"I think that when I do my processing for the day, it will keep coming up, and I'll process it, and it'll be fine, and then it'll be back again the next day. Just sort of - an extra mental errand to run. The majority of Bells wind up dating people who need to be polyamorous, and work it out okay, but I don't think it would have been any of our first choice."

"Well - tell me if it gets annoying, all right?"

"Okay."

He smiles.

"Thanks," she adds, smiling a little.

"I don't think I'm liable to do either thing."

"Suits me."

"Oh, but," she adds, snapping her fingers, "did Queenie tell you where coins come from or do I need to explain that to explain this thing?"

"Queenie did tell me where coins come from."

"So, sometimes coinmaking is a cooperative activity, I have this thing called an agony beam," says Bella, waving a hand, "it's not anything but a way to get coins for me, but the Jokers, they enjoy it as Jokers are wont to do."

"Jokers do do that," he says, grinning reminiscently.

"It is a thing with them, yes."

"Stella designed it and it's part of the standard powerset now; it delivers the eponymous agony in integers of units called 'triangles', pretty much any flavor you can think of. I don't think just on general principles I should be handing out general-purpose ones that you could use on anybody, but one for use with Jokers I don't see why not."

"...What, but yours works on anyone?"

"I have lots of abilities I wouldn't hand out without knowing someone - or at least their template - really well. I carry around ten-pointed coins."

"Nnno, that's not quite where I was going with that," says Ripper.

"Oh. Yeah, mine works on anyone."

"Well, that's good to know," says Ripper.

"Is it?"

"Yeah."

"Noted."

Ripper grins.