sorrowandsorrow: (magic time)
Janet Pluchinsky ([personal profile] sorrowandsorrow) wrote2023-10-08 08:59 am

Open Post: Welters

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.
timebethine: A greyscale picture of a white man with curly brown hair; his collar is askew in the wind. He has a serious expression. (Default)

[personal profile] timebethine 2023-10-08 10:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Well. That is not the kind of command that he usually got from the Danish royal family, which means that at the very least it's interesting. A little real mirth steals into his expression; "As my lady wishes," he says, and lopes off toward the far end of the grid.

He hopes it's a small rock.
timebethine: A greyscale picture of a white man with curly brown hair; his collar is askew in the wind. He has a serious expression. (Default)

[personal profile] timebethine 2023-10-08 11:18 pm (UTC)(link)
And oh, that's not something he's ever seen a woman do so casually before (although Ophelia sometimes carries a little pomander between her breasts, but that's different, that's his sister)--does she have no pockets? Or is she deliberately toying with him? ... and in his surprise, he very nearly forgets to watch the arc of the globe.

Very nearly. He sprints for it, and catches it in both hands. "Shall I throw it back, my lady?" he calls. "Or would you prefer a less meteoric return?"
timebethine: A greyscale picture of a white man with curly brown hair; his collar is askew in the wind. He has a serious expression. (Default)

[personal profile] timebethine 2023-10-08 11:48 pm (UTC)(link)
"Tell me more about this game," he says. He is a little discomfited by the warmth of the marble ball in his hands, and eager to vouchsafe it to her again. "Is this how you play? Catching rocks? I'd expected more from magicians' entertainments."
timebethine: A greyscale picture of a white man with curly brown hair; his collar is askew in the wind. He has a serious expression. (Default)

[personal profile] timebethine 2023-10-09 12:21 am (UTC)(link)
He tips the ball into her hand, then folds his own hands at his back. "Something like a wizard's duel," he guesses. "But wielding the elements as blades."
timebethine: A greyscale picture of a white man with curly brown hair; his collar is askew in the wind. He has a serious expression. (Default)

[personal profile] timebethine 2023-10-09 12:33 am (UTC)(link)
"Would I wielded such powers!" says Laertes, and he sounds genuinely envious and interested. "This game makes mine own middling duels appear no more than schoolboys' brawls."
timebethine: A greyscale picture of a white man with curly brown hair; his collar is askew in the wind. He has a serious expression. (Default)

[personal profile] timebethine 2023-10-09 01:14 am (UTC)(link)
Immediately, Laertes's gaze--previously fixed on Janet's eyes to avoid her other orbular parts--snaps to Janet's weapons. "What are those?" he asks. Where before his interest had the kind of guileless curiosity one might expect to accompany pure ignorance, at the mention of a weapon, his focus sharpens. He is, Janet may notice, wearing a rapier strapped somewhat incongruously over his well-fitted jeans.
timebethine: A greyscale picture of a white man with curly brown hair; his collar is askew in the wind. He has a serious expression. (Default)

[personal profile] timebethine 2023-10-09 12:45 pm (UTC)(link)
He studies the staves, looking for the mechanism by which they become axes. "More magic?" he guesses, when no spring-loaded blade is readily apparent. "Are they very heavy to wield?" He knows well that, when dual-wielding, every scrap of weight that he can shave off improves his speed and stamina.
timebethine: A greyscale picture of a white man with curly brown hair; his collar is askew in the wind. He has a serious expression. (Default)

[personal profile] timebethine 2023-10-09 01:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Laertes eyes each staff up and down, this time with rapt appreciation. "I would dearly love to see you fight," he says, for once forgetting to temper himself. "You must be an avalanche unto your foes."
timebethine: A greyscale picture of a white man with curly brown hair; his collar is askew in the wind. He has a serious expression. (Default)

[personal profile] timebethine 2023-10-09 03:50 pm (UTC)(link)
"Is your magic the kind that can be taught, my lady?" he asks. "Or is it a gift native to your soul?"
timebethine: A greyscale picture of a white man with curly brown hair; his collar is askew in the wind. He has a serious expression. (Default)

[personal profile] timebethine 2023-10-09 06:36 pm (UTC)(link)
"How might I begin?" Laertes asks. The difficulty doesn't seem to deter him. "If it's a skill that's teachable, I greatly desire to learn it."
timebethine: A greyscale picture of a white man with curly brown hair; his collar is askew in the wind. He has a serious expression. (Default)

[personal profile] timebethine 2023-10-10 02:15 am (UTC)(link)
Laertes dips his head in acknowledgment, filing that information away for future library runs. "If I should come across others who practice such arts as you do, I'll tell them of your game, my lady," he says. "For although it may be threescore years before I'm fit to join you, I'm afire to witness such sport as magicians play."

Privately, he is excited to imagine what Lan Wangji could do on a flying sword.
timebethine: A greyscale picture of a white man with curly brown hair; his collar is askew in the wind. He has a serious expression. (Default)

[personal profile] timebethine 2023-10-10 02:09 pm (UTC)(link)
His smile turns wry. "What, does the queen deign to teach?"
timebethine: A greyscale picture of a white man with curly brown hair; his collar is askew in the wind. He has a serious expression. (Default)

[personal profile] timebethine 2023-10-10 06:34 pm (UTC)(link)
"Your concern for my well-being touches me," he says, laying a hand over his heart. "Have you further need of me?"

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[personal profile] timebethine - 2023-10-10 23:10 (UTC) - Expand