[OTA] Diamond Sharp

[uncutclarity]

The Diamonds focus more on intellectual challenges. You're more likely to see chess than a MMA challenge from Diamonds rising through the ranks. Poker before sword-fighting. Debate before boxing. But Avery's usually been an outlier that way. She had her fair share of non-violent challenging - baking, singing, mah jong - but largely she's risen in

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[bitchwithabite]

She really didn't think poorly of most of her assignments. She didn't. It's just that she usually despised running all over the Deck to deliver things. With a sigh, she followed about four different people's instructions to find Avery finally out on the practice fields -- not in the Jack's office, not in the kitchens, not with the King, but on the practice fields. Fine.

All she knew about the folder in her hands was that it needed to be taken to Avery. She hadn't been told what it was, as usual, but there was a small box in her hands. She waited for the other woman to put her sword down and break away from the pack before approaching.

"Lady Jack, I've been sent to give this to you." Please take it so she could go.

[uncutclarity]

Avery hangs her sabre on the rack, giving Amy a considering look. She knows her, of course; they're only a year apart, and Ethan had been one of her friends before he started being sent off-Deck more and more often. And then, of course, he'd left for good. It hadn't been that much of a surprise once she thought about it; if you were gone a lot, home became less home eventually.

But she doesn't say any of that, of course. "Thank you, Amy," is what she says as she took the box and opened it. The contents have her lifting her brows - but at least it isn't a signal of more serious problems at the outposts; just a key and directions to the house where the envoy meeting will be held.

"Would you mind taking a message back? To Victor, not Julien."

[bitchwithabite]

"I'm here to do anything that furthers my suit, milady," she said calmly, but there was just the slightest of furrows between her eyebrows. She'd blame it on the light, if asked, but it was really just because titles rather than names being used in any sense other than mocking was still...really rough for her, actually. She'd been doing a good job of it, but it was still annoying to remind herself on a regular basis that she was the lowest of the low. "If there's anything I can do to streamline communications and heighten functionality, I'll do it gladly." And Julien would deal with the lack of haste because he'd sent her on this errand in the first place.

[uncutclarity]

"Avery is fine." The Diamonds were a formal Suit - the formal Suit, really, with a deep and abiding love for protocols and titles, but Avery had always been a relatively unusual Diamond that way. And sometimes she liked remembering her name was not actually Lady Jack.

"Tell Victor that Diana will be the Diamond involved with the event we discussed earlier, and that the Hearts will be sending Johan." Tegan hadn't gotten back to her, but she suspected it would be Elisha. Still, it wasn't wise to make assumptions, because then she was the one looking like an idiot.

[bitchwithabite]

Nodding, Amy made a mental note of the names. "Consider it done, Avery." A pause, a tilt of her head. "What's with the sword-fighting? Last I heard, Spades is where the brutality is, not Diamonds."

[uncutclarity]

Avery's lips tip up in a grin as she looks out on the field. "Oh, maybe it's not quite as common in the Diamonds as in the Spades," she says, "but most of us learn some kind of defense. And the majority of my challenges were actually fighting challenges, even though Rachel prefers more intellectual ones. Besides," she says. "It seems stupid not to know how to protect yourself in a given situation, if you can be prepared."

[bitchwithabite]

That's fair, at least. Shrugging a little, Amy tucks her hands into her pockets. The sword challenge with Ethan a few months ago...certainly went badly, and probably would have gone better if she'd practiced with the dedication it seems like everyone else does. Hindsight is 20/20, though, and she can't change it now -- but she can be prepared, if it ever comes up again. "Preparation is something to be commended, yeah. It's... There's no excuse for being unready, I think."

[uncutclarity]

The look Avery gives her is thoughtful as she tucks the box under her arm. "Julien probably has you busy right now," given that she was delivering things all the way across the Deck. "But if you'd like to spar sometime when he doesn't, I wouldn't mind." She shrugs. "It's easy to get in a rut if you practice with the same people all the time. I like to mix it up."

[bitchwithabite]

Does she look hopeful? She shouldn't. She doesn't want to. But sparring with someone who didn't call her a failure behind her back would probably be nice, if the offer was genuine. "The Ace has a lot that needs to be done that he doesn't have the time to do, but when I have a moment, I'll be sure to keep your offer in mind." It wasn't sharp, though she wanted to be. It wasn't clipped, though instinct told her it should be. It was careful and respectful and she couldn't keep the small degree of hope from her voice.

[uncutclarity]

She does look hopeful, and one corner of Avery's lips turns up. Amy hasn't done herself a single favor in the last several weeks, but it looks like she's turning over a new leaf, so to speak. And Avery might not be a Spade - nor was Amy a Diamond in any way - but they had a responsibility to make members of the Deck actually productive. So she was offering.

"Julien's a busy man," she says. "But let me know, and we'll set something up."

[bitchwithabite]

"I'll be sure to do precisely that, Avery." She started to turn and go, but stopped herself. "Thank you. And it's Diana and Johan, right?" Right. She was sure she had those names correct.

[uncutclarity]

She nods, grin flashing. "Diana and Johan. Thank you, Amy."

[bitchwithabite]

"It's my duty to my Suit and my honor to my Ace." How anything even resembling formality could come out of her mouth, she didn't know, but she was going to turn and go now. Thanks, Avery.