The Petition of Lust and Desire

Tim did not understand what was happening. He’d had a great night hanging out with his friend Gary, even helping him out with his unattractiveness issue thanks to the gifts he’d received from Lust and Desire. Then he’d returned home and made love to his mother twice, once in the bedroom, and once more in the shower. All that lead to a lovely sleep, followed by a pleasant morning.

Why, then, instead of sitting down to a nice breakfast, was he staring at his family frozen in time? What had gone wrong?

“Mortal,” the raspy voice of Desire called, drawing Tim’s attention to the living room, away from his family, “We must speak.”

Tim turned on his dainty bare feet and padded put of the dining room and into the living room where he found the depowered immortals, Lust and Desire, sitting in the couch. Désire had a cigarette burning, as usual, while Lust was flipping through a novel that had been left around.

On entering the room, Tim felt their eyes lock onto him, something he had become familiar with of late. Being admired physically was something he craved, even though he knew it was almost entirely motivated by the supernatural trades that Justice had arranged, and so he leaned into it. That morning, hoping to enjoy the gazes of his fellow students, of his professors, of strangers on the bus (when was Tabby going to get his car fixed already?!), he had opted to wear a short, pink, spaghetti strapped dress with a cute ruffle at the bottom that showcased his smooth legs. The material was tight, contouring his thin waist, and displayed an amazing amount of cleavage. Tim was looking forward to feeling the warm sun on his exposed body, but even more than that, hungry eyes on it as well.

“I thought you two had lost your bite,” Tim’s song-song voice mocked the two avatars who, on their last encounter, had tried to kill him.

“Our power you may have taken,” Lust said, putting the book down, “but we still exist, and our calling has not changed.”

“We come not to fight, mortal,” Desire jumped in, “but to speak. Your world is losing its balance. Our power is yours by right, but you cannot hope to oversee the flows of Lust and Desire as a mere human. The scale can only be achieved by ones such as us.”

“So, what, you want your powers back?” Tim said, then laughed his melodious laugh, “Not a chance. I’ll never let you have that power over me again.”

The sisters sat silently for a moment, turning their gaze from Tim and onto each other, as if considering some plot. He felt nervous, but more he felt angry that they would suppose he would just give up his new powers.

“Your friend,” Lust said slowly, climbing to her feet, taking a step toward Tim, “the one you met with last night. Do you think that your gift to him will last?” She smiled, “The heat you provided to the pair is fleeting. To overcome the absence of attraction, you need a sophisticated touch, one that has been honed over millennia. He will awake tomorrow still ablaze for the woman, but she will not be able to stand the sight of him.”

“Then I’ll do it again,” Tim crossed his arms, pushing up his breasts.

“And again, and again,” Lust continued, “but what of the teenager in New Zealand who is to discover hormonal-driven lust? Or the Tibetan woman who is to long for the touch of a man? What of the countless beings that you will ignore because of your limited abilities?”

“Even if I believed you,” Tim pouted, “which I don’t, I wouldn’t trust you. There’s nothing to stop you two from just trying what you failed at last time.”

“A wise observation, sugar-tits,” Justice’s ancient voice crackled behind Tim, “I heard there was a party. I guess my invitation was lost in the mail.”

“This does not involve you, sister,” Desire jumped to her feet, ask falling from her cigarette.

“I’m just here to make sure everything is equitable,” Justice wandered in between Tim and the immortals, “We wouldn’t was my boy to end up doing something he’d regret, would we?”

Desire and Lust said nothing. They just stared at Justice with hatred in their eyes.

“Now, sweet-cakes, I have to admit that they have a point,” the old woman said, “the power is yours, but the world is… lacking. Boring. All the hot-and-heavy is missing, except around you, that is.”

“So you’re saying I should trust them?”

Justice laughed, sounding like rocks falling off a cliff, “Not for a second! I suspect, though, that my sisters aren’t telling you something,” she turned to the track-suit wearing twins, “something, perhaps, that Father told you…”

“How did you…” Desire began.

“Silence!” Lust snapped.

“I thought so,” Justice said through yellow teeth, “Let’s have it. Out with it.”

“Fine," Desire said, took a long drag on her cigarette, then, "They are no longer to be our kingdoms, our rule. They are his," she pointed at Tim, a bit of ash falling from her fingers as she did, "and will remain his unless he yields them. We are to..."

Her voice cracked with emotion at the last word, then she stopped and stared at the floor.

"Serve," Lust finished the sentence with venom in her voice, "We may return to our roles, but only to serve the one holds the right to the power."

"Our Father, as always, shows his wisdom," Justice said through age-cracked lips, "What do you think, Timmy? Interested in their deal?"

"Not for a second," Tim said, a frown on his painted face, "They're not trustworthy. As soon as I give them their power, they'll turn on me, or on the people I love."

"And that love list is getting pretty long," Justice said in a mirthful tone, "Oh, if there were only someone who could make some sort of arrangement, something binding, some sort of trade... Oh wait! Me!"

"No!" shrieked Lust, "We have had enough of your meddling! Have you not damaged the world enough?"

"I see no damage," Justice looked around, "Only fair trades. Everything is balanced. We just need to do some fine tuning! Well, my little jar of pickles? What do you think?"