friendly door

[her_imperial_radiance]

Elspeth gets a door.

It's been so long she reels for a moment, and then she throws herself forward and almost lands in a peal of Bells. Yes, there's Shell Bell, there's Juliet and Aurora, there's Glass, there's some Matilda she hasn't seen before.

"Elspeth!" exclaims Glass.

"How long has it been?" Aurora asks.

"Seventeen years. Shell Bell - I need you to help me find Harley," says Elspeth.

Comments

[exactlyright]

That is the idea!

"There's a whole cave full of those," Carinna ventures softly after a while.

[pythbox]

"Mm," says Harley, smiling and petting Mossy.

[exactlyright]

Carinna looks him over, then says, "I think you should put him in it, Princess Elspeth. Then he can be in a pile of Gentle Animals. And he should try the magic spring water."

[her_imperial_radiance]

Elspeth looks Harley over for reactions to this idea.

[pythbox]

Harley snuggles up to her and nods slowly.

[her_imperial_radiance]

She kisses his forehead. "Please let me know when the group is leaving," she says to the Bells.

[thaumobabble]

"Of course," says Glass, taking Mossy off Harley and giving it back to Carinna.

[her_imperial_radiance]

Elspeth teleports them to the Gentle Cave.

[pythbox]

Harley snuggles into her lap.

A trio of poofs, pink and purple and blue, roll up to them and bump against Elspeth's feet, squeaking a squeaky little chorus.

[her_imperial_radiance]

Elspeth looks quizzically at poofs, but scoops some up onto Harley.

[pythbox]

Harley gathers them into his arms with a smile.

The poofs glow and whmmm and snuggle down fluffily.

[her_imperial_radiance]

Elspeth kisses Harley's forehead.

She can't reach Corona from here, but Harley is her priority.

[pythbox]

He leans on her and cuddles his armful of poofs. A few more roll up and bump into available bits of Elspeth, squeaking hopefully.

[her_imperial_radiance]

She continues piling poofs onto him. They seem to help.

[pythbox]

Harley mumbles something. It doesn't come out as any kind of intelligible utterance. He tries again, and manages a slurred, "Love you, Elsie."

[her_imperial_radiance]

"I love you too."

[pythbox]

He smiles and scoops a blue poof into his hand and, somewhat clumsily, rubs it against her cheek. It is fluffy and soft.

[her_imperial_radiance]

That does appear to be the characteristic of poofs, yes.

[pythbox]

His feelings thus expressed, Harley goes back to cuddling the poofpile.

[giftedandtalented]

Meanwhile, Tab has started composing a profile to splice into the Bellbook when they go back through Milliways. As soon as she puts any of it on paper, she makes a face. "Oh, huh. I think - Glass, have you got a library? Without anything especially private in it?"

[thaumobabble]

"Yeah," says Glass, and she teleports Tab into same. "Figured out an aura feature?"

[giftedandtalented]

Tab reaches out for a shelf-ful of books. "Yeah. I'm just - instantly reading everything I'm near. Within about a foot, but if I'm close enough to a little bit of a book, I get the whole thing."

[thaumobabble]

"Do you want to suck up all the books I own, or just note it and move on?" laughs Glass.

[giftedandtalented]

"I'll finish the enchanting section, I think." Tab flies around the enchanting section, then says, "All done," and they teleport back to the other Bells.

[pythbox]

Corona returns with Brilliance, wearing a new set of conjured clothes and giggling to himself. His happiness is radiant, the brightest thing in the room, warm and comfortable with a bubbly overtone of laughter. Joker auras do tend to project their emotions more readily than standard, but this takes it to a whole new level; you could cozy up to it like a fireplace to warm your hands at in winter.

It's not just that the depth, intensity, and detail of the projection are all incredible, either. It comes with other effects - physical comfort like Aianon and Ansharil's aura, but with a flavour to it that echoes the 'happy, comfortable, contented' theme; a subtle shimmer in the air around him; a pleasant ring to the sound of his laughing voice. As though his aura is determined to make being around him more pleasant, on every available level, in a way that marches in step with the flavour of his emotional projection.