[open] january/february catchall

[techmaturgy]

Who: Viktor and special guests and YOU
When: January through early February
Where: Cadens, the Horizon
What: open stuff, closed stuff, dangerous and illicit magical surgery, the usual
Warnings: the usual references to terminal illness including a steep decline and medical procedures/surgery. will list additional warnings as needed.

[open and closed starters in comments! This is also a general catch-all for Viktor’s do-or-die attempt to cure himself, and the events leading up to it, and his recovery (to come later). If you want a custom starter or something specific, just hit me up. full horizon details are here for any and all wildcarding needs. For everything else, I’m on plurk at whitticus and on discord at whitticus#8139.]

Comments

[techmaturgy]

[Well, if he's going to be offered something, he isn't about to be picky. He reaches out for the cube, grinning widely because he already has an idea of what it is.]

Thank you, Kell. You certainly don't have to go out of your way in the real world.

[But he understands the sentiment. Viktor runs his fingers over the smooth wood, already looking for a logical starting point.]

It should give me a challenge. I'll let you know if I have any notes.

[blackeyedprince]

But it's fun! The man will either hate my guts by the time it's over and finish it out of sheer spite, or I just gave him an original business idea. Either way, I get a box for you, so I win.

[This is a very socially irresponsible way of treating people. Rhy would most likely talk his ear off how he's not making any friends by behaving like that. Just being obnoxious and annoying. And it definitely is not funny.

Thing is. To Kell, it is. Very, very funny.

But that's enough talking about impossible boxes.]

Now, since we have this sorted out. [Kell pulls the cards from their ornate packaging. He spreads them face down on the desk.] Care for a round of Sanct?

[techmaturgy]

I feel spoiled, getting one here and in the real world as well.

[And he needs the entertainment, so he isn’t going to complain. He supposes that if he really wanted to, he could conjure as many puzzle boxes as he could think of, but in doing so he’d already know the solution. Having someone take on that challenge for him is welcome.

Of course, a puzzle box is a solitary activity, so he’s willing to set it aside for now and enjoy some actual company.]

You did promise me, so yes.

[Deal him in!]

[blackeyedprince]

[Kell takes out the cards from the box and spreads them on the table. They are regular playing cards' size, with images of people - kings, saints, nobles, commoners - on one side, and a complicated geometrical pattern on the back.]

Cheating is not only not forbidden, it's actually encouraged. So is catching someone cheating. It's harder, so more rewarding. The first person to get rid of their cards ends the game. The person with the highest amount of points wins.

[He goes on explaining what combinations give what number of points, how the starting setup looks and what are some of the most common dirty tricks one can play on others.]

It's actually best to learn it by playing. Would you like to shuffle?

[So there's no question if the deck is properly shuffled, because that's the first point where cheating can occur.]

[techmaturgy]

Understood.

[Kell will find that Viktor is a quick learner, when it comes to things like this, and he seems eager to get started. The gesture to allow Viktor to shuffle gets a shrug, but he reaches over to take the cards anyway and starts shuffling.]

Are you out of practice, or should I expect a challenge?

[blackeyedprince]

Completely out of practice.

[Kell makes his dubious declaration with hands raised, and a wide grin plastered across his face. No, not suspicious at all.]

I haven't played in weeks. So you have a unique chance to catch me off guard.

[That part is true. He didn't get many chances to do it lately. Beating Rhy at Sanct is no fun at all. But with Rhy, Kell knows he's compromised. He'd let him win solely to see him smile. With Viktor, he doesn't have similar handicap.]

if it's cool to wrap this to focus on event stuff!

[techmaturgy]

Good. Then it will be easier to beat you.

[But no hard feelings, of course. Viktor deals them both in and the game begins. He uses it more as a backdrop to conversation than anything he gives his full attention to, enjoying the company and the diversion more than anything else.

It's wholly pleasant, even as they try to cheat each other. Viktor finds himself relishing time spent with a friend, for once daring to look forward to more evenings spent just like this. He has all the time he wants, now.]

absolutely, it's perfect place

[blackeyedprince]

I wouldn't be so sure about that.

[Kell enjoys both the challenge and the conversation. It is, in the end, a game with numbers where the goal is to earn points. So he has to admit at some point that he has met his match. Kell is a shameless cheater, employing every tactic under the Sun, but he finds that Viktor - once he gets the game - seems to see through most of them, and he has actually start making an effort. Which is refreshing. Nobody hasn't forced him to make effort in a card game for a long time.

For all his cynical declarations on how he hates people and prefers to spend time in his own company... Kell realizes that this? This is fun. He'd like more of that. ]