Isabella is interviewing shades. It's easier to control PR from here - if she doesn't want to send one back to the living, she doesn't have to, and anything they tell their dreaming friends is hearsay twice over with no chance for soundbites or recordkeeping - and they have nearly as much up-to-date information about their worlds, if she picks the right ones. Simultaneously, Jane is feeding her books and news articles and her personal impressions of the things that have gone on recently. (Isabella already planted ansibles in all the other subworlds with Internets for her.)

Author: dark_light	Isabella is interviewing shades. It's easier to control PR from here - if she doesn't want to send one back to the living, she doesn't have to, and anything they tell their dreaming friends is hearsay twice over with no chance for soundbites or recordkeeping - and they have nearly as much up-to-date information about their worlds, if she picks the right ones. Simultaneously, Jane is feeding her books and news articles and her personal impressions of the things that have gone on recently. (Isabella already planted ansibles in all the other subworlds with Internets for her.)
Author: tearingup	It has been about a day since Amariah witnessed the introduction of the local and nonlocal Rippers. Now, the nonlocal brainphones her. [Hey, we're done getting to know each other for now,] he says.
Author: dark_light	[And I'm sure you now know each other very well. Has he been disclosed of things?]
Author: tearingup	[Some of 'em. And Rayne picked him a nickname - you can call him Keth if having two Rippers around is too much for you.]
Author: dark_light	[Sure. Where'd that come from?]
Author: tearingup	[They didn't say. So I'm betting it has something to do with Hecate.]
Author: dark_light	[That's his daemon?]
Author: tearingup	[Yeah. Keth's. Rayne's won't admit to a name.]
Author: dark_light	[Huh. Do you want me to help disclosing any things?]
Author: tearingup	[None that I can think of. Do you want to have sex with me and Keth?]
Author: dark_light	[Sounds like a good time. Rayne out of the picture, yeah? Pat told me to avoid being in any situation where it mattered to me what he did.]
Author: tearingup	[Pat's smart. Yeah, Rayne fucked off a while ago, it's just us now. Oh, I minted Keth and gave him some goodies, by the way.]
Author: dark_light	[Fine by me but I wish you'd asked. Gimme a minute to wrap up this other conversation and I will appear.]
Author: tearingup	[Sure.]
Author: dark_light	Isabella wraps up her conversation. She appears.
Author: tearingup	The Rippers are in Keth's living room, neither wearing much more than underwear, having a cup of tea and a chat. When Isabella appears, Keth swears and drops his tea. And then swears some more.
Author: dark_light	"Sorry about that," says Isabella, fixing the cup of tea for him with a triangle, "thought he would have warned you I said I was going to appear."
Author: tearingup	"He said you were going to show up," says Keth, "he didn't mention the part where you appear without warning in the middle of my living room." "Shit, I didn't even think," says Ripper, "it's been years since Pat did that - when you're visiting a Ripper, come in through the door."
Author: dark_light	"Oh. Okay, noted," laughs Amariah. "Well, hi. I'm Isabella, apparently at this point you're more likely to have heard of me under the title 'Shade-Dreamer', and every single one of the movies is drastically wrong."
Author: tearingup	"Yeah," says Keth, "so I've heard. So what is the story?"
Author: dark_light	"You know those little magic coins you can make now? They come in many sizes. I used some really really pointy ones. After conquering some angels, making sure God wasn't going to be a problem, and getting the harpies to cooperate."
Author: tearingup	"Right," says Keth. "Conquering angels. All in a day's work."
Author: dark_light	"I had help."
Author: tearingup	"Aianon was there," says Ripper. "I'm still not sure I believe you about him," says Keth. "He's pretty unbelievable," says Ripper. "You'll meet him at the party."
Author: dark_light	"Aianon is totally real," agrees Amariah. "And my boyfriend, and one of my alts - there was another one along but she went home early - and a few other people who weren't with me through the whole business."
Author: tearingup	"Your boyfriend's another Joker, right?" says Keth.
Author: dark_light	"Yes."
Author: tearingup	Keth grins at Ripper. Ripper grins back.
Author: dark_light	"He mentioned maybe looking you two up, actually, when I mentioned you to him."
Author: tearingup	"Ooh," says Ripper, grinning some more.
Author: dark_light	Amariah laughs and addresses Keth. "So you're up to speed, sounds like, and you're invited to the Bellparty, which I'm thinking of offering to host, except in my afterlife palace so not everyone has to burn coins avoiding daemon acquisition."
Author: tearingup	Hecate rustles her wings. "'Avoiding daemon acquisition'," says Keth, "there's a phrase you don't expect to hear often. You have an afterlife palace?"
Author: dark_light	"Yeah, I just made it the other day. Easiest place to put up a palace, for me. Reality there obeys my whims directly. It'll make party setup super easy." Path tells Hecate, "People who don't have us think it's almost as weird as we think not having us is."
Author: tearingup	"Well aren't you special," says Keth. Ripper giggles. Hecate says, "Was there going to be sex or was Ripper kidding about that?"
Author: dark_light	Amariah grins. Path flutters away from her shoulder, and gazes owlishly at Hecate. "Can be," she purrs.
Author: tearingup	Hecate is perched in her customary place on top of a somewhat battered clock. She takes wing and heads for the bedroom; Keth puts down his tea and follows.
Author: dark_light	Presently the birds are snuggled up in the appropriate manner. This is and has always been a satisfactory workaround for Isabella. Ayep. Rippers are nice. Pat has good taste.
Author: tearingup	Rippers are nice. The one she has already sampled has changed flavours by now - he's dark chocolate, and Keth is caramel.
Author: dark_light	"Oh, I thought the peach was a stable thing, silly of me."
Author: tearingup	"Nah," says Ripper. "More fun this way," Keth says cheerfully.
Author: dark_light	Nibble nibble nibble.
Author: tearingup	Ooh, nibbles. Would she like some of those back?
Author: dark_light	Why yes, she is somewhat undersupplied!
Author: tearingup	Lucky for her, she gets a two-for-one deal!
Author: dark_light	That is very lucky indeed. Keth may not have his alt's years of experience with operating a Bell, but that does not make him significantly less enjoyable.
Author: tearingup	And it's possible that Ripper may be giving him a few helpful pointers.
Author: dark_light	Isabella does not object in the slightest.
Author: tearingup	Good! That is good. That is a good thing.
Author: dark_light	There are so many good things! And satisfying feathery snuggles over there mean there is none of Amariah's not-all-here-ness from before.
Author: tearingup	Ripper notices and appreciates this! Keth doesn't even think of it.
Author: dark_light	It is probably most obvious during the afterglowy snuggles.
Author: tearingup	They are some good afterglowy snuggles. Rippers are a cuddly bunch.
Author: dark_light	Yay!
Author: tearingup	Snugglyay.
Author: dark_light	It is the snugglyayest. Eventually Isabella gets up, wishes her silks on, and retrieves her daemon. "That was lovely."
Author: tearingup	"It really was," says Ripper, snuggling up to Keth. "Mmm."
Author: dark_light	"I'll see you both at the party if not sooner, yeah?" laughs Isabella.
Author: tearingup	"Yeah!" says Keth.
Author: dark_light	"Awesome." She blows them a kiss - Path waves a wing at Hecate - and then she's gone.
Author: tearingup	Somewhat late the next day, Ripper finally teleports to the Janepoint and asks her to take him home.
Author: bellfounding	He lands right in front of Pattern, who is inspecting some of Saturn's bubbles but currently unaccompanied.
Author: tearingup	"Hi," says Ripper. He kisses her. "I've just had a lot of sex, want to go have some more?"
Author: bellfounding	She laughs. "Is that all you were doing? You were gone a long time, I figured Amariah decided to take you on a tour of half her worldsheaf or something. But regardless, yes, absolutely." Sometime during this utterance they cease to be on Saturn and begin to be in her bed in her tower.
Author: tearingup	"Well, there was Rayne and Keth - that's what we called the local Ripper - and then there was Keth and Amariah, and then there was Keth and Kas." He kisses her again.
Author: bellfounding	Kiss! "Very eventful."
Author: tearingup	"Yeah. Like I said. A lot of sex. And a few cups of tea in between."
Author: bellfounding	"You and your tea." Now she tastes like tea. With lemon. Kiss.
Author: tearingup	Ripper currently tastes like cherries! Lucky they don't have to match. He giggles. "I love you so much."
Author: bellfounding	"I love you too."
Author: tearingup	Snugglesnugglekiss.
Author: bellfounding	Kisskisssquirm.
Author: tearingup	Ooh a squirm! Bella has the cutest squirms. They must be vigorously snuggled.
Author: bellfounding	That is one of several things you can do with a Bella-squirm, certainly.
Author: tearingup	That's true. There are more.
Author: bellfounding	He should go through all of them in some kind of sensible order!
Author: tearingup	Yes. He will do that thing.
Author: bellfounding	Oh good! She is so pleased. More squirms are generated.
Author: tearingup	Perfect.