"What, that's adorable," giggles Bella, flipping through the summary. "The Belfry! You non-Bells don't feel left out or anything?"

"I don't feel left out, and none of the other me's did, either. The name's cute, Adarins are just - a bit more difficult to find cute names for. We need to come up with a better alt group name for us, something that's as easy as 'Bell'..."

"Nothing drops out really well from your names, alas..."

"Yeah. It's terrible. Maybe we'll think of something interesting that fits us all. Eventually."

"You don't really have an obvious point of commonality, like, say, Bell notebooks. If the other Bells were named - Minerva and Lauren and Joshua and Galadriel or something - we'd be able to settle on some language's word for 'Pen' or something."

"... Something to do with the number thing we do? Maybe? But I can't think of anything good out of that..."

"...Yeah, me either," Bella agrees after a moment's thought.

"And about the only thing that adorably goes with Bells are Whistles, which - very cute, but doesn't fit us at all. Also, I'm pretty sure Prime would object on the basis of not having a Bell."

"He could have one, he has just decided he doesn't want one for some reason and she's not being pushy."

"Fool," snorts Max. "Him, not her."

"We are pretty great. But so are you, I think she's spooked by the Hex set too much to make a first move..."

"Thanks! That makes sense. The Hex set are kinda depressing. Poor guys."

"Yeah. They seem to - have gotten comfortable with operating as a unit? They gravitate towards each other when we're in a big group. I guess that's progress?"

"I think so. I mean, if nothing else, they get a cool platonic life partner to take over the world with."

"That sounds so heartbreaking in context, though..."

"... A bit. I made myself sad, now."

Snuggle?

"I suppose. Maybe they're making lots of progress behind closed doors and feel self-conscious about public displays of affection or something."

"Do you want to ask them that question? Because I don't."

"I'm tempted, but - no."

"Yeah. I kinda want to know the answer, but asking the question would be awkward."

"And they might be annoyed."

"And that. That too."