May 31st, 1894 — the Apothecary

Declan had a fight on Saturday, and he was pretty sure he would lose. He'd lost to Mr. Forewarned last time, after all — the man was much bigger than he was. So that he wouldn't go to Whitby & Co. on Monday with a black eye that would worry Tess and her sisters, Deck figured he ought to acquire some things early — that way he could get himself most of the way to healed before the bruises even set in.

He walked into the Apothecary on his lunch break, having eaten his sandwich as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, Deck found himself immediately overwhelmed by the sheer number of ingredients available. He stood rather nervously, eyeing a shopgirl but unsure on if it was appropriate to ask her, until finally he'd been standing with his hands in his pockets for five minutes. He cleared his throat.

Lorelei Owens Henry Berkwood

  

Lorelei didn't often get distracted at work, and when she did it was usually, well, by work. Especially during slower periods in the apothecary, when there wasn't much to do besides tidy and keep an eye out for customers. The last few people to come through had been regulars in need of ingredients restocks, and had known precisely where to go in the shop for what they needed. Thus, there was very little tidying to do that hadn't been done already. So Lorelei was taking the time to go through her own notes on personal projects she was working on. She couldn't do any actual work on them while she was here, of course, but it was something to keep her occupied for the moment. And anyway, her employer wasn't in at the moment to potentially be bothered by what she did.

She hadn't realized she'd gotten so engrossed in what she was doing until she heard someone clear their throat. Looking up, Lorelei said, "Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't see you there." Shuffling her notes away, she put on her best customer service smile. "How can I help you?"

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Bee is actual magic

Now that she was paying attention to him, Declan felt embarrassed — his cheeks flushed red. "Do you have anything for bruising?'' he managed, slow and quiet — he wished he remembered enough about potions to just look it up.

  

"Oh, yes." Lorelei came around the counter and led the way to a set of shelves that displayed a variety of healing paraphernalia. Perhaps unsurprisingly, healing was by far the most common concern customers came to them with. "We have a few options, depending on the severity," Lorelei said. "Unless you are looking as a preventative measure?" Well, he didn't look injured to Lorelei, but that didn't mean anything. He might have been buying for someone else, anyway.

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Bee is actual magic

The trouble was that Declan didn't know how severe the bruises would be, but he also was not sure how to explain that to the woman — should he have come here after the fight, instead? He was daunted at the prospect of explaining; the apothecary, like many things, felt like a part of magic that was closed off to him by the brevity of his Hogwarts education.

He pressed his lips together, and managed to ask, "You can prevent bruises?"

  

"Oh, ah, no." Lorelei said. "Not exactly, anyway." There might have been a way to toughen one's skin, she supposed, to maybe avoid injury, but that wasn't what she'd meant. "I meant, are you looking to take care of a current injury, or... anticipating future injuries?" It didn't necessarily make a difference of course, but she might have offered a more targeted cure for a specific and present pain.

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Bee is actual magic

Declan pushed one hand through his hair, feeling sheepish. "Future one," he admitted. Because he did not want the woman to think that he was a delinquent, he added: "It's — boxing."

  

"I see." Lorelei, for her part, didn't really understand the appeal of fighting for sport, but she understood it was a thing that other people did, for whatever reason, so she didn't comment her thoughts on the matter. None of her business, anyway. "Well, we have a few options that vary in intensity, so I should think any of these would work, depending on how badly hurt you think you're likely to get," she said, leading him over to the potions in questions. There was a set of three--all in similar looking bottles, but different enough to be easily distinguishable--and Lorelei picked up the first bottle, for less severe injuries to show the man. "You dab a bit of this on the affected area," she instructed.

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Declan watched her indicate the bottles, and nodded at her instructions. "Does it go on after, too?" he asked. He didn't want to have to make a return trip if the other man was better at boxing than he'd anticipated.

  

"Preferably," Lorelei said. "I should think it would be easier to tell the strength needed at that point." Not that Lorelei was an expert on injuries incurred by fighting for sport. But she'd think the concept was the same, regardless. "There are also options for general pain relief, if you think that would be helpful."

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Bee is actual magic

It could go on after, too; he liked that. Declan shook his head at her option at pain relief. "No thank you, miss," he said, and felt he ought to explain himself — "You ought to feel it or you don't know when to stop."

  

"I suppose that does makes sense," Lorelei said, inclining her head. He would be more of an expert on the matter than she would be, after all. "Is there anything else I can help you find, or will this be it?"

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Bee is actual magic

He was glad that she thought he made sense; Declan had been worried that he would seem violent. He shook his head at her question. "That's it," he said, sounding almost relieved — he was sure he would feel smarter once he was back outside of the apothecary.

  

"Wonderful," Lorelei said. "Bring what you like to the counter and I will ring it up for you." She stepped away, turning back toward the counter to let him make his selection.

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Bee is actual magic

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Declan grabbed the least intense of the bottles she had indicated; he did not want to over-commit to his efforts here. He brought it up to the counter to pay. Hopefully next time he was here, he'd have his head on a little straighter.