at the door

[she_sells_seashells]

The Bells are assembled, except the ones missing into the unknown world.

Shell Bell opens her aura up as far as it will go. (Back in Atlantis, Neptune glows with the spillover, snuggled up to Tinia.)

She reaches for the door.

She gets Atlantis.

She tries again and gets Downside.

"It doesn't look like I can get it," she says softly. "It looks like they're stuck until -"

The door opens, again.

"Thank fucking everything," Aegis says, "hello. Aether, Celo - these are - everybody and then some."

"Tab," supplies Tab.

Meanwhile, Glass staggers in the direction of the bathroom. [THAT IS NOT A NICE WORLD.]

[We fucking KNOW,] says Aegis, [how broke is Jane?]

[Very broke,] says Juliet, [tried a tenner, didn't go.]

[I might be able to do something now you're here,] Stella says, [with aura.]

Comments

[subtly_artistic]

"Can you be more specific?"

[thaumobabble]

"Your world is - anti-causal. Not all the time, but much more often than is healthy. Your aura won't let that happen within -" Glass squints. "A mile or line of sight whichever's farther. Even if you withdraw it. That's an always-on feature - well-behaved causality. It doesn't make you invincible, but - you can take actions and rely on their effects and nothing can cheat to stomp on you."

[subtly_artistic]

Bounce.

[pythbox]

That is pretty fucking helpful, says Celo. I want one.

[subtly_artistic]

You're not going to get the exact same thing probably, but you'll get something. "I can go home," she says slowly. "I can do my Belling at home."

[pythbox]

Yeah, but if that's how helpful they get, I want something that's that helpful to me, says Celo. I don't really give a fuck about causality the way you do, but I've got my own shit, you know?

[thaumobabble]

"Yep, you can! And I won't throw up again if I look at your world while I'm close enough to you. And it won't break Jane if you take a gem home as long as you keep it on or near you," says Glass.

[mind_game]

[That's nice to know.]

[subtly_artistic]

Still bouncing everything.

Yeah, I get it. D'you want to call in one of your alts to channel for you?

[pythbox]

That'd be awesome, he says cheerfully. Wanna come mess with me first?

[subtly_artistic]

Sure do. "Thanks so much, Glass," she beams at her alt, "nice to meet you, Tony," and she pops back into the guest room.

[pythbox]

Where Celo proceeds to - mess with her.

[subtly_artistic]

Hurray!

She leaves her aura out. Why not?

[pythbox]

He loves her so much.

He tells her so, in every conceivable way.

[subtly_artistic]

Mmmmmm psychic powers are good to have. Celo is good to have. She has him. More than once.

[pythbox]

He is so there for that right now. Mmm.

[subtly_artistic]

Good, good.

[pythbox]

And eventually, when she has had him as many times as she wants, he can summon another Joker. Corona happens to volunteer.

[subtly_artistic]

Aether goes Downside to collect torchabling (it is on her checklist) and makes a Janegem with a chain that tucks under her hair and hangs on her forehead. It'll look like a psionic enhancer, hanging over the third eye location like that. She reminds Shell Bell that she should find Etty at her earliest convenience, though Glass remarks vaguely that the amount of time it takes to get around to visiting a place doesn't affect how much time will have passed there at the time one arrives, so there's not a particular hurry. She writes a Bellbook entry and learns about the history of the template. And when she has done all of these things, she checks in on her boyfriend's aura progress, since handling it through Corona's supposed to be particularly swift.

[pythbox]

Come see, come see! he says delightedly.

Celo and Corona are snuggling; Corona has his aura turned on low, projecting warm snuggly contentment that makes the whole room a nicer place to be, and Celo...

Nymphs have a divine nature. They can express it if they choose, and glow with the gods' own light.

Celo is doing something very like that.

His aura says that he does not just have a divine nature; he is divine. There's a slight sunny glow rising from his skin, and a hint of his name in the air, the ripe-grain scent and impression of summer heat mingling pleasantly with the comfort/warmth of Corona's aura. And he loves Aether, and his aura tells her so; he literally radiates it, in a way similar but not identical to the way he used to glow divinely when he healed someone.

"My aura," says Celo, "took Mama Kh out of me and put me there instead." He takes a breath. "And I think I figured out how to get my field out of Materia."

[subtly_artistic]

"You did? How?"

[pythbox]

"Jokers do this thing - Sue does it, and Harley did it," he says, "we pick ourselves up and shift worlds. I'm gonna see if I can learn it. And if I can, my field's part of me—I can just pick it up and put it somewhere! I wanna talk to Sue and Harley about it, though, and it sounds like they're both busy. And I'm not sure where I'd put it, anyway. Maybe this world. This world's nice. Would that be okay by the locals, you think?"

[subtly_artistic]

"I can ask Glass for you. This world is definitely nice. I'm not sure how your field's magic would interact with the forest magic if you were inside this country, though, so Glass should maybe stare at you for a while first."

[pythbox]

"I'm fine with Glass staring at me," Celo says cheerfully. Corona giggles and kisses him.

[subtly_artistic]

"Should I call her in here or should we go to her?"