[And while they are having this conversation, SOMEONE IS SUMMONING THE WISH-GIVER.
Really not how they expected their Wednesday to go.]
Don't put yourself out for me if you're busy. [She politely offers Y'shtola the out, even as she takes the seat that's been offered. Cantarella and the brooms are now at a truce, so she can comfortably coexist with them.] Though, as long as I'm here, I'll at least be able to ensure you take a break long enough to eat it.
[Good. She looks at the curry again. She'll make sure Y'shtola takes enough of a break to eat at least a little.] I'll spare you the experience of being hand-fed like some of the others. [Not to name any names.
Cantarella leans back, folding her hands together. Well. They have come to be the ones letting the other worry over them a bit more and more with each passing week, so having it nakedly out there does take some of the mystique away. Cantarella's impulse always will be to care before she is cared for, and this is no different. But...]
A splitting headache, and my ears are still ringing. My bones might as well have vibrated out of my skin, and I'm half a bruise. But the pain is little. We've lost sight of Lobelia, and I fear for the minds of our odd little group more than ever.
[There we go. She'll get it all out at once, the burdens unspooling easier with each slightly distracted sentence.]
The attrition is unsustainable. We are running out of time. I do not know if we could subdue Lobelia if the worst happens. There are some who are closer to the epicenter than others.
[As she has many times already, Cantarella is frustrated that her Tacet Mark is lifeless in her aching mouth. It's not quite as bad as losing control over her body, but feeling her own mind heavy and lagging, skipping like a stuck tape, is just frustrating enough to make her push herself past any deterrent.]
Of course, my thoughts are racing... I'm no stranger to being disoriented. I should like to wake up from my daze and find I was only dreaming, but the dream would have changed me anyway.
[Good gravy she hates this feeling of lightening that comes with sharing.]
[ That’s the crux of it, isn’t it? This will have changed them, regardless of how they come out of it.
Y’shtola falls silent for a moment, taking a bite of her curry. It’s good. It’s warm, filling. ]
There are infinite possibilities for the future. I have full faith that we will find the cure, yet how that will manifest or what might occur before… I know not.
[It backlights one of Cantarella's latent fears. They might find a way to do away with the wishing system that has led to all of this, but there are many things that can't be undone. Never mind the wishes that had to be granted to make this possible in the first place...there are fundamental changes to all of them that aren't about to change.]
It is, isn't it? [Full of possibility...and daunting...and frightening. It's really the first time she's heard so much uncertainty from Y'shtola, so she offers a thoughtful smile while she tastes the curry.] It's one of the reasons people came to be so afraid of the deepest reaches of the sea. So much of it is unexplored, and so little of it can be seen at one time.
The road ahead is not so different from walking through the middle of the abyss. [ And she's been through the abyss, a time or two. It doesn't really become much easier.]
My time in the abyss was...complicated. And yet I emerged on the other side, having gambled it all and somehow succeeded.
[That is to say...she still shares Y'shtola's optimism that they will complete this successfully, regardless of how these past few days—weeks—have felt like miniature lifetimes passing, each of them the lifetime of their own star.]
And your hopes for after, forgiving me my nosiness? [If she dares speak them...How long will it be before all of them become comfortable once again with daydreams and hopes and wishes?]
[She really is. For all Y'shtola is a pragmatic person—and she certainly is that—there's something of a dreamer in her, too.
Nobody with such lofty, often unhinged ideas couldn't be one, at least a little, surely.]
May the world that emerges from your efforts enjoy a clear sky for a long time to come, so you can all reunite beneath it.
[It must still be possible to achieve the salvation of Y'shtola's world that she so passionately desired enough to earn a granted wish. It must be enough for all of them. Has she let go of some of that blame? Will she return to her world lighter?]
And then we may meet again one day when all is said and done. Your place at the seabed will be awaiting you.
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Really not how they expected their Wednesday to go.]
Don't put yourself out for me if you're busy. [She politely offers Y'shtola the out, even as she takes the seat that's been offered. Cantarella and the brooms are now at a truce, so she can comfortably coexist with them.] Though, as long as I'm here, I'll at least be able to ensure you take a break long enough to eat it.
I do worry about you.
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And I you. Would you really think I would turn your company away?
[ Please. She sits too, setting the container with the curry in it in front of her. ]
Are you alright?
[ She knows the answer is no, but yet she must ask anyway. ]
no subject
Cantarella leans back, folding her hands together. Well. They have come to be the ones letting the other worry over them a bit more and more with each passing week, so having it nakedly out there does take some of the mystique away. Cantarella's impulse always will be to care before she is cared for, and this is no different. But...]
A splitting headache, and my ears are still ringing. My bones might as well have vibrated out of my skin, and I'm half a bruise. But the pain is little. We've lost sight of Lobelia, and I fear for the minds of our odd little group more than ever.
[There we go. She'll get it all out at once, the burdens unspooling easier with each slightly distracted sentence.]
no subject
It is... a dire situation indeed, and we will need to come upon a resolution sooner rather than later.
[ Within days, preferably. This isn't sustainable.
She opens the container to her curry, letting the warmth of it calm her. ]
The pain is little, but I can hear the distraction in your tone.
no subject
[As she has many times already, Cantarella is frustrated that her Tacet Mark is lifeless in her aching mouth. It's not quite as bad as losing control over her body, but feeling her own mind heavy and lagging, skipping like a stuck tape, is just frustrating enough to make her push herself past any deterrent.]
Of course, my thoughts are racing... I'm no stranger to being disoriented. I should like to wake up from my daze and find I was only dreaming, but the dream would have changed me anyway.
[Good gravy she hates this feeling of lightening that comes with sharing.]
no subject
Y’shtola falls silent for a moment, taking a bite of her curry. It’s good. It’s warm, filling. ]
There are infinite possibilities for the future. I have full faith that we will find the cure, yet how that will manifest or what might occur before… I know not.
[ She looks at Cantarella. ]
The unknown is daunting.
no subject
It is, isn't it? [Full of possibility...and daunting...and frightening. It's really the first time she's heard so much uncertainty from Y'shtola, so she offers a thoughtful smile while she tastes the curry.] It's one of the reasons people came to be so afraid of the deepest reaches of the sea. So much of it is unexplored, and so little of it can be seen at one time.
The road ahead is not so different from walking through the middle of the abyss. [ And she's been through the abyss, a time or two. It doesn't really become much easier.]
no subject
[ It was a lot like the sea in that way, currents creating a path through.
She has another bite of her curry, closing her eyes as the taste of it settles on her tongue. ]
We made it through then, so I believe we will do the same here.
no subject
[That is to say...she still shares Y'shtola's optimism that they will complete this successfully, regardless of how these past few days—weeks—have felt like miniature lifetimes passing, each of them the lifetime of their own star.]
And your hopes for after, forgiving me my nosiness? [If she dares speak them...How long will it be before all of them become comfortable once again with daydreams and hopes and wishes?]
no subject
Ah, she really is an optimistic person in spite of everything. It’s why she has no trouble with speaking of her future as if it’s certain. ]
To continue my search for knowledge… after I work to restore my star, and ensure that Meteor is well.
no subject
Nobody with such lofty, often unhinged ideas couldn't be one, at least a little, surely.]
May the world that emerges from your efforts enjoy a clear sky for a long time to come, so you can all reunite beneath it.
[It must still be possible to achieve the salvation of Y'shtola's world that she so passionately desired enough to earn a granted wish. It must be enough for all of them. Has she let go of some of that blame? Will she return to her world lighter?]
And then we may meet again one day when all is said and done. Your place at the seabed will be awaiting you.
no subject
May you escape the clutches of fate. If anyone would manage it, I know you would.
[ She looks up, now, tilting her head. ]
After all, I will come knocking on your door one day, demanding you lead me to your secrets.
[ There’s meaning underneath her words, a real promise that settles neatly under all the things that must be accomplished first. ]