PC - Cantarella

[maladied]

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week 0, thursday

[maladied]

[ Those light footsteps just so happen to belong to a familiar, fashionable puppet. Said puppet is stopped only a few feet away, watching her. ]

'Twould seem you have recovered what I returned here to find.

[physalia]

The boots? They may be a bit big for you.

[This entire time, she's been quite direct about addressing the puppets' bodies in the condition (and size) they come, treating them normally. But who could say if this is for any specific purpose? Cantarella turns gracefully. If someone bigger had come along, she might have honored their privacy and let them sneak by without taking a peek.

But she does know they mean the book, and she will wave it a little without opening it.]

I can only imagine how long it took you to scrounge this up.

week 1, wednesday probably?

[maladied]

[ Cantarella is right about that, and while there's a bit of hesitation on Sage's part to approach her due to her new look...

They do, and eventually there's a puppet standing before her. ]

Shall I lead you towards what you seek?

[ Much like Cantarella, this puppet has some fun, new things going on! Bright white kitty ears and a tail now adorn it. ]

ye wednesday works for me

[physalia]

[Poor Sage... But who could hate or be afraid of a jellyfish? Cantarella, who knows both the beauty and the deadliness in the little invertebrate things, will defend them to the last.

That she doesn't have a super visible reaction to the ears betrays that she's come to expect the Puppet Changes...Even the cat part is not particularly surprising, given that Sage can be a little aloof and imperious and playful.]

By all means. [She curtsies.] I know when to defer to expertise that far outpaces mine. We all have our strengths.

w2, monday

[vivisexual]

[The response arrives also fairly early, I guess Rosemary is a morning person? The answer is an emphatic yes and invites Cantarella to meet in the morgue to do the hand off.

Who she finds there is decidedly not a clown puppet, though. Instead it's some sort of goth teenager. He's using the rolly chair from the teacher's desk to move around the room without getting up on his bad ankle.]

Good morning miss Cantarella! I applaud your ingenuity in collecting samples from your transformation!

[He's just. Not mentioning his lack of puppet.]

caitie your link was so serious i felt bad about yelling at you over fat poison cat

[physalia]

Oh? Well, good morning to you, too. [Cantarella's eyebrows give a silent lift into her forehead. Unlike the first time she came across a researcher, where her intrusion was obviously welcome and unintended, this young man is just here, apparently hard-launching the identity that his mothman costume covered up before.]

Foxglove's already gotten a sample from me, so why not share the wealth? If you determine why they kept their form when the rest of me did not, I'd be curious to know. [There are several reasons she's considered: dead tissue; the separation between "themselves" and the location; perhps the limitations of the perception-altering phenomena at work...]

week 2, tuesday

[conchy]

[Lobelia found it flattering, truly, that Cantarella cared enough to apologize.

Kindness is not lost on him, nor is her candor, though Lobelia never was upset. He thought to tell her as much in advance — that he appreciated the sentiment and bore no hurt feelings — but to do that would be to deny her the opportunity to meet. There is more on her mind, no doubt, and Lobelia is curious enough to hear her out.

He's arranged to meet with her in the sitting room, and there he... well, sits. He has half a mind to wait outside just in case she lost her way in the snow, but he'll be patient and sit his happy ass down with a book until she strolls through the door.]

[physalia]

[The weather certainly isn't pleasant, but it will take more than a snowstorm to make her lose her way. Even in the middle of the biting cold, she has to wonder if she's feeling and seeing what she's really feeling and seeing.

And to keep her hands from getting themselves into trouble or inviting any unexpected and invisible tugs, she slips them into her pockets once she's divested herself of her outer layers.]

Thank you for the invitation. [She curtseys.] It's quite cozy in here.

w2, tuesday afternoon

[maladied]

[ The weather is well-suited for tea, that's for certain. Sage sends a message in return, telling Cantarella to meet them in the sitting room and that she doesn't need to bring her own tea.

There is, after all, plenty available.

The puppet is there, set on one of the tables, but it remains lifeless. ]

HELP you added the second shitpost

[physalia]

[It takes time, or at least it feels like it, to make it to the sitting room. The walk was minutes yesterday, half a day the second time. This time...She feels she might have fallen asleep on the way. Hopefully, Sage does not feel they've been stood up, because otherwise, Cantarella acting like she won't be fleeced by the still puppet will be embarrassing for her.

By this time Tuesday, Cantarella has already been to the sitting room a few times, but as she waits by the inanimate puppet, she looks over the small collection of shoes. Perhaps...Well, she won't do anything as unhinged as examine them closely, but she is looking for a specific pair.]

Perhaps I misjudged your color by a small margin. [It will also be embarrassing if these are Lobelia's shoes, but she's guessing with confidence.]

week 3, late monday

[avocations]

[ Y'sthola, naturally, responds with an immediate request to meet in the sitting room. By the time Cantarella arrives, there's already tea out, waiting to be sipped. ]

Now, speak to me of this forbidden knowledge. You know my desire for it never grows cold. Unless you plan on dangling it in front of me as you keep it to yourself.

[physalia]

And waste your eager invitation? Hardly.

[Cantarella does give her the teasing end of a very long and indulgent sip of tea, though. Few summons are answered so hastily]

As for the forbidden knowledge, I'll disappoint you in one way and sweeten the cup in another. My dreams of late have been submerged in a vast library, and I imagined we wouldn't be able to rouse you from them. [Luckily, they are in the sitting room, and the sun will not find them here, though she also would not put it past Y'shtola to cart them outside.] As for the dusting of sugar, I may have a way to remain awake the next time an uneasy night calls.

week 3, wednesday

[conchy]

[Lobelia had half a mind to ignore Cantarella's request For Reasons... but graciously, he invites her out to the sitting room for a chat. He'll be poised on a couch, one knee crossed over the other and hands neatly folded, when she arrives. Lobelia greets her with a smile that's just a touch too practiced.]

Bonjour, Mademoiselle. How fortunate I am to have been called upon by you again.

[hmmMMMMM me looking at shay suspiciously]

milky birthday soon...me and milky fighting our inboxes so me can tag milky more...

[physalia]

[WHY THE REASONS AND WHY ARE YOU SQUINTING AT ME SUSPICIOUSLY

Cantarella curtseys and politely takes her seat, giving his equally polite expression a small smile of her own.]

Good afternoon. Apologies for messaging you so abruptly.

I'd first like to ask if you've been sleeping well, and if you haven't, what might be done to alleviate it. I have a treatment for nightmares, but I've yet to recreate the recipe here.

week 4, late monday

[avocations]

[ Cantarella will indeed find her somewhere in the junk store, looking around at the items on display. ]

I fear you have indeed lost your way, Matriarch.

[physalia]

Mm, but I found you instead.

[Her voice doesn't have even half of its normal, playful timber to it. It's idle, distracted, even as she looks around the junk shop like it's a place that she is also likely to get lost.]

week 4, monday

[vivisexual]

[Cantarella is invited to the bio lab to check up on Yugamu!! He seems normal enough though there's something weirdly ponderous about his movements as he handles a series of test tubes.]

No wonder Nozomi has taken to you so well, you're worrying after me the same way she does.

[physalia]

[That gets a small smile out of her.]

In many ways, she reminds me of myself...Sometimes I barely remember that girl. But maybe that's why I've taken such a liking to her.

She has a lot of potential; I hope she sees it in herself. [Though Cantarella also would like to see Nozomi not become anything like her.]

week 4, friday

[avocations]

[ Y'sthola sends a message in return asking for Cantarella to meet her in the relaxation nook.

Well, it's more of a request than an ask, and there's tea and snacks already set up by the time Cantarella arrives. Because after all, Y'shtola expects her to follow through. ]

I may have soreness for a few days yet, but I should like to know how you are faring, Cantarella.

[ She tanked quite a lot, after all. ]

[physalia]

[The relaxation room is not her destination of choice at the moment, but maybe if she's here, she'll be able to reflect on what went wrong. (Which is decidedly not relaxing, but good doctors don't always follow their own orders... not that her patient is following them, either.)

Cantarella, though sleepless, is as deliberate and poised as ever as she sinks into her seat.]

I am alive, and that's a privilege I won't squander. Certainly not on uselessness. [She tanked a lot, but it's nothing in comparison to what most of them did, and Siffrin's words, no matter how twisted by grief, rang true to her nonetheless. They're bailing out a bathtub with a thimble.]

w5, Tuesday morning

[vivisexual]

[Yugamu meets Cantarella in the cafeteria kitchen for obvious reasons.]

I know there's a lot of arguably more important things to be doing... But me and Nozomi haven't had a proper date yet, and I feel like she deserves at least one, just in case.

[She dies or we all die or whatever the hell other ways this can go wrong.]

So I thought a picnic on the beach would be nice but I'm not much of a cook.

[physalia]

[All of the what-ifs are very clear even without his elaborating on them. Especially knowing that Nozomi is now infected... Cantarella thinks it must have been recently, but that doesn't mean much with how quickly everything has progressed. It's a matter of days, not months or years, until they are completely overwhelmed.]

You don't seem like the type to get distracted once you've set your eyes on something. [Admittedly, out of all of the researchers, he's the most flighty, but even then Yugamu's work always seems of paramount importance to him.] Then this must therefore also be important. If she feels appreciated, she's certain to feel better about her work.

What are we making?

week 5, wednesday

[avocations]

[ After... all of that, she'll find Y'shtola in the Witch's Lair, sitting at the large table contemplatively.

She looks up when Cantarella walks in. ]

You've cooked something up, have you?

[physalia]

[After all of that! Cantarella still manages to show up with curry after all.]

It's curry. We have Nozomi's very interesting cookpot to thank for its robust flavor. It should also toughen you up a little.

[She holds up the little, nicely sealed container, favoring one arm more than the other.]

You might be excited to know I also sent some down the well. [Okay, maybe she really does have brain damage.] Not exactly how I pictured my afternoon going.

amb says this is legal now bc the game is over (w5, post-trial. this is for cat)

[physalia]

[Also how can you make an audience request when you're asleep in the relaxation nook?

Because that's where she's ended up, surprisingly free of tension and clearly dreaming of something that hovers just out of reach, a book open and forgotten and propped up on her chest.

She'll wake up in a second, just let it breathe, ok.]

[avocations]

[ Y’shtola makes her way back to the relaxation nook and—

Oh.

Smiling to herself, she quickly grasps the book and pulls it off of Cantarella before sitting next to her on the couch, setting the book in her lap so she can read it. ]