The Recipe Book

[Leander]

43rd Trial of Vhalar, 722

The last few trials had been busy. Since his agreement to join the Shadow Quarter (not that he had much choice but he likes to think he went in willingly), Leo had been spending every waking minute playing around in his new laboratory, which was a gift from the Quarter. He loved it in there - so many books to read, so much equipment to learn about and play with, so many ingredients at his fingertips, waiting to be used. He loved it, he kept telling himself, and it made it all worthwhile. He was a kid again, playing with a new toy given to him by his parents.

It was there he had spent every trial - fiddling and experimenting. It was completely absorbing, and everything else was forgotten about in favour of playing. He did have there commitments, though. Namely his agreement with Tristan Venora to work on this alchemy book together. It was an exciting prospect - maybe not as exciting as his now lab - but the idea of putting down recipes onto paper and even inventing a few new ‘Trisander’ recipes sounded like lots of fun.

They had agreed to meet after the new cycle began, and Leo had woken this morning remembering about his commitment. He spent some time initially in his laboratory (it was addicting, it really was) before heading over in the afternoon to just a few streets down in the Glass Quarter to where the Duke had made his home in Rharne. Initially he had wanted to invite Tristan to his new laboratory, but he had been told under no circumstances to do this. Leander imagined less than pleasant outcomes for the people who came in and potentially asked too many questions. So that wasn’t an option. Anyway, Tristan had his own dedicated space for alchemy - it was more than good enough and still made Leander jealous whenever he went there.

The trials were getting colder. Leander had dressed up warmly, layering a cloak over his normal attire and keeping it wrapped around his arms. Arriving at Tristan’s door, he knocked and stood back to wait for his alchemist teacher to come to the door and let him in. When the door opened, revealing Tristan, Leander glanced up and grinned at his friend (well, he thought they were becoming friends, at least). “Hi Tristan, I hope you are well to-trial?” Leander, for his part, was glad to be on time. After the disaster which was Leo’s illness and completely forgetting to meet with his teacher, he wanted to make a special effort to show Tristan that he was a reliable and punctual individual, lest the other man decide it was a waste of time to work with him

[Tristan Venora]

The first third of Vhalar had been dominated by heat and by fog that often lasted until the middle of the trial; in short, it hadn’t been particularly pleasant. On the 42nd of Vhalar, the fog finally cleared, and the Vhalar that Tristan was used to and loved finally started. The young man spent as much time as he could outside, and not only because he had been blessed by Vhalar. He loved going for walks with his family and watching how the world around him changed. Sometimes, his daughter and he collected fallen leaves and nuts that they would use for little art projects, or to make very simple sculptures.

He'd also taken Ayla to a park before the meeting with Leander. In his opinion, fresh air and physical activity were an excellent way to prepare for the work ahead. They helped clear his mind. And besides, his daughter would hopefully be tired after their little outing and not interrupt them. She would be at home that trial, together with Tristan’s grandmother, the former Duchess of Venora who had agreed to watch the little girl. Tristan was pretty sure that Ebony Venora had disapproved of his fathering an illegitimate child once upon a time, but she had come to love Ayla, even after he had told her who her mother was.

As Leander and he would be working on the recipe book that Tristan had proposed the cycle before, Tristan had prepared the living room rather than the kitchen this time, although he had set up a few alchemical appliances on a table, just in case. He had prepared writing supplies as well as a few scientific books and cookbooks that they might be able to use as a model. Furthermore, there were drinks, and Tristan had bought cookies at a nearby bakery, in case Leander was hungry and wanted to eat something.

Finally, he had changed into comfortable clothes, a light blue silk shirt and black pants that were of high quality, but not too flashy as he didn’t want to give the impression that he was showing off his wealth. He didn’t wear any jewelry, but he had tied his hair back with a ribbon so that it wouldn’t get in his way when his head was bent over a book.

When Leander knocked on the door, Tristan had just fed Fluffy, the four-eyed family dog and put him into the salon where his daughter and his grandmother were staying so that he wouldn’t be in their way, and then he already opened the door and looked at the man that was quickly becoming a real friend with a wide and happy smile on his face.

“Leander!” he greeted him and gestured for him to enter and follow him to the living room. “I’m doing great! How are you though? Did the potion we made last time help? I hope you don’t mind that my daughter and my grandmother are at home. They assured me that they wouldn’t bother us. I don’t think you’ve met them yet?” he asked. He knew that Leander hadn’t met them yet – due to Vri’s Blessing he remembered everything that had ever happened – but the question sounded more normal that way.

[Leander]

Leander was beginning to doubt his self-diagnosed psyche of being a true misanthropist. He did hate people, but he thought that was true across the board. Recently, he had found people that he actually enjoyed spending time with certain people, Tristan being one of them. He was a good egg.

He had good reason to be around Tristan - he was learning valuable skills and knowledge both in chemistry and in alchemy. He was learning and enjoying the process of learning. He enjoyed learning on his own when in Viden, and had absolutely hated working under his chemistry master for all those arcs in Rharne. Perhaps that had made his enjoyment of his chosen career less so. With some introspection over the past few seasons since he met Tristan, Leander had decided that his confidence had been knocked, and he had been doubting his own skills.

Tristan had, in his way, build Leander back up. He would probably never tell the other man this - it was a very personal thing and he didn’t want Tristan to be embarrassed by his announcing something like that. But he always said ‘thank you’, and it was heartfelt.

Now, since joining the Shadow Quarter, he had another reason to be around Tristan. He had, as his first mission, been given the task of introducing himself to Ayla Venora, the Duke’s daughter. She was young… a couple of arcs old, and Leander did not understand in the slightest why he had to introduce himself. But that was all he was told, explicitly, nothing more and nothing less.

So when Tristan told Leander that the daughter was in the house with them, Leander did his utmost to school his expression into one of complete neutrality. He probably wasn’t successful - if Tristan had been watching his face, he might have noticed Leander’s eyes widening for a trill.

“I am very well, thank you. The potion worked a treat - within about 3 breaks I felt so much better, the sore throat and the headache all but disappeared. It did nothing for my stuffy nose, but I could live with that. I even had a little left over to consume the next morning, so I was able to beat back the cold until it had run its course.” He wanted to apologise again for forgetting about their previous appointment, but it felt redundant to do so.

“Oh! That is absolutely fine! I would hate for your family to have to leave their own home just because I am here!” Leander smiled what he hoped was a bright, winning smile. It was genuine, though truth be told he had very little experience around children of any age and had no idea how to react to a small one. Did they even talk at a few arcs old? Did they have a personality? Did they just run around breaking things? His best guess wouldn’t be very accurate.

He wanted to meet the daughter, of course. But the grandmother… the grandmother of a Duke, what did that make her? In Viden aristocracy was dictated not by gender, though it was still a birthright. There would be no ‘dowager’ positions. Was this woman a Duchess? That sounded like a scary thought to meet her if, indeed, that was Tristan’s intention. He would soldier up, however, for the sake of his mission. But he wouldn’t push, not just yet. Joining the Shadow Quarter was a secret, and he didn’t want to raise his friend’s suspicions. “No, I have not met your grandmother, or your daughter, for that matter.”

[Tristan Venora]

“I’m glad that our potion helped you”, Tristan said and smiled. He’d called the potion ‘our potion’ on purpose – because Leander had helped making it. “I don’t get enough feedback on my creations. Usually, people just say that they worked – or that they didn’t, although the latter is fortunately rarely the case nowadays”, he added. Once upon a time, he had been such a bad alchemist that he had even blown up his kitchen accidentally and had had to buy a new one, but these trials, his creations usually didn’t fail anymore. Usually, it was just a matter of how well his potions worked – and how fast.

“I could probably make something that helps you with a stuffy nose as well”, he mused and scratched his head thoughtfully when Leander admitted that the potion hadn’t done anything in that regard. “Maybe some sort of stick with peppermint oil on it that you smell and that clears the airways and makes it easier for you to breathe. What do you think?” he asked before he added, “I could also try to invent an alchemically enhanced nasal irrigation device that works faster and better than the usual stuff though. Rinsing my nose always helps me when I have a cold at least.”

The smile on Tristan’s face grew wider when Leander assured him that he didn’t have a problem with his daughter’s and his grandmother’s presence. He looked in the direction of the door, momentarily a little unsure, before he decided, “In that case, you’ll get to meet them now. It wouldn’t be right if my family didn’t greet my guest anyway”, he added. He gave Leander a moment to disagree and tell him that he absolutely didn’t want to meet an old woman and a little girl, before he politely excused himself and walked into the salon. Leander would be able to hear voices for a moment – although he wouldn’t be able to understand what they were talking about – and then they arrived.

Ayla Venora looked like she was about seven arcs old, even though she was really only five arcs old, although it was unlikely that Leander knew her exact age. She looked a lot like the famous Faith Augustin for some reason, apart from her eyes that were a deep blue, and she was wearing a pretty light blue dress and had a matching ribbon in her hair.

Next to her was her great grandmother, Tristan’s grandmother Ebony Venora. Even though the former duchess was already in her seventies, she held herself straight, and she was dressed elegantly. The cycle before, Tristan had told Leander that his grandmother had been rescued from Rynmere. Ebony Venora didn’t look like someone that needed to be rescued though. On the contrary, she appeared to be proud and confident.

“This is Leander, the student I told you about once”, Tristan politely introduced the other man while the old woman and the girl looked on. “He hasn’t met you yet, so I thought I’d satisfy his curiosity, in case he’s curious. Ayla, please say hello to him”, he told his daughter, because he considered it important to teach his child good manners. She would likely never rule Venora or Oakleigh – her illegitimate birth aside, the duchies were probably gone now – but he wanted her to be well-behaved, nevertheless.

“Hello, Mister Leander”, Ayla said, smiled a little shyly and curtsied awkwardly before she asked him, “How do you do?”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, sir”, Ebony Venora said in a calm tone of voice and extended a hand for Leander to shake. “My grandson told me that you are thinking of writing an alchemy book together?” she asked and looked at him questioningly. It was hard to figure out what she thought of the idea, but it was obvious that she expected some sort of answer from Leander – and that she was interested in hearing more.

[Pig Boy]

As Leander's eyes fell on Ayla, he would feel a subtle heat or cold behind his eyes. Like little maggots crawling beneath the ocular nerve, he'd feel a presence. And hear a voice though it didn't seem aware that Leander had heard it. "No... no, she is wholly unsuitable. We should continue our search, onward to the next clue, the next keynote and lead."

Tristan being quite

perceptive

noticed that there was something unusual about Leander's eyes as he looked at Ayla for a moment. A subtle orange glow that came and went in a few trills. Tristan would feel a passing familiarity in that moment, as if he'd seen that glow in those eyes before. They reminded him almost of the night he'd conceived Ayla. But that couldn't be right. Syroa was dead, everyone knew it.

Then, there was nothing, no voice, no maggots crawling beneath Leander's eyes. But Leander felt a strange pleasure, like a chemical reaction in his body that was rewarding him for doing a 'good thing'. But then there was nothing more. Just a deafening silence between Leander's ears that crashed and filled his thoughts like the rush of a waterfall.

Off Topic

Hello, just a one off mod bomb to note that Leander has completed a task for his employer. No worries Tristan, their interest in Ayla lives and dies in this moment, they won't bother Tristan or Ayla anymore.

As for Leander... You got some shadow quarter points coming at you.

[Leander]

“Ah, yes I’m the same, I assume my chemical products work because I’ve never had any customer return anything with an irate complaint… but it’s very rare that anyone tells me it worked.” Leander clicked his teeth as he considered the matter, “I guess a lot of what I make is tried and tested though, so it’s assumed it universally works. What we did, however, was novel, so feedback is important at the early stages. Off the top of my head I can’t think of a way to improve it, so that’s a good start. And it helps you wrote it all down, because I definitely wasn’t in a place to remember the ingredients or the process.”

Discussing what might help with an illness Leander was no longer suffering with was an interesting hypothetical thought. He said as much to the alchemist, explaining that any experimentation on it now would probably be ineffectual as his breathing was back to his baseline now. “It’s something we may be able to try in the future. The beauty of a stick would be that it should have quite a long shelf life. I know many chemical concoctions and alchemical potions can also have a long shelf life too, but it really depends on the ingredients… hmm. Food for thought!”

He opened his mouth again to suggest that they could ask the Order of the Adunih if they could test products on patients there, but then he thought better of it. His reasoning was twofold: he didn’t know how Tristan would feel about ‘experimentation’; and, more importantly, he didn’t know if that skirted too close to the boundary of his Shadow Quarter directive to not work with the Order anymore. So he shut his mouth again and said nothing.

“Oh! I - okay!” Leander stuttered when Tristan announced that he would meet his family. It was frighting to meet the grandmother, and just as nerve-wracking to meet the daughter. It seemed far too easy. His first mission, over just like that? Well… sure. Maybe it was fair to have an easy trial once in a while. Leander took a moment, when Tristan left the room, to rub his hands along his shirt and trousers, ironing out any obvious folds and creases. He was sure he looked presentable (he always had tried to dress above his station) but for some reason he was nervous.

When they entered, Leander first focused on the elder lady: she was shorter than Tristan, but she filled the space with sheer presence. She was a force to be reckoned with, Leander acknowledged that immediately and bowed his head in a polite greeting “The pleasure is all mine, My Lady.” ‘My Lady’ was what Leo would have said in Viden, and he didn’t know the correct terms of address from Rynmere so he just went with it. She could correct him if she didn’t like it.

Next, Leander turned to the small child standing by her great-grandmother. She was a vision, identical to Faith Augustin in every way except for the eyes. But he only had a trill’s glance before he squeezed his eyes closed in discomfort. There was some sort of… pressure there behind his eyes, like his eyes had a fever - much as when the body was unwell and having hot flushes while being cold to the touch. That description didn’t do justice to what Leander felt in that moment. He opened his eyes again, staring at the child and in that moment he heard a disembodied voice. It was sheer force of will that had Leander staring at the girl and not looking around for who had spoken. Something internally told him that only he could hear the voice. It was unnerving and he didn’t understand it in the slightest.

Somehow, Leander knew that the Shadow Quarter were instantly aware that he had completed his first mission. What a frightening thought, for them to be aware of his movements. They didn’t need agents in black cloaks to stalk him through the streets at night (as he had initially been paranoid about). They could watch him in broad daylight, even though they weren’t here. Suddenly meeting the dowager duchess was the least of his worries.

But Ayla had spoken to him, and the silence had lingered between them for too long. Leander forced himself to smile at the young girl and respond in what he hoped was a normal tone of voice, “I am very well, Ayla. How are you?” She was cute, he could admit that much at least. There was obviously something about her, but Leo didn’t know what. And he wanted to query the resemblance to Faith. But he voiced none of this.

And he was glad when Ebony addressed him directly about the recipe book. That jolted him out of the whirring thoughts going through his mind, and grounded him back in the present. “Yes! I am no great shakes at alchemy yet, your grandson has been very diligent in his teachings so far though, and I am learning fast. I do have a background in chemistry though, which is basically a boring kind of alchemy! We even invented a new alchemical potion last Cycle, and it would be a shame to hoard our inventions to ourselves when so many others could benefit.”

[Tristan Venora]

Leander seemed a bit insecure, or maybe even frightened, when he announced that he would get to meet his daughter and his grandmother now, Tristan noticed. For a moment, the young man wondered if it really was such a good idea to introduce them and if Leander might be afraid of little girls or old women. Not introducing them when they were in the same house would just have been plain rude though, and Tristan’s goal was to never be rude to anybody, unless they deserved it, and his family definitely didn’t.

He would make sure that Leander didn’t feel too uneasy.

What he noticed next made him wonder if making sure that Leander didn’t feel too uneasy had been too lofty a goal though. The other man squeezed his eyes closed for just a moment, as if he could barely stand to look at Ayla, and when he opened them again, there was something unusual about them, again for just a moment. There was a subtle orange glow that came and went within the matter of a couple of trills. It reminded him …

… Immortals, it reminded him of Ayla’s mother.

Tristan briefly wondered if Leander was a follower of Syroa, or maybe even the reborn Syroa in disguise, but he quickly dismissed that thought again. Leander was too nice and too normal; and besides, he had never noticed anything strange about his student before.

He also wondered if he should comment on it, but he decided against that well, as it could lead to all kinds of tensions, even if Leander probably didn’t have anything to do with Syroa.

Ayla for her part didn’t notice that anything weird was going on. The little girl just smiled and replied, “I’m fine, Mister Leander! Why is my daddy teaching you alchemy?”

Tristan proudly looked at his daughter – she had been rather sheltered at the beginning of her life, but she comported herself quite well in social situations nowadays – before he turned to watch the interaction between Leander and his grandmother with curiosity.

Ebony Venora raised an eyebrow very lightly when Leander called chemistry “basically a boring kind of alchemy”, but she was too disciplined and well-mannered to call him out on that wording. Instead, she simply asked him in a calm and polite tone of voice, “Why do you consider chemistry boring, if you don’t mind me asking, Mister Aguilar? Is Chemistry not the foundation that alchemy is built upon?” she asked. She was not a scientist herself, but she had occasionally watched her grandson go about his work.

Alchemy and chemistry seemed very similar to her. So, why was one boring and the other one wasn’t?

“In any case, I commend you on your desire to let others benefit from your inventions”, she continued and turned to Tristan. “Ayla and I will take our leave now so that you can start working. I wish the two of you good luck”, she added and smiled at Leander politely before she put a hand on her great granddaughter’s shoulder.

~~~

Tristan wondered if Leander had noticed how much Ayla looked like Faith, and if he was curious about her mother. If he asked him about it, he would answer, but otherwise he considered it to be best to leave the matter be. He did decide to ask the other man one thing though, “Do you have any children, if you don’t mind me asking, Leander?”

Now that their professional relationship had begun to turn into a friendship, he wanted to know a little more about the other man, and he didn’t think such a question was inappropriate.

“Anyway”, he said a moment later. “I’ve prepared a few books that we could use as models for our books, but I’d also love to hear your ideas”, he admitted. He didn’t say that because he wanted to humor Leander, but because he was genuinely interested in hearing what he had to say. He’d found Leander to be quite an intelligent man.

“Do you want refreshments before we begin, by the way?” he then wanted to know, because it was always easier to work – and think – if you had a full stomach in his opinion.

[Leander]

The voice was gone, it said no more, and Leander released the breath he didn’t even realise he was holding. It was a horrific experience, and it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Were the Shadow Quarter watching him? At all times? Was there… something more nefarious at work? These were, in truth, questions for another trial. For now, he was with Tristan, and they had a job to do. Also, he didn’t want to pause for too long lest Tristan think something was up. Leo was sure his behaviour probably already seemed a little odd.

Bringing his attention back to the room, he realised that the little girl was speaking to him. “Your dad is teaching me because I wanted to learn and he was kind enough to help me out. Isn’t that nice of him?” The question was rhetorical and he didn’t expect Ayla to answer, and the chemist grinned at the girl, staring at her as he examined her features and mapped them out against the memory he had of meeting arguably the most famous physician in all of Idalos. Huh.

Leander didn’t miss the raised eyebrow of the Venoran matriarch, and he shifted from foot to foot for a moment, suddenly uncomfortable. He felt heat rising again, but rather than a hot-cold sensation like it had been a moment ago, he knew this time was more natural - colour flushing through his cheeks. He was embarrassed. “Well… it… it’s not boring, per se. I thoroughly enjoy it. But I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea and I just…” he swallowed. “My apologies, My Lady… I don’t know why I said it’s boring. But compared to the mystery of alchemy… maybe I’ve had my finger dipped into the chemistry pie for too long that it became a little… stagnant.” It wasn’t really how he thought this conversation was going to go. Luckily, the grandmother moved on and complimented both him and Tristan. Leander smiled politely, completely unsure of what to make of the formidable woman.

The dowager duchess announced their departure and, as a parting gesture, Leander called, “It was lovely to meet you both, I hope not for the last time,” as the door started to close behind the pair.

Niceties done, Leander turned to Tristan and (it was like he had no discipline at all for a trill) he blurted, “She looks like Faith.” The short interaction with the girl had settled this thought in Leander’s mind. He didn’t know how the pair knew each other, but Leander was more than certain that the child was Faith’s, and he wondered why Tristan had her and not the physician. It wasn’t unusual for a male to be the key guardian, but something about the situation struck Leander as odd. There was history and…

Well Leo wasn’t nosey by nature, but he was beyond curious, especially given the Shadow Quarter’s brief interest in the child. There was something about this situation that he was missing. The thing was that Leander knew that his mission to meet the child was over, but with the voice, the hot flush, the… everything… he needed to know more.

Were they ever going to get to working on this recipe book together? “No, I am not fortunate enough to have children of my own. Though I would love the honour of raising a child. One trial, mayhaps.”

“Oh good. I also brought a selection of books with me.” He couldn’t mention his new laboratory to his mentor, but there was nothing that told him he wasn’t allowed to take books from the excellent facility and use them outwith it. “I.. uh.. they’re chemistry books of course, not alchemy. But I thought they might be useful, if we want to take something that already exists in the world and enhance it.” Leander had dabbled a little in alchemy since their last meeting, and had had some success. He didn’t tell Tristan this, but he was pleased that he knew a little more and could potentially be more useful.

“A drink would be lovely. Fruit juice if you have any.” All the talking already, Leo had worked up quite a thirst. “Maybe, before we begin, we should decide on a theme for our recipe book. I was thinking… medicine? Mainly because that is what we have focused on so far in our lessons, but I am open to suggestions, you are the expert in alchemy and know how the art can best be utilised.”

[Tristan Venora]

“My daddy is very nice!” Ayla agreed emphatically and continued, feeling a little less shy now that Leander had turned out to be friendly, “I want to learn alchemy as well so that I can make pretty potions with sparkles and such in them, just like my daddy, but he says that I’m still too young for it. He lets me help him in the greenhouse and the garden though!” She looked rather proud as she said that, and Tristan turned to look at his daughter for a moment and smiled fondly at her. He sometimes let Ayla fill flowerpots with soil or plant seeds, simple tasks that she carried out with joy. In time, he would teach her even more.

“Sometimes, you lose that sense of excitement if you’ve done something for too long”, Ebony Venora agreed. Her tone of voice changed very little – she was still not particularly gentle, but unfailingly polite – but she had been mollified by his answer regardless. “I hope that you’ll rekindle your love of chemistry sometime. You may yet discover something new about it”, she said and inclined her head politely before she departed with her great granddaughter.

“She does look like Faith”, Tristan confirmed. He had kind of expected Leander to quietly wonder about his daughter, but he hadn’t expected him to actually talk about her looking so much like Faith. In spite of the fact that he didn’t know what he should say at first and if he should say anything at all, he managed to school his face into a calm and neutral expression. Finally, he decided on telling the truth, more or less, because he didn’t want anybody to think that Faith had cheated on Padraig, “She’s not Faith’s daughter though. Her late mother just happened to look a lot like her”, he added, hoping that the fact that Ayla’s mother was dead would keep Leander from wanting to know more.

“Oh, that’s a good idea!” he exclaimed, and his eyes lit up when Leander talked about taking something that already existed in the world and enhancing it. “Do you have any ideas?” he wanted to know before he filled a glass with fruit juice for Leander and got a bit of tea for himself.

“Medicine is a good theme”, he decided and smiled slightly as Leander called him an expert in alchemy even though he really was one. “We want people to actually buy the book and find the recipes in it useful, and everybody gets sick sometimes. I’d start with a short introduction about the combination of medicine and alchemy before we move on to the actual recipes. How should we categorize them though? Should we categorize them by how easy they are, or by what the potions are for?” he wanted to know and looked at Leander with curiosity before he grabbed a cookie, encouraging Leander to do the same.

[Leander]

The kid was cute, Leander would give her that. He smiled and nodded at all the right moments as she spoke but he wasn’t really listening anymore. His mind was half focused on who the girl looked like, and the rest of his thoughts were trying to fathom the voice he had just heard - and he was pretty sure it was just in his mind, as no one else had reacted to it. Both trains of thought were eating away at the chemist, but at least one of the questions he would likely get an answer to.

The dowager Duchess spoke as well and Leander did his best to pay a little more attention to her - a small child was unlikely to realise or be offended, but the older woman would definitely notice that his mind was drifting. Leander smiled and nodded, quietly thanking her and dipping his head in kind as the pair left the room to return to whatever had been occupying them before Tristan had summoned them to greet his visitor.

Leander turned to Tristan and nodded as the Duke confirmed his thinking. Tristan… did he seem a bit put off? Blindsided perhaps? Surely this question had come up before. Leander had only met Faith once and even he, who didn’t have the best visual recall, could see it. But Tristan went on to explain that Ayla’s mother was not Faith, and that she was not alive anymore. The chemist blinked and swallowed, nodding, “I’m sorry to hear that…” he replied softly. He assumed, of course, that there had been romantic attachment between Tristan and Ayla’s mother, so didn’t pry further.

But he was desperate to know more.

But he forced himself not to linger, and focused on the matter at hand. Thinking about his… well not recent evenings, as he had turned over a new leaf so to speak, but certainly evenings that he had been on this arc, he had often wondered if it was possible to create something to help him in the mornings after a… an ill-advised night on the town, should he say? “On a somewhat-related-but-not-quite note, I had thought if is was possible to alchemically create an alcoholic beverage that did not have the… effects of a hangover the morning after. Something that tastes good and makes you merry, but you can get up and go to work the next day?”

He paused, considering what he had just spoken out loud. “Not that I.. I mean-” He tapped his finger in his thigh as he ruminated on how to dig himself out of this particular ditch he had created for himself. He decided it wasn’t worth it. Tristan could think what he wanted to think. Leander was, by all accounts, a mostly-functional alcoholic with a penchant for the finer things in life. Finer, not by Tristan’s standards, no doubt, but for a middle-class chemist, it was the best he could buy. But that was besides the point.

“That sounds like a good plan, yes. A short introduction.” They were back on target, and Leander would like to keep it that way. “I think it makes the most sense to categorise them by what they are for. We can, in the introduction, mention that we will have a little ‘key’ of sorts to indicate that. If there is a particularly hard potion, et cetera. A five-point scale, perhaps?”

Leander chewed the inside of his cheek as he considered, “Yes, I think that would be the most sensible way to lay it out. I’m just imagining a dumpy old mother trawling through a book quickly to look for a way to help her ailing child quickly.” Leo grinned at the image in his head as he picked up a cookie and bit into it. It was delicious. “But what about the ingredients? Are most of them going to be easily sourced? We must make sure our recipes are accessible not just in level of difficulty but also in finding the ingredients needed. Arc-round if possible.”