"Georgia said he was my culture, or something like that. --I suppose it's too much to ask for something like that here? If Laertes can find me a dog, then surely a medicine--"

There's a part of himself, the part that got its hopes up every time the queen found a new physician with a new remedy, that catches on to this and clings. He should really know better, and yet-- what if he could find it? What if there truly was an herb to steep or an amulet to wear against his chest that actually changed things? He wouldn't have to worry Laertes by drinking Luo Binghe's blood. He wouldn't have to feel as if he's always waiting for the moment Laertes -- any of his friends here, but especially Laertes, who's with him the most -- can't stand cleaning up after him any more; for the moment Laertes just gets tired. A remedy feels like the promise of new life. Of course it was just a matter of going far enough unto the future, of course eventually someone would work out the cure. Now if he could just have it--