>> 4 {audio}

[malfattore]

{click}

{a lazy inhale, and a slow Italian drawl}

Fuggendo tutte di paura piene,
una gran piova viene.
Qual sdrucciola, qual cade,
qual si punge lo pede:
a terra van ghirlande:
tal ciò c’ ha colto lascia, e tal percuote:
tiensi beata chi più correr puote.
Sì fiso stetti il dì che lor mirai.
ch’ io non m’ avvidi, e tutto mi bagnai.I dislike what I

Comments

[lestrangestone]

They rarely have anything useful to say. But they are rather quick to give over their homes when frightened. Or threatened. Acquiring work space should be easy.

[malfattore]

I've considered it, though I have my eye on a two-level in the city that doesn't appear occupied. Not too far in, but fair enough for living atop and a business below.

We shall see. If I can avoid sharing a building with other people, I'll be content.

[girl_unlocking]

What are the townsfolk saying? I-is it really bad?

[malfattore]

They seem irritated that their attempts at fibbing are failing miserably. One woman in particular threw several pieces of footwear at a man who apparently could only repeat "I ONLY SCREWED HER ONCE... TWICE... DAMN... GODDAAAAAMN", followed by an array of obscenities.

[girl_unlocking]

Oh.

I....

...that's a little more information than I wanted, but my bad for asking.

[...]

Thanks for seeing me, though. I think it helped? [A little.] And I hope you find a bigger place, because yeah it was kind of cramped but it's not like I can really talk when I have muffins all over my floor.

[malfattore]

Not at all "your bad". I'd have asked, too.

... why are there muffins all over your floor?

[samianscar]

"I bathed and everything"?

[malfattore]

Che cosa?

Good... for you?

[samianscar]

You said it, not me. That's what e tutto mi bagnai means, in my book.

[malfattore]

You may be illiterate. It's nothing to be ashamed of.

[voice]

[sucker_punches]

I've noticed it too. Something weird's going on. It usually does when the mist acts up.

You're a doctor?

[voice]

[malfattore]

The mist? That... fog? What do you mean?

And yes. You are?

[voice]

[sucker_punches]

That fog, yes. Whenever it spills into town, something happens. There've been diseases, monsters, hallucinations... forced honesty is new, though.

I'm-- [not. Wait.] sort of.

[voice]

[malfattore]

It's something to tread carefully around, anyway. {For others. Not him. Nooo-ooooo. But wow, the place gets more and more bizarre every day.} Overall, I believe I'll stop questioning the function of this city. There seems to be no use trying to apply my home logic.

{Sort of?} How can one be "sort of" a doctor?

What is your name?

Voice

[circus_bones]

Now that's a sad little song.

[And yet he can't bring himself to dislike it. Mainly because...well, there's familiarity in sadness.]

So yer a doc? That's good.

Voice

[malfattore]

It can be, depending on how you look at it. A sad song if you live it, perhaps. A useful tool if you learn from it.

{Rarely has the doctor been sad, though he can understand where one might extract such an emotion from the lines.}

I am. It's served me well in the past, and now here. I don't believe we've been introduced. You don't sound familiar...

Voice

[circus_bones]

Ah, yeah, it always comes down to which side of the hill yer on.

[He laughs a little. When he speaks again, his voice has perked up a little, his showmanship returned.]

Then allow me to do just that! I am Joker, ringleader of Anatole's very own Circus! I imagine a good many of your patients have had their breath taken away by yours truly!

[He laughs a little.]

Not fer good, of course.

[At least...not here.]

Voice

[malfattore]

{The voice, the presentation-- it almost reminds him a particularly irritating clown he knew back in Venice. The name, though, suggests otherwise. Cahin was never shy to let it be known who he was.}

Of course.

So. Joker, hmm? I wasn't aware there was a circus here in Anatole, aside from what... has apparently disappeared overnight. Where is it, exactly? {Or is it in his head? Doc should look into psychiatry as a side project.}

Out of curiosity, what puts you on the sad side of the hill?