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 Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 4:46 pm
Riley was not dreaming.
Mistress- Mistress something happened in the fairgrounds. Something is wrong.
The sound of someone else's voice in her mind, when she was asleep, disturbed her more than she would ever admit. She opened her eyes, and immediately slid them to her bedmate, checking the lenses to see if Malodore was awake. It wasn't the one who'd sent her that - well, that was obvious, once she thought about it. Malodore never called her mistress.. sadly.
She pushed those thoughts out of her head before she became lost in them, and followed the thread of thought, tasting Christof's mind from so very far. The amount of time they must have spent speaking together like this would have had to be so great, for him to be able to reach her from the distance.
The fairgrounds, in fact. He'd mentioned it. It was hard to keep her hold on him, hard to pinpoint him. Something disturbing was going on, she could feel it.
But he would have to tell her what.
What happened, Christof? Explain concisely. Do you need me there? I can be there in moments.
She let Malodore sleep, for now. Better to hear what the problem was, before disturbing the angel beside her.
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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 4:54 pm
Took her- did something to her- have to follow- the Fog it's infected Amrita- Came the drifting, choppy, frantic response. Going after her- the rest was cut off by distance.
He wasn't sure why he had called out for Riley. But something deeply ingrained knew that if she was there, their chances would be better. Mistress always found a way.
Except when she didn't.
Except when she had died.
The hunchback stifled the urge to be sick, glancing around to see if Calder had come or gone, but in the madness it was difficult to tell.
Foolish thoughts of an Igor infatuated with a Mistress. He would be putting her in danger. But they were all in danger, and if he had any hope of rescuing the ghoul he had come to love so dearly he needed strong fists and quick minds by his side. Ones he trusted.
She had not called upon him since her return, but he had figured she had just been... busy. Taking everything in. If she had wanted him, she would have requested him. And if not... well he was requesting her now.
Please...
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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 4:59 pm
The moment of peace was lost. As soon as Christof mentioned the fog and Amrita, Riley sat up in bed, ramrod straight. I'm coming. She assured him, and left it at that. Her stomach rolled, lurching and threatening to be sick. She knew just what was at stake, going anywhere near the fog. But she couldn't just let Amrita-
She rolled her eyes at the wave of possessiveness hit her. Perhaps she was feeling the feedback of Christof's emotions. Or perhaps there were memories resurfacing that caught her off guard. These things were best left to discover at a later date, when she had time to sit and think through all of her emotional reactions. Now, there was no time for such luxuries. Now, she needed to go.
Malodore. Riley turned, and placed a hand on the beak, brushing the backs of her fingers against it. Awaken, please. Amrita's in trouble. We have to go help.
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 7:47 pm
The plague doctor had been sleeping rather deeply - a habit it had gotten into after Riley's 'death', when being awake hurt too much to do constantly. It had spent the days of Fright Night at one remove, not so much attending the festivities as lurking around the edges for an hour before deciding the hustle and bustle was a bit too much for it, right now. It had thusly retreated to its room and proceeded to work in peace on several experiments...
Mmm. Experiments.
The soft touch of Riley's fingertips, along with the brush of her thoughts, awakened it - gently at first, and then with a start as it took in the urgency in her words, and then the meaning. "Amrita?" it gasped, sitting up sharply and suddenly. "What - what has happened?" The plague doctor blinked back sleep, coming into full awareness with the rapidity of the undead, who didn't truly need it and could discard it at will.
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 7:56 pm
Riley instantly regretted waking Malodore from such a peaceful sleep, with such disturbing news. I don't know yet. She admitted. Christof's speech patterns are abstract, hard to understand. The fog has returned, and he says it's claimed her. I couldn't see with his eyes.. he was too far away. But his urgency..
Riley pushed the covers off of her legs, and stood. We'll have to go and see for ourselves. They're at the fairgrounds. There was no time to change. Riley stared down at her nightgown, and frowned. A pair of pants hastily put on, plus the red nightgown, would have to do.
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 8:05 pm
"The... the fog? The... merde-" Malodore's gut twisted painfully, and it lunged for Riley, getting all tangled up in the bedcovers and falling off the bed in a heap of metal wingspars and linens. "Mia cara, I... You..." Its beak clacked shut, but its thoughts continued in her mind, not so much words as a staccato of images and emotions, arranged into linear form so as not to overwhelm.
Fog. Greyness - Riley huge, consumed by Insanity, gone, just a flicker of that. Fear, Malodore's search, guilt. A sense of not being ready.
A fear of losing her to the fog again, of not being able to cope. A sense of despair, of battling an enemy impossible to beat.
A sense of being... flattened.
The heap of blankets sighed and flopped one wingspar free with a tearing sound.
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 8:20 pm
Riley swiveled around with only one leg in her pants when she heard Malodore fall to the ground. She fell to the floor, gathering it up in her arms, and felt the pressing need it gave her to listen, to see. What it showed her, however, wrenched her heart with agony. Her hands tried to dig into the sheets to find Malodore under it all, but in the end she settled with holding it as close as she could, curling it's body in her arms and resting her chin against it.
What would you have me do, Malodore? Her voice was a whisper in its mind. Would you have me stay here, safe in these covers with you, and never heed the call of someone in need again? Is that something you could do, were our places switched? She knew the answer, but the fear emanating from Malodore deserved the recognition. She rubbed her hand against what she assumed was Malodore's back. You are in as much danger as I am, if we go to them. And yet, I know what the answer will be.
Her mind reached out, very gently, and kissed the plague doctor. We will always stand and fight, to protect. It is in our nature. Even if it puts us in danger. Even if it makes us repeat the mistakes of our past. I think.. I truly believe our answer is still the same.
Her eyes slit, bending to look directly at it. We have to go.
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 8:26 pm
A faint hiss of frustration came from beneath the blankets, but the plague doctor quieted at her kiss. "I know," it said with a wry chuckle - the sound was genuine, if a bit dry. "But I... I will be safe, I think." The memory of Jericho breathing warping flames at it slid through their minds; of it standing through the flames and coming out unscathed. "If there is fog, if it is taking more people... Amrita was not tainted, I would swear to it! I examined her myself when I stitched up her wounds..." Its beak ground for a moment.
Then it sighed, and a bit of determination crept into its voice. "If it is changing its methodology, I must emerge to study it. And I... oh, mia cara, there is a part of me that wants you to stay here," it said, very quietly. "To keep you safe. But I will not cage you as the Bogeyman did." The determination hardened to steel. "And I will not lose you again."
It was not a question.
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 8:33 pm
Riley did not miss the memory. It was clearer, once she knew she was seeing through its lenses, and the realization of what it meant made her entire body relax. It would be safe. Nothing felt better than knowing that no matter what happened, Malodore could not be touched by the plague that had taken her - and now took the innocent. It steeled her resolve to head to the fairgrounds, with her plague doctor at her side.
I know. She murmured, her eyes crinkling at the edges. Believe me, I know. She would have at least tried to convince Malodore to stay, if she thought it was in any real danger. But now.. its presence was even more welcome.
She picked it up in her arms as she stood, and put the bundle of joy down on the bed, before attempting to pick the covers off of it. If you are determined not to lose me, then I suggest you stay close. I have no idea what we're in for, but I'm sure I'm safer than Amrita is, right now. We need to get to her, before it's too late.
She refused to believe that there was the possibility they already were.
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 8:45 pm
"I wish I had progressed further in my research," Malodore said, making that beak-grinding sound again as it tore free from the ruins of Riley's bedlinens. "Ah. My apologies," it added suddenly, looking down at the strips of fabric in its claws, abashed. "I will replace them, prometto."
When it had shaken all the cloth free of its wings, claws, and other pointy bits, it looked at Riley with an oddly soft expression, inasmuch as it could be said to change expressions at all. "To go along with you, knowing what we face... it is easier, somehow. And knowing that there is hope - but this foe! This damnable foe!" Its claws curled angrily, and it reduced one last bit of cloth to shreds. "It seems to grow more powerful... the Hunters have much to answer for. I am certain that the lives of the Four Clans provided immeasurable strength to the Insanity."
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 8:49 pm
Ahh, her egyptian sheets. She would have cared, if she wasn't focused on much more important things.
We grow more powerful, too. Every day. She squeezed its claws in her hand, and tugged it up to stand. Come. The longer we wait, I fear the worse our chances at bringing Amrita back safely.
There was just one more thing..
She turned to walk away, and tripped on her half-worn pants. As gracefully as she could, she steadied herself, and slid the other leg on, pulling it up quickly.
.. Okay. She huffed in embarrassment. Now, we go.
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 8:54 pm
"... Wait," it said, reaching out one claw to catch at the back of those self-same pants. "Before that - just... just in case. In case this all has to happen again." It took a deep breath, to bring itself closer to a calm center. No, no, this was not the same as those months ago. It would not be the same. No.
"Your memory. I... perhaps I can keep some bits of it safe for you? In your own words, from your own perspective. Something I can give to you in case of... emergency." The undercurrent of anxiety was still present; the fear of history repeating itself, of all their work undone and heart-weary reconstruction looming. If only it knew more of the Bogeymen's secrets...
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 9:00 pm
Riley turned once more, the blush of her embarrassment only just fading away, when it pulled her back. She prepared to soothe it of the worry, to assure it that she would be safe, when the actual offer sunk in. Malodore wanted to hold her within it. It offered itself as a vessel to hold her, in case she was lost again. So she wouldn't be lost to it, anymore.
And in that moment, all of Riley's assurances crumbled.
I don't.. want.. Her hands slid up its arms, then clung to the shoulders, in a moment of desperation. She couldn't lose this again. She couldn't lose herself.
Yes, please. She whispered, very quietly. She would have preferred to never lose all she held dear, a second time. But what it offered was a chance to keep herself safe, even if she did. She took it, greedily. And she knew, if the old Riley could have achieved this failsafe to preserve her, she would have done the same.
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 9:04 pm
"I will keep everything I can... I..." It pulled her close, sheltering them both within the protective cage of its wings. "I will not lose you again, mia cara. Whatever happens. All is not lost. I will protect you to the utmost..."
It opened itself fully to her, sinking downwards and trying to tug her down with it to sit on the floor. "Arrange things as you will," it said, quietly.
Such an act of trust.
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Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 11:37 am
Riley fell to the floor at its tug, but her arms remained around it's body. It was difficult to let the words digest, and believe that someone could love her that much. It was giving her everything, in this one act. And for a moment, she did nothing. How could she? She couldn't make herself believe that this one perfect individual was simply opening up their mind and allowing her to implant her own memories into it for safekeeping. She reached out and touched Malodore's neck, brushing the pads of her fingers lightly down the long and elegant body part. She felt the ridges of its bandages as she passed over each one. There was tempting mystery, wrapped behind those bandages, and yet it was completely open to her. She remembered all of it. Every moment spent together, from its own eyes. She knew exactly what the plague doctor looked like, inside and out.
Her chest heaved in a long and infatuated sigh.
Slowly, her own mind began to slide into place within Malodore's. Her breathing quickened, as the process was helplessly stimulating to her. When she felt herself settle within it, her eyelids fluttered in content, and she released her memories. It was a slow trickle, so as not to overburden the doctor, but there wasn't that much to give. All she had was her memories from the day she'd awoken, until now. And as much as she didn't want Malodore to feel her pain, she knew any future incarnations of herself had to know what'd she'd been through. They had to know what the boogeymen were inclined to do.
She tried to dull the scenes of torture by speeding through them, and omitted the sound from the memories. Witnessing them would be enough for her.
She slowed once she got to the first moment she could remember that felt like a memory worth saving. The door opened, and that flood of emotion filled her when she first saw the plague doctor. She was sure it was its own feelings, so strong and raw, bleeding over. The way it strained for her, called out to her. Amore mio, it had cried out. Il tuo. Yours. Your Malodore. Her heart had sung its response before her mind could even process who it was. She'd been horrified at how easily the plague doctor had slid into her mind. But her heart had soared in recognition the very moment she'd seen its face.
From that moment on, all of her memories focused around it. Everything else seemed unimportant, and easily discarded. She didn't need to remember the little things, though she gave it every memory of people she'd met, and re-met, since then. But the memories that slowed her enough to collect all the details, were those with the plague doctor. If there was one thing she was determined, it was that she would never forget how she felt about it, again.
And it was that moment, as she realized what she was doing, that she realized something else. Something she hadn't actually admitted, or even understood, until that moment.
But it was nice to know.
I love you, Malodore. Her memories had come to a slow halt, but she remained a presence in its mind, regardless. Her whisper was more of an admittance, than a love-soaked utterance. She knew it had been waiting for her to re-discover it, but she also knew how patient it had been. Malodore had waited until Riley was sure of how she felt.
It was that very moment.
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