in which bella does not have long to think of something

[subtly_artistic]

There are more elves now. They're impatient. They ran off Bella's escort with private whispers Bella didn't hear, Bella's subtle arts are jammed again, and they're faster than she is.

Where is she -

Celo's there, there are more elves now but maybe there's someone with him or he can put Bella where he puts his stuff or something -

And this is how Bella runs headlong into the outdoor session of Mixed Melee with seventeen armed elves chasing her, and spots Callahan, and has an even better idea.

"MY WARRANTY," she screams at the top of her overtaxed lungs, "IS AT RISK!"

Comments

[pythbox]

"Yep! And in case those fuckheads come back, I also have all their hardware," he says brightly. "Let's have a picnic."

[subtly_artistic]

"Okay," she beams.

[pythbox]

They are just passing by a nice grassy spot!

Celo moves his hands as though shaking out a blanket, and at some point during this motion, the blanket appears. He lets it waft down to the ground, tugs on it to smooth it out, and then sits down and starts appearing food items for Bella to choose from.

[subtly_artistic]

Yay food items!

"This is awesome. How come you had a picnic blanket?"

[pythbox]

"In case of picnics?" he says, shrugging. "Why not have a picnic blanket?"

[subtly_artistic]

"Is there any limit to your carrying capacity?" Ooh, potato salad. Nom.

[pythbox]

"Haven't hit it yet," he says cheerfully.

[subtly_artistic]

"Then I guess carrying around a random picnic blanket in case of picnic makes perfect sense!"

[pythbox]

He giggles.

[subtly_artistic]

Om nom nom. "Thank you, this is exactly what I needed."

[pythbox]

"Awesome," he beams, nibbling on a strawberry tart.

[subtly_artistic]

Picnicking, picnicking! "So apparently I've been demoted from Princess to Screaming Girl. How do her nicknames work?"

[pythbox]

"Whim," he shrugs. "I've been Fucktoy since she met me, but these days I know she's using it ironically."

[subtly_artistic]

"Which you can tell how?"

[pythbox]

He grins. "Because I know her."

[subtly_artistic]

"I'd say something like 'you poor soul', but except for being infuriatingly hinty at me she has been a useful force in my life."

[pythbox]

"She's nice like that," he says. "In the nastiest possible way."

[subtly_artistic]

Bella nods. "I hope you don't object to having your class interrupted too much."

[pythbox]

"Nah, I like picnics," he says, smiling at her.

[subtly_artistic]

"Me too."

[pythbox]

He giggles.

[subtly_artistic]

"This is really good, did you just make it all and put it away for a - sunny day?" she asks, gesturing at the clear sky. She is currently working her way through a stuffed grape leaf.

[pythbox]

Celo giggles again.

"Well, a lot of the time when I make something I'll just grab a little to have on hand in case somebody's hungry. And I usually only grab stuff that's easily grabbable. So I guess I just end up having a picnic socked away in case of sunshine. That's adorable, by the way."

[subtly_artistic]

"You can't exactly save picnic gear for a rainy day, so," Bella grins.

[pythbox]

Celo giggles again. "Yeah," he says, and he looks at her, and he smiles.