a bonedust match (wip)

Flavia watched her brother pick up the knucklebone, rolling it around in his palm. They were sitting in the courtyard, kneeling beside a chalk circle. Within the circle were numerous red and yellow marbles, each set spaced differently. Outside the circle, Decimus had about twice as many yellow marbles as she did red, so she watched him with wide, worried eyes.

She wasn't unused to losing at bonedust, but the way he rubbed it in her face always frustrated her. Just once, she wanted to win. He smugly shook the piece in his hand, letting it fall to the ground. "Five."

"How impressive. Maybe you'll have success at more than just rolling the knucklebone," she said politely, her words betraying her tone.

Taking up the knucklebone, she began to shake it in her hand, ignoring the way Decimus glared at her. It was fine, his ego could take a beating. She dropped it, and her lips quirked upwards, satisfied. "Six. It's my turn, actually, but a five is still quite high! Not bad, Deci."

"You're annoying. Just take your turn."

Flavia scooted near her yellow marble and drew a neat, careful shape around it. Her chalk circles were a bit neater than Decimus's, but he was hardly messy. Flavia was fine at drawing them; the issue was with aiming and shooting the marbles. Quietly, she added a few details around the outside of the circle. When she touched the chalk line, the marble shot into her brother's, knocking it and a few others out of the circle. Her eyes lit up and she scooped the won marbles. His demeanor shifted.

"You've been practicing with Khazhde, haven't you?" he asked, eyeing his younger sister. The girl shrugged. She'd been practicing a bit, but not with the help of their servant. Learning natural magic was enjoyable, even if it didn't have the same significance it did for Khazhde. Flavia just enjoyed being thought of and included. "That was impressive."

She blinked in surprise at her brother's praise. "Thank you," she said, smoothing the front of her dress as he went to take his turn. It hit a marble, but not with enough force to knock it out. The practice did prove to be helpful because eventually, she was winning.