and the property values just keep going up

[cross_and_bow]

Time passes. Juliet practices, Shell Bell makes squares - increasingly irritable about it, she really doesn't like the perpetual discomfort, but she bites down on that as best she can and churns them out - and Tony installs things.

Finally he has installed enough things.

Comments

[she_sells_seashells]

"Bye all! I'll see you later if I do and remember you always if I don't!" says Shell Bell, and she teleports to the door and lets herself out and goes straight to where her sleeping Sherlock and her sleeping Tony are being their sleeping selves and joins the pile.

[dearsweetsoulful]

"Another round?" says Sherlock to Juliet.

[cross_and_bow]

"Of course," she says, and she's improved enough that she takes offense this time as self-handicap and education-rounding.

[she_sells_seashells]

Meanwhile, Shell Bell determines by brainphone that there is nothing urgent going on in Atlantis, and settles in for a one-hour nap once she has found a comfortable spot curled up behind Sherlock and with her arm over both twins.

[sicaria]

Sherlock snuggles back against her in her sleep.

[she_sells_seashells]

Milliways's time-fuckery means that there is no point to waking them and asking Tony to summon the door. Even if he got it on the first try, Juliet would be gone; they have just as good a chance of catching her on any future visit they may make. So have all the other minted Bells, which according to the guestbook is everyone except Juliet now, and at least one other Bell whose Whistle has visited but who hasn't been by herself. Even Golden now; she's taken the Joker home with her for the purpose.

She lets them both sleep as long as they like, and kisses her girlfriend's cheek when her hour's nap is up before she gets up to go about being the Empress of Atlantis.

[cross_and_bow]

For certain values of "meanwhile", meanwhile, Juliet spars with Sherlocks. It is tremendously educational. "Hey, with-soul - is there something else I could call you to distinguish you from my Sherlock? He's 'Romeo' until something better comes to mind, to match my 'Juliet' - how constrained is your time here? Or for that matter not-here? You're useful."

[dearsweetsoulful]

"My time is not particularly constrained," he says, "except by my desire not to be outside when the sun comes up."

[eversomuchfun]

"Plus and Minus," Sherlock suggests whimsically.

[dearsweetsoulful]

Sherlock laughs.

[cross_and_bow]

"I don't know exactly what the sun's schedule at Milliways looks like," confesses Juliet. "But the house that Jarvis is at home is sunproof in the basement - if it's not terribly rude of me to invite a guest to a place that I don't live myself - and, since Jarvis is there now, you could leave at your leisure. Plus," she adds, giggling. "Minus, what do you think?"

(She's going to keep these nicknames straight more by leaning on the mine in "Minus" than by dwelling on who does and does not have a soul.)

[dearsweetsoulful]

"Sounds like fun," says Plus.

[eversomuchfun]

"Jarvis would love the company," says Minus.

[cross_and_bow]

"Spiffy," she says. "For the time being there's no sun here, though, and if I hang around long enough I might run into one of the mints. Hit me." She drops into a ready pose again.

Sparring goes on until Milliways begins gently signaling its intention to have a sun and they go back indoors. "Now I'm imagining introducing you both simultaneously to Giles and then casually remarking that one of you has a soul and seeing if he can even tell which," she snickers.

[eversomuchfun]

"You are an endless delight," says Minus.

[dearsweetsoulful]

"I'm in," says Plus.

[cross_and_bow]

Juliet grins. "I'm gonna run up and check the Belltower and see if there's anyone there, or anything new written in before Shell Bell's notes on me and her, and then we can all go to Sunshine?" she proposes.

[dearsweetsoulful]

"By all means."

[cross_and_bow]

Juliet runs upstairs, and catches up, and then runs down, disgruntled.

"Except for one Bell who hasn't even been here before and was written up by her Whistle and who is ten years old, I am the only known unminted Bell. This is irritating."

[eversomuchfun]

"Harsh luck," says Minus. "Sorry, love."

[cross_and_bow]

"Oh well," grumbles Juliet, and she takes a last glance around the bar for familiar faces, finds none, and heads for the door.

[poeticterms]

"Welcome back," says Jarvis. "I see you've brought friends."

[cross_and_bow]

"We're calling them Plus and Minus - Minus being the native one. I can make more progress sparring with the adjusted difficulty level and Plus has a flexible schedule," Juliet says. "Plus, this is the local Jarvis."

[poeticterms]

"Hello," says Jarvis.

[dearsweetsoulful]

"Hello to you too."