"Val and Ike. Didn't get either parents' name. The surname, amusingly enough, is Bell." Snuggles.

Sherlock snorks.

Snuzzle. "I told her the story of how we met and she thought it was cute in a Slayerish way and then I showed her an illusion of Shell Bell with Pearl and she tried to hug it."

"Well, that's adorable," says Sherlock.

"I know, isn't it?" Snuggle. "I've never asked Shell Bell whose idea it was for them to have a mindreading thingy set up. I wonder which one suggested it."

"Sherlock, I bet," says Sherlock absently.

"It sounded like you could go either way, when you were discussing it with yourself before you fused." She pauses, then: "I can't imagine wanting anyone - anyone ever at all - to read my mind. Like, I don't even understand Amariah with Path or Cam with Grace, let alone Golden sometimes letting Edward do his thing. I don't get it."

"There is insufficient information density available in any language I have yet encountered to accurately communicate my perception of a single moment. You Bells are a curious lot. I can see why she might have wanted to give hers the most accurate possible rendition."

"Heh." Snuggle. "Shell Bell gave Pearl her recorder, it was like her notebooks. I can just about understand that far, because it wasn't exactly like notebooks, there were locked parts and she'd know if any of those were listened to, but still."

"I certainly cannot imagine you giving anyone your notebooks."

"- Would you want to read them?"

"If you wanted to let me."

"I could pick some out that would be fine. It's not all deep personal stuff - I mean, you looked at the notebook I did my autopilot dissection in."

"I am always in favour of more information."

"I'll pick some out sometime."

He snuggles her some more.

Snuggles snuggles.

"D'you want to design the wish?" Bella asks, squeezing him.

"Interesting question," he says. "The information transfer protocol is properly my domain, but you are the one who must put up with the format. I wonder if we can do it in pieces?"

"Is there some reason to use a nonstandard format? The visual channel thing? 'Three out of four mindreading Bells recommend' -" she adds in a parody of a commercial.

"Well, I didn't know if you had evaluated it personally," he says.

"The enchantress version actually sounds really sensorily neat and I wouldn't do that staring into space thing either because it's not literally visual, but I doubt it's quite as easily personalized, and since you want it controlled on your end," she shrugs and trails off. "Although maybe it could be, if you did the enchantment. Enchantments are like servants, it'd try to be convenient for you."

"I don't think I'd prefer an enchantment," he says consideringly. "But perhaps I don't know enough about them."

"Pentagon will skill you even if you don't wind up hexing the power," says Bella.