plotting to unnerve her

[self_composed]

Bella finds Milliways in the moon palace instead of one of her balconies.

"Huh," she says aloud.

Then, to Alice, Libby, Elena, and Mary, and Lazarus except he autoreplies with a busy message, [Hey folks, Moonstone Palace grew a bar that I don't remember putting in, come check it out.]

Comments

[her_imperial_radiance]

Alice snorts.

[self_composed]

"This way," says Bella.

The throne room is as before, containing assorted persons. "Hi!" Bella greets her fellow empress. "Brought an extra guest this time around."

[her_imperial_radiance]

And lo, Edward does indeed look constipated.

"What is his name?" asks the dark woman in the sari-type outfit who's lurking next to Golden Bella. She's casually talking over a nearby conversation, like she doesn't expect anyone else in the room to pay attention to her besides the Bellas.

[edgeofyourseat]

"Whistle," suggests Whistle, helpfully. Because that's the less confusing one, right?

[her_imperial_radiance]

"He can see me?" hisses the dark woman. "Too many people can see me." She creeps behind the local Empress. "And that's not a name."

"...She'd prefer his real name, at any rate" Golden Bella says. "She would strongly prefer it, and I would strongly prefer to keep her happy."

"Oh, she's doing that thing again," says someone in the corner to the person sitting next to him. "Let's go do something interesting." His companion agrees and they leave the room.

[self_composed]

"That's probably not going to be doable," says Stellar Bella slowly.

[edgeofyourseat]

"Yeah, there's kinda no such thing," says Whistle, rubbing the back of his head. "Call me whatever you want, or don't, but names aren't really my deal."

[her_imperial_radiance]

"What Allirea wants to call you," says Golden Bella, "is whatever it says on your licitly obtained birth certificate or your driver's license or your passport - the first name, at least. She's got a personal vendetta against nicknames. It's usually just worth accommodating her. She calls me Isabella, which no one else does."

[edgeofyourseat]

"She can call me anything," says Whistle, "up to and including 'fuck you', except that."

[her_imperial_radiance]

Allirea hisses, and then suddenly everyone else in the room glances her way. "Emperor," she says in a low voice.

Empress Bella does not look happy. "Er. Bella. Is there some obvious solution I'm missing that will keep yours and mine both happy? Edward, silence till my say-so or an emergency."

[self_composed]

"Does she have to call him anything? Give her the day off?" Bella says.

[her_imperial_radiance]

Edward shakes his head, which is apparently not covered by the "silence" instruction, and Allirea hisses again.

"What is it?" Bella murmurs to Edward, and he whispers in her ear. She frowns, and replies. "No. She might not come back if I send her away annoyed. It'd be one thing if he were just anyone, but he can see her. I'd lose the ability to split my guard till I found another suitable witch."

[edgeofyourseat]

Alice snarls wordlessly. Except to the two people in this room who can read his mind, and will be able to tell that he stopped himself from saying out loud, You can fucking try to go ripping through my head for that asshole's name.

He wants to cry, or hit something, or set something on fire. He feels violated in advance.

[self_composed]

"Alice. Depriving her of one of her bodyguards would be very unfriendly, even if it started as an accident," says Stellar Bella seriously, planting one hand on each of his shoulders and making eye contact. "Do you want to go back to the wolf village and wait there and let me handle this? I can handle this for you."

[edgeofyourseat]

Is she going to handle it in a way that tells anybody that name because in that case fuck everything.

[self_composed]

Bella hesitates, weighing likelihoods.

Then she says. "Trust me."

[edgeofyourseat]

Alice shudders.

His mind spins through several attempts to teleport, none of them specific enough. Anywhere that isn't here, the Sun, the Moon, fucking Pluto, somewhere that's extremely on fire and doesn't have any people, the farthest deserted place on this planet...

The one that finally works is Bella's palace, not that Bella has a palace here, but there's a place where it would be, if she did.

He conjures air to burn in and starts making stars.

[self_composed]

Bella drops her hands from where Alice's shoulders have ceased to be. She keeps an eye on his brain.

She turns towards the hissing half-vampire and the Empress and the Emperor. And she says, "If the Emperor happened to hear his name, I'm certainly not going to stop him from sharing with Allirea."

[her_imperial_radiance]

"I didn't," mutters Edward.

[self_composed]

"The first name on his licitly obtained birth certificate reads 'Frederick'," Bella lies. "If Allirea ever attempts to ever call him that, I imagine he'll be motivated to set her on fire, but that's a moot point, as I don't plan to bring him to this world again. Now I'm going to see what I can do to calm him down and then I'll come back, alone, and we can talk about my bag of futuristic technology and your wishes. Okay?"

[her_imperial_radiance]

"Okay," replies Golden Bella, as Allirea fades away again and Edward and all the spectators lose track of what they were talking about.

[self_composed]

"Back later," says Starry Bella, and she too teleports to the moon.

[I lied to them,] she tells him through the fire. [Act pissed off if anyone calls you Frederick.]

[edgeofyourseat]

[I love you,] he says, curling up in the middle of his cozy little inferno. And he does, and he is happy and relieved and amused and admiring, but those things have to fight for space in his head with fear and horror and anger and the pain he is using to distract himself. (It doesn't work as well as usual.)

[self_composed]

[Snuggles?] she offers, holding out her arms and sitting on the moondust.

[edgeofyourseat]

He puts out the fire and flings himself into her lap.

Air is also handy for crying.