Closed Post: The Three-Date Rule

[sorrowandsorrow]

Maybe it's some kind of character growth, or something, that Janet can admit to herself she's a little bit nervous. It's embarrassing, but it would be stupid to pretend otherwise. It's also bizarre, because she hasn't been nervous about a date since she was a first year at Brakebills and Sebastien from the five-zillion-generations-of-magic family asked her out. (He turned out to be a dick. Quelle surprise.)

Anyway. The point is, she's kind of nervous, because Susan is meeting her here in T-minus not that many minutes, and this is undeniably date number three, and Janet's not supposed to give a shit about how it goes, but she can also admit to herself that she really wants it to go well. She blow-dried her hair, for Christ's sake. That was the first blow-dryer she'd seen in years, but apparently the mansion could tell she needed one. She's still in jeans, but they're nice ones, dark wash and everything. Her blouse is wine-red and off the shoulder. Basically, she's taken the whole date night thing to heart.

She's in one of the nicer lounges, one with some atmospheric exposed brick and expensive-looking furniture. There's a bottle of what she's about ninety-seven percent sure is real Fillorian wine on the table in front of her, along with two clean and empty wineglasses. There are no words on the label of the bottle, but there is a sigil of two rams' heads, which makes her irritable and nostalgic at the exact same time. Her legs are crossed, ladylike as hell, and her boots are freshly polished.

[NSFW!]

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[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Oh, but of course," says Susan, leaning in to grab a toffee fruit and a chunk of the more aged of the cheeses, both of which she pops into her mouth.

[sorrowandsorrow]

Now that she's snacked appropriately, Janet relaxes her arm around Susan, but that's only so she can lean forward and snag her wineglass. The second sip is still good; also bizarrely a relief. Casually, she says, "Laertes told me I need to find a purpose here. Asshole. He's right, obviously, but I had one somewhere else and then it got snatched away."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan purses her lips, considering this. "I can't even imagine how I'd feel if I came here straight from Narnia," she says, eventually. "And after all the work you did learning magic - why, this must be the first directionless time you've spent in years."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Yeah." Janet's quiet for a second, simultaneously uncomfortable with and grateful for the warmth of Susan at her side. "The last time was after we graduated. We were... seriously indolent. We drank way, way too much."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan glances at Janet. "And then you went to Fillory?"

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Yep. There was... this button." Janet huffs a dry laugh. "It sounds stupid. But yeah, that's when we found the Neitherlands, and then Fillory."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

And then she was no longer adrift. In some queer way, Susan can empathize - she hadn't realized before she arrived here just how unmoored she was in London. "Have you any idea what sort of purpose you might seek whilst you're here?"

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Way back in the day, when I first got here, I wanted to be in charge. Claudius and I had this whole rivalry about it." It feels like a thousand years ago, and also yesterday. Janet stares at her wineglass, then drinks from it. "But that feels stupid now, too."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"You strike me as the sort of woman who likes a challenge she can really dig her teeth into," Susan says, resting a hand on Janet's leg. "I don't think it's stupid at all. I thought Enjolras's little speech at the talent show about a leaderless society was rather stupid, actually." But her newly-realized dissatisfaction with Enjolras isn't the point here. "You're good at leading." From what she knows of Janet, she thoroughly believes this to be true. "There's no shame in wanting to do things you're good at, especially when those things need doing."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Oh, yeah. I'm a great queen." Janet musters a flash of a grin for Susan, and her next sip of wine's taken more cheerfully. "Claudius gave up, and that made me care less, too. He was less of a challenge."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan ponders this. "What sort of purpose might you seek? Have you any idea?"

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Fuck if I know." Janet grabs more cheese. Cheese is safe and doesn't make her try to think existential thoughts. "It's hard to downscale from running a kingdom. Or even from, hey, guess what: magic is real, and now you have to learn it, and it's so hard you'll be thinking about it 24/7 for four years. Should I set my sights lower? It feels like accepting defeat."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Thomas teaches magic to those interested," says Susan, consideringly. "I don't suppose you might offer the same to anyone interested? I imagine it would be wildly satisfying to make people here understand just how much work it truly takes when you haven't got shortcuts like some of the magic-users here."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Laertes asked me to teach him once," Janet admits. "I didn't think I had the patience, so I just told him not to blow himself up." And then she'd been a little bit jealous when he got a different teacher. Classic. "Dean Fogg would shit himself if he saw me teaching magic outside of Brakebills. Actually, that might be an incentive."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"You could beseech Laertes to help you with your purpose by taking a lesson from you, too," Susan says. She moves her hand a few inches up Janet's leg. "Just to see if it suits you, and also to torture him a little." She likes Laertes quite a bit, as it turns out, but she likes giving Janet an opportunity to make a man cry even more.

[sorrowandsorrow]

Janet laughs, which was maybe part of the goal, and relaxes, angling the sprawl of that leg to make it clear she welcomes Susan's touch. "Torturing him is like shooting fish in a barrel, but maybe. Aw, I could have a little army of hedge witches."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"You could create a properly-outfitted welters team," Susan says. "Institute the rule that everyone only ever uses the magic you've taught them if they're to play."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Oh, that would be so mean," Janet says, in a tone that makes it clear this isn't an objection. "They'd all be so bad at it." She slides her hand to rest at the small of Susan's back.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I imagine you could whip them into shape," says Susan, and pushes her wineglass onto the table so she can twist to kiss Janet.

[sorrowandsorrow]

Janet's more than willing to meet that kiss, palm flat at Susan's back. They've done enough of this by now that they're past the awkward first stages where you have to figure out how the other person kisses. She can slip right into the heat of Susan's mouth without hesitation.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan responds eagerly, moving a hand to cup Janet's cheek, giving herself some leverage to adjust the angle of the kiss. Her other hand is still on Janet's leg; she squeezes it ever-so-lightly.

[sorrowandsorrow]

Janet would smile, but she's busy, and pleased about it. She lets this be a long kiss, slow and deep, tipping her head the way Susan directs. When they do pull apart, not by much, Janet lingers at her mouth, teeth catching on her lower lip. She glances down at the cheese plate and laughs. "Let's get this thing out of the way."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan has a policy about not being anxious about romantic entanglements, so she's totally, absolutely, entirely free of nerves when she says, "Or we might relocate ourselves to somewhere more comfortable?"

[sorrowandsorrow]

It's really stunningly convenient how neither of the two of them is nervous whatsoever about this. Another mark in the compatibility column. Janet smiles, or maybe smirks, at Susan. "My place or yours?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

They went to Susan's place last. "Are you in the mood for entertaining?"