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Bella is careful.
Bella is careful to go to the magic shop during lunch - not at night, not when her parents might notice her leaving home, not when her teachers might notice her skipping classes. She is careful to wear her crucifix, carry her holy water gun, keep her demon whistle ready to hand. She is careful to wrap her occult purchases in disguising packaging: chip bags, gym clothes, grocery totes. She is careful to restrict herself to spells that are necessary - whether "necessary" means for the result or for managing her mercifully limited dependence on the damn things is always carefully recorded in opaque code in her notebook, and if the ratio gets too low, she goes cold turkey outside dire emergencies for at least three days. This is uncomfortable, and it kills her class performance and her temper for those days, but she has to be careful. Her parents don't want her doing magic. They're afraid she'll get addicted. (Done.) They're afraid she'll get snapped up by the USADI, drafted into casting more than she can handle or things that shouldn't be cast at all. (Not done; and another reason to be careful.) They're afraid she'll get a spell wrong and hurt herself. (Not done; yet another reason to be... careful.)
She is confident that witchery has saved her life at least twice, possibly as many as four times; she's sure it's saved others more than that. A month ago she located the hiding place of the Gem of Amara, determined it ludicrously easy to find, and conjured it to her for safekeeping in Forks under considerably more sophisticated wards placed gradually over the course of weeks. (Not in the house; any vampire with a non-vampire demon friend could bypass that protection and she doesn't want to put her parents in harm's way. But in a house, because the protection is non-negligible; USADI experimental reports say that squatters count as living human residents, and she can get into the basement section of a consistently occupied old Victorian close to the city walls without bothering - or alerting - those who make it their hangout.) With this gem more securely stowed, it will at least take longer for some vampire or other to come across it, render themselves invincible, and slaughter an entire metropolitan area before USADI calls in something sufficiently heavy-duty to get around the damn thing.
She's looking into how to destroy it, but while Forks has the advantage of safety, it also has the disadvantage of a relatively cruddy magic shop. The Witchnook is capable of special-ordering things, albeit with a lag time of weeks or months, but Bella's not sure how far to trust the proprietor. She supposes her parents don't know she's a witch yet, so it can't be "not at all", but, well. She'll come up with some other books to order in the same batch, as cover.
Bella is careful when she goes out at night. She wears her cross, she carries her holy water gun and her demon whistle. She sets her alarm clock at maximum volume for fifteen minutes after she expects to be back, with a note taped to it for her parents, in case she runs into trouble. And usually she doesn't go out at night at all.
Tonight she needs a spell ingredient that cannot be out of doors during the daylight without losing its potency, though, so if she wants to get it home at all, she is going to have to spend ten minutes walking to the Witchnook, pay for her twilight powder, and spend ten minutes walking back.
Forks has walls.
She'll be okay.
She'll be careful.
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impetuous_force
"Isn't it just? Now, we aren't going to ask you for rent - goodness knows no one needs to be sent a bill after what I've heard happened to you, poor thing - but we can always use another pair of hands if you don't mind and it doesn't interfere with your schoolwork. Do you know how to drive? I know you're from England and won't have a local license, but if you know how I imagine you could figure out how to drive on the right side of the road quick enough."
"If you'd be so kind, when you pick up a local license, let me know, and we can talk about errands. In the meantime, Angie says you cook?"
"You can have as long as you need to settle in and familiarize yourself with the place, but if you do cook, please make enough to share. You can add things to the grocery list, of course," says Mrs. Webber. "Be specific about things like brand and amounts if you're not going to pick them up yourself - and what are we still standing on the porch for, it's chilly." She goes in.
eversomuchfun
He hesitates on the threshold, because bouncing off it would be a problem, but apparently her earlier invitation to come in and look at the room was valid. In he goes.
It's a cute little house, lousy with crosses; if Sherlock cannot determine by decor alone that Angela's father is a priest he would do better to adopt "John Escott" as a permanent name. Mrs. Webber shows him each room on the ground floor, and then up to the spare room at the end of the hall on the second. It is painted pastel green and smells like potpourri.
eversomuchfun
"Charming," he murmurs, setting his backpack down carefully next to the bed.
"You can redecorate as you like within reason, of course," says Mrs. Webber. "I'll leave you be now unless you've got any questions?"
"You're welcome, dear," says Mrs. Webber. Apparently she is one of those people who calls everyone "dear".
She leaves him be.
She leaves him be.
eversomuchfun
He unpacks some clothes and sits on the bed and wonders what the fuck has happened to his life.
But - he thinks he kind of likes it.
But - he thinks he kind of likes it.
impetuous_force
Bella is back at school the next day. On her second sick day she finally got someone from someplace's engineering department to take a look at the laser plans; she is pleased with herself.
Angela walks "John" to school.
"We're letting John stay in our spare room," says Angie. "He needed a place to stay. And he makes really good pancakes!"
eversomuchfun
"They were extremely well received," says John. "I'm an abominable snacker when I'm cooking, so I didn't quite manage to sit down and eat with everyone, but I've been assured that it's the thought that counts."
impetuous_force
"I see."
Bella acts perfectly normal throughout the day, including during Bio, when she and Sherlock and Angela all wind up tripled because they've all been working together in various combinations and the remainder of the class constitutes an even number. Including during lunch.
It's during Gym, which she and Sherlock do not have with Angie, that she says:
"So I haven't decided whether to warn her or not. Do you have any input?"
Bella acts perfectly normal throughout the day, including during Bio, when she and Sherlock and Angela all wind up tripled because they've all been working together in various combinations and the remainder of the class constitutes an even number. Including during lunch.
It's during Gym, which she and Sherlock do not have with Angie, that she says:
"So I haven't decided whether to warn her or not. Do you have any input?"
eversomuchfun
"I doubt she'd take it well. If she took it poorly enough, goodbye to John Escott. I'd have to leave. And of course you might have noticed there are no dead or missing people since I arrived. The fact of the matter is, there is nothing to warn her about."
impetuous_force
"I have noticed the lack of missing or dead people; you've presumably noticed the corresponding lack of a USADI team assaulting you. And now if you decide to alter anything about the status quo you have as a readily available hostage my best friend from since we were five."
