in which the narration is suggestive, yet vague

[subtly_artistic]

Neckrubs become a more regular part of Bella's life. And she does not tell him to stop until she is good and done. There is hugging. There is snuggling. There is kissing. There are some impressively sappy looks from his end, some fascinated mindreading from hers. The semester wraps up, Bella goes home for a week, and she comes back (now signed up for Utility Psionics 2, Intro to Mental Healing, Arcane Defense, Intro Cognition, and her survival credit, a lecture entitled "Wilderness Triage" (subtitled: Quick And Dirty Mechanisms For Identifying The Lesser Of Several Evils).

She missed Celo! She seeks him out at once. Hugs.

Comments

[dark_light]

Amariah and Aegis will be over here, Aegis floating weightlessly and Amariah sitting in the air, eating cookies, missing their own boyfriends.

[pythbox]

Jellybean feeds his invisible boyfriend an invisible cookie.

Celo kisses the top of Aether's head and produces a strawberry tart out of nowhere in particular, which he offers to her.

[lifes_sake]

[So, Celo,] says Cam, just to Celo and Jellybean, [in the interest of distracting myself from being stranded on an unfriendly world, I feel inclined to mention that you are currently the only Joker I have met and not had sex with.]

[pythbox]

[We should fuck!] says Celo, cheerfully. [How much did Aether explain about nymphs, anyway?]

[I didn't hear her say anything about the sex thing,] Jellybean volunteers. [Or the other sex thing, actually. Maybe I forgot.]

[lifes_sake]

[I know little about nymphs. Please explain nymphs.]

[pythbox]

[Okay,] says Celo. [I'm a divine being. My mother's a goddess. But what actually made me is a bunch of horny guys jerking off into a garden. The deal is, I'm tied to my field - as far as I know I'm the only urban nymph as well as the only one with a dick; everybody else has a field, so that's what they're called - and the more semen I receive, the healthier it gets, it's a whole fertility symbol thing. If I don't get any for a while, I starve eventually. It's supposed to be my sacred duty to fuck anybody who wants a piece, but I bet you can figure out for yourself how fucked up that is; it's why Mom and I don't talk anymore.]

[Tell him the other thing,] says Jellybean.

[Yeah, and as a nymph I embody sexuality, so I can read people's sexualities if they're close by enough - see what they like in bed, how horny they are, that kind of thing. Mostly all I get these days is how horny somebody is right now and maybe a couple highlights of the rest, because I got in the habit of backing off on it, but if I'm gonna actually have sex with somebody I'd rather they let me look.]

[lifes_sake]

[That's definitely an interesting take on the template. And yeah, if we're going to have sex anyway you can read me, but when we get out of here and you're going to Bellparties I think that's going to upset some people. Especially Golden. Although I guess the fact that you go around naked all the time would probably shoo Golden and Bells on her end of the spectrum away pretty effectively all on its own.]

[pythbox]

Celo giggles.

[lifes_sake]

[And Aether was talking like the all-nudity-all-the-time thing was a reason for you not to go to Milliways, so I'm guessing that's a big deal?]

[pythbox]

[Yep. Like, there's a bunch of rules for how nymphs are supposed to behave, and I break some of the rest, but that's a pretty hardcore one.]

[lifes_sake]

[Okay. Your prerogative. What say we leave the girls be for a bit?]

[pythbox]

[Deal,] Celo says brightly. [My room?]

[lifes_sake]

[Sure thing.]

[pythbox]

Celo grins, hugs Aether, and murmurs in her ear, "I'm gonna go fuck Cam. See you later."

Then off he goes, trailing Jellybean.

[dark_light]

"I take it you've already worked out the non-monogamy thing to your satisfaction."

[subtly_artistic]

"Monogamy was never on the table. He would literally die."

[autokinetic]

"I guess that's one way to handle it," snorts Aegis.

[pythbox]

In the following days, Callahan shoots Celo a smug look or two during class, which information he does not volunteer in case it encourages somebody into doing something stupid.

[dark_light]

That's okay, they're gonna get impatient all by themselves.

They hold out three days, and then Cam and Amariah talk, and determine that while Cam might be "the diplomatic one" (as Bells go), this is reasonably likely to come to violence or at least a pissing contest, and Amariah's credentials there are better.

And, it goes unsaid but acknowledged - Amariah has done the great work on her world. Her people are, in the main, taken care of. Jane doesn't metaphysically depend on her, either.

Amariah could - if it came to it - be most easily spared of the available Bells.

Path is left in Aether's room. And Celo is asked for an introduction.

[pythbox]

Celo leads her to Callahan's office, knocks on the door, and enters at the "C'mon in."

Callahan's office has a desk, upon which she has put her feet, and a comfortable-ish chair, upon which she has put her ass, and four walls, upon which she has put an impressive array of implements for causing people to die in battle.

[dark_light]

Amariah steps into the office, and revisibles herself.

[pythbox]

Callahan points at the door. Celo closes it.

"So you found one," she observes, smirking.

[dark_light]

"Hi," says Amariah. "I'm Isabella Amariah."

[pythbox]

"Heh," says Callahan. "And I'm Jill. Want to tell me why you're in my office?"

[dark_light]

"I think you may know something I'd like to know."