<span style="font-size: 15px"><span style="font-family:Open Sans">Felix ate ravenously, and Arsène wondered if the demon only allowed him to consume so much, to keep him weak, or if he just didn't have the means to keep himself fed. Likely the latter. He'd admitted to being a beggar, and his parasite as he put it wasn't stopping him from finishing his food now. Felix admitted that he may be sick, and Arsène frowned, imagining that likely he would be, especially for what he had planned.<br/>
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“Perhaps I should have waited to feed you after what I'll ask of you tonight,” Arsène commented, though nothing for it now, and perhaps he would be able to keep the simple fare down. He wasn't going to ask him to stop. If he was this hungry now, then he should eat. Arsène wasn't happy to hear that he heard less of his demon than normal. In Arsène's experience, that didn't necessarily indicate a good thing, rather that it may be trying to gather strength for something out of its normal routine. <br/>
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“I'm glad that you've been moderately comfortable,” he said instead. <br/>
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“Has anyone tried any sort of treatments for what afflicts you?” Arsène asked him now, giving thought to what he could do himself. <br/>
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“I usually only try any sort of treatments at the church, but I've experience in it.” Usually just for families of wealth that could cushion their sinners from the hands of God. People that were considered of more importance than folk like Felix. The fates of the people who were brought to him were usually already decided for him. He was just the means to an end, a final consolation. It was different now. He had more time with these four and would be the one drawing conclusions and deciding how they were to be punished. He supposed he had the freedom to try the treatments if he was ambitious enough, and to make due with the means that he did have. <br/>
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“I wanted to try some, if you'd let me,” Arsène requested. “I already told you I can't help you be rid of it completely, but maybe I can weaken its hold on you. It might be hard on you, but we might be able to reclaim more of yourself in the end. I think that God would want you to try.” Arsène shrugged. “If that's not enough, I think I would want you to try.”<br/>
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Arsène finished his stew but set aside most of his portion of bread for later, if Felix did throw up and needed something to help settle his stomach. He got up and retrieved a jar and a little paint brush. <br/>
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“Holy ashes, mixed into a paste,” Arsène told him, taken from the pyre of cleansed souls. “If you'd care to begin, undress and lay back against the rug. You can lay close to the fire so that you don't catch a chill.” Arsène didn't think that his malnourished body would hold heat all that well.</span></span>