in between moments

[she_sells_seashells]

Shell Bell has not found Milliways by herself since the occasion on which she first met Sherlock.

Today, after eight months, she does.

She makes sure that Sherlock and Tony are both awake, finds that they are but do not want to join her in the bar today unless she finds something interesting, checks her coin supply and finds it sufficient, and steps through.

Comments

[pythbox]

"Says a woman named Shell Bell," Tony snorts. "You rhyme."

[she_sells_seashells]

"My real name is Bell. The shell part is a nickname. Remember how I was bringing shells into Milliways since I was six? It doesn't warn me when it's going to give me a door, and having shells on my person or not was the difference between staying three days, starving, or staying three weeks, getting a reasonable meal every day and more time to learn things and look for some magic or tech I could take home and be that little bit safer. I left bags of clamshells near every door I ever went through and pitched a fit if someone moved them. The rhyme just made it even more obvious."

[pythbox]

"...Yeah," he says, "I mean, I figured? Pepper's a nickname too, her real name's Virginia."

[she_sells_seashells]

"How is Pepper a nickname for Virginia?" asks Bell.

[pythbox]

"That is a very good question," says Tony, "and I came up with it, so I should know the answer."

[she_sells_seashells]

"...But you don't?"

[pythbox]

"Nope."

[she_sells_seashells]

"Huh. Anyway, do you want me to go see about talking to your friend who might be on an airplane?"

[pythbox]

"I guess," he says. "I should probably call him first."

The friend in question does not pick up.

[she_sells_seashells]

Shell Bell waits for this result to be interpreted in the form of a should or a should-not.

[pythbox]

"He's probably doing something important and military," says Tony. "Or sleeping, he could be sleeping. Better not."

[she_sells_seashells]

"Okay," shrugs Shell Bell.

[sailorheavymetal]

[Soooo,] says Darcy, [can you put Heimdall on the brainphone from where you are?]

[she_sells_seashells]

[Yeah, sure, does he want in?]

[sailorheavymetal]

[Yep!]

[she_sells_seashells]

[Done,] she conferences to Darcy and Heimdall both. "I just added Heimdall to the network," she informs Tony, "so if you don't want to talk to him, you can set up a busy message instead of being surprised if he talks to you, though I have no idea if he's likely to."

[pythbox]

[Thank you,] says Heimdall.

"Okay," says Tony.

[she_sells_seashells]

[You're welcome.]

"You know, I really wish there were a good way to set up Milliways-independent interworld travel," remarks Shell Bell wistfully. "But I can't do it even with the pointiest wishcoins Sherlock ever makes for me."

[pythbox]

"...Hmm," says Tony.

[she_sells_seashells]

"...What, thinking of an engineering solution?" Shell Bell asks.

[pythbox]

"Maybe."

[she_sells_seashells]

She laughs. "I'm not optimistic, if I can't do it with a star - although Stella's boyfriend has made even pointier coins, so maybe those can, although the big wishes are kind of mean - it's not even safe to use stars unless you know a certain secret - so she hasn't tried doing anything with them yet, she even calls the class of coin 'evils'."

[pythbox]

"It's weird that pointiness is a measure of power," says Tony.

[she_sells_seashells]

"And," says Shell Bell, "everybody gets unique coin colors! Well, I don't know about everybody everybody, but even alts don't all have the same ones. You saw mine."

[pythbox]

"Yep," he says. "Weird."