delicious bubbly

[her_imperial_radiance]

Elspeth is glad that Milliways likes her, because she likes it. Jacob at her side and a glass of this nice golden stuff in her hand (she's tried the other synthetics; they're nice for an occasional change, but only humans care about dietary variety that much and this one is her favorite) and hubbub from a hundred worlds around her: lovely. A lovely break from work that keeps no one waiting, that doesn't even throw off her sleep cycle because her sleep cycle cares about the sun. (It throws off Jake's, a little, but his is more flexible than hers.)

Comments

[manofmyword]

The Joker lets go of Alice and turns to Golden.

"How do you see this going," he asks mildly, "if you make me the royal mint?"

[luminous_regnant]

Golden shrugs. "Maybe Nathan buys you guys a house on a Phillipine island and he works by phone and after he gets incubus lessons from Tanya you live there peacefully forever and I send Razi by twice weekly to pick up coins and my only problem is to make sure Addy never gets her hands on them. Maybe you talk him into sneaking you into Ireland and you pick a fight with Siobhan and then I have to kill you or deal with a revolution that would actually stick. Maybe you start setting sub-Saharan Africa on fire, and you have this convenient mated vampire with a convenient power to make you a thorn in my side even if I siphon coins away from you as fast as you can make them. It's a lot of maybes. You're a literal wild card."

[manofmyword]

"Mm, I don't think I'll settle down," he says. "Don't think I'll set any continents on fire, either. Who's Siobhan?"

[luminous_regnant]

"An Irish vampire who wants control over the comings and goings of anyone other than ignorant humans as regards her island. Nathan is the only person with the distinction of having flouted her in the past, which is why I thought of it, and he has stopped since joining the Golden Coven, but if anyone could talk him into doing it again it would be you."

[self_composed]

"...I should get Mary," says Stella. "I'll be right back."

She goes back to the door, sticks her head out, and is-about-to brainphone Mary.

[pythbox]

[Yes?]

[manofmyword]

The Joker smiles in a not-particularly-reassuring way.

[self_composed]

[I could use your help for a bit of a mess with Golden and an Alice-alt and whatnot. Are you free?]

[pythbox]

[Sure,] says Mary.

[self_composed]

[Alice, can you hold the door?]

Presuming Alice holds the door, Stella teleport-fetches Mary into Milliways, summarizing the situation as she goes.

[pythbox]

Mary is already chewing contemplatively on her lip as they approach the group.

"Okay," she says. "Negotiate away, I'll tell you what's going to work out."

[luminous_regnant]

"Well," says Golden to the Joker, "what would you be inclined to do, with mint powers and a mated vampire and the run of Aurum - less Ireland, because frankly I don't think Siobhan is going to tolerate you anywhere within her territory."

[manofmyword]

"Wander around," he says, shrugging. "Get into trouble, but probably not the kind you care about."

[pythbox]

"Sounds about right," volunteers Mary. "With some variance." She explores a little more. "Depending largely on the terms you work out, but I don't have enough good guesses about those to pin it down further."

[luminous_regnant]

"How much do either of you know about what kind of trouble I care about?" inquires Golden.

[pythbox]

"The bulk of probability says this guy is not going to do anything that disrupts your life significantly or makes you express a reaction more negative than exasperation or nervousness," says Mary. "With mint powers and a mated vampire and the run of Aurum." She checks something. "Actually, if you don't give him mint powers, he's much likelier to cause trouble. By a factor of more than ten; my numbers aren't exact."

[self_composed]

"...Seriously?"

[luminous_regnant]

"That's extremely counterintuitive," says Golden.

[manofmyword]

"Not really," says the Joker. "Makes perfect sense to me."

[luminous_regnant]

"Perhaps you could elaborate."

[manofmyword]

He thinks about it for a few seconds.

Then he says, "The harder it is to cause trouble, the more fun it is. So the easier it is to cause trouble..." He spreads his hands.

[luminous_regnant]

"And yet the trouble you could cause if the mood struck is correspondingly more significant, if you have not only coins but also unrestricted ability to use them," she says. "At that point I can no longer decide you're a net liability and straightforwardly send Razi to kill you - hypothetically, Nathan. At that point I can't stash you in the hiding place - which might be a terrible idea anyway, if the way you're describing the situation is accurate."

[manofmyword]

"I don't do things I don't want to do," the Joker explains patiently. "And I don't want to throw big magic around to cause trouble. No interest at all."

[luminous_regnant]

Golden looks at Mary.

[pythbox]

"I'm not a lie detector," she says. "I can tell you he's really unlikely to do that, but I can't tell you what would make him do that unless somebody suggests a possible cause and I check."