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Bella is allowing a book to be written about her. She's given plenty of interviews for shorter articles, but at this time she thinks she (and Slipstick thinks she) has the measure of this particular author well enough to expect even a book-length piece to be neither a hatchet job nor an inconvenient exposé. They are having regular meetings, in the journalist's home, talking about what Bella's willing to reveal about magic, the death date prior to which she won't resurrect anyone 'just yet', and the ground rules of Saturn.
Bella's personal life is, for the time being at least, personal. The author asks, but stays shut down when Bella shuts her down.
bellfounding
bellfounding
[We're done for the day in twenty minutes, and after that nothing time-dependent. I can talk to you while I talk to her, she's not sped up or anything. What happened, are you okay?]
tearingup
[Y...es,] he says. [Er. You might not want to talk to me while you talk to her...] He trails off, then adds unhappily, [Rayne came round for a drink last night.]
bellfounding
[But nothing urgent, I can just come by when I've wrapped up for the day here?]
bellfounding
[Okay.]
Twenty minutes later, there is a knock at the door.
Twenty minutes later, there is a knock at the door.
tearingup
He stands there for a moment, opening and closing his hands as though trying to pull the right words out of thin air, and then gives up and says, "I slept with Rayne."
tearingup
"I didn't plan on it or anything, it just sort of... but I should've known it was going to happen, it always does," he says helplessly. "I'm sorry. I should've told you. At some point in the last four months. Not that I've been - I haven't even seen him since he moved out of our place in London. I just." He rubs his face with both hands. "Sorry."
bellfounding
"If you'd mentioned this when I originally asked for no surprises it wouldn't upset me now," she murmurs. "I had no idea."
tearingup
"I didn't plan on ever talking to him again, let alone fucking him," says Ripper, throwing up his hands. "I have no idea how he found me. I suppose I should've expected it, though, God knows he'd be incapable of just leaving me alone."
tearingup
"Well, yes and no," he says, "the problem is that I make bad decisions where Rayne is involved, but if he hadn't found me it wouldn't have come up."
bellfounding
"What I mean is, should my first order of business be arranging for him not to be able to find you - is that a thing you would like me to do, is he harassing you or stalking you in such a way that he should be obliged to stop - or is the primary issue at hand the bit where you cheated on me?"
tearingup
...He considers this.
"I don't know," he says. "I really don't. Rayne has been Rayne for a long time, I should've known he wouldn't stop just because I kicked him to the curb again."
"I don't know," he says. "I really don't. Rayne has been Rayne for a long time, I should've known he wouldn't stop just because I kicked him to the curb again."
bellfounding
"Let me know when you figure it out. I can bar him from Saturn, or from this bubble, or whatever."