Closed Post: #SelfCare

[sorrowandsorrow]

Eat your heart out, Castle Whitespire. Eat your heart out, Eliot Waugh. Janet doesn't need any of you, because she found this stupid mansion's stupid Jacuzzi all by herself. In the aftermath of the zombie uprising (by the way: what the fuck?), she must have been putting out some kind of extra desperation, caked in sweat and zombie dust and the dirt of the mansion's grounds, because as she stomped down the hallway to her bedroom, something told her to open a door. And she did. And there it was.

It was fucking glorious, and she was too selfish to wait that time, but she has a date to set up. Susan will find a neon orange Post-It stuck to the door of her room this morning that says: Found it. Meet me at seven o'clock tonight, third door on the right when you hang a left past that ugly chandelier with the swans. --J

She even doodled a little crown symbol over the letter to make her point clear.

When Susan does make her way to the room with the hot tub, she'll see Janet in a black bikini with a glass of prosecco in one hand, another frosty glass sitting on the tiles next to her hand. With that hand, she's propping herself up as she takes a sip. Her legs are dangling into the Jacuzzi already, but she hasn't switched on the jets yet.

Comments

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Oh, he definitely knew on some level. I'm not trying to be a dick," Janet says, even though she kind of is, "but some of the stuff he said while he was coming to terms was just -- it really pissed me off. I think it would have even pissed off Eliot, who's infuriatingly calm about people being homophobic freaks to him."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Ah. So there's a deeper story there. Susan feels a queer sort of kinship with Shen Yuan¹, and doesn't necessarily want to probe, but - "That sounds... tremendously unpleasant."

¹Pun intended

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Yeah, no kidding." Janet sighs. She's reluctantly fond of Shen Qingqiu (or whatever his name is) now, but she really was genuinely so fucking mad at him. "Water under the bridge now, I guess. He figured it out. Most people eventually do."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan shifts so that the jet hits her in the middle of her shoulder blade - a sore spot that keeps cropping up. She does close her eyes now, relishing the feeling. "This tub truly is a delight," she says, and then opens her eyes again, flicking her gaze over at Janet. "You were right. No need for Fabio."

[sorrowandsorrow]

There's a kind of visceral satisfaction in watching Susan relax like this after all the painful care and poise Janet has seen in her since they first met. Bold with bubbly and pleasantly flushed with the heat of the water, she slides closer and bumps her shoulder against Susan's, only the once. "Fabio doesn't deserve our company."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan is at her most comfortable when tangled up with friends; she leans back against Janet. "Shen Yuan can have him."

[sorrowandsorrow]

Janet's not exactly a touchy person unless she's around Her People, capital letters very much included, but she's starting to think Susan could be one of those people. She twirls her half-empty champagne flute in her fingers and says, lightly, "I'm pretty sure Fabio's out of luck. It's Luo Binghe all the way down for our nerdy friend from now on."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"The man who got strangely intense about demons?"

[sorrowandsorrow]

"I mean--" Janet laughs again and knocks back a hefty mouthful of prosecco. "Probably. He's strangely intense about everything. Tall, Chinese, stupid handsome? If so, yep, that's him."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan blinks. She supposes it takes all kinds. "Well," she says. "Poor Fabio. Bereft."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"I feel pretty bad for him." Janet slings a half-smile, half-smirk Susan's way. "I mean, he's out in the cold -- I guess -- and I'm sitting in a Jacuzzi with a pretty girl. He didn't even know we were having a competition, and now I'm winning."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"He never even stood a chance," Susan says, tone arch. "Though I might argue we're both of us winning."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Oh, are we?" Janet's smile broadens, turning into something easier and, she hopes, more inviting. Inviting isn't her strong suit on the best of days, but it's not so difficult to imagine herself achieving it when she's around Susan. "Do tell." She's fishing, and she knows she's fishing. So sue her.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Janet has been - flirting. Susan can acknowledge this. Surely it's not wishful thinking, or missing anyone from back home. Clearly the rules here are different than the rules Susan is used to.

She twists a little, so that she's facing Janet more directly, and quickly finishes off this glass of prosecco. "Surely you know that you're stunning," she says. "You don't strike me the sort of girl dedicated to false modesty."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Not even a little false modesty," Janet confirms, meeting Susan's gaze directly. "I just like hearing it out loud." Especially from Susan, maybe, but that might be laying it on a little too thick.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Well, then," says Susan, raising an eyebrow at Janet. "From one gorgeous woman to another, I must say that I imagine poor Fabio might be languishing in a most morose sort of envy."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"What a pity," Janet says brightly. "I think I'm going to recover from the sadness of thinking about it, though." She considers for a second, then stands up to retrieve the bottle. With it in hand, she can bend down to refill Susan's glass for her.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan is settling into this feeling - of flirting, openly, with another friend. She lets her gaze travel up Janet's body; when she hits Janet's face, she nods her thanks.

[sorrowandsorrow]

Janet's smile returns, slow and satisfied. She sinks back into the water, sitting next to Susan so that she can reach over and tuck a stray lock of steam-softened hair back away from her face. "Now," she says, "we have some more important business. Terrorized any men recently?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan groans, bringing the back of one hand to her forehead, dramatically. "I'm afraid I'm losing my touch, Janet," she says.

[sorrowandsorrow]

That pulls another laugh from Janet, a sound that might actually skirt around the edges of fond. "Buck up, champ," she says. "It happens to the best of us. Honestly, I don't have much to report, either. I'm avoiding most of the men around here as much as I can."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Have you!" Susan says. She makes a face, directed at herself. "I suppose I've been trying to get my bearings first."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Well, if anyone's being a dick to you, just tell them to come talk to me. I'll fuck them up." Something occurs to Janet that probably should have occurred to her sooner. "Did you do okay with the... zombies? That was insane, by the way." It's true, and she does sound a little skeptical about the whole event, but there's some exhilaration to the memory, too.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Oh, yes, that was absolutely mad," Susan agrees. "I was fine. I helped Clarissant with her first aid station, and then I helped Thomas with some whiskey." She offers Janet her easy, flirtatious smile. "I have been meaning to poke around and see if there are any bows lying about, since, but I suppose it hasn't felt very pressing. And you? All right?"

[sorrowandsorrow]

Oh, that's a good smile. It's especially good to see after how frigid and still Susan was the last time they spent time together. Janet gives her a quick little grin in return. "Honestly, it was amazing. I said I've been avoiding the men here -- well, there was a reason for that. A specific man. I think I really needed to just get out there and smash my axes into a bunch of undead freaks. By the way," she adds, "I'd love to see you with a bow."