Closed Post: The only way to learn is by playing

[futaille]

There has been a seismic shift in the pinball status quo and Grantaire unwittingly brought it just by mentioning the game at the wrong time. Or the right one, really. Watching Magnus play was honestly kind of amazing, but it also was a very fast shift in fortune, especially with tales of Alex even beyond that. And if Grantaire wanted any hope of keeping any Rs at all on the high score list long-term, he needed to refine his game. (Sometimes it's easier to be spurred on by someone clearly ahead of you than someone coming up behind.)

So he is, of course, in the game room one dark (and Dark) evening, working on improving. Of course, as always, his plans are fully subject to change when previous offers come back to the forefront.

Comments

[lightbearinglord]

It would be impossible not to recall Jiang Wanyin's cold and angry face in answer to that, the fury in his posture as he ordered Wei Ying out of the Jiang family shrine, his equal fury anytime it becomes obvious that Wei Ying is lost to him. He claims to love him, yet every action he takes to keep his shixiong does nothing but drive him further away. "True enough."

[futaille]

"Granted, I'm not immune to that particular affliction, although I also certainly never claimed virtuousness."

[lightbearinglord]

In Lan Wangji's experience, those who claim virtue the most loudly are the least likely to deserve that claim. He doesn't argue this point directly, though; he only looks impassively at Grantaire, skeptical but subtle about it.

[futaille]

"Another reason to visit the land of the elephants. I have a suspicion that they're nowhere near as hypocritical."

[lightbearinglord]

Now they are truly straying off their intended path. "Young master," Lan Wangji says, gentle enough but perfectly level and steely about it, "focus."

[futaille]

"--oh." He turns a bit red, shifting in his seat not entirely unlike a child caught in the middle of some mischief. He swallows. "Right. Yes. Of course. Sorry."

He fishes a stone out of his bowl and plays it near one of his others.

[lightbearinglord]

That was a satisfyingly prompt response. Lan Wangji watches Grantaire's reaction with some bemusement. That was by far one of the mildest chastisements he is capable of giving. He considers his options, then deploys his own white stone, now beginning the task of encroaching on Grantaire's territory.

[futaille]

Grantaire, although bouncing one heel against one of the legs of his chair, still manages to actually study the board to the best of his admittedly limited ability and places a stone at the approximate midpoint between two of his small stone clusters.

[lightbearinglord]

One of those clusters is vulnerable, whether Grantaire has noticed it or not. Lan Wangji calmly makes his next move.

[futaille]

Of course he hasn't. Well, not that one in particular, as he's fairly certain every stone he's played is likely fairly vulnerable. Still, he's doing his best. He plays again, which actually does a reasonable job of shoring up an entirely different cluster.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji is quiet for a prolonged moment. The twin silence from Grantaire is disorienting. He has not played with such a quiet weiqi partner since the last time he played with his brother, and that was years ago now. After that moment, he neatly captures a cluster of Grantaire's stones.

[futaille]

At least unlike Lan Xichen, Grantaire can't be silent for that long, all told. "I probably should have seen that coming. Although in fairness, I suspected it might be coming, if not exactly there and then. But I think that's only attributed to the fact that I recognize that I really only barely know what I'm doing, so it was more or less a given."

[lightbearinglord]

It is actually something of a relief to hear Grantaire speaking again. Lan Wangji was beginning to feel concern that he had broken one of Claudius' lovers, which would have been a difficult error to explain to one's best friend. "It is not an easy game," he allows. "You will not do well this time."

[futaille]

Human beings do tend to lack instruction manuals, and that can complicate things¹, but no long-term damage this time. "Oh, doing miserably was a given. I'd guess it's somewhere in the neighborhood of fifty games before someone starts doing slightly less miserably." He places a stone.

¹If Grantaire did have an instruction manual, the troubleshooting section probably would have just said 'toss him in a room with Enjolras for ten minutes, he'll be fine'.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji weighs this figure in his mind. "Claudius is beginning to improve," he says, "and we have played fewer than fifty games. But he has yet to defeat me." As if to punctuate that, he sets another stone in place himself.

[futaille]

"Ah, so probably closer to a hundred before I start getting hints of respectability." He sets a stone. "... In the game. I am in no way actually respectable."

[lightbearinglord]

Grantaire's hasty claim of disreputability has an endearing quality to it, like a street cat boasting of being a tiger. "Mn," Lan Wangji says, neutrally indulgent.

[futaille]

Tigers are not in wide supply in Paris. One does what one can. "Actually, no, probably more than a hundred. At least a game for each spot on the board. Which although numbers are hardly my strongest suit, I am fairly sure it more than outstrips a mere hundred."

[lightbearinglord]

"Three hundred and sixty-one," Lan Wangji supplies promptly. In the meantime, he is making inroads on the goal of setting up a trap for another group of Grantaire's stones.

[futaille]

"So if I played a game every day for a year, I'd marginally understand what I'm doing by the end of it." He ponders that. "Actually, the years are longer here. So it would not take a year." He does get the vague sense that that group of stones is in danger but doesn't have the slightest idea how to actually ward it off so places another stone in the general vicinity of it, at least. "... That makes me wonder, though. Are we all younger now, given that years are longer? We wouldn't have lived as many of them, total."

[lightbearinglord]

With, again, apologies to Grantaire, Lan Wangji does not appear particularly impressed by this bit of rhetoric. "Would you prefer to be younger?" he asks as he continues to neatly deploy his stones.

[futaille]

Oh come on, it's a lovely bit of rhetoric. And at least he's actually consistently remembering to play on his turns now."That depends on the circumstances, I think. Younger because of a trick of numbers, though? No, not in the least."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji takes note of that renewed consistency, of course. If he had known that that was all it took to coax his opponent into paying attention to the game, he would have done it much earlier. "You are hardly wizened as it is," he points out.

[futaille]

It's unlikely to last indefinitely, but it's certainly notable. "I don't know," he answers with a wry tinge to his voice. "It seems like I should have died months ago."

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji doesn't answer that aloud, but perhaps unsurprisingly, he also doesn't find it particularly funny. He gives Grantaire a single sharp look as he sets his next stone in place.