Bella is catching up on emails. It amuses her to agree to play the role of royalty at this random Renaissance faire that had the audacity to ask her if she'd be so kind to guest-star for a day, so she's telling them she'll do it presuming no emergencies come up and they don't give her excessively absurd lines to say.

Author: bellfounding	Bella is catching up on emails. It amuses her to agree to play the role of royalty at this random Renaissance faire that had the audacity to ask her if she'd be so kind to guest-star for a day, so she's telling them she'll do it presuming no emergencies come up and they don't give her excessively absurd lines to say.
Author: tearingup	[Soooo, you're not busy, are you?] asks Ripper. He sounds very amused about something.
Author: bellfounding	[Just email. What's up?]
Author: tearingup	[My minting's gone, and I'd like it back if that's all right.]
Author: bellfounding	[Did you torch? What happened, are you okay?]
Author: tearingup	He laughed. [Yeah, I torched. I'm fine. Aianon decided to give me some sexy nightmares, that's all. Does minting go away when you torch? That sounds inconvenient.]
Author: bellfounding	[You can stick properties onto torching with evils, and take them off the same way, but those are also what I need to resurrect people if I don't want to wait for a batch, so even when I add new tweaks to my own powers I wait until I have a bunch of them lined up and get them all with one evil instead of doing it piecemeal, since I have hexes coming in more regularly.]
Author: tearingup	[All right. I'll stick to hexes, then. I don't plan on torching that often.]
Author: bellfounding	[You want me to swing by and re-mint you now?]
Author: tearingup	[That'd be nice.]
Author: bellfounding	Knock knock.
Author: tearingup	Door open. Hug! Kiss!
Author: bellfounding	Yay! Mint! "And you are all minty again."
Author: tearingup	"Brilliant," he says, and kisses her some more.
Author: bellfounding	Bella is all minty too! [Do I want to know what exactly torched you?]
Author: tearingup	Ripper giggles into the kiss. [I don't know, do you?]
Author: bellfounding	[Maaaaybe.]
Author: tearingup	[Aianon has sharp parts,] he says merrily, still kissing her. [He likes to menace me with them. I like to be menaced. It's a good arrangement.]
Author: bellfounding	[So basically the photo shoot but with less giggling, more blood.]
Author: tearingup	[More or less. And not that much less giggling. But a lot more blood,] he recalls.
Author: bellfounding	[Evisceration is hilarious, of course.]
Author: tearingup	[Of course!] He hugs her and nibbles on her neck. (The fact that she is currently a mint-flavoured mint is still adorable.)
Author: bellfounding	Ooh, nibbles. She leans on him, squirmily. [So I'm going to go play the part of the queen at a renaissance faire that thought it would be fun to ask me just in case, and I told them I'd do it for a day if they didn't give me silly lines and I could bail in case of emergency.]
Author: tearingup	He giggles! This interrupts nibbling. But it does not interrupt hugs.
Author: bellfounding	[Yeah. What do you think, will Queenie make me a pretty Renfest dress?]
Author: tearingup	[That's not even a question. The question is, can I have sex with you in your pretty Renfest dress?]
Author: bellfounding	[Hmm. Tricky, but not impossible.]
Author: tearingup	Nibbles.
Author: bellfounding	Mmmmmm, nibbles.
Author: tearingup	Snuggly nibbles.
Author: bellfounding	Squirmy snuggles.
Author: tearingup	[This mint flavour is growing on me,] he informs her. [You're adorable, by the way.]
Author: bellfounding	[I am adorable. And minty. And punny.]
Author: tearingup	[Right. Those too.] She is also wearing far too many clothes. And if she wants them to be anywhere other than just inside his front door when he does something about that, she'd better act fast.
Author: bellfounding	They could go be on his bed, how about that? Teleportation is super convenient like that.
Author: tearingup	Great. Beds are comfy. Ripper loves beds.
Author: bellfounding	Bella also approves of beds! And of Ripper. Also nibbling. Bidirectional nibbling.
Author: tearingup	Mmmmnibbling. Mmmminty. [Should I taste like things, too, I wonder?]
Author: bellfounding	[Mayyyybe.]
Author: tearingup	[Any requests?]
Author: bellfounding	[Surprise me.]
Author: tearingup	[All right.] How about... that cake they had on their first date? Is that a good flavour?
Author: bellfounding	It is apparently an excellent flavor, judging by Bella's extremely nibbly reaction.
Author: tearingup	Perfect.
Author: bellfounding	Nibble nibble nibble.
Author: tearingup	Ooh. Nibbly! He nibbles right back.
Author: bellfounding	Mutual nibbles! Yummy ones. Best kind.
Author: tearingup	Yummy, yummy mutual nibbling. And related activities.
Author: bellfounding	And subsequent snuggling. Complete with fond sighing gazes. It's kind of sappy, really.
Author: tearingup	It is. And Ripper is right there with the fond sighing gazes. And the brushing her hair out of her face and then kissing her forehead.
Author: bellfounding	Bella giggles.
Author: tearingup	"I love you," he says, hugging her.
Author: bellfounding	She beams, and hugs him back tightly. "I love you too."
Author: tearingup	That is among the better possible reactions! Time for snuggle-kisses.
Author: bellfounding	Ooh, snuggle-kisses. Bella likes those.
Author: tearingup	They are snuggly. And flavourful.
Author: bellfounding	That is why she likes them.
Author: tearingup	Snuggle snuggle kiss. Snuggle snuggle. Aww, he's all fizzy and giddy now, he likes that feeling.
Author: bellfounding	Good. It is important to experience feelings that one likes. Bella is currently in the middle of a rendition of bubbly relaxation.
Author: tearingup	They can cuddle and have positive feelings together! That sounds like a great plan.
Author: bellfounding	It sure does. "So I'm guessing if you wanted to come play king at the renaissance faire you would have said, but maybe I should invite you out loud anyway?"
Author: tearingup	"I didn't know that was an option," he says. "What are the odds Queenie's gonna make me a dress?"
Author: bellfounding	"I'm sure if you invite her to make you a dress, she'll make you a dress, but she can probably come up with something more traditionally kingly if you prefer. And yeah, the email said I could bring a co-star if I wanted. They were kindly gender-neutral about it, actually, had a little footnote about how they like to live in an alternate version of the past where things are nicer than they really were."
Author: tearingup	"Well, that's adorable, and now I'm genuinely tempted to show up in drag."
Author: bellfounding	Bella snickers. "You realize people are probably going to want to take pictures and my relationship status has thus far not been public. Is that how you want your debut to go?"
Author: tearingup	"Could there possibly be a better way?"
Author: bellfounding	"...I dunno, appear on the Colbert Report, make everyone think you're just pretending to be my boyfriend as part of a bit, and then have me confirm on international television?"
Author: tearingup	"That would also be pretty good," he admits, giggling. "But I think 'in drag as your queen-consort' is my favourite."
Author: bellfounding	"You are welcome to appear at the renfest in drag."
Author: tearingup	He kisses her.
Author: bellfounding	Kisses! "Is it going to be convincing drag, such that my next twelve interviews all involve questions about my sexual orientation?"
Author: tearingup	"I make a very pretty girl," he says. "Seeing me in drag gives lots of people questions about their sexual orientation."
Author: bellfounding	"I'll take that as a yes."
Author: tearingup	"Is it going to give you questions, or are they questions you've already answered because you like interrogating yourself?"
Author: bellfounding	"Are you asking if I'm going to think you're hot in your Renfaire dress?"
Author: tearingup	"It's an important question!" he says. "I've had a guy break up with me because he couldn't handle how good I look in ladies' underwear."
Author: bellfounding	"I am not going to break up with you for looking any which way in a Renfaire dress." She tilts her head thoughtfully. "I don't think it's going to be a bonus, really. Frankly on you anything in the category of 'clothes' is not a bonus. Whether it'll be significantly differently attractive than you-in-clothes-at-baseline will probably depend on the dress, but I've never found drag appealing before. I do hope that's not a disappointment."
Author: tearingup	Ripper laughs. "Eh, I'll live. You might've noticed I have a thing for being eye candy, but if I want someone to appreciate how I look in drag, there's no shortage."
Author: bellfounding	"I noticed your thing for being candy. Of multiple sorts." (Lick.)
Author: tearingup	He giggles and kisses her.
Author: bellfounding	Their guest-starring at the renfaire is in two months, which should give Queenie plenty of time.
Author: gunpowdergelatine	Queenie makes them an incredible pair of dresses. Lots of purple velvet, purple-and-silver brocade with a concentric circle theme for Bella, black-and-silver with a theme of birds and flowers for Ripper. And she and Ghosty insist on doing their hair. The result is rather magnificent.
Author: tearingup	Ripper does make a very pretty girl. And those long black lace gloves with silver trim do surprisingly nice things for his wrists.
Author: bellfounding	Bella is not swept away by a desire to tear the dress off him, but she does conjure up a matching crown for him - her own usual halo-thing is set aside in favor of a more Renaissancey circlet too. And they arrive on time for the faire. The person who is supposed to greet them is pretty startled when they actually show up. "I was like," he says, "ninety-five percent convinced that one of your staff people agreed as some kinda prank and I was going to have to fill in." "Nope," says Bella. "Any email that leaves my account signed 'Bella' is from me; the others say 'Imperial Staff'."
Author: tearingup	Ripper giggles.
Author: bellfounding	"And this is your -" The faire person peers at Ripper, then goes with, "consort?" "This is my consort," agrees Bella, not sure how convincingly Ripper cares to present on any non-visual level.
Author: tearingup	He grins.
Author: bellfounding	"...And how should we announce your consort?" asks the faire person. "Her Majesty Isabella and -?" "If you don't have anything suitable picked out, maybe you could take the name they use for the non-guest-star queen?" Bella suggests. "I believe it was Annabelle. Unless that would be confusing or whoever plays Annabelle normally would object." "No, that's fine," says the renfaire person.
Author: tearingup	"Works for me," says, apparently, Annabelle.
Author: alicornucopia	"Their Majesties Isabella and Annabelle. All right," says the renfaire person. "Now, the only things you need to show up for are the knighting ceremonies for the kids at ten and noon and the joust at three; other than that you can just mingle and try to be Renaissancey. Faire food is comped for you but souvenirs aren't because those are independent suppliers. If you go to any of the shows they might riff a little on your presence, you can riff back if they seem to want you to and you have anything to say but it'll usually be fine to just smile and nod."
Author: bellfounding	"All right." Bella takes a map and schedule off a nearby stack. "Thanks, I think this'll be fun."
Author: alicornucopia	"I didn't think you were going to come," laughs the renfaire person, "I just figured, well, she doesn't seem to smite people for impertinence, might as well ask, right?"
Author: tearingup	The person temporarily known as Her Majesty Queen Annabelle giggles.
Author: alicornucopia	"I hope you do have fun," adds the faire person earnestly. "We try to set up a good time."
Author: bellfounding	"Shall we?" inquires Bella of her consort.
Author: tearingup	He beams. "Let's!"
Author: bellfounding	Off they go! The faire is full of things. People are hawking food (turkey legs, chili and chowder in bread bowls, corn on the cob, assorted desserts deep-fried, on sticks, or both) and souvenirs (ceramic ocarinas, satyr horns, flower crowns, pointy princess hats, wooden swords, tiny pewter dragons, shiny sharp daggers, snoods, corsets, handmade leatherbound books, hair ornaments, cloaks) and services (hair-braiding, palmistry and tarot, devil stick lessons) and midway-style games such as a Jacob's ladder and a dart-throwing range. There are several stages, offering, at various times of day, music and dancing and medieval-themed comedy and acrobatics and juggling and (for small children) puppetry; the falconer who will appear later at the midpoint of the joust also has a morning show with his birds. Bella is recognized, although the fact that she's not in her standard crown makes a few people dismiss her as a lookalike. Her appearance wasn't heavily advertised; they weren't sure she'd come. No one appears to know who "Annabelle" is, at least so far.
Author: tearingup	That's okay. Ripper is having tremendous fun strolling around in this gorgeous dress, eating interesting foods and and looking at things and holding hands with Bella.
Author: bellfounding	Handholding! "Do any of the shows interest you?"
Author: tearingup	"I have to admit I'm intrigued by the music."
Author: bellfounding	"Sure. Celtic metal or a capella folk songs?"
Author: tearingup	"Celtic metal!"
Author: bellfounding	"Celtic metal it is." Off they meander to the correct stage, arriving a few minutes early, in plenty of time to get front-row seats while the band is setting up. One of the band members is trying to attract more audience, and immediately hits upon the royal attendance as a selling point to holler into the passing crowds ("Come on, you tasteless louts, even you can see that we're good enough for Their Majesties!"). Present the instruments are arranged, the seats are filled and there are more people standing in the back craning their necks, and the music begins. It is both Celtic and metal.
Author: tearingup	Ripper approves! It is totally good enough for Her Majesty Queen Annabelle.
Author: alicornucopia	After two songs, there's a bit of patter by the same person who was yelling at people to come see the show while someone straps her bagpipes on. During this he double-takes at Her Majesty Queen Annabelle. "- speaking of musical influences, is it just me or does Her Majesty on the left over there look like Ripper from Wretched? Nina, do you see it?" Nina (the one with the bagpipes) nods.
Author: tearingup	... Ripper cracks up.
Author: alicornucopia	"Have we got a lookalike or did Queen Isabella actually show up with Ripper as her consort? And he's looking splendid in drag, too, folks, take a look," crows the singer. "Come on, fess up or make me look out of my mind, whichever you like, Your Majesty."
Author: tearingup	"I do look splendid," Ripper calls up to him, grinning.
Author: alicornucopia	"I know that voice when I hear it! Want to come sing? We're doing Danny Boy, everyone knows Danny Boy!" grins the singer.
Author: tearingup	"Love to!" he says, and kisses Bella on the cheek, and makes his way up to the stage.
Author: alicornucopia	Danny Boy (appropriately metaled up) ensues, with the singer gracefully yielding the mic to Ripper and clapping along off to the side.
Author: tearingup	It is even more fun than the rest of the faire, and the rest of the faire has been pretty damn fun already.
Author: alicornucopia	Ripper's performance is well-received! The next song is original to this band, so they don't expect Ripper to know it; the singer claps him on the back as a send-off, thanks him warmly, and on they go. The set ends five songs later.
Author: tearingup	He blows a kiss toward the stage as he resumes his seat next to Bella, then hugs her and beams through the rest of the set.
Author: bellfounding	[Nicely done,] she laughs.
Author: tearingup	[That was fun. I like these guys.]
Author: bellfounding	[They're doing another show at five.]
Author: tearingup	[We should be there!]
Author: bellfounding	[All right.] She kisses him on the cheek. The band members come off the stage after they pack up, and shake Ripper's hand, and Bella's too. "Thanks, man," says the singer to Ripper.
Author: tearingup	"No problem," he laughs. "I loved it."
Author: alicornucopia	"I was devastated when Wretched broke up," the singer confides. "Absolute tragedy."
Author: tearingup	"Eh, I moved to Saturn, these things happen," he says with a wry grin.
Author: bellfounding	Bella giggles. [Not going to tell him about the solo album in the works?]
Author: alicornucopia	"You guys made such spectacular music, though," sighs the Celtic metal singer.
Author: tearingup	[Am now!] "We still are," he says. "Just separately."
Author: alicornucopia	"Oooh," says the singer. "Well, I for one am looking thoroughly forward to it. If I had my CDs with me I'd want your autograph, but I don't - so, thanks, good to meet you, we're going to go score some lunch on a stick."
Author: tearingup	Ripper grins. "Good to meet you too!" he says, and off they go.
Author: bellfounding	"That was cute. You're cute."
Author: tearingup	"I am cute."
Author: bellfounding	She grins, and ushers him into a cute shop full of pewter things.
Author: tearingup	Ooh, pewter things. He browses the things.
Author: bellfounding	They continue to browse things, until Bella has to go knight some children - Ripper is not part of this ceremony, but is welcome to supervise.
Author: tearingup	He does supervise! It is adorable.
Author: bellfounding	It is quite adorable! A few of the savvier children want wishes as well as knighthoods. Bella provides, where the requests are within reasonable bounds and she doesn't get frantic headshaking from the parents.
Author: tearingup	That's his magic girlfriend all right.
Author: bellfounding	She is! She is his magic girlfriend! Presently the knighting ceremony is concluded and his magic girlfriend is hand-in-hand with him again as they look at a shopful of cunning wooden objects.
Author: tearingup	He kisses her on the cheek. Just because.
Author: bellfounding	That's one of the best reasons. There are more cunning little shops, and a stunningly bawdy comedy show, and a juggler who invites Bella onstage - she does a quick pentagoning and acquits herself much better than the juggler was expecting. There is another knighting ceremony, better-attended than the earlier one. There is chocolate-dipped cheesecake on a stick. And then their majesties are invited to preside over the joust. Bella has lines, for this; there's a bit of plot, with a wicked foreign knight challenging the local knights who were just having a friendly competition, and she got the script ahead of time and delivers it with appropriate vim. Ripper doesn't have to say anything, although he would do well to look appropriately approving or horrified at the correct points during the sequence of events.
Author: tearingup	He cam absolutely look approving and horrified as required!
Author: bellfounding	Eventually the good knights of Underspecified Medieval Country Of Which They Are Queens defeat the intruder. There is falconing and more jousty-type stuff, Bella bids everyone a ceremonious goodbye and enjoins them to have fun at the remainder of the faire, and the queenly duties are officially discharged for the day.
Author: tearingup	So they can wander around until it's time for the second Celtic metal show, right?
Author: bellfounding	They can! They do. The Celtic metal band is thrilled to see them again.
Author: tearingup	Ripper is so pleased!
Author: alicornucopia	Ripper is invited to sing here, too! (It's the same set, with two songs changed, but they're still doing Danny Boy.)
Author: tearingup	He cheerfully accepts the invitation, and does an even better job this time around.
Author: alicornucopia	He is roundly applauded, hugged by the band's singer, and then on they go.
Author: tearingup	Hug! Aww, hug. This guy is adorable. Back he goes to sit with his empress and hold her hand and enjoy the music.
Author: alicornucopia	It is highly enjoyable music. Eventually it comes to an end.
Author: tearingup	So it does. And Ripper kisses Bella again, because why would you not?
Author: bellfounding	Why indeed? (She tastes like the chocolate-covered cheesecake that they previously ate on sticks.)
Author: tearingup	(He giggles.) "I love you," he informs her, and kisses her again.
Author: bellfounding	"I love you too."
Author: tearingup	Snugglekiss!
Author: bellfounding	"Want to wander around a little more or call it a day?"
Author: tearingup	"Mm... I think I'd rather call it a day," he decides. And kisses her again. Perhaps to indicate what sort of a day he'd like to call it.
Author: bellfounding	Bella waves goodbye to the onlookers - many of whom are holding cameras - and away they pop. To her bedroom. On her bed.
Author: tearingup	He seems to recall asking once if he can have sex with her in her faire dress! They should try that now.
Author: bellfounding	There is enough leeway in this skirt.
Author: tearingup	Excellent.
Author: bellfounding	Bella is inclined to agree. Also inclined to taste like cheesecake.
Author: tearingup	Bella is the most delicious empress.
Author: bellfounding	She is! Ripper is the most delicious imperial consort. (At least until Cam declares himself an emperor.)
Author: tearingup	At which point he will remain the most delicious rock star.
Author: bellfounding	He will. Om nom nom.