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Alice eventually goes home for the evening.
Bella goes up and sits in her room.
She has five hexes.
Five.
That's rather a lot of hexes.
She gets out her notebook, with the lists, and she makes some wishes.
And then she goes to bed, grinning.
In the morning it will be time to make plans.
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self_composed
self_composed
Bella hums and assigns him to chop up carrots and celery. She whisks flour into butter on the stove, for the gravy.
A fair amount of work later, the pot pie is in the oven, and Bella has spontaneously decided to make tea.
A fair amount of work later, the pot pie is in the oven, and Bella has spontaneously decided to make tea.
edgeofyourseat
Alice observes the tea!
His mind wanders a little while it is in progress. He wants to hex himself invisibility powers, but doesn't feel any particular urgency about it, so resolves to wait until it comes up or until the next time he makes a bunch of hexes. He really likes the way Bella's butt looks in those pants.
The thought of more hexes links to the thought of Bella being attractive; he considers the notion of her hurting him. She probably won't want to do it the messy way. Directly wishing pain on yourself doesn't make you anything but hurt, and he has no idea whether that holds true for wishing it on other people; you can wish up something to hurt yourself with, though, so why not a superpower? That would be hot. And really, really convenient. No more burning himself on her stove; he can do it on his when he's in the mood.
How 'bout it? he wonders, not bothering to mindphone her because he can feel her listening.
His mind wanders a little while it is in progress. He wants to hex himself invisibility powers, but doesn't feel any particular urgency about it, so resolves to wait until it comes up or until the next time he makes a bunch of hexes. He really likes the way Bella's butt looks in those pants.
The thought of more hexes links to the thought of Bella being attractive; he considers the notion of her hurting him. She probably won't want to do it the messy way. Directly wishing pain on yourself doesn't make you anything but hurt, and he has no idea whether that holds true for wishing it on other people; you can wish up something to hurt yourself with, though, so why not a superpower? That would be hot. And really, really convenient. No more burning himself on her stove; he can do it on his when he's in the mood.
How 'bout it? he wonders, not bothering to mindphone her because he can feel her listening.
self_composed
She decides the tea's done steeping. A triangle chills it; she pours it into glasses and stirs in sugar and squeezes in lemon. [As a practical tool, that one's worth testing on a smaller scale first - and as a superpower, that one definitely has corrupting potential, although interestingly less than a general mindreading power because hurting people appeals to me less than learning things. And as an interpersonal interaction, we are still just friends, however convenient and periodically adorable you may be.]
edgeofyourseat
He is happily listening and considering her words right up until she gets to the 'just friends' bit, at which point he becomes confused and kind of worried.
It goes something like this: just friends? As opposed to what? What's the difference? Wait, are just-friends not supposed to do stuff together that one of them might get off on? Because that sounds completely terrible and is almost functionally equivalent to never doing anything fun at all.
It goes something like this: just friends? As opposed to what? What's the difference? Wait, are just-friends not supposed to do stuff together that one of them might get off on? Because that sounds completely terrible and is almost functionally equivalent to never doing anything fun at all.
self_composed
[...What working definition of "just friends" were you using?] Bella inquires.
edgeofyourseat
He wasn't! Until now it has genuinely never crossed his mind to define their relationship according to rules other than direct observation of what Bella does and doesn't seem to think is okay!
self_composed
Bella sips tea and contemplates how to put this. [Let us suppose, almost certainly falsely, that Angela has a kink for, I dunno, dressing up as a saltshaker while someone else she's hanging out with is dressed up as a pepper shaker. And then suppose I knew that, and then she proposed these as Halloween costumes for the two of us. Would it surprise you even slightly if I declined?]
edgeofyourseat
[...yeah,] he says. [Guess it shouldn't, huh?]
The example of the abandoned jar of lye in his basement comes to mind. None of Bella's stated objections to that were even tangentially related to the fact that he was going to get off on it - did she just not know? Maybe that list of his was not as complete as he thought.
The example of the abandoned jar of lye in his basement comes to mind. None of Bella's stated objections to that were even tangentially related to the fact that he was going to get off on it - did she just not know? Maybe that list of his was not as complete as he thought.
self_composed
[If dressing as a pepper shaker with counterfactual Angela would get me easy access to a nigh-unlimited supply of wishcoins I'd otherwise have to do unpleasant things to get, I would put the costume on. That doesn't mean it's something that would happen under normal circumstances,] Bella says.
edgeofyourseat
[I really don't get you,] Alice concludes. Well, okay, that's not news. And he loves her for surprising him, even unpleasantly.
self_composed
[There exists a division between "sex things" and "not sex things", and torturing you by any mechanism would count as the first, and would require an exceptional reason to get me to do it despite being in a not-sex-things-doing relationship with you,] Bella says. [The division isn't completely sharp, and you in particular mess with it a lot, but that case is clear to me.]
edgeofyourseat
He turns that one over in his head a few times.
It surprises him how much he misses the possibility. Way more than he misses the possibility of having any kind of actual sex with her, which is also something he would like very much if she ever felt like it, but isn't really something he spends much time thinking about. He is getting very, very wistful about the torture in a way he rarely ever gets about anything.
But Bella doesn't, in fact, feel like it. So that's that.
Alice shrugs.
[Oh—it'd probably be the best way to get fast coins, if we ever needed 'em,] he adds as an afterthought. Maybe later he'll burn a hex giving himself such a power and then see if using it on himself works for making coins with.
It surprises him how much he misses the possibility. Way more than he misses the possibility of having any kind of actual sex with her, which is also something he would like very much if she ever felt like it, but isn't really something he spends much time thinking about. He is getting very, very wistful about the torture in a way he rarely ever gets about anything.
But Bella doesn't, in fact, feel like it. So that's that.
Alice shrugs.
[Oh—it'd probably be the best way to get fast coins, if we ever needed 'em,] he adds as an afterthought. Maybe later he'll burn a hex giving himself such a power and then see if using it on himself works for making coins with.
self_composed
That one is slightly motivating to Bella. Emergency coin generation, without equipment, without an extra preparatory step. And yet. [It'd be an awfully specific kind of emergency, where I don't have the coins I need and can best address the problem by having you generate some. We'd have to both be in the same place looking at the same problem, I'd have to be running around without any hexes, we don't have enough time to set up anything else even by making squares biting our cheeks and conjuring you a knife or something but we have enough time for me to explain what to do with the coins or transfer them from you to me - I don't think it's a sensible emergency plan.]
Pause.
[It might be useful for sheer volume, though.] If she's planning to take over the entire world, she will need to do a lot of stuff...
Pause, pause.
[Okay. Let's experiment and see if getting around the bootstrapping restriction by having someone else make the ouch-wish even works. If it does, I will consider hexing up a power for it.]
Pause.
[It might be useful for sheer volume, though.] If she's planning to take over the entire world, she will need to do a lot of stuff...
Pause, pause.
[Okay. Let's experiment and see if getting around the bootstrapping restriction by having someone else make the ouch-wish even works. If it does, I will consider hexing up a power for it.]
edgeofyourseat
[Okay,] says Alice. [You wanna wish me hurt, or...?] It could go either way, really.
self_composed
[Yeah. I'm not sure if this is positive sum so I'll start with a square in case a coin can only do enough to make a smaller coin - and I don't know how much this is gonna hurt.] She finds a ninety-degree corner on her necklace, debates how exactly to do this, and finally just wishes upon him plain unadulterated pain in whatever quantity squares can generate.
And she supervises, curious.
And she supervises, curious.
edgeofyourseat
...He bites his lip, lightly. It is a tiny bit uncomfortable to know that Bella won't like him getting off on this, but mostly it is really, really nice to feel that and know where it came from. A sharp little all-over sting, there and gone; he isn't surprised when he touches the new coin and finds a square.
[So, that worked.]
And now he is kind of a lot more turned on than he just was. Well, it's not like they didn't expect that. He tries not to dwell on it too much, in case she stops reading him again.
[So, that worked.]
And now he is kind of a lot more turned on than he just was. Well, it's not like they didn't expect that. He tries not to dwell on it too much, in case she stops reading him again.
self_composed
She doesn't stop reading him, but she's not directly looking at him anymore.
[Good to know. Anti-bootstrapping restriction only works on people who work alone.]
[Good to know. Anti-bootstrapping restriction only works on people who work alone.]
edgeofyourseat
[Maybe that's another reason why nobody else has—]
—taken over the world. If other coinmakers are all solitary types. Why is she not directly looking at him?
—taken over the world. If other coinmakers are all solitary types. Why is she not directly looking at him?
self_composed
She turns her head back in his direction. She's sort of looking at his chin, though. [Maybe. I still haven't read all the profiles. But Elias had - and expected to have - descendants. He had a family. I'm still confused.]
edgeofyourseat
Still thinking more about Bella's line of sight than her long-dead ancestor, he answers, [Maybe he didn't know anybody he wanted to hurt.] Either because they got off on it or because they didn't, but probably the second one. And likewise for not knowing anybody who wanted to hurt him.
self_composed
[I guess.] She shuts her eyes altogether. [The book doesn't say anything about his family, which is kind of weird. Maybe I should do that genealogy project as soon as I can visibly leave the house.]
edgeofyourseat
Bella is acting really weird.
Well, she can tell he's noticed, so if she wanted him to know why, she'd say. He shrugs and lets it go.
[Maybe he hated all his kids,] he speculates, smiling. [Or they hated him. Or both. But he still wanted to pass it down to somebody in the family.]
This line of reasoning makes perfect sense to a Hammond!
Well, she can tell he's noticed, so if she wanted him to know why, she'd say. He shrugs and lets it go.
[Maybe he hated all his kids,] he speculates, smiling. [Or they hated him. Or both. But he still wanted to pass it down to somebody in the family.]
This line of reasoning makes perfect sense to a Hammond!
self_composed
[That could be. He lived long enough ago that if he had, like, an estranged wife but he liked his kids, she probably did not get custody, so that's probably not it.]
self_composed
The oven timer dings.
Bella gets up and puts on oven mitts and pulls it out. [Charlie'll be home in about fifteen minutes, by which time the pie'll be cool enough to eat. And then after dinner we have a difficult conversation with him.]
Bella gets up and puts on oven mitts and pulls it out. [Charlie'll be home in about fifteen minutes, by which time the pie'll be cool enough to eat. And then after dinner we have a difficult conversation with him.]