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[inklongdry]

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"Arthur Inkwell here.
I've no earthly idea how this thing is supposed to work, but leave me a message if you're so inclined. I'll retrieve it at some point or another!"

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[velluminous]

[ she watches the vial disappear with a strange tension in her features. her claws curl against the countertop.

why did she do that? why did she give it up? ]

It—it tempts me. What I could learn from it, if I only... kept it. You know how we scholars are.

[inklongdry]

[ Somehow, this feels less like removing a mere curiosity from her sight. The way she watches him, tensing, makes unease settle in his stomach. ]

I do know how we scholars are. And I know how curiosity bends so easily into obsession. You mislike that you've handed it over to me, don't you?

[velluminous]

It's mine.

[ she does. she does mislike it. ]

To study disease like that... I can think of nothing more compelling.

[inklongdry]

[ He understands that sentiment, but she would not have given it to him if it were so simple as that. ]

I understand, my sky. I truly do. But since you've entrusted it to me, I'll not be giving it back.

[velluminous]

It isn't safe. If it ever broke...

[inklongdry]

I know. I'll take care of it.

[velluminous]

You can't know. Arthur. What it does to your mind... let alone your body...

[inklongdry]

What happened? How did you come to be infected? And how were you cured of it?

[velluminous]

[ her gaze, weirdly haunted, sits on him where he tucked the vial away. she really, really should not have given him that. ]

From friend of mine. He had strange lesions on his elbow, like little stones... piercing up through his skin. I touched one. I had open cuts on my fingers.

[inklongdry]

And so you contracted the disease.

[ Her eyes are like a physical force. He spares a thought to sending Clover away with the vial, to remove it from this place. Maybe he will. ]

What happened, then?

[velluminous]

[ maybe! ]

I... I grew unwell. Infected my partner of that time. Basilisk had never earned token, so I do Echidna tasks to get them, but then I would... forget. Poof, gone. Lan Wangji, [ her voice immediately becomes thick and rough ] he was still on Phoenix then. He brought me card and saved me.

[inklongdry]

Thaliak preserve. I'm glad you were spared the worst, but even I think it best that you leave this business behind you.

[ So, to that end, he does reach back into his pocket for the vial. Clover shimmers into being just over his shoulder, and he passes the little container over to her. She takes it in her arms and at some unspoken command, flies for the door. ]

/2

[velluminous]

[ a cacophony in Sprezzatura's ears as Clover does: pulse and breath. a sluggish, underwater-feeling. she watches that tiny woman abscond with her blood, her specimen, her oripathy—and the coiled length of her tail lashes hard against the bar.

really hard. ]

Arthur—

[velluminous]

[ and that white-knuckle grip of her claws on granite tenses, smooths out. her entire demeanour changes; she leans forward and catches Arthur by the chin. ]

No, no. You bring her back.

[ but why wait? she'll send a thread of lightning to course through Clover's teeny, tiny, delicate figure in emphasis. how good's your reaction time, Arthur? ]

[inklongdry]

[ It's frankly strange to watch, the way everything about her changes like a ripple in a pond. Her posture, her demeanor. Suddenly, he finds himself caught by the chin, and Sprezzatura is looking at him in a way he's never seen from her before.

Lightning flashes in his periphery and Arthur snaps out a hand, a glyph in the shape of faerie wings blooming from his fingertips. Clover vanishes in a sudden burst of light, though whether it's because of whatever Arthur was doing or the lightning remains to be seen.

The vial clinks to the floor and rolls a short way beneath one of the pool tables. ]

Am I to assume you've wrested control away from Sprezzatura?

[velluminous]

[ who cares if it was him or the lightning? that's her blood spinning away across the floor. that's what she wants. ]

What kind of introduction is that?

[ does Arthur carry his tome on him, uh, by any chance? ]

[inklongdry]

[ Yes, he keeps it on his hip usually. In fact, he's maneuvering one hand to grab it, while the other comes up to grasp at the hand keeping him captive, catching her by the wrist. ]

I've heard rather enough about you. You need no introduction.

[velluminous]

Heard all about me, have you. I'm flattered. Didn't you promise her you'd run away, though...?

[ oh, no, that won't do. she tries to snag his tome with her tail and toss it, before he can utilize the damn thing ]

[inklongdry]

I did. You weren't here a moment ago, though.

[ Ah, shite. She takes his tome right out of his fingers, tossing it away. It goes skidding off in some direction away from the vial. He grits his teeth. ]

And I doubt you'll be so kind as to let me go now.

[velluminous]

[ he's gonna have to choose. she passes her thumb so gently beneath his lip; a lover's touch. ]

That's where you're wrong.

[ her eyes scan aside, towards the pool table the vial rolled beneath. he'll feel the coiling tension in her body. she's thinking about it— ]

Ready?

[inklongdry]

[ He doesn't have to follow her gaze to know what she's looking at. So it's the oni's obsession with the vial that had Sprezzatura acting so, is it? His grip on her wrist tightens. ]

Are you?

[velluminous]

[ ouch! whatever happened to the gentleman, huh? she widens her grin, snaps her teeth at him like it's a playful romp they're about to have. ]

Ladies first.

[ tries to twist her grip on him and crack his face into the bar ]

[inklongdry]

[ Svetka please, you wouldn't hit a guy with glasses would you?

In any case, she has him beat on sheer strength easily, though he's probably a bit more squirelly than she might expect. Instead of catching a faceful of bartop and broken glass for his troubles, he manages to twist at the last moment so the side of his head slams into the bar instead. It still hurts, still dazes him, and his hand falls away from her wrist. ]

[velluminous]

[ she would, and she'll do it again! the instant his hand unfurls from her wrist, she fists up the back of his head and repeats the motion while he's still reeling, just to be safe. ]

[inklongdry]

[ That's enough to make stars bloom in his vision. The world tilts dangerously for a second and Arthur realizes that he's falling, stumbling against the bar. Yeah, she rang his bell pretty good. ]