Humble Hoodoo and Adamant Alchemist

Natan hummed cheerfully as he ladled what appeared to be dirt into one boiling pot, and extracted a long strand of hair from another before moving it a bottle holding a murky grey colour. This anteroom, and most of the larger one behind it held a great deal of shelving, tables, bureaus, and hooks. Most of the latter held pots, pans, bottles and various cooking utensils. One table (Natan, of course, lacking a proper stove) held a small system of alcohol camping stoves (some looked home-made). It was on these that a few things were boiling or cooking. With a spring in his step, Natan sprinkled something he grabbed from another table into one of these pots.

The janitor's office was full of odd smells, a bit of smoke and some rather unusual assorted piles of what seemed to be trash. It wasn't overly bright (due in equal parts from the smoke and the fondness for candlelight), and, while clean of dust and floor debris, had a cluttered look about it from the haphazard groups on the furniture. In the past few hours, the room had undergone a vast and somewhat radical change. That morning, when Natan had woken up, it had been his room. Now, as he would proudly tell people, it was his office. He had drawn and hung the paper sign identifying it as such up on the door himself.

And that wasn't even his most clever idea today! Thinking over what Mr. Wallace had said, Natan had firmly decided to enlist the help of the students in cleaning. However, instead of hunting them down...they would come to him! In a stroke of genius and inspiration, Natan had sat down (presumably further back in his quarters) and tore a dozen equal strips of paper, where he had written 'Report to Janitor's Office For Cleaning Duties'. He had then simply gone to the dormitory rooms and slipped the under the doors until he ran out. It had not occurred to him to check whose door he slipped them under, or to keep track of who actually came. To Natan, he had just created the perfect solution to gathering all the workers he could ever need.

The pain felt so different than anything she'd felt earlier. She was becoming an expert on all kinds of pain, she thought, as she slowly made her way through the Castle's corridors. Bruises, cuts, burns - from chemicals and from fire, broken bones, chipped teeth, gunshot wounds... heartbreak. What a variety.

As she walked, she kept one hand on her stomach, not directly on where the bullet went in, but hovering nearby - as if in protection. Putting any pressure on it caused the sensation of being stabbed, and so did moving her body too much, so her posture was kept rigid.

All in all, she'd rather have stayed in the room.

But that was not to be. Duties called -- in the rather tangible form of a piece of paper slipping under the door. Laying in her nest, she had eyed it for a while, wishing Esha was there to pick it up. But Esha was never around anymore. With a groan, Audi had gotten up and crawled over to the message.

'Report to Janitor's Office For Cleaning Duties'

And so she did. Wearing a loose, long shirt with flaring-out sleeves, a pair of slacks hanging low off her hips, and a dull expression, she knocked on the door. At least it was something to keep her mind from straying where she didn't want it to stray.

A knock at the door! The first student! The conjure man dropped the ladle into the pot he had been working over as he rushed to answer. The only thing that saved it from falling in was it’s curved handle.
Natan flung the door to his room office in, causing his sign to fall down. He stared down at the ratgirl standing in the hallway.
“Yes, come in, come in!” he said excitedly, nearly skipping back to his work, leaving Audi standing in the door. He picked up the ladle again and begain scooping out a strange and lumpy, green and yellow concoction into two thick glass bowls on the counter. Filling each bowl near to the top, Natan grabbed a small (but tallish) unused table and brought it forwards between him and Audi. Next he reached up to a shelf and took down a large clear plastic bottle, filled with a thickish orange liquid, and put it on the middle of the table. He grabbed the bowls and set them on either side of bottle.

Finished with his ritual, Natan looked up at Audi, still obviously very excited about having a student visit his room office. Finally, he was important, someone with authority! 48 years, and now he was a boss!

“Chew are hea to clean den? Got mah note Ah delivered?”

Audi flinched slightly when the door opened so suddenly. The janitor seemed rather... eager. Blinking owlishly, Audi took a tentative step inside. Her gaze slid over the piles of unrecognizable items, the pots and pans and bottles, finally following the janitor himself to watch what he was doing.

Well, that was a makeshift lab if she'd ever seen one.

Ears perked up with interest, she eyed the two bowls and the bottle as she approached the table. For a moment, it didn't even seem like she heard the question. She placed her hands on the edge of the table and leaned in closer, head swiveled to inspect the substances with her good eye.

"...Yes."

"Good, good!" Natan nodded. He turned and opened a drawer behind him, fishing around. From the sound of it, there was a lot of loose odds and ends in there. He plunked something in each of the bowls as he turned around. Spoons, mismatched, one being plain and the other more ornate. Natan gave a broad wink and smile as he pushed the bowl on his right towards Audi, the one with the fancier spoon.
"But first, lunch, and chew tell me about chouself. Soup Joumou! A little taste o mah home country. " he declared. He unscrewed the bottle. "And som mango juice"

Never to stand on ceremony, Natan promptly lifted his bowl closer to his face and going at it hastily with his utensil.

The mix of emotions that swirled within her at his words was a potent concoction she had never felt before.

She was disappointed that it was just food, and not a potion of some sort. Disappointed about food! She was baffled by the feeling of disappointment -- then a little familiar ever-present hunger peeped in, but she still would have been more pleased had it been not food.

Unbelievable.

Audi stared at the soup for a moment, dumbfounded, then looked up to him. Her mouth was open, but no sound came out until she cleared her throat. "Th-thanks. I'm Audi."

Mmmm... Natan closed his eyes in satisfaction while he ate. Crowely might be the cook, but Natan would bet anything he couldn't do anything from the islands like Natan could. And he was just an odd jobs guy, never cooked something he didn't also eat. Proper Haitian food would have been heaven to Natan right now. As it was, his attempt at home cooking was enough to give the conjure man flashbacks to his home.

Then Audi was speaking, bringing Natan back to now. He opened his eyes and found her looking at him. A tad embarrassed, Natan put down his mostly finished bowl and started unscrewing the juice. "It's noting at all! Mah name is Natan Isaac, good to meet chew!"

He gave a smile as he grabbed for the glasses. After his third try, he looked down, and saw none. Quickly, he turned around and started throwing open and slamming drawers and cabinets shut, looking for where he put cups or anything. "Jus' keep going. Ah'm listening!" he said over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off his task.

The shock of her own weird reaction combined with his enthusiasm made her feel slightly anxious, she found. Why was he so excited about this? She felt rather out of place, tired and battered as she was. Still, she had no choice but to at least do her best... whatever that would be.

Eating with any sort of utensils wasn't exactly a skill she possessed, and liquids in containers were rather difficult to drink due to her incisors getting in the way. After flinching slightly as he suddenly got up, Audi reached for the bowl and held it in both hands so that she could crane her neck and lap up the soup from the top. It was good. Maybe even tastier due to the difficulty.

She glanced up at him, whiskers dripping. Keep going with... what? She paused a moment in thought, then continued eating, preferring to assume that was what he meant.

The desired utensils were found, sort of. There was an oversized plastic coffee mug in a drawer (labelled 'Happy Anniversary', with a large red heart) and a cocktail glass. Inspecting them for dust, Natan returned to the table and filled them, the mug halfway and the cocktail glass full.

Audi was having challenges with her soup, and Natan decided that neither cup was suited for a rat person. He remembered seeing something in one of the drawers behind him, and turned around to retrieve it. Quickly he pulled out a straw, plopped it in the cocktail glass and slid it over to Audi's side of the table.

"So!" Natan interrupted Audi's eating. "Wat chew do around hea den?" he asked, and sipped some mango juice from his mug.

From above her bowl, Audi squinted slightly at the mug. Anniversary? Of what? It was noted as an irrelevant curiosity, though, especially as he distracted her with taking out the straw. She appreciated the thought.

For all the mess it made, lapping up the soup was a fairly effective way of eating. Though a large part of it now formed an orange circle around her mouth, the bowl was already more than halfway empty when the janitor asked his question. She lifted her head and licked her lips noisily. "I'm an alchemist," she stated proudly. "And tailor."

"A tailor, eh? Dat's a real skill." Natan said, nodding in approval. To master a skill enough to claim it as a profession was impressive. Meant you added value. He thought for a moment and took another sip of mango juice while looking nowhere in particular.
Natan glanced down at Audi again. "Wat does an 'alchemist' do"? he asked, unable to think of what alchemy was exactly.

Audi couldn't help a little smile, not really used to being praised. To hide it, and, well, just because she wanted to, she dug her muzzle back into the bowl and continue eating.

Her ear flicked at the question. While she looked up at him, she didn't stop lapping up the soup as she pondered over how much she could really tell him. Well, it was no secret, really... was it? She didn't know. And that was the problem.

"It's like chemistry, but better," she said eventually. "Study of... substances. Turning things into other things. Mixtures."

After he had made his inquiry, Natan had started on his soup again, and quickly worked through it, but made sure to keep eye contact with Audi as she spoke (so she knew he was paying attention). The rat finished her explanation as Natan finished his soup. Turning around, he filled up his bowl again with the ladle. "Jus' let me know if chew want any more" he said coming back to the table.

Things into other things... what did that? Natan stood with a look of concentration. A cook, maybe... raw ingredients into food. But substances weren't food. You couldn't eat 'substances'. He thought harder. Only smart people dealt with 'substances', like scientists, or the like. Oh! he figured it out!

"Ah get it! Chew like a.. a craftsman or someting. Like a smith, or woodworker." Natan nodded. Stuff into other stuff. This was a very respectable rat. Tailor and worker! That was two jobs done by one person! Very impressive