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

[sailorheavymetal]

"It used to be Thor's," she says, unhooking it from her belt and setting it on the floor with the handle pointing up. "If you're one of him, I bet it'll let you pick it up."

[pina_colada]

"Compared to humans I am really, really strong, is this a magic thing or a heaviness thing?" Kerron asks, reaching for the hammer.

[sailorheavymetal]

"Magic thing," says Darcy.

The hammer declines to be lifted.

[pina_colada]

"It's not budging," says Kerron. "That's interesting. This is definitely the smallest object I have ever been unable to move on trying."

[sailorheavymetal]

"It's always fun watching people try to pick up my hammer," says Darcy.

[pina_colada]

"I wonder if I can pick you up while you're wearing it."

[sailorheavymetal]

Darcy picks up the hammer and hangs it from her belt again.

"Try me," she invites.

[pina_colada]

Kerron peers amusedly at some colorshapes, then plants a hand on each side of her waist and (gently) attempts to yoink.

She doesn't budge.

[sailorheavymetal]

Darcy grins smugly.

And then a colorshape changes, and she becomes liftable.

[pina_colada]

He scoops her up, spins her around, and sets her down again. "So apparently I can do that if you feel like it and not otherwise."

[sailorheavymetal]

She giggles when spun.

"Mewtwo's nice like that," she says. "Do you have magical feel-like-it detection powers, or are you just a good guesser?"

[pina_colada]

"I have magical feel-like-it detection powers, especially about anything having to do with me," says Kerron. "I am the multiverse's first know witch-ingot. And I recognize you, Darcy, but do you know who I am?" He winks.

[sailorheavymetal]

"...no," she says, "have we met? We haven't met, we would've gone through this whole rigamarole if we'd met, unless you're from one of the worlds that got mega cut off and we met when you were like two, and holy shit, you're that cute kid who was running around the first Bellparty, aren't you."

[pina_colada]

"Yes," says Kerron. "It's been a while in Aurum. And I was way younger than two back then."

[sailorheavymetal]

Darcy laughs.

"I don't think I even got your name," she says.

[pina_colada]

"I'm Kerron," says Kerron. "Can I help update the mental image that you are so keen on eradicating, there?"

[sailorheavymetal]

"Nice to meet you, Kerron! Do you seriously pick up on everything people want to do with, to, or about you? I can't decide whether that's really convenient or really embarrassing," says Darcy.

[pina_colada]

"I try to aim for convenient," says Kerron. "And it's not just stuff about me, I just get more detail on that. I don't automatically interpret what I see. I can quit reading your colorshapes if you want."

[sailorheavymetal]

"I'm pretty sure it's too late to save my dignity at this point, but thanks," she says, laughing.

[pina_colada]

Kerron peers at some flying colorshapes. "Well, in case there's any of it left and you wouldn't want it to suffer some awful fate later, I should probably warn you relatively upfront that I'm chronologically twelve, in case that affects any... ice-cream-related interests... I may wish to hear lots more about."

[sailorheavymetal]

"...But this is some kind of weird magic-and/or-science thing and you're as developmentally twentyish as you look, right? Because you look developmentally twentyish," says Darcy, looking.

[pina_colada]

"Oh yeah," says Kerron, "half-vampires do that." He winks. "I've been legal for five years now."

[sailorheavymetal]

"Awesome," says Darcy. "In that case, let's talk about ice cream."

[pina_colada]

"Might melt," he says, speculatively picking up one of her hands in his. "I'm warmish, you see."

[sailorheavymetal]

"You are warmish," she agrees. "But I think I can deal."