"I don't know everything magic can do," says Brilliance. "And I'm not sure I know what you're talking about. What would you do with a magical shield that lasted a long time? Use it as an umbrella?"

"I'd be safe in war zones with a persistent shield, if I decided to fuss with those instead of working on peaceable stuff. And did you mention healing spells - how good are those, how long do they take?"

"Um, depends?" he says. "Pretty good, I guess. Better than what this planet's got, as far as I can tell. And you'd be prety safe in war zones with just your Barrier Jacket."

"I'm concerned about scale, if I spend sixty hours a day just healing people that's a lot of people but it's not going to add up to as many as I'd like. Barrier Jacket - that's the magical girl getup with the dress and the footwings and the little cape and the armwarmers and stuff?"

"Yep," says Brilliance. "It'll stand up to a lot, especially with me behind it."

"Why does it look like that?"

"Barrier Jackets are kind of like incantations," he says. "If you're trying for something when you make it, that's what you'll get, and if you're not then it just... ends up being something."

"...Well, I didn't know there was anything to try for, but you did," Bella points out as Lexi pulls the car into the driveway and they both hop out.

"I wasn't really thinking about designing a great set of clothes at the time," he says. "Turned out pretty good, though, didn't it?"

"At least it has reasonable coverage, I wouldn't want to be going around like Wonder Woman trying to get people to aim at defended spots two inches across."

"Oh, that's not how it works," says Brilliance. "Well, it is and it isn't. How much of you it covers is related to how strongly defended you are, but you could take a 'fuck you' to the face in that thing and walk away. It'd hurt, but it wouldn't kill you."

"Can I switch outfits without you helping?" Bella asks.

"...Kinda sorta," he says. "The Barrier Jacket's another thing you get for free through me that you could probably manage on your own but it'd be harder and I wouldn't know how."

"I think you should keep it, Bella, sounds super-handy," opines Lexi, flopping onto the couch.

Bella rolls her eyes and heads upstairs to their room. "So - basically - how do spells work? How are they fueled, how are they constructed and directed?"

"You okay?" Bella asks, taking him out of her pocket.

"Not really," he says, his cardboard surface still trembling a little.

She puts him on her side of the two-chaired desk she and Lexi share. "What's wrong?"

"I really don't like it when people talk about me like I'm a - thing," he says. "I really don't like it."

"...So, male pronouns, then?"

"Sure," he says. "I don't really care which ones as long as they're ones you use for people."

"The rest-of-you looked like a guy and the voice you have sounds like a guy's," Bella observes. She shouts down the stairs. "Hey, Lexi, Brilliance says he's a he!"

"Whatever!" Lexi shouts back.

"Thanks," snorts Brilliance.