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"Do a reading for me," Nadia said.
The magician laughed outright, looking up at her from where their head was resting in her lap. "Why should I?"
"Because I would like one," Nadia insisted, trying to hide her smile. She batted her eyelashes at them and spoke in a sweet, needling tone. "Please, Lore."
"I can't," Lore said with a heavy sigh. Their hand lifted, gestured vaguely. "The arcana is all the way across the room, and I'm very comfortable here."
"You are such a stubborn little thing," she said, unable to keep the fondness from her voice. Then she rolled Lore off her lap.
The magician cursed as their face hit the mattress, then grumbled as they dragged themself off the bed and stalked across the room.
"Thank you, Lore," Nadia said serenely.
"You're a tyrant," Lore declared as they returned to the bed with the cards in their hands. Nadia watched them climb onto the mattress, marveled at the languid curves of their body as they crawled toward her. "A dictator."
They settled themself across from Nadia, silk-covered legs crossed as they began to shuffle the cards. They watched her as they did it, grinning when Nadia blushed at their direct stare. "A despot!"
"Oh, hush." Nadia watched them shuffle, admiring the lacquer on their neatly trimmed nails. Dark purple, with careful gold lines to give the impression of feathers. Nadia had created the design herself, knowing Lore's fondness for feather imagery. She remembered watching as Lore's nails were painted, beaming when Lore's face lit up. It was always so rewarding to spoil her magician.
"Nadia?"
"Hm?" Nadia looked up at Lore's face, her face heating at the smug look she found there. They were always so pleased with themself when they drove her to distraction. "Did you say something?"
"What do you want to ask the cards?" Lore repeated patiently.
Nadia took a deep breath. "Who are you?"
Lore nearly dropped the deck. "What?"
The magician usually had an air of certainty about them -- was typically unfazed by the strange and bizarre elements that seemed to saturate their life -- but now they looked utterly bewildered. They looked almost frightened, green eyes wide and lips parted in a soft 'O' of shock.
"I want the cards to tell me about you," Nadia said.
Lore bit their lip. "I don't know if that's a good idea." But their hands had slowly begun to shuffle the arcana again.
"Why not?"
"It hurts to remember," Lore said, which would have sounded maudlin with anyone else. Nadia winced.
"Ah. Of course. Forgive me, Lore -- I, of all people, should have thought of that."
Lore's lips twitched into a smirk, some of the relaxed confidence returning to their face. "I will forgive you -- but only this once."
Their shuffling picked up speed, regained its artistry and flair. Nadia smiled.
"How magnanimous."
Lore raised the cards high, letting them cascade into their other hand in a waterfall of magic. Their eyes were distant, unfocused. "I am."
"Lore?" Nadia asked, but Lore didn't look at her, focused entirely on the arcana.
"I am magnanimous," Lore agreed. They flicked a card into the air, let it drop back into the deck. "I am selfish. I am the line where opposites meet."
The cards were fanned out across the sheets, scooped back up into clever hands. "I am where the divine breathes into the mundane. I am the ascent from ignorance to enlightenment. I am the balancing of ideas, the keeper of compromise, the eye of the storm. I am--"
They plucked a single card out of the deck, showed it to Nadia without looking, and the card with the angel wings read--
"Temperance," Lore breathed. They were flushed, breathing heavily, their feral grin cutting across their face. For a moment Nadia was speechless, entranced by the power that seemed to radiate from her magician, until she noticed the droplet of blood dripping from their nose. It slid over their black-painted lips, and Nadia let out a small cry of alarm.
"Lore! You're bleeding!"
Their eyelids fluttered, then they slid the card back into the deck and reached up to swipe at the blood with the back of their trembling hand. "Ah. Unfortunate."
Nadia practically sprang off the bed, pulling Lore to their feet and guiding them over to the washbasin. "Are you alright? I'm so sorry -- I should never have asked--"
"I'm alright," Lore said mildly, but let Nadia fuss over them without complaint.
"Does it hurt? Do you need to lie down? I'll make you the tea, for our headaches," Nadia said, pleased to see that the blood had stopped flowing.
"I'm alright," Lore repeated, chuckling. Nadia moved to make the tea, but Lore grasped her hand. "Really. I'm fine."
Nadia gave them a scrutinizing look, then a weak smile. "If you're certain, I will believe you."
Lore tilted their chin up at a cocky angle, once again at ease and confident. There was fondness in their gaze. "It's easier, with you."
She faltered, her eyebrows drawing together in confusion. "What's easier?"
"Magic. And -- remembering," Lore said. They took both of Nadia's hands in theirs, their thumb brushing over her knuckles. Their green eyes were glowing with admiration, with affection. "You make it easier to push myself, Nadia. Easier to overcome obstacles. Thank you for that."
Nadia blushed as she looked away. "Perhaps I should go easier on you, but -- if you think it helps, then... you're quite welcome."
Lore smiled, then let go of Nadia's hands to cover their enormous yawn. Nadia chuckled.
"You should rest, dear Lore." She pushed a loose strand of their lavender hair out of their eyes, then cupped their cheek in her hand. Their skin heated under her touch, and Nadia leaned down to murmur in their ear. "You've done so well for me tonight -- you deserve a break."
She let her lips brush their cheek as she pulled away, and Lore averted their eyes. "Yes, I'll -- I'll see myself to my room."
"I would be happy to escort you," Nadia purred, and had to bite her lip to keep from laughing when Lore shook their head wildly. Magic and ghosts and cutthroat politics may not unsettle them, but light flirting always reduced them to a flustered mess.
"No, no, that won't be necessary -- I can, you know, I can -- find my own way," they babbled, hurrying to the door. They paused there, glancing back over their shoulder. Their eyes burned, and despite herself Nadia's heart skipped a beat. "Goodnight, Nadia."
"Goodnight, Lore," she said softly, and without another word the magician absconded.
Nadia quietly put out the lights in her room and crawled into bed. The sheets were still warm from where she and Lore had been lounging on them. The wings of the Temperance card fluttered through her mind, and she resolved to commission a feathered cloak for Lore in the morning. Her treasured magician certainly deserved such luxuries.
Nightmares did not haunt Nadia that night -- only dreams of the beauty she was bound and determined to share with her Lore.