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Although all that had been in the past, the events had occurred and been done with for quite some time, Belladonna still shook ever so slightly at the thought of them. What had happened to her and her friends on that island was finished, but for some reason the witch still carried the deep hurt around with her. And now she was just too scared to really face it anymore.
"Oh Lanna, you're too cute." The witch said with an absent lilt in her voice, as though she were just playing along that she was happy. She gave the pup a good pet and ruffled the fur on her head before she craned her head to look up at Mort.

"It might not have been a permanent death, but it was real to me." She didn't mean it rudely, so she gave him a small smile and added: "But you're right. We're both here now and that's what matters." Anything else the witch felt at that moment was stuffed somewhere deep inside. It would surely surface later, at a more unfortunate time and wreck havoc upon her emotionally, but for now... Well, it was best to let it be forgotten.

"And speaking of being here now... How are you handling everything?" The witch placed a hand on the one of his that rested on her shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. "Doing alright? Not too many emotional scars?" It wasn't meant to be funny, but she couldn't help but smile and let a small chuckle out. "See, I go shopping to deal with my stress. What do you do? Zap more lightning into your brain?" Also, that was meant as a joke but the witch wasn't sure how well that was coming across...

"If you want... What I mean to say is..." Belladonna paused for a moment and pursed her lips. Did she really want to offer this? Was this something she truly wanted to do? Well... Might as well. It wasn't as though she had a number of other things going on at the time. "If it would make you feel better... We could... I dunno... Hang out sometime or do something fun? To, yanno, both emotionally heal?" She paused and squeezed Lanna. "Dying is a pretty big deal, regardless if we came back or not and... Not everyone has done that so not everyone can sympathize and I think it would be fun! I don't really know what you do for fun but I'm pretty open to anything and I'm rambling sorry." With that the witch closed her mouth and looked up at Mort with big, pink eyes and squeezed Lanna to her chest in hopes of looking more cute and adorable. It probably didn't look so much like she was asking him to hang out and probably looked more like she was attempting to seduce him, what with the way her bust seemed about to spill from her corset.

"Mech plans? Like... For your lab or something?" Had Mort ever mentioned if he had a laboratory or not? The witch would have guessed so. He seemed the mad scientist type, if not the more subdued, gentler version of the ones she knew so well. Perhaps if she and Mort became better friends he would show her this undoubtedly real laboratory of his! Oh what fun that would be! Though, the witch did wonder what he experimented on. Perhaps she would have to ask him that later on...
"Oh, window shopping is great fun. I used to do it very often. But if you're ever hard up for some seeds, I'll take you shopping. My parents send me an allowance and lately I haven't put it to much use..." It had, in fact, collected quite a lot over her time at Amityville. If one stayed in their room doing nothing, one could not spend the seeds in one's bank account.

At the mention of stitching, Belladonna perked right up and set Lanna more comfortably in her lap so she could lean over and inspect what Mort was going on about. Of course, she had meant the invisible scars that life left on people. She should have known better, that when speaking to a zombie whose emotional scars oft times embodied themselves as physical ones, that the two would be one in the same. Nevertheless, the witch carefully took Mort's arm in one hand and gingerly turned it this way and that to inspect the stitching. Not even aware of the fact that he might not enjoy or even want the touch or closeness, the witch continued on until she gave the little stitches a small pat and looked up at Mort.
"You are very good at stitching. I sew a lot, myself. If you ever need some help... Please come and ask me. I'd be more then willing to lend a needle or two." And for what had to be the first time that day, she gave him a true and genuine smile.

Then the moment was gone; Lanna was purring in her lap and Mort was stumbling over his words and admiring the lace-work on her corset.
"Games are fun and I like Lanna, so sounds good to me." She stood then and did a little spin, as though she were dancing with the little fluff of mini-pet. "Just let me know or something!" After a moment, the witch pressed the foxfire into one arm and dug around in her skirt pocket. "Do you have a skellyphone, by chance? We can trade numbers and text or something!"
Jack curse the skellyphone, they were a wonderful way to keep in touch! And the witch was suddenly struck with the sensation that she might not see Mort for a while, so it was best to get his number now!!

A small giggle escaped the witch at the mention of a mess and she placed a shy hand over her mouth. For some reason, they seemed to have broken through whatever had been weighing them down. And though the shadows of their hurt lingered, Belladonna felt a little lighter. It seemed that she was picking up on Lanna's thoughts too because the witch felt like going for a flight later that day. But before she could say anything, Mort had handed her a card with all his information on it.
"You have... You have cards?!" At such a juncture, Belladonna wouldn't have been able to stop the bright laughter she produced even if she had tried. Not that she had. Once the largest of giggles had subsided, she managed to wave the card at Mort. "Oh, please do not think I am making fun. Its just so... So! I don't know! Funny! Cute, even!"

A boil like Mort seemed so shy and humble, whereas a boil who gave out cards was anything but that. Yet at the same time, Mort was not one to go about chattering on like the witch seemed prone to do. So maybe handing out a card with his information wasn't so much as a streamlined process in the manner of "Hey, I see a lot of ghouls", but more along the lines "No, really, this is just easier and if I said it you'd probably spell everything wrong". Well, that made sense.
"Please do forgive me it's just... " The witch couldn't think of an appropriate response and instead shrugged. "You're cute."

For a moment, Belladonna wanted to analyze Mort's mention of ghoul's smiling. (Did he mean all ghouls? Or was he generalizing to be kind? Or was he generalizing to mean her but didn't want to say her and-- Oh jack it all, she was analyzing!) Regardless, the witch couldn't help but let another smile slip past.
"Well... I'll try. But you should smile more!" With that, she bounded over to the boil and (after carefully setting Lanna down) grabbed both his cheeks and pulled them up. She carefully studied his stretched out face then let go. "OK. Now smile for real!!"
Just a moment ago she had planned on walking back to her dorm, but now she was... Stalling? How strange!

There wasn't much to do or say after that because for the moment, Belladonna was trapped with her hands in the air and her wrists held by the boil. In any other situation, the witch probably would have laughed it off and not been the least bit bothered by it. But Mort had been so kind to her lately that now it left her feeling very confused.
But more than feeling very confused, the witch also felt extremely embarrassed. Why had she ever thought she would be able to just grab his cheeks like that!? She could plainly see the stitching that sprouted from his lips and had even felt their coarseness on her fingers. Yet not once did she stop to think that perhaps Mort would not appreciate such touch.
So, with her hands still held prisoner up in the air by Mort, the witch opened her mouth and let a volley of apologizes fall forth.

"I am so sorry! I didn't even think-- I didn't even know-- I just thought, yanno, 'I bet you're really cute when you smile' and I wanted it to be funny and it wasn't and I am so, so soooo sorry I wish I hadn't done that oh Hecate, your eye is twitching oh gosh, I hope I didn't pull out any stitches! I promise never, ever to do that again-- If any of the stitches fall out, I promise to sew them back on! Unless you can do that yourself, of which I'm sure you can. Oh jack-it-all, I am so sorry. I forget that undeads react differently then reapers, I should have known! Is stitching like hair? Does it hurt when its pulled, but normally just feels normal? Oh great Sally, I am so horribly sorry. Oh Hecate, please don't hate me--I'M SORRIIIEEEEEE."

So then, Belladonna stood helplessly there and gave Mort her biggest, saddest, puppy-dog eyes ever. And even though her wrists were still being held up, she pulled her elbows in, in a way that suggested "Look how cute yet alluring I am. You can't be mad at sad eyes and cleavage!". Maybe Belladonna seemed to notice more then she let on...

The witch listened and finally nodded in a subdued manner as she lowered her now free hands. Once she returned to her dorm room, she would probably send the boil a volley of texts and Groanspring messages about just how sorry she was. She might even go so far as to leave something nice (like candy! Or brains! Or CANDIED BRAINS!!) outside his dorm room, only she didn't know which one was his so then again maybe not...
"Well, thank you regardless." Belladonna finally mumbled, her face flushed a deep pink color. She still felt very confused, after all.

And then a shock of pink caught the witch's eye and she remembered that Mort had been taking Lanna on a walk before Belladonna had rudely interrupted and invited herself to a chat with the boil. He was probably very busy going about his daily routine and she had certainly not even asked if it was ok she took up all his time!
"I'll let you get back to your walk..." Belladonna hurriedly said as she bent down and scooped up Lanna. She made sure to give the foxfire a good scratch before she planted a kiss on her fluffy head. She also told her she'd see her again soon, though a strange sinking feeling in Belladonna's stomach was doing a very good job of countering her hope of that.
"It was lovely seeing you again. Text me sometime and we'll hang out." The witch held out the pet to Mort and smiled, glad to have made a friend in the foxfire and hopefully a more solid friend in Mort.
In a flash, Belladonna had closed the distance between them and reached up on tip-toes to place a small, tentative peck on Mort's cheek.
"Sorry again about the stitches." She said, a little softly. He was given one last smile before she off again, shopping bags in hand as she raced away toward the school and her dorm room. It was a little amazing to see just how quickly the witch could run when she wanted to get away, because just as quickly as she come, she was gone. Disappeared over the top of the hill and back into the safety of her dorm room. All that remained of her was the soft, lilting echo of a "Byeeee!" she had shouted back over her shoulder before she totally vanished from sight.