if i got three wishes, first i'd find out all about how wishes work

[self_composed]

Bella brings two blank notebooks to school the next day. Her old one is safely computerized and boxed up with its predecessors.

At lunch, she sits with Angela; Jessica and Eric and Lauren sit at the same table but mostly talk to each other, and Mike is nowhere to be seen.

Bella is just about on time to gym, thanks to an overnight icing that means she has to pick her way with extreme care across the slippery grass or the slick sidewalks. The second time she falls down, she gives up on attempting any dignity at all, and, cradling her thwacked elbow, scoots the rest of the way to the gym on her rear. This leaves her with damp jeans but no further injuries, and they were a little damp anyway from the falls.

She doesn't have time to do more than smile and wave at Alice on her way to get her mat and get out of the way of careening balls. She spends the class doing the subset of her safe activities that won't stress her elbow.

Comments

[edgeofyourseat]

"Well, that would be kind of cool, but I was thinking more the healing factor," he says. "So you can just hurt yourself over and over and not use up a bunch of wishes fixing it afterward. ...I guess maybe I want that more than you do."

[self_composed]

"Oh, a healing power," agrees Bella, pulling back the notebook to write that down and point an arrow from it to the very top of the list. "That would be useful, but yes, more for you than me."

[edgeofyourseat]

"And probably you'd want to be able to, like... hold it off," he adds. "So you didn't have to keep your arm in the cage of rats or whatever, and in case you break your arm in front of a bunch of people and don't wanna be hauled off to a lab or something."

[self_composed]

"Right," Bella agrees, adding a "(voluntary postponement option)" note next to the item. "But having this list is mostly not useful until we have surplus coins in these ranges, which will take until I get into a spectacular accident, or we find Elias's stash and it has a hex in it, or it doesn't have a hex in it and we engineer that level of harm." She says the last with gritted teeth. "Or I chicken out and try to take over the world with squares and occasional pentagons, even though that would be harder and less fun."

[edgeofyourseat]

"I hope it has a hex in it," says Alice.

[self_composed]

"Yes. I also hope that it has a hex in it," Bella says.

[edgeofyourseat]

"I mean, I can think of lots of ways to get around not having a cage full of rats handy," he says. "But you probably don't wanna do any of 'em."

[self_composed]

"No, go ahead and tell me, I might as well try to get used to whatever one of the ideas is best in case there isn't a hex," Bella says.

[edgeofyourseat]

"...Do you actually want me to sit here listing ways I could hurt you really badly," he says—phrased as a question, but delivered without the intonation that would make it one.

[self_composed]

"Start with whatever's tamest, we'll see if I squeak and run away," sighs Bella.

[edgeofyourseat]

"I am bad at tame," says Alice, inarguably. "Okay, well, first one that comes to mind, I could just get a knife and keep cutting you until you hit the right level of hurt. Which we'd know because you'd be raining hexes instead of pentagons."

[self_composed]

"Do you know enough about anatomy to avoid me bleeding out?" Her voice is level, though she doesn't look thrilled about the topic.

[edgeofyourseat]

"Probably," he says. "Which brings me to option two: fire."

[self_composed]

"That one sounds even harder to keep under control," Bella says, scrunching her eyes closed tightly. "I think I can listen to one more possibility and then I want to stop."

[edgeofyourseat]

"Well, I don't mean set you on fire," he says. "Chemical burns sound any better?"

[self_composed]

"Yes, actually," Bella says. "Or maybe extreme cold. Liquid nitrogen or dry ice or something." She manages a very weak smile. "Coin requires pain, not utter terror."

[edgeofyourseat]

"It's harder to get that stuff, though," he says. "And liquid nitrogen does not hurt as much as a cigarette burn, I'll tell you that right now."

[self_composed]

"Well," she says. "That's good to know. I don't think a cigarette burn would do more than a pentagon, though."

She swallows, and picks up Elias's book and glances at the Helpful Charts, then puts it down again. "I wonder if the cake is done," she murmurs. "And ready to be frosted, even."

[edgeofyourseat]

"Sooo we're done talking about hurting you, then," says Alice. "Okay. I bet it is, actually. Wanna go check?"

[self_composed]

"Yes, I do," says Bella.

[edgeofyourseat]

"Okay."

He stands up, tosses his notebook and pen on the desk, and heads for the door, kicking laundry out of his way as he goes.

[self_composed]

"I was under the impression that Hilary's title was 'housekeeper', not just 'cook', though she'd certainly be worth retaining as the latter - does she keep out of your room or are you just very, very fast?" Bella asks, following.

[edgeofyourseat]

"She gave up on my room," he says. "The parents let her. Once in a while when my dad wants something to be pissed off about he sticks his head in and yells at me about my floor."

[self_composed]

Bella snickers quietly, and trots down the stairs towards the kitchen, sniffing the air for maple-caramel-coconut-butter-cake.

[edgeofyourseat]

Grinning, he follows.

When they reach the kitchen, Hilary is arranging the various layers along the counter.

"Just in time to be ordered around some more," she says without turning around.