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 Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 10:15 pm
It didn't take Riley long to leave her room, and weave in the most direct path to the undead dorms that she possibly could. Her nightmare - and it was a nightmare, that much was certain to her - left her with the waking need for comfort. She would only allow one person to do such a thing, right now. So she'd let Jericho remain asleep as she left, and with hurried steps she found herself at Malodore's door within minutes. She knocked on it urgently.
Malodore? Are you awake? She didn't even know what time it was. Was it morning? Early evening? She hadn't even stopped to tell.
Just a nightmare, she told herself. Exhaustion allowed her to have them, and she had certainly been exhausted.
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Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2013 3:31 pm
Still entangled in its blankets, adrenaline and terror flooding through it, the plague doctor actually yelped aloud at the sudden sound of knocking. The dream was still so heavy in its mind, and it knew, it knew that it had- Had- And then her mind touched its own, and it froze, wings rasping as it trembled. She would taste that fear, that terror - and, shortly on its heels, relief like an incredulous wave. " M-mia cara..." It heaved the words as a long, drawn-out sigh, and went limp, tilting its head back against the bed. " Lo sono qui," it called out, weakly. Luce ran over to the door and reared up, planting her front paws on the wood. Nio Love hi read this first or it won't make any sense~ +Mal is on the floor by its bed all tangled up in the covers wings all extended and tangled up and just generally looks kind of pathetic and a mess ok
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Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2013 10:20 pm
The sensations hit her like a strong, demanding wave, hurtling her under. She winced at its feelings, and her hand was already opening the door before it spoke a second time, opening the door just enough to look inside, before bending down to shoo Luce away from the door so she could open it without hitting the pup. She closed it quietly behind her, and rushed down to fall on the floor, scooping Malodore up into her arms. And here she'd thought she was coming to collect its comfort..
What is it? What's happened? Her heart was stuttering, filling with dread for whatever malady or tragedy was ailing the plague doctor in her arms. She brushed her fingers across any surface she could manage; its beak, its neck, its head. She just wanted to touch it, until everything was all right again.
Did someone hurt you, mia cara? Despite how distraught it had sounded when it called her that, it felt so good to hear it from the Malodore who loved her. Somehow, even in this state, it was managing to bring her the comfort she'd sought.
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Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2013 10:35 pm
"N-no-" Its beak was clacking as it shook, interrupting its words; instead, it buried its head against her shoulders and relied on thoughts alone. A dream. A dream only, and yet- It made the memory of it available to her, along with the strange new 'memories' that had surfaced in its mind. Why, it did not understand, but it kept going back again and again to one particular sequence, even as its conscious mind recoiled in horror at the thought. A blade, in a hand not its own and yet belonging to it just the same, opening up Riley's flesh, and the surge of obscene joy in doing so. "I-I would n-never," it forced out, its beak chattering again.
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Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2013 11:31 pm
The memories flowed into her, and she saw that face, that face -
She cut them off, wishing to see no more. She couldn't, couldn't face it. She couldn't bear to feel that again. Her eyes closed, and she turned her head away from Malodore, her face pinching up in dismay, and something more, something dwelling deep in the darkest spots of her heart. The guilt. The remarkable guilt of knowing, for just one moment, that the cruelty called to her, beckoned to her like an old lover. Like an old memory. Like a past, a world filled with pleasure and pain intermingled in one terrible and overwhelming seduction.
She wished she hadn't been so close to Malodore, at that very moment.
How do you know about that? Her muffled voice hummed, as she dampened as much of her own thoughts as possible. Where did you get that despicable creatures memories? You know I would never think such a thing of you, Malodore. Our fragments were nothing like ourselves.
She opened her eyes, and pressed her hand to its neck, choosing to look into its eyes and focus on the being that held her in its arms. You are so pure. So good, my Malodore. Don't spend another moment thinking about that wretch.
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2013 10:26 pm
Malodore was too busy trying to regain a modicum of control over itself - it missed the guilt, the reaction she had. Instead, it took in a deep breath and released it in a long, shaky sigh. "It was a dream, and yet... I have these things within my mind. Memories of things I never did. A life I never lived..." It shuddered again, but the movement was less convulsive and uncontrolled now. It stretched first one wing, then the other, and swept them around her, closing both of them in. "... It did meet you." It was a statement, not a question. "It was... not a dream only?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2013 10:40 pm
Riley watched carefully as Malodore pieced together what it had experienced, and then felt the gentle cage of wings around her, claiming her with their silent and demanding presence. She folded at their whim, curling up against Malodore and wrapping her arms tightly around it. It lived. In a way. We were sent to more than just a dream, to retrieve our friends. Apparently, there was a being who used memories of those it had stolen, and created facades. They only looked like us. For most, that was where the similarities ended. For others, like Shun.. She rolled her eyes. There's no getting around a personality as bland. But it pitted these pawns against one another for sport. For its own folly. When we re-awakened, we were sent to kill our friends in this fake world, in hopes it would wake them up.
She thinned her eyes to slits. But the fragments were supposed to disappear. I'm still not sure why you have its memories now. I.. wish you didn't. It wasn't very nice. Riley rubbed her cheek, feeling phantom scars with her fingertips.
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 9:00 pm
It closed its eyes as it considered her words. The dream had been deeply disturbing, moreso than any other it had endured. And yet... "It - the fragment. It killed you." It was not a question. Its hand came up and covered hers, pressing against her hand and cheek both.
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 9:29 pm
Riley's eyes rolled, though it was difficult to see. Who doesn't, nowadays? It only thought it killed me. Really, it was doing me a favor. My job was to kill it, and I just kept re-appearing after death. So, it killed itself, and saved me a task that would probably have haunted me every day, for the rest of my life. Her face turned, brushing the flat of her face against the length of its beak. I don't know if I ever had the strength to kill anything that had any connection to you, mia cara. No matter how small, or insignificant.
It did not sit well with her to have to admit to such a weakness.
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 9:56 pm
It was quiet for a long moment, as if digesting this. "What happened? What is... this other place I have in those memories? A city - no, a kingdom. Both. Seven kings..." It tilted its head to one side, leaning into her touch. "A great battle, and then nothing. Mad wandering and a craving for pain." It twitched again, making the feathers on its wings jangle discordantly. "Before that, months - years - of life... I do not understand. How can this be?" It straightened, looking to her for answers.
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 10:30 pm
Don't ask me. I don't know why you have its memories, and it's an unfortunate fact that you do. I would have rather it stayed dead in that other world I explained about. I wouldn't mind forgetting all the memories my fragment had given me, when I entered her, either. Her body slumped in Malodore's arms. All in all, this excursion, while certainly unique, is a memory I could live without.
But the more she thought about it with distance, and the loving arms and wings of her beloved around her to keep her in the cool lull of comfort, the more she realized how little she knew. We never did figure out who the Voice was. Do you recall the Voice? Whatever created this world, was speaking to us throughout all of the time we were there. It moved us all along like chess pieces. Now I begin to wonder who, exactly, has the power to do such a thing - for we most certainly did not put it to rest, in this venture. We retrieved our friends, but who is to say the Voice will not simply do this again..?
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 10:38 pm
"In the dream, it found me," Malodore said, shaking its head slightly. "A fragment of the subconscious..." It did not want to admit the way that glimpse of another life made it feel. It wanted to claim that the fragment being was unlike it, utterly, and yet... it could not do so. The fragment was something that it had had the potential to become, once. That it might still become, if struck and shattered just so. Still, her presence was deeply comforting. The fragment had not succeeded. It had, in the end, had no power, not really. With effort, Malodore turned its focus to the question Riley had raised. "I... do," it said, slowly. "The fragment did not care for that Voice. Nor you," it added, wryly. "A mind so ordered that the smallest intrusion is like a violation... how lonely."
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 10:46 pm
Riley smugly enjoyed how this Malodore pitied the other, for its loneliness. Did you ever feel as though I was an intrusion? The first time I spoke, or the first time I .. did other things. Her head tilted just enough to bury itself into Malodore's neck. It reacted as though this was new to it, and it hated that so very much. That was how I knew that the being within that fleshy frame held no candle to you, my love. She tilted back up just enough so that it could see one, single, brightly glowing eye. It crescented. No sense of adventure.
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 10:55 pm
"No," it admitted, lifting its head a bit to look at her directly. A little bit of the shame it had felt at being a strange sort of kin to the fragment-being faded away. "Never. I was always intrigued, but not by your anatomy. By your mind..." A pause. "... Naturally, I am also fond of your anatomy," it added, hurriedly. Lest she get the wrong idea.
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2013 11:28 pm
Riley's smugness increased by tenfold when it assured her that she had intrigued it from the moment it had felt her mind. That was exactly what she wanted to hear. She sighed long and breathy in content, and toyed with the collar of its coat. The hurried addendum just made her snicker.
She knew that loving Malodore made her a weak willed fool. She knew it, and she spiked with fear whenever she thought of it. Except for moments like these, curled up on the floor with her body so thoroughly intertwined she couldn't tell where she ended and it began. Her mind, so lucid, so open to its thoughts, that sometimes she wondered if she hadn't accidentally melded with it. It was these moments that made her realize she would never want things any other way.
She gathered the plague doctor up in her arms, pushing herself up to lift it off the floor and carry it back to its bed. The floor did not suit it.
As she settled it back into place, her expression turned wry, and curious.
How fond, exactly?
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