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<Nacheyla> ::there has never before been a convenient door into Xarroch's dimension, but as Lisl lacks the mechanism to travel planarly, Nacheyla has made one for the occasion. And a weird thing it is, standing all by itself in a small clearing in the woods:: * Lisl walks all the way around the door, observing it with a small frown and a shake of her head. "Oh, this is just *asking* for trouble to come knocking... ah, well." She takes a deep breath, settles her shoulders, and knocks. <Nacheyla> ::muffled:: Just a min... ::there are several loud thumps, accompanied by cursing:: Damnit! ::the door opens. Nacheyla looks extremely dishevelled. Behind her are several boxes that look like they just fell out of a closet:: Come in, Lisl. Mind the mess. <Lisl> ::blinks:: Aye... ::muttering:: Reminds me a bit of home, actually... How are you, Nach? Ah... anything I can lend a hand with, here? <Nacheyla> Sure... just a minute. ::she steps aside to let Lisl pass, then closes the door. She turns the knob the other way and opens it again, to reveal a closet. There are several gaps where boxes probably were:: I hate this door. <Lisl> ::blinking again:: Well... that's... potentially handy. But I can see where it would be a problem, yes. ::bending to right a box and return a few spilled items to it before reshelving it:: <Lisl> ::getting another box and going on tiptoe to put it away:: Although it would certainly add some challenge to a game of hide-and-go-seek. <Nacheyla> It's... it's one of Xarroch's toys. Makes living around here challenging. From time to time. <Nacheyla> How've you been? <Lisl> Well enough... keeping pretty busy, actually. ::a grim look in her eye:: And I've certainly a full store of gossip for you... how's Chey? Am I going to be breaking out in blue and green spots soon? <Nacheyla> I would think you'd be protected, actually... you don't usually... well, catch things, do you? <Lisl> Not typically, no. But you said something about demonic pox? That... honestly, makes me a little widgy. <Nacheyla> ::sighs:: It was just the regular pox. Then it... mutated. I've been trying to find a cure... sort of. <Lisl> ::raises an eyebrow:: Good? <Lisl> So... how's the lad handling it? <Nacheyla> He seems mostly all right. Most of the time. He just... well, mostly he's tired of being inside. I can't really let him go out, you know. I think this might kill any normal humans. ::makes a face:: <Lisl> ::snorts:: Not reassuring me here, Nach. Isn't there anywhere... else he could go out? I mean... last time I was here, there were... fish. In the sky. I can't imagine there would be that many normal humans about to infect. <Nacheyla> ::shakes her head:: I don't want to think what it might do to other *demons* either. I mean... well, demons are bad enough without having bleeding sores or projectile vomiting, aren't they? <Lisl> ::winces:: Wouldn't really improve *my* temperament, were I a demon, no. <Nacheyla> So... ::bites her lip:: I don't suppose I could... well... ::sighs:: <Lisl> ::cocks her head:: Since you were just mentioning projectile vomiting, I think "spit it out" would be the wrong choice of words... what's on your mind, Nach? <Nacheyla> Could I borrow some of your blood? <Lisl> ::blinks:: "Borrow"? As in... "give back later"? I think I'd just as soon *give* it to you. ::half-smiles:: Come to think, I owe you a vial, anyway. Or at least, the other you. <Nacheyla> Something like that, I think. I found... well, I've been plane hopping, looking for a cure. <Lisl> And you need... ::frowns:: ...but if you use-- oh. Wait. ::shakes her head:: Sorry. I forget who I'm talking to. There's a way to give him the... benefits, without the curse? <Nacheyla> I think so... Come here, let me show you the... damn, I forgot what they called it... <Nacheyla> ::she leads the way through the somewhat malleable house, prodding at the hallway at one point when it threatens to block the way:: <Lisl> ::shakes her head:: Hells... no *wonder* Xarroch felt right at home in the Tower.... <Nacheyla> ::laughs:: I'm not sure if he modelled here after the Tower or what. Here. This is my lab. ::there are several pieces of unfamiliar equipment in here, including something that coughs and splutters and emits pale grey smoke:: * Lisl gives the smoke factory a wide berth and carefully touches nothing, breathing lightly and looking around for a safe place to sit. <Nacheyla> ::hands Lisl a glass tube:: Here. Bleed into that, would you? I want to set some equipment up. ::she starts puttering around with a heavy metal and glass box:: <Lisl> Um. ::eyes the tube for a moment:: Have a sharp bit of silverware I could borrow for a moment? * Nacheyla nods and points to a drawer. "There should be several things in there. Watch out for the ones in the white case - those are enchanted." <Lisl> Right. ::opens the drawer with a bit of trepidation, given the malleable nature of reality around here, and pokes about for a decent knife. She passes up a ritualistic dagger with bit of flaky green stuff on the blade and settles for something that looks more like a lady's paring knife:: <Lisl> Right. ::she flexes the fingers of her left hand nervously for a moment before closing them around the blade and gritting her teeth when she feels the burning sting of it in the flesh of her palm.:: Ow. * Nacheyla finishes messing with the box and opens one side of it. "Ah, here we go. I never remember which end of this thing is up." * Lisl swallows hard, cleaning the blade carefully while she cups the slowly welling blood in her palm. She exchanges the knife for the vial and tips her little palmful into the vial, trying to ooze into it with as little mess as possible. * Nacheyla gets out several bottles of chemicals and sets them up in a rack. "Be careful of these. I'm trying to isolate the regenerative part of your makeup and... well, killing off the rest of it. I don't think the world is ready for a demon werewolf. Even if he doesn't have the pox." <Lisl> ::a set look on her face as she tries not to think about bleeding:: Not. Touching. Anything. As if my mother weren't bad enough, Zoya taught me definitively never to mess about in a wizard's lab. <Nacheyla> ::laughs:: Zoya's in particular. ::she taps her forehead where her horns would normally have been, were she in her other form:: <Lisl> ::snorts:: Aye. <Lisl> ::glances around the lab while she's waiting for Nach to do that hoodoo that she does so well:: Don't suppose you've got a spare mature albino dragon skull lying about here, anywhere? <Nacheyla> ::blinks:: What on earth? No, I don't think so. Why? ::starts mixing a few chemicals:: Now, lemme see that? ::she holds out her hand for the vial:: I *think* this will work. <Lisl> ::hands the vial to Nacheyla carefully:: Mind-- it's not the neatest thing in the world to do one-handed. I sort of, um, drooled a bit, I think. <Nacheyla> ::takes the vial and adds some blood to the petri dish where she's mixing:: I don't think that'll be a problem. And I don't really want to cut you myself. Just a personal preference, you know. ::gives Lisl a quick grin:: I hate making carvings out of friends. * Lisl balls up the handkerchief she'd used to wipe the knife and wads it against her sluggishly bleeding palm, fishing in her belt pouch with the other hand. "Thought I'd left... ah, there it is. This'll do." She wraps a narrow strip of soft leather around her hand several times, making a secure bandage. <Lisl> Quite alright. I'm not very keen on being carved. ::grins:: <Nacheyla> ::adds a few drops of something to the dish:: Silver nitrate. Be very careful, here. Nasty stuff for you, I'd think. <Lisl> Anyway, just a little something Jaret's on the lookout for. I'll... tell you later. ::eyes the petri dish:: Distraction probably wouldn't be a good thing right now. <Lisl> ::shudders:: Aye. I... came across it, once or twice. Once would've been enough, believe me. <Nacheyla> All righty... that's the mix, now into the waver... ::she puts the dish into the box and pushes a button. The box hums and buzzes slightly:: * Lisl winces and jams her fingers in her ears. <Nacheyla> ::looks around:: Pot holder... pot holder... Lisl, have you seen... ah, there it is. ::digs out a square of thick material and slips it over her hand:: * Lisl works her jaw slightly and wiggles a finger in her ear. "Warn a girl next time, will you? What's in that brew, anyway? Do I need to worry about my vital fluids becoming a wizardly commodity?" <Nacheyla> I wasn't planning on publishing, if that's your worry... ::opens the box and peers at the solution:: All right, that looks mostly all right. I think. ::frowns, then pours the dish into another tube:: Now to separate it. ::she putters around a bit more and then drops the tube into another box:: <Lisl> ::watching curiously:: You just mixed it. How are you going to separate it all out *now*? <Nacheyla> Centrifuge... spin it 'round really fast... I think the nitrates will have killed off the cursed part of the blood. What remains - I think - will allow Cheylon to recover, before breaking down in his system. He might get a bit of a bladder infection, but then it should all be gone. <Lisl> You're... ::squinting at the vibrating box:: ...you're curing a curse with *alchemy*? <Nacheyla> Well, sort of. Not exactly. I'm more... separating the good from the bad. Without the binders, the curse shouldn't take hold in Cheylon, but he can use your regenerative capabilities. For a few days. <Lisl> Hunh. Is it... permanent? I mean... if he got exposed later, he wouldn't get it? <Nacheyla> ::blinks, then sits down suddenly:: Oh! I'd never... you know... it... well, how on earth would you *test* something like that? <Lisl> ::makes a face:: Well... I know how *I'd* test it, but things'd go downhill in a hurry if the test failed. <Nacheyla> Well, that's what I meant, silly. I mean, what, you're going to ask Tarri to volunteer for a bite, for science's sake? <Lisl> Oh. I meant, more... well, Chey's the one getting the dose. <Lisl> ::shakes her head:: Never mind. Forget I mentioned it. This doesn't sound like a djinn's bottle I want to open, as El would say. <Nacheyla> ::opens the top of the smaller box:: And here we are. ::she waits for the centrifuge to stop spinning and removes the vial. On top is a faint, straw-colored liquid. On the bottom is thickly-clotted dark blood:: <Lisl> ::frowns:: What happened to it? It looks like... ::muffles a snort of laughter:: Well, it looks like a vinaigrette. <Nacheyla> ::opens the tube and skims off the top:: This part - ::she indicates the dark stuff:: Is all the parts of your blood I don't want... this... this should be the regenerative part. Called "platelets" by the people who taught me the technique. I never saw anything that looked less like a plate, but... ::shrugs:: <Lisl> ::eyes the darker blood dubiously:: You don't intend to put that back *in*, do you? <Nacheyla> Heavens, no! I'll just dispose of it... ::shudders:: <Lisl> Er... destroy it, if you will? ::eyes the clear portion again:: Hm. ::grinning a little:: Wonder if there's enough of blood in that to make him kin, now? I'll have to ask Mother that one... <Nacheyla> ::siphons the fluid into a syringe:: All righty... I'll give him this after he wakes up. He's sleeping now. Let's hope this works. <Lisl> I'll just hope you know what you're doing. ::grins cheerfully:: <Nacheyla> Yeah. ::she sighs, deflating:: Me, too. I've tried everything else. He's just not responding to traditional treatments <Lisl> Is this... *are* there traditional treatments for this? You said... it started out as regular pox, aye? That's bad enough, for most children... what... what's wrong with him, now? <Nacheyla> ::sighs:: It mutates. Every time he starts to get better, the disease shifts into something else. He's had pox, mumps, measles, pneumonia, various stomach flus... it's been going on for quite a while now, and I'm not sure how long his body can continue to fight it off before he just... fades out. <Lisl> Aerdrie! That's just... insidious. <Nacheyla> ::nods:: It's been... hard. <Lisl> Hm. He probably needs his ma, but if you need a break... I'm not itching yet. I could probably babysit safely enough, if you needed to get out for a little while. <Nacheyla> ::nods:: If you'd like to stay, for a while - ::she looks a bit shamefaced:: I could use someone to cook for us? I haven't been eating well... well, much at all, really. <Lisl> ::tsks:: Can't take care of Chey if you're half-falling over, yourself. I'm not much of a cook, but I can make things edible. ::grins a little:: I can promise you, at least, that I won't burn the meat. <Nacheyla> ::laughs:: I didn't think so... just take the moo out, you know? <Lisl> Oh, that bit cooks out first. ::winks:: That's where the hiss comes from, after all, when it hits the grill. <Lisl> And then after dinner, maybe I can catch you up on some of the news... |
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