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 Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 3:54 pm
Apparently, Malodore disagreed with her assertion that she wasn't as interesting. "A drone, then? Do you do only what these elders wish?" The question was dry, the plague doctor's tone infused with a twist of black humor. "It sounds like my own family, only in reverse. Turning knowledge away rather than welcoming it."
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Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 4:14 pm
Riley looked a little disappointed that the conversation was still turned to her, but her eyes held amusement at the idea of her being a drone.
Malodore. You've only known me for a little while, but I should think you'd know better than to think me anything but a drone. I do what I want. For my purposes, alone. I simply share what I learn with my clan.
But the mention of his family sparked an instant interest in her eyes, and she grabbed on to it greedily. Your family turns knowledge away? How can that be? You have one of the most brilliant minds I've ever touched, I thought surely you must have had a rich and full upbringing. Would you.. She paused, hoping that she wasn't about to sound too rude. Would you tell me about them?
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Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 4:56 pm
"Quite true," Malodore said, its tone lightening a little bit. "And... family, yes." It had regretted mentioning them, for a moment, but Riley's interest was difficult to refuse. And she was good at flattery.
"A most ancient family of plague doctors - one of the originals, in fact, dating back to the Human World time called... the Renaissance, I believe. They are proud of their heritage. Very proud... to the point of rejecting anything that might erode that pride. Including medical advances. We were taught bleeding, and leechcraft, and very little else. My inquiries were met with refusal. I taught myself in secret, and was punished when my sins were discovered. I escaped." It shrugged, the movement sending a ripple through the blades of metal on its back. "That is all."
It was also, quite possibly, the most it had said all at once since coming to Amityville, but who was counting?
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Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 5:39 pm
Riley didn't know what she had been expected when she'd asked about it's family, but it was most certainly not this. She knew what the Renaissance was, it was exactly around that time that her own kind had been shut out of the human world almost completely. Her knowledge of humanity was limited mostly as far as Medieval times.
Malodore, that's very admirable. She murmured with clear respect and affection. I'm glad you held on to your standards. They have served you well. And, I am perhaps most gratified that you escaped a stifling environment such as that. You have too much to offer this world, to be held back. She looked down at the table, and all of it's experiments. And I would never have known you. That would surely be my greatest loss. She tapped one of the glass bottles, watching the liquid swirl in disturbance.
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Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 5:50 pm
"Ah... grazie," it said, after a moment. "I am glad to know you, as well. It is always good to meet a fellow seeker of knowledge - though with all you can know through your hive-mind, it surprises me that you would come here." That brief glimpse had been dizzying! "What can you possibly learn in this place... that you don't already either understand personally or have instantaneous access to?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 6:17 pm
Oh, Malodore. She sighed wistfully. You have no idea the wealth of knowledge that lies just out of our reach. We've been all but shut off to the human world for so very long, there is so much left to learn. They've sent me here to extend ourselves past our normal reach. It only takes one, she chuckled softly, for all to be enlightened.
She looked away from the flask she had been tapping and looked up at it, her eyes crinkling at the sides in a smile. You're a perfect example. We've never met a plague doctor. Never! But to know one so brilliant.. you can imagine that, in my mind, I'm the luckiest ghoul in the world.
It's grazie had reminded her of her initial intention, and she stood up straight. Grazie. I figured that one out on my own, it means thank you, doesn't it?
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Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 6:24 pm
Malodore shook its head, opening its beak in a wry smile. "Yes. Si, rather. Grazie is an expression of thanks. Molto grazie is a stronger expression. Grazie mille means 'a thousand thanks', and is stronger still. Here... I believe I may have a dictionary. The eldest of my family refuses to speak anything but the native tongue. Thankfully that stipulation was not enforced upon the younger generation. I would have found it difficult to find my way here otherwise. Perhaps they changed that after my departure," it added. "If you can control knowledge, you can control people."
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Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 6:48 pm
Si. She repeated quietly. Grazie mille. Her eyes looked a little unfocused as she filed these away. Her accent would be nowhere near as eloquent as Malodore's, of course, but she tried her best. Her eyes refocused sharply at the mention of a dictionary. I would love to see that, she whispered, her eyes trailing to the books she saw displayed in a bookcase. What other treasures might be found in it's personal collection? She was almost distracted enough not to hear it's final words, but they managed to hit home hard enough to snap her back to attention.
If you can control knowledge, you can control people. It was as if it was reading her mind, her thoughts, her most basic of desires, and laying them flat out on the table in front of them. The deep, dark pit of her mind, mirrored crisply in one single, casually spoken sentence. Her heart skipped a beat, and clenched painfully. She had met her match, and it wasn't even a mindflayer. It wasn't even a demon. And yet, despite all of that, it was better than any demon, or even mindflayer, she'd ever met.
How deliciously dangerous.
I agree. She barely managed, thinking this to be the best she could do under the circumstances. Very much.
She fell into silence, tapping her finger on the glass of a filled flask once more. It would be prudent to try to casually continue the conversation, but she needed a moment to stop her heart from trying to rip out of her chest first.
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Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 7:37 pm
Malodore, of course, was completely oblivious to Riley's... state; indeed, it wasn't even watching her, instead rifling through the books on its shelves with practiced sweeps of its long fingers. "Ah, here we are," it murmured at last, pulling out a thick volume, clearly much-read. "This is how I learned - I'm not sure why I even brought it with me, to be honest. Sentiment, possibly."
It turned around and held it out to her. "Sentiment is fairly useless. Take it, por favore."
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Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 8:13 pm
Riley looked up at the book being held out to her, admiring it's worn edges and creased spine. She could tell the book had seen many a reader, and it would soon have one more soaking in the knowledge each page held. Her hands pressed gently against the top, brushing her fingers against it carefully, before they curled around it to take the book. Once in her possession, she held the book to her chest and wrapped one hand around it.
Sentiment isn't useless if it's shared. She murmured with a hidden excitement. The book was exactly what she wanted. It's only transformed into something greater. Like friendship. She cracked the book open carefully, and flipped through it's pages. I harbor sentiment for this book now, you see? Not useless, just transformed. Her sentiment was a palpable excitement, as she looked through some of the entries.
Por favore. She looked up the one it'd just said, first. Ah, please. I should have guessed that one, I suppose. She chuckled softly, her demeanor brightened by the book in her hand. Mind if I take a moment to look through it? She assumed it was hers to look through while she was in its dorm room, not hers to take with her.
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Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 9:04 pm
"Ah, but sentiment can be dangerous in my chosen profession," Malodore said, tilting its head to one side with a wry open-beaked smile. "A good doctor must do what needs to be done, and not allow sentiment to get in the way. What is best is not always what is emotionally best, no?"
"... and you can have the book. I have learned all it contains, so there is truly no reason for me to keep possession of it any longer. I am glad it meets with your approval," it added, genuinely pleased at her enthusiasm.
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Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 9:37 pm
Riley slowly closed the book in front of her, eyes focused carefully on Malodore for a moment. You're giving me this? She asked, holding it up just slightly. She seemed a little incredulous. Huh. She mulled over it's thoughts on sentiment, taking them into consideration. I can understand what you mean, I suppose in a way that's true. Though perhaps my difficulty in accepting it is because you and I have different ideas on sentiment. In the case of a patient, I can see how emotions might conflict with your duty. That kind of sentimentality can be dangerous, certainly. She hugged the book to herself, her eyes lit up in a smile. Holding sentimental value of knowledge, however, or of raw, unbidden power and complete control.. I would never want to give that up.
Since it was giving her the book, she didn't feel the need to read it while she was there anymore. Instead, she pondered briefly on how she could return the favor. Is there anything I could do for you, as thanks for this gracious gift? You have but to say the word.
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Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 10:06 pm
"I have all the knowledge it contains. Right here." Malodore tapped its hat and opened its beak in a smile. "The paper container is no good to me now... it reeks of the Casa, anyway. It will never be one of the tomes I return to time after time. Not like this one..." Reverently, it turned back to the bookshelf and pulled out another book, equally weighty, this one bound in an odd variety of leathers stitched together.
"One of the finest volumes on FEAR-medicine ever devised. A gift from my co-conspirators in 'deviance'," it said, caressing the cover.
Then it glanced up at Riley, surprise in its tone. "No... not really. Aid me in my experiments, perhaps? No - not aid. Join in them with me. I would hardly relegate you to assistant status. Ah, Riley... have you any idea how long I've been looking for someone of like mind?" That last was said with relish, and if Malodore hadn't been carrying that book in its hands it likely would have rubbed them together with glee. "It is my honor to offer you knowledge."
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Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 10:48 pm
Riley watched Malodore pull the tome out, and touched the cover with reverence. If she could have, she would have smiled knowingly - as it was, her eyes crinkled. Now that was the kind of sentiment she knew and loved. She looked impressed that it had stolen, if not a little shocked. It made sense considering the environment it had grown up in, though, now that she thought about it.
She gave the book in his hands a long, intrigued look. It must certainly be a treasure, for Malodore to hold it in such high regard. She felt the book pull her towards it with desire, but she controlled herself for the most part by forcing her eyes to meet Malodore's. It's request for aid sounded more like what she'd expected, but when it corrected itself with such fervor, she found herself blushing. It couldn't really be helped, it's phrasing was closely equivalent to typical mindflayer courting conversation - joining with it, she of like mind, so that it's search would be over. Thankfully, she knew better than to think it meant anything of the sort - he was no mindflayer, she kept reminding herself. That didn't stop the blush from flooding her cheeks, but it helped her respond in a clear fashion.
That sounds terrifying. I love it., she murmured with an excited undertone. She put the book in her hands down on the table, and clenched one fist. Together, we could manage something truly extraordinary. There was so much potential in an alliance of this magnitude - in her mind, they would be unstoppable.
Then, of course, she slipped. She said something that she hadn't intended, something that she instantly regretted. With the same fervor and fierce determination, she ended her excited response with the words, My mind is yours. She was instantly grateful that she was not dealing with a mindflayer at the moment, for it would not only have been able to watch the frenzy her thoughts fell into, but it would also understand what those words meant.
To herself, she chanted quietly to keep calm. He's not a mindflayer. He's not a mindflayer. He doesn't understand, so you have nothing to worry about.
It worked. She managed no further reaction other than the fact that her blush had faded, replaced by a grayish paling of the skin.
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 10:49 pm
"Indeed we could!" There was an odd light in Malodore's eyes now (if you could see them past the lenses) - Christof probably would have recognized it. It was the delightful, delicious gleam of... well, not madness, not precisely. But something close to it - a frenzy of knowledge and creative experimentation. "A splendid alliance... and I propose we begin with this!"
It turned to the table, quickly, putting down the book and picking up a metal tray. Some familiar items were laid out upon it - a sliver of tree bark that stank of alcohol, a pile of pink fluff, a spring and a few gears, a vial of blood, and a vial of water. "I managed to bring the samples back," Malodore said with satisfaction. "We must act quickly. They are already changing..." It held the tray out to her, obviously eager to see her thoughts on the matter.
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