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 Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 7:04 pm
Riley didn't want to assume that Malodore would take her up on her request, but she wasn't terribly surprised when she heard him make his farewells. She carefully tread down the hall, making sure not to step on the bloody trail she'd left behind when she arrived, and made it to the door in relative silence. When she got there, she opened it, and then held the door for Malodore. Which, she thought silently, was kind of funny when she heard it in her head. If she wasn't so tired, she'd have mentioned it.
As it was, however, there wasn't much room for levity in her thoughts that night. Her eyes were cast down, perhaps just a little humbled, when she thought to him quietly.
Are you very mad at me?
Malodore had shown no signs of anger, but Riley knew her decision making abilities were below par that night. If she had been in his shoes.. she'd be furious. Then again, she was the one with the passionate temper, not Malodore.
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Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 11:41 pm
Malodore turned towards her; though its face by nature betrayed no emotion, its voice when it spoke was confused. "Mad? Why should I be angry at anything that isn't a damned gnome? You did what you thought you had to do." And I think you've realized it was foolish to take the bait, was the echoed thought, though not directed specifically at her... if Riley caught it, it would be faint, clearly an after-echo of its own thoughts and not a lecture for her.
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Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 1:41 am
Riley let the door go when Malodore was through, and winced visibly - her mind had touched upon his enough times that she'd found herself familiarly attuned, and caught the thought that she would have normally missed. The thought of Malodore thinking her foolish stung on several different levels. She'd already come to terms with her own stupidity - but of course, his opinion mattered more to her than her own.
I know. She responded - though it would have sounded like a response to the spoken word, it was in fact to his echoed thought. I wasn't thinking straight. She felt her stomach churn as she admitted it. A mindflayer. Not thinking straight. It was preposterous. It was shameful. She fell into step beside him, her eyes cast down at the ground as they walked.
I have.. a lot to think about. She muttered, more to herself than anything. The sting of her bump flared, and she rose a hand to it. And this -thing- isn't going to help. She growled.
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Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 5:36 pm
Malodore shook its head. "It enticed me to threats I would not normally make. I understand. Let me take a look at that when we get back to your dormitory," it added, giving her head a long look. It was kind of hard to catch the injury under all the tentacles, especially since she was still marred with blood, here and there, and the plague doctor was fairly sure not all the blood was hers. Not remotely.
The urge to offer gentle analysis and correction as one would to a patient kept bubbling up, but Malodore forced it away. That manner of speaking was doctor-to-patient, authority-to-pawn... and thus, not really appropriate. Not now.
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Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 8:07 pm
I would appreciate that, actually. She responded as she dropped her hand. I can't actually see it, so I don't know how bad it is. I only know it hurts. Very much.
Though, one could tell from the way her voice seethed when she spoke of her injury, that it was the shame of being knocked out by a group of gnomes that hurt worst of all.
She fell into silence for a few minutes, rubbing one arm with the hand of the other. Every so often, her eyes lifted to sideglance at Malodore, but immediately dropped again. Nonetheless, the silence gave her time to re-evaluate, and eventually regain her self-confidence.
At least none of this made me miss out on the chance for a new pup. She mused, holding up the necklace. Those wolves looked like exactly the kind of pet I've been looking for.
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Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 8:43 pm
"Fortuitous, that," Malodore said with a faint smile. It was also pleased at the idea of a friend for Luce, someone she could play with while the plague doctor was involved in classes and the like. However, it couldn't get properly excited about it just yet. Maybe once it had confirmed Riley was (mostly) undamaged. "I hope it and Luce will be good friends - both yours, and mine as well."
The demon dormitories loomed overhead as they walked - well, technically they loomed over most of campus, but walking towards them made them feel... loom-ier. "I've never been inside before," it remarked, admiring the excellent architecture of the structure. "I imagine not many undead do. We tend to be personas non gratiae for most demons... present company excepted, of course."
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Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 9:34 pm
I'm sure they will get along quite well. The idea of having a playmate of her own to play with Luce brought a bright expression to her eyes. After all, who would not love Luce?
As they neared the dorms, Riley looked up at the building as Malodore spoke. She remembered it mentioning how it felt unwelcome there before.. and now again. Somehow, although she understood the reasoning behind the thought, she darkened just slightly. Without really thinking on the issue, her hand reached out and curved their long fingers intertwined easily through the claws of his hand. Her voice seeped out, much lower and predatorily.
Think nothing of it. If anyone even dared look at you oddly.. Her words trailed off in a growl.
She pushed the hand-carved wooden door open, and walked inside.
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Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 9:51 pm
Malodore felt the possessive clutch of her long fingers in its own, and shook its head. "As you are right now, only the clinically insane would cross you." Everything about her appearance and body language said stay away. Practically shouted it.
As they stepped inside, Malodore let Riley take the lead - it had no idea where her room was, after all. "Very elaborate. Much more impressive than the undead halls," it said, just a trace of envy in its voice.
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Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 10:35 pm
Riley's dark, angered demeanor faded slightly at the compliment. Although it was true, that a demon would have to be insane to make any remark towards her at the moment, it was still very sweet to say. Thank you, she piped out gently, and led him down the hall.
Her room was on the first floor, down the end of the hall. When they arrived at it, was a dark oak door labeled 157. It's twin sat beside it, a dark oak door labeled 155 - Barth's room. One could hear video game music coming from inside.
She released Malodore and began to unlock her door, and her gaze instinctively fell on her dry erase board. Israfel. She lifted one hand up and stealthily flipped the board over, while opening the door. Stepping inside the dark room, she could already hear the faint bubbling of Cthulhu's breathing inside of it's new treasure-chest-tank nearby. She held the door open for Malodore to step inside, and then closed the door - leaving them in darkness. Riley was able to see just as well as she would in the light of day. Malodore, however..
Here. Hold on to me, this room has no light to it. She could see it well enough to brush her hands against it's claws. She would lead him carefully around the couch, to a doorframe with a thick velvet covering. Pushing away the covering flooded the room with the light from the study.
I don't like making my living room too comfortable. I'm not really fond of visitors. She gestured back, explaining away the darkness of the previous room. Well. Most visitors.
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Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 10:43 pm
Malodore continued to gaze about with curiosity as Riley led it down the hall - it recognized some of the names written on the noteboards on each door. It was distracted enough by that that it didn't notice Riley flipping over her own noteboard.
And then it stepped inside, and into darkness.
"... Comfort is one thing, complete and utter blackness quite another," it said, dryly, but a faint squeeze of its fingers betrayed its combined amusement and bemusement. "Do you find many people are scared away by this subterfuge?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 11:09 pm
It isn't utter blackness. Not to me, at least. She explained, offering him a comfortable chair once they entered the study. The faint sound of the aquarium could be heard, as a curious Bioluminara bobbed it's way to the surface, upon noticing it's mistress's arrival.
I can see in the dark. She continued, while grabbing a chair for herself and rolling it beside him. They, however, cannot. It can be a bit.. unnerving for a visitor to remain in a room where they cannot see, but can be seen. However.. no one has actually attempted to stay long. Except Israfel, but nothing unnerves him. She eyed the door on the other side of the room as she continued. And of course Christof, who for some reason always uses the window to the bedroom to enter. He, thankfully, spends most of his time in Barth's room nowadays. I think they are becoming friends without realizing it.
She turned back to Malodore, and her eyes crinkled in lieu of a smile. Her head tilted just slightly. Would you like to examine my head now?
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Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 5:18 pm
Malodore had to pause in the doorway between darkness and light, waiting for its eyes to adjust. Once that was done, it accepted the offered chair, peering around the room with curiosity. "You have excellent taste," it said, "utter darkness not withstanding. You could have all manner of scandalous things in there, and no one would know. Perhaps that's why Israfel stayed."
It got up, pushing its chair back as Riley tilted her head towards it. "Yes, please... I do wish you had pupils, one of the standard tests for concussion is pupil dilation... tentacles back, if you would." It didn't want to touch them, not after, ah, last time.
Especially since they were, technically, alone in her room. It occurred to it that Israfel would likely give a great deal to know about this.
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Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 5:56 pm
Sorry to disappoint you, she teased, as her tentacles began curling up on their own. They curved into round buns, spreading away from the site of impact. The skin at the bump itself was taut and stretched out, colored dark in rings of purple and black. The bump was rather large, but it was the malicious looking scrape across it that really made things look gruesome. Whatever she had been hit with was not some simple bat - it would have taken a great deal of trauma to actually knock her out. It looked like, perhaps.. they had dropped something very heavy on it? Whatever had occurred, her skull was very upset about it. There was very little blood, so whatever it had been was blunt. Hard, and vicious, but blunt.
The bruise swelled across the length of skin between two tentacles, but it was clear it was beginning to swell up the base of one of them. This was the cause of her greatest distress. She lifted a finger to circle the area without touching it.
That's where it hurts most - I don't know why, since I can't see it.
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Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 7:18 pm
Malodore's lower beak tightened as it surveyed the injury. Whatever had hit her had been nasty. "It looks... very colorful," it said, dryly. "A large and rather artistic bruise, some surface contusions... it seems to have caught the base of one of your tentacles."
The thought of someone doing this much damage to Riley made a cold anger curl in the pit of the plague doctor's stomach - which was a bit of a surprise, even to it. A doctor had to be calm and collected at all times, and it was managing this state... but it wasn't easy. "May I lightly touch the site? Or you may, if you think your tentacles will reflexively object. I want to see if there's a hematoma forming... or if I can feel a fracture." Either one of those outcomes would absolutely require the intervention of a true professional.
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Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 8:09 pm
Riley lifted her head up to look at Malodore, easily reminded of why it would be hesitant to touch her tentacles. Her eyes touched with a bit of remorse. Hm. How to be tactful about this subject. She looked away, taking her time to put her next words together carefully. They still stumbled.
You don't have to be.. you know. Worried. I know that back when.. she sighed deeply. You don't have to fear touching them. They're just sensitive, and I doubt you're about to try and hurt any of them. Just-
Her hand lifted up and, without touching, gestured across the length of the larger, central tentacle. Stay away from that one and you're fine.
She felt absolutely mortified - she knew she'd never live that night down. She knew she could never hate Israfel, but it was moments like these when she really felt like she could come close.
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