Every act creates a ripple with no logical end. | OPEN.

[aldabeyoun]

It's a little odd to work out of her livingroom, but in Njoki's experience it's a good idea to have regular clinic hours set up for those that aren't comfortable with house calls. Most of what she does during these times is a bit of basic consulting, the occasional spot of under the table first aid, and listening to people talk through their own worries. It's never very busy, but this is her calling, not her job. Some of her friends and family have been helpful and discretely passed out her contact information and she knows that a little pocket money is a fine thing, but she doesn't believe she'll ever make a living off it.

As she fills and puts the kettle on, she huffs in amusement. At least it's a good excuse to make sure her flat is scrubbed and clean enough for company once a week.

Comments

[stauncherhearted]

No, it's the opposite of good.

Unless you are a cat and enjoying making friends before eating them.

"Starting from scratch." Much to her chagrin. "This is the second time in the last six months I've been cursed by unknown sources." And it was awful, absolutely awful. So to prove her point, she rummages in her bag for her flask. She doesn't drink though, she offers it to Njoki first.

Though, come to think of it. "Maybe Norrell." No. "Or his manservant, Childermass." The high priest of Daybreak.

[aldabeyoun]

Njoki can't help but chuff in annoyance at the bugs, but she'll be professional about it. She tugs her toolbox over and opens it to reveal an assortment of plastic and glass bottles, velvet bags, bits and bobs of string or razors. After a moment of thought, she selects a clear glass spice bottle and a grease pencil. A quick scribble on the side to contain any magic and she's ready to nab one. "I'm not too bad with vermin. Lemme catch a couple and see if I can get a feel off them."

"How do you feel about rats?"

[stauncherhearted]

"I'll pay for an exterminator," she promises, and the look on her face proves she means it. "Or leave and come back as need-be. They don't seem to stay after I'm gone, from what I've been able to figure out."

Rats? Nancy blinks, nonplussed. "I'm fine with 'em." There had often been rats living with her at Fagin's.

[aldabeyoun]

"Worse comes to worse, I can try to bargain with the rats to keep the numbers down." Some witches work with cats or owls, but Njoki gets rats, pigeons, and mangy city foxes. Not a lot of glamour in her line of work.

"But for curse-breaking, there's a few things we can try. The spell is hooked to you, not your clothes or shoes? You've changed them out or put them on inside-out?"

[stauncherhearted]

She shrugs this off, this stuff is normal. "Fair enough. But the offer stands." Already the various creepy crawlies in the area seem to be making themselves more and more visible. She shudders. there's no fear of bugs in this girl, but still. Too much is too much.

Nancy nods. "Right." Her work wasn't affected, so long as she stayed outside, even in the cold December air. It could have been worse, though. "Just be glad it's not another bloody truth spell." She mutters darkly to herself, taking a drink of her flask. That month, where she'd been cursed to tell the truth, had been awful. She'd nearly gotten herself in trouble 20 times over and then some.

This, all things considered, was mild.

[aldabeyoun]

"Rather deal with something I can smack than that." Bugs are repellent, but a truth spell gets inside and that's just nasty. "Mind you, I can say that with easy because it's not my problem."

"Have you tried bathing in naturally running water?" It's not the greatest solution, but stripping down to nothing and then swimming in a river and getting out somewhere different from where you started often disrupts anything lingering. "I think that, and a bit of a floorwash ought to do the trick. If it doesn't we can move on to more, ah, thorough methods."

[stauncherhearted]

Nancy gives her a look. "Right. 'cause I'm going to go dip in the Thames in December, let alone at all." Could you blame her?

"I haven't, safe to say." She'd rather stick to her current curse, rather than discuss the truth curse she'd been under. She'd given far too much away- but at least she hadn't run into anyone that might truly use it against her.

[aldabeyoun]

"What's worse a river in December and a hot drink after or bugs? Make an offering to the river before you get in - wine is good - and be polite about it. She'll be doing you a favour. If not the Thames, take a day trip out to the country. The water needs only to be deep enough that you can be covered by it."

Curse-breaking through flashy magic isn't Njoki's style or skillset, but this ought to work. "I can mix the floorwash for you and you'll want to scrub it over your front porch and then rinse off all the floors in your house. It'll stop the magic from sticking to your feet."

[stauncherhearted]

She sighs. "And you've got a great point. Great. Thank you." Despite the sarcasm, she really does mean the thanks. Just going swimming in a river, or wading into it, sounds awful. But she'll take it if it means no more bugs.

"Front porch of my building, or outside my flat door?" She looks at her carefully. It's an odd sort of magic, in comparison to the sort Nancy had grown accustomed to. But it was still magic. It still ought to work.

[aldabeyoun]

"Both, if you can. But if not, just your threshold will do. You're cleaning out your space, the places that connect to you and your pathways." As she speaks, Njoki stands and gets out a pair of brown paperbags and starts to measure out various dried herbs into them. It all smells earthy and sweet in a pleasant sort of way.

"First, you scrub in the river, then you go home, scrub your floors, and after that, if you're still worried, take a long, hot bath with this." She scribbles 'floor' and 'soak' on their respective bags. "If all this doesn't work, you can come back and we can try something else or you might want to find a better cursebreaker. After this, I'd suggest transferring the curse to a chicken and killing it."

[stauncherhearted]

Nancy's taking copious mental notes the whole time that Njoki's measuring out the bags. Already she's quite sure she isn't going to mind the scrub down of herself or her flat. Hopefully she can find some natural water that's at least somewhat warm. Otherwise, warming spell. She was not going to get hypothermia because of some stupid little curse, thank-you-very-much.

"A chicke- no, y'know what, I don't think it'll have to come to that." She really didn't want to have to kill anything, let alone a chicken. "You're amazing, Njoki, really." She's beaming brightly at her friend. "What am I going to owe you for this? Other than a trip from the fumigator?"