Nightshift 35: West Wing, South Hall 1-A

[31st_of_china]

[Coming from here]

So they still had to deal with one of the brainwashed patients tonight; the rest were being carted off for experimentation. Something had changed in the routine. There'd been a pattern earlier, one night to those "trials", the others for the brain-washed patients. But tonight was different for some reason.

So what made it

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[notmyfather]

( from here)

Moving into the larger hallway, Valyn paused to make sure the coast was clear. The dim mage light hovering over his shoulder cast enough light to easily see by - he had a cat's excellent night vision - and so far it looked as though the hall was nearly empty....

[wildunderstress]

[from here]

The light caught Jamie's eye - it appeared to be more or less hovering mid-air, coming from no visible source as it highlighted the contours of a human shape just below and in front of it. Jamie was intrigued, but curiosity would have to take a backseat in their current situation; he and Tokito needed to find someone to help them find a way out of here, and everyone else in the hallway seemed intent on one activity or another. Cautiously, Jamie approached the man.

"...hello?" he called, a little tentatively.

[wild_right_hand]

Okay, now that was kinda freaky. Was that light attached to anything? How was it floating like that? The whole thing made Tokito nervous and wary--more so than usual even--so he stayed back a bit as Jamie approached the other man. Not far enough back that he couldn't hear their conversation, but far enough to see an attack coming. Geez, the kid was so incautious, Tokito wondered if he'd ever been in danger before.

[notmyfather]

Valyn turned his head, looking towards the person who had approached him. Unfamiliar, as was the man hanging back. Either they were new, or Valyn really hadn't been paying much attention to the people around him lately. Both were valid.

"Hello?" he asked, polite and friendly, though slightly reserved as was his nature. "Can I help you?"

[wildunderstress]

"Wul - I hope so," Jamie replied, pausing a safe distance from the man. He glanced briefly back at the little ball of light hovering complacently near the man's shoulder. How was it doing that, anyway? Pushing the thought aside, he returned his attention to the matter at hand. "You, uh...wouldn't happen to know a way out of here, would you?" It sounded stupid, even to Jamie's ears - if the guy knew a way out, he probably wouldn't just be loitering around in the hallway - but at least it opened up the topic for discussion, right?

[wild_right_hand]

Was Jamie really still expecting someone to just point the way and say, sure, there's the door. See ya! Tokito rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest defensively. He needed one of those I'm With Stupid shirts or something. "... Weapons would be good. Something to give me a little reach. Baseball bat, or something."

[notmyfather]

Ah. New.

Valyn shook his head. "I know where the front door is," he said, honestly, "but it's as dangerous outside as it is in, and no matter where you go, you'll wake up here in the morning." He shifted where he stood, resting his hand on the dagger at his hip.

"As for weapons, it's difficult to stumble across those. A handful of people are capable of making them, but it takes a while as they have quite a number of requests. A few of the rooms upstairs have things that can be used as weapons, if you don't mind making do." He frowned some, realizing these were two new prisoners, unarmed and most likely unprepared.

"I can take you upstairs..." he offered.

[wildunderstress]

Well, the first bit didn't sound very encouraging - it sounded like they'd just be risking their safety for nothing, in the long run. (If what the man said was all true, though, it did explain why Jamie had no recollection of returning to his room after wandering the halls last night.)

Still, at some point they'd have to end up somewhere normal, where they wouldn't be under the control of the institute's staff, or whatever it was making all the weird stuff happen. Even if they were inevitably going to end up back where they'd started after tonight, at least they had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the building a little more and hopefully expedite any future travelling they'd have to do to ultimately get out of here.

And knowing where they could find some kind of weaponry, even makeshift weapons, would probably help in that endeavor, too. "Sure, that'd be good," Jamie said in response to the man's offer to take them upstairs. He glanced back at Tokito. "What do you think? 's that okay?"

[wild_right_hand]

Tokito tensed as soon as the guy's hand went to his weapon, but when he didn't actually draw it Tokito let himself relax just a tiny bit. Fuck, but this place made him nervy. "... Yeah, sure. Upstairs sounds good. I just want something heavy to hit things with." He wasn't any good with blades anyway, except when it came to cooking.

[notmyfather]

Valyn smiled, though the expression never seemed to touch his eyes.

"We can find you something to hit things with," he responded. He hadn't expected to be playing body guard again tonight, but he supposed there was no harm in it.

"I'm Valyn," he finally said, offering the simplest of names to save time.

[wildunderstress]

"Jamie Hemeros. Nice to meet you." There it was again, that reflexive formality. Well, at least he could hope he wouldn't have reason to regret meeting Valyn.

[wild_right_hand]

Tokito just plain didn't smile--not much was making him feel like smiling, in this place. Meals were nice, but that was about it. But he uncrossed his arms and tried to look a little less agressively antisocial, at least. "Tokito. You should probably lead the way. We can keep Jamie in the middle, he can't fight."

[notmyfather]

"Nice to meet you both as well," Valyn responded, nodding. He glanced up and down the hall, as though getting his bearings. Which stairs were they closest too? The ones off of the patient barracks would work.

"Of course." Valyn raked his hair out of his face and tucked it behind his pointed ears before nodding towards the direction of the stairwell. "The nearest stairs are this way."

[wildunderstress]

Despite his earlier thoughts on the subject, Jamie couldn't help but feel just a little embarrassed at Tokito's comment and the implication it carried. Pushing the feeling aside, he obediently followed Valyn toward the stairs, glancing at the man as they went. Jamie thought he noticed something a little odd about Valyn's ears...then again, maybe it was just a trick of the light.

Speaking of which, the little light-ball thing was still following Valyn, and it did indeed seem to be floating freely, unattached to anything Jamie could see. He couldn't help but stare at it as they walked. "Um. So what's up with this...floating light thing?"

[wild_right_hand]

Tokito definitely noticed Valyn's ears, but he figured that he was in no position to be asking nosy questions about another person's physical... differences. If he asked about Valyn's ears, Valyn might feel free to ask why Tokito wore a glove on his right hand, and that was not a question Tokito wanted to have to answer. Maybe he should think up a plausible lie about that... but he wasn't any good at lying, and there was no one he could trust to ask. Kubo-chan would have been able to come up with something good easily.

Falling into place behind Jamie, Tokito grunted softly when the other boy asked about the light. Well, better Jamie than him, anyway, and at least he hadn't asked about the ears. Still, just to be safe Tokito shoved his right hand into his pocket, keeping it and the glove concealed.

[notmyfather]

"Hmm?" Valyn glanced over his shoulder. "Oh, it's a mage light. I've set it to follow me - it's easier than trying to use those torches from the rooms," he explained. "It lets me keep my hands free, and I don't need to worry about a power source."

And it was the way for the others to find him, if they needed to.

( to here)