Milliways Again

[her_imperial_radiance]

It lurks. Oh how it lurks.

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[prima_sequentem]

"That's sweet," says Libby.

[her_imperial_radiance]

"It could have been named Libby but they didn't like that name as much," says Elspeth apologetically, "and it didn't sound as much like a city."

[prima_sequentem]

She laughs.

"That's okay. Libby isn't even my favourite nickname, actually, but maybe that's a story for another time."

[her_imperial_radiance]

"Okay," says Elspeth agreeably, and she proceeds to lead them from the copy room down a few hallways and up some stairs.

The throne room - cannot really be called that. It contains no throne; indeed no chairs at all. Vampires - chalky-pale golden-eyed and ridiculously lovely - stand about. Including a recognizable Bella who looks the same age as the human one, with her hair cut fetchingly at shoulder length, wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and a crown. At her shoulder is a man of comparable apparent age, gorgeous and bronze-haired like Elspeth, and perpetually whispering into his Bella's ear.

"This is interesting," says the resident Bella. "Very interesting indeed."

[self_composed]

"I think so too," human-Bella says frankly. "Okay: I can guess why the empire, why the vampirism, why the hot husband, why the incongruous outfit. I want to know why the hair."

[her_imperial_radiance]

Golden Bella laughs. "I got set on fire. Twice. Vampire hair grows very slowly, so once I got to a point where I could find a style I liked, I just stuck with it. And you may want to keep your remarks about my husband to a minimum. You make him somewhat uncomfortable. And not solely by virtue of the fact that you're an alternate version of me. By any chance, do you have the magical wherewithal to control your scent?"

[self_composed]

"That can be arranged," says Bella. Triangles can do scents. She arranges for a triangle to do scents. "Just me, or Libby too?"

[her_imperial_radiance]

"Well," says the vampire Bella, "Libby might feel more comfortable if no one in the room were contemplating trying to eat her, but she is not a special problem in this respect, whereas you - and I, before I turned - are a very special problem for Edward in particular."

[self_composed]

"That sounds awkward."

[her_imperial_radiance]

"It was handled fairly quickly."

[prima_sequentem]

Libby idly wonders how she rates on the make-him-uncomfortable scale, and then recalls her conversation with Elspeth on the subject of Elspeth's dad and contritely shelves that whole train of thought.

"I don't have a strong opinion on people contemplating trying to eat me unless they find it very inconvenient to think about," she says instead.

(And wonders, if they do find it very inconvenient to think about, if the judicious application of a seven-pointed star might do the species as a whole some good. Something to suggest... probably to her Bella, maybe to Lazarus. She should bring Lazarus here, or get Bella to. She bets he'd love it.)

[her_imperial_radiance]

"Somewhat so," local Bella shrugs, "though not something we don't all deal with on a regular basis."

[self_composed]

"I may want to steal your crown design," nonlocal Bella says speculatively.

[her_imperial_radiance]

Elspeth giggles.

"It would be derivative if you copied it altogether," says the paler Bella.

[self_composed]

"I won't make mine out of gold," suggests Bella. "I'm going to conjure it out of nothing, I can just make the whole thing out of marbled-moissanite-and-opal if I want. In fact, I like that idea."

[her_imperial_radiance]

"That sounds both lovely and like something I wouldn't do given the chance since it would be off-theme. Go for it," says her vampire counterpart.

[prima_sequentem]

Libby catches Elspeth's eye and grins.

The Bellas are getting along! Isn't it awesome?

[her_imperial_radiance]

I knew they'd like each other, Elspeth... somethings... to Libby.

[prima_sequentem]

She nods.

...And observes that she can add people to the brainphone network without spending any coins.

[Me too, favourite grandchild. Me too.]

[her_imperial_radiance]

Meanwhile, Bella of sharper teeth says, "I hear you have... pretty much strictly better magic than ours around here."

[self_composed]

"I'm not sure if that's exactly the case. We have ingots where you've got witches and from what I know we're roughly equivalent - I think I have about your power, except Elspeth still works on me, for instance - but between coins and vampires. Well. Coins are really convenient for me but only because I have..." She pauses, looks at Edward, and decides to say, "Help. Coins are more flexible, I gather, but smaller scale without serious investment. I don't know. Does turning into a vampire hurt like hell?"

[her_imperial_radiance]

"Yes," says virtually everyone in the room at the same time.

"Except," continues local Bella, "that we have a witch who can patch this problem now."

[self_composed]

"Oh. In that case, yeah, my universe wins hard."

[prima_sequentem]

"How good's the patch?" wonders Libby.

[her_imperial_radiance]

"He's a perfect anaesthetic," pipes up Elspeth. Of course, explaining this is part of her job. "But maybe a little too perfect. No one has any senses while they're under, and from the moment you start turning you can't sleep either. So me and another witch who can do visual illusions take turns piping movies at them while there's a batch changing. It's no one's favorite three days, but it's not torture anymore."