repealing

[mind_game]

Time has passed.

Inconsistently.

Jane's network has kept all the Bells' worlds - and every other world with a Janepoint stuck in due to its being attached to Downside - in temporal sync, but when Jane spluttered for just a moment, that was shot to hell.

Peace lost three seconds, because it was where Aegis torched; after that process was complete, Jane was there again. And as soon as a door between Peace and Milliways appeared, she could sync to her ansible hub in the Belltower and, from there, to everywhere else.

Atlantis and Sunshine each stand at about a minute apiece: Shell Bell's aura and Juliet's local copy of Jarvis both enabled them to get to Milliways immediately, pausing their homeworlds as standard for occasions when someone walks into the bar. Shell Bell's the one who connected Peace.

Everyone else was running on luck.

Luckiest is Rainbow, which lost only five hours.

Next is Alethia; in spite of Sherlock's mishap, it's fared reasonably well, spending only six weeks isolated.

Syntropy's just a little worse - seven weeks.

Origin waited two months.

Eos waited three.

Thilanushinyel, ten.

Everyone else is out a decade at least. Samaria's ten years, almost ten and a half.

Aurum is out eleven.

Rêverie has been separated for sixteen years.

All the Bells - and Elspeth, who was stuck in Downside for a day and a half on her end and whose mother was very upset - are collected in the Belltower, as are two Bell-attached Sherlocks who happened to be along for the ride. They all memorize this list of numbers. Aegis replaces her earpiece. And then they all go home to notify their loved ones and staff that there's a party cooking in the Belltower.

(Shell Bell, who has no particular cause on her own account to be distressed, sends her Sherlock to invite Tony in while she refits the Belltower to suit a party of a peal of Bells and their larger-than-last-encountered families and circles of friends.)

Comments

[manofmyword]

"Aww, sweetie," the Joker murmurs, giving Nathan a hug and a kiss.

[endragoned]

"Demons can be hurt by many things, but killed by few," he says. "Unicorns. Certain magics. Unicorns no longer burn me; I have not tried the other."

[temporal_affairs]

Nathan kisses back. His distraction does nothing to lessen the force of his wrestling arm.

[endragoned]

The demon laughs. His distraction makes him forget not to squeeze, very very briefly before he remembers again.

[temporal_affairs]

"Ow. I'm calling this experiment if that happens again," says Nathan.

[manofmyword]

"I could just make you unsquishable," says the Joker, pecking Nathan on the cheek.

[temporal_affairs]

"Shouldn't need it," grumbles Nathan. "Fine, go for it, babe."

[manofmyword]

He hugs his sweetie. "There, you're squishproof."

[endragoned]

Aianon cautiously increases the pressure of his hand. There is no more crushing.

[temporal_affairs]

Nathan continues to press inexorably.

"Newborn could probably beat you outright," he comments. "Newborn's at least half again as strong as me."

[endragoned]

Meanwhile, the force Aianon exerts is wavering more and more erratically.

"I have not fought one of my own kind in thousands of years," he says. "Now I am glad I will not have to."

[temporal_affairs]

"I'm not even unusually strong for a non-newborn vampire, there's variance."

[endragoned]

"My father was stronger than I," says Aianon. "Few others were."

[temporal_affairs]

"Well, if you win - which is looking increasingly unlikely - we can see if Emmett wants to come try, he's probably strongest of anyone who might show up to a peal party."

[endragoned]

"I will happily arm-wrestle with Emmett," says Aianon.

Their hands are wavering over to his side more frequently. It seems his arm is getting tired.

[temporal_affairs]

"'Course, even if he beats you, you're giving a credible enough showing here that he'll be after you to come participate in his Ultra Olympics - at least half of the suggestions he got when he sent out that email survey were better than 'Ultra Olympics', I think he's just really attached to the name. He'd probably love to have all kindsa extradimensional aliens playing."

[endragoned]

"What is an Ultra Olympic?"

[temporal_affairs]

"You don't singularize it," says Nathan. "Olympics. So, on Earth-type worlds, there's this ancient worldwide athletics competition every few years. It's called the Olympics. But it wouldn't be fair to have vampires and hybrids and werewolves playing with everybody else. So Emmett came up with a version for us. It's smaller - and less serious; we get most of our ability out of the box so people who want to participate don't have to spend their lives working on it; Kerron shows up and competes sometimes and the rest of the time he doesn't even go for a walk on a typical day. But it's fun."

[endragoned]

"It does sound fun," says the demon.

[temporal_affairs]

Nathan is pretty much winning now. He's having to work for it, but he's making progress and Aianon is not gaining ground to recover his position as fast as he's losing it.

And then the demon's hand touches the rock.

[endragoned]

"You win," says the demon. "I'd suggest a forfeit, but I'm told you wouldn't accept." He grins at the Joker.

[temporal_affairs]

Nathan retrieves his hand. "You were told right. I'm pretty free with the squishing and the biting, everything else is single-target. Besides, I'm essentially straight when not under the influence of spooky mating magic." He winks at the single target of his spooky mating magic.

[endragoned]

The demon spreads his wings in an elaborate shrug. "You can bite me, too, if you want."

[temporal_affairs]

Nathan blinks at him. "I have," he observes thoughtfully, "no idea what you would taste like."

[endragoned]

"Then why don't you find out?" he invites.