A cure for apathy

Beat gave his name and the woman gave hers in turn. Asvor. The dirty boy accepted it with a nod, and then gave the woman's serpentine companion a nod as well. He'd been taught to be kind to companions, not that it would have crossed his mind to be otherwise. "Good to meet you both." He remembered his manners, even though he was in such a sorry state. The seated childling was getting a little uncomfortable. This was more time than he'd spent around another wolf in a long, long while.

The two-toned youngling was just getting ready to make excuses and leave when the woman spoke again, shaking a few items out onto the ground between them. Her words instantly intrigued him. Make him better or at least make him forget? The woman scooped one of the dried mushrooms into her own maw and Beat moved forward to do the same. He was eager to try anything that might fix him. So eager that, before she said 'start small' he'd already chomped and swallowed two caps and a stem.

Sitting back, Beat wrinkled his nose at the pungeant, earthy taste. It seemed to stick to his entire mouth and was anything but pleasant. Nose still wrinkled, he questioned the woman. "How is this going to help? What's it supposed to do? How long until it works?" His excitement was obvious. He'd been suffering for quite a long time. A long time for a child, at least. With eager, teal and purple eyes, he stared at the woman and her snake, hoping for answers.