semiautonomous kitchen

[thaumobabble]

The remaining two days of the walk are much more affectionate, and also much more free of wizards and snakes than the first two days were. Somehow, all three travelers manage to not realize that Bella has not yet produced her name, even though on at least one occasion it would have been convenient for Tony to have.

And there is the castle, and there is the -

"Skyvault," sighs Bella, diving into her hat for her specs.

Comments

[calendarofcrime]

Sherlock waits, still carrying her toward her room.

[thaumobabble]

"Like, you said I was a helpful person. I am, in the sense that I help people, but that's just because I feel like it. I don't go far out of my way to do it. It falls by the wayside if it's competing with other things I want more. I've never been able to - never been interested in fooling myself into doing anything I didn't really want. And I'm good at figuring out what I really want. It just usually includes helping people who wander by."

[calendarofcrime]

"I see," says Sherlock.

[thaumobabble]

"But," says Bella, "unless my thinking turns up something unexpected, I want to marry you, and I had not really been planning on kids anytime in the immediate future but I expect I can warm to the idea, and if I manage the technical stuff I want to marry Tony too, and I want to be a queen and do all your politics for you when that is called for, because I think being an effective and decent monarch sounds like a fascinating challenge."

[calendarofcrime]

"That seems very reasonable to me."

[thaumobabble]

Nuzzles and neck-kisses!

[calendarofcrime]

Nuzzles and cheek-kisses!

[thaumobabble]

Yay!

Is that Bella's new room there? Bella thinks it might be.

[calendarofcrime]

It is!

Sherlock carries her into it and sets her down on her bed.

[thaumobabble]

Bella tugs Sherlock down after her. For snuggles. If she also waves a bare foot at the door in such a way that it is convinced to close, that's unrelated. Maybe.

[calendarofcrime]

Snuggles!

Kisses and snuggles.

[thaumobabble]

Kisses and snuggles and making the knowledge of Bella's name useful, maybe?

[calendarofcrime]

Well, Sherlock is not a very exclamatory sort of person.

[thaumobabble]

Awww. Does she mind if Bella tries to fix that?

[calendarofcrime]

Not at all.

[thaumobabble]

Good!

[calendarofcrime]

In fact, she appreciates the effort quite thoroughly.

[thaumobabble]

Excellent.

It's some time later when, staring up at the ceiling, Bella says, "I should probably call home and tell Cricket the news. He expects me home in a few days."

[calendarofcrime]

"Yes, you probably should."

[thaumobabble]

Bella starts reaching for a change of clothes. "Where's a mirror I can use?" she asks, stuffing her head into a raspberry-colored tunic.

[calendarofcrime]

"I will fetch one," says Sherlock.

[thaumobabble]

"Ooh, portable mirrors, fancy."

[calendarofcrime]

"Perhaps not so portable as all that."

When she does in fact fetch one, it is not in fact extremely portable: just an ordinary smallish wall mirror, convenient enough to carry around a medium-sized castle but not something you'd want to pack on a long trip.

[thaumobabble]

"Ah, I see, you are of course less wary of carrying fragile objects than I am," laughs Bella.

She props the mirror up against a wall. "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, I would like to make a call."

"Who?" asks the mirror.

Bella blinks; hers is more polite than that. "Cricket the cat at the home of Bella Swan, in the Enchanted Forest."

"Just a sec," the mirror says.

[calendarofcrime]

Sherlock glances at Bella, perhaps wondering what was so surprising about the mirror's response, perhaps thinking about something else entirely.