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[reshapes]

action + written + crystal

Comments

[rathercommon]

Look, just keep better track of your crystal, won't you? It'll be a lot of trouble if you lose it.

[reshapes]

[A long, meandering 'Mmmhmmm' as if he's hardly listening to her. To be fair, he's also working his way back up the ladder but--]

[rathercommon]

[
U
G
H
]

Anyway. We were talking about names. And magic. And where you come from. And your home.

[reshapes]

Oh! That reminds me-- [in a circuitous fashion that he won't bother explaining]

I've a favor to ask of you.

[rathercommon]

[ ...ugh. ]

Yeah?

[reshapes]

That you keep all of this between the two of us, naturally.

[rathercommon]

[ Oh. ]

Well - Certainly. But - Why?

[reshapes]

Because I'm asking you to.

[rathercommon]

[ She wrinkles her nose. ]

Obviously. But why do you want to keep it secret? Doesn't seem like there's all that much in here that could be dangerous for you.

[ Oh, also - ]

What name are you going by here, anyway?

[reshapes]

[You know, he's just opening his mouth to snip back something about being tired of answering questions and then--]

What?

[??????????w h a t???????????]

[rathercommon]

[ ??????? ]

If names have got power, then - obviously you aren't going to give yours out to people. Are you.

this icon is the new math meme

[reshapes]

[???????????¿¿¿¿¿¿¿?¿

Somewhere, there is a djinni wearing the guise of a boy who is opening and closing his mouth like a gasping trout.]

I--

[What.]

What?

makes winona rider confused faces

[rathercommon]

[ Well. That answers the question, she guesses. ]

I guess it's too late now, isn't it.

[reshapes]

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[reshapes]

[The croak of a half spoken syllable is followed by an interminably long beat of silence.

And then he says a very naughty word indeed.]

[rathercommon]

[ That is quite a word. Kitty sighs, and says, briskly: ]

Well - Magic's different here. So maybe knowing your name doesn't matter for that. And the one one who knows magic like we've got back home is Mandrake, which is easy enough to take care of if necessary.

[reshapes]

[A red hot flare of temper, the unintelligible frustration turning like a hot knife toward the the thought of Nathaniel. Mandrake! Even that useless idiot had possessed the good sense to hold on to his ridiculous chosen name, and here he was - Bartimaeus of Uruk, Sakhr al-Jinni of Al-Arish, N'gorso the Mighty, Wakonda of the Algonquin - with centuries of possessing nothing but his name being too slavishly habitual to recognize an opportunity when it was dangled in front of his face.

He's really cocked it up this time, hasn't he?]

Easy! Now you're just being cruel on purpose! I'll have you know that shard in my hand or no, I could wring the neck of anything that came after him. I won't take being insulted like this, Miss Jones.

[rathercommon]

Why - certainly you could. But why would you?

[reshapes]

Oh, don't get me wrong. I'd love nothing more than for someone to push that one down a convenient stairwell. Only Mandrake's always been rather good at working some protection clause into his summons. But by all means - you're welcome to put banana peels in his doorway. Maybe he'll step on one while half asleep some morning and break his neck falling.

[My, he really is in a temper.]

[rathercommon]

Hold on.

[ Incredulity creeps into her voice. ]

You mean to say that he's made a slave of you here?

[reshapes]

You say that as if anyone is any different here.

[rathercommon]

But - he hasn't any right to do it here. He hasn't any right to do it there, but he especially hasn't any right to do it here. He - I -

[ She feels a surge of fury. ]

I ought to cut his rat throat.