in which it is unclear how this became bella's job

[subtly_artistic]

Bella goes about her business. Elves continue stalking her; she continues walking everywhere accompanied. Sometimes by Celo, sometimes by random people, sometimes by clusters of classmates. She does all her homework and maintains good grades in all her classes. She is now confirmed able to definitely move objects with her mind a tiny negligible bit, which means that if she works very hard for a very long time she may become able to move objects with her mind a less tiny and non-negligible bit.

Comments

[pythbox]

"Oh, nothing - I was just - look," she says with a hint of desparation, "what's a doily?"

[subtly_artistic]

"...A decorative mat of lace that goes under ornamental objects to protect the underlying surface from scratches and to look pretty. Why are you asking me?"

[pythbox]

"Is that all? Thanks," says the dwarf, and she goes away, shaking her head.

[subtly_artistic]

"Seriously! Why did you ask me?" Bella calls after her.

[pythbox]

"Because I got tired of my roommate laughing at me!" the dwarf hisses back.

[subtly_artistic]

"But how did you know that I'd answer you? We've never met."

[pythbox]

"I don't know, I just heard it somewhere!"

[subtly_artistic]

Bella laughs and shakes her head. "Okay."

[pythbox]

She goes away again, this time for good.

[subtly_artistic]

Bella goes on eating her breakfast, chuckling to herself occasionally.

[pythbox]

That's it for breakfast, but at dinner that day, a mermaid with pale orange scales and fewer gold necklaces than Jala hurries up to her just as she's taking her seat.

"You're Bella, right?"

[subtly_artistic]

"...Yes."

[pythbox]

"Oh good!" says the mermaid. "Okay - I get what carts and wheels are, but what's a cartwheel when it's not a wheel on a cart?"

[subtly_artistic]

"It's a relatively basic acrobatic trick - that, alas, I am unable to demonstrate for you - where one holds all of one's limbs out straight and sort of rolls from one to the next in turn," says Bella.

[pythbox]

"Oh," says the mermaid. "That makes sense, in a weird kind of way! Thanks!"

She gives Bella a little wave and wanders off.

[subtly_artistic]

Bella waves back, puzzled, and resumes eating.

[pythbox]

A few days pass without any strange questions from nonhuman students.

Then she gets an elven whisper in the middle of lunch. The voice is soft, shy, vaguely feminine, and unfamiliar.

"Hey, is it true humans sometimes don't have sex for weeks at a time? On purpose?"

[subtly_artistic]

Bella's not entirely clear on how replying to a whispered remark works, so she just nods, furrowing her brow.

[pythbox]

"Weird," muses the elf.

[subtly_artistic]

"Can you hear me if I just talk like so?" Bella asks, too softly to carry beyond her unoccupied table.

[pythbox]

"Yeah!" giggles the elf. "Hi!"

[subtly_artistic]

"Hi. So, yeah, weeks is not unusual, it can easily run much longer depending on the human."

[pythbox]

"Wow. Do you all just masturbate really really frequently or something?"

[subtly_artistic]

"I imagine that varies depending on the human too."

[pythbox]

"So humans just... don't... want to sometimes?"

This clearly boggles her mind.

[subtly_artistic]

"That's right. Or just find other motives competitive with that impulse."

[pythbox]

"Wait, other motives like what?" she asks, intrigued.

[subtly_artistic]

"...sleep, getting homework done, hanging out with their friends, going out and doing stuff, any thing a human does can potentially compete here."

[pythbox]

"Well, we do all that stuff too," says the elf. "We just don't let it keep us away from, you know, important things."

[subtly_artistic]

"Humans assign widely varying importance to all these things."

[pythbox]

"Weird. Anyway, thank you!" the elf says brightly. "Enjoy your lunch!"

[subtly_artistic]

"You're welcome." And Bella goes back to enjoying her lunch.