[ota] time to go another round

[theacethatmatters]

When one got right down to it, there were very few things Julien excelled in. It was just that he managed to employ them in many different ways. Violence, for instance. And cards.

And needling people until they erupt but that wasn't a particularly good choice for a Challenge.

Certainly, he'd cut his way up the ranks before though he had at least not left the servants with a body to clean up afterward. Cards had always seemed too cliché to him for use in Challenges.

There were, of course, other things he could do with weaponry than draw blood. Archery and targets, for instance.

But some part of him wanted to be a little more unexpected. To leave people wondering if there was more to the former Ace than the niche he'd carved for himself. Unfortunately, he hadn't quite decided what that would be, yet. Which meant he could hardly decide on who he'd extend the Challenge to and certainly he couldn't bring it up to either Royal, yet.

So that leaves him sitting with tea at hand and brooding over a piece of paper in front of him, covered in scribbled and scratched out ideas.

Really this was almost more trouble than it was worth.

Comments

[theacethatmatters]

"Don't worry," he says, wry, "I was not planning on your spouse." Just to clear the air there.

He and Victor had had their differences, but Julien still respected the man. And he couldn't say he was absolutely certain it would be he himself who walked away from that fight.

Besides, if Julien were going to challenge someone, he would choose someone who deserved it. He shrugs slightly and folds the paper up, putting it away in a coat pocket. "I suppose it's just as easy to choose who one would like to Challenge and tailor he Challenge to that person as it would be to choose what one wishes to Challenge in and then finding someone who fit it."

[headfollowheart]

Zoe lifts her shoulders in a shrug. There's nothing wrong with checking, after all. It wasn't as if Julien and Victor liked each other, even if they had a grudging respect for each other. And there were plenty of people who thought of challenging as a challenge instead of a punishment. "I don't know if Victor will be disappointed or relieved," she says dryly.

"I'd say it would be easier," she adds. "To choose who you want to challenge and then decide what to challenge them in. Isn't part of it exploiting their weaknesses, after all?" Zoe Fox is a sweet, relatively kind young woman. Popular, considered to be a soft Spade in a lot of ways. But most of her challenges have been about exploiting her opponent's weaknesses, even when she was a Heart.

Maybe especially then, really.

[theacethatmatters]

"You'll have to ask him for me." The reaction might be interesting, anyway.

As for the other, he smiles slightly, "I've been told that, yes."

[headfollowheart]

Julien would be better able to gauge it if he asked Victor himself, instead of asking his wife to be the messenger, but Zoe merely inclines her head. "Of course," she says blandly. In all likelihood, the subject will never come up between the Foxes.

"It's up to you, naturally," she adds. "I'm sure you don't really need advice."