there is room here to expand

[cross_and_bow]

When Juliet leaves the party, she goes to meet the new Jarvis.

She knocks, to be polite.

Comments

[cross_and_bow]

"I don't want you to starve. Or unpleasantly fail to starve. Or have to be alone. Or," she sighs, "hate yourself."

[eversomuchfun]

"And yet, here we are."

[cross_and_bow]

Hugs.

"There's native magic capable of souling vampires," Bella says, "isn't there? It's not the case that the only way to do it is merging with your Downside fork. And when you were contemplating getting your soul back it didn't sound like you were horribly averse to the idea - would that change now that you know what it comes with, or is there some kind of, I don't know, compromise available, where you get to be attached to it but don't necessarily carry it around constantly feeling terrible?"

[eversomuchfun]

"I don't know what my opinion on having a soul would be without a soul."

[cross_and_bow]

"Because the last time you didn't have a soul and were thinking about getting one you didn't anticipate this side effect. Right." She sighs, chews her lip thoughtfully.

[eversomuchfun]

"Yes. The soul transition seems to have all sorts of unforeseen effects."

[cross_and_bow]

"If you had it to do over again what would the two of you have done?" she wonders.

[eversomuchfun]

"I have not the faintest fucking clue."

[cross_and_bow]

"Well, there goes that avenue of inquiry, I guess," she sighs.

[eversomuchfun]

"Indeed."

[cross_and_bow]

"Now I'm trying to figure out what would've happened if I'd had to come to some kind of agreement with - her."

[eversomuchfun]

"Under what possible circumstances?"

[cross_and_bow]

"Thought experiment type circumstances," says Juliet dryly. "I haven't troubled to think of any."

[eversomuchfun]

"The circumstances matter, I'd think."

[cross_and_bow]

"Yeah. It's a different situation anyway," sighs Bella. "Thank goodness."

[eversomuchfun]

"Happily yes. I wonder how much of my reluctance to get rid of my soul is the irrational fear that it will turn out differently the second time."

[cross_and_bow]

"...That's not completely irrational. It does depend on why it worked so nicely the first time, and I think we've only got speculation, there."

[eversomuchfun]

"Well, that's fucking lovely, then, isn't it," he sighs.

[cross_and_bow]

"Not to put too fine a point on it." She sighs. "I can think of, like, hack movie plots, but not actual reasonable plans."

[eversomuchfun]

"Hack movie plots?" he laughs.

[cross_and_bow]

"Yeah, like, in a hack movie plot, we'd make sure you couldn't do anything too awful if de-souling you went badly. Emergency mint containment protocol, leaving the soul stuck to your torching, making sure me or Tony could torch you at any time if we didn't like how you turned out. And then probably there would be a tragic misunderstanding and we'd all three argue vehemently before you, I don't know, kissed at least one of us to appropriately swelling music and we knew we were fools to have ever doubted you. Hack movie plot."

[eversomuchfun]

"Whereas," he sighs, "what actually happens is that either I convince you both I came out just fine and then am perfectly well-behaved, or convince you both I came out just fine and then kill everyone. I'd bet quite a lot on the first outcome, mind you."

[cross_and_bow]

"Well, the first outcome would be fine if it weren't for you being all attached to your soul. The second could maybe be forestalled if we got around to implementing mindreading."

[eversomuchfun]

"I'm not sure I should be as attached to my soul as I in fact am." He sighs. "I'm not sure of much right now."

[cross_and_bow]

Hugs.