[Moscow] Problems have solutions (Varya)

"Do you know any healing spells?" If she had paid any attention in Melioration, Alla should know more than enough to stop her fingers from bleeding, to keep her wounds clean, to heal without scars. But if this was more than an occasional extracurricular activity for her former student, then she might have other problems. She had read about muggles having problems similar to this because of having to prick their fingers so often. Pain issues mainly, but eventually their fingers wouldn't be as useful for drawin blood. There's another issue she could help with.

The bird was soon nestled inside it's box once more, but Varya wasn't payimg it too much attention to it at the moment. Alla's finger was still bleeding. There might be a requirement to use her own blood but that didn't make the toll it took on Alla's body any less important. "May I?" Varya asked, indicating towards Alla's outstretched hand. Alla might know how to patch herself up but Varya was sure that the healing received from an actual healer would be welcome assistance.

She swirled her glass of vodka idly with her non-wand hand, searching Alla for any other oobvious outward signs of illness. It wasn't anything Varya could detect with her eyes if there was anything there. "I've been thinking," she said as casually as possible, still swirling around the liquid in her glass, "there's the Wolfsbane potion for werewolves, which helps lessen their symptoms. Various things that can't be helped. Have you looked into something similar, but for necromancy rather than lycanthropy?" Varya was nearly certain there wasn't already a potion like that and she hopd that Alla couldn't prove her wrong. It would be a great potion, especially if Varya was the one to hold the patent.

The pigeon drew her attention once more, and Varya couldn't help but admire this work that was done. Of course, the healer wasn't exactly the first in line to compliment people, especially those that had put themselves into iffy situations not twenty minutes before.

If she knew any healing spells? Varvara herself had taught Alla some at Durmstrang but naturally the younger witch had improved her skills since these days. As an aspiring Necromancer the girl needed to be pretty good at healing spells. While she felt mildly irritated by the question, the Klyk Vampira graduate didn't want to let that show. "Of course I do," she said with a smile.

While she felt that she had to explain herself, Alla felt awkward about telling her former professor that she quite often got too immersed in Necromantic magic to actually care about a bleeding finger or anything as trivial as that. The girl was not particularly afraid of the possible health concerns that might come up as a result of her projects. Raising her eyebrows a little at her question, Alla just shrugged. "Sure, if it bothers you. I can also seal the cut myself..." her voice trailed off as she looked at the bleeding finger. Maybe this cut was slightly deeper than she usually pricked herself.

As Varvara spoke again, Alla took her second glass of vodka and took a sip. The older woman's thoughts on a potion for Necromancers was interesting. It would come in handy but then again she could always just use strengthening potions, potions against infections, minerals and all that stuff. "Well," Alla began thoughtfully, "I know some potions that help mostly with the symptoms of extensive Necromancy work... and I can do something about an iron deficiency and I can use other minerals and vitamins and things like that... and, of course, seal the cuts magically... I don't know about a potion that helps with all symptoms though."

Alla saw that Varya looked at the pigeon again and she smiled fondly. "I think I'll keep it..." she said, thinking that it must be clear to Varvara what she was talking about. "I'd just need to make it pretty again. With all the blood and the dishevelled feathers it doesn't look too great."

“It very much bothers me,” Varya answered. Stopping a bleeding wound was something they taught in the first week of school, let alone to someone who had taken years of Melioration beforehand. Watching blood drip from a cut that could easily be fixed was not her top choice of entertainment. Varya took Alla’s bleeding hand and stretched it a little further so that she could comfortably hold it, palm facing up, in her own outstretched palm. She held the tip of her wand centimeters from Alla’s fingertip. She hadn’t needed to use this spell verbally since her first year of shadowing; she repeated the word Episkey to herself, focusing on the cut.

Varya was more than taken aback when the cut didn’t instantly heal itself. She hadn’t failed with that spell in, well, decades, especially on what was supposed to be such a minor injury. She didn’t think that her shock was too obvious on her face, but just in case, she made an effort to relax her features as she looked up to Alla. She merely frowned, narrowing her eyes, before focusing on the cut once more. This time, she used a spell that was more suited for more serious injuries, such as deep puncture wounds or complete lacerations. She watched as the blood flow stopped and the skin patched itself up. She added another quick spell on top to stop any scarring from starting, which, now that Varya was able to inspect Alla’s hand closely, Alla had not always used.

She sat back, releasing Alla’s hand, and taking her glass of vodka and holding it with both hands, her wand lying to the side of her right hand. She took a sip as Alla did, but now her mind was more focused on her new potion than the drink in front of her. “What if,” she began, starting to think out loud, “this potion did everything. Healed cuts after a certain amount of time or blood loss.” Varya was looking down into her vodka as she spoke, the swirling liquid helping her think. “It could focus specifically on your hands. You take it, and then it helps sterilize your hands before you even start cutting them, will keep them clean throughout, and then patch them up.” Varya nodded, more to herself than to her companion.

“There might even be a way to isolate all the necessary-for-you elements in your blood and not let those escape,” she added as soon as she had the thought. Those necessary things like those that Alla had mentioned, iron and other vitamins and minerals. There were existing potions that isolated different components of the blood, but that was once the blood was outside the body. But surely, Varya would be able to figure out how to make this work. She was, after all, brilliant.

Varya suddenly looked up and glanced side to side, very aware that people could be overhearing her as she spoke. It wasn’t unheard of in the potioneering community for ideas to be stolen and passed off as someone else’s. She simply nodded as she looked back to Alla. “New pet?” Varya asked, smiling slightly. She wasn’t yet aware of Burmin as she didn’t exactly make it a priority to know the personal lives of all her former students. “Might be a little less distracting if it wasn’t covered in blood, yes,” she smiled again, this time adding a hint of a smirk.

“Now, what I really want to know is,” she started again, “is what you were trying to do with the pigeon in the first place? Going into that store, I know that much.” It wasn’t that hard to deduce once she had found the actual bird. "But then what?” Her face held an expression akin to “You owe me an explanation” without her actually having to voice the words.

To Alla it was strange that it bothered Varya that Alla's finger was still bleeding. It didn't hurt, the loss of blood wasn't immense so what was the problem? She often forgot to heal the cuts after she got the amount of blood she needed for Necromantic magic. She allowed the healer to take her hand and seal the cut anyway. After all, she could not keep it bleeding for much longer or she'd spoil her clothes.

She watched as Varya pointed her wand at her finger, thinking that it took her rather long to seal the cut. Admittedly Alla needed more than one attempt lately as well. Nonetheless the young witch never really thought about what she was doing to her body, her health. Infections were possible, scars were already visible and the many experiments had already weakened her. She knew that she was exhausted after an act of Necromantic magic but she was oblivious to the fact that she was weaker than she had been and that recovery took her longer now.

"Hmm..." Alla made, looking at Varya thoughtfully. Of course, a potion that did all these things would be amazing and very helpful indeed. However, she did not believe that it was really possible to create such a potion. However, she was no expert. While she was good at Melioration and decent at Alchemy, she had barely dealt with these branches of magic after her graduation.

"While I believe that it would be good for the Necromancer to keep all the necessary elements in their blood, they might be missing when it comes to the Necromantic magic. I would believe that it might make the magic weaker." She shrugged, not entirely sure about what she had just said but feeling that there was probably truth to it. In fact, the young Necromancer wasn't too convinced that her efforts were worth the same if she were made as easy as Varya had described.

Alla smiled as the older witch mentioned the new pet. "Yes, I think so. You know, dead pets are easy to keep. You don't need to think about food for them, you do not need to clean their mess... it's very pleasant to keep a dead and animated pet. I still have an owl, a living one that is, but I think if I manage to animate this pigeon so it can even deliver letters then I can get rid of that bird..." She giggling softly now. To be honest she was not entirely serious about that. She could hardly make the pigeon to fly out of sight and still control it.

The girl shrugged. "Oh, I wanted to see through the bird what they kept on the first floor. The shopkeeper apparently thought me too young to grant me access. So I thought I'd show him by using the bird to look around. While pigeons are not all that great at transporting things from one place to another I think I..." her voice trailed off as a couple approached a nearby table. Then she continued in a whisper. "I thought maybe the pigeon could get me at least one little item from there... as a kind of revenge..."

"Hmm, maybe you're right," she conceded, however still determined to come up with something. This was too good an opportunity to pass up. Besides, she was the potions expert here, not Alla. Not to mention that Varya valued her own opinion above everyone else's at all time, anyway. Still, Alla knew more about Necromancy than Varya had ever cared to, so maybe she was right about some of the things she said. "I'm going to start experiment around anyway," she decided. "It's always a good time for a new project. I can keep you updated on any progress if you'd like?" Varya hoped she would say yes; after all, she needed someone to test the potion on.

Varya couldn't help but smile when Alla talked about how much easier dead pets were than live ones. No food or mess, but yet, still dead. Everyone had their preferences, it seemed. The way that Alla talked made it seem that she had other dead pets, but Varya didn't feel the need to ask about that just now. Hopefully, they would have other opportunities in the future to talk about Alla's other pet projects.

"Maybe next time just possess the shopkeeper," she half-heartedly suggested, a smirk on her lips. Varya had to admit that the overall idea of the pigeon and the infiltration and the revenge had merit, and she thought that Alla wouldn't wait too long before attempting it again. "Maybe the next time you try the pigeon method, though, aim for the street to be a little less crowded. And maybe wait for the shopkeeper to not be there," she added, thinking that should have been an obvious choice from the start.

Varya looked around, noting that the sun was starting to set on the street outside their window. "I really should be heading out," she concluded, inching her glass towards her. "I have a potion on that needs to be tended to in about an hour," she said, picking up her glass and draining it. She stood up, grabbing her coat draped across the back of her chair and pulling it on. "I'll be in touch, Alla, but please feel free to contact me beforehand if you need anything at all. I'm staying in Vladivostok," she mentioned, in case she hadn't heard that she was no longer teaching at Durmstrang. She looked down at the box of dead bird as she pulled her bag onto her shoulder, then looked one final time at Alla. "Be careful." With that, she nodded and headed out the door into the crowd. Once she found a more secluded spot, she turned on her heel and apparated home.

Alla only realised that she had been a little discouraging when she heard Varvara's reply. It had not been her intention and although Varya was still determined to go ahead with the potion, Alla felt a little guilty. "I'd appreciate if you kept me updated," the girl quickly said when the older witch offered that. However, Alla was not sure she wanted a potion that helped so much. What she loved about Necromancy was that it was intense, that it required more dedication than most other branches of magic. It was intriguing that it was nothing for the weak. She liked that it was challenging, even dangerous at times.

Thoughtfully Alla nodded when Varya suggested she should possess the shopkeeper next time. "Yeah, that would be a good thing and I'd love to try it. However, human possession is rather tricky." She wasn't sure if Varvara had been all serious with her suggestion or if she wanted to hear any details about it but possession was a topic that fascinated Alla more than just a little. "Thing is, as soon as a human being realises that there's someone trying to intrude their conscience, the build up a strong resistance which is... a little... dangerous for the Necromancer."

"And I don't think I'll try intruding the shop using the pigeon again. There are definitely better methods. This one was just a spontaneous idea." She grinned, thinking that this spontaneous thought had been rather good.

As Varvara said that she had to leave, Alla quickly emptied her glass of vodka as well. She was not going to stay at this bar alone. The barkeeper would probably approach the table again and see that there was not a spilled potion but really blood on the table. As Varya stood, Alla got to her feet as well.

The healer's last words sounded somehow like a promise and the young Necromancer smiled. It was good to know that there was someone she could ask for help if needed, especially if it was someone she respected. "Thank you so much for your help today," the girl said. "I'd really like to stay in touch. Goodbye."

She watched the older witch leave and then picked up the box with the dead pigeon and followed her outside. Although she was only about a minute later, Varvara had already disappeared from view. Alla, not feeling quite strong enough to apparate yet, walked slowly home, scheming her revenge on the shopkeeper.