[Sandboxing/Voice testing/Thread continuations]

[timeshares]

INSERT ALL PLAY HERE

Comments

[abandon_hope]

[ He'll be gentle long enough to get Luke hooked, and then comes the ruthlessness. Though maybe by then Luke will know enough to be rutheless right back... ]

... It Is cathartic. When you put it like that.

[timeshares]

That's me. Finding the bright sides.

[He scratches at his chin.]

I'm done for today. [Not that day or night have any meaning or even representation down here. But he can only work through so much before needing to wander, anyway.] And you should be recovering.

Sounds like a good time to try it out.

[timeshares]

Though go wipe your face off first. You look like a horror movie, man.

[abandon_hope]

Yes sir.

[ Is that a little fondness in his voice, though? Just a little. He picks himself up and goes to a small cistern in the corner of the room. ]

I figure we can vague handwave ACTUAL game play because yes.

[timeshares]

[It's a small smile but there as he goes through the descriptions on the cards nearest him. There was obviously some Olympian force in their publishing, because it wasn't too hard to read. It's just that the descriptions, especially for some of the more obviously powerful ones, are a bit obtuse.

He's still puzzling over the area card The Straight of Messina. And he'd been there.]

So when's the last time you played this?

yes please

[abandon_hope]

[ Nico, meanwhile, is quietly but genuinely excited by all this. Remembering why he liked this game in the first place and seeing it with new eyes too, more complex strategies coming to mind. ]

... Years ago. I was still in that boarding school.

[timeshares]

[On the other hand, Luke's first moves are really tentative. A few, outright reckless, just figuring out the cards.]

So, I might have a shot here.

[Not even a little.]

[abandon_hope]

[ Ha ha. Nico can't help but grin a little at that. ]

Maybe. If I go easy on you.

[timeshares]

What? Mercy? Here? You're terrible on your own reputation.

[abandon_hope]

That's why I'm swearing you to secrecy.

[timeshares]

That's right. We did have that conversation.

[With a tuneless hum, puts Poseidon into play. For as much as it is teasing, it actually isn't a BAD move either.]

[abandon_hope]

[ Oh. You jerk. Nico considers the card ... and sends in Hades on his end. Strange, he doesn't play with the figure for this one. ]

You're going there, huh.

[timeshares]

[Huh...

... ... ... Of course, NEVER MIND THAT. That one move overwhelmed half of his cards in play.

Puts Persephone across from Hades.]

I didn't have Apollo.

[abandon_hope]

Reconsidering going easy on you, Castellan.

[ Demeter. ]

[timeshares]

[He ... ....

There's no good counter for Demeter. WHY IS THERE NO GOOD COUNTER FOR DEMETER?

.... Cedes those cards and plays Hypnos to buy some time.]

No fair bullying a poor little spirit.

[He shakes his head, trying not to grin outright.]

[abandon_hope]

[ 'cause it's Demeter. Nico, meanwhile, starts setting up a game-winning combo in the background. ]

That's part of my job. Didn't you realize?

[timeshares]

[He watches that, trying to figure out what Nico's doing...

... It probably isn't good.

And he has nothing. Really.

So puts Hera's figure into play. Might as well LOSE in a satisfying way.]


Here I thought I was an exception...

[abandon_hope]

[ Ugh, Hera. He makes a face at her as he continues to lay down cards. ]

Almost. Not quite.

[timeshares]

[You know those situations where you don't mean to be surprised but are? That's one of those situations.

The look doesn't last long, anyway.]

...

Huh... so those types work together?

[abandon_hope]

Which types? These cards?

[ He taps one of them. ]

Yeah, these feed off each other. Once I trigger them, the game's over for you.

[timeshares]

[Considers the cards lined up and the figures... that set next to that... so if they go, then that will trigger...

He sets his chin in his palm, looking over his own hand.]

And you're waiting for...?

[abandon_hope]

I'm letting you figure it out. For next time.

[timeshares]

[He takes a good long moment to study the cards and the configurations, then scoops up his own off of the board.]

Challenge accepted. Can I borrow these?

[abandon_hope]

... Sure. Why not?

[ If he really needs them back in a hurry, he can easily find them. ]

[timeshares]

Don't expect the next game to be so easy, then.