[moscow] live it once, can't live it twice [alla]

Out of the corner of her eye Alla had seen that Varvara had stepped back. Maybe it had not been a good idea to reanimate her dead brother, after all? She could have demonstrated her skills on a corpse that meant nothing to either of them. However, now it was too late for such qualms and the thought vanished about as quickly as it had occurred.

Alla noticed that her former professor fastened the sheet around his waist. How could she have forgotten that Venyamin Stepanovich wasn't properly dressed? Now that was awkward. While she didn't consider it wrong to mess with dead people the way she did, she didn't want to expose them to ridicule to such an extent as to let them wander naked through the morgue, other people facing them that way and most likely they'd remain in their living relatives memories that way rather than how they had been when they had last seen them living...

"I'm sorry," Alla muttered her apologies, unaware that Varvara might have no idea why she was apologising at all.

The question what Venyamin Stepanovich could do was a tricky one. He could do anything that was restricted to natural body movements. He could not talk, not eat or anything like that. However, he could walk, could sit, could carry things... However, how was she to explain this to his sister?

As she still contemplated what she should answer, Varvara asked her if she was alright and Alla nodded. It was not that she actually felt alright but this was definitely not a moment for her to be aware of that. "Sure," she said in a hushed voice, "why?" Her gaze wandered from the animated corpse to her former professor and she offered a weak smile.

"He can move through the room, carry things... Basically I can make him do the kind of things that Burmin does for me too..." Her voice trailed off, a headache was building up and she blinked a few times. Yet, Alla was not willing to surrender. On the contrary, the witch tried to focus and summoned Burmin. Once the skeleton and Venyamin Stepanovich were facing each other, she made them shake hands. While she was as pale as the sheet around Varvara's brother's waist now, the young necromancer smiled a smug little smile. This was really advanced magic she was demonstrating. Animating a skeleton and a corpse and letting them interact was really not an easy thing to do.

Alla was nodding that she was alright, but that is certainly not what it looked like. "Why?" Varya repeated her question back to her, not expecting Alla to actually offer her an answer. It should be obvious why she was asking. Never mind that Alla was now whispering, had become even paler in the past few seconds, and her face had a very apparent look of pain upon it that even a woman who hadn't been practicing healing for fifteen years would have been able to spot. She narrowed her eyes at the witch, studying her face as Alla looked up at her, pursing her lips as she did so.

She could change the subject if wanted; Varya would bring the conversation back around to her health with no issues. She took a step back, keeping her eyes on Alla though she was talking about her brother once more. The healer nodded, finally looking away to watch Venya and Burmin shake hands. That was incredibly impressive, yes, but as Varya looked back to Alla, she could not help but wonder if this was what any grieving family would be wanting to see. "Go through what you would do if this was a stranger," she said slowly with a small nod. She wanted to see how Alla's countenance held up through the whole thing. It wouldn't do to pass out while trying to help a family cope with the loss of a dearly beloved family member.

Varya stepped back towards her brother, getting as close to him and the skeleton as she could in order to examine them a bit better. Hopefully Alla would feel more comfortable with her a little farther away; their last meeting had started with Varya helping an unconscious Alla off the street after attempting magic that probably wasn't this involved. It would only be a matter of time before it would happen again, and then Alla would see that Varya would be able to provide the help that she wasn't willing to ask for.

She was sort of relieved that he wouldn't be able to do too many realistic things. The woman had never liked her brother much when he did things when he was living and she doubted that she would like him doing them any more now that he was dead. Her gaze shifted towards Alla, and even though Varya was waiting for the girl to pass out, she couldn't help but smile when she saw the accomplished expression on her face.

Alla didn't really hear that Varvara repeated the question. It took all concentration she could muster to keep the corpse of Venyamin Stepanovich and Burmin under control. Her mouth felt fuzzy and dry now while there were sweat pearls glistening on her forehead. Deciding that she could not keep this up for very much longer she let Burmin retreat to a corner where the skeleton froze, standing there until his master would call him again.

What did Varvara mean by that she should go through what she would do if Venyamin Stepanovich was a stranger? To her the man was a stranger. She was not sure what she wanted to make him do. In fact, the business idea she had had was a fancy dinner in memory of the recently deceased family member where the animated corpse joined the family to sit with them. Of course the corpse would not eat or drink or even speak with the others but he could shake hands, give hugs and just allow the family to say a proper goodbye to him.

Could Alla explain that to Varvara? The older witch did not want to hug her brother and probably would not even shake his hand if offered. There was no table they could sit at, no ceremony they could go through. The young necromancer felt too feeble to voice all these thoughts though. She felt dizzy and unsteady. However, she fought the already obvious exhaustion and tried to keep going.

Venyamin Stepanovich's movements became a little still, not matching the natural movements Alla had been able to produce earlier. The girl felt like she needed a glass of water. Although she wasn't sure that she'd be able to manage this, she made Venyamin Stepanovich make a few steps, take a glass and pour some water from a bottle. As she did so her sight faded out. The Klyk graduate leaned against the table, feeling unable to proceed with her magic. The first consequence was that the corpse spilled the entire contents of the water bottle on the shelf, soaking several items that were stored there. Then the bottle fell out of his hand and Varvara's dead brother began to sway.

Alla knew what was coming but she could not help it. She was breathing hard now, the exhaustion was too much and yet she wanted to try and let Venyamin Stepanovich take a seat before the corpse would collapse on the stone floor and possible get damaged. The corpse stumbled forward. He barely reached the chair when Alla lost control over him and the corpse collapsed onto the seat almost missing it and slipping off the edge of the chair.

Varya saw Alla faltering, saw the signs of exhaustion before they manifested themselves in Alla's magic. She was no longer paying attention to her brother, much more concerned with those in the room who were still living. "That's enough," she stated, though her words either went unnoticed or were ignored. She didn't want to intervene until it was absolutely necessary, still wanting to see all the possible consequences of this magic, but the urge to step in was getting stronger, especially as Alla leaned into the table, apparently using whatever energy she had left to keep Venya upright.

Her attentions turned back to the other happenings in the room, but only because the spilled water bottle had rolled across the floor into the healer's foot. She glanced down, quickly restoring the bottle to the closest surface with a flick of her wand. She kept her wand at the ready; if Alla was going to collapse again, Varya was going to be prepared for it. There was a loud thud, though Varya kept her eyes trained on Alla. Venya was already dead and of much less value to her now.

"Sit," she told the young witch, bringing a chair up behind her. Only once she was sure that Alla was following through with her instructions did Varya look to the corpse on the floor. He was at an awkward angle by the chair, but she didn't stare at him in contemplation for more than a couple seconds. She lifted him up and back onto the table with ease, recovering him with his sheet, good as new. "Alla," she said firmly, taking a step towards her. "That was quite good," she started with as much of a compliment as she could muster. "Any more, however, and you'd be unconscious, which I assume is not what you want."

She drummed her fingers on the metal table next to her, thinking for a minute about the different routes she could go with her potion. There would be lots of things to try, for sure; at least seven new ideas had sprung up as possible options to explore. "I'd like for you to be successful. No reason you can't use a little help." The help she was referring to, of course, was the potion she had yet to create. But in a few months, sooner if she had a proper laboratory, she would have something she could try. Alla just needed to be willing to try. "Let me help."

As if from far away Alla heard that the older witch asked her to sit. She was breathing hard and shaking slightly. The world around her appeared to be spinning. Her vision faded in and out. The young necromancer felt sweat pearls run tickling down her spine and also some moistening her forehead. When she felt the edge of the chair touch the back of her legs, the young woman sank down on it, barely able to keep seated upright. She leaned back closing her eyes and trying to breathe normally again. Her pulse was fast now as her body fought against the undeniable signs of exhaustion.

Alla barely noticed that Varvara was getting her brother's body back onto the table, recovering him with his sheet. Although the healer's voice still sounded pretty distant, Alla realised that she was talking to her. She nodded weakly, not sure what she was really agreeing to. "I'm sorry," she said automatically. Her thoughts were blurred and she felt unable to focus on figuring out what to say. She was shivering from the sweat that cooled her exhausted body. The room itself was not heated either so the damp clothes made her feel cold and uncomfortable.

When the older witch said that she wanted her to be successful, Alla turned her head to look at her. It was strange to hear these words after this disastrous example of a necromancy experiment gone wrong. She smiled weakly, trying to find the proper response to that.

"I'd appreciate that very much," Alla whispered. Her mouth was so dry now that she could barely speak. However, she did not feel like getting herself a glass of water anymore after her previous failed attempt and asking Varvara did not even come to her mind.

"If there is a way to make this all easier, I'd really like that." The girl admitted, turning her pale face down to look at the floor instead of keeping eye contact. "The problem is that I don't really know how... how you could help me. How a potion could help with that... If you do though, I'm happy to try." While Alla had been rather good at Alchemy and Melioration in school she was still far away from being a potioneer. She could follow recipes and create known potions. Creating an entirely new potion though, one that could help her with her experiments, was more than just a challenge. It seemed like an impossible task to her. Nonetheless she liked to believe that Varvara was skilled enough to develop something that could be of use for her.

"Don't apologize." It was unbecoming to apologize for performing such an advanced magic, though she supposed she appreciated the gesture anyway. Still, Alla was far more advanced than what she had seen in the top Necromancy class at Durmstrang. She only offered a nod as Alla expressed her appreciation, her gaze narrowed as she continued to watched for any sign that she would slip into unconsciousness. She hesitated before taking her eyes off her, though it was only for a few seconds as she sifted through her purse to find just the vial of potion she was looking for.

It was one of the same that she had given to the younger woman on their last meeting, when she had found her unconscious in the street. She would either need to start sending Alla a regular supply of it or have a few remedial lessons so that she could brew her own. Even if one wasn't constantly performing dangerous experiments that brought oneself to the brink of exhaustion, knowing how to brew a general wellness potion was an invaluable skill. She handed the vial to her wordlessly, watching to make sure she unstoppered it and swallowed the bottle's contents.

Varya gave a very noncommittal shrug of her shoulders, not worried the least bit that Alla couldn't offer any ideas of her own. "Leave the potion ideas to me," she said assuredly, feeling that now was not the time to tell her that there would be plenty of back and forth between them in the coming months as Varya figured out the perfect draught for her.

"Now, I have important business to attend to." She took a final glance towards the sheet-covered body on the table, remembering the original reason she was in this funeral home in the first place. "Shall we go with the most cost effective method?" She asked, motioning to her brother. "Send me a bill and I will be in touch regarding scheduling of services." She added a curt nod, turning her attentions back to the witch in front of her. "And I will send you another dose of that potion as soon as I return home." Varya nodded again before turning on her heel and exiting back the way she came.

Alla felt the need for fresh air but knew that her legs were still too shaky to carry her anywhere. She barely heard when Varvara told her not to apologise. Trying to breathe calmly the young witch closed her eyes. While she kind of liked the fact that Necromancy was nothing for the weak, she sometimes found her experiments a little too straining anyway.

When the older witch handed her the vial, Alla reached for it, her fingers trembling slightly as she held it to her mouth and drank it. The effects of the potion were immediate and yet the girl could not deny that she still needed some rest. She felt exhausted still but at least her pulse was getting normal again and she was not feeling quite so dizzy anymore.

She nodded and offered a grateful smile as Varvara assured her that she'd come up with ideas for the potion. "That sounds good," she muttered weakly.

Surprise was written all over the Klyk Vampira graduate's face when the former professor announced that she had important business to attend to. This came so sudden. She listened to all the older woman said and nodded along. "Yeah, sure, that's fine. I'll owl you all the details and everything," she responded. "And thank you so much. That really kind and helps a lot."

She was just about to voice that she'd accompany the other witch out when Varvara already turned around and left her behind. "Goodbye," she whispered, watching the woman disappear.

[end]