Closed Post: Ink

[sorrowandsorrow]

Janet's been doing a lot of research. No, seriously -- a lot. She's a good magician, but she's not the best magician she knows. She was a good student at Brakebills, but she wasn't the best student at Brakebills. She was a stellar queen, but a lot of that was bluffing and expecting other people to follow her orders. She's certainly never been a fucking tattoo artist before.

What she's come up with is an abomination that would make half her professors faint dead away. She's cobbled together a modified Cavaleri Animation, about two and three-quarters of the principles that go into making a Reed's Mark, and a whole lot of bullshit that she sincerely hopes is going to hang together.

With a significantly bizarre assortment of items assembled in a tote bag, she goes on the hunt for Galahad, hoping he's somewhere that Claudius isn't.

Comments

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Tell you what." Noticing Galahad isn't quite at her level of power-walking, Janet slows down so he can keep up. "If I ever make it to Earth again, I'll call up their marketing department and let them know."

[onthewillowsthere]

"You should. It's sinful."

[sorrowandsorrow]

Janet grins. "Hugely. Isn't that a commandment? Thou shalt not act like having thirty-one flavors of ice cream is such a big fucking deal."

[onthewillowsthere]

"Pride goeth before destruction. What are the thirty-one flavors?"

[sorrowandsorrow]

"You think I have them all memorized? Anyway, I think they rotate them. Uh, cookies and cream. Mint chocolate chip. Birthday cake."

[onthewillowsthere]

"What kind of birthday cake? There are so many kinds."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"The standard, regular kind, I guess? White cake with vanilla frosting and sprinkles." They've probably hit a kitchen by now. Janet goes straight for the freezer.

[onthewillowsthere]

"Claudius rated that one a seven," he says, as if this makes it acceptable (of course, Claudius also didn't particularly care for ice cream). He follows her to the freezer.

[sorrowandsorrow]

"That's a C-," Janet points out. "But hey, Cs get degrees." She slides the freezer out and looks down into it. Options include: moose tracks, strawberry cheesecake, dulce de leche, and butter pecan.

[onthewillowsthere]

"What does that mean?" although he is almost immediately distracted by the bounty of ice creams. "Will you taste and rate them with me?"

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Why the hell not? I like judging things." Janet hauls all four tubs out of the freezer, lining them up on the counter while she talks. "A C is a grade you can get in school. An A is the best and an F is the worst."

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad fetches spoons. "That is not a very good scientific instrument. A, C, F."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"There's a B and a D in the middle, too. And if you do a really, really good job, you can get an A+." She brings down a stack of little bowls from a cupboard

[onthewillowsthere]

It's still a bad instrument. "A Likert item is better," he informs her. "The quantitive values are symmetrical and balanced. Susan would prefer that."

[sorrowandsorrow]

Janet has to laugh. This fucking kid. "I didn't make it up," she says, "but you're definitely right. You must know her pretty well."

[onthewillowsthere]

"We're both scientists." There is the tiniest hint of pride in his voice.

[sorrowandsorrow]

Oh, he's cute. "Are you two doing experiments? Hey," she says as something occurs to her. Maybe it's all the talk of school and grades. "We should have a science fair."

[onthewillowsthere]

"We're studying the soil biota. Explain science fair."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Everybody does some kind of science experiment. Making a volcano, balloon-powered car, potato battery, whatever. Then you make a poster explaining your experiment and everyone shows them off." She dishes out a scoop of butter pecan for each of them.

[onthewillowsthere]

"I think I would like that," seriously. "You've done it?"

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Not since I was a kid, but yep, I've done it." She slides a bowl down the counter to Galahad. "Butter pecan. Go."

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad takes a spoonful, closing his eyes so he can concentrate. He likes the richness and saltiness of the ice cream base, and the way the pecans have both crunch and give.

[sorrowandsorrow]

Janet's in the middle of her own taste test. She can't remember the last time she had butter pecan ice cream. It's pretty good. She takes a second bite before she says anything else. "What's the verdict? Are we still doing a scale of one to ten?"

[onthewillowsthere]

"Yes. Don't rate against vanilla. That alters the data. Only rate butter pecan by itself, objectively." He puts another spoonful in his mouth and lets the ice cream melt on his tongue. "Seven."

[sorrowandsorrow]

Surprising herself a little with how seriously she's taking this, Janet thinks about her answer, twirling her spoon in her hand while she contemplates it. "Six. Ready for the next one?"