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

[pythbox]

"Stella's magic being...?"

[dark_light]

"Wishes. She can make nearly arbitrary wishes, and they come true," says Amariah. "The fucked up part is where wishes come from, but she's got a copy of my boyfriend for her own, and that template is all over it. I'll spare your librarian sensibilities the details of what they are all over."

[pythbox]

"Thank you very much," he says dryly.

[cross_and_bow]

Juliet snickers.

[dark_light]

"We are a fascinating bunch," asserts Amariah.

[pythbox]

"I'm beginning to see that," Giles agrees.

[dark_light]

"Bella's always home at sundown, and I'm trying to stick with her, because my phone is from 2013 in another world and does not get service here and I want to know if she finds a door to Milliways," says Amariah. "Should I run and get the ingredients for spells to be added to your person, or would you rather set up a time to do that some other place than the school library?"

[pythbox]

"...The latter is probably the wiser course," he says.

[dark_light]

"Okay. I'll bring the stuff tomorrow; do you have to stay here until a certain time or can we go to your house after school or something? Bella's place won't do, there's always the risk that her dad will be home earlier than expected."

[pythbox]

"No one ever visits my house unexpectedly," he says wryly. "And I can leave as soon as school lets out."

[cross_and_bow]

"So you've just been sticking around for my charming company?" asks Juliet impishly.

[pythbox]

"Not when you put it like that," he says.

[dark_light]

Amariah laughs.

[cross_and_bow]

"Oh, sorry. You've been -" cough, fake English accent - "making yourself available for a student with an interest in extracurriculuars in which you have some expertise you are willing to share?" She cleans a pair of imaginary glasses and grins.

[pythbox]

He laughs.

[cross_and_bow]

Juliet hums to herself and writes a half-word of further notes before her phone goes off. "Time to head home," she says, putting her pen down and packing up. "See you tomorrow, Mr. Giles!"

[dark_light]

Amariah parks her cloud-pine in mid-air, sits on it, and follows Juliet.

[pythbox]

Mr. Giles watches them leave, shaking his head slowly.

[dark_light]

Whoops! Amariah almost forgot to renew her notice-me-not again. She pauses to redo that before leaving the library, and then catches up.

[cross_and_bow]

Juliet is home at exactly the right time to put Sherlock's blood for the night in the microwave. Meanwhile, Amariah hovers fifteen feet off the ground, in case any nasties come out in the falling dark.

[eversomuchfun]

There he is, right on time.

"And what did we learn at school today, dear Juliet?"

[cross_and_bow]

"Mr. Giles, when he was young and stupid, used to indulge in demon-summoning for recreational psychological effects, and this left him with something on his arm that let him see partway through Amariah's notice-me-not and also a dead friend," reports Juliet, handing over the blood and bending her head to breathe through the fabric of her t-shirt sleeve. "So we had to explain her, but at least he didn't curse first and ask questions later. He wanted to know who or what he, she, or it was and whether we were on good terms."

[eversomuchfun]

"Well, that's more life than I expected out of him," says Sherlock.

Slurp!

[cross_and_bow]

"What, a history of recreational demon-summoning? I suppose it's lively except insofar as it wound up being anti-lively," says Juliet. "I promised him never to use magic primarily for recreational psychological effects. I half-suspect I couldn't even obtain same, actually, but even if I could it'd be a trivial promise, I am apparently less reckless than Mr. Giles was at my age."

[dark_light]

"And tomorrow after school we're going to his house and I'm going to load him up with some of the same protections Juliet got. Oh, and we managed to explain my presence without reference to you, Sherlock - he's not supposed to know about you, I take it?"