why is there a word for that

[alicornucopia]

Finnah's just arrived at work to open the store for the morning shift; she has her apron on but hasn't put her hair up yet. She lets in the customer who always takes half an angle to determine that he wants four buttercreams, again, and then nips into the back to tend to her hair and check the overnight progress of the rock candy.

This isn't the back.

But that -

No, he's too tall to be Mial, if this is a Mial prank it's a stupidly elaborate one.

"Okay, I give up," she says, "what the hell?"

Comments

[onceandforall]

"Ghyslaine is a rock. We do not know what a dead rock looks like. And the door won't let us ask the furball."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Right, but we can at least rule out the possibility that incinerating or disintegrating the rock somehow caused it to reappear intact next to its body," says Mial. "Which seemed to be the sort of thing she was worrying about. Because if no such thing happens, the rock will remain in a separate universe from the body and consequently unable to operate it, is I think the going theory? For that matter a transworld scry can also verify that that part worked out as predicted."

[onceandforall]

"Yeah, as far as that goes it should work. Furball was pretty explicit about the range limit."

[thisbrokenworld]

"He's right, though, I'll believe it a lot more easily if I can actually watch her body being inoperable from another universe."

[onceandforall]

Nod.

[unmarred]

"Why'd Solvei keep dodging the subject of your Ivan, by the way?"

[thisbrokenworld]

"Well, because she's also been dead for two centuries, you see, and Solvei's upset about it."

[middlingalong]

"Aw," says Ivan.

"Does Solvei want a hug?" asks Aurin.

[thisbrokenworld]

"...maybe."

[abeance]

"I mean, perhaps it won't help, as we're all boys and you said she, but we do still have arms."

[thisbrokenworld]

"It's true, you do."

[middlingalong]

Ivan waves one of the arms that he has.

[thisbrokenworld]

"Okay. Yes. Solvei wants hugs."

[gloriousdawn]

Behold Solvei. She is so huggable.

[middlingalong]

Aurin is the one who offered and he is the one who goes and hugs her.

[gloriousdawn]

Hug.

"Thanks."

[middlingalong]

"No problem."

[gloriousdawn]

More hug.

"It's weird to miss someone I never actually met."

[middlingalong]

"I'd imagine. How do you even have enough information to miss her?"

[gloriousdawn]

"Ghyslaine stalked my family kind of a lot."

[middlingalong]

"I don't think we have one of those. Do we have one of those?" wonders Ivan.

[unmarred]

"We might," says Mark. "Tell us more about your parents, Solvei."

[gloriousdawn]

"What about them? Their names were Anastasia and Claude Koskin. They were assassinated when I - original me - was sixteen. Big fire, house burned down, all of us died. Mom's the one Ghys had the unholy stalker crush on. They used to date before Mom met Dad."

[unmarred]

"...It doesn't completely fit," says Mark, "but I'm almost tempted to say Ges Vorrutyer."

[isthisart]

"Who?"