Welcome to Gaia! ::

They had drifted towards the undead dorms, instead of the demon ones, as if by mutual, unspoken agreement. The plague doctor opened the door for her, stepping quietly into the front foyer. Everything seemed quieter than usual... it supposed not that many students had filtered back into the dorms yet.

And then the barking started. A high-pitched, frantic, yet joyful yelping that made Malodore hurry its steps. "Luce!" it called out as it ascended the stairs, pulling Riley along with it. "Luce tresorina!"

The barking increased in frequency the closer they got to Malodore's door, until finally... a soft, white mist curled out from under said door. For a moment it hung there, as if disoriented - and then in the next blink Luce was there, paws skidding on the smooth floor until she slid into Malodore's legs. She jumped up in sheer joy on plague doctor and mindflayer both, greeting them (mostly) equally.

"There, there, tresorina," Malodore soothed, opening its beak in a smile and crouching to pick her up. She squirmed so much, licking at its mask, that it could barely hold her to its chest. "Ci sei mancato troppo."

Somewhere, under the happy barks and licks, it registered that Luce had evidently learned a new trick... but now was the time for greetings. It could analyze how Luce had gotten through that solid door later.

Very shortly, Luce had exhausted herself in happiness - instead of squirming everywhere, she settled for draping herself across Malodore's shoulder, paws dangling. The plague doctor chuckled and patted her. "Whoever took care of her fed her well," it noted. "I'm glad of that, at least."

The doorway opened easily at Malodore's touch, and it took a deep breath as it walked through the door. It all smelled so wonderfully familiar. So much like... like home, in a way that it had never been before now. It carefully pulled Luce down and put her on the floor; she immediately begged up on Riley for attention.

"I... am ready to sleep for a good while," it announced, shaking out its coat. A small rain of sand followed the movement, much to Malodore's dismay, and it was abruptly aware of just how sandy, bloody, and downright stinky it was. It could only assume Luce was so happy to see them that scent didn't matter? "... ugh. But I need clean bandages first. And clean flesh underneath. And clean everything." It shifted uncomfortably; now that it had noticed, it was highly displeased and a little embarrassed at its own state.

"Oh, merde-" Malodore swore, suddenly reminded of the damage to Riley's tentacle. It had, to its horror and shame, completely forgotten about it... "Your tentacles! Do you feel okay?" it asked, anxiously. Its claws clacked against each other with the urge to just... go for it and find the damaged one itself, but it held itself back.

"Ah... va bene," Malodore said, with relief. "Still, I should have treated it sooner, then perhaps..." It looked guiltily at the scar tissue evident on the tentacle.

Luce squirmed and lapped at Riley's cheek. Tasted salty!

"Si, I suppose that's true." It nuzzled lightly at her hand, then winced again as the movement made its old, sand-clogged bandages rasp at the nape of its neck. "A bath, yes... the usual sponge bath won't do, I fear. It will need to be under the shower taps, I think."

"... do you want to come with?" it asked, then, giving Riley an almost shy sidelong glance.

Luce thumped her tail against the floor.

"Non tu, sciocco," it added, poking its tail at the little pup affectionately.

Luce whined and put her ears back... but her still-thumping tail gave awasy her true feelings. "Torneremo presto, te lo prometto," it said, bending down to scratch under Luce's chin. The pup leaned into the scratch, then barked once and jumped up onto the foot of Malodore's bed.. the covers of which were now entirely askew and showing signs of some small white-furred beastie having tunneled through them at some point. Naturally.

"I don't want you to leave," Malodore said, turning back to Riley, still ducking its head bashfully. "And I want to bathe. The logical solution is clearly asking you to come along, is it not?"

A small shower of sand fell out of the hat when Riley moved it, the grains tumbling down Malodore's mask and bouncing off its beak. "I suppose I'm not in a position to protest, am I?" it said, wry amusement in its voice even as it leaned forward to grab fruitlessly at its hat. "Let me get a fresh set of bandages and my things."

It walked over to its sleeping nook, opening the closet and taking out a small bag, filling said bag with the aforementioned bandages, along with a sponge, its soap, and all the towels it possessed. Luce wagged her tail at it but stayed on the bed. "My supplies are quite basic, I'm afraid. If you are looking for a mud mask and sea cucumber slices for your eyes, you've chosen the wrong plague doctor to adore," it said, teasing lightly in response.

"I never did understand the mud... or the cucumbers," Malodore said with a mock sigh. "Or, rather, I understand their uses in a strictly intellectual sense, but that is all."

It quickly checked its bag to make sure it had everything. "There are shower facilities on the next floor up. Nothing truly private, but given the silence I doubt we'll have competition for a while." Of course, once everyone got back... well, the lower floors were more crowded, and there could well be spillover from the lower-floor zombies as the other bathrooms reached capacity.

"Shall we?"