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

[nonbird]

[I think I've told you everything I know about magic,] says Lazarus. [Are there any big unanswered questions I don't know to be asking?]

[self_composed]

Bella considers this.

[Stars?] she says.

[nonbird]

[What about them?]

[self_composed]

[Here's how I found out about magic: I literally fell into a hideout that a distant ancestor of mine magicked up to only admit his descendants. In this hidey-hole was one hexagon, and a book. The hexagon made me a mint; the book explained what the hell was going on. The book says stars are dangerous. I have stars, I can get more stars if I want them - and I don't dare make a wish on them because I don't know why they are dangerous, or how, let alone how to get around it. Maybe they think that if you stare at a star long enough, you'll know how to operate one. Jeez. Maybe they know how to work stars - but they don't have a pet masochist like I have. And haven't used their pentagons to make one, so if I'm smart I will not piss them off overmuch because that they could likely do any time it occurred to them, and it may if they're desperate.]

[nonbird]

[I didn't see anything particularly special about the stars you had on you when we met,] says Lazarus. [I mean, they were just the next step after hexes. There wasn't anything more different than that about them, except the physical shape.]

[self_composed]

[They could also just be wrong about you being able to do this,] Bella points out. [But I'd think it was worth being paranoid about, if I were them.]

[nonbird]

[Well, if there is something dangerous about stars, I'd be very surprised if I couldn't figure it out somehow or other,] he says. [But I might have to watch someone use a star.]

[self_composed]

[Eegh.]

[nonbird]

[Yes. Eegh is right,] he says. [Assuming I am ever un-kidnapped, I'd like to watch someone use the other sizes of coin first, I think.]

[self_composed]

[I will be happy to oblige you post-un-kidnapping.]

[nonbird]

[Speaking of which, any ideas on that front?]

[self_composed]

[Not unless you've got more to tell me about the ward or somebody shows up so I can get more information that way,] Bella says. [Not yet at least. I'm sorry.]

[nonbird]

[Damn,] sighs Lazarus.

[self_composed]

[If there's nobody there in - call it an hour - I can start looking for people-heading-for-that-address and stuff, but I don't know if they can detect that so I'd rather hold off till you've been there way too long.]

[nonbird]

[Logical, yet disheartening,] says Lazarus.

[regularsized]

And Bella gets a reply to an old email.

I have, actually.

[self_composed]

Huh. Bridget must have stepped out or something before getting Bella's email, Bella supposes.

What's she like?

[Bridget just emailed me,] she says, because Lazarus will probably be bored in the abandoned warehouse if she doesn't talk to him.

[regularsized]

Very good at math.

[nonbird]

[Huh,] says Lazarus. [What about?]

[self_composed]

[She says she has met Chris's niece. Apparently her distinguishing characteristic is being very good at math, which I already knew.]

Yeah, I heard she's a PhD, like you. Do you know her well at all?

Bella is not sure how to get from here to more substantive questions.

[regularsized]

I'm not sure anyone does.

[nonbird]

[Really? I mean, Bridget's really met her?]

[self_composed]

[She says so anyway. This surprises you?]

Presumably her aunt does?

[nonbird]

[I don't know her that well. I assumed she was Chris's friend, and Chris doesn't introduce her friends to her niece, that I've ever seen. But I guess she could just as easily know Chris through the niece.]

[regularsized]

Maybe so.

Do you have time to get together and talk?