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

[pythbox]

"If you do this the way he suggested," Mary says to Golden, "and keep to his terms, it works out fine. He barely ever annoys you. No big disasters. There's a certain amount of flexibility there, too. Just... don't get heavy-handed. It's when you get that way and stay that way that things start going south."

[luminous_regnant]

"In what ways am I likely to cross the line?" asks Golden tiredly. "For that matter, I'm not sure I fully understand the terms. It might be easy to do by accident."

[manofmyword]

"If you do it by accident, I can ask you nicely to quit that," says the Joker. "I'm not out to get you, here."

[luminous_regnant]

"Will it be a problem if Siobhan asks for and gets permission to kill you if you enter Ireland?" asks Golden. "How much spying is too much spying, especially since my favored methods don't involve any way for you to notice without minting yourself relevant detectors? Does it help any if I primarily communicate with you through Nathan?"

[manofmyword]

"Don't care who gets permission to kill me when," he says, "as long as I know about it. Doesn't make a difference either way if you talk to me through Nathan. Too much spying is enough spying to make me feel like you're expecting me to fuck up and waiting to catch me when I do."

[luminous_regnant]

"Stella, how much weight should I be putting on Mary's predictions?"

[self_composed]

"Plenty. She doesn't think to look for one hundred percent of things, but she's very good at what she does think to check and she doesn't have your Seer's outright blind spots - although I don't think she's getting full color pictures either."

[luminous_regnant]

"What happens," says Golden, to the Joker and Mary both, "if I simply wish to call off the deal and send both the Joker and Nathan out of Aurum?"

[self_composed]

"I don't know what happens, but the problem with that idea is that the only other world they can visit without help is the one with Gotham and the Batlady and so on in it, and I have heard it suggested by one of the Whistles that the Batlady is a key catalyst in provoking... misbehavior."

[manofmyword]

"I'd be sad," says the Joker. "And your boy'd be sad, too, in seventy years when I died of old age."

[pythbox]

"There's no widespread destruction," says Mary, "but it very rarely works out to a happy ending for the two of them."

[luminous_regnant]

"It wasn't going to be my first choice; if it were I wouldn't let them back into Aurum starting now, I just wanted it checked for possibility as an exit plan," Golden says, mostly addressing Nathan.

Nathan's hand is making short careful stroking motions over one of the Joker's shoulders. He looks at Mary, but doesn't ask her anything and presently turns his gaze back on his mate.

(He was going to ask if the Joker would want to be immortal, if he'd do it with coins even if he never wanted to be a vampire and love Nathan back the way Nathan loves him.)

[pythbox]

"I can tell when people are about to ask me things," says Mary. "Do you want me to answer that one?"

[luminous_regnant]

"Uh," says Nathan.

[self_composed]

Stella flicks her fingers in Nathan's direction. "Brainphoned," she announces. "Privacy."

[pythbox]

Mary brainphones him, [Well?]

[luminous_regnant]

[As long as everyone else isn't listening, sure,] Nathan says.

[pythbox]

[If he comes through as a mint, he'll be immortal. There's even an outside chance he'll turn to your kind of vampire someday, in a few hundred years. If he goes back to his asteroid, he won't.]

[luminous_regnant]

[Thank you.]

Nathan carefully-carefully presses a kiss to the Joker's scalp again.

[...I'm terrified of hurting him. Is that going to be a problem or will the coins fix that too?]

[pythbox]

She chews her lip for a moment, then reports.

[If he comes through as a mint, you're going to stop being terrified of hurting him, and there'll be a few minor issues but you won't do anything that damages him permanently or makes him think negatively of you.] After further investigation, she adds, [All that relies on the two of you talking about you being terrified of hurting him.]

[manofmyword]

"Whatcha talkin' about?" wonders the Joker.

[luminous_regnant]

"Can I tell you in private later, babe? Or - Stella - can you brainphone him too?"

[self_composed]

Stella makes a face, but she waves her hand at the Joker.

[luminous_regnant]

[I asked her if it was going to be a problem that it'd be so easy to hurt you. She said it wasn't, if we talked about it, which I confess confuses me, talking won't make you less - fragile,] says Nathan to his mate alone.

[manofmyword]

[If I'm a mint,] he says, [I can make myself less fragile. I probably will anyway.] He tips his head at Alice. [Other-me's favourite pastime is setting himself on fire.]