#a criminal
Mouch!
Downstairs neighbor made the mistake of buying a catnip plant and leaving it on the porch. Came down to check the garden this morning and found this:
It was definitely interesting, seeing what materials the homunculus (though they were no longer in the body of a homunculus, she supposed, but things like that tended to extend beyond bodyhood) had on hand, what S.O.N.G. was able to offer and let the small alchemist offer her. Saint-Germain’s not encountered too much new material yet, but that doesn’t mean she can’t enjoy reading through the many, many texts Elfnein has brought her, even if they had to go back and pick up a few that had been dropped more than once.
The conversations they’d had, barricaded by a door but still interesting nonetheless, were a part of the day Saint-Germain had begun to look forward to. Things were boring, being stuck in a room with little to do after she’d finished reading or eating, and as far as she was concerned, Elfnein had no reason to respect her. And having some sort of constant throughout the days made it easier to keep track of time–they tended to show up once their break had started, sometime in the afternoon.
Of course, Saint-Germain’s got no intention of letting Elfnein know she’s been standing in front of the door for the past five minutes, waiting for them.
“Ah–hello, Elfnein. I am awake.” She doesn’t hesitate with her reply, but she doubts the other alchemist will think anything of it. “You know, there was actually something in one of the most recent books you’d brought me that I’d never heard of before.” (Of course, she’d never heard of it because it was completely theoretically wrong, but hey, wasn’t that part of the fun of all this?)
Something even Saint Germain had never heard about… Elfnein can’t imagine they’d be much help with something like that, all things considered, but at the very least it might be interesting to talk about.
For as much was exchanged between themselves and Carol and as intensely deep as that bond was, Elfnein wouldn’t even consider themselves to be on herlevel of technical skill and applicable knowledge; that chasm had always been between the two of them, even by Carol’s own design. The more they’ve poured into their research the past few years, the more obvious it was that achieving even a hair of that would take more than books and haphazard trial-and-error and Saint Germain appearing now of all times… wouldn’t it be nice to consider it a positive omen, if not daresay a miracle? They were going to get as much out of these interactions as they could.
“Oh?” Elfnein responds, a small hum following. “That’s a little surprising coming from you, Saint Germain-san. But then again, since so many of these have such different origins…”
There’s a thoughtful pause, before they clarify, “There’s no legal precedent to allow seizure of property from a person whose body is in all technicality still alive, so I’ve been able to keep much of what was left of Carol’s personal belongings from the chateau. Her own notes and research are much more… I-I might get in trouble for showing you something like that right now, even if they’re mine, because you’re, a-ah…. u-um…–”
Not to mention the unshakable burning glare that would haunt Elfnein for just handing over Carol’s life work so easily. To say she’d be annoyed about people touching her things was putting it lightly.
“–B-But I didn’t see any harm in bringing you some of the books from her collection, at least. I’ve recently been able to recover much of what I was missing, on top of some, ah… otherthings… ”
