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 don't think I've been called unnerving before,] Bella muses. [How goes door location hunting?]

[nonbird]

[I think I found something, actually,] he says. [There's a kind of... weird hallway quirk... on the ground floor of my building near the stairwell. It's hard to look into but easy to get out of. Would that work?]

[self_composed]

[Is there only one such place?] Bella says, getting up to head for the unobtrusive stairwell in her own building. [Also, is Kolya home? I presume I'll be lit up like a billboard to you even if I arrive invisible, but I'm still not down with the "unobtrusiveness" thing.]

[nonbird]

[I'm not sure, but I think he's out,] says Lazarus. [I could go home and ask if he's there, if you're nervous about encountering him in the hallway.]

[self_composed]

[Assuming he'll reliably reply to the question, please do.] Bella makes the door anyway. [Say when.]

[nonbird]

[...You just made a magic door,] he observes.

[self_composed]

[Yup! Can you see me through it?] Bella inquires.

[nonbird]

[Extremely,] says Lazarus. He stares for a moment longer at the visually unremarkable location of invisible Bella on the other side of the door, then looks away. [For that matter, I can see the door. It's kind of... cute? And you're a little overwhelming, to be honest. The stack of powers is very analogous-to-bright. Oh, and you've got a native one under there, that's nice. Did you mention that? I forget.]

[self_composed]

[I didn't mention it, but an addon failed for redundancy once,] said Bella. [So I figured.]

[nonbird]

[What was the...? Oh, never mind, I see. That's elegant,] he says, smiling at an anonymous non-portal patch of wall.

[self_composed]

[Beg pardon? I don't think you ought to be able to see an addon that failed for redudnancy; what are you looking at?]

[nonbird]

[Your power—the native one. It's very, hmm, self-contained, which I guess is appropriate.]

[self_composed]

[Self-contained?] prompts Bella.

[nonbird]

[Yeah! Why am I standing here rambling, I can ramble while I go look for Kolya,] he says, turning and heading for the stairs. [Anyways. Your power. You know what it does, don't you?]

[self_composed]

[The thing that failed for redundancy was a mental defense against spying and tampering,] Bella says. [That's the only way I know it exists at all; it doesn't make itself otherwise known to me, so I don't have much detail.]

[nonbird]

[Well, it's very pretty,] says Lazarus. [Almost floral. And it's not inward or outward; I'd call it, hmm, exact. A defined boundary between your mind and the rest of the world. The farther away from that door I get, the weirder it is to look through it.]

[self_composed]

[Floral,] repeats Bella, deadpan.

[nonbird]

[Yes. Floral. Is that a problem? Would you rather I compared it to a motorbike?]

[self_composed]

[It's just an amusing description.] Bella waits patiently to be told if the place is clear of unobtrusive folks.

[nonbird]

He doesn't say anything, at least not to her, for about a minute.

Then he says, [Nope, not here.]

[self_composed]

Bella steps invisibly through the door, looks around, and says, [What's the apartment number? Or are you going to come all the way back and escort me?]

[nonbird]

[514. Oh, hi, you're here now, aren't you.]

[self_composed]

[Yep.] Bella's still invisible; she might as well fly up the stairs. She does.

[nonbird]

[You're flying!] says Lazarus, delightedly.

[self_composed]

[I am! That's just about the first thing I did once I had a good hex supply,] laughs Bella, landing on the fifth landing. [Here I am at your door. Can I come in?]