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"I'm glad I'm not on the menu," Malodore said, its tone deadpan, then opened its beak in a smile. It was quite pleased at her praise, honestly, and especially glad that half the brains had been successfully re-animated. "Someday, when I have my own laboratory... then I can use better sources."

Malodore tilted its head to one side - indeed, that was a very odd question! "Ah... we are not immortal, but the undead are long-lived. I'm not certain how old the elders of my family are. Centuries, at least, though none of the very first plague doctors are present. They might have left, of course. We were not told." It shrugged, and the bent back-blades clanged into each other awkwardly with the movement.

"... Oh. I had forgotten." It tried to turn its head to look at the back-blades, as best it could.

"Ah... si. I'll need to detach them and hammer..." Its voice trailed off as it realized something. It had agreed to let Riley help without thinking it through... because it would have to take off its coat and shift a few bandages about to get at the blades properly.

... Which meant she would glimpse what it looked like underneath.

... Which was a tremendous cultural taboo.

"I, ah. Will have to... ah... undress, sort of..." it stammered, wringing its hands.

"No," Malodore said, sharply, then shook itself, the back-blades clacking against each other once more. "No. Mia famiglia non mi controllo più... and I trust you. Che faccio. Just... just one moment."

It hurried into its sleeping corner, pulling the heavy curtain across the opening. The first thing it removed was its cravat; then it undid the zippers that held on its sleeves, setting them aside with care as their contents clinked. It took a bit of work to get the body of the coat off, sliding the reinforced openings over the skewed back-blades, but after a few minutes the job was done. It kept the rest of its coat on, of course; the belt held it on firmly.

But its torso and arms were now fully visible... or, rather, the bandages wrapped around them were. Without the coat, the shape of the flesh (or lack thereof) beneath was much more apparent, which was what worried Malodore the most. How would Riley react? It was quite practiced at portraying itself as a whole creature.

At least the bit of its anatomy that held the back-blades was accessible now. The blades jutted out from its spine through gaps in the bandages, held in place by the musculature in which they were embedded.

... It could, theoretically, just tug them out now, re-clothe itself, and then go out to Riley.

... But it had said it trusted her...

Taking a deep breath for the calming effect, Malodore straightened its hat (as if that might help somehow) and shoved the curtain aside.


((Ironically, Han's lovely crackart is pretty much exactly what Malodore looks like under the bandages. XD Sans smarmy expression, of course!))

Malodore relaxed a little at Riley's words, enough to open its beak slightly in a small smile. "Mi dispiace, it is just... the compulsion to be properly covered is very strong, especially when others are around. But you are not a patient or an experiment," it said, firmly.

It turned around; the backblades jutted out from Malodore's spine, lancing between strips of bandage. Since their presence displaced the gauze somewhat, bits of Malodore's flesh and bone were visible in the gaps between. "I must release the blades from my grasp. They are a bit... well, I do not have teeth, but I believe they are socketed somewhat like teeth would be, were teeth commonly removable. I do not have to think about keeping them in place, but I do have to think about releasing them..."

That thought was evidently done, as the back-blades wobbled suddenly, falling even more askew; the smallest one fell out altogether, hitting the ground with a dissonant clang! The blunt, 'inside' end had metallic roots, looking very much like the roots of a tooth, slightly tinged with blood. "Can you pull out the other ones?" Malodore said, with effort. It would be easier to have someone else tug them out; it was a challenge for it to focus on releasing the blades and having to remove them at the same time.

Malodore relaxed again once she was done; it did tug its folded coat up to drape over its shoulders, though, as it felt uncomfortable to have the blade-socket interiors exposed fully to the air. "Grazie... and it hurts a small amount, but not very much. Putting them back in hurts a bit more," it admitted. "But only a little. As much as an injection each time, perhaps."

It turned to face her with a... well, a smile was pretty much a smile, with Malodore, but the rest of its body language illustrated a vague sense of shyness on the plague doctor's part. "It would be very difficult to straighten them out, were they not. Fortunately, thus far only serious impact or Gargantuan's hugs have been able to damage them." Actually, every time since coming to Amityville had been G's fault, but... well.

It strode over to the closet and dug out a small sheet of metal and a small hammer; the metal sheet went on one corner of the sturdy desk, as impact protection. "I must straighten them out. I am no blacksmith, but all of us know how to tend to our own bodies." It gestured for her to lay the first blade on the makeshift 'anvil'.

Malodore shook its head. "Gargantuan was one of the first students I encountered when I came here. I wouldn't have been in a band, or on stage for the Christmas play if it hadn't been for him..." Though, it had at least gotten to pinch Sandy Claws in the play. That had been vengeance of a kind, right?

It adjusted the first blade, then brought down the hammer. Its strikes weren't very strong, so it would take a while to hammer out the curves in the metal...

"Ah... if you would like," it said, surprised yet grateful for the offer. It handed over the hammer, though naturally it hovered closely. "I assume you observed the metal's behavior sufficiently?"

Once it stepped aside to allow Riley full access to the makeshift 'anvil', it shook its head and chuckled. "As for the band, it was... less of a band and more of a battle. I have some knowledge of stringed instruments, so I opted for the guitar. It was largely used for hitting things." It shrugged. "Not very musical, really."