self-devising bejeweled minds!

[incanted]

Bella stays with Brilliance as long as he needs. She has one or two conversations with politicians by brainphone at the same time, but she doesn't leave till he tells her he'd like to be alone, and then she goes. (She tells Lexi that she may have sourced her a Device.)

Comments

[cardistry]

Hugs and kisses!

+Do you wanna do some now?+

[incanted]

Nibble. +Sure - you're sure you're okay, after...?+

[cardistry]

+I'm okay. Well - I'm not, like, okay, I'm still kind of fucked up over the whole thing, but I love you and I wanna do nice things with you. I'm okay about you.+

[incanted]

Nibble nibble. +Okay.+

She whispers "devotion" against his neck and begins fingerpainting. Ever-so-gentle. Little touched-a-barbed-cactus prickles following her hands.

[cardistry]

"I love you," he sighs.

[incanted]

"I love you too."

[cardistry]

"Mmmmm."

Snuggles and love. Love and snuggles. Love and snuggles and Bella's lovely fingerpainting.

[incanted]

Gentle lazy fingerpainting, thin prickling lines crisscrossed where she draws, little kisses of fire where she presses her lips to his face and throat.

[cardistry]

It's perfect. He loves her so much. She should know how much! So he shows her.

[incanted]

Bella soaks it up.

This could go on for a while.

It does not go on forever; the next day finds Bella hanging out in the living room with Lexi, Lexi doing homework, Bella reading articles about political unrest in Eastern Europe so she'll have this information when she starts tackling things more complicated than dengue fever. (Oh, she didn't get dengue yet. Star. Bye, dengue.)

[withmypowers]

And:

[Hi!] says Agent Honey.

[incanted]

[Hi! What's up?]

[withmypowers]

[One of the devices we recovered from the Flame said she'd like to meet your sister.]

[incanted]

[Cool. Can you find us where we are or should we meet you?]

[withmypowers]

[I can find you where you are, if you don't mind me teleporting in.]

[incanted]

[Lemme warn Lexi, she's jumpy about that.]

"Matilda's gonna pop in with a Device to introduce you to."

[lexicality]

"Okay, cool."

[incanted]

[We're all set.]

[withmypowers]

[Great.]

The sky-blue circle appears on the living room floor, and Matilda appears within it. She's not carrying her book today, but she's wearing a rectangular moonstone pendant that has similar proportions, and it's hanging on a blue ribbon almost exactly the same colour as her mana.

"Hi!" she says. "Lexi, right?" She holds out a little glass peach. "Meet Persica."

[lexicality]

"Hi, Persica," says Lexi, picking up the peach.

"Hello," says Persica. Her voice isn't as cleanly human as Brilliance's is; there's a touch of the mechanical in her feminine voice.

[incanted]

"The only device either of us have had social contact with before is Brilliance, who I think is pretty unusual," says Bella, "how does this usually work?"

[withmypowers]

"It varies. I had an easy time of it deciding to work with Adularia, because I'm one of the only mages she's ever met who has the power to wake her up. She's an old model and she needs a bit of a boost to get going," Matilda explains. "That, and she likes me."

[lexicality]

"So uh," says Lexi to the peach in her hands, "what are you like?"

"I am an Intelligent Device. I have Standby Form, currently engaged, and Device Form, and Glaive Form, as well as the potential to acquire new variants on my forms to perform specialized functions. I have been recently adapted for genuine combat applications but was originally intended for combat theater."

"Combat theater, like, people pretending to fight as a show?"

"Yes."

"Interesting."

[incanted]

"What color's your mana, Persica?"

[lexicality]

"Display Firework," incants Persica. Harmless sparkles of peach-colored mana spray out, then fade.

"Hey, that matches mine, cool," says Lexi.