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 Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 5:29 pm
Calder had been thinking rather hard about a few things, which revolved around several people. Considering Christof's confession, he had been, as much as he never liked to, about Riley. The ghoul got under his skin, but considering how important she was to many friends he had, things were getting harder and harder for him to deal with. As it stood, he was of a lower standing as the ghoul, who had the heart of several boils. Because of this, he knew that if worst came to worst, he was the most likely to be booted out of the group entirely if he continued to cause problems and causing problems happened just by showing up near the ghoul when the others were around. If he continued this, he did worry about a very major problem. If Christof had to make the choice, with duty and his heart urging him, he would press Calder away and kick him out the door like an unwanted mutt coming in from the rain.
It wasn't surprising. He had been kicked out of groups before, but now that he had Christof as a friend, he knew that loosing him would crush him.
It was why something had to be done. Something that would make him swallow down his massive pride and be the bigger kelpie.
He just wondered how it would be received and what was the best tactic that would lead to the desired result. Considering he couldn't really talk to the source just yet, he wanted advice from the best creature who knew the ghoul.
Standing outside Malodore's door, Calder breathed in and knocked. Here went nothing....and everything.
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 5:44 pm
"Come in," Malodore said at once, the plague doctor's voice slightly muffled by the door. "And try not to let the cat escape, per favore?" When Calder opened the door, he would see several things: the first was that Malodore was at its workbench, sleeves tied back as it worked with a severed arm; its fingers were streaked with dried blood. The second thing was that a gingery cat (that also seemed part pastry) was zipping towards kelpie and door alike, a burst of rainbow forming behind its tail.
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 6:01 pm
Calder jerked when he opened the door and saw a very bright cat racing towards him. Jumping in, the kelpie turned about slammed the door shut. Luckily it was in time before the little pastry got smashed in the door. Sighing, he looked down at the disappointed kitten who really hurt his eyes yet made him hungry for sugar cubes, and then looked up at the doctor. "I see you have a new pet. It's...." He looked down at the thing. "......sweet."
He moved over slowly, feeling a little awkward as he came over to inspect what the Plague Doctor was up to. It must be exciting, being smart about science. Barth and Christof were always making things from blue prints, while Malodore had all these weird vials and jars and knew how to sew people up. Calder was none of these, but he was interested none the less. Still, it made him still think about how easy it could be to be booted from a group he might not even fit into. It wasn't like he contributed anything with all the smarties around.
"Are you busy?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 6:37 pm
"Ah!" Malodore brightened when it saw who had come to visit him. "It is good to see you, Calder - I am not overly busy, no. Simply practicing my skills." The plague doctor put down its tools and strode over to the sink, washing its claws clean before drying them thoroughly. "Exams are coming up, and I wish to make the best showing possible."
The pastry-cat had run headfirst into the door with a soft thunk. He shook his head, then sat down, stretched out one leg, and began to wash himself energetically. "He is sweet, is he not?" Malodore added, fondly. "His name is Dolce."
Luce, who was on her pillow, lifted her head for a moment, eyed Calder, then thumped her tail once against the floor and laid back down again.
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 7:10 pm
He eyed the hand a moment and started to rub his own. Unlike the undead and Christof, seeing someone get stitched up bothered him at times. He always winced when the needed dug into the skin, but he guessed it was nothing for a Igor who was made of stitched-together pieces or a Plague Doctor who, by the looks of it, had no skin at all.
"That's a cute name." He said, feeling more out of place. The little cat didn't seem to be the brightest though. At least it had spunk.
But back to the matter. Turning, he watched as the doctor gave up his distraction to focus on him more fully. He had hoped to be a bit ignored, and felt a bit flushed with the full attention. "Um...well, I got to thinking about a few things, and wanted to ask about a bit of advice since you...would probably knew the best way to go about it." He couldn't believe he was making this decision.
He looked over at Luce, not able to fully look the Plague Doctor in the eye...uh...goggles. "...It's about Riley."
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 10:02 pm
"But of course." Malodore tilted its head to one side and gestured Calder towards the armchair; the couch was currently partially covered in papers, schematics, and anatomical charts. A few of those were brushed aside to make way for the plague doctor to sit down. "What about her? I know, ah, that you two... clash. Quite often."
Its voice sounded almost apologetic.
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 10:26 pm
He sat down slowly, brushing his tail to the side to avoid sitting on it and setting his hands in his lap, idly playing with the tails on his sporran. "Yeah. About that....that's kinda what I wanted to talk about....Ya see. I was thinking, what with all you guys being my friends and all you being Riley's friend, it makes it....troublesome for some of you when I'm around." He stopped fiddling with his sporran to then reach up and comb his hand with one hand, pulling out a stick and looking at it.
"...and she was rather pissed when you all did that experiment...even if she shouldn't have been..." But he got why. "..........so...I was thinking of ......burying the hatchet." He glanced quickly a Malodore. "For everyone. Ya know, to not make everything worse on everyone else." Not because he just up and wanted to be friends with her.
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 8:46 pm
"Burying the hatchet?" Malodore tilted its head the other direction. Why would covering an axe with dirt at all help, or even affect, matters at all? Surely the kelpie didn't mean that literally, and it was only a turn of speech that Malodore was unfamiliar with.
Still, it let it go. Semantics weren't terribly important. "Riley is... very dear to me. She possesses an iron will, and she is a proud and stubborn creature. Sometimes too much of both. We have had our fights as well." It chuckled, wryly, then stilled. It really wasn't the best at psychological and emotional... stuff. That was, well, Riley's department.
"But forcing yourself to care for someone... or something... when you do not? It is doomed to fail, possibly worse than if you had not tried. It builds up." This, at least, the plague doctor knew to be true; it had experienced exactly that with its own family. "Until it either explodes onto others, or implodes into your own mind. Neither outcome is pleasant, I assure you..."
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 11:19 pm
Calder was surprised that someone as smart as Malodore didn't know the phrase, especially since Calder wasn't that worldy himself. "It means ....well, to stop a fight." It was Malodore's advice that really bothered him. He would have thought the Plague Doctor would have encouraged that they make up, but he more or less said it was impossible for either one of them to truly bury the hatchet.
Groaning, he rubbed one temple as he thought. "I had hoped you wouldn't say that. I thought I could wing it somehow. Force it through. I didn't want to cause so much of a commotion all the time I should up. It makes things........weird with everyone. Everyone keeps choosing my side and Riley's when that happens and....." Well, he would up having very few people on his side. Usually Christof jumped in only to keep him from getting killed, and knowing what he knew now, he didn't want to pull Christof away in times where he might be needed or could make an impression. Not that he was actively working against Malodore, but he didn't want to hurt Christof's motives either.
"I just didn't want to be a bother."
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Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:16 pm
Malodore shook its head. "A noble intention, but the truth will out, and be all the more forceful for being contained. I have some measure of experience in the matter. But I have... ah, noticed. The awkwardness. The tension. Yes."
It paused for a... well, an awkward moment before going on. "Emotional things are not entirely my forte. But I do not think you are a bother. You are a good friend. You have a powerful will as well. Why should you crush it for someone else?" The plague doctor shrugged, its back-blades chiming against each other. "It is illogical to suggest it, and yet I understand your concern..."
"... I am not very good at this." It sighed. "But I will try. You are my friend, and I wish to aid you."
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 2:19 pm
Calder let out a long, dramatic sigh and flopped over one arm of the chair, letting his arms dangle as he pouted. He had been hoping for better news and better, smoother advice that had been something more that he had in mind. Even lying to him would have been nice, but he had come for advice from someone who knew Riley best, and if it wasn't going to work, then best bets were that this was going to end up in another fight. "Oh Malley. I thought you'd give me better news than this." He frowned at the floor and then looked up at the plague doctor.
"I know you're trying. It's just, saying logic and emotions go together is like oil and water. I could list countless situations to prove that. Heck. If we were looking at logic solely, you and Riley wouldn't be together simple because it's more logical for an undead to be with an undead, but there. Proof. Emotions. You got 'em." He in no way meant it in a bad way. In fact, it was a plus.
"I guess I could use the cruel phrase of 'leading a horse to water' here, but if this is just going to start a fight later on down the road, then attempting it probably would be a bad idea. I just...sorta wanted to be there for Christof. He has a really hard time being an Igor when I come around. I think he hates me for having to come over and drag me off. I feel like a leper." He pouted some more.
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 11:06 pm
"Christof cares for you as well - I am certain of that," Malodore said firmly. "Riley and I have had our fights. That... incident, with the lepus... that lead to one. Assuredly, it did. She is a strong-willed creature, and she lashes out when she feels slighted. All that she is doing now is... it is not something that her kind does, by nature. She is, in a way, rebelling against her kind as much as I am rebelling against my family." Its smile was small and thin.
"I do not say this to say that she is right. Only that you might have some knowledge. Neither of you are right. Neither of you are wrong. It is not a matter of such things." The plague doctor shrugged, its backblades chiming against each other once more. "As for Christof... the ways of an Igor's mind can be most strange. My family had one. I prefer Christof."
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 12:59 am
Calder continued to lay awkwardly over the chair's arm and looked at the ground. "I never met an Igor before until now. ........or demons..........or that much of anything. My kind doesn't interact much and we'd never had an Igor. It's pretty...unnatural for us to have one. Kelpies believe that if you can't do the job on your own, then you aren't meant to do it or you don't have enough will power to get it done." Having an Igor would be seen as a crutch not to mention the fact that they were a creature that was raised to have no rights or freedoms and being solely dependent on others.
Calder continued to stare at the ground. "I guess that's why I don't get anyone." His eyes glanced back up at Malodore. "You grew up in a clan in a swamp. How do you get along so well and know everything? Is it cause you're just smart?" If it went down to super, scientist intelligence, Calder was screwed.
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Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 4:21 pm
Malodore simply shrugged, setting its back-blades chiming against each other with the movement. "Si, it is as you say. I only met those few who came in for care... and I was, by and large, not permitted to interact with them directly, and certainly not conversationally. The Igor belonged to the elders, so I did not speak with that creature either... but we were taught to look at others, those who were not plague doctors, as if they were patients only, and never more than that. Or... experiments. And that is how I thought when I came to this place."
It shook its head. "I changed my mind because I did not want them telling me how I should think, even in that small way. Everything I am doing is rebellion. They will never know of it, of course. Hah."
... It was getting off course. "But. Ah. Yes - the driving motivation of the scientist is curiosity. And others love it when you are curious about them. Interested in them. I suppose that can be a boon even if you don't intend to get them under the knife?" it offered.
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Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 7:32 pm
Calder flopped over, laying on his back as he sat sideways on the chair and looked up at the ceiling, idly twirling a lock of hair around his finger. "Curious, huh? I'm always curious. I don't know much." He let that slip out before he sat up a bit straighter. "I mean, I know a lot of things about a lot of things, but there is still stuff I'm curious about." He wasn't no dummy, but there were few people in school who thought the proper sowing techniques and what herbal tea cleared up hoof rot useful. All his knowledge was kelpie based and for that reason, he didn't know much when coming to Amityville and dealing with everything and anything all of which wasn't kelpie related.
"Seems everyone is rebelling from their clans." He was, in fact, probably peculiar in that he WANTED to be in his clan. Desperately. Sitting up, he sighed. "Thanks Malley. I guess I can't do anything about what's going on, but at least I don't feel like I'm being lazy about it or a coward for not trying."
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