Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Yes - yes, exactly," it said, feeling a strange surge of relief. "I... mia cara, after you... after the Insanity took you the first time," and it settled next to her on the bed, fanning a wing around her even as it twined its claws through her fingers, "I threw myself into my work, into defeating it. And now... and now it has been defeated, through no work of my own. I did not... save... anyone." It sounded puzzled, and a little hurt, and more than a little ashamed of feeling that way.

"What is important is that it is no more, I know this, and yet..." It shook its head. "It is as if the path I was following, si, has been pulled out from beneath me. There is always Science, of course, but... so much of myself, my passion and pain, I poured into that path. Without it I feel vaguely... hollow."

It softened, brushing the tip of its beak against her cheek. "Ah, here at least, I have some small experience, having previously deviated from the path laid out for me... though much of it was facilitated by others." Its gaze shifted to look at the crow Fedele, who was slumbering on his perch by the window. "Still, I have grown since coming here. I ought to be capable of making choices for myself, si?"

The plague doctor sighed and curled its neck such that its head was resting on Riley's shoulder, an awkward but fond pose. "What would you like to do, in your life?" It sounded like a rather big place to start, but it couldn't think of anything else. "For me, I want to... to heal, to repair what is broken and fight that which breaks. I thought I had found my great nemesis, but... well. There are other worthy opponents available, are there not?"

"In a sense," it said, slowly. "Though it is... a bit more complex than that. I do not need one - truly, I would rather have gone all my days without encountering Insanity," and its wing twitched, drawing her closer still. "I would not wish such a thing into the world for my own glory. But those creatures that exist now... si, I would slay them, in my own way."

"Si," it said, at once, moving to retrieve its shower bag from the closet, along with a fluffy bathrobe. For Riley, of course. Still, even as it headed to open the door for her, it tilted its head to one side. "Something to fight... well, there is no shortage of Hunters," it said, wryly. "And the Bogeymen were rather cruel... but si, I understand. We are similar, yes, but also different..."

It opened the door and gestured for her to go out ahead of it. "Freedom can be so... frightening," it added. Its voice was quiet and oddly vulnerable.

The plague doctor allowed itself to be tugged forward, a fresh spark of tenderness kindling within it. "We both need worthy opponents, don't we? But I would not be overly concerned, not truly. Peace is too rare a thing for us to have only that in our lives. Even this far..." It laughed and shook its head. "We have both been through so many trials. Surely we have not used up our lives' allotment just yet."

"They're often empty," Malodore said, wryly. Not all undead cared about cleanliness, and it supposed the vampires wouldn't deign to use the 'public' facilities. "Not quite as opulent as the demon dormitories, but then, what is?"

It was the work of a moment to cordon off two shower heads behind curtains, and the plague doctor wasted no time in shucking off its coat - a testament to how comfortable it had become around Riley. "Ahhh," it sighed happily as it turned its shower on and stepped under the warm spray. "Si, this is a good bit of peace, here. This shower. And you, mia cara."