we are invariably pleased to welcome tourism

[cross_and_bow]

Sherlock is usually very puncutal. He's only one minute late, but that's still not quite as punctual as usual. Bella peers out the window, not yet allowing herself outright concern.

Comments

[she_sells_seashells]

"I think it's probably one of the two of you, yeah," says Shell Bell. "You share a lot of features with each other straight across, you both took over your worlds without extradimensional help - I think Amariah could've too, but she found us before she did - and Stella's got a duplicate boyfriend, but you've got a duplicate... supernatural element. Of sorts. Since you and Juliet both have vampires."

[cross_and_bow]

"However this works," Juliet says, "it has to base who we meet on something other than who the template met, since there are duplicates but not all the same duplicates. The Sherlock and Whistle templates are doing some of the work at arranging for us to encounter each other too. If that makes any sense. So I don't know if Edward being non-duplicated is even a point against Golden as the template. It might be a point in her favor."

[luminous_regnant]

"We're assuming that there is a template, though," says Golden. "Instead of just - a collection of features that often come together at a sufficient concentration to turn into one of us. We're assuming that if there's a template, we've met her - that there won't appear in the future a mentally opaque Bell with an Edward and Sherlock and a Whistle and - that poor Edward, goodness - and some manner of vampires who took her world over without outside help. Or that we're not just missing her forever because she doesn't go to Milliways."

[she_sells_seashells]

"There's a lot of features that show up and don't seem essential, though," says Shell Bell. "We talk in our sleep even though Golden's not less Bellish for not sleeping anymore, we all start out straight even though I'm not less Bellish for having adjusted that. If it's just Essence Of Bell floating around the multiverse creating an - attractor, for worlds to fall into, then why would Essence Of Bell contain that stuff? We wouldn't turn away a Bell from the Belltower who didn't ever talk in her sleep and was gay for as long as she could remember."

[cross_and_bow]

"We're also consistently cisgendered girls," says Juliet, glancing in Sherlock's direction. "Although I'm not sure how we'd identify one of us who was a boy or a trans girl, so that could just be a problem of sampling."

[luminous_regnant]

"A sampling of, I remind you, the three of us and three more not present," says Golden. "Not really an avalanche of data on which to perform any statistical analysis to speak of."

[she_sells_seashells]

"It's weird that we all look the same. We can't just be genetically identical - Angela's got great big speckly wings," says Shell Bell. "I want to know what's up with that."

[luminous_regnant]

"There's genetically identical and then there's genetically identical. Turning messed with my genes - I have more chromosomes now. Maybe however Angela's species works just adds wings."

[she_sells_seashells]

"Wings and extra body heat and a spectacular singing voice that I do not have," says Shell Bell, "I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have it even if I blew a pentagon on singing pretty to cheat at all the training and practice she's put into it. I guess a really clever engineer could've done that and nothing else, but it having just happened is farther-fetched. Then again, she's got a god in her world."

[luminous_regnant]

"What, really? Did you check?"

[she_sells_seashells]

"I watched her pray for stuff, and stuff fell out of the sky. Or clouds parted or the air warmed up or whatever. It wasn't a coincidence, there was a palpable difference in the air after a few lines of the songs, let alone after a complete prayer. I watched an 'oracle' talk to the god in question and get an answer. On a computer, which was weird, but it seems to work for them."

[cross_and_bow]

"Amariah's goddesses produce results when she recites poetry at them," Juliet adds to Golden. "And on my world, there are demons-slash-deities who do the same thing - except not to me because the spells are all 'divine Hecate behold my will' and my will is invisible. Also a Power That Is showed up in my bedroom. Have a little confidence in your counterparts, we're not going to believe in divine beings without observing them to do stuff."

[luminous_regnant]

"You have to admit that it sounds a little funny when combined with the angel thing. If Angela weren't claiming divine status I'd figure 'angel' for a translation of whatever word means 'person with wings' where she's from, but adding that in..."

[she_sells_seashells]

"Is it strange?" asks Shell Bell dubiously.

[cross_and_bow]

"A little, yeah - I keep forgetting you have a funky cultural background, you seem to keep up pretty well."

[she_sells_seashells]

"I've picked up some things. I've been going to Milliways since I was six and staying as long as I could and talking to everyone and watching and reading stuff from all over. But it's an irregular cross-section," agrees Shell Bell. "And sometimes I'm not sure if something I've learned is an Earth standard or if it's someone's oddball world's thing."

[toblameforit]

Tony saunters back into the room.

"Backup's running," he reports cheerfully. "You guys doing okay? Anybody want something to eat?"

[luminous_regnant]

"I'll be fine for the next five days," says Golden.

[she_sells_seashells]

"I'd take a snack if there were one in the room but don't get anything on my account."

[cross_and_bow]

Juliet yawns. "If I stay up much longer I'm going to be in midnight-snack territory, so if something's on offer I'll eat."

[eversomuchfun]

"I expect I am more capable of finding my way around your kitchen than you are," says Sherlock, patting Tony on the arm. "Shall we investigate, dear Juliet?"

[cross_and_bow]

"Yeah," agrees Juliet.

[she_sells_seashells]

"You probably know at least as much about what I eat as I do," Shell Bell calls after Juliet.

[eversomuchfun]

Sherlock directs Juliet to the kitchen, which he does indeed know his way around. While he's there, he makes himself a cup of tea.

[cross_and_bow]

Juliet inspects the availability, and gets herself a bowl of grapes to split with Shell Bell, and a slice of bread to fold in half around a couple slices of salami for herself, humming.