[It is now Christmas in the latest time zone on Earth,] Bella announces, when this becomes the case. [C'mere.]

She has conjured a syringe of venom. There are no known effects relating to any particular person doing the turning, but she's gone ahead and duplicated her alt's venom - what would be hers, if she turned - regardless.

She hides it behind her back and smiles.

Author: self_composed	[It is now Christmas in the latest time zone on Earth,] Bella announces, when this becomes the case. [C'mere.] She has conjured a syringe of venom. There are no known effects relating to any particular person doing the turning, but she's gone ahead and duplicated her alt's venom - what would be hers, if she turned - regardless. She hides it behind her back and smiles.
Author: edgeofyourseat	Alice teleports directly in front of her. "Ooh, a present!" he says, bouncing gleefully.
Author: self_composed	"Mm-hm. How surprising do you want it? If you decide you don't like it you can still undo the effects, as long as you determine that you want to do that smart quick, but I could also tell you what it is and let you self-administer."
Author: edgeofyourseat	"Mm... surprise me," he decides.
Author: self_composed	Bella stabs him in the side of the neck and pushes the plunger. And makes a small wish for an exception to his regen, just in case it would dislike the results.
Author: edgeofyourseat	"What the hell," he laughs. "I love you. Oh, fuck, that hurts." He's dropping hexes just from the way it feels where it is, and it is also spreading. This is the best present. Beaming, he hugs her.
Author: self_composed	Bella is quite happy to hug him back. "You want me to tell you or you wanna see if you can guess?"
Author: edgeofyourseat	"I have no idea. Tell me," he says.
Author: self_composed	"Vampire venom," Bella says, singsong.
Author: edgeofyourseat	"...I love you so much," he says, hugging her again. "Fuck, how long's it gonna do this for?"
Author: self_composed	"Oh, it'll take a couple hours to spread everywhere, and then you have just shy of three days before it stops your heart, which I'm told is the worst part," Bella grins. "I did warn you that it'd need to be a time when you had no plans for a while."
Author: edgeofyourseat	"Three days. I want to make out with you right now," he declares.
Author: self_composed	[Okay!] she says, by brainphone, because she's kissing him. [Oh, one thing. The Imperial Soothsayer would've warned me if this wasn't going to work, but you should be informed - I'm going to install a human-specific air filter on your person so you aren't uncontrollably desirous of eating most people you meet.] She tries it. [...Or maybe I'm not. That's annoying, that's one of the things I asked Alice to check, why wouldn't she have said anything...?]
Author: edgeofyourseat	[It's my power, right? Maybe it's being a capricious asshole and it wasn't going to kick up a fuss but it is anyway...? Or... man, I don't know, can't think, too horny.]
Author: self_composed	[Lazarus said your power wouldn't do anything you wouldn't want it to. Assuming it's that - do you object to not wanting to eat people?]
Author: edgeofyourseat	"Mmmrrrrr," he says, because why is she making him use his brain to think when he could be using it to hurt? No, okay, okay. He does not object to not wanting to eat people... exactly. In principle. But he wants to know what it's like to want to eat people, what does she take him for? Of course he does. So can he do that just once, around somebody who's got some kind of protection powers and won't be anything more than unnerved if he chews on them a little, and then he'll decide to let her put the filter on and that'll be that?
Author: self_composed	[Adjustable filter, if you meet someone who wants to be considered edible you can take it down for them alone?] Bella suggests. [But I cannot approve actual human-blood-drinking, that permanently dings vampire self-control. So it'd have to be Bridget, or somebody magicked to work like her if she finds the idea creepy.]
Author: edgeofyourseat	[Sure, fine,] he agrees. [Dammit, it'd probably fuck up the vampire thing if I set myself on fire right now, wouldn't it.]
Author: self_composed	[Well, I don't actually know, so you probably shouldn't try it,] Bella says.
Author: edgeofyourseat	[Okay, I won't. But I really want to,] he says, only partly complaining.
Author: self_composed	[I know,] she soothes. Perhaps unwisely, she opens up the emotion-blob from the read. And tackles him to the floor.
Author: edgeofyourseat	...oh. Okay. Awesome.
Author: self_composed	Some time later, when the venom's everywhere and Alice's vascular system (among other things) is being replaced with something venom-based, they are snuggling snugly.
Author: edgeofyourseat	So snugly. He loves her, he loves her, he loves her. Everything hurts, he's pouring stars, and he loves her. He can just about barely feel where his hands and his nose and his cheek and his arms and his stomach are touching her, through the pain, and he loves her. She is perfect and amazing and she gives the best presents and he loves her.
Author: self_composed	[And I can stop worrying about that changing,] Bella sighs happily. [That being the other thing I had the Seer check.]
Author: edgeofyourseat	[...What, really? You're making me a vampire because you want me to be in magic vampire love with you forever?]
Author: self_composed	[No, I'm making you a vampire 'cause I thought you'd like it. But I wouldn't have if you weren't going to wind up stuck on me, since falling in magical love with people is an occupational hazard of vampirism and can't be ruled out for arbitrary possible people until the person in question has already been identified.]
Author: edgeofyourseat	[Okay,] he says, and curls up around her again. He looooooves her.
Author: self_composed	Bella decides to fall asleep for a bit.
Author: edgeofyourseat	Alice cannot fall asleep. He snuggles Bella, and loves her, and makes stars.
Author: self_composed	Some time later - Bella fields brainphone calls and conjures herself food and otherwise conducts her life, but doesn't leave the room - the pain starts pulling inwards. [Hey, Lazarus, did you wanna come see the endgame of the Christmas present?] Bella inquires, squaring on some clothes that they've both been doing without for the last couple days. [It is incoming.]
Author: nonbird	Oh boy. [Sure,] he says.
Author: self_composed	[We're in Moonstone Palace. Can you be here in ten minutes under your own power or do you want me to yoink you?] "Lazarus is gonna come see the fireworks," Bella murmurs.
Author: nonbird	[I can be there,] he says.
Author: edgeofyourseat	"Mmmmmnf," says Alice, grinning slowly. "I feel like I'm gettin' run over by a train. A train that's on fire. Love you, love you, love you."
Author: self_composed	"Love you," Bella replies, kissing his forehead.
Author: edgeofyourseat	He smiles and tips his face up toward her.
Author: self_composed	Bella magics herself immune to venom and related substances and vampire bites, and kisses him on the mouth. He is not as warm and soft as he once was, but they can freely vary that whenever they like with magic, and he's not exactly unpleasant to kiss even like so.
Author: edgeofyourseat	Mmmmm snuggly kisses. [Love you.]
Author: nonbird	[So where, exactly, should I be, besides on the moon?] inquires Lazarus.
Author: self_composed	[The habitable part of the moon,] Bella specifies. [Third floor, coming from the stairwell second door on the left.]
Author: nonbird	[Got it.]
Author: self_composed	"Here comes company," Bella says, tracing a line with her finger from Alice's cheek down to his flailing heart.
Author: edgeofyourseat	"Goodie," says Alice.
Author: self_composed	Bella sits back on her heels and waits.
Author: nonbird	And here is company. Blushing company. "Hi," says Lazarus. "You look, um, snuggly."
Author: self_composed	"He's been pouring stars for the last three days, it makes him all affectionate," Bella says, smirking.
Author: nonbird	"I... I can see that," says Lazarus. "I really can; your coins are visible from the ground floor."
Author: self_composed	"Are they pretty?" Bella asks innocently.
Author: nonbird	"They're stars," he says, shrugging, and sidles into the room as though he expects to be attacked by the cuddle monster at any moment.
Author: self_composed	"He won't eat you. We have arranged for him not to eat people," Bella says.
Author: nonbird	"Yes, but will he hug me?"
Author: edgeofyourseat	"D'ya want me to?" he inquires.
Author: nonbird	Silence.
Author: edgeofyourseat	"Oh, you doooooooo," he giggles, trailing off into a breathless hum.
Author: self_composed	"Vampires are reportedly quite prone to not knowing their own strength when handling humans even after being accustomed to it. Lazarus, does your defensive magic handle that, or is it like mine and Alice's and won't block ordinary physical damage?"
Author: edgeofyourseat	"I don't wanna squish you," Alice contributes.
Author: nonbird	"My defensive magic is proof against squishing," he says.
Author: self_composed	"Well then. I produce no further objections to any consensual hugging that may or may not occur once Alice is capable of standing up," Bella says.
Author: edgeofyourseat	"Mm," says Alice, and hugs her.
Author: self_composed	Bella conjures up a few glass bottles of the bubbly golden stuff that Elspeth likes so much. Ah, magic. So useful.
Author: edgeofyourseat	He tucks his face into the angle between her neck and shoulder, closes his eyes, and relaxes. Star, star, star, star star star starstarstar—
Author: nonbird	Lazarus makes a surprised sound.
Author: self_composed	Bella throws a questioning glance at Lazarus while she wraps her arms around her boyfriend.
Author: nonbird	"That wasn't a star," he says, staring at Alice's coin necklace, forgetting to blush in his fascination.
Author: edgeofyourseat	Alice opens his eyes. Everything is so much more. Brighter, sharper, louder, with a depth and clarity that human senses could never achieve. And out of all of them, the thing that's most is how much he loves Bella. It's the same as it was, but different. Bigger. Clearer. Deeper. Louder. Sharper. Brighter. Grinning, he kisses her forehead. He's still hugging her, and the pressure of his arms is as delicate as you could want, but the kiss hits hard enough to bruise.
Author: nonbird	... Lazarus awwwwwwwwws.
Author: self_composed	Bella permits a moment of snuggly distraction, though she winces at the excess kiss for the split second it takes before tingly painkilling regen fixes it. Then: "Not a star?" She peers at Alice's chain of coins.
Author: nonbird	"Not a star," Lazarus repeats. "Bigger than a star. I didn't know they came bigger than stars."
Author: edgeofyourseat	The very last coin on the end of the long, long string of stars is eight-pointed, and unlike every other coin, it doesn't lie in a flat plane: its eight points are arranged so that you could draw a perfect cube between them, each four in a square. The hole through its centre has six openings. "Whoa," says Alice.
Author: self_composed	"Whoa is right," Bella says, pinching it between her fingers to hold it up and get a closer look at it. "Damn. This thing looks evil." Alice can't see magic, or her coins; she spends the hex and the star to declaw the evil-looking thing right then without changing her expression at all. Used undeclawed, it would probably incinerate an entire planet, maybe send the Sun supernova. "I should probably hold onto this," she says anyway.
Author: edgeofyourseat	"Take it," he says, kissing her forehead again. This time he gets it right. "Love you."
Author: self_composed	She takes it, and most of the stars and hexes he's carrying too, and kisses his forehead too. "Love you."
Author: nonbird	"Speaking of which," says Lazarus, "I think I would describe Alice's power and his vampire mate bond as... snuggling. Do they usually do that?"
Author: self_composed	"Do mate bonds and powers usually snuggle?" Bella asks. "How would I know?"
Author: nonbird	"I have no idea. But it's very cute," he says. "It looked, right when you opened your eyes," he says to Alice, "like your power was suspicious, and the mate bond just... was itself at it, and then your power decided it was okay and snuggled up."
Author: edgeofyourseat	"Aww!"
Author: self_composed	"That's precious," giggles Bella. "We'll take you to the Golden Empire next time we get an in there and you can see if anybody else's mate bond snuggles with their witchcraft."
Author: nonbird	"I don't think it will, actually," he says. "Most people's powers aren't about the same things as Alice's. But I definitely want to see."
Author: edgeofyourseat	"I bet you'd love having a brain like this," Alice says to Bella. "It's not just faster, it's bigger."
Author: self_composed	"Yeah, I'm serial, not parallel," Bella muses. "Next time I want an upgrade I'll go... horizontal, so to speak."
Author: edgeofyourseat	"I'm gonna go hug Lazarus now," Alice announces, and disentangles himself very carefully from Bella.
Author: nonbird	Lazarus's world is suddenly full of hug. "Hello," he says bemusedly.
Author: self_composed	Bella giggles. "So cute."
Author: nonbird	"Yes he is," says Lazarus, hugging back.
Author: edgeofyourseat	"It's weird hugging somebody I can't smell properly," says Alice. "Do you squish?" He squeezes a little bit tighter. "Nope, you don't. You are unsquishable."
Author: self_composed	"You aren't any less able to smell humans than you were before," Bella says. "Although I suppose it's comparing against everything else."
Author: edgeofyourseat	"My nose thinks he's not really here," he says, and lets go, and turns to investigate the bubbly stuff.
Author: nonbird	Lazarus blinks after him.
Author: self_composed	"When I said we'd arranged for him not to eat people," Bella says, "I meant that he's got a human-specific air filter so he doesn't instinctively lunge for the carotid just from being in the room with us. But since you've got your defense on, if the idea of Alice ineffectually gnawing on you happens to amuse, say the word and he can turn it down."
Author: nonbird	...He looks like he may be considering it.
Author: edgeofyourseat	Alice interrupts himself mid-drink to singsong, "You waaaaaant me nibbling on you, don't lie."
Author: nonbird	"Shush," says Lazarus.
Author: self_composed	"Poking the repressed ingot isn't very nice, Alice," Bella says serenely. "How's the bubbly? There might be other kinds, this is just what Elspeth brings home from Milliways."
Author: edgeofyourseat	"It's tasty, I like it," he says. "Can I make you unsquishable for a bit so I can hug you?"
Author: self_composed	"Sure," says Bella.
Author: edgeofyourseat	He spends a hex to make Bella impervious to squishing in a way that is fully at her discretion to control, and then scoops her up and twirls her around and hugs her as hard as he possibly can.
Author: self_composed	"Eee!" laughs Bella, extricating one arm from the squeeze to put over his shoulder and have some measure of control of how she's held up.
Author: edgeofyourseat	He puts her down again and kisses the end of her nose. "I love you," he says. "I love you lots. Read how much I love you."
Author: self_composed	"What, in front of Lazarus? I'm already reading you, and opening up the details sometimes has side effects," laughs Bella.
Author: edgeofyourseat	He flutters a hand at Lazarus. "Shoo unless you want a threesome."
Author: nonbird	Blushing even more than he already was, Lazarus shoos.
Author: self_composed	"You didn't wanna wait and see if he was gonna take you up on ineffectual gnawing?" Bella asks, but then she prods at the emotion-blob and takes a moment to breathe oddly and ramp up her speed to process inhuman levels of muchness. "Oh dosage control issues hello," she says weakly.
Author: edgeofyourseat	"Dosage control?"
Author: self_composed	"Yes, dosage control, I am figuring out a parallel-ness upgrade for my brain now," Bella says, closing the emotion-blob with a great effort of will.
Author: edgeofyourseat	"Bella, are you getting high on how much I love you?"
Author: self_composed	"I might be getting braindead on how much you love me. Elspeth can do that, if she blasts people with too much vampire-mind," Bella says. "I already got kinda high on it, and if it gets anywhere near dangerous I'd start to worry about my ingot power deciding the mindreading's dangerous like my alt's witchcraft decided Elspeth was dangerous."
Author: edgeofyourseat	"That would be bad. I'd hate to have you not read me anymore," he says, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and kissing her forehead. "Will the brain upgrade help?"
Author: self_composed	"Should. Have to think about it. I don't think I want to just straight up wish for a vampire brain; from what Bella said it has some drawbacks, which she can handle and I could too but that doesn't make it something I want to move into unedited. Hm." Bella leans her head on Alice's shoulder as she considers, and finally settles on a wish design she likes. Hex goes. "Trying this again," she murmurs in his ear, and she opens the package of emotions and does-not-quite-drown. But only not-quite.
Author: edgeofyourseat	"Better?" he asks.
Author: self_composed	"Yeahhhh," she sighs. And then it becomes a good thing that Lazarus has gone.
Author: edgeofyourseat	Also a good thing that Bella is unsquishable.