"Moldy bread crusts?" Maalech looked as confused as Starling there, pondering what that could be for. Was Meg growing mold? Who would ever want to grow that? People got sick from mold. And... well, Maalech figured that might be a reason. A cure. Maybe. Or poison.

"I like her madness. She thinks like me" he offered helpfully, "we were talking about pig skins and goat piss and how they are kinda like humans."

"She also thinks everything is sort of like a person," he replied, looking impressed. "How long has she had you? Or has she just been busy enough that you've seen the full gamut already?

"I ask a lot of questions" Maalech pointed out, "she's just better than most about answering them. Marcello doesn't know a lot of the things, at least when it comes to magic and stuff. Also, why is there a giant duck in the harbor? Is it tame?" Because a fleet of giant tame ducks would be awesome.

"Because the Puck turned Grandmumma's ship into a duck, because it knew that feckin' around with her ship is the only thing as would piss her off." He waved it off. "At least I think that's the deal there. I'm not sure. She's already found a new one, so it's not like she gets attached to any one in particular."

"So the duck is a ship?" Maalech's eyes grew even bigger. "Has anybody tried to sail it, or does it eat people? And will it stay that way forever then? I don't know how the Puck things work, but I really don't want to turn back. I like it here."

"Sometimes it changes things back when it pleases. Mostly though you just have to stumble about and try to puzzle it out. There's a trick to it." He scowled. "Why don't you want to change back, though? This ain't you."

"It is me" Maalech said with fierceness in his voice. "I don't know who they talk about when they talk about the man they say I am, but I don't wanna be him. So I'm not gonna be. I don't wanna end up the enemy of everybody here. And I would be. Everybody says so." He crossed his arms, looking stubborn. "So I'm gonna stay this way."

"You wouldn't have to be," he said. "I mean, people remember what happened when they were glammed. So all you'd have to do is remember that you didn't want people to hate you anymore and you could . . . wait, yeah, I can see where the problem there would be." He frowned. "Even if you did that, other people wouldn't know. What did you do that was so bad, anyway?"

"Apparently I tried to kill the Countess and wanted to end the world. Or something. People are not really going into too much detail about it... and some say I'm not that bad, but some do, and I just don't..." he broke off before he started to sniffle, drawing himself up straighter again. "I don't remember anything. People could be lying for all I know, but I trust Meg. And she said I had enemies, but she didn't say why. Nobody can tell the same story when it comes to the rest."

Normally this would have been where Starling handed off his handkerchief, but he didn't have one, and he was still waiting for Miranda to return his scarf. "Aw, no. And Mum doesn't lie. I mean, she probably does on occasion because everyone does, but not about anything really important. She'd tell you straight."