among her own kind

[she_sells_seashells]

Shell Bell finds Milliways once when she is eighteen. She has been there for two days now, setting up her sign ten minutes out of every waking hour, wiping down tables for her quarters in the staff area, eating buttery potatoes (she has been told that this is a complete nutrient package, for humans). Her wand is holding a bun of hair in place on the back of her head. Her shells are stashed safely in her room; she's budgeting carefully and she'll pay her tab when she leaves.

No one's talked to her due to the sign yet. They don't always. She sets it up anyway, like clockwork, so everyone gets the chance.

Comments

[she_sells_seashells]

"Oookay," Bell says. "Usually I dispense advice on taking over the world, but I get the impression that the object you live on is already all yours." She gets up, prepared to follow him.

[manofmyword]

"Yep!" he says, scoots out of his booth, and leads her toward the stairs.

[she_sells_seashells]

Up she goes. She hopes he's not going to proposition her. That happens sometimes and it's always awkward.

[manofmyword]

He does seem a little bit flirty, doesn't he?

Well. Only one way to find out.

When they arrive at his room, he opens the door and leads her inside.

It is a godawful mess.

There are, in fact, guns lying around; most of them are on the floor, between piles of discarded clothing. There is a sewing table shoved up against the wall, and a half-sewn dress suspended in the act of falling off it. It's very pretty, if you like red.

[she_sells_seashells]

Bella's room is so much tidier than this it's hard to believe both of them occupy the same dimension.

"Yep," she says. "Those look like guns."

[manofmyword]

"Mhm," he says, and perches on the one small part of the edge of his bed not covered by an enormous tangled blanket monster (this being the only place in the entire room to sit down), and regards her thoughtfully.

[she_sells_seashells]

Well, if he's not going to answer her question about exchange rates yet, she'll carry on beholding scattered objects.

[manofmyword]

"You don't scare easy," he observes. "Do ya."

[she_sells_seashells]

"You told me you had guns," Bell points out. "If I came up to your room and there weren't any guns I would be thrown into sudden uncertainty about your motives. Why would there being guns that you told me about that I voluntarily came to shop for scare me?"

[manofmyword]

"Maybe I'm losing my touch."

[she_sells_seashells]

Bell spreads her hands. "Maybe. Have you decided what you want for 'em yet?"

[manofmyword]

He reaches down t the floor, grabs the promised shotgun, and offers it to her grip-first.

"You can have it if you shoot me with it," he says. "In fact, you can have all of 'em. Anything you want outta this room."

[she_sells_seashells]

Bell takes the gun, and looks at it. (It is currently pointed at the ceiling. She has watched Peacekeepers handle guns.)

"That's weird," she says, "but if you're serious, I'll go ask Bar if that'd bother her."

[manofmyword]

"She doesn't mind as long as everything's consensual," he says. "But suit yourself."

[she_sells_seashells]

Bell puts the gun down and runs down to ask Bar.

Bar says why, if he asked you, I cannot imagine why my opinion ought to matter.

Bell goes back up. "D'you care where? I probably have terrible aim. But you're not really far away so I can probably be at least approximate," she says, picking up the shotgun again.

[manofmyword]

"Nope."

[she_sells_seashells]

Shotguns scatter, right? She's probably safest aiming for a leg.

She aims and sticks her tongue out of the corner of her mouth and mentally reviews her memory of the last several minutes to make sure she's not hallucinating the request or Bar's acquiescence. She pulls the trigger.

[manofmyword]

Shotguns do scatter, yes. This one, given what it was loaded with, a little more so than usual.

The Joker... giggles. It doesn't sound quite right. It usually doesn't, mind you, but it also usually doesn't have that bubbling undertone to it.

[she_sells_seashells]

Bell determines that he's not going to be helping her collect any further guns.

"This place isn't... booby-trapped or anything, is it?" she asks, pointing the gun back at the ceiling. She's going to have Tony look all the guns over.

[manofmyword]

Still laughing, he shakes his head.

She is, of course, welcome to disregard this information as suspect.

[she_sells_seashells]

It's suspect enough that she picks around the room carefully, but she does pick her way around. She collects seven assorted guns, boxes of bullets (and other ammunition) and powder, and some of the more portable knives - she's no good at knife-fighting, but Sherlock sure is, and they have utility applications.

She also takes some of the fabric. One folded sheet of strong, shiny stuff that she just plain likes. She re-folds it so it's longer one way, and wraps it around herself and tucks everything but the guns into it so she can have her hands free for those.

Several of them are small. She tucks those in the makeshift sarong too, pointing away from herself and down - she doesn't know how to unload them, that's going to be Tony's job. The longer ones she carries in her arms. "Thanks," she says, not sure if he can still hear her. "Uh, good luck with being full of bits of metal."

[manofmyword]

There is no response. Even the giggling stopped a while ago.

[she_sells_seashells]

She doesn't really know what happens to dead people in Milliways, but Bar didn't say "it's okay as long as he lives through it", she is not this guy's personal friend, he said the Hunger Games sounded like his idea of a good time, he has to have loaded the thing or at least known what was in it... yeah, she can't think of any good reason to dwell particularly on the fact that he may be dead. Lynnis is dead because of her too. Is there a meaningful first here? Maybe. Maybe not. She's got stuff to give Tony.

(Lynnis would have volunteered in place of anyone - she was up that year - and this guy would probably have gotten someone else to shoot him if Bell had turned him down. This analogy makes sense to her.)

Bell goes down to stash the swag in her room - she can invite the twins to see it later - and goes to check in on Sherlock, who has been left with her sign for some time now.

[sicaria]

"No takers so far," says Sherlock. "Who did you kill while you were gone?"

[she_sells_seashells]

"He said he was called 'the Joker' and he seemed enthusiastic about his proposed deal of me shooting him and taking his stuff. He's weird. You think he's dead? He could've just passed out from what I saw."