i'm just that fascinating i guess

[self_composed]

The first day Bella spends out and about with her new who's-watching-me powers, she is rather alarmed.

Maybe she's just mistaken about how much time people spend looking at reasonably pretty eighteen-year-old girls. She kills a pentagon to try it on a nearby control - who's looking at that girl over there?

Fewer people. Fewer people are looking at that random girl, and less intently. They're looking at her familiarly - they know her - or casually - they're checking her out.

[I have a spy problem,] Bella says. She makes a faintly exaggerated show of snapping her fingers in frustration and turning around. She's going back to her room to get a mirror and bobby pins and barettes, so she can spy back on the pretense of checking her hair, without making it overwhelmingly obvious that she knows what's going on.

Comments

[self_composed]

"I'll think of six as soon as I hang up, but none are pouring out of me at the moment."

[queensidecastle]

"You can always call back later."

[self_composed]

"You take calls during arbitrary days when the sun's up?" Bella asks.

[queensidecastle]

"I have a very open schedule and am willing and able to let people go to voicemail when I'm busy."

[self_composed]

"That works," Bella agrees. "Are you normally around only people you can talk magic in front of, when you're not busy?"

[queensidecastle]

"Normally yes."

[self_composed]

"So that's your natively magic friends, and who else? People with storebought powers?"

[queensidecastle]

"Demonstrably, I can also talk magic to people who know about it but don't have any," says Chris.

[self_composed]

"I was thinking of people you hang out with in person, but you know what, that's interesting too, who else knows about magic and hasn't got any?" Bella asks.

[queensidecastle]

"My niece, for one."

[self_composed]

"How come she hasn't bought some?"

[queensidecastle]

"Well, part of the reason I say that the price of superpowers is probably beyond the reach of a Stanford undergrad is that I know it's definitely beyond the reach of a PhD in mathematics."

[self_composed]

"You said it wasn't a monetary cost. What is it about undergrads and PhDs that makes us unlikely to be able to scrape up whatever the not-money is?"

[queensidecastle]

"Now, granted I'm just guessing because I don't know the details of that conversation, but I'm betting they turned her down because she couldn't do them interesting enough favours."

[self_composed]

"What do people with magic to sell even want?"

[queensidecastle]

"I really couldn't tell you," says Chris, amused.

[self_composed]

"Do you know anybody with bought magic?" Bella tries. "Or anybody who knows anybody? Does Lazarus detect that too?"

[queensidecastle]

"I don't personally know anybody with bought magic, but I do know Lazarus can detect it."

[self_composed]

"So maybe he can tell me about them," Bella says. "Okay, this conversation seems to keep leading back to 'I should just ask Lazarus'. Anything you're willing to tell me that he doesn't know, before I bid you goodbye?"

[queensidecastle]

"Nope," says Chris.

[self_composed]

"All right then. Thanks for your time," Bella says politely. "Please tell Lazarus that I'd love to listen to him talk about magic for hours if he'd be so kind."

[queensidecastle]

"I think you two are going to get along really, really well," Chris predicts. "Should I give him your email address, your phone number, or both?"

[self_composed]

"Both," says Bella. "Weak preference for email; allows latency."

[queensidecastle]

"Will do," she says. "And you're welcome."

[self_composed]

"Thanks again. Bye," says Bella brightly, and she hangs up.

He probably doesn't work over the phone. And she has two hex layers of anti-spying. And he's guaranteed to be interesting.