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Malodore padded back into the dorms, feeling rather relaxed after having enjoyed an excellent tea in the tea rooms. There were aspects of this clan that it liked very much, and aspects that rubbed it entirely the wrong way. The emotional whiplash could be somewhat exhausting, which is why it was so glad to have found some peace over tea and those odd, petal-like snacks. It wasn't entirely at ease, and probably would not be for as long as it was here, but it was doing better.

"Riley? Are you in, mia cara?" it called out as it approached their small room. True to his word, Invictus had had the paper walls shifted about to give them more space, and Malodore was no longer as intensely twitchy about doing damage to the walls. Still, the chamber was pretty small, and it wasn't entirely expecting Riley to be within. Not with everything else she could be doing.

Malodore frowned inwardly at the response it heard, sliding open the paper-paneled door. Sure enough, there she was, flat on the mat in a puddle of mindflayer. As it stepped closer, it began picking up on her emotions - the precise opposite of the peace it had been feeling up until now.

"Mia cara, what is it?" It crouched next to her and put one hand on the small of her back, underneath the stretch of her crystal wings. "Are you hurt?" There was a twist of anxiety inside of it. It couldn't... couldn't be the Insanity taking deeper hold, could it?

It did not audibly sigh with relief, but it certainly could have. So it wasn't the Insanity then, thank Jack... "It seems to me you owe me a favor as well, si?" it said, after a moment. "Might I, perhaps, turn it in now?" It fished into its sleeve and came up with a bone dragon figurine, holding it out to her.

"I was not aware that five people constituted half the school; has the population declined so precipitously?" Malodore said, gently. "And if any would call you a slave, I would strike them. Perhaps even in the face. I might leave a mark, if I were so inclined."

It put the bone dragon to one side, then held out both hands to her. "My request is simply that you rise and accompany me. That is all."

Something about her... compliance was somehow very attractive, in a way Malodore couldn't quite explain; it felt that Riley was the 'leader' in their relationship, that she held a more dominant role. She certainly was more powerful than it in nearly every respect. Somehow the faint shift in that power, prompted by the token, was...

... well.

It opened its beak in a smile, folding its fingers around and between her own. "And now, we walk, with stately and measured tread, lest we offend all around us. It is fortunate that we mutually respect Invictus, or I might be tempted to do something terrible and utterly ruin the good name of Amityville." It guided her into the hallway and out the front door.

"Hmm... perhaps I am becoming a rebellious creature, having already once rebelled successfully..." It gave her a sidelong glance. "But given my particular skill of saying the wrong thing in the wrong place, on this Isle, I may save that conversation for when we return. But this Clan does indeed excel in artistry and beauty..." It put both hands on her shoulders and steered her down a particular path, heading for the Lotus Pavilions.

"I know we have each been here before, and often, but not together. And not down certain pathways."

"Si, si... I have learned a few things about this Clan during my time here, and one is that this place has a very special meaning to it." Its hooves sounded on the wood of the first bridge. "There is a smaller walk, just here..."

Indeed, there was a small bridge that split off from the main series of pavilions, this one heading under a curl of wisteria vine, prized for its poisons. The vine was in bloom, putting out great bunches of purple flowers all down its length. The series of bridges and pavilions that stretched ahead were small, intimate - just wide enough for two to walk abreast, the water rippling softly underneath the spans.

"This part, is, ah. Sacred," it said, quietly.

"It is, ah, ceremonial, somewhat." It paused, tilting its head down as a fish rippled the water below before darting under the shelter of a lotus leaf. "This particular walk is favored. By, ah, by lovers. Actually. So I thought. That it might be... appropriate." It reached out, found her hand. Squeezed.