[open-ish post!]

[ravkanwitch]

Nina's been wearing more modern clothing recently - especially after she figured out the solution to her bone knife dilemma, a holstered rigging that she can wear either on her upper arms or her legs. And after her encounter with The Darkling, she's been wearing them more blatantly and currently has them strapped to her upper arms, on top of her shirt.

She's found a couple of revolvers similar to what she was used to shooting with Jesper* and set up some empty bottles in a makeshift shooting range as far away from the mansion as she can. Yesterday, she sent both Janet and Laertes a note with the location and time, hoping they can easily find her.

Nina is frowning. She just fired a test bullet and it zipped right between two bottles.

*Instead of a Zemeni revolve with inlaid pearl, it's probably closest to a Colt Single Action revolver with six bullets, where you reload it with a cartridge rather than single bullets in the cylinder.

Comments

[ravkanwitch]

Nina switches the safety of the gun on because this will take more than a few moments.

"I don't know him personally," she starts. "I've only seen him once, ever. He was more of a... nightmare, a story from when I was younger. When he was young, he was an idealist about the Grisha, the ...people in my world who have abilities. He had lofty ideas about how they-- we were treated in our world and how we should be treated. The slavery, the slaughter, the way everyone looked down on us. They call us impure, witches, animals. He wanted to lead us into a new age. This is... it makes sense. I don't fault him for that. But his dark magic twisted him and it twisted the means that he used."

She shakes her head. "Manipulation, murder, and torture... even the murder of innocent Grisha. I was sent back to the orphanage I grew up in since I was too young to participate in the Civil War. He led the students to safety - myself included - and then razed the orphanage to the ground and hung our Grisha instructors in the trees for the whole world to see. He's... corrupted."

[sorrowandsorrow]

Janet keeps her own revolver levelled toward a target for a moment longer, but then she lowers it and clicks her own safety back on. If she gets too pissed off, the last thing she wants to do is accidentally shoot her own foot off.

"Nina," she says, as plainly as she knows how, "that's so fucked up. Seriously. That's not something where you need to stop making assumptions, that's something where you need to pepper-spray the motherfucker and run."

[timebethine]

Laertes thinks of Annie, of the bodies buried in her long silences and the violence he would gladly do to see her safe forever--but the image of Nina's teachers hanging from the trees makes him feel dizzy and sick. There are some means that no end can justify. "To replace one tyranny with another is not justice," he says. "If that man is here ... either he'll seek any means to return to his cause and his war, or he'll seek any means to claw back his power. Whatever his purpose, I'm grateful for the warning."

[ravkanwitch]

Nina nods a little, gut feelings reconfirmed by both Janet and Laertes' reactions. Sometimes she feels as though The Darkling has turned into a myth of sorts, a cautionary tale to tell Ravkan children. If you don't behave, the Darkling will capture you and steal you away into the Fold. But no -- he once was a man as well.

"I could have sworn he died... but I know that in this place, that doesn't always mean the end." She then gives them both a small smile. "Just be careful, okay? Wouldn't want anything to happen to either of you."

[sorrowandsorrow]

Janet doesn't smile back, but she meets Nina's gaze levelly. "I'd say I can take care of myself, but around here, that's not always true." With some level of wry amusement, she adds, "Luo Binghe's actually the guy who proved that to me. I'll be careful."

[timebethine]

"If he can best a magician such as yourself, I'll make doubly sure to be careful with him," says Laertes. "I can handle a rapier better than a pistol, but the least of you could make me a quietus before I could bare steel."

[ravkanwitch]

Nina nods again, though her mind is still racing. Her expression turns a little rueful. "I didn't mean to steer the conversation in this direction. I haven't even asked how the two of you have been."

[sorrowandsorrow]

Janet shrugs again, more tightly this time. "I think I need a hobby, so this was good timing. My hobby used to be ruling a kingdom, but that's not really panning out here."

[timebethine]

"I've found a thousand ways to occupy my days," says Laertes. His smile is thinner than it was before, but it's sincere. "The gentlemanly arts hath their charms, but there's equal pleasure to be had in planing wood, or baking éclairs--or learning to shoot with such fine ladies as yourselves."

[ravkanwitch]

Nina laughs a little. "I'm between the two of you. I haven't been sure what to do with my spare time so I've been doing a little bit of everything... and some of it half-heartedly. This is good, though. Fresh air. Friends. A little bit of careful, planned aggression."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"I love careful, planned aggression," Janet says brightly. It's almost her making fun of herself; she knows this is almost too predictable of her to say. "Not that I'm against a little careless, unplanned aggression. Keeps me young."

[timebethine]

"Did you ever find players enough for your game?" Laertes asks, remembering how they'd met with a sudden rush of interest. "I regret to say that I'm no closer to competing than I was when I came here, although I've been reading all I can of the theory. I've tried none of the practice," he hastens to add. "Nor will I, without a watch set over me."

[ravkanwitch]

"I'm still interested in playing," Nina agrees, looking over at Janet. "And maybe there's a way Laertes can as well."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"I'm working on it," Janet says with a subdued sigh. She runs her thumb along the barrel of the revolver with the hand that isn't holding it, although she's still taking care to aim it away from anyone and anything. "I have to change a fuckton of rules without enough magicians. But once I figure that out, we can play two on two if we have to."

[timebethine]

Since the shooting has tapered off, Laertes carefully clicks the safety on. "Have you asked the cultivators? I've met at least two; theirs is a different kind of magic, but that would give you two on two."

[ravkanwitch]

"The basic principles of cultivation seem similar to the small sciences," Nina agrees. "That's, um... Grisha magic. I think you can make it work, Janet."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Probably." Janet taps her fingernails against the barrel of that same gun, lightly but with a satisfying clicking noise. "I wanted to figure out how to make it work for everyone, because the teams are supposed to be bigger. Also, because I bet Luo Binghe is a really sore loser."

[timebethine]

Laertes has to snort at that. He can just imagine Mr. Five-o'-Clock Sugar throwing a tantrum and sulking off to boil suckets in the Shunned Kitchen. "And th--and you, Queen Janet?" he asks mildly. "Are you magnanimous in victory?"

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Not at all." Janet sounds completely at peace with this. "I know all the rules of welters. I'm a huge fucking pain in the ass. It makes me really fun to play with."

[timebethine]

"Then put me down for your team," says Laertes. "And hang the rest."

[ravkanwitch]

Nina was quiet during the teasing of Luo Binghe, amused but loyally silent, but now she unlatches the safety and lines up another shot.

“We should make this a regular gathering,” she says. “It doesn’t always have to be the shooting range. We could do other things.”

She breathes twice, imagines she’s aiming for Jarl Brum’s head — another perfect shot, glass shattering. Maybe Jesper hadn’t been helping her out that much.

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Holy shit," Janet says, absolutely delighted. "Nice. See, now I'm kind of pissed off and I want to do that, too. Sore loser, obnoxious winner, that's me."

Oh right, Nina said something else. "I'm a yes for the regular gathering. I need to hang out with people who are sober every now and then."

[timebethine]

"Please," says Laertes, all exaggerated desperation. "I may never match thy shots, but I'll gladly follow thee in any pastime. Perhaps we could invite Tress?" He thinks she'd match the energy of the group well--and he thinks of her workshop, and all the tantalizing possibilities of working with spores, and wonders if she would thrive with a bigger crew.

[ravkanwitch]

“Oh, I adore Tress,” Nina smiles. “She’s promised to help make waffles for me if I describe them. I wouldn’t mind having her as part of this group.”

Then her face turns a little more solemn. “Right,” she says, sternly, attempting to channel Zoya and Jesper all in one (a terrifying thought). “I want the two of you to try one more shot with the revolver. Look down the sights and line up both notches when you aim. Take two deep breaths before you pull the trigger and make sure to keep your elbows and wrists locked but still flexible, to handle the kick back. …It also helps if you envision the face of someone you really hate on the bottle,” she finishes lightly.

[sorrowandsorrow]

Normally, Janet instinctively chafes at taking orders from anyone, no matter how trivial. But Nina? She likes Nina, an incredibly pleasant surprise. She's reminded of the pleasant surprise of realizing she liked Poppy after all.

"Yes, ma'am," Janet says, only a little teasing. She does as she's told for once, squaring her stance and taking a deep breath. She pictures the Beast, then she pictures Umber. She clicks off the safety, she aims, she fires.

It's not a perfect shot, but it lands close enough, and the bottle shatters.