Two men sat in a café in town. The first, youngish, caramel skinned and dark haired, broad of shoulder and clean cut, stared wistfully at a tablet showing what seemed to be live video of two people driving- one young man driving a van, and a young woman driving a car. The elder, with a full gray beard and shaggy gray hair under a fisherman's cap, grunted as he very pointedly ignored the tablet, reading the local newspaper instead.
"What I don't understand is, you always told me true love breaks any curse," said the younger man, never looking away from the tablet. The old man bristled, wrinkling his nose as he fussed with his vest with one hand.
"That is, in the first place, a GROSS oversimplification of what I taught you, and in the second, that isn't true love. It's...It's...trauma bonding!" He sneered, slapping the newspaper on the table. "True love is miraculous. It-"
"Comes from a nowhere, entirely unlooked for?" responded the young man with deftness, his eyes suddenly locked onto the old man with great intensity.
The old man bristles more, then founders, then sighs.
"...fine. Perhaps it is some curious, mutant species of love. Like a cavefish. Stranger wonders, etcetera..."
"So why are they still cursed?"
The old man sighs, exasperated.
"As I've tried to teach you many times: it's not enough to be in a position to break a curse. Think of it like a key and a lock. Yes, you need the right key, but you also need to know what to *do* with it. You can't use it to beat the lock off; and even if inserted, you have to turn it the right way. Follow?"
The young man looks pensively at the tablet, but nods.
"So, they don't know they can break the curse?"
The old man rolls his eyes upwards.
"Save me from block headed apprentices. No, they know just fine. They *have*, in fact. They've taken control of the power, of their destiny. Does either of them seem particularly like they feel cursed?" He says, gesturing at the tablet.
The young man looks sadly at Jennifer on the screen.
"She seems anxious, at any rate. I'm not sure why, what he did seems in line with their trajectory..."
The old man grunts, taking up his paper.
"Because the damn fool boy didn't get her consent before that little change to their games. He's genuinely doing it out of a desire to get her rocks off, the nitwit. If he realized how truly upset she is, and why, he'd be heartbroken and feel like an ass. Which he is, so."
His apprentice gestures at the tablet, agitated suddenly.
"Why do you hate them so much? He was a victim who got justice, she was a victimizer who learned and grew, and in so doing they both fell in love! What's you're problem with them, boss?" He asked vehemently. The old man seemed taken aback, but his companion pressed. "Yes, I know, he victimized her too, and far beyond the limit, but he's contrite about that, too! They're at peace over it, forgiveness given, atonement underway! What more do you want, sir?"
The old man gaped, and the younger one suddenly paled, shrinking back into his seat.
"I...I'm sorry, I spoke out of turn-"
He stops when the old man lays a hand on his.
"...no, no, you're not wrong. I...I suppose I'm just old and cranky." He said, looking at the young man kindly. "You've got a good heart, lad, and you should never back down when your cause is just." He pulled back, fussing with his vest.
The young man blushed, but waited. He knew his teacher was thinking; he always fussed with his vest when he was searching for words.
Finally, the old man cleared his voice.
"A minor intervention, I think. Something small, to correct the boy's idio...ahem. his momentary lack of foresight. I'll handle it, you just watch and learn. "
The young man beamed, and the old one grunted, but smiled under the mustache and beard. In a second, he was gone.
---------------------
Kyle was grinning to himself as he drove.
"Monthly release, definitely. Gotta have somewhere to build to....but semiannual would really drive it home..." he speculated.
When an old man suddenly appeared in the passenger seat, he screamed and jerked the wheel, then threw up his arms, expecting a crash...but it never came. He looked down, saw the wheel gently turning of its own accord, the van apparently driving itself.
"What the..."
"Be damn stupid just to show up to cause a car crash, Mr. Perkins."
Kyle whipped his head to the side and glared at his sudden passenger.
"You! Who the hell are you?! Where did you come from?!"
"In the immediate sense, Café Urbino on Sixth and Main. As for who, well, to get it slightly out of order: Transform or Dare?"
Kyle was about to sneer that it wouldn't work, when he felt a familiar and tell tale tingle. He had used the curse, and had it used on him, enough that he had started picking up on it. He looked wild eyed, and the old man smiled smugly.
"The rules are always different for the person who invented the game, my young friend. I suggest dare."
Kyle gulped, and responded "I choose dare."
"Smart lad, when you want to be. I dare you to entirely forget my presence and this entire conversation except on a subconscious level as soon as I leave."
Kyle looked confused, but nodded. "...fair enough. Why?"
"So this stays low impact. I've been keeping an eye on you and Miz Smith. I'm not angry," he said as Kyle tensed, "quite the contrary. I'm impressed by your ingenuity, and your mutual compassion and personal growth. I just thought I'd give you some small advice."
Kyle nodded, slowly, hesitantly. "...about?"
"Do you remember why Jennifer was upset about your curse, even though she admits it plays to her fetish?"
Kyle furrowed his brow, but only for a moment.
"Because I made her have all that sex without her consent. Yeah, that was...not one of my finest moments, but I'm making it up to her. Trying, anyway. At any rate, I'm always gonna ask her consent before giving her release-"
"Did you ask her consent to add that little wrinkle of power you have over her now?" the old man asks, almost kindly.
Kyle looks confused a moment. He opens his mouth to respond, then looks more confused. Then looks horrified.
"Ah, the penny drops."
"Oh God! What have I done?! She's gonna think I'm trying to -"
"Calm down, son, breathe. Just explain it to her. You did it without thinking. It can be modified to something more to her liking if she doesn't approve. The important thing going forward is to *think* before you act. The curse may well be helping you two live your best, kink filled lives, and hey, more power to you. But the curse itself is *life altering magic *, not a sex toy."
The old man pats Kyle's shoulder.
"Just talk it out. You're both smart, reasonable young adults. You've got this. But a love affair, hell, even a decent business relationship, that takes work, kid, from both of you. Real effort, we're talking about, to get to know each other, to consider each other. Now, I'm gonna absent myself from here on in - they're your lives to live. You're gonna mess up, but if you work together, really work together, you'll keep moving past the fuck ups, to bigger, better, more beautiful times."
And with that, he was gone, and as far as Kyle knows he was never there. Kyle pulls the van into its parking spot on his rather threadbare lawn, chewing at his lip in anxiety.
----------
When Jen pulls up a moment later, she sees Kyle leaning on the car, looking downcast.
'Why does he look so upset?' she thinks to herself, her own anxiety edging into panic. The new and unwelcome power dynamic, in addition to her growing frustration, was working on her nerves. She steps out, heading over to him.
"Kyle? What's wrong...?"
He looks at her, and clears his throat.
"Jen, it, uh, occurred to me on the drive...ah, God, I'm sorry...I...I never asked if you wanted that curse modification, did I?"
Jen blinks. This...was not what she was expecting to hear.
"I'm sorry, I should have, fuck, why did I do that...it just, it felt so hot in the moment, though!" He looks at her, pleading. "Please don't hate me for it, I'll fix it, I-"
He stops as she suddenly steps forward and hugs him tight.
"Shhh, shhh, it's ok, Kyle...You're right, you should have asked, and I'm not thrilled. But I don't hate you, understand? I lo-"
She stops, blushing. He does too. It's not a word either of them have actually said yet, in this or any context related to their odd relationship. He gulps, but takes her by the shoulders.
"I don't want you to hate me, and I want you to be happy, and I want you to get every bit of kinky pleasure you can, because I...I love you." he says, being the first one to fully make the leap.
She reaches up, and kisses him, softly.
"I know. And I don't hate you. You pissed me off and scared the hell out of me, but I can't hate you now. I love you, too."