counterfeit

[onceandforall]

This. This is a good bar.

She does not mind taking counterfeit currency and she sells everything.

Bella is going to exploit the fuck out of that but first she is eating really, really good pad thai and finally talking to a person who is a) interesting b) not someone she has already talked to a lot in the last... several years. Lovely friendly bar who makes a lovely delicious pad thai! Bella will have to try opening that door at that moment again in the past.

Comments

[iamnotpolaris]

That door slams open, and a woman with silver hair in a remarkably elaborate outfit staggers through. She's wearing a dress with a pink-and-purple bodice and a gold and yellow skirt.

And then abruptly there are two brunette teenagers, one in a pink-and-gold outfit--

[whatamithinking]

--And one in blue and yellow.

"Augh," blue-and-yellow says unintelligibly.

[onceandforall]

"Hi?"

[whatamithinking]

"Hi. Um. Where is this, this is not the Golden Diamond General's throne room."

[onceandforall]

"Nope. This is an interdimensional bar which has stolen the door to, apparently, the Golden Diamond General's throne room. Time is paused while you're here though."

[iamnotpolaris]

"Technically the door out of the Golden Dragon General's throne room. Paused, huh. That's good. Resuming synchronicity so soon out of falling out of it would have been...difficult. At best."

[onceandforall]

"Is that the thing where a moment ago you were one person?"

[whatamithinking]

"Yeah. The Ironheart Lady. Not that easy to keep up, but way harder after we've just stopped."

[onceandforall]

"I assume this serves a purpose other than not having to sit next to anyone on the bus?"

[iamnotpolaris]

"Our magic's a lot stronger when it's smushed together like that. Necessary when you're fighting someone as strong as the Gem Guardians."

[whatamithinking]

"We've already dealt with the Black Opal Guardian, the Green Garnet Guardian, and the White Sapphire Guardian, but of course the guy with 'General' in his name is a lot more of a problem."

[onceandforall]

"Predictable enough. So you're also magic?"

[whatamithinking]

"...Yes? Did the absurd outfits not give it away? Yours is pretty tasteful, congrats on that by the way."

[onceandforall]

"I didn't design it, but they seem to come out more or less agreeably to their owners and I could tweak it if I wanted. Where did yours come from?"

[iamnotpolaris]

"...Somewhere they're not guaranteed to be agreeable to their owners. I'd imagined you were a run of the mill magical girl but I suppose not, huh, if this is an interdimensional bar."

[whatamithinking]

"We're widely considered lucky our skirts are long enough we're not in significant danger of exposing ourselves anytime we do anything remotely acrobatic."

[onceandforall]

"I mean, I am a magical girl - I usually use the Latin, puella magi - and my costume is not unusual for my variety, but yes, I am not your kind of magical girl. What would happen if you tried to fix your costumes? Add leggings or something?"

[whatamithinking]

"If we really wanted to don leggings every time we transformed, then as long as we never had to transform in an emergency situation it would probably work, but then when we detransformed we would be wearing leggings over whatever civilian garb we had been wearing."

[iamnotpolaris]

"Can you change your name, too, that would be even better."

[onceandforall]

"My name? My name's the same as it ever was."

[iamnotpolaris]

"...You don't have a magical girl name?"

[onceandforall]

"No. Do you have a secret identity deal going on...?"

[iamnotpolaris]

"Yeah. But even if we didn't want to keep our real names secret, the transformation comes with a name," she sighs. "They're mostly not any good."

[onceandforall]

"Oh. I don't need to say anything in particular to get into costume. Although one time I did let the media notice me and showboated a little to see what happened. I had them calling me 'Gem', which was not very creative."

[whatamithinking]

"Better than 'Psychic Maiden Cerebella' or 'Iron Maiden Magnetar'."