♪ EXEC_04/. ♫

[fallbythesword]

[1007 was in her room, and was content to stay there. Until now.

Anyone on the 10th floor will see the door to 1007 abruptly slide open, much faster than it was ever intended to be opened, and it connects with its internal stopper with a "crack!" and a "slam!" as the black-haired occupant barrels out of there as fast as her short little legs will carry her.

To her credit, she doesn't scream - doesn't make any noise whatsoever, save for her heavy and rapid breathing, but her bright red eyes are as wide as saucers and she looks as though she's just been witness to something too horrible for words. She's also trembling so violently that she can't even keep her balance, and she trips, dropping to her knees in the middle of the hallway. That doesn't stop her. She spins around and begins crawling backwards, away from her room, until her back is pressed up against the entrance to the porch.

She's not moving. She refuses. She will sit here, trembling, knees drawn up tightly against her chest, and stare down the hallway with wide eyes until she finds somewhere safe to go. Anywhere... please...

And... it may be incredibly faint, but are there quiet whispers of a song coming from that room...? No, maybe you're just imagining things... ]


((OoC: Anyone who looks into room 1007 will see that it's been entirely turned into this place - the Crescent Chronicle, from her home world. In addition, there are grathnode crystals growing from the walls - just... pretend that picture is red in color. Since there are no good images of an actual grathnode crystal. sigh, obscure canon woes...))

Comments

[decrypts]

[801 isn't .. he isn't snooping, he swears. that's his story and he's sticking to it - but when he comes across the girl looking like she's about as scared as she's ever been, he has to stop. because that's just the kind of person he is - or at least .. that's the kind of person he thinks he is.

so he stops. he doesn't get too close - because you never know when somebody's gonna be carrying a knife around .. thanks a lot for that by the way, morgana 806 - but he does linger, looking concerned.] Hey - are you okay?

[obvious answer? NOPE. way to be observant.]

[lamb_of_gold]

[1006 was in the process of cleaning up his own room - which he'd awoken to find was covered in blood and what looked to be peices of armor- when '07's door opens. '06 drops the armload of refuse he was carrying and crossed the hall to catch the girl before she hurt herself.]

Hey now. What's shaken you so?

[dumb question, now that he thinks about it, but mundane things tend to induce calm, so...]

[fallbythesword]

[As he comes toward her, her eyes do occasionally flick upward to look at his face, but her attention constantly goes right back toward the door to her room. She can't look away. She wants to, but she really can't, she's just so scared and what if it spreads, what if... always "what if"... She doesn't even know - remember? - what it is, where that place is... but she needed out. She could feel that it wanted her, and that song...

Her attention snaps back to him at his question, and she shakes her head rapidly. She's not okay. At least she knows that much... ]

[fallbythesword]

[That wide-eyed stare just turns to him when he comes to help her. She holds that stare for a moment, but then she squeezes her eyes shut tightly and shakes her head rapidly.]

That place... in there. I can't-... I-... I don't know.

[lamb_of_gold]

Can you stand? We'll go down a floor and talk there, alright?

[inhumanity]

[108 hears the slam and steps out. He sees 1007 in distress...

...and all he can think to do is walk over to her and crouch down beside her.]

Hello again. [He smiles gently.] Would you like to go outside for a walk? There are beautiful flowers out there.

[fallbythesword]

[She hesitates, for a long moment... but she nods twice and then stands. She's not sure why, but she feels the need to stand a bit closer to '06. The proximity eases her anxiety a little, but she's still trembling quite a lot and trying not to look at her room.]

Alright. That sounds... good.

[lamb_of_gold]

[06 moves to block her view as best he can and, with one arm on her shoulders, ushers her towards the stairs] This way. Come on, now.

[fallbythesword]

[She's too frightened to respond to his greeting, but the gentle smile is... comforting. And that helps. Her tight grip on her knees relaxes a bit, but she's still shaking, still wide-eyed and frightened.]

...Flowers...?

[fallbythesword]

[She goes willingly, appreciative of the arm on her shoulders and the way he's obviously positioning himself between her and that place.... but he still can't cover the song, and the song still makes her visibly cringe. She even picks up the pace as they pass by the door and reach the stairs.]

[lamb_of_gold]

[He pushes the girl ahead of him, and continues to put himself between her and the door until they're on the floor below.]

A little better?

[inhumanity]

In the forest. [His expression doesn't change. This hurts, and he hurts for her. He feels like he has done this before. He wants her to find peace. And he speaks of the flowers warmly, like there is nothing more wonderful in the world.] They're beautiful. There are flowers of all sorts, some even glow. We could make a ring of them for your hair.

[fallbythesword]

[She hesitates, listening for that damned song... but when she can no longer hear it, she nods, looking up at him with those still-slightly-wide eyes.]

Thank you. This helps a lot.

[lamb_of_gold]

What in that room frightened you so?

[fallbythesword]

[She's... not so sure about having a ring made for her hair, but she... really does want to see the flowers. They must really be beautiful, and she does like beautiful things. She thinks she does, anyway. Something about hearing about them...

So she stands, slowly, and nods at 1008.]

Show me?

[this is familiar. why is it familiar? did someone show her this kind of kindness, give her this appreciation for the world's beauty and a taste of freedom before?]

[fallbythesword]

The room. The whole... thing. [She closes her eyes, tries to steady her breathing to keep her pulse from jumping all over again.]

When I was in there, I thought I would be trapped. Inside those crystals. I heard the song, and I... I think the room wanted to lock me up in there. Alone. Forever.

[inhumanity]

[He holds out his hand to her.] It's close.

[fallbythesword]

[Okay, there's a looooot of hesitation here. And she looks from his hand, to his eyes, back to his hand... a few times, but she does eventually take his hand. When she does, she's glad for it - the proximity, just knowing someone - anyone - is nearby is enough to calm her down a bit more.

She says nothing, just waits for him to lead her.]

[inhumanity]

[The terror and the hesitation call to him. And the weight and the feel of that hand...

Something in him is almost caught off-guard, as if he were expecting the hand to be smaller. He thinks he should feel something else (fresh lines where knives dug deep sharp tracks of stitches holding skin together) and he doesn't know why.]

[Careful, he pulls her to her feet. Down the stairs, cautious and steady, not letting go of her hand. He starts to hum. It's soft and gentle, light. A soothing, pleasant tune.]

[beagoodman]

((ooc: Oops, now I'm listening to that song on loop...))

[1012 walking around the hotel, trying find out what could have happened, or what's going on. His senses working as if he'd be in the middle of a fight, but he isn't. Is he...? But then, he hears the slam from the floor he just passed, so he hurries back just to find a girl scared out of her mind.

1012 decided to be wary, but fear doesn't mean you have to ditch everyone else for your own safety.]

Hello? Excuse me, I'm... from the room 1012. I'd like to help, so I'm going to go closer, alright?

[betrayedtwin]

[207 happens to be trying out some of the special functions in his helmet, his eyes watching the little figures and dots moving about in his motion tracker and thermal systems when he spots one dot in particular moving from end of the building to the other suddenly. He might have chocked it up to someone merely screwing around upstairs but...something tells him there's a little more to it. Not one to waste time, he jumps to his feet and runs out into the hallway and up the stairs, his eyes glued on that one dot until he finds the right floor. He's surprised to see a small young woman as the source, but that makes him all the more concerned.]

[He jogs over to her, removing his helmet so he doesn't scare her any more than she seems to be.] Are you okay? Did someone hurt you?

[fallbythesword]

[She's carefully watching their surroundings as she walks alongside him, though her eyes occasionally flick back to their joined hands, for reassurance that he isn't just going to inexplicably disappear. She doesn't know why, but she doesn't want to be alone...

The humming gets her to look up at him.]

What's that song?

[It's like when he told her about a Song of Hope, and how he wished she could hear it, and he took her and they ran Now that she's been here a while, long enough to think about it more for herself, she's growing more and more annoyed at the things she doesn't remember... but she's trying not to focus on that right now.]

[fallbythesword]

((OoC: Yeeeeah it happens. I just put it back on... oops.))

[She looks up at him, still frightened... but he doesn't seem like a threat, and more importantly, he's real. And here. And for some reason, she really doesn't want to be alone right now...

So she nods at him, to answer his question, but she still doesn't say anything yet.]

[fallbythesword]

[She's relieved to see someone coming, even a stranger. It doesn't matter. It means she's not alone, and that's one less thing for her to think about.

But his question, did someone hurt her...? No. Not... not quite. ... She shakes her head once. Twice. ...then she winces, looking away from him and down at the floor. She draws her knees in closer.]

I was going to be trapped in there. In my room, in that... place it's become.

[lamb_of_gold]

Trapped? How odd. I suppose asking for details would be an exercise in futility?

[His tone is light, and hopefully comforting?]