Cantarella

[rescuebullet]

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W0: Monday

[rescuebullet]

[ It takes her a bit of time before she finds her room in the boarding house. How different from where she spent her life... but that's where they are now. For better or worse, she'll have to get used to it, right?

She knocks on the door, since there are two names on it, and she wants to be polite. ]

Hello?

[physalia]

[It's much, much different from what she's used to, as well, but at least there are some things about the boarding house that strike a chord of familiarity...even if it's smething long-ago long-buried.

Exhaustion is eating at her, but the moment there's a knock at the door, she straightens her posture and folds her hands together in front of her.]

Now, who could have come all this way to see me?

[rescuebullet]

[Oh she's so beautiful....]

Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you. But this also seems to be my room.

[It would be nice if they didn't have to double up but... Here she is.]

[physalia]

Received a key, did you?

[Since she was already in the room to have unlocked the door, it never hurts to make sure they're both in the right place.]

All the comforts of home here...albeit in a very small space. [Her voice is a little playful, as though there's something amusing about that statement.]

W1: Saturday

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[ MAN.

You see a part of a head in a person's body and then that same person tries to take in more people into his body and it's a lot to take in one day.

Nozomi does not look well. ]

[physalia]

[Cantarella longs for the soothing waters of the Erich and Wilber's pool, but after today, even that pleasant comfort has been disrupted by death. So she returns to their shared room instead, wondering if she might at least crouch under the shower and get half a moment's rest beneath the water. Then sees Nozomi, and—all her attention goes there immediately instead, straightening her back and movements.]

Come. Sit. [Her hand moves gently toward the crook of the girl's arm to couch-maneuver her.]

[rescuebullet]

[ It's easy to maneuver her, she doesn't offer any resistance at somebody she thinks is trying to take care of her.]

S-sorry to disturb you.

[ Surely Cantarella wanted to do some self care after everything that's happened today. ]

[physalia]

You haven't disturbed me. For the time being, as long as we remain here, this is your "home" as well.

[As much unlike one as the barren dorm room is, it should offer some refuge to them. She knows how important it was to have a place to hide and feel a little protected from the rough times, when she was Nozomi's age, or thereabouts.]

You can lie back if you want. Would you drink water?

w2, tuesday early!

[physalia]

[Given the swell in the cold weather over the past couple of days, Cantarella's exchanged her normal dress for more climate-appropriate but still rather body-contouring clothing. The environment in the reptile house is still a welcome reprieve.

Her hands linger in her pockets as she walks along the numerous exhibits, bending down to examine a snake or lizard here or there.]

Hehe, I've never seen anything resembling some of these little ones before. What about you, dear?

[rescuebullet]

[ Actually watching the seasons change is magical in its own way, but she really didn't expect it to get so cold so quickly. Her own outfit added a heavier jacket to keep away the chill. ]

I've seen them in books before, but I've never seen them in person.

[physalia]

Mm. [She glances back at the enclosures. There may have been so much more variation in species a long time ago.] Like many things here, they seem to belong to a world that existed before the Lament.

[Though she's sure that's a term that won't be familiar to Nozomi, the event itself, at least here, might not need to be elaborated on...simply that the world once was one way and now is another after a very, very long time.]

Do you have much wildlife in your home?

[rescuebullet]

[She tilts her head at the "Lament". It's unfamiliar to her, but perhaps it's a word for something similar that happened in her world.

Nozomi shakes her head.]

No. Even pet owners need special permits to keep them.

w2 thursday curfew

[physalia]

[Cantarella's throat is rather raw by Thursday night, so whenever she talks, her volume and tone are lower and much closer to a whisper.]

Did you decide to see if I was telling the truth, dear?

[She's lost track of the time, a bit, between walking through the haze over here, even if she did bring an umbrella, and the...everything else.]

[rescuebullet]

There is something soothing about it.

[ She hears the difference in Cantarella's voice and gets the package of throat lozenges out and handing it over.

It's easy enough to ignore her own pounding headache in an effort to care about someone else. ]

Are you alright?

[physalia]

I'm quite fine right now. Just... reacclimating. [She leans over to accept the packet with a grateful smile.

It likely won't be comfortable, but...she also can't turn it down. So Cantarella unwraps the losenge and pops it into her mouth, in a way that Nozomi will definitely see the black waveform of her tacet mark on her tongue.]

[rescuebullet]

I hope your throat feels better soon.

[ She does see the mark on her tongue and she stares maybe a moment longer than is appropriate before darting her eyes away and pretending like she didn't see anything strange at all.

It's rude to comment about birthmarks like that, right? ]

W3: Monday

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[ She slips into a dreamstate before she can really recognize what's happening or why, and before her is a library that doesn't look like the one in [setting].

The windows pour in moonlight and Nozomi looks unsure as she takes in the scenery. ]

[physalia]

[The whispers in the moonlit library are very loud. They are dark and mean-spirited as they pour out of sealed pages in the background, murmuring not only forbidden secrets but insults. The moonlight pouring through one side of the labyrinthine library looks more like the wavering, distorted shafts of light beaming down through open water.

Cantarella, dressed in white, silently snakes a hand out and tugs at Nozomi's sleeve. She doesn't say a word.]

[rescuebullet]

[ She hears the things the pages are whispering, and she can't bring herself to argue or disagree. Useless. Helpless. Friendless. Alone. Discarded.

Nozomi stays silent, but when Cantarella reaches for her sleeve, she takes her hand instead.

I'm not alone right now. ]

w3, post-trial

[physalia]

[Even in the darkness, Cantarella uses her umbrella overhead as they walk, acting as a floating, flittering canopy above their heads.]

What's on your mind, my dear?

[It was...a long day.]

[rescuebullet]

[There's something comforting about being underneath Cantarella's umbrella, even if it's already dark.]

I'm... worried about what might happen tomorrow. I don't want anybody else to get hurt.

[physalia]

Nor do I. I know you've been unwavering in your commitment to helping others from the very beginning.

[There's a moments silence, but when Cantarella does speak again, she sounds very reassured and clear in what she asks.]

Would you want to help me do something to try and accomplish that goal?

W5: Monday

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[ The thing about sharing a bedroom, means that the notes can slip in easier than they really should. In Cantarella's bed is a wish of Nozomi's. I wish my mom didn't commit suicide.

She's unaware of it as she gets ready for the day. ]

[physalia]

Good morning, dear.

[The paper's like a stone she's carrying on her person, threatening to pull her down. Cantarella could certainly put the slip away, concealing information that she's certain Nozomi would have preferred never made it into the world. A secret and impossible wish.

But that weigh is choking her like a vine. Should she not endure it, for Nozomi's sake.]

I think I have something of yours.

[rescuebullet]

Huh? Did I leave something out? I'm sorry.

[ She's unaware of all these wish slips making it all over the place.

It's a wish she's had ever since the day her mother left her. But it's also something she hasn't told anybody about either. There are always more important things than a girl who misses her mother, both at the academy and here in this town. ]