[Well,] says Aelise. [That depends. Approximately how unwelcome am I going to be?]

[Eh, Golden and Elspeth and possibly other Aurumites who had bad Chelsea experiences are not going to be your best friends. I'll run interference if they glare at you or anything.]

[And they will be a relatively small proportion of guests, I suppose. All right.]

[I think I'll pass,] says Kers. [I'd rather not travel out of the universe if I can avoid it.]

[How come?] Tab inquires of Kers.

[It would be inconvenient if I got stuck or ran into some unforeseen kind of trouble.]

[I suppose that would be problematic, yeah.]

[Have fun!]

[Short notice,] he observes. [Not that I have plans.]

[We were juggling some scheduling stuff. There'll be another one next time we find a new Bell or there's some similar occasion, if the notice is too short.]

[Are my alts going to be there?] he inquires.

[The native one in the world we're holding the party at will be. I'm not sure about the Peace alt.]

[I wouldn't bet on him showing up. But what do I know? Maybe he likes these things. Sure, I'll go. Meet the local guy.]

[Cool. I'll pick you up when it's starting.]

[That's handy, thanks.]

[You're welcome.]