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 Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 11:37 pm
The concept sounded laughable, when Malodore put it so succinctly. Was she really that worried that she would scare Malodore? They had just been crowned scariest couple - and yet here she was, worried that her traditions and customs would scare it.
It seemed so rational in her head, a moment ago. And now.. now she just felt silly.
Nevertheless, it was still with a strong hesitation that she finally gave in to the argument. All right. You have a point. As soon as she'd admitted defeat, her fingers had slid between its claws without a thought. But that doesn't make me feel a whole lot better about how I let that escape. She could feel it's curiosity, which was familiar in that she had expressed similar emotion not moments ago, and her mind went to work.
I just wish I could have explained.. Well. I can, I suppose. It's just awkward, after the fact. A little forced. She chuckled weakly, but it died off at its end. What you saw was my very first trial. Her hand clenched in its claw as she looked up at it with widened, sincere eyes. And I promise you, I only did it because it was me or him. Please don't think I did it for sport. At least, not my sport.
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Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 11:43 pm
"A... a trial?" Malodore studied her face carefully. "And the... changes in your shape...? Is this not your true form, or was that another stage in your development?" Its questions contained no fear - fear of offending or causing her to close up, perhaps, but no terror or disgust. Only a gentle, tentative curiosity.
"Please, I would like to know," it said, quietly. "Unless you do not want to share. But I will not be frightened."
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Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 11:49 pm
Riley's eyes followed Malodore's every glance as it studied her face, and probably compared it to what it saw. Ah, no. This is not my natural form. This is what the drow, whose body I took, looked like. Er.. except she had a nose and a mouth, I'm presuming. This topic seemed to be much easier to discuss, for her. What you saw was my true form. At least, that's what I looked like as a child. I'm a little scarier now. Although this time when she used the phrase 'scarier', she said it with pride, and not embarrassment.
She realized, quite suddenly, that she wasn't afraid of showing Malodore her natural form. She was afraid of letting it see her natural form in action. That was the worry that sat at the pit of her stomach. Perhaps, if it saw her in the context of calmness, things would not be so bad. She touched her skull pin, looking just about ready to pluck it off if Malodore said the word. Did you want to see?
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 3:38 pm
"I had not realized," Malodore said, inclining its head in apology. "You are the only mindflayer I have ever met, so I assumed your current form was your only one. A foolish oversight."
It lifted its head, then, meeting her gaze directly. "I am curious," it admitted.
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 5:38 pm
Riley was a little surprised at her comfort level with showing her natural form. It just made her feel better to show it on her own terms, rather than as an accidental glimpse into her past. Her mouth in action.. just no. She shrugged and let Malodore's hand go. You may not want to watch the actual change, though. It's not pretty. But okay. She plucked her skull pin off, and let it sit on the desk beside her.
Almost instantly, her tentacles came to life - flailing in sudden agitation as they began to shift and merge into one another. Many smaller ones disappeared into the four larger tentacles, which slowly gravitated from behind her head to in front of her face. There was a sickening internal popping sound, which made her wince - the worst part of the transformation, in her opinion, was when her trachea had to move from the back to the front. That was uncomfortable, above all. Muscle and sinew reshaped itself, leaving her body just a little larger, a little more menacing. Her claws lengthened and curved, and she clenched them to alleviate the distress of change.
Finally, there was a strange, almost watery pop, and suddenly she was breathing again - but this time from beneath the four large tentacles that hide the rounded mouth.
It only took a minute to complete, and the change wasn't as drastic as others might be, but a mindflayer stood before Malodore nonetheless.
And then.. "The only thing I like better about my school form is that I have more tentacles. They're really useful." Her voice. Her real voice. A slightly hissing version of her mental voice, but audible and hoarse from lack of use.
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 5:42 pm
Malodore did not look away - it found the physical process of change fascinating, almost like natural growth but on an incredibly rapid timeline. The shifts in her anatomy, in the tentacles, especially the face, and...
... and then it was done. "Assolutamente affascinante," it breathed, then blinked in surprise. "You... you can speak! Out loud! Can you still use your other method of speech in this form?" It had not been expecting her to have a mouth, and, quite frankly, the shift was nowhere near as dramatic as it had been expecting. She still mostly looked like the Riley it knew.
"The difference is not so much," it added, voicing that aloud just in case she couldn't feel its thoughts as clearly. "Not like it is for... oh, Jericho perhaps."
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 5:56 pm
I can. She murmured as she usually did, as further proof. "But I don't get to speak out loud much anymore. So I try to take advantage of it when I can. I don't walk around like this the way Jericho does sometimes in his dorm. In fact, this is only the second time I've taken off my skull pin since I've come to Amityville. I probably won't do it again, to be honest."
Her expression brightened, and even though the tentacles covered it, she smiled. Her face ached at the feeling - it had been a long time. "No, it's definitely not a big change. It's just very distracting. My school form is much more conducive to forming complex relationships and connections with the student body. Like this.. they tend to shy away. The shallow mind of a typical boil or ghoul amuses me. Even when I'm not like this, sometimes I get the sense that they're afraid of me." Her smile turned wicked. "Not that I'm complaining."
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 6:42 pm
"It is very strange to hear you with my ears and not my mind," Malodore admitted, its tone amused. "I was not expecting it to seem so strange." It tilted its head at her, examining her facial structure from another angle. "And all mindflayers are like this? You spoke of a host earlier..."
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 6:53 pm
Riley's eyes slit mischievously. "So I'm strange to you, hmm?" One of the large, thick tentacles lifted up and touched it's tip to the tip of Malodore's beak. "So mean."
"Yes, we all look like this. The only differences come from our host bodies. Mine was a female drow." The vague image of a little drow elf child emitted from her thoughts, though it wasn't the one she took. She had no memory of the child she invaded. "Except, we look different before we take a body, of course." A different image entered Malodore's mind - of a disturbingly adorable tentacled tadpole. Baby Riley. <3
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 7:15 pm
Malodore opened its beak to pinch at the tentacle, then pondered the mental image presented to it. Interesting. "So, if one were to take a dragon such as Jericho for a host, would it appear draconic save for the face? Or is that not how it works?"
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 7:27 pm
Riley's tentacle leapt back, and she let out a squeak of discontent - then subsequently acted like that sound had not come from her at all. Because it hadn't. Anyone who says otherwise is wrong. "That is almost exactly what it would look like, yes. Though my hive takes drows almost consistently, I have known of an Illithid from another hive who was left to it's own devices at birth, and took a dragon. It was quite an amusing story, actually - a party of heroes found the dragon quite the challenge to slay, when it began mindblasting them. Dragons aren't known for their mental strikes, you see." She laughed softly. "I wouldn't tell Jericho that story, though. I would never want him to think he's in danger."
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 7:30 pm
"Oh, I shan't," Malodore assured her, inwardly amused by the squeak. "I hardly wish for his life to be taken in any fashion. He is merely the most non-humanoid being I happen to know."
It moved to sit down on the floor, cross-legged, then peered up at her. "And... what of the rest? These... these trials? Ah, and please... feel free to take whichever form you wish. My observations are complete for now."
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 7:36 pm
Riley picked up her pin, and looked at it. If she returned to her school form, her thoughts would be completely mental again - and at the rate she'd been bonding with Malodore, she knew there would be more slips.
Speaking out loud was clearly the safer option.. even if she had become unused to it.
"It's a custom in our hive to have trials every three years. We fight one on one with another of our kind for the right to survive." She shrugged lightly. "It's survival of the fittest, in it's most basic form. There can never be too many of us, because we had a bit of a food shortage. So." Blunt, honest, and yet.. devoid of any of the gorey details. Riley felt her explanation was perfect.
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 8:04 pm
"Hmm... interesting. So what I saw was one of your trials, then... a brutal exercise." That statement was made without judgment. "That explains why you are so strong, then. You would need to be. The weak do not survive."
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 9:19 pm
Riley beamed - as much as a mindflayer could. "That is why I do a lot of strength exercise, yes. The typical mindflayer expects their fight to be mostly mental - when you fight with your mind and your body, you have an upper edge. Of course, some of my old acquaintences have started to catch on, so if I'm ever pitted against one of them.. it'll be interesting to see what happens." She didn't sound too worried, however - Riley was pretty confident in her capabilities.
"Though I've been slacking off a bit - I'll probably train a lot harder closer to the next trial early next year. I feel bad for my Exercise Club - I'll be working them as hard as I plan to work myself."
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