so there was this deck of cards, right

[lexicality]

Jessica's house is cute. Lexi could see doing a lot of her homework here, listening to the calming chatter of gossip and getting help from Jessica on math (Bella's no help there) and helping Jessica on English. Forks isn't so bad. She doesn't mind the rain as much as Bella does.

Jessica goes to pee before they even start their assignment, after just introducing Lexi to her mom and dad as "one of Chief Swan's kids", and Lexi doesn't want to do work by herself or she wouldn't have come over in the first place. She sits on the couch and plunks her bag down and waits. There's a random deck of cards over there; she picks it up and flips through it. She's been trying to learn to bridge-shuffle.

Comments

[incanted]

+You are pretty snazzy-looking, I'll give you that.+

[cardistry]

+I am. This form's actually based on a magician's deck I saw once. It was so hot.+

[incanted]

+I'm not actually sure how literally to take that considering that you are yourself a deck of cards,+ observes Bella.

[cardistry]

+...Somewhere between just-kidding-around and, like... I feel about looking like this in deck-of-cards form the way I'd feel about wearing really gorgeous clothes in my human-shaped form. You know?+

[incanted]

+I suppose, although I didn't previously know you cared much about wearing nice outfits while human-shaped.+

[cardistry]

+I have never actually done it, I've never really had the chance, but I've definitely thought about it. I just like looking good,+ he says cheerfully.

[incanted]

+Is there a staff form equivalent?+ asks Bella.

[cardistry]

+It doesn't customize nearly as much, so... only kinda? I like how I look in staff form, though, it's pretty cool.+

[incanted]

+I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention at the time, but yeah,+ Bella agrees. +What other stuff that I might not expect a deck of cards to care about are you hiding?+

[cardistry]

+Uh, how do I know what you expect a deck of cards to care about?+

[incanted]

+By default, I expect decks of cards to care about no things at all, but you're full of surprises.+

[cardistry]

+Okay,+ he says. +Well, I care about stuff. So there you go.+

[incanted]

+Fair enough. Go us, caring about stuff.+

[cardistry]

Brilliance giggles.

[incanted]

+How old are you, anyway?+

[cardistry]

+I'm not totally sure,+ he says. +I think maybe four centuries? But there were definitely some stretches where I wasn't counting.+

[incanted]

+Did you ever just talk to people? Like, not try to get them to wield you, I gather you haven't been doing any of that, but never talking to anyone for four hundred years sounds rough, especially since I have a hard time imagining how you'd entertain yourself otherwise - play solitaire with yourself?+

[cardistry]

+Hell of a lot of eavesdropping,+ he says ruefully. +And getting played with could be kind of fun, when I was having good days. But yeah. Mostly I was just lonely.+

[incanted]

+That sucks.+

[cardistry]

+Yep!+ he says, brightly but with an edge of irony.

[incanted]

+Were you just going to - bounce around like that forever? Instead of looking for help preemptively?+

[cardistry]

+Yeah, pretty much,+ he says. +I - look, in case you can't tell, I kind of have some issues about this whole wielder thing.+

[incanted]

+I wish you'd tell me what they were so I wouldn't have to risk running into them unexpectedly.+

[cardistry]

+It's not like I've got a map,+ he sighs. +And I do have problems trusting people. So, you know, even though you're better than I ever hoped for as far as wielders go... it's still not easy for me to just tell you everything I'm afraid of and hope you don't use it against me.+

[incanted]

+Yeah, that's fair, I guess. Now I'm wondering what would've happened if Lexi found the jokers and I found the rest of the pack.+