Night 57: Main Hallway, 1-East

[antiheroed]

[ from here]As far as Riku knew-which wasn't a reliable piece of information in the least-this was approaching new territory for him. It was the first time he tempted fate by going somewhere without one of his friends since he first woke up in this place. If it wasn't Sora or Kairi that was there with him, it was Naminé; to some degree, each one had

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[unit67]

[from here]

There was a door at the end of this hallway, which may very well lead outside, but then again, other hallways branched off to present multiple possibilities. Lily didn't know how long their night time freedom lasted; it seemed to end so suddenly last night, and she didn't want to wake in her room without smelling crisp air (though, she thought, it would be nice to see that Rose was safe, if she was safe...please be safe).

She hesitated, taking in all of her surroundings. Sharpened senses picked up voices from nearby areas, but Lily couldn't make out the words. She was freshly homesick, feeling small in such a large space, and the dark voice murmured at the edge of her awareness. If Heine or Giovanni were here, she wouldn't feel so confused. She'd have someone to show her the way, or at least share her nervousness.

Lily bit her lip, lost in thought.

[predictator]

[From here]

It wasn't until Izaya spotted someone hesitating in the middle of the hallway that he slowly his bouncy gait and stopped humming.

From what he could make out as he approached, the person was a young, blonde, and female-the question, though, was why had she stopped? Was she waiting on someone? Was she simply trying to decide where to go from here? This end of the hall didn't look like it had many options left: there was a door which Izaya guessed must have led to the medical wing, and stairs going to the second floor, but there were only a couple of hallways branching off from here (one of which, if he remembered correctly, had been the way to Venkman's office).

"It's best to keep moving," Izaya called out to her, "or some monster may come gobble you up since you're alone."

[unit67]

Deep in thought, Lily hadn't noticed the sound of footsteps approaching. The sudden voice startled her and she gave a small squeak, spinning to face the new arrival while she tried to subdue the adrenaline of surprise. "I..." she began, but the rest of the sentence didn't come. It took a few seconds to quell the emotions that came with an unexpected yet non-aggressive arrival, and despite a day and a night in this place, she still struggled with the concept of 'stranger

[predictator]

Izaya's steps continued to slow until he finally stopped, noting the girl's reaction with pleasure. He was sure he'd heard her give a squeak before she'd faced him, but now that he was able to get a better look at her, she didn't seem like someone who was particularly frightened-either by him or by what he'd suggested.

And then she'd tried to reassure him, and that piqued Izaya's curiosity. She was 'used to' monsters? What kind of place had she come from to be used to monsters-assuming, of course, that she meant the literal kind of monster and not the... figurative kind.

Izaya's lips curled to return the smile. "Ah, is that so?" he asked. While the question was little more than a pleasantry, it was one he wouldn't mind haven't an answer to, either, be it an explanation or merely confirmation. "Even so, I'd hate to leave a young girl all by herself at this time of night. You weren't waiting on someone, were you?"

If she was, he'd leave her alone... after a certain amount of observation first.

[unit67]

"They took Rose," she said, a worried frown deepening. Without knowing where they'd gone, there was nothing Lily could do to help. "She's my roommate. They took her for some kind of mission." Despite only knowing the girl for twenty four hours, Lily grew attached quickly, and though she knew there were worse things that could have happened to Rose (the brainwashing they'd discussed, for example), she couldn't help being nervous for her friend. "So she's not here. I was going to go outside." There was something wistful in her tone now, as if the word 'outside' held a deeper meaning for her than it might for others.

As for the half-question about monsters, Lily shifted her weight anxiously and looked to the side, eyes unfocused. There was nothing to say: she saw monsters, she killed monsters, but she wasn't a monster...was she? And if she was, she didn't want this boy to know. She didn't want anyone to know.

"I'm okay," Lily reassured, giving another small smile. "You don't have to worry about me. But what about you?"

[predictator]

When the girl said that her roommate had been taken, Izaya's first thought had been for experiments-only then the girl said it was for a mission. He hadn't heard anything like that before-perhaps it was a new codeword that he simply hadn't seen in use on the bulletin board? Or maybe it was something new, a piece of information that was only surfacing now for the first time? Either could be interesting, but he hoped for the latter.

But either way, he also didn't know where she might have been taken. There were all sorts of suggestions he could make about what her friend being taken meant for her, but... No; unless he was sure of what the 'mission' actually referred to, it wouldn't do to spread rumors about it. Yet.

"I'm not sure how to get outside from here, but I was just going to the medical wing," Izaya answered. Ah... Well, maybe one rumor would be fine. "You heard what was said on the intercom, right? Maybe your friend's mission has to do with the experiment in the infirmary."