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]

"Hmm?"

[pythbox]

"I could swear I was right about something," says Celo.

"Bet you could," Callahan agrees.

Celo grins. "Yeah, but would I be right?"

"Depends on the something," says Callahan.

[dark_light]

Amariah... listens. She is not Diplomacy Bell, but she can sometimes be Quiet Bell.

[pythbox]

"You know something about how Bells work. You know that there are Bells," says Celo. "And you want them to do something Bellish, which apparently means dangerously hubristic. Am I right so far?"

"No comment," says Callahan.

[dark_light]

"We don't all get anywhere without help."

[pythbox]

"Believe me," says Callahan, "I know."

"...You're just jerking us around because you like to watch us squirm, aren't you," Celo accuses.

Callahan grins sunnily.

[dark_light]

"I'm having trouble reconciling your behavior with you being a person who'd invite Bell influence."

[pythbox]

"Yep," says Callahan. "That's because you think that if things were going your way, you could knock me around. And you think the only reason to order up a Bell is so you can set up shop as a benevolent local deity. Wrong and wrong."

[dark_light]

"Care to enlighten me?"

[pythbox]

"Take a guess," says Callahan.

[dark_light]

"Reasons to 'order up' a Bell," contemplates Amariah. "We do lean pretty hard on the benevolent local deity angle. Given the chance, which the local is convinced she doesn't have. Some people like having us around for personal reasons," she inclines her head at Celo, "but you're not lining up to be her best friend."

[pythbox]

Callahan snorts eloquently.

[dark_light]

Amariah is starting to wish the landing party had included a Sherlock. "I suppose you wouldn't have to like what Bells do if you just disliked the alternative enough."

[pythbox]

"There is that," says Callahan, nodding.

[dark_light]

"Which just leaves all manner of politics, infrastructure, thaumatology, natural processes, and infuriating local metaphysics that could have you displeased."

[pythbox]

Callahan looks simultaneously inscrutable and smug.

[dark_light]

"Of the things on the list, though, the one she'll need fixed before she can accomplish any of the others is the last. Perhaps you think we're going to manage it."

[pythbox]

"No comment," she says cheerfully.

[dark_light]

"But at least it's clear you don't have any intentions, or at least not discernible ones, to offer direct assistance."

[pythbox]

"You haven't asked me for any," says Callahan. "Besides, I already saved the local chick's ass. Twice."

[dark_light]

"There is a significant chance we will just bail her out of the world, set her up comfy in one that doesn't have a Bell of its own, and come back here in several hundred years when we're out of easier targets," says Amariah. "D'you want to tell me anything that suggests this place is not so hostile to Bells as to warrant that?"

[pythbox]

"Nah," Callahan says cheerfully.

[dark_light]

"Do you by any chance know how to summon Milliways?"

[pythbox]

"Maybe," says Callahan. "What would it get me if I could?"

[dark_light]

Amariah glances around at the walls.

"Trade you my enchanted dagger?" she suggests lightly. "I killed an angel with it, even. At home I can get another one."