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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
edgeofyourseat
"Sure," says Alice. "Do I need some kind of excuse to be here, or is 'skipping school to hang out with you because I care more about you than school' good enough?"
It has the advantage of being pretty much true, but true and plausible are not always the same thing.
It has the advantage of being pretty much true, but true and plausible are not always the same thing.
self_composed
"You are known to care almost zilch about school," Bella says. "I think it'll do. She might not even solicit an explanation."
self_composed
Bella lounges on the couch and practices wincing theatrically.
About twenty minutes after school ends, Angela rings the doorbell. "Bella? Bella, it's me!"
"Hang on!" Bella calls out the window. And to Alice, "Go let her in, would you?"
About twenty minutes after school ends, Angela rings the doorbell. "Bella? Bella, it's me!"
"Hang on!" Bella calls out the window. And to Alice, "Go let her in, would you?"
edgeofyourseat
"'Kay," he says, and wonders idly if she shouldn't pentagon herself some acting skills just to make it easier, and goes to open the door.
self_composed
That's a decent idea, and Bella has plenty of pentagons. She's Broadway quality before he gets to the door.
Angela's standing on the doorstep with her arms full of handouts and hand-copied descriptions of the day's assignments. "Oh! Hi, Delaney," she says politely. "You're visiting Bella too, that's sweet. Can I come in?"
Angela's standing on the doorstep with her arms full of handouts and hand-copied descriptions of the day's assignments. "Oh! Hi, Delaney," she says politely. "You're visiting Bella too, that's sweet. Can I come in?"
self_composed
"Hi, Angela!" calls Bella with fake strain in her voice. "I'm in the living room." Weak smile. "Don't want to make Dad haul me up and down the stairs every day."
Angela tiptoes in. "Oh wow, Bella," she says, eyes wide at the imaginary casts. "Are you even going to be able to do the homework?"
"I bet the pinball wizard here'll take dictation for me if I ask him," Bella says, making a small gesture with her mostly-"unscathed" left hand. "Thanks so much for bringing everything."
Angela tiptoes in. "Oh wow, Bella," she says, eyes wide at the imaginary casts. "Are you even going to be able to do the homework?"
"I bet the pinball wizard here'll take dictation for me if I ask him," Bella says, making a small gesture with her mostly-"unscathed" left hand. "Thanks so much for bringing everything."
edgeofyourseat
Alice sits himself down on the floor in front of Bella and leans back against the couch. He doesn't consider it much beforehand; it's just, for him, the obvious place to sit.
self_composed
Angela seems to consider the "pinball wizard" nickname cute if inscrutable. "Okay. That's really nice of you, Delaney." She reaches into her purse and pulls out a greeting card that says "Get Well Soon!" and is utterly crammed with well-wishes and signatures from dozens of people. "Here. Practically everybody signed this."
Bella reaches carefully, with very convincing winces, for the card, and smiles. "Thanks, this was really nice of you."
"Oh, Jessica went in half on the card," Angela says. "But she couldn't come with me here because she has her voice lesson after school Mondays."
"Well, tell her I said thanks, too," Bella says.
Bella reaches carefully, with very convincing winces, for the card, and smiles. "Thanks, this was really nice of you."
"Oh, Jessica went in half on the card," Angela says. "But she couldn't come with me here because she has her voice lesson after school Mondays."
"Well, tell her I said thanks, too," Bella says.
edgeofyourseat
"All your friends are cute," Alice says to Bella, tipping his head back and grinning.
self_composed
Angela looks confused. Bella sighs quietly.
"I don't wanna keep you," Bella tells Angela. "It means a lot to me that you came out here, though."
Angela takes that as a dismissal, and gracefully. "Okay. I'll be back tomorrow, Bella. Feel better!"
And she lets herself out.
"I don't wanna keep you," Bella tells Angela. "It means a lot to me that you came out here, though."
Angela takes that as a dismissal, and gracefully. "Okay. I'll be back tomorrow, Bella. Feel better!"
And she lets herself out.
edgeofyourseat
"...Did I say something wrong?" he wonders. Wrong in the sense of confusing to Angela, that is.
self_composed
"Well, for one thing, as long as I'm reading you, you don't have to say anything aloud you don't want the entire room to hear," Bella says. "And, 'all my friends are cute'? Even in context, yeah, that gets read funny. Angela seems to give everyone the benefit of the doubt all the time, so nothing's going to come of it, but that could have been anything from a bizarre comment on her and Jessica's appearances to a condescending remark about the card."
edgeofyourseat
"Huh." He shrugs. "Okay."
The takeaway from this seems to be: don't talk in front of Bella's friends. Well, whatever. He does not have strong feelings one way or another about that, so he may as well not.
The takeaway from this seems to be: don't talk in front of Bella's friends. Well, whatever. He does not have strong feelings one way or another about that, so he may as well not.
self_composed
"It would probably be weird if you were around them for long and didn't talk at all," Bella says. Angela can be heard getting in her car and driving away, which is Bella's cue to get rid of the illusory casts. "But if you don't actually care either way, it might be simplest not do it a whole lot. I'm running a lot of social algorithms that would be complicated to document and explain and translate so they'd work for you instead of me."
edgeofyourseat
"I mean, I don't wanna freak 'em out because you don't want me to freak 'em out," he says. "But I don't think I care enough to follow a bunch of complicated rules anyway."
Predictably, there are no good associations in his head for following rules.
Predictably, there are no good associations in his head for following rules.
self_composed
Bella nods.
She collects the lair notebook and relocates to the kitchen table.
"So this is the basic shape of the thing. Color scheme? Flooring? Lighting?"
She collects the lair notebook and relocates to the kitchen table.
"So this is the basic shape of the thing. Color scheme? Flooring? Lighting?"
edgeofyourseat
"Don't care," he says, "something that's easy to clean, don't care again."
He has a vague notion that bright colours might be fun, and another vague notion that he might get sick of them after a while, or at least sick of the same ones in the same places all the time. Lighting he just hasn't considered in enough depth to have any opinions at all.
He has a vague notion that bright colours might be fun, and another vague notion that he might get sick of them after a while, or at least sick of the same ones in the same places all the time. Lighting he just hasn't considered in enough depth to have any opinions at all.
self_composed
"I bet you can repaint a flat wall with a triangle," shrugs Bella. "Let's do neutrals with accent walls and you can fuck with the accent color once a month. And everything is easy to clean. We have magic powers." She starts labeling walls (dove gray and blue in the bathroom, beige and red in the central room, white and lavender in the sewing room, ecru and forest green in the bedroom, all pastel yellows in the kitchen.) She puts tile in the kitchen and the bathroom because Alice might just forget to clean for a while (she's seen his room), even if it only takes a triangle, and these will become less gross in the interims; everything else gets carpets to match the paint. She decides she liked the glowing-air effect in Elias's hidey holes and that this should pervade the entire lair, intensity of same fluctuating according to the interests of Alice or herself.
This is fun. She's humming.
This is fun. She's humming.
edgeofyourseat
"You forget," Alice says cheerfully, "I get off on scrubbing things. But eh, I can clean my bathtub once in a while for kicks."
self_composed
Bella nods. "Okay. Hm." She looks around the room for more inspiration. And adds a little arrow pointing at the word "carpet" indicating that there will need to be a nice padding layer between the carpet and the rock underneath, to make it comfy to walk on. (She does plan to visit this place, after all.) "I think this is probably it, except for your furniture that doesn't need magic electricity and water. Where do you want to put the entrance? We can check out the composition of the underground under your first choice first."
edgeofyourseat
"Somewhere near here," he says. "Like, off in the woods somewhere or something, towards the school?"
self_composed
"There's a big rock roughly thataway," Bella says, gesturing. "Big enough to walk into and not immediately fall down the stairs. By accident."
edgeofyourseat
"Sounds good!" he says. "I don't want you falling down any holes on my account."