Nightshift 33 - Main Hallway 1-Center

[broken_exorcist]

[[from here]]

The hall was empty when he arrived, which was something of a relief.  Last night the hall had gotten fairly crowded with people coming and going and even people trying to keep others out of the Sun Room.  He knew there'd been some kind of fight going on in there, so maybe it'd been for the best to involve as few as possible.  For now,

Comments

[blood_and_pocky]

[from here]

The vampire rounded the corner, heading for their designated meeting place with a kind of nonchalance in his step. However, Aidou was anything but incautious, even when there was clearly no signs of life down either end of the hallway (night-blind weaklings didn't count). That didn't seem to count for much, though. Creatures just seemed to come out of nowhere.

But that wasn't the case, because fault was on the person for not paying closer attention. For someone that was wholly comfortable in the darkness, being caught off guard was even more shameful.

He stopped in front of the entry room as planned, switching the bat to his right hand and twirling it like a baton once, twice... All the while focusing his senses, waiting for any kind of movement.

[arrogantflame]

[From here]

Now Wolfram was certain that he was headed in the right direction, seeing as how this was the first of the wider hallways. So turning to the right would take him in the right direction...

Only seeing as how it was one of the larger halls, he also wasn't the first to make it there. He slowed down a little, concentrated on any sounds other than himself. Not detecting anything threatening for the moment, he continued on until he was almost at the end of the corridor where they would have to turn one way or the other.

Scanning briefly with the flashlight, he caught sight of a shoe, raising the beam upward following what looked to be white pants and a darker shirt until he got to not quite face level. He dropped the beam again, taking a few steps closer.

"Aidou?"

[blood_and_pocky]

He noticed Wolfram right off the bat (no pun intended), and waited for the kid to get a little closer before he said anything. He wasn't exactly familiar with having to wave someone down in the dark, considering.

"It's me," he affirmed, wrinkling his nose and turning his head to the side in preparation for getting a beam of light in his face. It was a pleasant surprise when he didn't. Finally, someone with a little bit of manners. Blinding a vampire, even when one didn't know it was a vampire? Never a good thing.

And timely, too, which was appreciated.

Holding the end of the bat out, he said, "Here, take this."

[arrogantflame]

Wolfram raised an eyebrow as he took the offered object, then stared down in surprise. "Isn't this one of those things that they use in baseball?"

He'd definitely seen Yuuri with one from time to time, and the players on the wall posters in his fiance's room had been holding them. He stared down at the block of wood blankly for a long moment, fighting off the urge to be emotional about it. There wasn't time for any of that now.

Besides.... he couldn't have asked for anything more perfect until Roy could get his blade done. It was far better than using high heeled shoes, and if they'd had this last night, that spider would have been toast, he was certain.

"Where did you get this?" The question was emotionless, except for perhaps maybe a little surprise. "I spent all last night trying to find something, and there wasn't anything half as useful."

[blood_and_pocky]

"... Yeah. A baseball bat." He'd forgotten how potentially annoying this could be if he had to explain every human thing Wolfram encountered. How could anyone not know these things? The whole 'other world' concept never failed to give him a headache, however figurative. And the way Wolfram reacted to certain things, that was also weird.

Aidou continued to ignore the other body in the hall, dipping his voice so that only Wolfram would overhear. "It's nothing big. When the first person who shared my cell disappeared, it was left behind. You could probably get a dozen more just like it in that storage shed on the soccer field; it's part of the sports equipment."

[arrogantflame]

Wolfram leaned against the wall, one hand still gently rubbing up and down the bat's surface with his fingertips. "Oh... I think we were headed out that way last night, but then things... shifted." No time to think about Yuuri now. Focus on tonight.

So did Aidou have a plan for them? Wolfram assumed he knew his way around better in the dark floor plan, but were they headed for any specific destination, or just to wherever they could find? "So what's the next step from here?" he finally asked.

[blood_and_pocky]

Shifted. That was a nice way of putting it

[i_slay_giants]

[From here]

Jack nearly ran into Aidou as he stalked through the night. It had been awhile seen he'd seen the vampire and it took him a moment to recognize him via pointing his flashlight right in his face. "Oh, it's you."

It wasn't a pleasant a surprise as Lust would have been, but he could spare a few moments of chit-chat. He glanced over and noted that Aidou seemed to have an equally blonde companion and debated making a wisecrack about this, but would let Aidou speak first.

[arrogantflame]

"And what happens if the monster doesn't want to let us just run away?"

There was a trap door to get to the basement? Wolfram had been wondering about that... When he and John had gone upstairs, it hadn't looked like there was any alternative to going down instead that he'd came across. But the kitchen should have a really good supply of metal, right? Silverware could be quickly stuffed in his pillowcase, and it would be a great start for his sword if Aidou would let him stop for a few seconds.

But before he could ask, they were interrupted by someone that he hadn't came across before. Apparently he recognized Aidou, though, and with a raised eyebrow at the stranger and his hand tightening his grip on the bat, he waited on saying anything else for now.

[blood_and_pocky]

"Who cares what the--" Aidou's reply was interrupted by the white-hot flare of a flashlight beam being aimed at his face. He barely repressed the growl that wanted to work its way up his throat, reaching up to rub at one eye.

He recognized that voice. The opportunistic human he'd once talked with and helped out. Now, however, wasn't the time to catch up.

In the interest of moving on, getting away from Allen and his personal problems in the process, Aidou regarded Jack and said, "... John." He could've pointed out how he already knew Jack's real name, but figured it was a pointed sign of goodwill. Or something. "We've got business in the basement, so unless you're headed our way, we're going to get going."

The dropped hint was on purpose. Jack was pretty stupid; if he showed signs he knew what Aidou was talking about, there was always the chance of getting him to spill. Either way, they were going to get moving.

[i_slay_giants]

"Basement?" Jack smirked slightly. Aidou's companion made no effort to introduce himself, so Jack didn't bother either. Besides, Aidou had spoken his 'name', which was close enough anyhow. "What's so great about the basement?"

Not that cared, and getting back to his interests, the Fable added, "Have either of you seen Lust this evening? I think we have a date..." Maybe not completely true, but still...

[arrogantflame]

John? Wolfram wrinkled his nose in surprise at the name Aidou used. While it was obviously not the same boy that he knew, perhaps the name was more common than he'd realized.

"What's so great about anywhere in this building?" he muttered, although it was mostly to himself rather than the other two.

He had no idea who would have such a name like Lust though, and simply shook his head. Females were obviously kept in a different part of the building he had yet to see, and with the exception of Shana he had yet to come in contact with any of them.

[blood_and_pocky]

He rolled his eyes at both of them, though the darkness was good for concealing the fact.

"There are trials and rewards in the basement, that's all I know." Taking Wolfram's arm, Aidou pulled him towards the Sun Room doors. "That's why we're going," came the very obvious reminder.

[i_slay_giants]

"Rewards?" Jack interest was piqued. "What kind of rewards are we talkin' here? Weapons? Gold? More keys?"

More keys would have been a frustrating answer, though Jack knew as well as anyone that keys unlocked things that tended to have even better things behind them. While he would have preferred an instant payoff, a couple more keys to the collection could be tolerated...

Then again, this could be a trick. What exactly did Aidou consider to be a reward? He pointed his flashlight at Wolfram, trying to judge the other boy's reaction to Aidou's claim to see if it was worth anything.

[arrogantflame]

This was the first that Wolfram had heard much about the basement. All that he'd seen before now was on the bulletin board, where someone from that "arts and crafts" club had mentioned that there was a lot of interest in the basement. He just had never heard the whys about it before. Although now he understood why Aidou would want to see for themselves, and he was actually quite curious - as long as there wasn't another spider involved.

He frowned at the sudden light, squinting and shutting off his own flashlight in response. He didn't try and pull away from the grip Aidou had on his arm, walking automatically, but despite the stars in his vision turned around to look at the newcomer.

"I guess we'd have to go to find out," he finally decided on saying.

[blood_and_pocky]

More keys?

Aidou squinted through the light, doing his best not to completely flip out like he wanted. This coming from the human who'd once announced that he'd found one... days ago. The keys to the locked doors, that was also something to look into, like the basement. Jack was stupid and selfish, which meant Aidou couldn't write him off. 'Stupid' alone could just mean stupid, but combined with greed, those kinds of humans were the easiest to coerce, weren't they? Later, perhaps, when he had time to properly ask how that'd worked out.

He put his hand on the door. "Weapons, I've heard. Other, less plentiful things that nobody wants to talk about because they're no doubt afraid they'll get stolen. Prizes for things like answering riddles. I don't really know, and we're leaving now. It's a competition."

Maybe Jack could take that information and run around, being a distraction somewhere else. It wasn't like Aidou was headed for the basement just for hint of weaponry or some other useless trinket.