arenaria: (Default)
Author: arenaria
Shell and Bell have worked out (well, Bell has worked out and Shell has tentatively commented on) a merging protocol that they think will work for them.

Shell's memories are going to be perfectly accessible, but they will not come up automatically in response to stimuli unless the resulting Shell Bell is expressly open to it. They will keep Shell's hard-earned tolerance to pain, insofar as that's separable (Shell is quite sure that she'd be able to make a pentagon if another situation as important as getting ahold of Sherlock to mint Juliet came up). All of Shell's insights about Sherlock's importance stay. Her itchy discomfort with Sherlock not getting her importance will be folded into Bell's resignation to same. The merged Shell Bell will be comfortable referring to either past in the first or third person, but will default to using "I" for Bell and "she" for Shell. She'll torch, but that's the only supernatural property Shell's bringing to the merger; she'll retain all Bell's magic. Shell looks a little older, but not much; they'll go with that, as they think torching probably conflicts with actually aging and they don't think twenty is the ideal place to sit forever and whatever Shell is supposed to be is closer. They are omitting the nightmares, good riddance.

"Last minute questions, comments, reasons to expect this to be a bad idea in some way?" Bell asks.

Shell shakes her head. She is looking forward to not being a separate person anymore.
sicaria: Looking up, thoughtful. (⑼ a brief and thoughtful moment)
Author: sicaria
Sherlock voices no objections, nor does she think any.
she_sells_seashells: (chilly)
Author: she_sells_seashells
Bell tries a hex. This is apparently not a job for a hex.

It is not a job for a star.

There are two evils left, from when Sherlock made evils.

She frowns, and rereads all the wish parameters from where she wrote them down for Shell to look at, and finally she touches one of the remaining, declawed evils and wishes.

There were two.

Now there is one.
sicaria: Reaching for something. (⑽ just a touch)
Author: sicaria
Now there is one, indeed.

Sherlock hugs her.
she_sells_seashells: engaged (engaged)
Author: she_sells_seashells
"Hi," says Shell Bell with a very Shellish sigh.
sicaria: Smiling slightly. (⑸ smiling as she falls)
Author: sicaria
"I love you," says Sherlock.
she_sells_seashells: maybe (Default)
Author: she_sells_seashells
"I love you," says Shell Bell. "Well. Now I'm all neatened up - Tony, can you try for a door so I can write some extremely urgent notes in the Bellbook?"
ferratus: At a distance, walking. (⑻ step inside)
Author: ferratus
"Yep!"

He opens a door.

And lo, Milliways.
arenaria: (useful)
Author: arenaria
Lo and behold!

Shell Bell teleports up to the Belltower.

She writes the story.

If Sherlock or Tony choose to observe her at this activity, they will see more of Shell than of Bell in her, because it's Shell's story and she's got Shell's memories open to share it. But the differences aren't so pronounced. It's quite possible that Shell-alone could have recovered much of her sanity simply by decluttering her apartment and living in it uneventfully for some months or years. Progress was made in the days she spent back home before the merge, and the merge itself helped between the magical excisions and the deemphasis of the worse memories.

The differences aren't pronounced, but they're there. Shell looks up when she hears unexpected noises and Bell doesn't. Shell's hands don't tremble after the merge, but sometimes, her lower lip does, where Bell is often still. Shell orients herself around Sherlock like Sherlock is the sun and Bell falls into more natural, less obsessive patterns.

And now that they're one and the same, it's all about -
she_sells_seashells: (unsettled)
Author: she_sells_seashells
- context.

Bell concludes her outline of the facts and the narrative. She closes the book.
sicaria: In profile, looking down. (⑾ time to go home)
Author: sicaria
Sherlock hugs her again.
she_sells_seashells: tricky (tricky)
Author: she_sells_seashells
Hugs!

"Golden resurrected somebody. Since she's not here right now to handle it herself, I should probably see if I can still open the door to Downside and fetch him out for her."
sicaria: Sitting on a log. (Default)
Author: sicaria
"Of course."
she_sells_seashells: bitey (bitey)
Author: she_sells_seashells
Downstairs.

"- Ah, I just completely forgot about holding the door for the Joker when I saw you," Shell Bell says ruefully. "I was going to just see if the door would go there, but now I guess I'll have to actually hold it and brainphone him that I'm back and let him out."

She pulls open the door. It's Atlantis. She closes the door, closes her eyes, focuses -
arenaria: (irked)
Author: arenaria
- and opens the door to her clutter-strewn little apartment in Downside.

There's probably a clock or six somewhere in the debris, but if there is, it's not set to what passes for the date in Downside. [Joker?] she tries.
gunpowdergelatine: Peering intently, confused or suspicious. (♦d/approach you with caution)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
[Yeeeeee-es?]
arenaria: (Default)
Author: arenaria
[It's Shell.] After a fashion. [I left the door - and I don't know if this one is at the same time, or not, because I'm not quite as I was when you last saw me, so it might not have stayed put. I'm sorry.]
gunpowdergelatine: Grinning. (♠3/I'm all love)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
[It's fine,] he says cheerfully. [I had a little adventure.]
arenaria: (useful)
Author: arenaria
[Okay. Did you happen to look up Nathan while you were there or did you have another reason for wanting the door? Golden resurrected him the way Sherlock resurrected me and he may have split the same way.]
gunpowdergelatine: Partial face, one eye and one hand visible. Sultry. (♥9/knows what she wants to be)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
[Yep! Got him right here.]

"Doorstop's back," he says aloud.
arenaria: (chilly)
Author: arenaria
[What I did was - when I found my live self - we merged. It took an evil, but I'm both now, mostly the live one because she was a lot saner. Does Nathan, or at least this one, want to do that?]
temporal_affairs: (run that by me again)
Author: temporal_affairs
"What happened? Shouldn't any amount of time she spent in Milliways or wherever be nothing on this end?" asks Timer.
gunpowdergelatine: Smirking faintly, touching thumb to lips. (♣5/don't want the devil to)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
[I'll ask.]

"Mm, she's not exactly the same doorstop," he explains. "She found the resurrected one and they got back together. Now she wants to know if you wanna do the same thing with Nathan."
temporal_affairs: (sideeyeing that)
Author: temporal_affairs
"...Back together, like...?"
gunpowdergelatine: Smiling faintly, touching finger to lips. (♠4/what he used to make it talk)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
He presses his hands together, pulls them apart. "They split..." together again, "they merge."
temporal_affairs: (oh dear lord)
Author: temporal_affairs
"...Well, there's a thought, but while I'd welcome being a vampire again and miss Kerron quite a bit and have no strong objections to resuming being stuck exclusively on you, I don't think Nathan's going to want to share an identity with a version of him who -" Airquotes! - "'cheated on you'."
gunpowdergelatine: Half in shadow, looking up; sincerity, vulnerability. (♣7/got me on my knees)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
He shrugs.

[Wouldn't mind, but he thinks the other one would.]
arenaria: (Default)
Author: arenaria
[Would he? Why?]
gunpowdergelatine: Smirking faintly, touching thumb to lips. (♣5/don't want the devil to)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
[Why don't you guys talk to each other,] he suggests into a conference call.
arenaria: (irked)
Author: arenaria
[Hi, Nathan, I'm Shell Bell, I don't think we've met. Have you been all right here? Why don't you think your liveling would want to be you?]
temporal_affairs: (oh dear lord)
Author: temporal_affairs
[Hullo, Shell Bell, I think he'd be torn to pieces over the fact that I've spent the last century comfortably enough, unmatebonded, enjoying myself with miscellaneous ladies of Downside instead of remaining loyal to his mate in spite of the fact that he'd see red if he knew I'd touched his mate.]
gunpowdergelatine: Laughing. (♠1/you live for the fight)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
The Joker grins and snuggles up.
arenaria: (not all bad)
Author: arenaria
[...That seems like an obviously silly thing to think. You two could customize the merge, you know, I'm mostly Bell and not Shell. Would he mind not thinking like that anymore?]
temporal_affairs: (i am disappoint)
Author: temporal_affairs
[Not sure. I don't know if that would work, anyway, mate bonds are impervious to magic.]
arenaria: (useful)
Author: arenaria
[Obviously not completely,] Shell Bell points out. [You had one and now you don't. Maybe there's room around the edges to make yours - his - work more like Alice's does.]
gunpowdergelatine: Partial face, one eye and one hand visible. Sultry. (♥9/knows what she wants to be)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
[I'd like that,] the Joker contributes. [Seems like the least awkward way to get to love both of him.]
temporal_affairs: (heheh)
Author: temporal_affairs
[Well, babe, if you ask him, he'll fold like a napkin.]
arenaria: (someone loved me)
Author: arenaria
[Do you want me to pull you out, then?]
gunpowdergelatine: Smiling faintly, touching finger to lips. (♠4/what he used to make it talk)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
[Up to you, sweetheart,] he says, kissing Timer's cheek.
temporal_affairs: (Default)
Author: temporal_affairs
[Put some clothes on, babe. Shell Bell, you could just open the door to here even after you fused?]
arenaria: (Default)
Author: arenaria
[If I don't think about it, it's Atlantis, but I concentrated and I opened the door to my Downside apartment without too much trouble. You'll be able to visit friends of yours here through Milliways. And the place isn't going to be like it is, anyway, me and the other Bells are going to destroy that sadistic ruinous setup.]
gunpowdergelatine: Laughing. (♠1/you live for the fight)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
The Joker grins and spends a square off Timer's chain to dress himself.
temporal_affairs: (Default)
Author: temporal_affairs
[We'll be right along,] says Timer.

"Shall we, babe?"
gunpowdergelatine: Smirking faintly, touching thumb to lips. (♣5/don't want the devil to)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
The Joker kisses his cheek and teleports them to Shell's place.
arenaria: (Default)
Author: arenaria
"...What happened to your scars?"
gunpowdergelatine: Grinning. (♠3/I'm all love)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
"Guess."
arenaria: (irked)
Author: arenaria
"...How long did I leave you here for, that you found time to die?"
temporal_affairs: (run that by me again)
Author: temporal_affairs
"Oh, measured in hours, no very lengthy holdup, he's just efficient," says Timer. "He's not out of his grace period yet, he's skipping out on a sentence with Jasmine. Do you know if torching works out of Downside?"
arenaria: (mad)
Author: arenaria
"It works - and fuck Jasmine, I hope it bothers her for a thousand years that she can't find you - let's go."
gunpowdergelatine: Leaning forward, hands together, elbows on knees. (♥8/traces of me in your veins)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
"By the way," he says as he steps through the door, "mere hexes won't give me my minting back in a permanent way - did you dodge that with an evil? Could you gimme a hand? I can make the coin."
arenaria: (chilly)
Author: arenaria
"I did my merge with an evil. I haven't torched since, but I did mean to keep all of my magic as it was, and the coin went. If you give me a star to try, and an evil if that doesn't work, I can do it for you. Although maybe I should consult with Golden first, as long as we're going to your world."
gunpowdergelatine: Half in shadow, looking up; sincerity, vulnerability. (♣7/got me on my knees)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
"Sure," he shrugs.
temporal_affairs: (Default)
Author: temporal_affairs
"You've probably got a better shot than I do at getting a door to Aurum, babe," Timer says.
she_sells_seashells: (becalmed)
Author: she_sells_seashells
"Are you coming, Sherlock?" Shell Bell asks.
sicaria: In profile, looking down. (⑾ time to go home)
Author: sicaria
"If you need me to."
gunpowdergelatine: Maybe thoughtful, maybe confused, maybe dismissive. (♥b/burn your empty rain)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
The Joker gives Timer a quick hug and tries the door.
she_sells_seashells: maybe (Default)
Author: she_sells_seashells
"I'd like the company, but I don't need it," says Shell Bell, "Elspeth gets doors very frequently and I won't have to stay much longer than I feel like."
temporal_affairs: (shiny)
Author: temporal_affairs
"Ahhh, hello, Aurum," sighs Nathan into the doorway.
her_imperial_radiance: (Default)
Author: her_imperial_radiance
"...Hello?" says Elspeth, who found the door in the first place. "What's going on?"
sicaria: Reaching for something. (⑽ just a touch)
Author: sicaria
"I'll stay behind, then," says Sherlock.
gunpowdergelatine: Smirking faintly, touching thumb to lips. (♣5/don't want the devil to)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
"I found an extra Nathan! Can I keep him?"
she_sells_seashells: tricky (tricky)
Author: she_sells_seashells
Shell Bell kisses Sherlock's cheek and steps through the door to Aurum. "Hi, Elspeth, we haven't met, I'm Shell Bell. There's a glitch in resurrection-with-evils called Downside. I need to talk to your mom, and the Joker and this extra Nathan need to talk to the Nathan here."
temporal_affairs: (oh dear lord)
Author: temporal_affairs
"Probably best if Kerron's not there to witness the explanation, and possible attempts by Nathan to relieve me of the burden of intact bones," adds Timer.
gunpowdergelatine: Smiling faintly, touching finger to lips. (♠4/what he used to make it talk)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
The Joker squeezes Timer's hand fondly.
her_imperial_radiance: (no comment)
Author: her_imperial_radiance
"Mama - and Nathan - are both in the throne room. Rosalie has all the wee ones for the next while," says Elspeth, "Kerron included."
she_sells_seashells: (becalmed)
Author: she_sells_seashells
"Thank you," says Shell Bell.
gunpowdergelatine: Leaning forward, hands together, elbows on knees. (♥8/traces of me in your veins)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
"You wanna take us there," he asks Shell Bell, "or should I?"
she_sells_seashells: maybe (Default)
Author: she_sells_seashells
"I got it."

Poof.
luminous_regnant: (attention)
Author: luminous_regnant
"Hello," says Golden, not particularly surprised - presumably Elspeth notified her of the arrivals. "What's all this, then?"
temporal_affairs: (oh dear lord)
Author: temporal_affairs
"I most insistently second that question," says Nathan, "who the blistering hell are you - and babe, what happened to your scars, didn't you like those -"

"You know," says Timer, "I held out hope that you'd just think I was a garden variety alt till somebody could explain, but I suppose arriving arm-in-arm with the Joker without him even singing soprano first torched that interpretation."

"Who in the name of Maughold's left asscheek are you supposed to be?"

"Call me Timer," says Timer.
she_sells_seashells: (irked)
Author: she_sells_seashells
"All this," says Shell Bell, "is a glitch in resurrection-with-evils. There is an afterlife, it is shit, and it does not let people who arrive there go, even if you pull on them very hard - you get forks, instead. I folded back into myself. I'm both."
gunpowdergelatine: Partial face, one eye and one hand visible. Sultry. (♥9/knows what she wants to be)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
"I died," the Joker adds, "but I'm fine, sweetie, look," and he taps a pentagon from Timer and teleports directly into a hug with Nathan.
temporal_affairs: (the death of me)
Author: temporal_affairs
"You died?" breathes Nathan, hugging the Joker tight and otherwise not moving.
luminous_regnant: (forward)
Author: luminous_regnant
"Well," says Golden. "That obviously needs fixing."
arenaria: (unsettled)
Author: arenaria
"Yeah."
she_sells_seashells: (unsettled)
Author: she_sells_seashells
"It does."
temporal_affairs: (lovable rogue)
Author: temporal_affairs
"It's not bad always for everyone," Timer volunteers. "I was fine. But then, Shell Bell would've been fine if her dead version had kept her magic. I had mine. Kept me out of the way of torturers and - such."
luminous_regnant: (wall)
Author: luminous_regnant
"Torturers? That's a class of people you need magic to avoid? Oh, for the love of - even ordinary worlds need serious repairs, Shell Bell's was worse than most, and she comes in saying it's shit, I'm inclined to believe her, but -"
arenaria: (chilly)
Author: arenaria
"It's very, very bad," says Shell Bell quietly.
gunpowdergelatine: Smiling faintly, touching finger to lips. (♠4/what he used to make it talk)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
"Terrible," the Joker agrees sunnily. "I loved it. Coulda spent the rest of forever there, but I would've missed my sweetie."

Extra snuggles for Nathan.
temporal_affairs: (darkened)
Author: temporal_affairs
"I can't believe you died," murmurs Nathan.

"He's right there, Nate," says Timer, "technically dead or not he's there - the more pressing issue is what we're going to -"

"I'm trying not to think about you," snaps Nathan. "If you - if you -"

"Yes, yes, you're afraid that I've been unfaithful, and also afraid that we got up to something while he was Downside, the only outcome you'd consider acceptable would be if I'd spent the last century celibate, how do you feel about making like Shell Bell and importing some of my more even-keeled notions? Sell it for me, babe, he's not gonna listen to me," Timer adds to the Joker when he sees the answering look on Nathan's face.
gunpowdergelatine: Half in shadow, looking up; sincerity, vulnerability. (♣7/got me on my knees)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
"Sweetie," says the Joker. "I love you. He's you, so I love him too. I don't wanna lose either of you, and I don't wanna make trouble between you the way it would if I hung around with both of you all the time. Shell and Bell got sewn up and they're just fine. If you're okay with it, and it works so you don't hate yourself afterward or anything, then I want you to."
luminous_regnant: (Default)
Author: luminous_regnant
Meanwhile, Golden and Shell Bell have relegated their exchange of information about exactly how Downside is shit to the brainphone.
temporal_affairs: (if you must)
Author: temporal_affairs
Nathan is silent for a long time. (Timer doesn't interrupt him.)

"If that's what you need from me," he finally tells the Joker.
gunpowdergelatine: Maybe thoughtful, maybe confused, maybe dismissive. (♥b/burn your empty rain)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
"I think it'll make us both happier," he says softly. "You know, I joke about how you'll have to get used to me, but I see how it hurts you to know what a slut I am and I don't want it to, sweetheart, I love you."
temporal_affairs: (i am disappoint)
Author: temporal_affairs
"I thought - that you'd -"

"Lack of opportunity," puts in Timer shortly. "Till he went Downside."

"Oh, Christ."

"You and he'd be happier with our joint self keeping my opinion on the matter."
luminous_regnant: (attention)
Author: luminous_regnant
"I am not at all confident that even an evil will be able to edit a mate bond," Golden says.
arenaria: (irked)
Author: arenaria
"Not the core of it. Just around the edges. The joined-up Nathan would still have it - like Alice has one - but it wouldn't come with the... monogamy clause."
luminous_regnant: (ceiling)
Author: luminous_regnant
"If it can do even that, that's unsettling," says Golden, "but I suppose whether I find it unsettling or not doesn't make it more or less likely to work. Joker, you're supplying the evil?"
she_sells_seashells: tricky (tricky)
Author: she_sells_seashells
"They should spend a little while working out a balance of the two of them. I'm mostly Bell and not Shell most of the time. We didn't want her memories to outweigh mine even though there were more of them."
temporal_affairs: (run that by me again)
Author: temporal_affairs
"Well, this will be a fun consensus-building exercise," snorts Timer. "We let the Joker tiebreak, Nate?"

Nathan nods.
gunpowdergelatine: Leaning forward, hands together, elbows on knees. (♥8/traces of me in your veins)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
"Yeah, I'll come up with the coin. Shell Bell, you wanna hit me, or should I wish up another one'a those agony beam gadgets?"
she_sells_seashells: (becalmed)
Author: she_sells_seashells
"Do you need ramp-up or can I just slam you with a hundred thousand?" Shell Bell inquires.
gunpowdergelatine: Grinning. (♠3/I'm all love)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
He grins and makes a beckoning gesture. "Go for it."
she_sells_seashells: (unsettled)
Author: she_sells_seashells
Bam. Unflavored. She holds for six seconds or until he says "when", since they'll want more than one for the merge as well as (possibly) the perma-minting.
gunpowdergelatine: Partial face, one eye and one hand visible. Sultry. (♥9/knows what she wants to be)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
He never bothered to wish himself another bandolier, so the coins appear directly in his hands, one two three fourfivesixseven before Shell's six seconds are up. He offers the whole handful to Golden.
luminous_regnant: (ambivalent)
Author: luminous_regnant
"Thank you." (Covert declawing.) "Shell Bell, you've done a merger, perhaps you should also do this one." She wishes all but one evil onto her own bandolier and offers the other to Shell Bell. [I declawed it.]
she_sells_seashells: maybe (Default)
Author: she_sells_seashells
"I'll stick around long enough for them to have their parameters worked out and then I'll do it, sure," agrees Shell Bell, tucking the evil onto her chain for the meanwhile.
temporal_affairs: (darkened)
Author: temporal_affairs
"Parameters," sighs Nathan.

"Gonna have to figure out how to square away my memories so my de-vampired Downside memories don't get completely lost against high-def surround-sound smell-o-vision," says Timer, waving a hand. "Maybe get us recall independent of vampirism like the other mint Bells have got."

"Do you want to remember being human here? Again?" asks Nathan skeptically.

"I don't see why not. We're going to fix the jealousy thing both directions, aren't we, we won't torture ourselves over - what was her name -"

"Calybrid."

"Yes, her, it won't matter, the Joker certainly doesn't mind her."

"...She's not in the -"

"I never looked her up," shrugs Timer.

"But I wasn't thinking so much of Calybrid."

"...Mmm. Okay, the kids could be a problem."
gunpowdergelatine: Maybe thoughtful, maybe confused, maybe dismissive. (♥b/burn your empty rain)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
...The Joker hugs Nathan.
she_sells_seashells: (irked)
Author: she_sells_seashells
"You could put it - away, like I did with Shell's less pleasant memories," says Shell Bell. "Of which there are terribly many. They're all accessible if I want them. They don't intrude if I don't expressly invite them, and they're muted, a little, at a sort of emotional remove."
temporal_affairs: (oh dear lord)
Author: temporal_affairs
"That sounds like a plan," says Timer.

"...All right," says Nathan. "What else?"

"We want to torch," says Timer. "I haven't done it, but it'd be better than dying again, according to Eights it doesn't even feel like anything by itself."

"...All right."

"Oh, and as long as we're talking about editing the mate bond, let's not edit the part where you don't care what nether bits the Joker's got at any given time, he finds that inconvenient - don't look at me like that, I might not be all magically infatuated anymore but that leaves marks, he shows up and presto-changeo and snuggles up to me, what am I supposed to do?"

"God, I don't even know. All right," says Nathan.
gunpowdergelatine: Smiling faintly, touching finger to lips. (♠4/what he used to make it talk)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
The Joker hugs Nathan again, rather more happily.

"I like marks," he murmurs.
she_sells_seashells: (unsettled)
Author: she_sells_seashells
"I think that's enough to go on," says Shell Bell, "unless you've got anything you need to leave out explicitly from one or the other of you - I had to get rid of some nightmares, some trembling, that sort of thing."
temporal_affairs: (Default)
Author: temporal_affairs
"Going to be a vampire, don't get nightmares anyway," shrugs Timer.

"Yes, please do let's get this over with," Nathan sighs.
she_sells_seashells: (becalmed)
Author: she_sells_seashells
Wish.
temporal_affairs: (run that by me again)
Author: temporal_affairs
Nathan takes a while to adjust. (He spends this while hugging the Joker, though.)
gunpowdergelatine: Partial face, one eye and one hand visible. Sultry. (♥9/knows what she wants to be)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
"I love you, sweetie," he says, snuggling up. "You okay?"
temporal_affairs: (sideeyeing that)
Author: temporal_affairs
"I'm fine, babe," says Nathan. "Kind of weird to have been a hundred years since I died one way and a few months the other, though."
gunpowdergelatine: Hand touching face, thoughtfully. (♥a/I don't know wrong from right)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
He hugs him some more.

"Good."

Glancing at the Bell(a)s, he adds, "Somebody wanna perma-mint me while we're at it?"
luminous_regnant: (attention)
Author: luminous_regnant
Golden nods.

"...That took an evil," she says a moment later. "Why did that take an evil?"
she_sells_seashells: tricky (tricky)
Author: she_sells_seashells
"I don't know. It probably doesn't take an evil by a lot? I wished for all of the magic I had before the merge, and torching, and I got both, one evil."
gunpowdergelatine: Leaning forward, hands together, elbows on knees. (♥8/traces of me in your veins)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
The Joker hums thoughtfully for a moment.

Then he says, "So what's the plan?"
she_sells_seashells: bitey (bitey)
Author: she_sells_seashells
"Torturer's control has to go, and so does the power the judges have to hand it out like party favors," Shell Bell says promptly. "Some reasonable ground rules need to happen. We need a system to repatriate people to where they belong if they want to go back to their worlds or other worlds and will behave like people and not like - like Downsiders sometimes start behaving, torturers or not. We need to empty the catacombs so people aren't in limbo until some miserable self-righteous shit of a judge gets around them. We're probably going to get attention from upstairs - we need to check out Upside too, maybe it's bad in its own ways - and we need to be ready for that, we need supplies of stars and evils, we might want to see if there's another level above that if we can talk any of our respective helpers into trying, we need several of us on the ground and one or two hanging back in Milliways ready to bail us out if she's too much to handle. If she is, we need a way to just funnel people out manually and process them somewhere other than her turf. It would be good if we had a system of interworld travel that was under our own actual control, though, so we should experiment with that, see if it's something we can do with coins."
gunpowdergelatine: Grinning. (♠3/I'm all love)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
"If you wanna throw a lot of pain around, I'll catch," the Joker offers.
luminous_regnant: (attention)
Author: luminous_regnant
"You're clearly equipped to be an evil factory. Are you sure you want to try for a next tier?"
gunpowdergelatine: Laughing. (♠1/you live for the fight)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
"Only one way to find out!"
luminous_regnant: (speculative)
Author: luminous_regnant
Golden shrugs. "Well, Shell Bell, you're the one with the agony beam."
she_sells_seashells: (irked)
Author: she_sells_seashells
"Do you want a ramp-up when the endpoint is ten times the minimum for an evil?" Shell Bell asks the Joker.
gunpowdergelatine: Grinning broadly. (♠2/lovin' every minute of it)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
"Sure," he says amicably. "Sweetie, pick me up? I like it when you pick me up."
temporal_affairs: (Default)
Author: temporal_affairs
Nathan scoops him up and holds him tight. "You sure about this, babe?"
gunpowdergelatine: Smirking faintly, touching thumb to lips. (♣5/don't want the devil to)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
"Mmhmm," he says, leaning his head on Nathan's shoulder.
she_sells_seashells: (preoccupied)
Author: she_sells_seashells
Since the Joker can demonstrably make coins pretty fast when hit with a hundred thousand, and since they do also want a supply of evils either way, Shell Bell starts there.

She slides up at a rate of five thousand per second, watchful for signs that she should speed up to shorten the trial, or slow down to make the slope gentler.
luminous_regnant: (floor)
Author: luminous_regnant
Golden averts her eyes.
gunpowdergelatine: Smiling faintly, touching finger to lips. (♠4/what he used to make it talk)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
He curls up in Nathan's arms, smiling and nuzzling him contentedly, and accumulates a pile of evils in his lap. Occasionally he wriggles, as though trying to get comfortable, although comfort is of course not remotely on the menu.
she_sells_seashells: (becalmed)
Author: she_sells_seashells
At Shell Bell's chosen rate - which she sees no reason to adjust - it takes three minutes even to reach one million.
gunpowdergelatine: Half in shadow, looking up; sincerity, vulnerability. (Default)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
By that point, he is hugging such a heaping pile of evils that some have started spilling onto the floor.

He has also started making small sounds and pressing his face briefly into Nathan's shoulder now and again.



The next coin after the one million mark is indeed something new: three equally spaced prongs, each with one point aimed outward and two more hooked back toward the middle, so it has nine points all in all. It looks positively vicious.

The Joker doesn't—quite—looks like he wants to stop.
she_sells_seashells: (irked)
Author: she_sells_seashells
"Can you talk?" Shell Bell asks, holding still at one million exactly.
gunpowdergelatine: Half in shadow, looking up; sincerity, vulnerability. (♣7/got me on my knees)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
"Yeah," he breathes, and emits another barbed nine-pointed coin. "Mmmm'm I there yet?"
she_sells_seashells: (chilly)
Author: she_sells_seashells
"Yes. Say when you're done."
gunpowdergelatine: Partial face, one eye and one hand visible. Sultry. (♥9/knows what she wants to be)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
"Okay."

Not yet, apparently.

One more—one more—they're much slower now than they were at the bottom of evil range.

And one more time, he drags the pain across his mind. A fifth one of the new kind appears.

"Done," he says on a soft exhale.
she_sells_seashells: seacreature (seacreature)
Author: she_sells_seashells
Million drops to zero as soon as she can tell what word he's emitting.
arenaria: (Default)
Author: arenaria
(She's not like the torturers Downside, who've heard stop so many times that it's permanently lost meaning -)
she_sells_seashells: (irked)
Author: she_sells_seashells
"Golden, do you want one of the - what should we call them? There's not one for everybody."
gunpowdergelatine: Reclining, leaning back on elbows, shirt partly unbuttoned. (♦c/you will never break me)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
The Joker presses his face into the side of Nathan's neck and whimpers softly, his arms tightening on his lapful of evils hard enough that some of the points draw blood.
temporal_affairs: (the death of me)
Author: temporal_affairs
"Babe," murmurs Nathan, "I got you - babe - you okay?"
luminous_regnant: (attention)
Author: luminous_regnant
"I have no clever naming ideas," Golden says. "You can hang onto all of the nine-pointed ones until we have a complete expedition put together and can discuss strategy, by which time more may have been accumulated, from the Joker's alts perhaps. I will take a few of the evils." She does.
she_sells_seashells: (becalmed)
Author: she_sells_seashells
Shell Bell takes everything else.

"Thank you, Joker," she says gravely.
gunpowdergelatine: Maybe thoughtful, maybe confused, maybe dismissive. (♥b/burn your empty rain)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
No more armful of coins—he wraps his arms around Nathan and hugs him as tight as he possibly can.

And takes a deep breath, and lets it out, and takes another.

"Yeah," he says, slow and soft. "I'm fine, sweetie."

And he lets go and sits up a little to toss a smile at Shell Bell.

"Anytime," he says flippantly.
temporal_affairs: (if you must)
Author: temporal_affairs
Nathan hugs back, snug but not breaking. "Good."
she_sells_seashells: seacreature (seacreature)
Author: she_sells_seashells
"You're not even boosted for that, are you," murmurs Shell Bell wonderingly. "I wonder if even Eights could do that."
gunpowdergelatine: Grinning. (♠3/I'm all love)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
"Bet you she could," he says with a grin.
arenaria: (unsettled)
Author: arenaria
"I'm not," Shell Bell says consideringly, "sure how she'll react to our disassembling Downside. I don't mind disappointing the torturers, but she was nice to me."
temporal_affairs: (Default)
Author: temporal_affairs
"She take your sentence?" Nathan asks. "Mine too."
arenaria: (preoccupied)
Author: arenaria
"Yes. She did. But I wish I'd waited longer to find a contractor. A torturer who likes to keep long term pets got me before my grace period was even up and someone who only wanted to hurt me for nine hours would've been a better rescuer than none at all."
gunpowdergelatine: Half in shadow, looking up; sincerity, vulnerability. (♣7/got me on my knees)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
"Well," says the Joker, "that depends on who, doesn't it?"
arenaria: (unsettled)
Author: arenaria
"I was assigned to Chainsaw. I don't think, by reputation, he'd have been inclined to keep me as a pet for - I haven't counted it up exactly and I didn't have enough access to timepieces to know for sure even if I did count days, but I'm pretty sure it was on the order of twenty-five years. Undoubtedly it would have been horrible, but I still had most of my memories after the first time Voice tortured me, even the second and third and fourth, it took a long time for me to get as wrecked as I did. I wouldn't have thought of it as being better. But it might've been."
gunpowdergelatine: Looking down, eyes closed or nearly closed, pensive. (♦f/someplace that he'd rather be)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
"Might have," he agrees, and leaves it at that.
she_sells_seashells: (becalmed)
Author: she_sells_seashells
"That reminds me," says Shell Bell, making eye contact with Golden. "I think you probably understand this more than any of the others do - but you need Edward and it's not just because of the mate bond. I'm sure turning hurt more than anything Voice did to me. I only had a human body to feel it with. But I was all by myself except for Voice. It made a difference."
luminous_regnant: (forward)
Author: luminous_regnant


"Understood," murmurs Golden. "I'm not planning to attempt to do without him. Ever."
gunpowdergelatine: Partial face, one eye and one hand visible. Sultry. (♥9/knows what she wants to be)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
The Joker closes his eyes and settles into Nathan's arms.

He's feeling... well, if they're done talking business for now, he would really like Nathan to take him somewhere quiet and throw him up against a wall.
temporal_affairs: (sharp)
Author: temporal_affairs
Nathan is not exactly bad at reading his mate.

He slips out of the room, to no objection from either Bell.

He takes the Joker back to their lovely soundproofed room.

And pins him up against a wall.
gunpowdergelatine: Grinning. (♠3/I'm all love)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
"Love you, sweetie," he says with a happy wriggle. This is what he really needs, to get his head on straight after making all those coins.

It doesn't take long for him to come up with enough hexes to get his regeneration back up to pre-mortem levels, and then he adds flavour-tuning on top of that. Giving Nathan a nice tummyache seems like the perfect way to finish up.
temporal_affairs: (shiny)
Author: temporal_affairs
Om nom nom, delicious mate about whose loose behavior he is no longer conflicted!
gunpowdergelatine: Smirking faintly, touching thumb to lips. (♣5/don't want the devil to)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
Ooh yes. Don't think he didn't notice Nathan being all serene about the Joker whoring out his mint powers like that. He loved jealous Nathan, but he loves okay-with-it Nathan too, he really really does.
temporal_affairs: (heheh)
Author: temporal_affairs
And this one is so much more comfortable.

Not in the tummy region, though, that's fit to burst at the moment. He stops drinking. Eventually.
gunpowdergelatine: Smiling faintly, touching finger to lips. (♠4/what he used to make it talk)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
The Joker will just have to give him tummy snuggles.
temporal_affairs: (shiny)
Author: temporal_affairs
They are appreciated. With kisses.
gunpowdergelatine: Grinning broadly. (♠2/lovin' every minute of it)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
N'awwwwwwww.

His immunity to venom, slipped in with one of those regeneration wishes, means he feels quite safe kissing Nathan very very thoroughly.
temporal_affairs: (mischief)
Author: temporal_affairs
Oh good.
gunpowdergelatine: Grinning. (♠3/I'm all love)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
"Want me to wish your tummy better?" he inquires between kisses.
temporal_affairs: (lovable rogue)
Author: temporal_affairs
"Mmmhm."
gunpowdergelatine: Smirking faintly, touching thumb to lips. (♣5/don't want the devil to)
Author: gunpowdergelatine
He kisses the afflicted tummy and spends a shiny new triangle.