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[hollowly]

[he'd been thinking of home.

and what he means by that is that he'd been thinking of the house his mother had died in. there have been so many things on his mind as he and his brother go through the motions of preparing for what he's about to do – for them, he keeps telling himself – and he can't help that that is one of them. he can't help but to think of the mother he'd never known, when seeing her ghost had been the only real time he'd ever been able to lock in an image of her face.

funny, the things you think about when you think you're about to die.

when he'd found himself in the mansion, it had taken him a moment to realize the change in his surroundings. that dean wasn't rambling in the background about nothing at all while he cleaned his pistol, that bobby wasn't sitting quietly off in a corner watching them both like he so very often did – even castiel's presence is absent, and it has something very unsettling curling in the pit of his stomach.

sam swallows around the sudden dryness in his throat, it's too .. quiet. and though he doesn't feel like he's in any immediate danger, growing up with a hunter as a father has taught him to always be aware. always be on-guard. never let 'em get the upper hand, sammy, he'd always say.

there's something about thinking of how comforting it would be to have him here right now that has something else curling up in his stomach, something unpleasant and cold, and when he starts walking around the mansion, it's simply to take his mind off of the things that he can't change.

make the best of the situation, right? scope things out, figure out your options .. that's what he needs to do. and that's what he's going to do. he lifts his head, peering around the giant room he's in, breathing a soft sigh and marveling at how much such a small sound echoes all around him.]

Hello? Anybody .. anybody here?

Comments

[tricksterofthelord]

Wow, look what the wind pick'd up; Sam 'Messed-up' Winchester.

[Gabriel might appear happy and merry, but he's just over some serious Halloween-fest, he needs distraction and Sam, you're just in time. He's smirking around a lollipop as he slowly walks closer.]

How d'ya find your way here?

[hollowly]

[.. so this is about one of the last people he'd have expected to see.

because .. um. he's dead.

not that sam doesn't have plenty of experience dealing with the recently deceased suddenly not being deceased, but .. still.

have a blink, or two, and a slightly slack-jawed expression.] .. Gabriel?

[tricksterofthelord]

[Well that makes Gabriel stop for a second. He's overly curious how on Earth this stupid boy knows his name. The Winchesters still supposed to think he's a Trickster, going after him with stakes and toys and stuff... Different timelines, huh. Then this is problematic, he already has problems hiding his angel side anyway.]

That's not really an answer to my question, bro. [Smirk.] Ya mess'd up your research pretty bad, don't you think? Here, let me help [Points at the other.] Sammy Boo-hoo Winchester [Points back at himself.] the Trickster. Hmm? Rings a bell?

[hollowly]

[and here, sam is just going to lineface at him. because he knows exactly who this is, exactly what he's done - even if .. well, he's kind of helped them in his own way, despite how he decides to go about it - but there's still the matter of having seen him dead at the hands of lucifer himself.

.. he really doesn't want to remember that evening. he has enough problems.

he folds his arms over his chest, brows furrowing.] You haven't been just the Trickster for a while. Doesn't that whole ordeal with Baldur and Kali ring a bell? [hello, confused winchester here.]

[darkercalling]

[Riku doesn't usually come to the mansion - reminds him of somewhere he'd rather not think about. Still, here he is. Because he needs to find his friends after all of this... mess that everyone's been put through, and someone might have come here.

He wasn't expecting a stranger, though. ]

Yeah. I'm here. [Riku stops in the doorway, leans one shoulder against it.] Lost?

[Hopefully the blindfold and the long, black, hooded coat don't make him look too suspicious. ... ... Hah. Yeah right. He gave up on that a long time ago.]

[hollowly]

[he's pretty much expecting any and everything unfamiliar - but when that hooded figure shows up, he can't help but to be instantly on-guard.

because that's just .. odd, all right?

and yeah, a little bit suspicious. but .. he'll try not to be judgmental. that's dean's job, and as far as he knows, he isn't here.] I .. guess you could say that. Yeah.

.. Who're you?

[darkercalling]

[Well, he'd probably go without the coat if he could, but there's a particular blonde-haired kid around here in a similar coat that he needs to continue to troll dodge. So yeah. He's got his reasons.]

I'm Riku. [He steps away from the door frame and moves a pace or two forward.] You're new to the Plane, aren't you?

[hollowly]

[everybody's got their reasons, whatever they end up being. lord knows sam has his own for certain things - things that he isn't entirely comfortable putting a voice to - so he's not going to be the one to point fingers, here.

again. dean's job.

but at least he has a name, and that's enough to go on for now. he can see about getting more information out of him later ..] Ah, yeah, actually .. how'd you guess?

[tiny, sheepish smile, get.]

[lamb_of_gold]

There are many people here. You just need to look.

[Why is Mu in the mansion? NOBODY KNO--okay that's a lie he's avoiding someone. Sam doesn't need to know that though.]

[hollowly]

[well what he doesn't know won't hurt him. even though he would be curious as to why this guy is avoiding someone.

none of his business.] Oh, well .. I guess I'd better start looking, huh?

[yep. this is .. this is sam winchester.]

[lamb_of_gold]

It will not be a challenging search, but this is not an often populated building, I'm afraid.

[hollowly]

.. So you're saying I should go out there - [he's pointing to the front door of the mansion, toward the unknown.] I don't even know what's out there.

[uncomfortable? yeah.]

[blackstarsenal]

[ Shyly, and still slightly shaken from the events of the past week, Tsubaki calls for the attention of the very tall man. ]

Yes-- and, well there are many others.

[hollowly]

[sam looks at her for a moment, and his immediate instinct says that he needs to ask her if she needs any help.

though it doesn't appear that he's in any position to provide any.] .. How many?

[so we're going with an obscure question instead.]

[blackstarsenal]

[ Tsubaki pauses, thinking of the number of people that had occupied the bath house in the past week -- ]

I figure there to be 40 people, more or less.

[hollowly]

[for some reason, that's more than he'd expected. but then again, he isn't quite sure what to expect from this place just yet.]

Did they all just .. appear here? Sorry to keep asking questions, but it's .. kind of what I do.

[sheepish grin? yep.]

[bornofwisdom]

( not that she's the most extroverted person when meting new people in the first place, but she's especially more quiet with everything that had taken place over the past week. so it goes without saying that for some time, annabeth is ignoring the boy's presence while she examines things within the mansion for herself, being that she's still relatively new to this place herself.

when he calls for someone though, she raises her brows and turning her head, drinks in the form of the older boy. cautiously, because things have been strange lately, she moves to approach him )

Loads of people are here, maybe not right here — but, you know. ( she shrugged lightly )

[hollowly]

[well .. you don't really have to be extroverted to find it easy to talk to him. he's the kind of guy that attracts conversation; he always has a friendly smile, and he doesn't feel the need to fill any silence with mindless chatter.

(unlike some people, bot those people aren't here and don't matter.)

he misses her completely until she actually opens her mouth to say something - and when he finally does see her, he quirks a brow, tilting his head faintly to the side.] Yeah, well .. I figured they wouldn't all be right here. [have a laugh, a nervous sort of thing, and a shrug.]

You've seen them, then? I'm not crazy and think I'm all alone in this giant, creepy mansion?

[bornofwisdom]

( she couldn't help but smile faintly at the nervous laugh and even the tilt of his head was mildly amusing. straightening herself up, annabeth set her palms to the small of her back and shrugged her shoulders to the stranger once more )

Not unless I'm some figment of your imagination, which I'm not. ( she gave a smile, tilting her head very slightly herself ) Except, I guess thats something a figment might say to make you think otherwise.

( with another careless shrug she disregarded what she had just said ) Anyway, I'm not pretend or imaginary and neither are the other people here. Actually there are loads of people around usually, maybe you just arrived here on an off day for them.

[hollowly]

[he can't help but to feel a little awkward, even given the circumstances - because how often do you find yourself in an empty mansion, in a place you've never been before, contemplating the existence of the person in front of you?

.. okay, well. given where he's come from, some of that doesn't sound so unfathomable. but .. he doesn't have to tell her that.] That's exactly what a figment of my imagination would say - but I'll have to take you at your word. [he tries for a smile again, and this time, it comes a little easier.] Since you're real, what's your name?

[ex_oneiromancer912]

[FINE SAM GETS A MAGICAL QUEEN]

I am. Are you a newcomer?

[hollowly]

[GOOD THAT'S ALL HE WANTS OUT OF LIFE.]

You could say that, yeah.

[ex_oneiromancer912]

[she has reassuring smiles and she is less stabby now that she remembers who she is]

You're taking it well. You haven't read the brochures?

[halfblinded]

Occasionally. [Here is a smiling man with a monocle! He's standing calmly with his hands in his pockets. What appears to be a small white dragon is curled around his shoulders, tiny crested head raised and watching Sam curiously.]

[hollowly]

[hello, smiling man with a monocle. have sam regarding that dragon curled around your shoulders a bit warily, even if it doesn't come with much surprise.

because nothing really surprises him anymore.] Well, if it's just occasionally, I seem to have lucked out.