How fickle my heart and how woozy my eyes [Amaranth]

Long days got boring after a while, they sometimes seemed to drag on and on ad infinitum and Seva hated when that happened. She was working herself ragged and it was starting to show. That morning she could have sworn that she saw a gray hair sticking out of her messy bun and spent at least three quarters of an hour looking for any other flaws in the mirror. Her session ended when she decided that she thought she saw the tiniest wrinkle next to her right eye and couldn’t bring herself to conduct a further inspection. It depressed her to no end. She was late to clinical as a consequence and almost missed her first rotation of that module. In other words, she was already having a bad day at eight in the morning and had many more hours left in the day.

Her day had gotten off to a bad start and ended up getting much worse. She got puked on by someone who’d taken an elixir that was improperly mixed and hadn’t brought a change of robes. The puke still had potion in it that burned a hole in her robes and she couldn’t charm it closed for whatever reason – perhaps something in the potion itself. Then she was on the magical creature incident ward and had to hold someone’s leg while another healer charmed a particularly nasty wound closed. The process took quite some time and for its duration, Seva really had to go to the bathroom but couldn’t move an inch lest something go wrong with the charm.On her lunch she realized that she hadn’t bought one and when she flooed home, saw that she didn’t have anything in the fridge or in her pantry. She also didn’t have any money on her and ran out of time so she couldn’t go to Gringotts. Her day got progressively worse after she got back, but she was trying not to think of all that had happened to her so she wouldn’t get too depressed. Let’s just say it was a bad day.

Having quit her job at the potions shop, Seva had more time to dedicate to the menagerie and relished spending all of her free time there – even if it meant she didn’t get paid for the extra time. She loved it there, she really did. There was always something to do and the animals were endless entertainment. Seva could stay there all day if she didn’t love her career and want to explore it further. If only she could do both, perhaps be an animal healer. The only problem with that is that she also wanted to work with plants which would make her a healer botanist menagerie worker and that is too many hats for a girl with such a small head to wear.

Seva was sitting not next to but in the crup enclosure and was at present completely covered by the puppies, most of which were curled up in her lap. The others were alternately gnawing on her hands and pouncing on each other. It was pure chaos, but she was loving it oh so much. She was hoping that no customers came in before she had time to crawl out and look halfway presentable. At least she’d have time to change into a simple forest green v neck Henley top and Bermuda shorts when she got to work. She always kept a change of clothes in the back room so she didn’t have to go home before work. Considering she was thinking about moving to Dublin, perhaps that was a good idea.

Given how her day was going, she was worried that her shirt wasn’t going to be dry for long. So far, however, she’d gotten lucky. Perhaps being in a place she loved had improved her luck tenfold. Maybe things just worked out that way from positive energy and the like. Seva would like to think that and was trying to maintain a positive attitude. Just then, the bell on the door rang and Seva cringed, looking down at her lap and realizing that she was trapped under a pile of crup. She couldn’t move at the moment as they were all sleeping, so she fixed a winning smile on her face and turned her attention to the door.

Amaranth didn't get many days off. She spent most of her time on jobs or holed up in her house prepping for a job. Not to mention how much shop work she had to do. Things were just getting so hectic and she barely had time to catch her breath, but that was just the way she liked it. Even when she was running herself ragged, the feeling of being busy calmed her. Strange as it seemed, Amaranth worked best when she had something to focus on, when she had no room for silly thoughts. She liked being busy, having a purpose, having something she could physically be doing so that at the end of the day she was too tired to destroy anything, accidentally or not.

But today was a good day. It was a relaxing day. It had been a while since Amaranth had been able to walk down Diagon Alley without rushing somewhere clutching a long list of errands. In fact, she was done with her work at Stringfellow's Jewelry and she had some time before she had to get home to study up on the next job she was taking. Leonidas was wrapped around her waist, his head nestled in the stomach pouch of her slightly loose overalls. She was pretty sure she looked oddly pregnant or something, but she wasn't overly concerned with what other people thought about the way she looked. She was dressed like a child, which she so seldom got to do. Heehee, I feel like a kangaroo. Amaranth patted his head softly, feeling his heartbeat against her hip. What would she do without her snakes? She'd be so terribly lonely all the time. She'd probably have gone crazy years ago. It was so nice to be able to have them with her when she left the house. It was a comfort, like they were her little bodyguards. She chuckled slightly. A bodyguard with bodyguards.

She was walking down the sidewalk, keeping close to the shops and away from the busy streets. Her mind was off on a cloud somewhere when she felt a tug on her waist. Leonidas had woken up and his head was sticking out the side of her overalls. "What iss it?" Amaranth asked in a low voice. Her back straightened and she listened closely for any strange noises, but it was so loud. People were everywhere. Were they being followed? Was there danger afoot? Was she going to have to stab someone in the middle of the street? She stabbed someone yesterday and wasn't terribly in the mood to do it again so soon. But she could strangle.

Leonidas seemed to be pulling her into a shop off to the side. Amaranth got up on her tiptoes and felt the wooden sign hanging above the door. Weird...or...Wonderful. The menagerie? Amaranth had heard there was one here, but she hadn't been there yet. She was about to ask what the problem was when she heard a soft reptilian voice moaning inside. She stepped through the door and walked straight toward the voice. The floor was a little uneven and Amaranth treaded carefully, allowing Leonidas to pull her in the right direction, stopping her in front of a terrarium on the wall. There was someone else in the shop, sitting on the floor to her right, but she ignored the person, opening the terrarium lid and sticking her hand in.

"Don't bite me please," she said softly, her fingers brushing the head of a rather large ball python. "Is something the matter?" She pulled the heavy snake out of the terrarium and allowed him to wrap around her arm. She could feel his bones through his skin, he was so thin. He held his mouth open and Amaranth gently stuck her finger inside. The left side felt hard and swollen, as if something was caught there. It felt like there was a splinter lodged near one of his fangs. Damn. "Can you help?" the python asked, sounding rather frustrated. Amaranth sighed heavily. She really couldn't.

Amaranth turned to the person who seemed to be surrounded by small, sleeping furry things. "Excuse me. Do you work here? This python has a splinter in his mouth and it seems very painful. Please see to it?"

Seva gulped. She’d watched the scene unfold with curiosity and a little awkwardness. She admired the gall of the girl to march into her shop and open one of her terrariums without even bothering to ask. The girl, or woman – Seva couldn’t tell her age by her size or her dress  - seemed very comfortable around the snakes. A lot more comfortable than Seva was herself, she loved animals but reptiles sometimes made her skin crawl a little bit. There was something strange about how the snakes undulated as they moved that unnerved her. That and she was once almost strangled, recently, by the same snake that the girl was holding.

Well, that explained why. Seva heaved a heavy, wary sigh and began the work of extricating herself from crup mountain. One had squirmed its way up to her forehead and was dangling precariously and another was on her shoulder. She wasn’t sure how they’d gotten up there but at this point she didn’t care. She was frazzled to the point of high anxiety and thoroughly embarrassed that one of her charges was in pain and that she’d let such a thing happens. Sometimes things just caught up to you that way. She was so busy that she’d been inattentive to some of her animals, especially the ones she didn’t like all that much.

Seva was finally able to stand and sat up slowly because she’d been sitting so long and she could feel her bones creaking and her muscles protested. Pins and needles shot up her feet and she shook them loudly, her bare feet knocking against the plexiglass of the pen. She hopped over the wall and strode over the girl, taking her hands off the snake none too gently and holding the snake gingerly in her hands.

“Well, I happen to be a healer so I can most certainly help.”

Seva took the snake over to the counter and held its head gently in one hand and pulled a pair of tweezers out of a drawer with another. She squinted as she tried to zero in on the piece of wood that was lodged in the snake’s gums, feeling terrible all the while. She was beating herself up for being inadvertently neglectful and was doing her best not to get upset. With a swift motion so as not to prolong the snake’s suffering she pulled out the splinter and put the tweezers down to reach for a cotton ball out of the drawer.

Suddenly the snake writhed out of her hand onto the floor, then snaked its way up her ankles and wound its way around her legs. She yelped in pain as its grip got tighter around her and she tried her best to pull it off of her. How’s that for revenge? Seva was about to topple over and had both hands out behind her on the counter for support. The muscles in her arms were rippling with the effort and she was using her thighs to try to pull her legs apart to no avail.

“Uhh, a little help here?” She asked, obviously in distress. “You might be angry with me for not being a better caretaker but you could at least help and then leave.”

The woman seemed to dig her way out of the pile of furry things and get to her feet. Amaranth listened to the quiet sound of bare feet hopping across the floor, then footsteps making their way towards her. The woman was small, probably about the same weight as Amaranth, judging by the way the floor creaked with each step. The woman got closer and two hands closed around the snake, lifting him out of her hands. Amaranth could hear the woman breathing near her ears, confirming the fact that she was around the same height as Amaranth was.

Amaranth followed the woman to the counter, listening as she set the snake down and took out some metal appliances. The snake was hissing, writhing unhappily as the woman handled him. He was just in a foul mood and did not want anyone touching him. Leonidas poked his head out of her overalls, watching what was happening on the table. "The good doctor lookss like she knows what sshes's going. Doessn't help that he doessn't like being handled, though."

It sounded like the woman was able to get the splinter out quickly. Impressive. But there wasn't much time to rejoice as the snake made a move, his belly scales hitting the floor. The women let out a noise and called for help. Amaranth rolled her eyes. She wasn't mad. And neither was that snake. He would let go in a second... But a few more seconds passed and it appeared he really was mad. Damn.

Amaranth knelt down and felt the women's legs. The snake had wrapped himself around her legs and was squeezing with extreme prejudice. "Let her go," Amaranth ordered, trying to pry him off her legs. He seemed hell-bent on making this woman pay. Amaranth couldn't even get her fingers around his body, he was squeezing so tight. At this rate, the blood vessels would burst and she would lose feeling in her legs, and the snake was big enough to cause some real damage. Amaranth was not one to save a human over a snake, especially not one who was being kept as a pet to be sold, but it was an honest mistake. "A hungry, angry snake will do crazy things," she muttered, trying to get a hold on the snake around the woman's legs.

"Help me," Amaranth hissed at Leonidas. The albino snake hissed irately and slithered down her wrist and and disappeared behind the woman's legs, where he ball python's head was. Amaranth heard Leonidas threaten to bite him. There was a slight second of hesitation and then the snake's body finally loosened. Amaranth unwrapped his thick body from the woman and pulled him off her with relative ease. The black mamba was one of the most venomous snakes in the world. The python was right to fear Leonidas's bite.

She held the python firmly as she brought him back to his terrarium and placed him inside. She felt a little bad that he was going to have to live there until someone bought him like he was a piece of meat. Amaranth didn't know how other animals felt, but she knew that snakes didn't like being kept if they weren't treated just right. Leonidas slithered up and hung himself around Amaranth's neck. She gave his head a quick, light kiss and cuddled her cheek against him. She then walked back to the woman. The one who had just seen her talk to snakes. On one hand, Amaranth could just leave right now and never see her again, but she did want to know if the woman was okay. She was probably fine, but it would definitely bruise.

"Are you okay?"

The whole ordeal was over in no time, but it was particularly painful all the same.  Seva could feel the bones in her legs protesting and her muscles were screaming. Just her luck, her day was getting worse by the second. Not only did she have a snake wrapped around her bottom half, but she had a customer complaining her to about something he had no control over. It was probably one of the other employees, Hugo or Elaine who had overlooked the issue. Seva hadn’t been in for a few days since she was visiting family over the weekend and before that she tried not to deal with the snakes if she could help it. She did feel guilty but all guilt was out of her mind at the moment. She was wincing and whimpering like the crup puppies at this point and tried not to be too surprised when another snake wound its way out of the girls pocket and slithered across the floor.

The snake, black mamba by the look of it, slithered away and disappeared behind girl and snake and she heard frantic hissing that sounded like gobbledegook to her. The other young woman was hissing too, though and there seemed to be and understanding between the two snakes and the girl. Seva dismissed any preconceived notions out of her mind for the time being and was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief when she was released by the python. Immediately, she crumpled in a heap to the floor, her back sliding against the varnished wall of the counter. Seva couldn’t catch her breath at first and reached down to pull up the leg of her shorts past her knee. 

There were deep grooves in her calves, around her knees and her thighs where the snake had put the most pressure. Nothing was broken though; she could feel that much at the moment. There would definitely be bruises the next morning and she was hoping she didn’t need to dig her grandfather’s shillelagh out of the back of the closet. She felt so weak and her legs were practically thrumming, they hurt so badly. Seva was trembling and wished she hadn’t left her wand in her robes so she could find some way to dull the pain. She wasn’t moving anywhere any time soon.

“I’ll be okay, nothing’s broken.” Seva looked up forlornly at the woman and her breath came out in a faint rattle as she was still pretty shaken up. “Thanks for asking. Now, if you wouldn’t mind helping me up – I want to see if I can stand.”

It was quite the humbling experience having to rely on someone you don’t even know for help, especially one who’d just witnessed your embarrassment. Seva was blushing fiercely and her eyes were almost welling with tears. She was close to crying from the pain, but she was doing her best to not be a baby. She tried to get up herself but only ended up sliding further down onto the floor and immediately quit trying. Could this day possibly get any worse She thought to herself and without warning, reached over and backhanded the counter which  shot pain through her arm momentarily and took her mind off her legs. A resounding crack rang out throughout the shop which sent wings fluttering into the air throughout the shop.

Distress over, Amaranth let out a sigh and stopped in front of the woman. "That's good. And I wouldn't blame yourself too much, that snake is a little bad-tempered. Might I suggest adding more sand and dirt to his terrarium rather than twigs? Some snakes are rather indiscriminate about what they put in their mouth." Amaranth didn't know why she was being so nice to the girl. Perhaps it was because she sensed a kindred spirit in her-- it was likely that they both liked animals and she appeared to be truly concerned about their welfare-- or perhaps it was because she was also very short. It seemed like everyone she met recently was at least a head taller than her. Amaranth couldn't imagine how difficult it would be if she was even a little taller. It was hard enough keeping track of her limbs as it was, and tall people tended to be too clumsy to sneak through the night absolutely silently. They made bad thieves.

Amaranth kelt next to the woman and pulled the wand out of her stockings. She ran her hands over the woman's legs, feeling the blood trickling underneath her soft skin. Everything felt like it was still in place and she hadn't heard any bones crack. She pressed a little harder and tapped the woman's leg with the tip of her wand, muttering what she assumed was the appropriate healing spell. Amaranth was in no way a healer but she was knowledgeable enough to know how to heal battle wounds. She knew the spell to fix broken bones and and sew up gashes and so one, so this wouldn't be that awful. Amaranth's specialty was sewing herself up until she got real medical attention, anything beyond that was not her expertise. It would be best not to mess around with anything too complicated. She might destroy something. The least she could do was relieve the pain.

"Don't worry," she said, realizing most people would probably not trust strangers to perform magic on them, even if it was healing magic. "This should soothe some of the pain, but as a healer, I assume you know how to fix anything that's broken or so on." It was an old battle spell that was supposed to allow fighters to keep going for at least two hours after they went down, all the while knitting together any of the critical injuries. The last time she had used it was in Cork, that time she was ambushed by a small squadron of thieves. Amaranth herself had  gained a bit of resistance to the spell and she needed something stronger to heal, but she assumed this woman wasn't sewing up her own battle wounds while holed up in a tree over a burning fortress. In fact, Amaranth realized that if she was doing it that often, there was probably something wrong with her life choices.

Amaranth sat back on her bottom, folding her long legs underneath her and petting Leonidas absently. "I'm Amaranth by the way, and this is Leonidas. We've never been in this place before," she said. "I have heard good things, though. Tell me, do you by any chance know someone who can get me a basilisk?" Part of her was joking, part of her was not. She had tried to make one when she was really young, but the fat toad had crushed every chicken egg in the ice box and her parents had gotten susicious. "Apparently making a basilisk is illegal so it would probably be easier if I got ahold of one that was already made. I'm sort of running out of chicken eggs."

Seva winced as the woman pushed down hard on her legs and sucked in a deep breath, letting it out as the woman released the pressure. She then heard a familiar incantation escape the woman’s lips as the point of her wand was pressed up against her calf and suddenly, relief fell over her. Seva took the woman’s reassurance to heart since she trusted the woman, though why she couldn’t place. She shook her head at the woman’s words and rubbed at her legs gingerly. Her hand still smarted where she had punched the desk and upon further inspection she saw several knuckles were raw and one or two of them were bloody. She brought her hand to her mouth and sucked on one of them to get the blood off and to soothe her hurt.

“I’m not worried; I can tell you have at least a passable knowledge of the craft which makes me curious as to what you’ve needed to use it for.” Seva admitted, knowing it was none of her business and hoped that the other woman would shrug off the insult of her prying. She regretted asking, but would probably forget she had in a few seconds. Seva watched as the girl sat down next to her and they were at eye level. It wasn’t obvious to her that the woman was blind, although the woman did stare more than any normal person should. She was resisting the urge to wave a hand in front of the woman’s eyes to avoid looking like a dolt if the other woman wasn’t blind after all.

“I’m Seva,” she replied after the woman offered her name. “It’s a pleasure meeting you – I wish it could have been under more normal circumstances.”

Seva gestured to her legs that were continuing to swell and were almost too swollen for her shorts, which were rolled up past her knee; she decided to just leave things as they were and tried not to move her lower half at all. She was still thoroughly embarrassed and despite the Amaranth’s insistence that she not blame herself, she still felt very guilty about what happened to the python.

“If you don’t mind me asking, are you a parselmouth?”

Seva regarded the snake around the woman’s neck and noticed that she was also eye level with it as well. She tilted her head to the side and wondered how you greeted a snake that could easily communicate with someone in the same room as you. Should she wave? Should she pet it? She wasn’t really sure what to do with herself, especially after what had just happened to her. It wasn’t a surprise that she’d be a little reticent about touching a snake after her ordeal.

Amaranth’s question took her by surprise and she thought for a moment. It was true that she had avenues to procure specialized animals for loyal customers and she had gotten requests for banned animals before, but no one had ever inquired after the king of snakes. That was a new one for sure. Seva shook her head and looked apologetically at Amaranth, shrugging her slender shoulders. She knew what the girl was talking about with the eggs and couldn’t help but laugh aloud at the idea of a child stealing chicken eggs to make such a dark creature. Unfortunately, there was no way for her to go about filling a request such as that one.

“No, I’m afraid not. I’ve tried to get things with a higher rating than a three before but that’s a five and should be a ten. I really don’t see how that’s going to be possible. Can I interest you in a friendly bowtruckle? The terrarium comes with it!” She offering, as convincingly as a winning salesperson. She wasn’t sure how Amaranth would react, but it was worth a try.

People were always so curious. Amaranth chalked it up to an inherent awareness of their ignorance about the world, but sometimes she thought that maybe people just liked knowing stuff about other people. Maybe this was how people connected, by going over their pasts and finding common ground. That was one way to make a friend, she supposed. So when the woman made a veiled inquiry into what Amaranth needed battle healing spells for, she actually paused and considered answering. As much as she wasn't interested in making friends, Amaranth wondered what it would be like if she just went out and told this healer exactly what it was that she did. In her mind she could just imagine what it would be like if she told her: I kill people. Sometimes I kill them after I kidnap them. Sometime I kill them after I steal from them. Sometimes I threaten their friends and family to make them give me what I want, and then kill them anyways. Amaranth couldn't think of a faster way to land herself in jail.

"I make things happen," she said vaguely. "I'm sort of a fixer. When people have a problem that needs to be solved, I use my... charm... and skills to resolve them." She thought for another minute. "I'm kinda like a pimp and solutions are my girls." Though her rate was much higher than the average Madam's.

Amaranth listened as Seva seemed to be examining her injuries or something. She was getting bored. Hadn't she done her civic duty for the day? Could she treat herself to some ice cream and go home for a good night's sleep? She hadn't had one of those in a while. Last time she'd slept more than four hours in a row she woke up in a hospital with more bones broken than not. Amaranth was about to take her leave when the woman asked if she was a parselmouth. Amaranth usually tried to keep that a secret, it was a pretty identifiable trait and her enemies might find her that way, but she had revealed herself when the python had a go at the woman's legs. She could deny it, which didn't seem like it would work since Seva didn't seem like a complete idiot. She could admit it, maybe? Seva didn't seem terribly dangerous.

Or. Or. Amaranth could just kill her and keep her secret safe. A moment ticked by when she was actually considering it, but then she realized that she had just saved Seva's legs. What would have been the point of all that trouble if she was just going to kill her anyways? Amaranth blew out a breath. "Yes, I am. if you wouldn't mind keeping that to yourself, I would appreciate it." If you don't, you'll probably have to die. Amaranth didn't really want to kill Seva. Yet. She seemed nice and fun and to actually like animals. Plus, Niska had been riding her ass about killing unnecessary people. Pbbt.

Amaranth laughed at her bowtruckle comment, a noise that surprised her own self. "No, no thanks. A bowtruckle is not predatory enough for the other inhabitants of my home. He wouldn't be safe. Do you run this place by yourself?"

The vagueness of Amaranth's answer was captured perfectly by the tone of her voice and Seva had to cock an eyebrow and tilt her head to the side, a thoroughly perplexed expression on her face. Then, of course, she got it and had to suppress the "oooooh" that almost escaped her lips. Seva was always slow on the uptake, that was the understatement of the century, if not the millennium. Still, however, she couldn't grasp the full meaning of what Amaranth was saying and perhaps that was for the best. Seva was always quick to befriend people and so far, she felt as if she had a lot in common with the mysterious girl-woman who had just walked into her store and her life.

They were of the same height and build with the same dark hair, but their similarities ended at their eyes. Whereas Seva's were almond and so light and yellow a brown that they appeared like amber, Amaranth's were a striking blue that was so vibrant that they almost appeared to be glowing. They both had a doll like appearance, but where Seva was simply wiry and had smooth and mostly unmarred skin, Amaranth had scars that dotted her body in varying places. Otherwise, they were equally pale as the other and were almost eye to eye. Seva had met her doppleganger.

"Freaky"

She muttered and simply stared at Amaranth for a minute before offering, "Well, you certainly are charming, I'll give you that. You seem to have a certain finesse about you."

Seva almost wished she were smoking a cigarette when she said that, it probably would have made her look or sound cooler. It just seemed like something you would say and then take a drag, trying to blow smoke circles. Seva snapped out of that reverie pretty quickly when Amaranth admitted that yes, she was actually a parslemouth. Seva considered this for what seemed like an eternity, weighing her options and really taking into consideration what this admission meant. She knew that the ability was almost exclusively possessed by dark wizards which would by all accounts make her newfound acquaintance a dark witch.

"Well, well..."

Seva trailed off for a moment and let out a "huh" while staring off into space and mulling over the new information a little bit more.The cogs in her brain were turning at full speed, so much so that steam may as well have been coming from her ears. At present she was pretty much trapped and if Amaranth wanted to do anything to her, Seva was pretty much fair game. Add to that the fact that Seva was unarmed and she was screwed. For a moment, fear shot through her and she felt her heart thudding in her chest. Fight or flight was trying to kick in but Seva was doing her best to keep calm. 110...90...85...80...73. Seva could count her heartbeats without feeling her pulse, she was suddenly so alarmed..

"You have my word as a healer and a former Gryffindor that your secret is safe with me and should I die, it will die with me -- barring I come back as a ghost, which in that case I'll make sure your arse ends up in Azkaban."

Seva let out a few frightened laughs before realizing that this was probably not the right place for  laughter and quickly bit her tongue to stop herself. She was still quite frightened for her life, knowing how loose her tongue could be and even looser still when she was inebriated. There was a slim chance that she might let Amaranth's secret slip and for that reason, she was pretty scared. Suddenly, the mood was lightened considerably by Amaranth's genuine laughter and Seva heaved a sigh of relief. A nice, steady 70, she thought, feeling her pulse this time by pressing gently on her wrist. Yes, she was still alive. Amaranth hadn't killed her with that creepy gaze of hers.

"Yes, I think Leonidas would chomp on him in a second and I won't be there to remove the splinters next time." Seva chuckled, too, her laughter riding on the tail end of Amaranth's. "I dont't own it, but I am here open and closing and I take the best care of the animals."

If she did say so herself. It was true, though. Seva would arrive at 6:30AM before anyone else and feed the animals and clean out cages. That usually took her an hour or so and she was able to  take a half hour more to let the birds fly around the shop a little bit. Then, there was always time to make a crup pile in their paddock. She would leave for clinical or lecture in enough time to arrive their at 8:15 on the dot for the start of the day. Later on, she would come back to WoW to finish out her day feeding and exercising the animals once more. She'd become a specialist in their care and their procurement and had even been known to do the books on occasion.

"I assume whatever you do is dangerous enough to earn you those battle scars, you're like a decorated war hero minus the medals. Did you get that in a fight with an enraged bowtruckle after traipsing through the woods?" She teased, resisting the urge to elbow the girl in the ribs lest she get hexed into oblivion.

Amaranth had to smile despite herself, though she knew it was more of a predatory smile than a happy one. Yes. "Finesse." She remembered being told she had a certain finesse when it came to her knife work. She remembered Zukov telling her she could "finesse" her way into any social event, especially if she was going to steal something expensive and shiny. She remembered a few particularly disturbed individuals say had said she had "finesse" when she was jumping out of windows and decapitating people who disrespected her. How odd that Seva would use that word to describe her. Maybe she was just a little more perceptive than Amaranth had originally given her credit for. How...suspicious. "Why thank you," she said calmly, leaning forward. "You're rather charming as well, despite your tendency to mutter to yourself and make nice with complete strangers."

Her decision to reveal herself as a Parselmouth came into question when Seva's response was a resounding "Well, well." A little silence settled over the room, the only sound being the animals shuffling about the store. That was, until Seva's heartbeat begun to speed up. Amaranth could heart it echoing very faintly through the almost silence. It reminded her of a rabbit that had just been cornered by a wolf. Suddenly Amaranth was overcome with the strong urge to chase Seva, to make her cry and scream and wail like a little duckling about to meet a ravenous fox. Maybe Amaranth really could sense fear, like a dog or a bear. Regardless, it smelled delicious and made Amaranth crave blood. Seva's blood. She was quickly brought back to earth by Leonidas constricting hard around her arm, hissing a low warning in her ear. Amaranth quickly dug her fingers on her left hand into the the skin of her right wrist, keeping it from reaching out and strangling Seva right then and there.

"Oh, you were a Gryffindor, were you? I bet you can guess I was a Slytherin myself, " Amaranth said, with effort. "And no, I have never had to face the terror of being chased by a rabid bowtruckle, thank Merlin. I don't know if I would survive such an experience with all my limbs." Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. It wasn't often that Amaranth lost her head like that. She usually had that side under lock and key, but the faint scent of fear on Seva had made her a little...woozy. It was as if all of her senses went into overdrive and the only thing on her mind was snapping Seva's neck. Amaranth took another rattling breath, reigning herself in and composing her next words carefully. She was fine. Demonic possession episode over for now.

"What I do is...special," Amaranth said, releasing her wrist. "It requires quite a bit of skill and ruthlessness to even survive. People like me, well like us, tend to be underestimated. I have gotten to the point were I prefer to be underestimated because they are never expecting it. But, at the same time, we are little, there is no denying it. And it's fun for a while: the boys love it and they just want to take care of you and it feeds their primal, manly needs. But there will come a time, hopefully not soon for you, when you'll wish you were bigger or stronger or faster because your life is on the line and no one is going to protect you. For me, when that time came I was ready. These scars are a testament to every time I've won against someone bigger than me, every fight I've walked away from, and every time the last one standing was the smallest. Do you understand that, Seva?"

What was that glimmer in Amaranth's eyes, what was that tone in her voice and why oh why was she smiling like a cat who had cornered a mouse? Seva had to fight hard to not get herself worked up again and took a few breaths and steeled herself for what she was about to do. Wincing, Seva pulled herself up very, very slowly. Her breath caught in her chest and her swollen, bruised knees almost gave out from beneath her. She wobbled for moment and had to throw out a hand to stabilize herself. One step, two steps, three and then four. Seva navigated around the counter and disappeared for a moment into the back room where she fumbled in her robes for her wand. Her hands closed around the familiar whorls and gnarls of the wood and she finally breathed a soothing sigh of relief.

"Why thank you...I try to be, but I hope I never try too hard. And the muttering is a stream of consciousness kind of thing, mixed with my tendency to think out loud..."

Still limping, Seva made her way back to where her double was sitting on the floor and watched as the girl seemed for all accounts to be relishing in her fear. Seva was gone for all of a minute yet the other woman had not moved, but her albino snake was winding its way around her wrist and constricting it tightly. Something burned in the pit of her stomach as she watched Amaranth dig her nails into her hands as if forcefully restraining herself from doing something that she might regret. What could that possibly be? Suddenly, Seva was glad she had her wand at the ready. She sat back down next to the woman, as crouching or standing proved to be too painful.

Slytherin. Seva was not surprised in the least, but Amaranth's revelation did serve to clear things up a little bit. She thought the other woman seemed familiar to her and she had a strange suspicion that they may have been in the same year. Yes, the name Amaranth did sound familiar. Seva watched Amaranth and was very much impressed at the restraint the woman seemed to be showing. It was almost intoxicating knowing that Seva was having such an effect on her. Why was she reveling in the fact that her mere presence and the fact that she was speaking, nay drawing breath seemed to be sending her newfound acquaintance over the deep end? Either that or Amaranth had a serious case of indigestion, which Seva would be perfectly willing to brew up an elixir for.

Seva listened intently to Amaranth's soliloquy and did not utter a word until she was addressed. Her ears perked up when Amaranth asked her a question and she pondered over it. Did she understand? That was a hard question to answer. To say that she understood would be to admit that she had full knowledge of all of Amaranth's dealings and that she could not admit to. Nor could she say that she understood what the woman meant when she used the word "us". Who is "us", she wondered to herself.

Seva thought for what seemed like an eternity. She was mulling over the new information and wasn't sure what she wanted to address first. There will come a time when she wished she was bigger and stronger, huh? Seva had never been in a fight or had to defend herself, but she had a feeling that she would be able to hold her own. She was pretty disillusioned in that respect; she could never hurt anyone in any way, whether it be through a verbal lashing or even the lightest of smacks. She was too complacent and too much of a mush, she would fall to pieces if anyone ever threatened her in any way. At the same time, if the right person came along to try to hurt or corrupt Seva, she would go willingly and ask how high she should jump to please them.

"Why would I ever wish away something that makes me who I am? Not to take what you say so literally, but I can't think of an instance where I'd ever want to be bigger or stronger or faster than I am right now. I don't get into trouble, in fact I avoid it at all costs. I have too much going for me and I don't need any distractions."

Seva considered Amaranth's comment about men wanting to protect her for a moment and remembered how long, long ago she'd had someone who wanted to protect her. She didn't need it then and she didn't need it now. It had been a long time since Seva had even interacted with anyone of the opposite sex in some time outside of work and she was beginning to feel as if they didn't even exist outside of the confines of St. Mungo's. Regardless, Seva quickly dismissed most of what Amaranth had to say, especially anything have to do with being protected. Again, Seva thought for all the world that she could take care of herself. Yet, she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach; deep down she did want someone and would take them regardless of how they treated her.

"I don't need anyone," she said lying through her teeth. "I've never had a guy want to protect me and frankly I would never want that. I don't like random displays of machoness...if that's even a word. And to answer your question, I can't say I understand what you're saying at the moment, but I also can't say that I don't understand it...that's all I can really say. I know that's not what you're looking for..." That being said, Seva slipped her wand into the strap of her bra where she could easily access it if need be. "How old are you, if you don't mind me asking. And what's your surname? Mine is Montressor and I'm twenty."

Amaranth waited somewhat patiently as Seva went over her answer. She was curious how the woman was going to react to that. Seva Montressor? The name sounded somewhat familiar. Somewhat. She was twenty, which meant that she had gone to school with Amaranth, the same year too. Amaranth thought back on her time in Hogwarts. That was all...a blur. It seemed like ages ago, rather than just two years. Time was strange like that. All seven of those years seemed like they added up to a month in a dark cell. Amaranth vaguely remembered what the grounds looked like, what the lake and the towers and the Great Hall looked like. She was overcome with nostalgia, then boredom. School had been fun, but they had tried to suppress what Amaranth really was inside. A monster. A demon. And all of their work only made it grow inside her, the pressure increasing until it exploded out of her. She had met someone who made her tie the bag looser, let a little bit spill out as it filled so it never got so full that she couldn't control it.

"I guess I should say that I am happy that you haven't experienced any situation where you wished you were stronger. That is a grace, you know. And gender is irrelevant. Strength is strength." Amaranth thought about Niska, who could put her on her back in a matter of seconds because of his inhuman strength. She also thought about how many times she had dropped him on his ass and made him tap out. Amaranth didn't concern herself with the dichotomy between men and women. In fact, Amaranth really enjoyed playing on those stereotypes. Who would suspect the cute little child-woman to be the assassin they were hunting for? At the end of the day it was ability that determined survival.

Amaranth pet Leo's head thoughtfully. So she didn't get it. Part of her wasn't surprised, the other was a little disappointed. This girl, Seva, didn't get it. She wasn't going to get it, not until something awful happened. It was...a little to close to home for her. But she didn't care. Why should she care? She and Seva were obviously very different people with different lifestlyes and different experiences. Amaranth had met her share of goody-two-shoes who never lost faith in the pure hearts of humans. Those people ended up dead. They ended up dead and they never, ever saw it coming.

"So your solution to not needing someone to protect you ever is to...stay exactly the same? You won't rely on anyone else but you can't even rely on your own power to protect you? That's quite possibly the stupidest thing I have ever heard. You must be very good at avoiding trouble, then. I noticed you said that you don't go looking for it. I guess that's also a good mantra to follow, very...reasonable. But what if trouble comes looking for you? For example, what if trouble walks through the door of your shop wearing overalls and a hair bow?"

Amaranth didn't give her any time to reply because her right hand shot out, clamped around Seva's neck. Amaranth slammed Seva's head back against the counter, her grip like an iron vice. She hissed and Leonidas snatched the wand out of wherever Seva was holding it and tossed it to the other side of the room, the wooden stick rolling uselessly on the floor. Amaranth held firm, not even batting an eyelash. People often underestimated her strength, thinking because she was little she was weak. But no, Amaranth possessed brute strength and demonic drive, enough to make her truly dangerous. Amaranth leaned in slightly, listening to Seva's breathing and cocking her head to the side.

"Listen to me. Listen to me." she snapped, her grip tightening. "If you move, I squeeze harder and snap your neck like a twig. I want you to listen to me carefully. You couldn't hurt a soul, right? You must believe in the power of friendship and trust. That's sweet. That's also naive and childish. Consider this a public service announcement: the world is dangerous. It's cruel and painful and merciless. This, what's happening right here, is me overpowering you. You're not stronger than me. You're not faster than me. You're disarmed and I'm a trained weapon. How are you going to get out of this? Run me through your plan, Seva."

Once again, Seva was taken aback by Amaranth's words. The woman had a tongue as sharp and honed as a knife and Seva felt as if her brain was being flayed open, her very thoughts pouring out of her mind and slipping through her fingers. She had no grasp over what she wanted to say next, her tongue was tied and the connection between her brain and her speech muscles seemed to have been severed completely. Merlin, Amaranth was good Seva had to laugh for a moment and shook her head slowly, staring out into space as she pondered. She was speechless once again and had never had a way with words before today, so she wasn't all too surprised that Amaranth had her at a loss for words.

For a moment she opened her mouth to speak  but once again Amaranth cut into her with that wicked tongue of hers. Seva was utterly confounded as if someone had charmed her and she'd lost all control of her faculties. She bit down on the inside of her cheek and swallowed hard, reaching behind her to scratch at the back of her neck. Seva was thoroughly uncomfortable with the situation and was close to asking the other girl to leave. The only thing stopping her was fear -- the all consuming emotion that she was normally so weak against. She gulped and bit her tongue before beginning.

"I --- "

Seva did not have the opportunity to utter another word for out of nowhere, she was taken up in Amaranth's vice like grip and forced back against the counter. Her head ricocheted once, then bounced back and then hit again. She saw stars and bit down on her tongue hard, drawing blood in the process. Seva could practically feel her brain jostling back and forth. That combined with the pain of having a hand clamp around her neck and growing ever tighter made Seva almost pass out. She couldn't breathe, the world was growing smaller and smaller as her vision tunnelled and all she could see was the vicious face in front of her.

Seva barely noticed that the albino snake had taken up her wand in its jaws and flung it across the room; she didn't even hear it rattle as it hit the ground and rolled away. Again, her world was growing ever smaller as her breath ebbed away. Seva never expected her acquaintance to possess such brute strength, but the thought quickly escaped her mind. She banished all thoughts out of her mind save the will to survive. She gasped for breath and didn't dare struggle.

Her arms flopped uselessly to her sides and she coughed and sputtered. Her large eyes were bulging and a small trickle of blood escaped her lips from her bit tongue. It would seem for all the world that Seva was going to die; her situation looked very bleak indeed. "If you move, I squeeze harder and snap your neck like a twig." The words danced before Seva's consciousness and she literally lifter her right arm out as if to reach out for the idea and embrace it. She wondered vaguely if that counted as moving, her thoughts were even more skewed than before.

Seva's breaths were becoming fewer in number and the porcelain skin of her face grew ever redder by the second. She was straining to do as she was told, even in such a precarious situation as the one she found herself in. Listen to me. Listen to me. Seva was listening, trying to hear over the nagging ringing in her ears. Blinking back tears, she reached up and held her hand over her attacker's not trying to grab at them or push them away. She simply laid them atop Amaranth's gently, as if she could plead with her through touch.

Suddenly, Seva rallied her strength and she opened her mouth to speak, spitting out blood in the process. Tears welled out of her eyes and trickled down her face as she whispered. "Y-you say that, but...but if there were more people like me...m-maybe, m-maybe you'd be in-invalidated." Getting those words out was a struggle and they barely made sense at that. The lack of oxygen was toying with her cognition and her thoughts weren't being spoken properly. "I - I can't overpower you. I concede. Just -- just kill me and be done with it."

With that, she spat in Amaranth's face and dug her nails into the woman's hands in a last ditch effort. Her last thought before she clenched her eyes shut was at least I got a word in edgewise. She had used up all her strength because she instantaneously lost consciousness and slumped over, slackening the woman's grip around her neck. She fell forward, her head hitting Amaranth's shoulder. The ordeal with the python and the attack had proven too much for her. Despite her lion's heart she'd been bested.

Once again, Amaranth was left waiting for a Seva to reply. Although, in this case her slowness was probably justified by the fact that Amaranth was currently crushing her windpipe. Seva was flopping around, very much like a ragdoll or a big noodle. Amaranth smelled blood heard a wet rattling in Seva's breath. She was doing some weird stuff, like she was inebriated or something. Her hands flopped onto Amaranth's own arms and Amaranth couldn't help but frown in disappointment at the weak attempt. What the hell was she doing?

After what Amaranth dubbed to be Too Damn Long to have to think, Seva finally gave her an answer. And...it was a stupid one. And then she asked for death. Amaranth wasn't really sure how to react to that. The first thing that came to mind was to grant her request and just kill her. Amaranth's hands were already there and it would only take a few more pounds of pressure to finish the job. But that wasn't what she had come here for. In fact, she just wanted to help some snake with a splinter in his mouth. She hadn't expected to meet a version of herself from six years ago. It unsettled Amaranth that the last time she was this innocent and naive was when she was fourteen. After her third years things started to go steadily downhill and it was just bad. But it was like looking in a proverbial mirror. Seva was small, friendly, energetic, smart, naive, and a little bit loony. Amaranth was looking in the mirror and she really hated what she saw.

"If there were more people like you in the world," Amaranth said evenly. "There would be no need for people like me. I do bad things because the world doesn't run on rainbow unicorn gold, crime is necessary for existence. Utopia is just a world where no one can see it." And with that Seva seemed to go limp and black out. Amaranth blinked. Sometimes she forgot that most people weren't built like fighters. Some people, squishy people like Seva in particular, were probably not able to handle the strain of being choked for more than a few second. It wasn't so much that Amaranth forgot her strength as she forgot other people's weakness. She was used to fighting tanks, mercenaries, thieves, assassins, and ruffians. Normal people probably required less force and less roughness. Obviously. Amaranth stood over Seva's unconscious body and let out a tired sigh.

"What are you going to do with her now?" Leonidas asked, winding his way up her waist to whisper in her ear. "You could just finish the job.

Amaranth's frown only deepened. "This wassn't a job. This wassn't even what I had planned to do. She just kinda pisssed me off."

"You've killed for lesss, remember?"

Amaranth scoffed and leaned down, grabbing Seva by the arms and hoisting her limp body over her shoulder. Then she took a step forward and not-too-gently laid her down on the counter. Amaranth took a second to poke Seva's face, taking in the grooves and features of her expression. She was pretty, with smooth skin and and angular face. Her nose was small with what felt like a healing piercing hole. They did have similar features, but the two of them very very different in a million ways. Amaranth walked around the room, shutting all the blinds and flipping the "Open" sign over. Once Leonidas confirmed that no one could see inside, Amaranth walked over to Seva. She stood in front of the girl for a little bit longer before growing impatient. With a noise of frustration, she gave the girl a good slap in the face to wake her up.

"You should clean yourself up," she said gravelly. "And then you should give what I've told you some thought. You can go ahead being optimistic and sunny about the world, but don't say no one warned you." Amaranth stood for another moment to let that properly sink in before turning on her heels and exiting the shop completely.

Seva regained consciousness to find a loud ringing in her ears and a burning, stinging sensation across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Her eyes fluttered for a moment before opening completely and she turned her head very, very slowly to regard Amaranth. They were almost at eye level from her position sprawled out on the counter and Seva glared at her vehemently. Just moments before her eyes creaked open, Seva had the faintest sensation that someone had been feeling around her face as if to map out her features. So Amaranth was blind after all. That only solidified Seva's opinion that her double was not a woman to be reckoned with. In fact, Seva hoped she never had to see Amaranth again.

You should go clean yourself up...and then you should give what I told you some thought. You can go ahead being sunny and optimistic about the world...

Seva was so pissed she slammed her open hand down on the counter again, angry that she currently had no way be it physically or verbally to answer back to Amaranth. Then, before Seva could stop her, Amaranth was gone. Only then did Seva realize that Amaranth had closed up shop for the night. Enraged, Seva slid off the counter and wobbled as fast as she was physically able to the door and threw it open. Dusk was settling in and for a moment, as her eyes adjusted, Seva was just as blind as her evil twin. Blinking, Seva scanned the crowd until she saw the hairbow and its attached head bobbing down the busy street.

"Amaranth, you bitch  -- I'm not finished with you yet! I decide when you leave." Her scream was too much for her throat to handle and she erupted into a fit of coughs, doubling over for just long enough for Amaranth to get away. "Merlin damn her to oblivion..."

Seva was still in a fit of rage and let out a strangled cry as she burst back into the shop, sending every winged creature fluttering around the shop in a frenzied panic. Groaning, Seva sunk down on the floor against the half open door and buried her face in her hands. Amaranth's every word still rang in her ears and echoed through her mind. 'If there were more people like you in the world,' Amaranth had said in a crisp, even tone 'There would be no need for people like me. I do bad things because the world doesn't run on rainbow unicorn gold, crime is necessary for existence. Utopia is just a world where no one can see it.'

It was almost enough to make Seva sob into her hands, Amaranth's words rang so true and so plain. Seva knew she was disillusioned and perhaps a little daffy, but no one had ever spoken to her like that before - as if she truly had to potential to change, to be more, to be real. She had been molly-coddled and yessed to death by her foster mother, neglected by both her mother and father and abandoned by all of her friends. Seva never really, truly opened her eyes to how much her life sucked. She had deluded herself into thinking that everything was just fine, that nothing needed to change. Then Amaranth came around and turned her whole world upside down.

Her muscles protesting and her ears still ringing, Seva limped to the back room and collected her robes. She turned off the lights and as they dimmed into darkness, she gazed at the terrarium where the ball python slumbered now. How strange it was that a chance accident could spur on such a defining series of events. Seva was somehow a changed woman, like Scrooge on Christmas morning, yet the message that was delivered to her was a somber one. Her eyes were downcast as she stood in the darkness of the shop for a moment before heading toward the door.

In the space of an hour, Seva had been set on the road to becoming embittered. There was a fissure struck into her sunny, happy go lucky facade that was threatening to become ever larger. Their entire conversation, all the events of that day were replaying in her mind. She was nursing both physical and emotional wounds that burdened her slight shoulders. Heaving a heavy sigh, Seva retreated out the old oaken door and locked up for the night, having left a note to the next associate. Then, turning around she too disappeared into the fall twilight.