[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

[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.

[timebethine]

"Well done!" says Laertes, turning to her with a grin. "If you would glory in your superiority, you will never have a better chance." Then he returns his attention to the bottles, gazing at them for a few long breaths before he raises the gun in both hands and thumbs the safety off.

He trains his gaze on both notches, focus drifting first close, then far. One breath, and then another.

He does not permit himself to imagine a face there, for fear of what he might see.

The bullet digs a notch in the top of the fencepost and shatters the bottle from its thick base upwards.

[ravkanwitch]

Nina turns the safety of her revolver back on and carefully sets it down, lightly clapping her hands.

“Are we ready to take down a horde of volcra? Maybe not. Maybe if they were grounded and also blinded. But you both improved!” Her tone is happy, proud.

[sorrowandsorrow]

Janet smiles, despite herself. She even tips a few seconds of that smile toward Laertes before it's gone. "That felt pretty good. Good thinking, Nina."

[timebethine]

Clicking the safety back on, Laertes grins at them both. He wants to jump and scream--Did you see that? Did you see it shatter?--but he tamps down the wild energy boiling inside him. "I've never yet been steered wrong by thine advice. Thank thee, Nina. Truly, thou art a queen among women. And you, Janet--you are a diamond among queens."

[ravkanwitch]

Amidst her worries about "Yuri" and the issue of the jurda parem that is constantly in the back of her mind, Nina feels a little happiness bubbling up inside of her. "I will defer to Queen Janet if needed," she says diplomatically, solemnly, "but my royal decree is that we all go inside for a snack now. I'm starving."