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

[from_scratch]

"Not if I'm not deliberately screwing around with myself. If I wanted to saw off my own hand at the wrist nothing's stopping me."

[just_a_shadow]

"I guess that's okay," says Fire.

"You're weird," murmurs Shadow.

"It occurs to me," says Earth, "that there's nothing stopping us from finding the local alt of you two now. Unless she's under a scry ward at the moment."

[from_scratch]

"That would be nifty!"

[imeanforever]

"Please make sure she knows not to let me hear her name."

[just_a_shadow]

"Okay," says Shadow. "Um... am I just going to be shadewalking into some mage's house by myself? Because that's scary."

"In the interests of not letting Promise hear her name by accident, Revelation could go along," says Earth. "It would leave the door unprotected but hopefully not for very long."

[from_scratch]

"I don't suppose we could do something radical like drop a note in her lap first?"

[just_a_shadow]

"If I'm shadewalking to drop a note in her lap I'm still shadewalking into some mage's house by myself," says Shadow.

[from_scratch]

"I'll come with you, I'm just saying we don't have to loiter on the first pass."

[just_a_shadow]

"Okay," says Shadow.

"She looks like her," Earth says helpfully, indicating Promise. "Only closer to his height, and human."

"I can find her unless she's warded, then," says Shadow. "Should we go look?"

[from_scratch]

"Sure."

To the door again.

[just_a_shadow]

A similar routine ensues, with Revelation and Shadow being made invisible.

"If you see weird things and you don't like it, close your eyes," Shadow advises before he steps into the shadow places and takes Revelation with him.

Then he looks for someone who matches the provided description.

[make_opportunity]

She's sitting in a bedroom, on a bed, reading a book.

[just_a_shadow]

And now Shadow and Revelation are in the darkest corner of the room.

[from_scratch]

And now there is a note tucked behind the next page of her book. Revelation squeezes Shadow's hand in case he doesn't spot it.

[just_a_shadow]

Shadow spots it. He takes them back into the shadow places to ask, "Should we wait here until she reads it? What does it say?"

[from_scratch]

"You want a copy or a summary? It should take her about ten minutes to get to that page and read it, then I wanna give her a couple to process it and then go back again."

[just_a_shadow]

"A summary, I guess. Where should we wait? I think I heard something about the bar place pausing time, so I guess not there...?"

[from_scratch]

"Well, we could go there and do things that involved at least ten minutes' worth of holding the door, but here is fine. Note explains the alternate universe selves thing, has a quick rundown of me and Promise's features including a warning about her name, repeats the explanation I got about the bar's mechanisms, and says me and a Shadow will be along to pick her up and answer more detailed questions soon, does she want to consult on slash contribute to our exciting projects."

[just_a_shadow]

"Okay. I hope she doesn't try to capture me," says Shadow. "Did the note say anything about all the free elementals...?"

[from_scratch]

"I didn't give her enough to go on about that unless it's the sort of thing she could predict from the 'alternate versions of you' thing, which, if it is, you have nothing to worry about."

[just_a_shadow]

Shadow takes a moment to think this through, and then murmurs, "I guess so..."

[from_scratch]

"She'll just think you're mine, right? If she couldn't guess otherwise?"

[just_a_shadow]

"Probably yes. It's the obvious thing to assume. That I'm yours or that you're borrowing me from someone or somewhere."

[from_scratch]

"So on no account is she liable to try to capture you."

[just_a_shadow]

"I guess not."