Welcome to Gaia! ::

The snow that had blanketed Amityville was rather pleasant, really; thus far, Malodore had seen no evidence of rampaging elves or other Christmas creatures out for blood. Perhaps this time it was just a perfectly normal weather phenomenon.

Luce, too, loved the snow, and Malodore was only too happy to take the pup outside for a good long walk. The cold didn't trouble it at all, and Luce took obvious delight in leaping over snowdrifts and rolling about in fresh powder. The snow made everything a little quieter, a little more peaceful. It was soothing, really.

The two of them ended up by the edge of the lake, with Luce bounding through the snow even as Malodore investigated the crusts of ice in the lake shallows, amused by the way the thin layer of ice cracked and splintered under pressure. A simple science, but entertaining for its relative rarity.

Malodore made a startled noise as a white blur appeared, skidding across the ice and immediately recovering into an aggressive stance. Luce immediately barked and leapt in front of Malodore, her hackles raising as she growled back.

Then the pup sniffed the air; her growl turned into a quizzical sound, accompanied by a confused head-tilt. She sat down abruptly, hackles flattening back down again. Her tail thumped once, uncertainly.

"... Shehk?" Malodore said after a moment, relaxing visibly. "Ah, mi dispiace - I did not mean to startle you." Which it had, clearly - it was obvious she hadn't been expecting anyone else to be in this area.

"Indeed - quite a pleasant day, for those of us unbothered by such petty concerns as temperature." The plague doctor's beak opened in a smile. "It has been some time. How are you doing, amica mia?" Something about her looked different, though it couldn't place what it was, offhand.

"... did you get your, ah, fur... cut?" it guessed, after a moment. "Something is different, but I am afraid I do not know your natural form well enough to name it..."

"A Hunter-" The plague doctor sounded startled, then grim. "Did you happen to get a name? I would be delighted to take an equal payment from their hide." Its own tail lashed for a moment.

When it noticed her own agitation, though, its voice softened. "It has been that long? Ah, mi dispiace. Life has a terrible habit of catching one up unawares and dropping you days, weeks from where you were when last you looked."

Luce, meanwhile, had laid down, though she kept giving Shehk uncertain looks, each accompanied by a hopeful tail-thump.

"Hm." Malodore's eyes narrowed behind the lenses at Shehk's statement. "I would be only too happy to turn that particular facet around on them, then." It knew how to Science, oh yes. And it knew what to do with specimens... it had learned that such a viewpoint could be a weapon, in more ways than one. Evidently some humans knew that, too. The thought of someone doing that to Shehk made a cold anger rise within it, as it had when Riley had been in that situation with the Bogeymen...

Shehk's behavior, though, snapped it out of its cold, calculating thoughts. It watched with concern as she moved about, then bumped into it. "Are you all right?" it asked, quickly, crouching down so it loomed over her a bit less.

It reached out for her with its empathy, only to recoil as it tasted her hunger, her guilt; it had to withdraw, mentally, and while it gave no outward indication the plague doctor was most definitely shaken by what it had 'heard'. "Do you mean take in their FEAR, or... consume them? Would a substitute work?"

It wasn't going to ask why, not yet. Not when it was deeply unsure it was going to get a coherent answer out of her. It gently placed one hand on her head, as it would to Luce; the cwn annwn herself whined and pressed against Shehk's side.

"Is this something you have come in to recently? A pricolici, ah, trait, perhaps?" Had she been present when some of the other members of SEEDS had killed that Hunter? It wasn't sure, but it was fairly certain the body had disintegrated, not been eaten. As it spoke, it kept up a light skritching to the ears, since she seemed to be leaning into it.

It was most definitely worried. "A... normal human would not suffice?" it asked, after a moment. It wasn't really sure it wanted to go there, but it felt it was important to know.

Malodore flinched visibly at the crunch. "Your neck - how long has this been happening, these spasms?" It kept its hand in place, though shifted from skritching to support. A broken neck wasn't a horrible tragedy for the undead, though it could definitely be an inconvenience and lead to more permanent damage over time.

A horrible thought struck it. "Did the Hunter do something to you? Besides take your fangs?" ... Maybe this was related to the loss of the fangs? An odd idea, but Halloween was full of odd ideas that were nevertheless true.