inside

[arenaria]

Shell and Bell have worked out (well, Bell has worked out and Shell has tentatively commented on) a merging protocol that they think will work for them.

Shell's memories are going to be perfectly accessible, but they will not come up automatically in response to stimuli unless the resulting Shell Bell is expressly open to it. They will keep Shell's hard-earned tolerance to pain, insofar as that's separable (Shell is quite sure that she'd be able to make a pentagon if another situation as important as getting ahold of Sherlock to mint Juliet came up). All of Shell's insights about Sherlock's importance stay. Her itchy discomfort with Sherlock not getting her importance will be folded into Bell's resignation to same. The merged Shell Bell will be comfortable referring to either past in the first or third person, but will default to using "I" for Bell and "she" for Shell. She'll torch, but that's the only supernatural property Shell's bringing to the merger; she'll retain all Bell's magic. Shell looks a little older, but not much; they'll go with that, as they think torching probably conflicts with actually aging and they don't think twenty is the ideal place to sit forever and whatever Shell is supposed to be is closer. They are omitting the nightmares, good riddance.

"Last minute questions, comments, reasons to expect this to be a bad idea in some way?" Bell asks.

Shell shakes her head. She is looking forward to not being a separate person anymore.

Comments

[arenaria]

- and opens the door to her clutter-strewn little apartment in Downside.

There's probably a clock or six somewhere in the debris, but if there is, it's not set to what passes for the date in Downside. [Joker?] she tries.

[gunpowdergelatine]

[Yeeeeee-es?]

[arenaria]

[It's Shell.] After a fashion. [I left the door - and I don't know if this one is at the same time, or not, because I'm not quite as I was when you last saw me, so it might not have stayed put. I'm sorry.]

[gunpowdergelatine]

[It's fine,] he says cheerfully. [I had a little adventure.]

[arenaria]

[Okay. Did you happen to look up Nathan while you were there or did you have another reason for wanting the door? Golden resurrected him the way Sherlock resurrected me and he may have split the same way.]

[gunpowdergelatine]

[Yep! Got him right here.]

"Doorstop's back," he says aloud.

[arenaria]

[What I did was - when I found my live self - we merged. It took an evil, but I'm both now, mostly the live one because she was a lot saner. Does Nathan, or at least this one, want to do that?]

[temporal_affairs]

"What happened? Shouldn't any amount of time she spent in Milliways or wherever be nothing on this end?" asks Timer.

[gunpowdergelatine]

[I'll ask.]

"Mm, she's not exactly the same doorstop," he explains. "She found the resurrected one and they got back together. Now she wants to know if you wanna do the same thing with Nathan."

[temporal_affairs]

"...Back together, like...?"

[gunpowdergelatine]

He presses his hands together, pulls them apart. "They split..." together again, "they merge."

[temporal_affairs]

"...Well, there's a thought, but while I'd welcome being a vampire again and miss Kerron quite a bit and have no strong objections to resuming being stuck exclusively on you, I don't think Nathan's going to want to share an identity with a version of him who -" Airquotes! - "'cheated on you'."

[gunpowdergelatine]

He shrugs.

[Wouldn't mind, but he thinks the other one would.]

[arenaria]

[Would he? Why?]

[gunpowdergelatine]

[Why don't you guys talk to each other,] he suggests into a conference call.

[arenaria]

[Hi, Nathan, I'm Shell Bell, I don't think we've met. Have you been all right here? Why don't you think your liveling would want to be you?]

[temporal_affairs]

[Hullo, Shell Bell, I think he'd be torn to pieces over the fact that I've spent the last century comfortably enough, unmatebonded, enjoying myself with miscellaneous ladies of Downside instead of remaining loyal to his mate in spite of the fact that he'd see red if he knew I'd touched his mate.]

[gunpowdergelatine]

The Joker grins and snuggles up.

[arenaria]

[...That seems like an obviously silly thing to think. You two could customize the merge, you know, I'm mostly Bell and not Shell. Would he mind not thinking like that anymore?]

[temporal_affairs]

[Not sure. I don't know if that would work, anyway, mate bonds are impervious to magic.]

[arenaria]

[Obviously not completely,] Shell Bell points out. [You had one and now you don't. Maybe there's room around the edges to make yours - his - work more like Alice's does.]

[gunpowdergelatine]

[I'd like that,] the Joker contributes. [Seems like the least awkward way to get to love both of him.]

[temporal_affairs]

[Well, babe, if you ask him, he'll fold like a napkin.]

[arenaria]

[Do you want me to pull you out, then?]

[gunpowdergelatine]

[Up to you, sweetheart,] he says, kissing Timer's cheek.