we are an underrated tourist destination

[cross_and_bow]

Bella has just been to visit the Mikleeeeeeeee. It went well, after she flared aura and shouted abuse at the crown prince. (Demonstrating this form of "heedless confrontationalism", it was explained by a quarter-Mikleeeeeeeee girl James found for her to talk to, an essential part of the species' diplomatic process. This held up under lie-detection, but Bella found a few examples via pastwatching before actually doing it.) They have a treaty; they're going to get back to her with revisions they'd like made to their dimension and they're going to end the five hundred year "human season".

Now she's between tasks, hanging out in one of the Jarvises.

Comments

[newtimov]

"Fun!" he declares.

[cross_and_bow]

"Awesome."

[newtimov]

"Wheeeee!"

And there's what is probably a city up ahead - lots of stone buildings, not tall but solidly built, and often with rooftop entrances every bit as elaborate as the ones at ground level. A few ithuetse are even flying to and from those.

[cross_and_bow]

Bella follows Val and Ike, eyes open. On reflection she decides to unfold her hands from behind her back and keep them visible; this makes no difference to her but might make her look less potentially threatening.

[newtimov]

Ike ends up hovering a little ways behind his sister as she soars toward one of the shorter buildings at the edge of the town.

[grabsthebutt]

Val lands and retracts her wings, then knocks on the door of what looks like it might be a house. She stays glowy even after returning to her normal shape.

[cross_and_bow]

Bella lands behind Val, off to the side enough to see around her.

[grabsthebutt]

The door opens, and out comes a Sessiaki: fine scales that resemble mother-of-pearl, short hair like steel wool, and a long pointed tail coiling around her legs.

She blinks at Val, then scoops her into a tight hug.

"Hi, Auntie Eiva!" laughs Val, speaking the local language with a noticeable accent. "Is Mom home?"

The Sessiaki, presumably named Eiva, puts her down and locates Ike to hug next.

"Not today," she says, giving Ike a slightly gentler squish and then putting him down too. She turns to Bella. "And who's your friend?"

[cross_and_bow]

"I'm Bella," says Bella. She has a magically perfect accent. "It's nice to meet you."

[newtimov]

"She's our friend from Earth," Ike puts in, in similarly perfect Kiessa, not that this is hard to deduce.

"And I'm Eiva," says Eiva. "What are you here for, Bella?"

[cross_and_bow]

"I'm having a look around Siathe. Val and Ike are kindly showing me around. I'm trying to familiarize myself with all the sapient species in the world."

[pythbox]

"Is there a reason you're doing that?" Eiva inquires.

[cross_and_bow]

"I have acquired a lot of magic, so I want to learn what's around and see what needs doing with it. This morning I bribed the Mikleeeeeeeee to agree to stop eating people, but not everything's that obvious. I don't know about here yet, so far my impression of Siathe amounts to 'pretty', but maybe I can be useful."

[pythbox]

Eiva glances thoughtfully at Val.

[grabsthebutt]

Val says, "What?"

[newtimov]

"You are the nearest ithue," Ike points out mildly.

[cross_and_bow]

"What am I missing?"

[newtimov]

"Ithuetse are - mediators. Diplomats," says Ike. "Which is hilarious to us, because Val is the least mediated person I know, but it's taken pretty seriously around Siathe in general. You're not going to get anywhere trying any kind of official diplomatic contact unless you can find an ithue and convince them to talk to everybody else for you."

[cross_and_bow]

"Oh. Val, d'you want to talk to my personnel officer sometime?" shrugs Bella. "Or does anyone present have a recommendation for somebody who would?"

[grabsthebutt]

"Sure," snorts Val. "I'll talk to your personnel officer. Who'll tell you I'm about as diplomatic as a punch in the face."

"Which might be a little less true if you punched people less often," observes Eiva.

[cross_and_bow]

"I'm only slightly more diplomatic than a punch in the face," Bella says. "I'll work with what I've got. I'll hire somebody else if somebody better for the job turns up. At least the failure mode here isn't 'people get eaten'."

[newtimov]

"No indeed! No people get eaten around Siathe," says Ike.

[cross_and_bow]

"That is very good. I disapprove of anthropophagy. That's why I quarantined vampires."

[newtimov]

"Oh, did you do that? Of course you did that," says Ike. "I can't imagine how I could ever have thought anyone else did that."

[cross_and_bow]

"Yeah, that was me, I covered Sunshine's relatives too, I bet the vampire community is super confused. How'd you hear about it?"