A Morbid Appointment

[ticktopis_observatorium]

After a mutually interesting conversation between the Morbid Socialite and the Chimeric Professor, both students of the Correspondence agreed to meet outside of class for some follow-up lessons, most probably. They decided to do so in the Professor's home, a somewhat baroque, early georgian two-story house illogically placed on a high place in Watchmaker's Hill, overlooking London from one balcony and the Unterzee from the other, the direction of which was of course issued via Tularemia.

The hour of the appointment was near, and the Professor was setting up the materials they gathered for the ocasion, eager to deepen the acquaintance with one such intriguing gentlemortician.

Comments

Re: A Morbid Appointment

[themorbidsocialite]

The Socialite took the manuscript with the utmost care, as if it was made of glass itself, wonder beaming in their eyes and expression in a state of awe and- wait. Mori froze, awe falling away to anti-climactic confusion.

"Do... Are you speaking of the Topsy King?"

Re: A Morbid Appointment

[ticktopis_observatorium]

The Professor raises their absence of eyebrows, surprised. "You know-?"

The revelation gets suddenly interrupted by a blaze of Cosmogone followed by a rather big sorrow-spider suddenly appearing through one small mirror connected to a previously empty terrarium, idly climbing the provided miniature tree.

"Ah, hello, don't mind us." They say turning completely towards the terrarium. There are some more sounds involved but how the Professor was capable of making them is unseen. The spider moves its palps in a curious way, then goes back to chilling.

Returning to the Socialite and shocked surprise. "Do you know his prior work then?"

Re: A Morbid Appointment

[themorbidsocialite]

The Socialite's reaction to the entire interaction could best be summed up with spare few words: 'This might as well happen.' The Professor talking with a sorrow spider was not the strangest thing he's seen all week, let alone ever.

When the Professor returned, it was like they never left. "Know his prior- Tristram and I have Devonshire tea every Thursday! We're quite good friends! Do you- How do you know him? Just through his work?"

Re: A Morbid Appointment

[ticktopis_observatorium]

"One could... Say that..." They speak slowly, assimilating, then smiling widely. "It seems our social engagements overlap more than expected. That's great! Then I assume you're already in the know of his methods, then?"

There's delight in that question. Keeping that special friend in secret hurts their soul, being such a brilliant conversationalist and unable to share the experience with anyone else! Besides Cora, but they don't meet as often, since...

Shaking their head to bid farewell to those thoughts, they return to the Socialite. "Won't this have something to do with gambling...?"

Re: A Morbid Appointment

[themorbidsocialite]

The realization dawned on the Socialite's face slowly, shoulders dropping and eyes searching. "You play... Did you win? What was it like? Will you be playing again? Did you get your...?" The Socialite drew back. "I do apologize. That was far too forward of me. Pay no attention to my impropriety, ignore my misspeaking. I wish not to know. But I must know."

Re: A Morbid Appointment

[ticktopis_observatorium]

The Professor raised both hands, calling for a bit of calm, and then silently pointed at a nearby set of armchairs, probably to be more comfortable when reading. Once both were seated, the Professor started speaking, in a careful tone. It is a delicate subject after all.

"I played, yes, and I lost. Made it to the last round, with all the costs and rewards it entailed, but my rival... It is complicated. All the other competitors had such haughty desires, and I wanted something great as well... But the final winner had, painful as it is to admit, the best desire of us all. Once I saw him claim it I knew I couldn't have won, not with that will within my rival's chest. And in time I learned I didn't even need my desire fulfilled. I also learned quite a lot while it lasted, so I can't really say I lost, not entirely..."

"Never thought on playing again. Too high stakes, too powerful an obsession, encompassing all aspects or life. It served its function, I am done with it. But I may yet be of help to someone willing to learn... If you are ready to take the risk of exchanging your very own heart for something that can be given with too malicious an intent."

"Please, don't misunderstand me. I'm not trying to deter you. Just a friendly warning before playing with Destiny's Valet."

Re: A Morbid Appointment

[themorbidsocialite]

The Socialite thought, a thousand fates cycling in his mind's eye as he considered his chances. His hands clutched the ends of the arms of the chair, trembling somewhat. "There is no end to what I would give. I came here, of all places, after years of believing this city a living Hell! I've gone to prison, I've suffered losses of sanity, dignity, self, life, all for the chance! I... I am now caught at an impasse."

Re: A Morbid Appointment

[ticktopis_observatorium]

The Professor suspected as much. This wasn't for greed nor grandeur and even less for his own survival. This was one of those causes, the ones that can certainly win.

"In that case I won't let you leave my home empty-handed, as I already said. What prevents you from continuing?"

Re: A Morbid Appointment

[themorbidsocialite]

The Socialite looked aside, hands folding in his lap. "I have two potential solutions. Both involve immense work that may cost me everything, but I am willing to pay any price. The game, I've put my all into resuming, convincing the fellow players. It should guarantee me exactly what I am after, should I win. If I win. But another path opens, with both more and less room for failure. I would be starting over, but my work would hardly amount to luck, as a hand of cards might. But failure may result in... dire consequences. Both lead either to failure or success, both are hard work and stress, but one is a slim guarantee and the other is a wide margin of maybe. Do I make sense?"

Re: A Morbid Appointment

[ticktopis_observatorium]

The understanding grew in the Professor's eyes, enough to finally focus their gaze on the Socialite without the Nightmares taking its toll. Such was the intensity of that gaze that the Socialite could perfectly see the incomplete separation in their pupils, three in each eye almost combined in (or separating from) one.

"I understand you perfectly. I was faced with the same decision. And not willing to risk your privacy, I'll ask you a series of questions and you'll just answer yes or no. So..."

"Can your work wait? If so, less than a year? A couple of years? A human life? Or more?"

"Will it be made more difficult by said wait? Or will it only give you more time to better prepare and work for it?"

"Can the Masters provide what you're after? Completely? Will they still feel you will owe them despite winning if they gave it to you?"

"Will you be able to die in peace after you've gotten it? Or will it mean a renewed wish to live? Will your life end if you couldn't ever get it?"

"Will your loved ones, your spouses, celebrate the success with you? Will they have to forgive you? Will they do so?"

The Professor, of course, left time to answer in between clusters of questions, mantaining a warm yet dettached tone. And they didn't stop looking at Mori directly in the eye. Judging? No. Scrutinizing? Maybe. Making sure he won't lie.

Re: A Morbid Appointment

[themorbidsocialite]

The Morbid Socialite stared into the Chimeric Professor's eyes, focused on the way the pupils were shaped and their gaze into him. His lips thinned and he nodded, prepared for the questions:

"So long as I live, I will attend to my work. No matter how long it may take, no matter how many detours, I know my destination. A year, a few years, a lifetime, they mean nothing so long as I have hands that move and a mind that thinks."

"I do not know how time may impact the results. I have done my best to stay the hands of time, prevent it from impacting the final results, but my efforts may be in vain, if my subject were to sit so long as to turn to dust, so there is some limit, I suppose."

"I do not know. I am unaware of what the Masters of the Bazaar are capable of, whether it is omnipotence or mere magic or the limitations of science. But they have promised the winner's heart's desire and this is my one desire. If they feel I owe them, then it is there fault for promising a vague reward for a simple game."

"I could die in peace, but I would wish to live. When the final arrangements are made, then I can rest assured that, should I die in the process, the results will be taken care of. However, if the results are realized, then I should not want to die. My life would not end definitively, but I am not sure I could ever truly live again, should my desire be completely impossible. Not with the hole in my heart and the drive eliminated. I will be as good as dead, if not in body, then in spirit."

"It depends entirely on how the results play out. If my desire is realized in full, without twisting of my wishes, then they will celebrate. If I were to sacrifice more than I could give for a subpar or devastating or even painful result, I fear they shall despise me, though I have no basis for such a fear. With such a wide range of negative results, I am unsure of if I will be forgiven, nor if I should require forgiveness."

While parts of the truth may have been hidden, they were not lies. There was not a single falsehood in what the Socialite said and it was clear as day on their face.

Re: A Morbid Appointment

[ticktopis_observatorium]

The Professor is starting to understand... The details are telling enough, but they silently promised privacy, and they won't keep prying. They closed their eyes (there's an inner membrane, slightly out of sync with the eyelid) and sighed.

"Very well, you have the potential to win the Marvellous. In my case, the two most taxing parts of the setup were to force your rivals to desire again what they were willing to drop because of despair, just to rip it from their hands again. You will have to be hated, you will have to play unfairly, you will have to use any tool at your disposition to have them lose. If you can do it, then you will win. The Bazaar wants stories, after all, and if you will give a good one by accomplishing your Heart's Desire, yours will be the prize."

"Although, as a loser myself, I'll recommend you leave open other alternatives. And first of all: Inquire to ascertain if what you will ask is possible for the likes of the Masters. They are powerful, knowledgeable and have a complete disregard for the laws of nature, but all comes to a cost even to them. They may not be willing to pay it."

After this conversation, there's a friendly smile, standing up from the armchair and getting another, quite different document. A series of notebooks tied with rope, again with no name. "I can also offer you some leverage. Information I gathered and didn't need to use in the end, that may be useful for someone looking to reach where I was- And beyond, of course."

Re: A Morbid Appointment

[themorbidsocialite]

The Socialite stood as well, accepting the notes and humming. "Then I suppose the first question I should be asking you is if you know what the Masters are capable of? What can't they or won't they do, if you are free to say? What have they provided for other winners and how have they potentially altered the results?" In all honesty, it hadn't yet occurred to the Socialite that it would be the job of the Masters of the Bazaar to provide the winner their reward, that it was not simply a Law of the game or a simple fact of reality that the reward would be provided. Of course, someone would have to lose and someone would have to pay for there to be a winner with a provided reward.

Re: A Morbid Appointment

[ticktopis_observatorium]

The Professor frowned, rolled their eyes and sighed. "That's... A very good yet grievous question, my friend. I am aware of some cases, but given the very personal nature of the request, I'll keep them anonymous. Let's see..."

After some recalling and ordering of the thoughts, they start enunciating. "They are able to take a person several echelons higher or lower in the Chain of Being, via precisely batbiorangilogical surgery. I know someone requested for a child to be born with very definite traits and specific capabilities beyond any human. I know they can easily bestow immortality, or something close enough, for 'a reasonable extension of one's alotted time'. They can save someone from utter consumption and from the verge of a fate far worse than final death, with full recovery and no visible consequences in body or mind. Everything related with riches, properties and political power, of course. They can't provide love, on this they are adamant. And also it is said..."

This last part is said in the lowest tone audible for a fellow human being. "It is said someone requested the death of a Master, and it was bestowed... The details are lost to me, though."

Then, with a thoughtful silence, they added for greater effect. "And there's rumours, I haven't yet confirmed personally, and I can understand why... Of people whose loved ones died an unjust death under the Sun, and negotiated their return."

Re: A Morbid Appointment

[themorbidsocialite]

The briefest flicker of light crossed the Socialite's expression at the last part. It disappeared quickly, easily overcome by a simple nod and a hum as the Socialite held the notes closer. "That's quite a complex array of rewards. I believe, by some stretch of the imagination, that I might be able to find the methodology to my desires in their rank. Somehow." Something in what the Socialite said was a lie, but it was impossible to tell what.

"I thank you dearly for what you have offered me. I've a long way to go before I can even play, I realize, but this has taken me a hearty step further than I was before our conversation. Though, it is getting late. It was wonderful speaking with you and I anticipate our next meeting."

Re: A Morbid Appointment

[ticktopis_observatorium]

The Professor led Mori back to the entrance, once finished the conversation. It was completely unnecessary, the house wasn't big enough to get lost by far, but they were a good host-

An emphatic shake of the head, that word was starting to sit wrongly in their mind. They'll deal with that later. For now Mori was there, and them both had shared so much in so little time...

"I thank you for trusting me in such matter, and accepting my advice. I truly wish I could do more, but of course I wish you the best. It will be great to enjoy your company again soon. And- Oh!"

The interruption came in the form of two exhausted yet ecstatic furred predators pawing their way towards the end of the stairs right when the two gentlefriends reached the floor. Fur ruffled, panting, and with little hints of having caused material damage. One could call that a success!

"Ah, there you are little dears. Did you have a good time? Maybe I could get you wild ladies a well deserved treat." The Professor said briefly going to the kitchen and grabbing two different pots containing biscuit-looking pieces. Ones shaped like scarabs, other like spiders.

"There, do enjoy..." Offering Noa the scarabs and Tularemia the spiders. "A personal recipe, but most of them are made by commission. Noa's favourites are a biscuit pastry enriched with phosphorescent scarabs and meat broth. The spider-shaped ones are fully leathered meat, for the more delicate diets..." They explain after the precious predators get their share.

"See you soon, Mori. And- Ah! I almost forgot..." reaching towards the coffee table for the previously neglected petit-four, enjoying it right in that moment. "Mmh... A delightful choice, I will certainly go look for more." And with that and an offered handshake, the house's door is open for Mori to flee exit.

Re: A Morbid Appointment

[themorbidsocialite]

The handshake was interrupted by a yank, gentle, but insistent, pulling the Professor into a kiss. The Socialite kept it short, chaste, tempting, pulling back before either could get too deep. "I suppose my secondary plans can wait. Thank you for having me, Professor, and I will see you in class."

With that, the Socialite left, traipsing down the steps with a new plan and, with luck, a new ally.

Re: A Morbid Appointment

[ticktopis_observatorium]

The Professor was kissed entirely by surprise, yet didn't attempt no avoid it in the slightest. Perplexed, looking at Mori go, their hand softly reached towards their lips. They of course were capable of blushing, despite the scales making it hard to notice, and their face definitely radiated warmth. An amused half-smile finally appeared, once they returned back home and closed the door.

"It seems I'm quite the stunning cadaver after all..." The announce to anyone in particular, reaching to pet Noa lovingly.

"And how was my joyous little thing, my soft cutie, you predatorial trickster, fluffy dear who-"

The cuddly session is cut short once the disastrous state of one carpet, shredded and frayed by excited tiny yet powerful claws.

"You barbaric beasts!"