barring emergencies

[the_very_best]

Bella's not sure where she has wandered. She thought she was about to walk into a shop, but this appears to be an unattended bar. With none of the windows associated with the shop she thought she was entering. It could be an elaborate psychic assault of some kind, but it doesn't feel very... assault-y... and she was in the middle of a town and doesn't think any humans want to sic their 'mon on her. It's strange. She approaches the bar, looking around warily, hand hovering near her belt.

with Max (Benedict)

with Earth and Lightning (kappa)

with Ann and Sabrina (kuuskytkolme)

Comments

[pythbox]

He spreads his wings illustratively.

"Hybrid elementals tend to share characteristics with their component elements. You have very Earthish wings, and no Earth halo."

[imeanforever]

"I do not," she observes, "appear to relevantly know your name - which might be bad, in my world if you start with no name someone else can name you."

[pythbox]

He folds his wings and shrugs. "If you think you're at all likely to accidentally name some elementals, you can try me first and see what happens."

[imeanforever]

"You're sure you don't want to go off with your friend and name each other? I can't name someone by accident and apparently it doesn't happen much in your world to worry about my overhearing."

[pythbox]

"If you happened to acquire my magically enforced servitude I have the strong expectation that you wouldn't do anything with it whatsoever - and I'm already volunteering at least one presently-unknown human from my world for the same thing, if we go through with this plan. So if it's worth knowing whether or not you can name elementals, we might as well find it out."

[imeanforever]

"Okay. Any preferences?"

[pythbox]

He shrugs again.

[imeanforever]

"Sunlight."

[pythbox]

"That's pretty," he says. "Did it work?"

[imeanforever]

"No. Congratulations."

[pythbox]

"That's heartening for everyone else's sake, anyway. And now I can tell you people's elements without worrying that they might object. Hmm. So - one of me or Lightning opens and holds the door; whichever one is holding it, the other one goes around to see if the current amulet-minder is someone we know; if so, we tell their name to Promise, who commands them not to interfere while a de-winged and perhaps re-clothed Revelation heads out to grab all the amulets and stuff them in a bag. If not, the same thing but Revelation does a first run to chat with the amulet-minder and try to learn their name. And then we bring the amulet-minder here, and have all the elementals come through the door as quickly as possible while hoping no one notices and gets suspicious, and explain what's going on, and get everyone outside, and have the amulet-minder break all the amulets. Is that enough of a plan to be going on with?"

[imeanforever]

"Sounds like. Your wings come off?"

[from_scratch]

"They have not historically done so, but they can. Who wants to hold the hacksaw?"

[pythbox]

"If it really won't hurt you, I might be able to just - remove them," says Earth.

[from_scratch]

"Your definition of hurt is based on pain and not bodily integrity? Yeah, go ahead, try it."

[pythbox]

So Earth goes up to Revelation's back, and studies the joins of his wings, and takes hold of one of them and... peels it off, leaving behind unmarked and unremarkable skin. Then he does the same thing with the other one, a little faster.

"Should I get the tail too or not bother? It's bound to be more easily hidden."

[from_scratch]

"Yeah, I'll wear a long coat. Name some long style of coat that makes sense in your world and I can copy it. And some kind of shirt. Let's leave me the tail, I - actually, see if you can remove the tail if I don't let you. It has the same nerve thing but I was letting you with the wings, there's a loophole in my indestructibility for deliberate body modification."

[pythbox]

Earth pulls gently on Cam's tail. This results in... Cam's tail being gently pulled on.

"Apparently not. That's reassuring, although I'm not completely sure whether it's my restrictions or yours at work here. As for clothes - a smallcoat and a semi-frilled shirt?"

[from_scratch]

"Frills, joy." Cam materializes the clothes in question. "Okay, that's a little seventeenth century but not too bad. ...Flaw in plan. What language are you even speaking?"

[imeanforever]

"I'm just plain speaking, I shouldn't have a translation issue unless something very odd's going on."

[pythbox]

"...Flaw in plan," Earth agrees. "All right. The translation issue means you probably can't ask the amulet-minder for their name without involving Promise, which would be troublesome. But one of us," he gestures between himself and Lightning, "can still go look and see whether or not you would have needed to, and then if you would have we can try thinking of something more complicated. In a pinch you could pretend you're very foreign and that Promise is your recently captured, I don't know, Earth/Shine hybrid? What would they call one of those - Leaf, probably, if they looked like you. And have her translate. Elementals speak all the languages that exist when we coaelsce; it wouldn't be that odd. And you could make a fake amulet without much trouble, I imagine. It'd be a complicated story but it wouldn't have to hold up for longer than it took to find out the amulet-minder's name."

[imeanforever]

"Sounds good to me. Are we all set?"

[pythbox]

"I think we're all set."

"I'll hold the door," says Lightning. He opens it. Earth walks through.

[imeanforever]

Promise and Revelation stand by to hear about the name of the amulet minder.

[pythbox]

Half a minute ticks by. Earth comes back.

"Kisonde," he says.