[The mint she picked is certainly seeing its uses this week, from chewing on it to being made part of an impromptu tea.
This morning, however, that tea is like to cool before Cantarella can finish it. Sitting in the cafetera, she stares into the cup as if it were much deeper waters, expression pensive.]
...
[Only a slight jolt reminds her that Nala is also present.] How's yours, dear? [Nala got regular tea, fortunately. Nothing nearly so medicinal. (Peppermint tea is delicious but you know Cantarella brews this shit stronngggggg.)]
It's actually been a long time since I've had plain tea. [Before arriving here, she couldn't even think of the taste, and she'd never even tried any foreign blends. This is new...though she can't be sure it was ever worth the trade.]
The mint has been refreshing, but we can always get you something else.
I'm fine. [Immediately.] But I cannot comprehend what happened this past night.
[She sounds like a child eating food that she doesn't particularly like... Cantarella will address that later, perhaps when she's stopped dwelling on the topic at hand.]
The simplest answer is that whatever put some to sleep and left others awake last week happened again. If that's how, then it still doesn't tell us anything with regards to why.
...we all arrived here with a desire deep inside us, didn't we? A wish.
[It is a thought she does not share easily in bigger company. But here, it is just Cantarella]
Desires are all consuming. A careful whisper in one's ear, an opportunity to allow one to take hold of it...I wonder if it's our desires that drive us. One that keeps us awake while the others slumber.
[She watches once again how neutrally Nala handles her cup, detached from the taste, then drinks her own strongly boiled mint. With her Tacet Mark dormant, all tastes are different.]
That we did.
[It's been raised several times in passing and finally centralized just recently. They all wanted something.]
Are you theorizing that those desires might be stronger for the ones who stay awake? Perhaps that they've felt or seen a way to achieve them?
[Hunger slumbers beneath the fear that pulses in her veins; she feels alert. Wary. She needs to run. Or fight. But who is her enemy? It exhausts her and so, everything remains tasteless and unappetising]
Yes. I am familiar with how desires can be intoxicating, regardless of form. Wealth. Love. Revenge...
[She gives a little shrug.]
No matter how sincere they are, no matter how beautiful...there are ways of tapping into those desires to warp them beyond reason.
Wanting... It can be all-consuming, and it can be used against its bearer.
[When Cantarella examines her own want, she knows both that it's one she could never be driven to regret and that it's one that's shaped her entire life. If it's the same for everyone, it's an obvious way to control them individually and as a group.
It's no wonder that even after coming to the consensus that each of them is driven by some sort of desire or want, they never disclosed them as a group. How could they?]
Giyuu didn't mention it before, and yet... His commitment to his duty suggests a similar desire motivating him.
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timeasmymeasure
w1, post-body announcement
Date: 2025-11-15 02:57 am (UTC)This morning, however, that tea is like to cool before Cantarella can finish it. Sitting in the cafetera, she stares into the cup as if it were much deeper waters, expression pensive.]
...
[Only a slight jolt reminds her that Nala is also present.] How's yours, dear? [Nala got regular tea, fortunately. Nothing nearly so medicinal. (Peppermint tea is delicious but you know Cantarella brews this shit stronngggggg.)]
no subject
Date: 2025-11-15 03:07 am (UTC)I...it is fine? I'm used to brewing black tea for people. It is lovely to have a chance in tea for a change.
Do you feel better?
no subject
Date: 2025-11-15 03:56 am (UTC)The mint has been refreshing, but we can always get you something else.
I'm fine. [Immediately.] But I cannot comprehend what happened this past night.
no subject
Date: 2025-11-15 05:52 am (UTC)The two deaths, you mean? I don't understand either. I was certain Zvei was with us that night. So how...?
no subject
Date: 2025-11-15 08:40 am (UTC)The simplest answer is that whatever put some to sleep and left others awake last week happened again. If that's how, then it still doesn't tell us anything with regards to why.
no subject
Date: 2025-11-15 11:33 am (UTC)...we all arrived here with a desire deep inside us, didn't we? A wish.
[It is a thought she does not share easily in bigger company. But here, it is just Cantarella]
Desires are all consuming. A careful whisper in one's ear, an opportunity to allow one to take hold of it...I wonder if it's our desires that drive us. One that keeps us awake while the others slumber.
no subject
Date: 2025-11-16 10:11 am (UTC)That we did.
[It's been raised several times in passing and finally centralized just recently. They all wanted something.]
Are you theorizing that those desires might be stronger for the ones who stay awake? Perhaps that they've felt or seen a way to achieve them?
no subject
Date: 2025-11-16 10:15 am (UTC)Yes. I am familiar with how desires can be intoxicating, regardless of form. Wealth. Love. Revenge...
[She gives a little shrug.]
No matter how sincere they are, no matter how beautiful...there are ways of tapping into those desires to warp them beyond reason.
[She smiles, as if recalling a memory]
It is a dangerous thing sometimes, to 'want'.
no subject
Date: 2025-11-16 10:38 am (UTC)[When Cantarella examines her own want, she knows both that it's one she could never be driven to regret and that it's one that's shaped her entire life. If it's the same for everyone, it's an obvious way to control them individually and as a group.
It's no wonder that even after coming to the consensus that each of them is driven by some sort of desire or want, they never disclosed them as a group. How could they?]
Giyuu didn't mention it before, and yet... His commitment to his duty suggests a similar desire motivating him.
no subject
Date: 2025-11-17 12:21 pm (UTC)[ For the good cause? Revenge? Nala will never know now because Giyuu was dust.]