Too much ground to make up (heleen)

[Deleted]

Timing: March 2025

Oliver couldn’t resist the summoning of someone with information. Especially when that information promised to be useful and fruitful as a means to his own ends. It wasn’t as if he was being selfish, Oliver reasoned. Mostly, he really wanted to cure the curse of lycanthropy and go back to living a normal life. Ideally not having a dreadfully painful transformation once a month. And so hope led him to make arrangements to meet the young woman from the letter in London on a Sunday afternoon in late March.

When he arrived at the park, a blustery gust of wind nearly knocked him over. The Thames riverside sloshed along grumpily in the wake of a clipper boat. Oliver looked around, wondering what the young woman who had written was. She’d not given him any distinguishing characteristics. Perhaps she would recognise him by the befuddled expression on his face.

Looking down, Oliver noticed a vibrant yellow dandelion forcing its way through the newly thawed soil. He reached down, and plucked it from the ground, twirling it between his fingers. How curious that something could be so persevering, and despite all odds grow. He only wished that humans could do the same.

Tag: @seph

[Deleted]

Heleen had taken a chance. She'd heard there was a guy trying to cure lycantrophy and since she'd had one friend in the past with that affliction she'd sent him a letter asking if she might perhaps theorise the possible cure with him. She had dedicated some of her free time and effort into researching some possibly relevant areas to curing the disease. Naturally that was a lie as the research was her job but curing the disease had to be worth something. As long as she didn't actually give out any valuable information that was classified and spoke only in papers she'd read and theories she'd based off that any help she could give was probably a good idea. Besides, coming to understand the essential steps in the making of the wolvesbane potion would also make a large difference as that potion held some of the magic that suppressed the disease temporarily. How blessed would it be if that potion for starters could be made more... permanent?

As she arrived at the located place at the set time, she started looking around. It was then she realised she hadn't considered putting any traits in the letter by which the two of them could recognise one another. Well that had been her first mistake. She looked around a little skittishly and tried to find anybody that looked as though they might be waiting for somebody or something. Nothing particularly stood out at first so with a slight frown on her face, Heleen sat down and kept studying the people around. After a bit she noticed that a man was nearby, just standing with a flower delicately held between his fingers. He was just.. waiting? Could it be that he was the man she was off to meet? If that was the case, well she was in trouble. He was attractive and Heleen had a lot of trouble in not stumbling around when it came to attractive men. They made her feel unbalanced. Still, she picked up her courage and approached him with her best friendly smile.

"Hey, are you by any chance Oliver? I'm Heleen and I was supposed to meet him here. I just have no idea what he looks like. Sorry if I'm bothering you." She added the last sentence more out of habit than anything else. Her ex had mostly convinced her that she was a bother more often than not and that she'd be better of just standing in a corner looking pretty when the smart people were talking. She'd kicked the habit of keeping her mouth shut but was at times still awfully insecure. It showed rather much in scenario's like this. She just waited for him to answer her question, feeling that maybe she'd approached the right person. That would be nice.

@archibald

[Deleted]

Oliver stared at the dandelion in his fingers, the wheels in his head turning. What if something so simple and naturally occuring could be the key to making life normal again? Something that even muggles could appreciate. The transformation from winter to spring, the transformation from human to beast. Was there a connection between the often overlooked weed and his condition? Oliver was jolted from his thoughts at the sound of a voice. He quickly pocketed the little yellow flower and looked up.

Blinking, Oliver took in the young woman before him. She was less severe looking than he had imagined. “What? Oh, yes I am Oliver. You must be Heleen,” he said with a slight nod. “You are er, most certainly not bothering me no. Shall we sit? Or… should we find somewhere a bit less windy than here? Though I am keen to hear your suggestions, I’d rather be a bit more comfortable,” said Oliver, a quiver in his voice betraying his nerves. Could Heleen have the key to his life’s work?

“So, Heleen… am I saying that right? Er, you didn’t say much about yourself in the letter. Do you have a particular interests in potions or say werewolves?” Now that he was out about it, Oliver was much less ashamed of his condition. He could only thank his close friend Beatrice for helping him get to this point. He was curious to discover what had driven this lovely young woman to seek him out.

Tag: @seph

[Deleted]

Thank the Gods that she'd spoken to the right guy! He seemed a tad confused by her suggestion she was bothering him but she was quite used to that particular problem. Most people seemed to have that. She managed to ignore it due to habit. She simply didn't want to make a negative impact on the lives of other people, that was all. It was good she wasn't doing so right now, naturally. She gave him a warm smile when he attempted to say her name. "I'm fine either way. I don't mind a bit of wind but it might make the conversation easier if we find a place a little more quiet." She conceded easily and looked around for a potential place. Naturally anywhere around muggles would not be the most ideal. Even if they were just declared crazy it was never a good idea to make muggles too familiar with any part of magic.

As he said her name again she kept composure and merely shrugged. "I usually go by Helen in spoken terms. It's a lot easier to pronounce for the English world." She explained kindly and rather cheerfully. She was very serious about the subject of their conversation but that didn't mean she was any less keen on being kind and making sure he didn't accidentally ended up feeling insulted or something along those lines.

Heleen nodded vaguely as he asked about her interest. "Sort of. One of my best friends was a werewolf. We don't speak to each other all that much these days, with me having moved to a different country and all. I just remember that one night she came into the dorms after having found out one of her friends had been killed after going out on a rampage during a full moon. She was in all sorts of states. Terrified she might meet the same fate, heartbroken for both the loss of her friend and the lives he'd taken due to the disease. I guess that I just want to make sure I never see her life through something like that again." She explained in short. She walked in silence for a bit and as they reached a more secluded place where the wind was much less she looked at him with a kind smile. "My ideas mostly revolve around first understanding certain aspects of the affliction a bit better. I mean, what exactly is the reason silver specifically harms them? What in the building of the wolvesbane potion makes it able to surpress some of the wolvish traits? Can we amplify it to work permanently or even engineer a potion that might not supress but stop the cycle. I mean, the muggles managed to invent product to keep woman from getting their periods. In a sense I figure that turning into a werewolf is also tied to a cycle and thus it might be possible to either break the cycle or surpress it completely. It's just a matter of figuring out which aspects to focus on. The physical, the mental or the moon and the effects itself." She ceased her explanation at that point, not fully sure if she'd insulted him by comparing his disease to the natural cycles of the female body. She didn't really want to make enemies but well, thinking out loud could be a problem....

@archibald

[Deleted]

There was something slightly off about the young woman who had written to him. She looked so apologetic, just for speaking to him. Then relieved that he was supposedly the correct person. Was he truly that frightening in theory? Oliver thought that he had become rather good natured over the past few months, largely due to Beatrice. He was frustrated with himself for running away for all those years, for refusing to believe that there was still a tiny ray of hope for him.

First, Oliver clarified the pronunciation of Heleens name. “Right, okay, cheers that’s good then,” he said with a nod. “Oh, are you new to the UK then?” He mulled over her words. Sounded like a pretty typical story. Oliver wondered if he wasn’t the only werewolf to push everyone away for their own so-called safety. “It’s a horrifying experience, the transformation. We’re lucky that the wolfsbane potion is effective, though one step further, a cure, would be so… amazing.” He felt as if amazing didn’t even begin to describe the euphoria he would feel at being cured.

“I think the wolfsbane potion can be enhanced in some matter in order to transform a treatment into a cure. The potion allows us to keep our mind, while our body still mutates. However, if we can find something that connect the mind with the body, I think we can figure out a way to completely negate the transformation. It’s just a matter of what that would be…” Oliver trailed off thoughtfully.

When Heleen brought up the female menstrual cycle, Oliver’s face flushed a deep red. “You do raise a good point,” said Oliver after taking a moment to compose himself. “It is definitely cyclical. As in why would we only transform at the full moon if it weren’t? Perhaps the bite could have hormones transferred…?” he added, glancing at Heleen for confirmation. It was refreshing to have someone easy and knowledgeable to speak with. Ordinarily, he would be tripping all over himself in the company of someone so lovely.

Tag: @seph

[Deleted]

Heleen could comprehend the situation that people like Oliver found themselves in up to some point. Without actually being in their situation, it was impossible to be aware of the full extent, although she did her best to make the lives of those suffering from any type of affliction easier. She wanted to make lives better, not be a burden on people. Since that was her main concern and usually her worst fear, it only seemed logical to her that people would find her annoying if she did things they disliked or disagreed with. She wasn't about to change her life for others completely but she could try not to be a negative influence on them. She nodded as he described it. She'd heard that before but it always made her sad to hear just how bad the experience was.

Wolfsbane was a start of course but nowhere near a cure. It simply made the affliction easier to cope with, not even easier to handle from what she understood. Even if a cure was impossible, perhaps a better medication could still be achieved. She nodded slightly as he spoke, his theories quite clear and much less convoluted than her own usually were. "Even if we could simply find a better treatment that would already be a huge step forward. Something to either stop the transformation physically, although there is the risk that it might cancel out the wolfsbane or just something to make the transformation process more bearable. As long as something along those lines can be administered alongside the wolfsbane potion it would significantly increase the quality of life for those suffering from the affliction as well as hopefully grant some powerful insights into a cure. If we can figure out how the potions work and how they might synergise it would give us some complicated insights into the mechanics of the disease itself, which ought to help in developing a cure."

Then he suggested hormones and her entire face lit up completely. "Yes!" Her enthusiasm was really getting riled up by now. "It could be hormones, possibly. Alternatively it could be a rewiring of the DNA by a viral pathogen to produce certain proteins that might be affected by moonlight, but possibly only under a certain wavelength. Up to some point we could possibly test that with cell lines and the wavelengths or magical properties that are specific to moonlight to see if we can clinically induce a localised transformation. On the other hand it could be more closely resembling a prion disease, in which case the most important thing would be to see how the moon factors in. Is the physiology of the werewolves always different on a cellular level or does the full moon cause a complete and drastic change in the basic structure of both cells and physiology of a werewolf?" She stopped rattling for a second and pursed her lips in thought.

"I've never thought to ask but, if you are not exposed to direct or indirect moonlight, does the transformation still take place normally? Is it different in the sense that it might be more painful or more difficult than when exposed to moonlight?" She then tapped her finger on her arms a few times before looking at him, this time far less secure in her questions. "Do you think that you could manage to get a group of werewolves together to ask these kinds of questions to? Pretty much make a bit of a transformation outline and timeline to hang some of our theories on?"

@archibald

[Deleted]

"I know a place around here. Tiny little coffee shop tucked away. Not many people know about it, it's quite private," said Oliver, starting to lead the way towards the coffee shop. They mulled over a few things with voices only slightly raised due to the gusting wind. Oliver wondered aloud if perhaps a transfer of hormones could be a part of the affliction. The short walk to the coffee shop was even shorter in Heleen's company. He held the door for her, and followed her into the shop. It was a little kitch, with different tea kettles hanging from the ceiling. The room was cramped with three or four tables only and a wooden counter top with two cakes in glass domes and an espresso machine and more kettles along the back wall. There was only one barista in there, who beamed at Oliver and Heleen as they entered. "Er, a cappuccino for me and whatever the lady would like," said Oliver quietly.

After their orders were placed, Oliver led Heleen to a table. "The wavelength is a very interesting theory. However, it doesn't matter if its direct or indirect moonlight. The transformation usually occurs within one hour of the full moon passing the meridian. I haven't noticed a particularly more painful transformation based on direct or indirect moonlight, as I haven't found myself directly outside that late since my teenaged days," said Oliver with a sheepish grin.

When Heleen asked about getting together a focus group of werewolves, Oliver paused to think about it. He knew a few werewolves who may be keen on that idea, but others that would be less so. He opened his mouth to respond when their coffees were delivered. He thanked the barista and she nodded, returning to her phone behind the counter. Oliver glanced at Heleen and with a shrug went on. "I think I can help with that. I am not the most popular werewolf, or person in general. But I know one or two who may be interested. Will it be painful?

tag: @seph