across the titles | nova

[prudence oria weiss]

━ the mirror's telling me to go home ━

june 17th 2028

RUE COULDN'T BARE IT ANYMORE. It had just been over a month of this new ability of hers surfacing out of no where and magically purifying any toxin that entered her system. Which meant after eight long years, the Weiss was forced to be clean. Sure, it meant that they were finally healthy, both inside and outside, but the first month proved difficult, struggling with the withdrawals. As well as the fact that no matter how hard they tried, the high the potioneer once felt was difficult to obtain again. That was..until Rue discovered not everything could be purified.

Weed in the format of brownies or other delicious treats, while a staple muggle drug had become part of Rue's rotation along with a batch ordered for Mina whenever she felt like it. Of course there was a wizard spin in the creation - or so they liked to believe - considering how frequent the trips to see Nova for a new batch became. Especially around the time of Rue's overdose. Yet this..of course eventually died down...Until recently.

Rue had been testing the limits of their new ability rather frequently and discovered with an incredibly high dosage, it was just enough to give them the tiniest high they needed. It was nothing as intense as life was when Rue was consuming their potions but it was enough to keep their mind quiet for a night. Which is all the Weiss wanted the delicious treats for. For those nights when they simply couldn't handle it anymore.

Of course Mina nor Benny would be pleased, but given that the right to become clean on their own was stripped from them..such a thing was only fair. Baby steps. Giving the challenge to Nova and promising to pay generously, Rue turned the familiar corner to the alleyway behind the Pi Pâtisserie bakery, standing quietly, as they waited for Nova.

| nova hypatia vector |

hopefully this works!

[nova hypatia vector]

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To say that she was nervous about the hand off that was to happen in a moment between herself and Rue would be an understatement. These brownies were beyond strong. So much so, that when the order had come in she had to double check with Rue that the numbers were correct. Nova had made them up the day before, afraid that doing so within the bakery would leave too much of a trace for her aunt to find. This had happened occasionally, where larger orders were done up in her flat to avoid any issues. Decima had never let in about whether or not she knew. That seemed to be fine for the time being. Of course, with great power (and strong weed brownies), came great responsibility. She had tested a decently sized chunk and was basically out cold within the hour. And she was no lightweight when it came to these things anymore. Clearly Rue was looking for the next best thing and this was it.

Waiting out in the alleyway behind the back entrance to the bakery, Nova rocked back and forth on her heels, waiting for her favorite potioneer to appear. Rue had concerned her lately, between the frequency of orders and the overall strength, not to mention the state they were in most of the time when coming around for the pick up. There was no way things were being taken in safe doses anymore. She had made an offhand comment about it when Mina had done a pick up one day about a month prior, explaining that while it wasn't her place to say anything, that it was obvious something was wrong with Rue. So she was sort of anxious to see what today was like.

Luckily she didn't have to wait too long, seeing Rue turning the corner and stepping all the way out from under the overhang that protected the door from all sorts of elements. "I know you don't like warnings, but I feel like I need to give you one with these," she started to explain as she got closer to her buyer. "Slept through my first two alarms this morning just from a small corner piece."

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[prudence oria weiss]

━ the mirror's telling me to go home ━

SLIGHTLY JUMPING TOWARDS THE DIRECTION the voice came from, Rue immediately calmed down once they saw Nova. Since being rendered painfully sober, it meant that the Weiss was finally more alert about their surroundings, no longer succumbing to the numb feeling they once felt but instead standing guard - especially during the night. It was one thing both Benny and Mina would be upset over at times, with how high the Weiss once was, she never fully took her safety during the night seriously.

"Hello to you too." She breathed, cocking her head slightly at Nova's warning. The potioneer's sobriety wasn't exactly public news but given it had been a month or so since she had last seen Nova, surely that was a good enough tolerance break. "Yeah, yeah, the strength of them is a lot, got it. How much do I owe you?" The Weiss already had her lecturing from both Mina and Benny before her overdose, after her overdose and even in recent days.

She just needed to feel something, similar to what she had. And this was the first step for it. Nova sleeping through her alarms from just a corner piece was promising, but given the complexities of the Weiss' new ability, she was sure it would only last ten minutes maximum.

| nova hypatia vector |

[nova hypatia vector]

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"Sorry," she apologized quickly. She'd forgotten to do the whole introduction but. Usually Rue wanted to get right to business, and for some reason Nova just forgot that there was still an order to things. Probably had something to do with her extremely peaceful sleep she'd had the night prior. Of course it didn't take Rue long to switch gears and jump right back into it, asking how much for the batch. "Only two more than the usual." Her fingers drummed on the sides of the white box happily. Rue was always so easy to deal with, though most of her customers on this end were because of how carefully she chose who to work with. But Rue got it, probably because they dealt with similar with the potions. Nova had never inquired about what sort of characters that drew in, though she was sure it didn't take too much imagination.

"So...how've you been? Work going well?" Nova asked innocently, just trying to pass the time as she waited for the payment. Now that Rue was closer, they definitely looked better than in recent months. Maybe she'd been imagining that there was an issue this whole time? She hadn't heard anything from Mina lately either, so no news had to be good news. "Oh! Almost forgot. I think I can get those chocolate bars you like to a similar strength to these. Just let me know how these turn out, and I can figure it out." Drumming up more business was exactly what she needed to be doing with her most frequent client. Whilst the brownies and cookies were her most popular sell, Nova sort of enjoyed the chocolate more. There was something soothing my about pouring the chocolate into the molds. In comparison, the pans she used for the brownies haphazardly collected the batter. z the chocolate bars were treated with so much more respect in her kitchen.

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[prudence oria weiss]

━ the mirror's telling me to go home ━

FROM THE VECTOR'S APOLOGY, RUE found themselves smiling small. Nova was usually the friendly-and-slightly-warm kind of person, making a little bit of conversation and general small talk whilst doing deals. Rue didn't mind, despite not being a big fan of small talk but it benefitted their..partnership? business-relationship? as it only allowed more curiosity into each others lives. After transferring to Hogwarts, Rue wasn't a close friend to Nova and vice-versa but the two were civil enough. Or so the Weiss hoped.

Being told the price, Rue fished into their pockets for the right change, handing it over quickly. The potioneer then put their arms out for the box, a little eager to even have a small nibble of the treats. The Weiss was sure this experiment would work, it would be enough to get her over the white-picket fence that was holding her back. Or at least they hoped. The price itself was perfect also, as it wasn't that much pricer in cost differences.

At Nova's question, Rue's brows perked up. She never considered Nova to be interested in their line of work - but given how high the Weiss was whenever the two met, Rue never took it into consideration. "Yeah." They began, drawing the figure of that week's sales alone. "Keeps me busy but..there's still something missing I suppose." And it had been for a few weeks. They felt like adding, but didn't bother to.

"Chocolate bars?.." Rue questioned, intrigued once more. If they could recall off of the top of their head, the last time they had a substance-infused thing was a looong while ago. But if these treats were a success on the get-Rue-high-factor, what harm would it be to try something else? "Do you think you'll be able to make them even stronger than these?" It was a ridiculous request - and the Weiss knew this. But their ability was...well. Ridiculous.

| nova hypatia vector |

[nova hypatia vector]

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A quick and simple exchange just like always. While Rue's state oftentimes confused and worried Nova, because she was technically providing more fuel to the fire by selling to them, they were still her best customer. Only the old wizards that waddled in every morning the second the open sign was flipped to get their coffee and morning Daily Prophet were as consistent as Rue was. Scarily so, almost. Balancing the brownie box on one forearm so that she could take the money and then hand over her goods, Nova visually counted the coins before stuffing them in her pocket. She had gotten all too good at that over the last few years.

She had no idea what could be 'missing' from Rue's work, though supposed it had something to do with ingredient demands and potion brewing times. That had to be it, right? While thinking what could be so important that was currently in high demand, Rue continued, apparently intrigued by the concept of the infused chocolate bars. "I mean, I suppose I could..." Nova answered. That would take more trial and error on her own part, as it would be completely untested waters. "I usually test it out myself first, so if I make them any stronger than these-" she pointed at the brownie box, "-then I'll need a day or two off of work to do it. I don't want to put myself down for an entire day on accident again." Her tolerance had slowly built up as she made more for her second business, but there was always the off chance that something hit her a lot stronger than it was meant to be. Trying to pass off being high as the flu again was not going to cut it with her aunt. She'd tried that one too many times already.

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[prudence oria weiss]

━ the mirror's telling me to go home ━

WATCHING AS NOVA COUNTED THE coins, Rue almost began to wonder why she never even tipped Nova for her services. Nova had always put up with the Weiss' ridiculous requests and most times the potioneer was surprised that the Vector would even reach the expectation she had in mind. As eager as she was before, Rue waited for that 'confirmation' nod before opening up the box and biting into a small corner of the brownie.

For the Weiss, brownies usually took a while to kick in, no matter how strong they were, but considering the state they had been left in, and the ability that had developed as a result, the potioneer was praying for a miracle. "Please?" Rue responded at Nova's answer. It was a stupid request - which they of course knew - but if anyone could achieve it, it would be Nova.

"That's fine." Rue answered, before continuing and ultimately..suggesting. "Try them on me. I'll explain why whenever you get the time but for now?..Just trust me."

| nova hypatia vector |

[nova hypatia vector]

▲

Rue's insistence to be the lab rat for stronger chocolates wasn't exactly startling, as Nova had seen them gradually move up from brownies of pitiful strength to this current batch. Speaking of, she watched Rue taste test a corner as they stood there. No rest for the wicked, apparently. Rue and Mina were constantly testing her boundaries of mixing things together so it was no surprise that they kept coming back. Obviously her little magical quirk worked extremely well when it came to the potency of what she was selling.

"I'm not exactly comfortable with that, if I'm being completely honest..." Nova said slowly as she slipped the money into her pocket. Weed brownies and chocolate weren't going to kill anyone, obviously, and Rue did have a tolerance that Nova hadn't seen before in anyone...but she also couldn't bring herself to let them be the test subject for such a thing. It was irresponsible. If she didn't try it first and make sure it was safe and had proper testing, then she wasn't selling. The last thing she needed was an Albus Potter 2.0 occurring, but with an Auror that actually gave a damn about what she was doing here.

The other problem was trusting Rue. They were constantly chasing the next high, and Nova didn't want to be responsible for pushing them over the proverbial edge. Keeping things the way they currently were was safer. Their relationship was mostly business, but Nova knew Rue dealt in potion making that definitely skirted the lines of legality. They were the same, but also not. After a couple more seconds of thinking about it, she let out a sigh and relented, "Fine. But we test it together. It shouldn't take long to make, so I'll let you know when I have the time off and you can come here and we'll give it a go." That seemed the smartest to her. Because she really was interested in making it stronger. "Deal?" she asked.

prudence oria weiss ● 331 ● Song by Artist

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[prudence oria weiss]

━ the mirror's telling me to go home ━

"DEAL." RUE WEISS BEGAN, A faint smile crawling up on their lips. As reckless as the Weiss was being, they knew this was their last resort. For the last four weeks alone, any toxin was simply soaked up in the Weiss' body and they couldn't handle it any longer. The withdrawals, and even the simple enjoyment they got from ingesting their own product, a few muggle things here and there and Merlin, the feeling they would get from the brownies.

Rue left that night, knowing that the next time she would see Nova, the brownies would be done and the experiment would commence. But the only person that would be affected would more than likely be Nova...With days already passing, Rue heard word from Nova. Conversations between the two of them were always limited, but when negotiating a deal, it was more..cryptic.

That same day, later into the evening of course - Rue found themselves strolling to their usual meet up spot. With a cigarette between their fingers, Rue lifted the muggle item to their lips, blowing out the smoke. Despite it being summer, the air was always chilly in the evening, but all Rue could do was wait...and see..if Nova would even turn up.

| nova hypatia vector |

time skip as requested!

[nova hypatia vector]

▲

The door that led to the staircase up to Nova’s flat above the bakery opened and she poked her head out to a cloud of cigarette smoke hiding Rue. That sort of thing didn’t bother her at all, and if they had the time, she’d probably join in. But she didn’t want to waste any time getting these chocolates made up and eaten. If the two of them were going to be knocked out cold for a period of time, they would need as much as they could get. Or rather, Nova knew she was going to be out cold. Rue would probably be fine. They always seemed to be. It was like they had a built-in ability to deflect everything she threw at them.

”Just come up when you’re done,” she said as she started to retreat back inside. ”The door will lock behind you. I’ve got to go chill the chocolate.” The normal process for it was relatively time consuming. Obviously they didn’t want to wait, so Nova was going to use one of her freezing charms on the batch she’d mixed up. A crude block of liquid chocolate sat on a tray in her kitchen, ready to be flash-frozen in a moment’s notice.

She waited for a moment when she reached her flat again, sort of hoping she’d hear Rue follow behind immediately. Everyone liked watching the instant freeze. She’d thought of putting on a clinic of sorts for little ones to learn how to make chocolate themselves, but that took time and space, neither of which the Patisserie currently had. Being an actively run shop sort of made that difficult to do. Getting her wand out and ready, she paused as she heard footsteps on the stairs. Once Rue was inside, she was going to cast the charm.

prudence oria weiss ● 300 ● Song by Artist

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[prudence oria weiss]

━ the mirror's telling me to go home ━

NOT NOTICING NOVA UNTIL RUE heard her voice, narrowed eyes tried to make her out within the dark, before she smiled a little wide. Throwing her half-finished cigarette, Rue moved towards the door, keeping it open behind her and noticing that it indeed did lock behind them. Rue followed after Nova, intrigued to see part of the Vector's baking process, especially since the Weiss knew that Nova worked alongside her aunt during the day.

Popping her head inside the next room to make sure it was where Nova had ended up, Rue kept her distance, just to make sure she didn't get caught up in any sort of charm. Of course, the potioneer had no doubts that Nova knew what she was doing, but they were both human after all. Even Rue made mistakes with their potions. "You don't mind me watching right?..Or do you get stage fright?"

| nova hypatia vector |

[nova hypatia vector]

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Nova laughed as she heard Rue ask if it was okay if they watched. Stage fright? Her? That was maybe one of the funniest things she had heard in weeks. While it was true that really the only other person that saw her cook or bake was her aunt, getting nervous while slinging spells around the kitchen did not happen. Even with new recipes, Nova still had zero issues with it. ”No, you’re perfectly fine to watch,” she continued to laugh as she put the batter in position for the freeze charm. ”Especially with this. Everything is essentially done already.” Really, the most interesting part about all of it was how quickly she could chill the chocolate. Compared to the muggle way, Nova much preferred doing it with magic. It got her what she wanted almost instantly.

Pointing her wand at the container of chocolate, Nova cast a very gentle Glacius charm on it, making sure not to overdo it. If she did, the whole thing would turn into a block of ice. While that had never actually happened to her, nor did she think that it could considering her innate ability to perfectly cook, there was always the slight worry that she might go overboard. Watching the icy mist envelope the chocolate carefully, Nova was waiting to see the liquid solidify. After a few seconds of a constant stream, she relented, content with how it had turned out.

”Alright. Let’s give it about five minutes to soften just enough to eat, and we can give it a try,” Nova said as she turned back to Rue. From there, the two of them were probably going to be having a fun night. ”I’ve got tons of different snacks and drinks, so whatever you want once it starts to kick in, help yourself.” She took a seat at her kitchen table so that she was able to watch the process with the chocolate. ”I have a feeling it’ll take a while at this strength…”

prudence oria weiss ● 333

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[prudence oria weiss]

━ the mirror's telling me to go home ━

SMILING SMALL AS RUE NODDED in response, the Weiss still kept their distance. It was intriguing, being the person that was able to watch someone else conduct something instead of doing the creating yourself. As Nova continued to laugh while she prepared the batter, the Weiss' eyes narrowed, focusing in the same way Nova did. While the potioneer was crafty with their creations, applying the same kinds of skills to cooking or baking was far from an area Rue could dabble in.

Although, given their current circumstances, going through withdrawals and conducting research in order to figure out their new 'ability', perhaps trying something new wouldn't exactly kill anyone. "Oh shit?" Rue replied, brow raising as Nova casted the Glacius charm. Rue knew their fair share of charms like any other wizard, but their expertise was clearly in potions. However, the Weiss could recall skiving off a class or two with both Mina and Benny, deciding to spend their time fucking around Hogwarts instead of actually paying attention. Good times.

Lips formed an 'o' as the chocolate quickly chilled, and the Weiss noticed Nova's overall reaction - she seemed to be satisfied so that only meant good news for the Weiss. "Alright, great." The Weiss grinned, hoping that this...final resort of hers would be the answer she was looking for. "Thanks but..I highly doubt this will..kickstart any sort of munchies..let alone a high.."

Rue figured that Nova would probably assume they were crazy, considering the big favour the potioneer had initially asked for - especially with creating a batch with such a high strength. "But what do you have?..And where?"

| nova hypatia vector |

[nova hypatia vector]

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Nova frequently forgot that other people were intrigued by cooking with magic. There was a lot of non-verbal wand waving involved typically, and that alone impressed guests. It helped that she and her aunt had perfected most techniques and worked in near silence almost every morning. The soft crackle of their woodfire ovens as fresh bread and other baked goods rose every day was a high that she had never been able to achieve with conventional drugs. Not once had Nova thought she belonged elsewhere. The bakery was her everything. ”You do things with potions that I never could,” Nova said earnestly in response to Rue’s surprise to the use of Glacius.

With the chocolate set to the side and taken care of, Nova shifted gears to what the two of them could do after they ate it later. Rue said something curious though. What did they mean by not getting high from it? Wasn’t that the whole reason they were doing this in the first place? ”Merlin, what kind of tolerance do you have now?” she asked, immediately assuming that was what they meant. It didn’t really matter to Nova, but there had to be some concern there. These chocolates were infinitely stronger than anything else she had put together. If that didn’t work, then Rue was going to be immune to anything Nova made in the future.

Despite Rue’s weird comment, they still asked about the snacks and Nova grinned. She waved her wand at her snack cupboards, plural, and the doors shot open. ”Whatever you want. Personally, I’ve been eating these,” she grabbed a humongous bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos from the shelf and held it out to Rue. ”Imported them from the US. But I also have leftover cookies and things that didn’t sell today if that’s what you’d rather have.” Those were all in a paper box sitting on her kitchen table. Nova didn’t eat a whole lot of what she made, as there was never any need for her or Decima to taste test since everything was perfect from the start. So when she had a chance like this, she took it. ”Or we could get takeout. You’d think I’d want to cook more for myself, but after spending all day baking its exhausting…”

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[prudence oria weiss]

━ the mirror's telling me to go home ━

WHILE RUE LIKED TO BELIEVE they were a wiz with non-verbal and generally wandless magic, nothing could compare to the wonders that the Weiss witnessed from Nova and her aunt. It was always fascinating for the potioneer - whenever they were slightly sober of course - coming into the bakery whenever they opened in the morning and feeling an odd but comforting vibe from how peaceful it was. Feeling a small smile rise to their lips from the Vector's compliment, Rue's eyes glanced elsewhere, feeling a small flush rise to their cheeks. "It's nothing..you'd probably pick it up in a few hours.."

At Nova's question, the Weiss couldn't help but clear their throat, eyes trailing from around where they stood and back onto their friend. How did one..exactly tell someone else that after almost dying they had gained..an ability that prevented anything from harming them? "Um.." They began quietly, looking down at their fingers and somewhat picking at the skin on their fingernail. "Kind of..high enough that quite literally nothing affects me anymore..?" Hoping that Nova would take their words comedically, Rue watched with curious eyes as the snack cupboard doors shot open.

"Cheetos!" Rue called out, pointing at the bag in Nova's hands, recalling it almost immediately. It was one snack the Weiss missed when her family first moved to Europe and before her adult years had to simply beg at her mother to pay the import price. "I use to love these, my mom would always hate when I'd rather eat half the bag instead of dinner."

Nodding as Nova also mentioned the leftover cookies and things that didn't sell either, Rue couldn't help but smile at her next comment. "Baking's twice as hard as cooking. It's like potion brewing...You actually need to be specific with measurements and stuff right?..Cooking's kind of easy, since you can always sprinkle in whatever you like."

Resting against the counter they stood near, Rue shrugged, fine with all the options the Vector had mentioned. "Whatever's fine with me. Snacks or take out. Munchies later on might call for a bigger meal."

| nova hypatia vector |