[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...
[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.
Straight to the point, mm? I admire that about you.
[There's no bullshitting someone like Cantarella, so fine. He'll explain this plainly, clinically.]
I've not been sleeping well, non, and I've found there is little to be done about it. Quite the conundrum!
[Lobelia's smile ebbs. He catches her gaze and locks into it.]
...You would like a broader understanding of all the symptoms, non? Then ask plainly. Provided you have no mind to lash out against me, I will tell you what you want to know.
I would like that. The boundary between dreams and reality is familiar to me; it would be helpful to know. We can treat symptoms all we like and find some comfort in it, but as you said, there's a root that still grows. Though if my concern seems insincere...
[She rifles around...somewhere. She doesn't carry everything in her cleavage, I swear, and pulls out a small piece of paper.]
Here. You may keep it; it might be something you can use.
[It is, in fact, just a slightly scratched-up paper for a very light and mild wind-down potion, if he can get ingredients for it. Nothing like the sorts of things she can make at home with access to her own gardens, but home remedy levels. She's just freestyled a bit.]
[...Well, color him surprised. Lobelia doesn't suspect Cantarella any more than he does the others, but similarly, he doesn't expect them to spare any consideration for his well-being. He hasn't given them much reason toโ hence the surprise as he takes the scrap of paper with a slow hand.]
Intรฉressant. Is this a recipe of your own making? Potioncraft is an art that borrows from a dozen disciplines at once... chemistry, intuition, a little bit of madness.
I'm curious... how much of this is study, and how much is instinct?
Yes, it's mine. It isn't particularly potent... it lacks the toxins I typically use, so the effect is much milder.
[Because yeah, most of her healing concoctions also contain elements of poisonous materials, which is how it works for her.
She had meant it, days ago, when she said she believes he is more sensitive to certain things due to his specific abilities, things that do not touch the rest of them, even the researchers.]
I've been studying since I was a child, but by now, so much of it is second nature. There is always more to learn, each ingredient its own sweet palette of possibilities.
[Ah, there's the catch. Lobelia grins, eased into some sort of comfort at the notion of toxins and potions.]
You're full of surprises, aren't you? I would guess the poisons make the brew more potent, oui? Everything comes with a price, I suppose.
[Can you really complain about being in pain if you're tripping balls on some strange poisonous plant? The logic is sound.]
Hm... We ought to find you proper ingredients to work with, in that case. I can't promise you much help, but if you have an agenda โ a goal โ I may be able to assist you.
Poison can also be medicine. [Gently, but firmly. It's clearly a conviction.] It is all about precisely handling the right ingredients and carefully selecting them for their effects. Look no further than the foxglove for an example.
[So...yes, some of those ingredients might soothe the mind (and make you trip balls), taking it to a place far away from the ailment, but her potion-making does come from a philosophy of healing.]
The goal is two-tiered. There is triage, and there is cure. Perhaps one may be achieved with medicine, and the other, poison, but we'll have to see. As it stands...while we work on finding deeper answers, I would like the others to be more comfortable. Half of us aren't sleeping; the other half sleep too much. Restless dreams...torrential nightmares...the abyss is attempting to swallow us.
[She goes on to briefly describe the Velvet Dream, the recipe she concocted to save her family from the encroaching whispers of perpetual nightmares. It is indeed triage, but to Cantarella it's an important first step.]
Mm... different symptoms, but the same root cause, non? After all, sickness manifests differently in different people.
[Hm... but hold on. Lobelia is taking a risk here, but Cantarella is a reasonable, if dangerous, woman. She is exactly the sort of person Lobelia is willing to hedge a risky bet on. He's silent for a moment, and thenโ]
There is something you ought to know... but it is better that you hear it from a reliable source. Speak to Alhaitham, s'il te plaรฎt. Ask him about me. What he knows of my circumstances... and what it means for yours.
It certainly does... In cases like this, there are so few commonalities. And yet... I still believe there is a thread that stitches the entire weave together.
[Cantarella leans forward with her fingers laced together, clearly absorbing his words and weighing them. Alhaitham is smart in a very dangerous and particular way, but she hasn't really known him to lie. She'd take Lobelia's word on that.]
I'll speak with him. Do your fellow researchers know what I'm about to learn? I think you're entitled to keep things to your heart, unless they harm us. [So she won't narc...unless.]
I would be inclined to trust your expertise... but what do I know?
[The question remains, and no answer comes. He's told her where to seek her answers. That's as much as he'll give herโ as much as he can afford to give.]
See... if you ask me a question as vague as that, Mademoiselle, how can I possibly give you an honest answer? Be more clear.
[There are ways to deal with narcs. Plenty of ways.]
[They are so philosophically opposed, truly, and she can sense they are unlikely ever to understand each other, the way an object is refracted unevenly above the water's surface with no direct connection... But Cantarella sincerely isn't looking to harm him. yet The conflict with the Montellis would be much worse if she truly believed that all differences should be flattened in the name of maintaining the flow.]
I don't think I was vague, nor do I think you believe I was. I think you believe you've already answered my question. Thank you.
[Cantarella nods her head, slightly and politely.]
If I instead asked you what you wished for, is that an answer you'd be willing to part with?
[...That smile puts him on edge. It's not her fault. Of course it isn't. But it sticks between his ribs and twists like a blade, hurting him in ways he can't put into words.
He's silent for a beat too long. The words don't come easily to him. Not this time.]
...You should want me dead. If not for your sake, then for the others.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
week 3, wednesday
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...
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.
no subject
Straight to the point, mm? I admire that about you.
[There's no bullshitting someone like Cantarella, so fine. He'll explain this plainly, clinically.]
I've not been sleeping well, non, and I've found there is little to be done about it. Quite the conundrum!
[Lobelia's smile ebbs. He catches her gaze and locks into it.]
...You would like a broader understanding of all the symptoms, non? Then ask plainly. Provided you have no mind to lash out against me, I will tell you what you want to know.
no subject
[She rifles around...somewhere. She doesn't carry everything in her cleavage, I swear, and pulls out a small piece of paper.]
Here. You may keep it; it might be something you can use.
[It is, in fact, just a slightly scratched-up paper for a very light and mild wind-down potion, if he can get ingredients for it. Nothing like the sorts of things she can make at home with access to her own gardens, but home remedy levels. She's just freestyled a bit.]
no subject
Intรฉressant. Is this a recipe of your own making? Potioncraft is an art that borrows from a dozen disciplines at once... chemistry, intuition, a little bit of madness.
I'm curious... how much of this is study, and how much is instinct?
no subject
[Because yeah, most of her healing concoctions also contain elements of poisonous materials, which is how it works for her.
She had meant it, days ago, when she said she believes he is more sensitive to certain things due to his specific abilities, things that do not touch the rest of them, even the researchers.]
I've been studying since I was a child, but by now, so much of it is second nature. There is always more to learn, each ingredient its own sweet palette of possibilities.
no subject
You're full of surprises, aren't you? I would guess the poisons make the brew more potent, oui? Everything comes with a price, I suppose.
[Can you really complain about being in pain if you're tripping balls on some strange poisonous plant? The logic is sound.]
Hm... We ought to find you proper ingredients to work with, in that case. I can't promise you much help, but if you have an agenda โ a goal โ I may be able to assist you.
no subject
[So...yes, some of those ingredients might soothe the mind (and make you trip balls), taking it to a place far away from the ailment, but her potion-making does come from a philosophy of healing.]
The goal is two-tiered. There is triage, and there is cure. Perhaps one may be achieved with medicine, and the other, poison, but we'll have to see. As it stands...while we work on finding deeper answers, I would like the others to be more comfortable. Half of us aren't sleeping; the other half sleep too much. Restless dreams...torrential nightmares...the abyss is attempting to swallow us.
[She goes on to briefly describe the Velvet Dream, the recipe she concocted to save her family from the encroaching whispers of perpetual nightmares. It is indeed triage, but to Cantarella it's an important first step.]
no subject
[Hm... but hold on. Lobelia is taking a risk here, but Cantarella is a reasonable, if dangerous, woman. She is exactly the sort of person Lobelia is willing to hedge a risky bet on. He's silent for a moment, and thenโ]
There is something you ought to know... but it is better that you hear it from a reliable source. Speak to Alhaitham, s'il te plaรฎt. Ask him about me. What he knows of my circumstances... and what it means for yours.
no subject
[Cantarella leans forward with her fingers laced together, clearly absorbing his words and weighing them. Alhaitham is smart in a very dangerous and particular way, but she hasn't really known him to lie. She'd take Lobelia's word on that.]
I'll speak with him. Do your fellow researchers know what I'm about to learn? I think you're entitled to keep things to your heart, unless they harm us. [So she won't narc...unless.]
no subject
[The question remains, and no answer comes. He's told her where to seek her answers. That's as much as he'll give herโ as much as he can afford to give.]
See... if you ask me a question as vague as that, Mademoiselle, how can I possibly give you an honest answer? Be more clear.
[There are ways to deal with narcs. Plenty of ways.]
no subject
yetThe conflict with the Montellis would be much worse if she truly believed that all differences should be flattened in the name of maintaining the flow.]I don't think I was vague, nor do I think you believe I was. I think you believe you've already answered my question. Thank you.
[Cantarella nods her head, slightly and politely.]
If I instead asked you what you wished for, is that an answer you'd be willing to part with?
no subject
[Now then, as for what he asked... If he's meant to die here, so be it. He won't go down without a good fight.]
...What else would anyone wish for? To be happy. That's all I've ever wanted.
no subject
The most difficult wish to grant, I think, for anyone.
[You will never forget that happiness only came from wishing for it.]
Try and rest, Lobelia.
no subject
He's silent for a beat too long. The words don't come easily to him. Not this time.]
...You should want me dead. If not for your sake, then for the others.
no subject
[Her tongue wets her lips in a moment's pause, thoughtfully pausing there.]
... I'll keep your desires in mind, however. [Though it doesn't mean she'll accommodate them, nor should he want her to.
If it ever came down to it, Lobelia would hate to be on the receiving end of Cantarella's sympathy. She'd make it gentle as a lullaby.]