~ [closed post]

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Now that the Mansion is producing goods again, it's very easy for Susan to compile a picnic basket full of, essentially, the makings of a rather international charcuterie board. Four cheeses (a good British cheddar, a French camembert, an Italian sheeps-milk ricotta, and a wedge of Dutch Leyden), three meats (jamon Iberico from Spain, mortadella with pistachios, and something labeled as an American bison-blueberry salami), along with some honey, fruits and fruit preserves, a baguette, olives, nuts, and crackers. She tops this off with nice linens and silverware and all the necessary ingredients for French 75s. It's definitely more than enough for two people.

Something about the end of that dreadful month has her considering wearing color again. As a first step toward moving past mourning clothes, she experiments with a very flattering deep navy dress that's definitely not black, though it looks it in most lights. She adds a coat of lipstick, and then takes herself and her basket to Janet's room, where she raps lightly on the door.

NSFW!

Comments

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"There were things he did that were genuinely good," says Susan, who can't forget how Aslan's sacrifice saved Edmund. "But I think it's absolute tosh, how inconsistently and yet how severely he applied his will, and how intolerable he could be of things he didn't approve of." She also can't forget, of course, how sternly Aslan treated Edmund despite his sacrifice.

[sorrowandsorrow]

"It is absolute fucking tosh," Janet says, only giving herself maybe half a second to be privately delighted about Susan's Britishness. "If you hadn't already told me he was the Christian god, I could've guessed based on that unflattering description. Very Old Testament of this lion."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan snorts and, infinitesimally, relaxes. "But enough about him," she says, and takes a small sip of her drink.

[sorrowandsorrow]

"He probably gets enough attention," Janet agrees, breezily. She picks her own drink back up with one hand, not letting go of Susan's hand with the other.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan lifts their joined hands up and presses a kiss to the tender skin of Janet's wrist. "Do you want to be stage manager?" she asks. "For the play. You mentioned an interest in your survey."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Yes," Janet says immediately, with a quick grin that could be the result of the question, the kiss, or both. "I'm great at making people follow rules. A script is like a really, really specific set of rules."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Very good." Susan offers her a small smile.

[sorrowandsorrow]

Janet bumps her shoulder companionably against Susan's, then returns to sipping her drink. "I guess Dionysus is going to have to get over however offended he is about how mean I was to him," she says, brightly unapologetic.

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"If he knows what's good for him," Susan agrees.

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Aw." Janet laughs. "Yeah, I bet you could take him, actually."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I believe I could," Susan says, thoughtfully. "As could you. You'll do brilliantly at the job." She means stage managing, but she does also a little bit mean Bacchus-managing.

[sorrowandsorrow]

"They won't know what hit them." She sounds borderline delighted about it. Because there's still so much cheese left to eat, Janet does reluctantly let go of Susan's hand, but not before giving it a firm, decisive squeeze. She assembles herself a cracker topped with camembert and mortadella. "It's The Wizard of Oz, right?"

[quote_gentle_unquote]

Susan sips her cocktail, and then bites into a slice of apple with cheddar as she nods. "I've added some rather pointless sword-fighting scenes in an obvious attempt to generate more interest."

[sorrowandsorrow]

That makes Janet laugh a little around the sip of her drink she's using to wash down her bite of charcuterie. "Makes sense, after the zombies. A lot of people here are pathologically attached to their swords."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"I suppose I could consider it to further my other machinations," she says, thoughtfully. "Perhaps it might generate deeper interest into the ability demonstrations."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Oh, yeah?" And now for another olive. "Just gratuitous sword violence in everything? Come for the potluck, stay for the fencing."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Perhaps," says Susan, contriving to reach for a Brazil nut in such a way that it allows her to brush her fingers against Janet's, "it might also afford you a glance into Revised Welters aptitude."

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Very thoughtful," Janet tells her, in the kind of airily joking tone that indicates she actually means it. She leans her shoulder against Susan's again. "Laertes agreed to help me judge the new game."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Has he! Very good," says Susan, approvingly. "Have you decided whether to teach him some magic?"

[sorrowandsorrow]

"Not yet," Janet admits. "I've navigated some insane social dramas before, but your husband married you, didn't tell me, then fucked me, and you were the one who accidentally broke the news to me has been a weird one to get past. We're a little..." She grimaces. "We're fine, but sometimes it feels like Laertes and I are kindergarteners learning Friendship 101 again."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Ah," says Susan, wisely, in a way she hopes will make Janet laugh. "That old agony aunt classic."

[sorrowandsorrow]

Susan is wholly successful, and Janet snorts out a laugh. Luckily, she's not in the middle of a bite, though she does have a slice of baguette in one hand. "Exactly. And he feels so guilty, but it's not his fault. He doesn't control Sagramore."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"He certainly does not."

[sorrowandsorrow]

Janet briskly spreads ricotta on her baguette slice. "I got stuck in a closet with him. Sagramore, not Laertes. This mansion thinks it's so fucking funny."

[quote_gentle_unquote]

"Do you reckon Laertes is homosexual?" Susan wonders, before she processes what Janet has said. "Did you! That sounds dreadful. I got stuck with Enjolras."