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 Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 4:05 am
Riley was just flipping her phone off, having completed one more phone conversation before arriving at the dorm. She looked down at Amrita, and bent down quickly to assess the damage.
Without a word, her hand gently captured the girl's chin, and turned her head to one side. What she saw there filled her with an anger that swirled red in her milky white eyes.
She glared at the door for a moment, before willing herself to look back at Amrita. She wrapped one arm around the girl's shoulders, and brought her close.
It's going to be okay. Christof is going through some troubling times, but I promise you, none of this is permanent. It will be okay. Her voice was extra smooth, laying the comforting edge on it rather thickly.
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 11:53 am
Aside from fending off an excited Scruff, Amrita didn't move much from when the phone call ended to when she first heard Riley down the hallway. Of course, the Demon wouldn't know that! Her head lifted as the skim fingers found her chin, pointedly looking away and anywhere but Riley. She felt like a terrible friend; Christof wasn't well, she made him hit her, it really was all her fault.
Hugging Riley wasn't something she ever really thought she'd do, but when she found herself being drawn closer, she just couldn't help it. Small, bruised arms wrapped around Riley, clinging to her; she tried her best not to touch Riley's skin with the fleshy half of her face, not because of the new bruise, but because she didn't want to get her bloody tears on her.
"Then why won't he tell me what's wrong?" Amrita pouted, doing her best to keep her timid voice from breaking too much. She vaguely knew he was mute, but it was something she always overlooked.
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 3:34 pm
Malodore hurried down the stairs from its room, its beak pressed together in a grim line (inasmuch as that was distinguishable from its normal expression). What Riley had told it was... unbelievable, but the ithilid wouldn't lie. Which meant... Christof had gone mad, perhaps? Malodore wasn't sure.
But, given the nature of the emergency, it paused to assemble a basic first aid kit before rushing downstairs to Christof's room, rounding the corner a few minutes after Riley arrived. "Amrita! Let me see-"
The plague doctor barged right into the conversation without so much as an apologetic look; fortunately, the injured side of Amrita's face was turned outwards, where it was easily visible. Malodore pressed its beak together more tightly, making a faint grinding sound of frustration.
"Bruising - further contusions or subcutaneous bone displacement possible, given undead flesh..." Bruising was somehow worse than a straight cut. Gashes could be mended, after all. What kind of healing factor did Amrita have? It wasn't sure, but given the damage to the rest of her body it probably wasn't much...
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 4:08 pm
Amrita's broken voice cracked at Riley's currently hardened heart. She brushed her hand through the girls hair. There are forces at work within Christof that not even he can control, right now. They keep him from telling you, or anyone, what ails him. Trust me when I say - he can't help himself.
She looked up when she heard Malodore's voice, and relinquished her hold on Amrita immediately so that it could get a good look at her. It's presence was both a comfort, and a stirring factor - now that Malodore was looking after Amrita, Riley felt the tug of the door pulling her away. She was free to deal with Christof.
She disentangled herself carefully from Amrita, and waited a full moment as Malodore began assessing her, before standing up. Then, she turned to the door, and very quietly reached for the knob. She turned it, and opened the door, looking inside. Then, she pulled away - accidentally pulling the doorknob off as she did so.
Mad? A little bit.
She stepped inside the room, searching with her mind. Oh, Christof? She sent out with a discreet apathy. Her voice betrayed nothing, but the soft glowing red light that filled the dark room was most assuredly coming from her eyes.
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 4:35 pm
Yes, Mistress?
The thought was faint, like a flickering candle in the middle of a large dark cavern, but the boy was sitting on his bed, knees up against his chest, still looking disheveled and out of sorts as he slowly managed to drag himself up to his feet again on auto pilot. Did she need him? He knew she was still angry... everyone was angry with him. He didn't blame them. But she was here now... that meant something, right? Maybe. Time to take the Igor out of the closet and put him to work. He waited patiently, eyes still focusing somewhere beyond Riley but generally in her direction, oblivious to the red glow from her eyes.
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 5:22 pm
Riley was not here for her igor. She was not here for a friend. And most certainly, she was not here to be ignored.
She was here for the boil who found himself at such a loss for control, that he had hit an innocent ghoul.
As such, she greeted him as she would any wild animal. Her tentacles slowly slid under the covers of the bed, wrapping around his legs, and his neck. They pulled his legs out from under him, lifting him up so that he was held upside down in front of her. The tentacle around his neck slithered dangerously.
And she stared at him. Eye to eye. He was upside down, but their eyes were still on the same level.
Good morning. She quirked, in a frighteningly pleasant manner despite the blood that was swirling in her eyes. I think it's time we had a chat.
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 6:08 pm
Out in the hallway, Malodore had no real thought for Christof - not with a patient at hand. After Riley departed, it tried to guide Amrita into a sitting position. "Please, Amrita - tell me what happened. Tell me where you feel something... off. Or pain, if you can detect any." Some undead lacked true pain receptors, after all.
From the damage to her cheek, it seemed to be a single strike to the face, but...
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 6:50 pm
The hunchback did make a startled noise, eyes for a moment regaining their focus as the world was suddenly flipped upside down. He reached up to try to grab at the tentacle at his neck, nostrils flaring to make sure he could still breath... his mouth might have been stitched shut, but his mind erupted with a single, terrified thought beyond his control, NOT SPARE PARTS!
She was angry she was so angry and everyone was angry with him and he had been bad but he realized that now and he wanted to behave, he was going to behave, but how could he when anything he did wasn't what he was supposed to be doing??
His internal voice was faint, desperate, Please... tell me what to do Mistress...
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 7:20 pm
A grey eye widened slightly upon hearing her name before flickering towards the source; the Plague Doctor. Riley had called it, too? She would have been lying if she said she wasn't relieved; these two, Christof generally responded to them well. Hadn't he started cleaning up when she mentioned Malodore?
"I don't understand." Amrita murmured to Riley, still baffled that someone can't account for their actions. Even she could account for her actions; most of them were performed from a dull, rotting brain, or out of shyness. That was it. Eventually distangled from the Demon's grasp (much to her disappointment...now she just wanted Tahki. Or Lizzy. Hell, even Charlie would do at this point), she did sit down and let Malodore examine her face, despite her mild pouting and her eye focusing elsewhere.
What happened?
"I...just went to see him! And he's acting all weird, so I tried to find out why...he said he was a bad igor or something but that he was fixed now and I don't see how that is 'being fixed'." She was doing her best to not break down again, and her hands clenched into fists on her lap. "A-and I told him I thought whoever did this was stupid, I think..." While the memory of actually being struck was fresh, the words that lead up to it were getting jumbled; she had said so much. "T-then h-he..." She made a vague gesture to her face, she was sure it would understand.
"I feel, um, heavy a-and stinging...b-but I don't think it's my face..." Amrita trailed off, definitely more hurt at being hit by a friend than she was the actual blow. "Though that feels kind of off, too." Not painful, just off.
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 7:40 pm
Malodore shook its head; its rigid beak didn't permit such a complex expression as a sad smile, but that sense came across in its voice. "Alas, when it comes to matters of the heart... those, I cannot mend as easily." But Amrita was speaking well, and her jaw movement looked good. Relieved, Malodore lowered its damage estimation significantly.
"Bruising, for sure, but with any luck the underlying structure is solid. Your jaw feels seated well?" it asked, just to be sure. "Here..." It extracted a small, chilly bundle from its sleeve - some crushed ice from one of the dormitory cold rooms, smashed up and tied into a cloth bag. "Hold this gently to the bruised flesh for now."
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 8:01 pm
Riley's eyes slit dangerously thin, and the hold around his neck tightened.
Don't call me that. She hissed. I will not be your mistress if this is what I can expect from you. I will NOT. Her hand brushed against his chest for a moment, and the tingling sensation would return. It would feel nice, this time - if only because she was removing the mark, instead of giving it.
Do you think, for one moment, that you have any right to wear my mark when you don't even have the willpower to keep yourself from hitting Amrita? The last bit of her words were almost screamed, and her rage was barely contained. Finally, she flung Christof back on his bed, releasing him. She stood at the edge of the bed, looming dangerously.
Your master is a fool. A fool and a wretch. He taught you nothing if you cannot control yourself. I gave you a chance, Christof. I gave you a chance at something better.
I don't give second chances.
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 8:58 pm
As the hunchback hit the bed, he inhaled sharply through his nose, gripping his chest as though expecting a heart attack, his face paling halfhazardly- no... no no no no NO NO! Before he seemed to know what he was doing, he had lurched onto his feet, grabbing the frame of his bed to heave it over, a muffled scream escaping his stitches. NO IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE THIS! He was trying so hard, so so hard the the one time he showed weakness.. he KNEW it he KNEW it all along and this was CALDER'S FAULT he never should have listened to the Kelpie and oh Fear, Oh Hell, oh please, Mistress, please no no- he dropped to his knees, shaking with sudden sobs as he clutched at her dress, he would be good he WASN'T broken, he wasn't he wasn't he was fixed now, he would be good so good please he needed her....
His thoughts were erratic, half projected at her, half dimming out in a mumble as the boy crumbled at her feet, hunch shuddering with each muffled, desperate sob.
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 9:24 pm
Matters of the heart?
She didn't quite understand the term, but she didn't get a chance to ask about it. Instead, she looked down at the cloth bag that was held out to her, untangling a clenched fist from the excess fabric of her Sari to reach out and take it from the Doctor.
"Y-yeah, it feels fine I guess? I can move it." Obviously. Still, that didn't stop her from shifting her jaw; the good thing about having a half-skeletal face was that it was easy to see if there was something wrong with it! It looked okay, she felt okay for the most part...it should be fine. Just post-mortem bruising, really.
"Thank you, Malodore." Amrita murmured, appreciating it's and Riley's assistance in this whole endeavor. "I...I'm sorry to pull you away from...whatever you were doing..." A small part of her felt bad for pulling others into what probably should have been her fight...but at the same time, thig was probably what was best.
Then, finally, she did as she was told, pressing the ice filled bag against her cheek.
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 9:34 pm
Riley maintained an eerie calm despite the fact that Christof had just flipped his bed, and was clinging to her dress and prostrated at her feet. For all anyone could tell, she acted as though he no longer existed. Her eyes, still swirling red in anger, were the only indication that she was still reacting at all.
You need me? YOU need ME? Why, Christof? She swiveled around to face him. Why, exactly, do you need me - when you clearly have a master ruining your life well enough already? Why, exactly, should I take you back when it's clear where your loyalties lie? She knew she was getting off track - was this really about Amrita being hit, after all? She shook her head and forced herself to focus. What you need is some serious self-discipline. Do you hear me, Christof? SELF. DISCIPLINE. What you did to Amrita was unacceptable. She deserves restitution. I don't even know if she would accept your apology, but as far as I am concerned you should be at her feet, right now.
Not mine.
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 9:37 pm
Malodore nodded at Amrita's assertion. "Va bene... and it is not a problem at all. Medical practice is my life's passion." It smiled, faintly. "Though, naturally, I would rather not have to see you in such a condition. The color of the bruising should fade in time, I think. It is hard to tell sometimes, with the undead."
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