Most Likely A Refuge

[whatamithinking]

It was probably safe.

The bar was...unusually reticent, in the lower layers of her mind (and she hadn't pried further; she wasn't sure if she'd be noticed; she wasn't sure if offending would get her kicked out, and regardless of whether it was actually safe it was safer than anywhere else she'd been for the past...three years?) so she couldn't be sure this place wasn't really a trap of some kind, but the higher layers gave a plausible explanation that didn't involve being a trap, and whatever else it was warm and dry and had food. Her guard was probably a full 25% down. Positively trusting, these days.

Comments

[whatamithinking]

"Yes but let's not turn me into a despair-monster, that seems like a bad idea. Being two kinds of magic would be nice but I am not, actually, making bad enough choices as a result of trauma not to realize how much of a risk there is of that going badly."

[onceandforall]

"You won't get an argument from me."

[whatamithinking]

"Did I know that?" Cerebella asks. "If I did I forgot, sorry."

[onceandforall]

"I don't recall if I brought it up. It would have been on the warning list if you'd been seriously considering taking the fluff's offer."

[whatamithinking]

"I'm not despairing of anything in particular so if I thought I was particularly close to a spell I might be tempted, but, no."

[onceandforall]

"I'm just glad I'm not particularly subject to ennui. I can come back from dying but I didn't find that out on purpose and I likewise don't plan to experiment with whether I can come back from witching."

[whatamithinking]

"Good plan. Well, you're now significantly less likely to find that out by accident..."

[onceandforall]

"Yeah. It's a good spell. I got some really unprecedented reactions when I showed it off last loop."

[whatamithinking]

"Ooh, like what?"

[onceandforall]

"Couple girls in Toronto who normally won't give me the time of day wanted to be best friends, that sort of thing."

[whatamithinking]

"Makes sense. Did the fluff react to it in any meaningful way?"

[onceandforall]

"I'm not sure yet if the fluff was reacting to that or to remembering having interacted with you, but I did have a bit of an exciting end-of-loop."

[whatamithinking]

"...Good exciting or bad exciting?"

[onceandforall]

"Bad, but informative, at least potentially if I spend long enough testing guesses."

[whatamithinking]

"What happened?"

[onceandforall]

"Fluffs and girls operating on the orders of fluffs trying to steal my gem, much faster response time replacing any given fluff I killed, fluffs speculating about how I must have managed to make my wish when they don't remember it, eventually they amassed superior firepower that I did not manage to take a photo of before I reset."

[whatamithinking]

"If it's just that they remembered me that seems like it would be more convenient for future loops."

[onceandforall]

"Yeah, I need to work out a set of experiments to perform. This loop my experiment was mostly 'see if the door's there again' but if no fluffs see me I can do another thing too."

[whatamithinking]

"I'm glad the door was there again."

[onceandforall]

"Me too! It involves a redeye flight, but I can reliably catch it whenever I want."

[whatamithinking]

"Redeye flight?"

[onceandforall]

"Yeah, I have to go stow away on a plane the same day I wake up in the hospital, fly across the country overnight, and come straight to the particular door."

[whatamithinking]

"Why'd you do that the first time?"

[onceandforall]

"Trying to catch the big witch when she's less big. She seems to come west across the US/Canada border."

[whatamithinking]

"Maybe some kind of sensor spell would help with that...what did you do that got you the mind-shielding spell?"