned, flashing white teeth. "the days are also longer," he admitted.
"now you are mocking your poor uneducated friend," Manuel accused.
"I certainly am not! the days are longer in the desert than they are in the mountains. it is a well known fact."
"how does it work, then?"
Vasili shrugged. "don’t' ask me,' he said. "I am not the one who chose the weather. but it is a fact. you cannot dispute facts." he paused, then added, "well, perhaps you could. I would not put it past you to do so. but I will not dispute facts, and that should be enough for you."
Manuel laughed,. "so it must be," he agreed. "so the days are longer. is there anything else I should now about the desert?"
"nothing you will not know if you go," Vasili countered. "if you are interested in the desert, the best way to experience it is to see it for yourself."
Manuel sighed. "but I have no desire to see the desert," he complained. "I simply wish to learn about it."
"then you must find a different teacher."
"one who has not been there?"
"one who has been there and left."
"what is wrong with leaving?'
"those who truly love the desert never leave."
"you left."
"I never said that I was a good teacher for you."
Manuel sighed. "I suppose not," he admitted. then he shook his head. "but I will still not go to the desert with you, Vasili. true, my lady of Dawn Valley has given me holiday, but I had intended to use it to pay visit to my own family. surely you could come there instead."
Vasili shook his head emphatically. "I detest the cold," he informed Manuel with a shudder.
"and I the heat."
"heat is not as bad as you think."
"neither is cold."
"there are ways to combat heat."
"there are ways to combat cold."
Vasili sighed. "I see that I will not convince you," he said with a sigh.
"no, you will not," Manuel agreed. he grinned. "so you needn't try."
"you know that I will anyway."
"you usually do."
"and you allow yourself to be convinced."
"I shan't this time."
"we shall see."
Manuel made a face. "I do not appreciate your thinly veiled threats," he complained.
Vasili’s eyes widened. "threats?" he asked in mock horror. "I have made no threats of which I am aware. please tell me of these that I might apologize most humbly to you."
Manuel sighed. "stop being an ass," he ordered. "you know as well as I do what you said, and we both know that it was a threat never to speak to me again if I were to decline your invitation."
"I said no such thing," Vasili insisted.
"you did, though."
"perhaps you misunderstood me."
"perhaps you wished me to understand you differently."
"perhaps you are being aggravating."
"perhaps you are being the same."
"perhaps you simply wish to put me on the defensive."
"perhaps you have something about which to feel guilty."
"perhaps you are being unreasonable."
"perhaps you are as well."
Vasili sighed. "can we stop now?" he asked tiredly. "your perhapses are making me ill to the head."
Manuel nodded gravely. "by all means, I will stop then," he assured Vasili. "I should not want to make you ill to the head."
Vasili grimaced. "far, far too late for that," he said.
"I apologize."
"no you do not."
"of course I do! I may not be sorry for it, but I do apologize."
"and if I do not accept it?"
"then I will be forced to leave this house in shame. you would not wish that cruel fate upon me, would you?"
"I most certainly would."
"you are an evil man."
"I realize that."
"what have I ever done to you?"
"refused to visit me in the desert,"
Manuel sighed. "Vasili, it is not that I do not care for you. I do. you are a good friend to me, and I do not wish to cause you grief, but I cannot go to the desert with you."
Vasili sighed right back. "and what if I promised you that we would only go out at night?"
"night is for sleeping or engaging in activities which are best done when others are sleeping," Manuel said firmly. "if I am to do things, I shall do them during the daylight."
"then you will have to bear with the heat."
"or you could come to the mountains with me."
"I cannot. I have an event to attend."
"the ceremony?"
"the ceremony."
Manuel shook his head. "I do not understand this fixation with ceremonies," he declared.
Vasili shrugged. "I am sorry that you do not approve of the custom," he said. "but I did not create it, and I cannot change it. my sister is becoming a woman, and I would have you attend the ceremony with me and meet my people."
"and what will your people think of me?"
"they will find you uncouth, uneducated, and barbarous. I feel it will be an unrivaled success."
Manuel blinked. "if that is how they judge their friends, I would hate to see how they do their enemies."
"by removing the head neatly from the rest of the body," Vasili said flatly.
to this, Manuel could find no other response but, "oh."