Charm ☼ 004 [video]

[hexywitch]

[Lily's set herself up in the library in her house. There's a cauldron in front of her, a small flame flickering beneath it. She stirs the pot three times clockwise, and then four counterclockwise.]

Hello, Vatheon. There are quite a few new people floating about again, so I thought this was a perfect time to post. I'm Lily. As you can see I've been doing a bit of potion brewing. I finally made it down to the Nostalgia Nook, and the shop from my world is absolutely brilliant.

[She pauses to check her potions book and adds an ingredient, tapping the cauldron twice with her wand. Potions is very complicated and delicate.]

I stocked up on ingredients, so after I brewed a few potions for friends of mine, I thought I'd brew a few other useful ones. First of all a big batch of Pepper-Up. [She gestures to the cauldron.] That'll be a cure for the common cold. And hangovers. So if anyone's feeling a bit under the weather, let me know.

That said, [She turns the heat under the cauldron down.] Equius. Sollux. I'm ready when you are.

Comments

[selfless-stag.livejournal.com]

Am I supposed to be worried or something? [He really doesn't get it!]

[hexywitch.livejournal.com]

No! You shouldn't be worried at all. It's just...important. And requires a lot of explanation. Have you talked to any of the trolls at all?

[selfless-stag.livejournal.com]

[He shook his head.] Nope. But if it's important to you, it's important to me. And I'm trying to understand.

[hexywitch.livejournal.com]

All right. So...while we've only got one romantic relationship, they've got this complicated system of four. They call them quadrants, and each is associated with one of the four suits of cards. Two red romances, based on pity, and two black romances, based on hate. Here's a brief rundown of each.
Matespiritship. The flushed quadrant. This one is the one most like our romantic relationships. If we were trolls, you'd be my matespirit.
Moirallegiance. The pale quadrant. This one...it reminds me of your relationship with Remus a bit. The way Remus is the voice of reason and the way you became an animagus for him. It's about two trolls looking after one another, keeping each other out of trouble, that kind of thing. So I think that Remus would be your Moirail.
Auspisticism. This is where one troll acts as mediator for two other trolls. Hate is a huge part of their emotional spectrum and apparently a lot of them end up killing one another for one thing or another. So an auspisctice keeps two trolls who hate one another from killing each other. Or from having hatesex, because that is also a thing. Which brings us to the last one.
♠ Kismesissitude. Two trolls who hate one another more than anything in the world relish that hatred and form a relationship. They don't want to kill the other troll because then they wouldn't have that object of such hatred anymore. And apparently there's a sexual component. Which is very strange to me. But that's just how they work, I suppose.

Does any of that make sense to you?

[selfless-stag.livejournal.com]

[James nodded slowly but his face showed he was lying. He wanted to understand but it was very complicated. He closed his eyes to try to make it make more sense but failed.]

[hexywitch.livejournal.com]

[Lily laughed and then sighed. Why did troll romance have to be so complicated?]

Well anyway. The point is that two of the trolls, Equius and Sollux, hate one another, and it's officially my job to keep them from killing one another. Kind of like I do with you and Severus.

[selfless-stag.livejournal.com]

[James laughed at the comparison.] Why didn't you just say that in the first place?

[hexywitch.livejournal.com]

Because it's more important than just looking after them. They consider it a romantic relationship. You're not a moron, I thought maybe you could handle it.

[selfless-stag.livejournal.com]

[That was cold.] I can handle it. It just takes me a little longer.

[hexywitch.livejournal.com]

[A sigh.]

I'm sorry, love.

[She hugs him.]

You should meet them, though. Particularly Equius. I'm very fond of him.

[selfless-stag.livejournal.com]

[Hugs back.]

I definitely need to meet people you're fond of.

[Jealous much?]

[hexywitch.livejournal.com]

[A smile and a soft kiss.]

He's brilliant. He's ridiculously strong. He can't even touch a normal person without hurting them. Luckily he's very careful.

[selfless-stag.livejournal.com]

He'd better not be touching you!

[hexywitch.livejournal.com]

[She laughs.]

No, he's not touching me, love. Don't worry. He's a good bloke.