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

[sicaria]

"Tempting," she acknowledges.

[she_sells_seashells]

"All right. I'll put the sign away in my room for now, then."

[sicaria]

"And I will find Tony," she says, getting up from the table.

[she_sells_seashells]

They relocate each other after sign has been put and Tony has been got. Bell leads the way to Darcy!

"Darcy, Tony and Sherlock Stark," she says, "Panem versions. Tony, Sherlock, this is Darcy, she of magic space hammer."

[sicaria]

Sherlock studies Darcy closely.

[ferratus]

"Okay, so what's this about another me?"

[pythbox]

Darcy is mildly uncomfortable with Sherlock's scrutiny!

"Wow," she says, staring at Tony. "You're like a walking, talking embarrassing high school photo."

[she_sells_seashells]

"Embarrassing high school photo?" Bell asks. She has learned not to continue such confused inquiries into guesses like "there is a photography school on a mountain that people are embarrassed to have gone to?" because that generally gets her laughed at.

[pythbox]

"A photo of somebody from when they were a teenager, that they're embarrassed about because they're not a teenager anymore," she says. "Except that when Stark was your age he was in grad school, which is like, two schools higher than high school, because he's mega smart."

[ferratus]

"I am not surprised," says Tony.

[she_sells_seashells]

"You didn't say if you know whether he comes here or not," Shell Bell prompts Darcy.

[pythbox]

"Not a clue, I never met the guy."

[she_sells_seashells]

"Oh. Then how did you come by your evaluation of his personality? People say all kinds of things on television." Pause. "I mean, I guess yours wasn't trying to collect sponsors so he wouldn't die? But even on the other channels I don't think everyone's like that when they get home."

[pythbox]

"Because nobody can be that much of a dick on television and a great dude in real life? I mean, the guy's led a pretty public life, you can kind of tell the persona has some basis in reality."

[she_sells_seashells]

"Oh." Shell Bell glances at Tony to see how he's taking this.

[ferratus]

Tony is mildly disconcerted! But only mildly.

Still: "This is weird," he volunteers.

[pythbox]

Darcy snorts. "Yeah, tell me about it."

[she_sells_seashells]

"If we could meet one of my alts that would solve everything, probably, they tend to be magical empresses of stuff," Bell huffs. "But we'll take what we can get. Do you have any way of getting in touch with the Tony in your world? Would he believe you if you told him about Milliways? Could you hold the door long enough for him to show up and check it out next time you find it?"

[pythbox]

"Iiiii, you know what, I probably could get in touch with him," she says. "I'd have to go through Coulson, but he's an okay dude. Kinda busy though, so it might take a while. Especially if I have to prove Milliways to him first. Iron Man's pretty all-American, though, so I'd keep a lid on the T-word around him if I were you."

[she_sells_seashells]

"The T-wo- oh. Okay. Is 'guerilla warfare' okay?"

[pythbox]

"Yeah, probably."

[she_sells_seashells]

"Okay. Probably hard to formulate a plan otherwise. I know a smattering of things about America, but if you want me to understand the relevance of that explanation you will have to tell me."

[pythbox]

"Terrorism is a bad word around here because some guys flew a plane into some culturally significant buildings ten years ago and everybody's still mad about it," Darcy summarizes.

[she_sells_seashells]

Bell decides not to comment that this is an interesting use of a plane and if she ever gets her hands on a plane she will consider it!

[pythbox]

"Yeah, there was a whole thing. Lots of dead people, a couple increasingly pointless wars, more dead people, depressing all round. Don't do that," she adds.