5

Aldrah needed for his studies to know what the life of an undead was like, and now that Astaria was one, that would make everything easier!

He took Annie and Astaria to the lab, went to the armchair and sat down, then crossed his legs.

"Astaria, do you remember our conversation? Where did the idea come from asking an undead what his life was like?" He stared at Astaria. "Well .. You're an undead now, right? Can you tell me how your life is, being an undead?"
(Aldrah)

The woman slowly settles on the chair, leaning back a little with her arms resting over the chair's. Her gaze slowly trailed over to Aldrah, with the soft blue glow of legend from Azrael's undead over her eyes; her expression didn't change much, as a whole, though as she spoke with her usual soft, smooth tone,

"I've been undead for less than twenty four hours. You're gonna have to give me some time to decide how's it really like, but.."

A hand rose, scratching over her cheek. The burnt forehead she used to have had regenerated completely, leaving only a smooth skin; her cheeks no longer had the red heart-shaped cheek marks, either, replaced by smooth, pale skin.

"..it still feels strange walking around and seeing everything. Strange being in a body. If I had to call it anything, it'd be odd. Not very helpful, I realize."
(Astaria Rosenkreuz)

Annie waves her hand dismissively and weakly comforts Astaria.

"Don't worry about it, you'll probably feel wonderful after you get used to it. We can ask somebody else later, let's get to the good part, no more chit-chat. Can I cut open Wereley? I'll try my best not to damage him."

She says with excitement. Although she really wanted to kill him and hear his suffering while he was alive, cutting him open was the next best thing.
(Annie)

While Astaria was speaking, Aldrah removed his book with loose leaves and a pen from inside his coat so he could write down what he thought would be useful for his studies.

After the end of what Astaria spoke he wrote down some things and decided to ask some questions.

"Well, in this time that you've lived being an undead, did you feel the urge to feed? Can you still feel the touch on your skin when someone touches you? Can you still smell things?" He thought for a moment and "Did you notice if you lost any feelings?"

A few silly questions, but it was good to write down everything you could to know more about someone who is an undead.

He looked at Annie and just said.

"Wait, then I'll let you cut Wereley's body."
(Aldrah)

"..I still feel my usual urge to feed from mana, but if you mean real food.. then no. And though my senses are sharp as they always were, I do not flinch upon being slapped, there's a distinctive lack of pain.."

As she spoke, the woman seems to have grown weary very quickly, her eyebrows slightly furrowed- perhaps because being a subject of study wasn't the most pleasant of all experiences, especially without being prepared for it. She was only asked to come, not what it was all about, even when asked.

"..and I seem to have lost some of my patience", she added last, with the soft blue glow over her eyes increasing slightly in intensity as she stared at Aldrah. "But I'm not emotionless."
(Astaria Rosenkreuz)

Annie takes mental notes of the effects of undeath on the neries. From what she said not much has changed, no urge or need for real food and a lack of pain. Both of these seems to be positive especially if the undead possessed regenerative abilities. Although the Oscuri found it odd that she seemed to only lose some patience.

"Are you sure you've only lost some patience? It'd be weird if that was the only thing you would lose. Do you get angrier easier or maybe you've become more emotional, something more broad?"

She says whilst leaning closer to the table to look at Astaria, holding her hand up with her hands to display her attentiveness.
(Annie)

Aldrah just wrote down some things in their leaves, and would be quiet for a while.
(Aldrah)

Closing her eyes momentarily, the Neries further leaned onto the chair. "I don't know" she said with a somewhat harsher tone, in response to Annie, her her head now a little low - as if she'd be staring at the ground, or under the table, though the eyes were closed. Perhaps she was just resting.

"I haven't taken notes and studied my emotional state. I don't have tipsheets that tell me how's it all working."

As her eyes opened, the faint glow of blue was there still, though softer than it had been just a moment ago. At that, Astaria slowly rises from her seat, looking weary still.

"..if that's all. I'd rather not be a study subject. As fascinating as it surely is, it's a little irritating."
(Astaria Rosenkreuz)

When she sees Astaria upset a wave of guilt hits her as she realizes how insensitive she had been. She shifts her chair closer to hers and pats her back, trying her best to cheer her up while talking to her in an apologetic voice.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to irritate you. This was such a recent and big change for you and we're just studying you when you haven't even had any time to adjust yet. We got carried away.. right?"

Placing a glare onto Aldrah indicating that he should apologize as well. She continues comfort the neries as he speaks.
(Annie)

Aldrah let out a sigh, but he knew he had crossed over.

"I'm sorry Astaria .. It was not my intention in any way to offend or irritate you .. I was just wondering about the lives of the undead .."

He finished jotting down what he thought was important, and put his book and pen back in his coat.

"Well, again I'm sorry if I upset you. But if you do not mind, could we meet and talk again after some time?"
(Aldrah)

Gaze trailing from Aldrah to Annie, the undead neries nods slowly once more, lowering herself to take a seat on the chair while leaning her arm onto the table. Her expression hadn't changed through the whole deal, with her eyes now setting onto the young oscuri.

"..don't worry about it", she mutters as her gaze shifts to the table, staring at it as if there was something unnervingly interesting about the wood. "It is, surely, a fascinating subject."
(Astaria Rosenkreuz)

Annie shoots a confused look at Aldrah and shook her head. Why did he want to end the meeting so soon? There was still plenty to do. She flashed a brief smile to Astaria before settling back to her original position.

"Why do you want her to leave already? We still need to cut Wereley open and study him. It'd be better if she stayed, unless you had something you needed to do Astaria."
(Annie)

"Ehh..." Aldrah did not want to disturb Astaria any more, he noticed that she was not very happy in the current situation.. But as Annie insisted, it was good to have the help of someone more experienced when they went to study Wereley's body.

"Astaria, do you want to come together and watch as we open Wereley's body...?" He spoke softly as he looked down.
(Aldrah)

"..I'm not particularly intereseted at this time" she spoke softly once more, though she seemed more receptive of conversation with Annie patting on her back and the young Oscuri's smile - as if some deeply ingrained instinct, even as undead, made it so that had a soothing effect.

"I do need to continue my necromancy practice, however, so next time we get to that, take three. One for me, one for you, one for Annie. I'll show you my own practice, which differs a little from yours. Swapping techniques should prove useful."
(Astaria Rosenkreuz)

Annie's head drops in disappointment when Astaria declines their request. Still she is grateful for her prescence and looks up to thank her.

"Okay, sorry for bothering you and thanks for being here with us."

Then she perks up with excitement when she proposes to practice with her. She scratches her head as she mentions her lack of experience.

"I've.. actually never tried reviving anything yet. Our last session was cut short and I didn't really know anything before that. Could you teach me when we bring more bodies?"
(Annie)

Aldrah did not have much to talk about, he just nodded and was silent.
(Aldrah)

Her hand reached forward to ruffle Annie's hair like she was five- some sparks of her old self showing, even with a slight, barely perceptible tug at the corner of her lips, though otherwise her expression remains much the same as usual.

"Yeah, I'll show you all you need to know."

Rising from her seat, the Neries nods in acknowledgement to Aldrah, shifting around on her heels towards the door to walk out.
(Astaria Rosenkreuz)