cake and ice cream

[self_composed]

Bella finds Milliways next, too, on New Year's Day, and calls in Alice (he's not coming to Goldenworld even if they find a person who can take them there, but he might find someone interesting to talk to in the bar) and also Lazarus. She mentions the door to Libby, too, in case she and/or her wolf want to take an excursion and see if his friends and family back home can be visited.

Comments

[edgeofyourseat]

[Whee!] says Alice.

[nonbird]

[I'll be there in a minute,] says Lazarus.

[prima_sequentem]

[Coming, plus two,] says Libby.

[self_composed]

When everyone has assembled, through they go!

[her_imperial_radiance]

Elspeth's not there.

Someone from her world is, though!

"Empress of the Stars and company!" exclaims Addy cheerfully over a tall glass of a still, blue liquid. Apparently there are kinds other than the one Elspeth likes. "Hi! Want the door held or are you going to lounge for a bit?"

[self_composed]

"We would like the door held, presently, but Alice won't be coming through," Bella says. "Did you want to see if you can grab ingot powers like witchcraft?"

[her_imperial_radiance]

Addy nods rapidly. "You didn't let me last time," she says reproachfully, holding out her arms as though for a hug towards Alice. "Congratulations on being a vampire, by the way, how new are you? You're very well-controlled around the humans."

[edgeofyourseat]

"Few days. I have a magic air filter," he says, bounding toward her for an exuberant newborn-strength hug. "Don't smell 'em unless they want me to. Hi!"

[her_imperial_radiance]

Addy hugs him like they are old, close friends, and doesn't even complain about the slight crushing. "Oh, this is tricky," she muses, sucking on her teeth in thought. "This is interestingly tricky - like - trying to eat with chopsticks. I will figure it out, just give me a moment..."

After a moment that lasts eleven minutes, Addy lets him go, claps her hands, and says, "Ha! Mint chip gelato. And completely, utterly worthless. I'm already me!"

[edgeofyourseat]

Alice giggles.

"Me too," he says cheerfully.

[nonbird]

"That is fascinating," Lazarus remarks.

[her_imperial_radiance]

"No, I can taste it," Addy objects. "Your gelato does things, for you. I can't do a thing with it because none of the help on offer is Addy-shaped. Why would I want to be immune to any sort of magic, even the mind-altering stuff? How in the world would I test it if it bounced off me?" she laughs. "Oh, that's really lovely, have you got another in the party? I can't suss you 'ingots' out from a distance like regular witches..."

[nonbird]

"Ingot," says Lazarus, pointing at Alice, "ingot," Chris, "ingot," Bella, "ingot," himself.

[her_imperial_radiance]

"Well, I really doubt I can manage her," Addy says, waving at Bella with a dismissive frown. "C'mere?"

[nonbird]

"No hugs, please," he says, orbiting closer.

[her_imperial_radiance]

"Of course," says Addy obligingly, and she lays cold hands on his cheeks.

Now that she has the trick of... eating with chopsticks... it only takes her a few seconds.

"Oh, you're tasty," she purrs. And she does literally purr, while smiling like the predator she is.

[nonbird]

"Eep," says Lazarus, raising his eyebrows.

[her_imperial_radiance]

She releases his face, holding up her hands in a nonthreatening gesture. "Oh, come on, you of all people should know that's not me threatening to literally drink your blood, can't you see how I work? Goodness! Everything's so pretty! I can even see magic on Her Majesty over there! I might want this one back again, if you're going through to my world," she says. "Oh, everything's so pretty."

[nonbird]

"If I thought you were actually going to eat me, I wouldn't just be saying eep," he says. "I am slightly less ineffectual than that. You're still a little unnerving even when I know you're mostly harmless. And yes, isn't it?"

[her_imperial_radiance]

"It is," she gushes. "Bella is so terribly shiny... Oh my. Is that why he was turned into a vampire. What an odd way to arrange magic. But - oh! That must be the mate bond. I was wondering what would do that. Looks different when I'm using Marcus's power, let alone compared to Chelsea's... Goodness. Is that normal? Do you know? The... cuddliness?"

[nonbird]

"I've only ever seen one mate bond," he says. "But I'm betting not. You know what his power's like. When the bond first showed up they had a little standoff before they got this friendly."

[her_imperial_radiance]

"Oh, I bet they did. Now I can't wait to look at Bella-back-home. I bet her witchcraft wasn't too friendly to her mate bond either, but as far as anyone knows it's there. But she's immune to Marcus so he can't check. Oh, and I've got to look at Marcus too - I wonder if I can arrange to keep this long enough to get to Safesun and back, given that I can't borrow one of your toes? It's such a pity you can't work over electronics, have you ever worked on that?"

[nonbird]

"How would I work over electronics?" he asks wearily. "Look at my power, it just... looks. What it sees is not a thing that electronics transmit. I did find a way to use it at a distance, but it takes, what else, more magic."

[her_imperial_radiance]

"I am the expert on this sort of thing," says Addy severely. "Now, maybe ingots just don't grow the way witches can, but don't you even care? Haven't you even tried?"

[nonbird]

"You are an expert on this sort of thing," Lazarus corrects firmly. "No, I haven't tried, but I'm telling you right now electronics is a dead end."