Open Post: Welters

[sorrowandsorrow]

It's probably been noted before, but Janet's not actually dumb. The people of this mansion are varied and mercurial. They're not like Fillorians, some of whom are little bitches but who were largely cow-eyed and willing to accept her authority just because she was a pretty girl from another world.

So. She has to win people over. Maybe everyone needs a little fun to take their minds off things. Conveniently, welters is absolutely Janet's idea of fun. There's a bunch of insane rules, violence is encouraged, and you win if you're good at magic and being bossy.

The mansion grounds are also a little tempestuous as to their character, but apparently the master magician toying with all their lives is feeling charitable today. She's found a big, flat stretch of undisturbed grass, and she's sketching out welters squares with a piece of chalk.

Comments

[sagramore]

"Sent by you, I suppose."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Only sometimes. I play by the rules." About this, she's quite serious, although her tone remains light. "There are a lot of them."

[sagramore]

"Mmm, that falls into the same category as the drinks: I'm not surprised. About the rules or your adherence. Will you explain it to me?"

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Absolutely."

At that, Janet strides a few feet away and makes a wide gesture to show the grid she's sketched. Objectively, it's not all that impressive. But it's got potential. Like so: "Some of these stay grass. Others, I'll change."

A tiny little-girl part of her wants to impress Sagramore, so she does a series of intricate motions with her fingers, mutters something in passable Japanese under her breath, and turns one of the squares into water. "Like that. Some of them will be sand, metal, whatever." Water's the easiest, but she won't tell him that. "Then you use spells to capture them, or defend them, or recapture them. Different spells work on different terrain."

[sagramore]

Gratifyingly, he does look impressed. "You can change the whole yard into different things?"

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Sure, if I want to. It'll take a while with just me, but what else are any of us doing with our time here?" She shades her eyes with a hand and squints toward the farther end of her future welters board. "I haven't made any progress at all toward figuring out what's keeping us here, anyway."

[sagramore]

"Right, right. Have you been working at it?"

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Ugh." Janet wrinkles her nose. "I've read every magic textbook in the library. Most of them are useless, first year-level stuff. I read them again anyway."

Alice could definitely bust them out. Maybe Quentin, now that he's not such a piece of shit. But magical theory has just never been Janet's strong suit.

[sagramore]

"Wait," grinning again. "Tell me the difference between first-level and advanced."

[sorrowandsorrow]

Ugh, he has a nice smile. It kind of pisses her off, in a pleasantly prickly way, how charming Sagramore is. "First years have to learn... I mean, everything, unless you were born into a family of magicians already. Most people weren't. It's hard as shit." She laughs. "You have to learn how to adjust for everything. Weather, time of day, the stars. And the way you're supposed to move your hands, it doesn't feel natural at all at first.

"But the advanced stuff is, like, theory. Why magic exists and how it does what it does. Using magic to make more magic. Altering the nature of your own magic. That's not my thing," she adds. "If you want a really technical explanation of magical theory, you need Alice."

[sagramore]

"No, no, I like you. So it's a bit like swordwork, then, all the variables, things within you and without you. And you're good at it."

[sorrowandsorrow]

That trips Janet up, just the tiniest bit. Not visibly, she thinks. "I'm good," she says, "yeah."

She's not the best. She knows that. But she is good, and she tries like hell not to make it obvious when she's faltering.

[sagramore]

Sagramore smiles. "You do have that air about you."

[sorrowandsorrow]

That earns Sagramore a smile in return. Janet saunters back toward him, trying to make it look like an accident that she's drawn to him. "What about you? What's your thing? Aside from the obvious." Her smile slides into a grin.

[sagramore]

"No, no, what's the obvious?"

[sorrowandsorrow]

Janet gives him a familiar little pat right between the legs. "Does your ego need stroking, too?"

[sagramore]

That makes him laugh so hard that even Fenyes, indomitable as she is, lifts her head in annoyance. "I genuinely wasn't-- Christ, why haven't we spent time together before now? You're such a splendidly awful woman, I adore you."

[sorrowandsorrow]

Trying not to get too sucked into his orbit, but clearly failing a little, Janet doesn't laugh in turn, but she is smiling whether she likes it or not. It's also clear that she's preening under the specific flavor of the compliment. "Well, whose fault is that?" she says, cheerful enough. "You don't call, you don't text..."

[sagramore]

"You don't seem the sort to want a hanger-on, though perhaps I misinterpreted."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"No, no, you're reading me right." This time she pats him on the chest, and leaves her hand there afterward. "I'm just giving you shit."

[sagramore]

"As long as I've understood." He smiles at her. "I don't want to offend you."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Sir Sagramore," she drawls, "if you offend me, you won't have to guess whether you have or not." That's followed up with a fresh smile.

[sagramore]

"Now that I've said it, it does sound foolish," he agrees.

[sorrowandsorrow]

"That's okay." Her hand lingers where it is, solely because it's pleasant to touch the solidity of his chest. "I like stupid men."

[sagramore]

That's all right. It's nice to have her hand there. "Well, hast come to the right place." His tone is, unfortunately, fond.