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Pattern still doesn't know what her aura does. This is getting annoying. It's not like she's short on stuff to do - she's been writing letters to various heads of state (which appear on their desks or their inboxes by magic or Jane; she wouldn't expect to get through by normal channels) to convince them that she exists and is willing to take immigrants to Saturn and bring back dead people, she's catching up on what her parents and the world have been doing for the last four years, she's chatting through Jane with various other Bells and fielding Downside help requests her share of the time.
But she wants to know what is up with her aura, dangit.
[Hey, Jane, can you ask Stella if I can go visit Eos and talk to her magic seeing guy about my aura? And ask the magic seeing guy if he'd be up for that?]
[Stella says yes,] says Jane after a moment. [And...]
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bellfounding
self_composed
"Me next, what'd I get and why's it hiding?" Stella asks.
nonbird
Lazarus peers at her.
"It's not hiding," he says, "you just haven't given it anything to do. It wants to sort your coins for you and make technology behave itself in your presence, and you already have a coin bandolier and don't hang around with misbehaving technology. But you should give it all your coins, because it works much better than the bandolier."
"It's not hiding," he says, "you just haven't given it anything to do. It wants to sort your coins for you and make technology behave itself in your presence, and you already have a coin bandolier and don't hang around with misbehaving technology. But you should give it all your coins, because it works much better than the bandolier."
nonbird
"You give it coins by having them on your person but not on your bandolier and wanting it to have them!"
nonbird
"Keep them for you. A lot like the bandolier, but without them hanging off you all the time. And it'll give you the right size coins for whatever wishes you want to make, and nobody else will be able to get at them unless you want to give some away."
self_composed
"Oh, cool." Stella unclips her bandolier and lets coins, starting with the smallest, spill into her hand. They never accumulate more than two or three at a time; after that they tuck away into nothing. Eventually she's emptied her entire chain. "Er - what happens if I withdraw the aura, does anything happen to the coins?"
nonbird
"They're not in the part of the aura that does withdrawing and flaring," he says. "It won't make a difference."
self_composed
"Okay, good. I pretty much have it out all the time but that might change at some point."
self_composed
"Thanks! Best magic-seeing guy." Lazarus gets a hug and a peck on the cheek and Stella then teleports away.
bellfounding
"Yeah, thanks," says Pattern merrily. "I guess I'll go home now. And... be a ninja movie-star? Or something."
bellfounding
"Thanks!" Pattern taps her earpiece and reappears in her palace, and goes on composing her letter to the the Australian Prime Minister.
gunpowdergelatine
The following night, around two in the morning East Coast time, Pattern gets a brainphone message from Queenie.
[Hey, you busy?]
[Hey, you busy?]
bellfounding
[Oh, for crying out loud. I'll be right there.] Bella leans on her aura and teleports in to assess the situation.
gunpowdergelatine
A growling Bat has Queenie pinned against an alley wall with a gauntleted hand around her throat.
Queenie is unruffled.
Queenie is unruffled.
bellfounding
She toggles her aura from ninja to movie star. An obliging gap of the clouds aims a moonbeam right at her and a bit of a wind kicks up.
Bella clears her throat.
Bella clears her throat.
The Bat whirls and glares.
"This is your employee?"
bellfounding
"Yes. Please put her down. Or I suppose we could make this conversation even less civilized?"
The Bat puts her down.