Welcome to Gaia! ::

Christof's attention had been caught by the phrase "Rise Up-" it was short, it was catchy, it insinuated hands clawing out of graves-

Lou's sudden suggestion, though, sent the hunchback groaning, burrying his face in his clawed hand.

At that point, he spotted Malodore. He hadn't seen the Plague Doctor in a long while, and seeing as how his input was, well, difficult in a group, he limped his way over to his old friend with a grunt of greeting and a desperate look at the crowd.

"It's...got kinduva tendency t'talk for as long's it can. I'm just glad I haven' had t'go anywhere quiet-like, y'know? That wouldn't go well."
Next to him, the humanbot tried to offer him some peace and quiet in its metallic voice, this time earning a visible cringe from the eater. He just had to have it around for a little while, that was all--to try and get it to settle down, he reached over and awkwardly patted it on the forehead a few times.

"--Rise up? That's--s'not bad." Elium gave a short, approving nod, still staring at the ballots from a distance before glancing back over to Monty. "And, uh. What...hmf." He shifted in place a little, somewhat embarrassed--after all, who else had to ask what color was which and if they even looked decent together? Maybe he should stay back a bit and wait until there was something popular. That didn't seem like a bad plan.

He did perk up a bit at the plague doctor's entrance, his interest instantly piqued by the other. This was...probably Malodore, if the little bits he'd heard were correct. He took a single step away from the wall before stopping abruptly, torn between moving over and staying where he was.

"Ah, Christof," Malodore said, opening its beak in a smile as the patchwork came its way. It quite liked 'rise up' as well, though it didn't quite get a chance to say so... because the instant it saw Elium, it stilled, beak closing with a click.

Was that...? No, no. The proportions weren't quite right; this being lacked the slender neck of every plague doctor Malodore had ever known, though it supposed there had to be other Great Houses elsewhere on Halloween that might have different traits. Still, the resemblance was unmistakable. "Christof... come with me?" it murmured, putting one hand on the patchwork's shoulder before looking in the stranger's direction. It felt a twist of unease despite the fact that this other's physiology made it next to impossible for them to be a Cirurgien plague doctor. Unless they were a cull, but then why would they still have a mask, and-

It was babbling. Mentally. It squeezed Christof's shoulder and moved towards the stranger. "Buon giorno," it murmured, when it was in range to be heard. It hoped their resemblance to each other would justify its approach sufficiently to avoid further explanation.

"Monty? M'name's Elium." He sounded a little distracted, but he didn't have any plans to be rude. "I've only been here a few days, but--mm, gettin' settled in alright enough." Really, he'd just have to hope he could juggle a few conversations. When the plague doctor had started moving in his direction, he'd looked over to face it, folding his hands in front of himself.

Elium wasn't entirely sure what Malodore had said, but it sounded like a greeting of sort--that would be what he would take it as, so as to refrain from confusing himself overmuch. The eater gave Christof a little wave first, recognizing his fellow undead from that terribly confusing Critter thing that he wasn't sure how he'd gotten onto. He didn't understand the hand motions, but then again, he figured they weren't for him--and that brought his attention right back to Malodore again.

"Yyyyou're Malodore, right?" he asked hesitantly, tipping his hat back just slightly as he looked down at it. "Heard a bit about you. Think I got mistaken for you, too."
That may have been the most uncomfortable chuckle ever.

There was a single word on the flyers that made his scales crawl: mandatory. It didn't matter if he shredded it into tiny pieces. There would always be another one slid under his tore or cheerfully staring him in the face if he dared leave his room.

Merope stiffened as he entered the room, shooting a glare at one of the room's occupants. His blue bioluminescent glow dimmed, nearly shutting off entirely as he scribbled his ideal choices onto the paper and dropped it into the ballot box. Saying nothing, he made his way towards one of the couches pushed up against the wall and dropped in it, folding his arms and listening in.

Christof flinched at the sight of the humanbot, brows raised as he looked the contraption over curiously. Ah, yes! From that class!* He seemed pleased Malodore was making a new friend, and trusted they wouldn't dissect someone without him while he looked this 'spook' over, pulling a screwdriver from his pocket at the ready with a curious grunt.


*footnote: I rly need to go roll that lol

The hunchback narrowed his eyes at the fellow undead.

The screwdriver was not put away.