aurum tourism

[temporal_affairs]

There is a Janepoint in each of the capitals, including this one in Forks. It has its own building, and in it two vampires are waiting - Nathan, because his mate is incoming, and Alice, because she's supposed to check if the guests are going to need to avoid meeting anybody for matey reasons (Jellybean, and Cam, are both coming and both in potential danger of being mated to).

But she can't see anything till they show up.

Cam arrives first, despite having been a later addition to the expedition - no one was distracting him with last-minute goodbye makeouts - and she clears him and he waits around for Jellybean.

Comments

[pythbox]

[I have to remember feeling like that to put it out there, if I'm not feeling it right then. Same way for everybody else, I think; we didn't really talk about it.]

[her_imperial_radiance]

[Didn't really -? Weren't you curious? Where is everyone's experimental mindset, I ask you. All right. Is it easier to do some emotions than others, assuming you remember them equally well?]

[pythbox]

[Yep, but it's different every time which ones are easier, it's about what mood I'm in but it's not directly related to how different what I'm feeling is from what I'm trying to 'say'.]

[her_imperial_radiance]

[So what do various moods do exactly?]

[pythbox]

He thinks about it, and then he tries answering in the Speech. This category relates to that category in such-and-such a way, but in the other direction it's different, and of course there are the obvious exceptions -

The obvious exceptions aren't obvious. Despite being spoken in a universally understandable language, the things he's saying don't make a whole lot of sense.

[her_imperial_radiance]

Addy listens attentively anyway, hoping that it will all snap together into sensemaking at some point.

When he's done inexplicably explaining, she says, [Forget about your aura for a second, tell me about that language!]

[pythbox]

"It's called the Speech," he says, still speaking same; the Speech's name for itself translates as such, but has stronger overtones of fundamentality. "It's from my world. You can use it to talk to anything that can understand you, and if you speak it, you understand anybody who's trying to talk to you. Somebody should teach it to your princess, I bet she'd have a field day."

[her_imperial_radiance]

[She would. I want it. Will you tell the local Bella that it's harmless so she'll let me have it, pretty please?]

[pythbox]

He shrugs. "She can talk to Cam, he's an expert on harmlessness."

[her_imperial_radiance]

[It is harmless though, right? She won't let me copy minting,] Addy pouts. She does in fact pout, an interesting feat with his bloody bitten hand in her mouth.

[pythbox]

"It's very context-dependent," he says. "Cam can tell her about whether she wants you to have it way better than I can."

[her_imperial_radiance]

[Maybe you could just teach me and we won't have to bother our Bells at all,] suggests Addy.

[pythbox]

He could. It's not like he cares intensely about the smooth running of Aurum. But neither does he care intensely about Addy's wheedling.

[Baby, you up to much?] he brainphones to Cam.

[lifes_sake]

[Trading histories with Golden, nothing uninterruptible, why?]

[pythbox]

[Addy wants the Speech and she's trying to wheedle it out of me, do you care?]

[lifes_sake]

[Uh, probably safer not to, if Addy gets out of control she starts marauding for magic, at least if she doesn't know the Speech she can't get far if she ever manages to get made into a wizard.]

[pythbox]

['Kay.]

"Cam says nope," he reports, "you're outta luck."

[her_imperial_radiance]

[Aww, but it's only a language, what's the harm?] wheedles Addy.

[pythbox]

He snorts. "Can I have my hand back?"

[her_imperial_radiance]

She opens her mouth to let it go. "Pleeeease?"

[pythbox]

Jellybean giggles, rubbing his hand, which is already back to its regular shape.

"You're cute, but no."

[her_imperial_radiance]

"Nobody wants me to have any fun," huffs Addy.

[pythbox]

"Live with it," Jellybean advises.

[her_imperial_radiance]

"Harrumph. Well, tell me more about it, anyway, even if I can't have it."

[pythbox]

"It's a universal language," he says, "I mean literally, our universe is written in it. Names are weird in it unless you borrow them from your native language; mine's—" he says the word. Self-Defining. "But most people's are at least twenty times that long."