Work Text:
Melly was feeling weird lately. It’s been a week since Joshua, her husband, brought her to Paphos to another meeting with his so-called “friends„. Melly wasn’t feeling ill — no — rather… unusual, compared to her other trips with Joshua. Fresh, even. Usually these meetings contained Joshua’s male friends only — the ones who would see Melly as her husband’s extension only. A pretty, dependent thing. An obligate parasite, feeding off the “poor„ man’s success. But this time… there was a woman. A weird one, truly. In her early thirties, unmarried, childless, with a degree in some occult pseudoscience… Soul science, was it? Melly doesn’t believe in such things. She’s a person of science, “believing„ isn’t about her in general. Yet, Melly was also naturally curious. There was something about this woman, Ivy… mysterious and simple at the same time. Even though Ivy always kept to herself in any company of men — the only company they currently had, — it was easy for Melly to connect to her when they were alone. She managed to learn so much about the weird woman in a week — that she was a conjoined twin once, that her twin sister, Edith, died shortly after the separation surgery, that she had to wear a special medical corset to support her back after the surgery, that her father was a preacher… and that she suffers from hypersomnia, which was almost funny, as Melly herself was suffering from insomnia lately. But the thing that Melly admired in Ivy the most was how… innately talented she actually was. For someone as skeptic and meticulous as Melly, Ivy’s papers on psychiatry — the field she initially studied before becoming obsessed with soul science — were actually good. Ivy even prescribed Melly new sleeping pills one evening after the woman’s complaint about her old ones not helping. And the Ivy’s ones actually did work perfectly, not leaving Melly feeling drugged or dizzy for days. ❝The doctors these days are obsessed with getting their female patients on laudanum, don’t trust the ones your husband recommends,❞ she remembers Ivy saying. They were talking a lot — about insects, as Melly’s goal was to become an entomologist, about isopods, about cameroceras and dunkleosteus, as Ivy was fascinated by Paleozoic sea creatures, and even about Ivy’s soul science nonsense. Even though Melly was very skeptic at first, she got interested with time… It’s not like Ivy was a pseudoscientist, actually. She had a brilliant education and was a truly insightful researcher, just like Melly. But the entomologist kept feeling this difference between them… talent. Ivy was never really working hard. She was passionate, yes, but it looked so natural to Melly. So different from her own experience of sleepless nights full of studying to keep up with Joshua’s expectations. Maybe she deserved to be nothing more than his assistant, after all. As for Ivy, it looked like the weird woman was born intelligent and sophisticated. Melly couldn’t tell if she was jealous or fascinated more.
Drowning in this swarm of thoughts, Melly decided to ask Ivy more about her upbringing and childhood. Were they that different? How was it — to be born into a noble family as a woman? She knew some things about Joshua’s experience, but the woman was sure that Ivy’s experience would be different.
❝School?.. Yes, we- I was going to school as a child… But I started it later than the other girls — Edith was scared that the classmates would bully us, so it took some time to persuade her,❞ Ivy was speaking as she and Melly were playing chess in a quiet study in which their male colleagues won’t disturb them for sure. ❝But I don’t regret a single thing, I loved to study. It’s a shame that you had to learn literacy by yourself only as an adult. It’s just unfair,❞ the woman snorted, taking Melly’s second rook with her queen, leaving just the king.
❝Oh, did you know how to write even as a child? My husband was telling me that even noble girls don’t study that,❞ Melly pondered, knowing that she can’t win with such an endgame.
❝This means he’s lying to you in more than one aspect,❞ Ivy stated matter-of-factly. ❝I don’t like him. Checkmate, by the way,❞ her eyes lit up — a rare sight. Then, the psychiatrist adjusted her dress and got up to leave. ❝Sorry, Miss Plinius, it’s almost my afternoon nap’s time… Thank you for the game,❞ Ivy looked at the entomologist and smiled before reaching the door.
❝I understand. And weren’t you the one who suggested that we should call each other just by our names, Ivy?❞ Melly chuckled lightheartedly.
❝Oh, right… Please, come to my room at eight PM to continue our discussion, Melly,❞ and with that, this weird woman left.
This afternoon, Melly was thinking a lot about Ivy’s words. Why was Joshua lying to her? About the nature of education for noble girls, about the existence of such intelligent and independent women as Ivy… and even this suspicious situation with sleeping pills. Even if Joshua was her husband and Ivy was just a weird woman, it was a fact that Melly started feeling better when she started trusting Ivy. It’s not only about the sleeping pills, it’s about… the way the woman was actually listening to her. Both Joshua and Ivy seemed supercilious, yes, but it’s like Ivy actually saw Melly, while Joshua did not. At least, not anymore. The entomologist started noticing she wants to interact with her weird female friend more than with her husband. Ivy’s quirks, like her random complete switches in the mood and hyperfixations on the most bizarre yet fascinating living organisms ever, started to seem cute to Melly, while Joshua’s started to turn annoying. So, while she’s still in Paphos, the woman wanted to connect to Ivy as much as possible. Is this the understanding she sought in her marriage?.. Maybe it didn’t help Melly to burst from her egg in the end and only trapped her in her shell even more. But the psychiatrist, on the contrary, was no host to Melly. More like a lush woodland to roam freely in.
❝Ivy, I want to become your assistant,❞ the entomologist started bluntly just as she entered the woman’s room at assigned time.
The psychiatrist got surprised at first, but then relaxed and chuckled quietly, fidgeting with her pendant absentmindedly. ❝Really now? Having an assistant means teaching them something, and you have nothing to learn from me,❞ the way Ivy said it made it unclear if it was a compliment or a ridicule. Melly has never hoped for the best, though.
❝I wouldn’t want another teacher, I prefer to learn on my own these days… You said you don’t like my husband, right?❞ She sat on the chair beside the other woman, them making eye contact.
❝Oh, so it’s about this… Then I do need an assistant for sure,❞ Ivy took Melly’s gloved hand delicately, holding it close to her lips. ❝Will you allow me, Melly?❞ There was something tender and eerie in the psychiatrist’s voice at the same time. But the entomologist even liked it.
❝I will,❞ Melly answered quietly, as if someone could hear them if she said the words louder. Both women knew what the answer really meant.
And as Ivy’s lips gently touched Melly’s hand, two promises were made. The butterfly bursting from her chrysalis, ready to embrace the eerie, yet so alluring shadow cast upon her.