o1 ⚔ i got no secrets i got no friends

[bangitybang]

Characters: Janus Lefevre & you
Summary: Closed and open threads for Janus, which I'm starting now ALTHOUGH I PRObably can't tag back til next week. An erstwhile murderer goes about their business in a post-apocalyptic world, such as picking people up at the bar and eating cookies. It's fine.
Date(s): August & September 2017
Warnings/Notes: Possibly some sexual stuff, non-graphic references to violence



open { bar;

[in the past few years, janus has learned a thing or two about being a person, doing regular person things, like for example the time-honored tradition of kind of sort of maybe picking someone up at a bar. making friends. contributing through some mystical means to the defense of a refugee city outflung in the reaches beyond the multiversal apocalypse. you know, the usual.

janus is at the citadel tonight. though defense systems and mysterious laboratories may take up much of the building, the lounge still has its cheesy music and dance floor and opulent indoor forest. it's a little weird, but then again, so is janus— a shadw under 6', muscular, dressed all in black, without enough facial expressions, quiet as a shadow until they abruptly appear at one's elbow.]

Allow me to buy you a drink. [a beat. they remember that things in xistentia are in general free-- the booze at this bar, especially.] Or make you one. I'm very exact with measurements. Goldilocks' ideal partner, once she's legal.

[look. a few years ago, they were a lot less smooth than this.]

open { misc! weird stalking;

[it's not that janus is following anyone specifically, they just have a habit of watching people wherever they're at. it's surveillance. it's tactical.

so maybe that ends up being you, going for a cup of coffee in the morning or helping to move produce to a grocery store one afternoon, building a shed for the new crop or teaching or preparing defenses. whatever you're doing, it's the weight of an indiscreet stare that pulls your attention. the young man looks both a million miles away and weirdly intense, like a hawk focusing a teeny tiny field mouse from a mile away.

but if you but look at them, janus stiffens and then looks apologetic, looking away and then back again, unsure if the formality of an apology would make the offense worse or better. murder is a lot easier than this, u no u no]

closed to team oreo (rafa, arthur, era) { teeeeam oreoooo;

Hello, this is Janus

[you remember. the stilted young man from the internet, who boasted a truly incredible ability.]

I have come into possession of Oreo cookies or a reasonable facsimile thereof
Please let me know when you are available and where to meet you, as I would like to share this bounty
:D

[:D]

Comments

[creatio]

( She looks surprised at that, her eyebrows arching a little towards her fiery hair. )

How did you know that?

( Her Seraph Blade isn't much use to her here, so it stays in her apartment gathering dust. Clary tries not to feel guilty about that, because it's not something she can help. But she's new to this whole Shadowhunter thing, to shrug it off so soon feels like it's cheating. )

You're right though. I'm definitely used to something different. But you work with what you've got, right?

[bangitybang]

The way you do your slashing and stabbing, [janus says.] The angle of it.

[they step toward her quick, easy, maybe a little presumptively, but -- something about the language of combat is familiar to them, comforting in a way that most things in this life just aren't. they tap a finger against the edge of her wooden sword, running a finger along it til they reach the middle, tipping it up with a nudge, the calluses on the digit rasping very faintly against the slightly chipped grain of the practice weapon.]

You've learned in a way that's embedded in your muscle memory. You don't even have to think about it. [unmistakable approval in their voice. they drop their arm.]

How long?

[creatio]

Honestly? Only a few months. Less than a year.

( Clary eyes Janus with something like curiosity in her eyes. She's used to mysterious people just appearing to talk combat with her. Shadowhunters make it a habit to appear and tell her where she's going wrong anyway. Janus isn't doing that, actually they sound almost impressed. She can't help but feel pleased about that. )

I'm still learning.

( The runes help, of course. But she had to work hard to prove herself, to even get to a place like this. It's been a long few months. )

What about you? What's your weapon of choice?

[bangitybang]

[there's a flattering edge of surprise in janus' expression when she says that. she's advanced for that time. a natural born murderer. congratulations, clary fray. a fellow murderer appreciates your skills, even if it's not exactly their personality to pop confetti over her head about it.] Small knives, [they answer.] Because of the stealth. Also, I used to be a much smaller person, and it would surprise people if I tried for close quarters combat.

It was an advantage, to be underestimated. You might have found that. I don't know how people are about diminutive redheads with only six months of training in your world, but in mine, people would have been bastards about it.

[they offer her a half-smile, and then walk across the square training area. they pick up a training sword of their own, out of the rack on the side. they grasp it by the hilt, and start to pull— then pause, looking at her with a question on their face. janus has a hell of a propensity for alone-time too. they'd get it if she'd rather.]

[creatio]

( There's something strange about Janus. They're intriguing, and she's always been too curious for her own good. She won't worry about strange people appearing to make proclamations over fighting right now. Not when there's something more interesting at hand.
)

It works in my favour. ( Being small, being rough around the edges. People look at her, and they expect someone slow and easily manipulated. Or they expect a pawn. Valentine's daughter. A threat because she exists, but not much of one. Not a girl with fire bursting from her at any given moment. Not a girl who'll fight tooth and nail. ) I just have to prove them wrong.

( They approach the training area, taking one of the wooden swords. Clary's smile is bright and mischievous. )

Okay then.

wow that icon is beautimous shoves jace's face

[bangitybang]

[janus' half-smile turns into a full one. they heft the weapon of their choice, a wooden sword that's not much larger than hers, and the same style. they stoop agilely then to loosen the laces on their shoes, take their feet out of them one by one. they then nudge them aside with a heel, and straighten. swing their sword, side to side, familiarizing themself with the weight and balance of it.

they come to a stop four meters from her, and then drop their tall frame into a front stance. one leg forward, the other back. their weight leaned slightly to the fore. they study the smile on her face in turn. she looks sharp enough to cut, wooden edges or no.]

Did I get your name?

right? it's too much. also i suck at fighting rp so this is gonna be bad lmao

[creatio]

It's Clary.

( She's definitely sizing Janus up. There's a curious edge to her gaze when they take their stand in front of her even as she's shifting her own weight to match. Still, she waits, keeps her breathing even and sure. This isn't a real fight, but she mentally rifles through everything she's learnt in the past few months anyway. Use what she has to her advantage. Keep her head. )

What about you?

i will summarize a bunch

[bangitybang]

Janus, [they answer easily, their voice mild, conversational, matching the neat little smile on their face.

contrast to: the sudden lunge they make at her, wooden sword hurling down with superior force and the higher angle. both are tactical advantages, but she's small, quick, and she's learned from the best-- she deflects them easy, the blades cracking loud enough to draw a brief look from the other gym-goers.] Pleasure to make your acquaintance, [they add.

after that, it's a steady trade of blows. janus is quick for their size, and supernaturally strong, but she gets inside the reach of their arms once and gets them with a solid shot of her elbow into their thigh. they wind up hopping a moment, throwing her a show of teeth that's half grimace, half grin, and half... gratitude, probably, for sparing their balls. they knock her legs out from under her just once— a risky endeavor that they take equal time to recover from. she doesn't let janus catch her like that again, leaping high the next time she sees them slide low.

there's a sheen of sweat between janus' shoulder-blades, their hair pricking into their eyes. they breathe from the chest.]

Before swords, what did you do with all-- this energy?

[creatio]

( Janus is good, and Clary finds herself harbouring a vicious kind of thrill at being able to fight someone like this. She does her best to keep up her training, and more often than not she can lure Alec down, but much of her time is spent as he found her. Taking her frustrations out on wooden dummies and air. )

I'm not even sure.

( Because there's always been a fire burning inside of her skin, she just didn't have the ability to name the feeling until she fell into the Shadow World. Clary's quick to anger and quicker to defend nature had felt out of place in high school corridors and shopping malls. )

Music helped.

( Her eyes are a little calculating as she watches them, looking for any kind of break in their concentration or their defence. )

Listening to it, I mean. I can't play anything. But art was definitely something. Though there's nothing like this.

[bangitybang]

[they can feel her looking. under different circumstances, they'd fake it, try to trick her into imagining a false weakness where there is none. but this isn't that kind of game-- or at least, not yet. there's an easy honesty to their dodge, parry. then their next swipe of the sword.

but she catches one vulnerability, maybe. they are

admittedly

trying to impress her, as new warriors do upon meeting one another. not just with their maneuvers, but also with their words. so in the gaps, just before they speak, she'll notice-- when they favor one legs lightly over the other, leaving their left side slightly exposed.] I'm guessing you don't mean Beethoven. [there! and gone again. their swords clack.] But I wouldn't be completely surprised if you did.

[there!]