"Huh," she says aloud.
Then, to Alice, Libby, Elena, and Mary, and Lazarus except he autoreplies with a busy message, [Hey folks, Moonstone Palace grew a bar that I don't remember putting in, come check it out.]
"Alice has never killed anyone," she says, "for one thing. And he's about whimsy - not mayhem - and he's mine."
"In what sense of the word do you object? You weren't complaining when I called him my boyfriend."
"He loves me," Bella says. "I can make him feel better when he's upset. I go around referring to him as my pet masochist. And he's mine."
"Most recently? My alternate's bodyguard wanted his 'real' name," Bella says. "I warned him before we even walked in that I didn't want any interdimensional incidents - so he ran to the moon instead. I made up a name for them and went up after him."
"He's sweet too. He fixed me up when I got hit by a car, before I had quite as much magic to throw around."
"But perhaps you can get hugs from your shrink," says Bella. "If you are in need of a supply."
"There's a difference between wanting to hug somebody in particular and wanting just any old hug. Isn't there?"