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 Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 2:26 am
No, I can't. She admitted - her voice was starting to lighten, but she paid no heed to it, even as her body slowly shifted and softened right in front of Malodore. I wonder, would you want to perform some examinations? I don't mind you poking around - and if there's something on me causing this, you would be the only person I would trust to find it. I had theorized that perhaps the hunters have poisoned my food or drink, or even..
She rubbed her stomach idly, and looked down at it with dismay. Well, I had considered other possibilities until Jericho confided in me that he was suffering the same malady. I can't.. I won't let them get into my head, Malodore. I won't.
Her tone, even as it softened back to her female form, sounded desperate, and determined. The former was not her style, the latter; dangerously so.
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Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 9:56 pm
Malodore watched for a moment, fascinated as whatever-it-was lost its hold on Amityville and Riley shifted back to the gender-appearance she normally possessed. The gnomes squeaked behind it, but it paid them no mind. But her words brought it back to itself. "Poisoned? No, surely not, I... Jericho too?" Its gaze narrowed sharply behind the lenses, and its wings raised slightly with sudden tension. "No. They shall not." Its voice was sharp and determined. Then it whirled on the confused gnomes. "Get out. Get out now." Some of them stared up, wide-eyed, and fled; a few others tried to be contrary, at least until the plague doctor grabbed them bodily and threw them out the door. "OUT!"It stood by the door for a moment, bristling with frustration and worry, before closing the door quite firmly, locking it, and turning back to her. "Show me... tell me of your symptoms, first..." As it returned to her side, one hand reached out to close over her own. How could she have fallen so far without it noticing? Had the JOY clouded its own mind?
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Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 10:17 pm
Riley's chin lifted as she watched Malodore scatter the gnomes, her breath catching when it grabbed them and threw them out itself. Even under the most severe moments of duress, Malodore challenged Riley's self-control. The brief, and rare moments where it acted out of anger held an allure that made it all too easy to forget her problems and just enjoy the moment. When it turned back to her, however, those problems came rushing back with violent, abusive recoil. She winced as the voices rushed into her head, with whispers that felt louder than screams.
I hear.. things. Noises. Voices, sometimes. They attempt to tell me who to trust. Her winced eyes lifted up to meet the glass lenses in front of her, and they crinkled softly. They try to tell me not to trust you, but that would require a full lobotomy, I think.
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Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 10:28 pm
"Not to trus-" Its beak snapped shut before the last word could escape entirely, and a cold, visceral fury rose within Malodore. The feeling was alien and unfamiliar, but impossible to deny. It reached out and grabbed her shoulders, claws digging in slightly from the fervency of its grasp.
"Lo ucciderli tutti," it snarled, forcing the words out the edges of its tightly clenched beak. It tugged her close, holding her possessively before heaving a long, rare breath, trying to calm itself. "So. These... these voices, they... they are in your mind, not your ears, si? When did this begin? For Jericho, too? Perhaps we should call him here..."
But it was still shaking with anger and protectiveness, arched over her like a great vulture.
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Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 10:48 pm
All of the air rushed out of Riley's lungs when the cold, metal grasp of Malodore's claws dug into her shoulders, threatening to tear the skin with their razor sharp talons. It was angry - no, angry did not even cover it. It was surging with hatred, bubbling up into the words that snarled out of it's beak. It was breathtaking, and it had done just that - Riley couldn't breathe, as she was fully and entirely captivated by the show of violence and emotion that came off of the plague doctor in waves. It made her skin burn, and her cheeks tinge a deep, dark purple. The color bled down all the way to her neck, until her skin looked black as night.
And then it held her. It pulled her close, it's arms shameless in their fervent need to possess her, and she felt helpless, and trapped. It would have frightened her - no, it did frighten her, but the overwhelming and embarrassing arousal that Malodore had stirred in her took center stage to any fear of being caught under the power of someone other than herself.
It was still speaking.. something about Jericho.. she didn't hear most of it. She melted in Malodore's arms, and wrapped her own around her plague doctor, all but pulling it into her lap in an effort to bring it closer, and feel it against her.
No. She whispered, finally understanding the tail end of whatever it was Malodore had been saying. No Jericho. Just you.
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Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 11:10 pm
It took a moment, but Malodore's empathy couldn't help but pick up on the new emotions flowing heedlessly forth from Riley's psyche - and then she was embracing it back, and the tension flowed out of it all at once. It sagged almost gratefully into her arms, trailing its claws down in a pair of long scratches. Mi dispiace, mia cara...
"I will not let them have you," it whispered. "Never, never... but we must... we must figure out if this... this attack is coming through your mind or Jericho's..."
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 2:06 am
Riley arched just slightly, before letting out a long, calming sigh. Don't be sorry. Her soft voice emitted. Don't ever be sorry, for feeling like that. A thought, almost silent, winded around her words, clearly unintentional; or for making me feel like that.
It's words were so possessive. So determined. The swell of love she felt for the plague doctor squeezed her heart painfully, and she squeezed Malodore in response. That is why I have come to you, mia cara. I want you to examine me. Perhaps there is some physical evidence of whatever is plaguing us. If there is, I only trust you to find it. Your hands are the only ones I want around me.. Her heart fluttered painfully, as she backed away and took one of it's claws carefully in her own hand. On me.. The fingers meshed together, intertwining, and her eyes met it's own. In me.
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 11:18 am
Something snickered behind them. "HAW HAW LOOKIT WHO'S GETTING SOM-"
Malodore's wings flared, and a small rain of bladed feathers flew forth to silence the mocking voice. The last, hidden gnome never got to finish his sentence before getting pinned to the cabinet he'd hidden behind. "My apologies, mia cara. I seem to have missed one," Malodore said evenly. "Now, then..." Deep breath, yes.
Calm and rational, yes.
"Tell me - does it hurt, anywhere? The most likely place of intrusion would be the... the wound, but..." The idea of removing the plug made Malodore uneasy. "I worry that perhaps something might have worked its way deeper than Nurse Cricket could bite..."
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 9:57 pm
The sound of metal slicing through the air made Riley honest to goodness want to giggle as it sent shivers up her spine.
But she didn't.
Burying her head in the crook of Malodore's neck, just under it's mask, she purred her answer out softly. The wound always hurts. Her words did not match the tone, she sounded as if she was whispering sweet sounds of content. My head sometimes feels pain, but I have to assume it is because I am struggling against the sounds of the voices. I cannot be sure. Nothing else hurts.
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 10:10 pm
Malodore brought one hand up to run lightly through her tentacles, only a little more awkwardly than if Riley had possessed standard-issue hair. "You and Jericho are linked... I have to assume that he hears these voices through that link, and they are somehow sourced in your psyche somehow. That is my current hypothesis..." It didn't like the hypothesis at all, and renewed tension made it's grip tighten again, but. Every experiment had a hypothesis. The scientific method. Without it, chaos would reign.
Deep breath. Calming.
"When did this start, mia cara? You have not gone or done anything of particular exertion lately, have you? Anything odd or strange?"
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Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 10:28 pm
Riley squirmed at the hand through her tentacles. I have an idea. She murmured hazily, her voice bubbling with distraction. You keep touching me like that, and I can't bother to hear any voices anymore. Deal? It was no solution, and it certainly wasn't helping the matter, but it was honest.
The voices began a few days after our last encounter with the Hunters. This is, of course, why I felt confident they have something to do with it. I have no proof, but I have no doubts, either. Other than that.. I have no recollection of anything odd.
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Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 8:54 am
"And the voices tell you not to trust... me, in particular? Everyone?" Another thread of worry crept into Malodore's voice. It didn't like this, and in matters of the mind it felt rather helpless. Riley was meant to be master of such things, so to have her fall to such a thing first... how was it meant to compete with that? How could it devise a solution more effectively than Riley herself, with the knowledge it had?
Impossible.
Perhaps it was an infection of some sort, causing hallucinations? But no, Cricket would have caught it, surely...
Its head hurt. "You should, perhaps, write down what they say, and when they say it? Keep a log, monitor to see if anything changes?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 1:36 am
Not just you. No, Her hand rose up and cupped around Malodore's mask, pulling it's face closer until their forehead's touched. They tell me not to trust anyone. If I am speaking to someone, they attempt to dissuade me from trusting that person. They attempted it with Jericho, as well - and his attempted the same with me. Her eyes crinkled at the sides. But they underestimate the bonds between us. Even should I go mad, I would always see the truth when it came to Jericho, and I would have to be dead before I could ever see you as anything but my dear heart. Her hand fell to it's shoulder, and slid around to hug the plague doctor around the neck. But their words ring of truth when it comes to others. I am not so easily persuaded. If this is some sort of trick, they chose the wrong subject to experiment on.
Her chin lifted, just slightly, and the broad, flat plane of her face pressed gently against the tip of Malodore's beak. Her situation was dire, and there was genuine worry behind her eyes, but she had been sufficiently distracted enough, for a moment. Malodore would set her back on track soon enough, but until then, she indulged.
I love you, you know.
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Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 9:08 am
"Ti amo, mia cara," Malodore whispered, nuzzling its beak against her cheek. And right now, even the clinical part of it was thanking Jack for that bond, because right now it was an anchor. For both of them.
And, it had to admit, it was weirdly relieved that this voice wasn't telling Riley to only distrust it, in particular.
"I strongly suspect the voices are reaching Jericho through the bond you two share," it said, because it could only be distracted from Science for so long. "But I cannot say for sure. It may be that he is the one afflicted, and you are being affected... but since he wasn't stabbed by a bastardo Hunter, and you were... well." Oh, yes, it was going to peel the flesh from that Hunter's bones someday. It was undead. It could wait a long time. Humans didn't stay in top shape forever. "I strongly feel that you should speak to Nurse Cricket about this matter. I know so little about matters of the mind... clearly I should begin deepening my studies in that area."
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Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 5:15 pm
Riley's claws clutched against Malodore's robe when it mentioned Cricket, and her body tensed in it's arms. No. She murmured sternly. No Cricket. No one else must know about this. I cannot. I will not. I would rather carry this burden for the rest of my life than put my trust in anyone else right now.
A sense of frustration rippled through her, before she explained herself abruptly. I want you to examine my brain for foreign objects. You. That is my request. How do you feel about the task?
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