Should there be an argument in this relationship I certainly wouldn’t want to get caught up in it: two great warriors facing each other with their swords drawn, each of them carrying the coat of arms of justice. They have had training in the combat techniques of know-it-all, sarcasm, and hubris. The fight ends when justice has won! There is fighting about details, details that are so detailed that other people wouldn’t even recognize them as details. There are not two people fighting, but two sticklers for principle, and they stick to their principles with such determination that their relationship will finally collapse out of sheer exhaustion. Subsequently, each party holes up in their respective shell and the air in the room will be thicker than crystallized honey and colder than a kiss from the north pole. Since both parties are black belts in holding tight, even the Thirty Years War would start giggling with excitement about the drama to be expected.

Even when there are no arguments the typical character traits of metal types are not exactly conducive to a harmonious relationship. Neither the tendency to order, control and precision, nor the withdrawn introverted manner are ingredients for a cosy, cuddly atmosphere. In contrast, in most relationships these are exactly the ingredients that will poison the atmosphere. The positive version of such a couple allows them to construct a mental scaffolding that allows them to climb up to the universe and back down again. The prerequisite is the capacity to be accepting, something metal types find hard in principle. But if an element such as earth or water has its fingers in the pie, then nothing is impossible, and our couple, holding hands, hurries towards perfection.

Their life together is about constantly refining and optimizing their space and their way of thinking. Some aesthetic surprise can be found in every nook and cranny of their apartment, and some fascinating philosophical aspect will always be lurking at the back of their minds, eager for some striptease on the stage that is the exchange of thoughts. Both partners will vehemently declare that their relationship is a moral institution which has to be maintained until death does them part. Amen.