Issue #70

[mistconduct]

Fuck me, we're four days into March and the port messed up my goddamn March Madness spread!

Fuck it, fine. Obviously since I can't watch college basketball on the Barge, we make our own entertainment here.

Bets are currently open to be placed on all inmates. It's $5 to play, 5 spots for $20. First inmate you picked to graduate gets paid out.

All unpaired inmates are wild cards - if you bet on them and they're first to graduate, you win a date with Loki in addition to the whole kit and caboodle.

Here's some sample odds I've got running;

Mickey - 2:1
The Emperor - 2:1
Abigail - 3:1
Cass - 3:1
Mira - 5:1
Tig - 10:1
Jax - 10:1
Touko - 20:1
Sylvanas - 25:1
Jerry - 25:1
Dean - 40:1
Arthas - 50:1

...Hey, does anyone else feel like utter crap?

Comments

[fridgetothefire]

They might surprise you.

You didn't get a souvenir?

[mistconduct]

I got a sword. Not a fucking...crown of horns or whatever the fuck.

Move your hair a sec, I can't see it.

[fridgetothefire]

It's from the chessboard, stupid. I'm the white queen.

[She lifts her bangs. Yeah, that looks unpleasant.]

Also, if you ever say 'Dean Lite' again, I will give you frostbite on your tongue.

[mistconduct]

Holy fuck. Is that reversible? Do we have to go have surgery?


White Queens don't have frost powers, Anya.

[fridgetothefire]

[t...otally ignoring the crown questions]

Oh no, I've been working on those since Christmas. Arthas got me study materials.

[mistconduct]

What the fuck? I thought you were baseline human. You can't just pick up powers on the fly.

[fridgetothefire]

[s h r u g]

It's a kind that's all math-based. Sparkle talents not required.

[mistconduct]

Math based frost powers.

[fridgetothefire]

Yep.

[mistconduct]

Are you sure he's not just fucking with you?

[fridgetothefire]

[She puts the communicator down, flips out a notebook, tears out a page. There's a half-completed arithmancy circle, lined with notations. She finishes a couple of the calculations and slams the page on the table in front of the comm like a vindictive card player. Ice oozes up from the circle, crackles and grates, more shoving what came first off the paper, like a pocket sized glacier.]

[versusnurture]

Thank you.

[A beat.]

I like it. [Highest praise.]

[fridgetothefire]

Thanks.

[A quirk of a smile. She appreciates it.]

I think I do too.

[Even though it hurts.]

[versusnurture]

Is it going to disappear?

[fridgetothefire]

I have no idea.

[Which totally isn't terrifying.]

[versusnurture]

Oh.

Well, if you keep it, it might look nice with pearls.

[fridgetothefire]

Huhn. It would, wouldn't it?

[versusnurture]

All icy and clean.

[She smiles, just a little.]

[fridgetothefire]

I have some around here.

[A gift from Ben, intimate and morbid and oblique. She wonders if it's a bad time, or an essential time.]

[Private]

You get anything?

[fireincarnate]

It does suit you.

[Private]

[And the smile fades.] Does it hurt?

private

[fridgetothefire]

[A faintly pinched look.]

...yeah, some.

private

[fireincarnate]

Maybe you should come up to the infirmary. If nothing else, Cambridge can get a look at how it connects.

private

[fridgetothefire]

Maybe.

[She doesn't...want to. Which is probably also a thing she should talk about with Cambridge, but if it fades, she won't have to worry about it.]

private

[fireincarnate]

[Her brow furrows. She doesn't want to be pushy, but - ]

How do you feel, otherwise? Is anything else...different?

private

[fridgetothefire]

[She makes a noise, the distorted hybrid of a giggle and a cackle and a gurgle, a wriggling choking mean-mirthful thing, then claps her hand on her mouth for a moment, looking less like she's trying to muffle herself than like she's trying to swallow bile, to stop something escaping.

Her throat works, gulping several times, and she drags a slow breath through her nose.]

I'm a little. Askew. I spent a long time in the library.

[It's fine, she's fine. She can handle it.]