Night 47: Main Hallway, 1-West

[kingdomless]

( from here. )There was the stairwell. Kairi couldn't help but smile to herself as she rounded the corner and spotted the familiar hallway, still shrouded in darkness like she remembered it. She could see down the hallway and slightly into the Sun Room from where she was standing, and she lowered her flashlight, not wanting whatever it was that

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[sdatislife]

[From here.]

Shinji shuffled into the main hallway finally, flicking the beam of his flashlight around. For a moment it chased away the shadows, lifted the vague sense of being closed in on. Then the moment of comfort was past and he was standing alone in a decaying, decrepit hallway. He was surrounded by strangers, alone in a very hostile place. He shuddered and slid against one of the walls to wait and watch for a moment. Maybe someone he knew would come by.

[vbyv]

[from here]Well, look at that. So this place was occupied, after all. Faith scanned the hallway, eyes narrowed. Weirder and weirder, man. Why them, why her, why any of this? There were too many questions. She didn't like it

[sdatislife]

Shinji had been mentally resigning himself to another night spent curled up in one corner of this miserable hallway. He hadn't seen anyone he knew and he didn't particularly feel like striking out on his own. It came as a complete surprise to him that someone would actually notice him and decide he was worthwhile to talk to. He stared at faith for a moment, flabbergasted. He finally came back to himself and stammered out a reply, shrugging his shoulders.

"...I... well... I guess so."

That was about as close to the truth as anything else. This hallway was kind of freaky after all. Not to mention the whole alone and scared thing (although, really, the worst he'd run into was peeling linoleum in his two nights here thus far).

[vbyv]

One eyebrow quirked as she waited for him to find his voice. What was someone like him doing here, anyway? He had to have been planning on going somewhere, otherwise, why leave his room?

But it wasn't her job to read his mind.

"Well." Faith ran a hand through her hair and turned around, eyeing the darkened hallway. "Maybe you can help me, then. Like, say, where we are, for starters."

Please tell me we're still in America. Or, Canada would be okay, too. Just...not too far. She didn't want to find out she'd slipped and fallen into Uganda or something. Or an alternate dimension, that was always possible, too.

Still, she was pretty sure she could rule that out. There was usually swirly, dramatic stuff when a hole in the world opened up and she didn't remember seeing anything swirl.

[sdatislife]

"I can try..."

He rubbed one arm, watching the woman warily. She reminded him a bit of Asuka in some ways and Misato in another. At least she wasn't insulting him. He shrugged, face twisting into a downcast frown.

"I... I don't know where we are. The staff calls it Landel's Institute. They... they think we're... sick. Mentally."

He gave another awkward shrug. He knew he wasn't. Or he thought he wasn't. Either way, he didn't particularly like the place.

"...sorry."

[vbyv]

Wait. A nuthouse? Really?

Okay, that was a twist she hadn't seen coming. Seriously, what? What did it even mean? She obviously wasn't crazy, but did the kid belong here? He didn't seem eager to leave despite how on edge he was, so who knew, though on the other hand, what kind of security conduct was this when the doors unlocked and there wasn't a single guard or nurse walking the halls?

Sense. She needed something to make sense. And she didn't like standing around like this. Talk about sitting ducks.

"Fantastic," she said under her breath. She glanced back at him. Was he nervous because he was in a creepy home for whack jobs or because of her? Either way, as much as it'd be more efficient if she just grilled him for what she needed and continued on her own, she...didn't want to leave him behind. She knew she shouldn't. That'd be kind of a dick move.

"I'm not gonna bite. C'mon, what's your name?"

[sdatislife]

Shinji was nervous because of all the above. He didn't know her, he didn't like being here and he was sure that something bad was going to happen. He still wondered about the nurses and the empty halls, the unlocked doors, but it was a distant thought. More immediate was the distinct feeling that the walls were going to swallow him up. He glanced up at her nervously again. She seemed decent enough, but at the same time, he wasn't sure he wanted to meet anyone else. It seemed sort of futile. He didn't want to be impolite though.

After a moment of thought, he bowed his head slightly in her direction, voice soft, "...I'm... Shinji. Shinji Ikari."

[vbyv]

Shinji. She could roll with that.

"I'm Faith," she replied, a little absently as she gave the hallway another once-over. Even for her, this was a bizarre situation. The danger was usually more immediate, y'know? Vampire hiding behind that dumpster, the sun being blotted out. Giant horned devil-beast made out of solid rock that flattened her ass. That kind of stuff.

"Shinji, yeah?" She studied him, expression softening. "How'd you wind up in a place like this, anyway?"

If they both just woke up here for no reason, then that was somewhere to start. It wouldn't be an isolated incident and therefore wouldn't be about her specifically. Where that line of thought would lead her, though, she didn't know.

[sdatislife]

Shinji was (somewhat) used to the bizarre. Getting swallowed into a Sea of Dirac is rather bizarre in of itself. Not to mention the whole fighting aliens in a giant robot. Or the clone of his dead mother who he might've been crushing on. Actually, come to think of it, his life was pretty weird all around. He offered a small smile as her expression softened - and promptly turned downcast again as she asked how he'd gotten here.

"I... I don't know..." He looked down again, trying not to make eye contact, "...I don't think... I'm supposed to be here. I just kind of... woke up here. It was strange..."

More than strange, really. He'd gone to bed in his apartment back in Tokyo-3 like usual and ended up here.

[vbyv]

All right, definitely scratch the isolated incident option off the list, then. The very short list that was basically made up of two options, that was. Whatever.

"Makes two of us," she said.

Man, this kid was shy, though. More socially awkward than Willow had been when Faith had met her and the Sunnydale crew for the first time, and that was saying something. But she really wasn't gonna think about those days. Long time ago. It didn't mean she wanted to pretend it'd never happened; she'd tried that once already. She just-wasn't gonna dwell on it, was all.

She peered at Shinji. "And you haven't tried getting out or anything?"

Unless he had, and he couldn't, which was partially problematic, but then again, he was just a regular kid. She wasn't about to put escape on the extremely difficult list just yet until she gave it a shot herself.

[sdatislife]

Shinji shook his head in reply, "There's staff during the daytime. And at night..."

He glanced at the decrepit hallway and remembered the feeling of the walls closing in on him. He shuddered slightly and his gaze flickered back to Faith before dropping again. He didn't like staring people in the eyes. "...it gets... weird."

[vbyv]

Staff during the day, crap happening at night. Glamor? Maybe. This wasn't her domain. She left this theory book stuff up to Giles or Wesley or whatever other stuffy British dude the Council decided to send. Formerly stuffy in the case of Wesley, anyway. Talk about people changing.

"I'm good with weird," she replied. "Look, I wanna find a door. You should come 'cause I promise you, playing sitting duck? Never ends well."

And she? She didn't need more blood on her hands. She didn't know what the hell was going on here or what she was even doing, but she did know that the kid would be safer with her. A locked door could only do so much, and that was assuming he'd even stay in his room in the first place if she made him go back.

[sdatislife]

"But...! I...!" He stammered for a moment, staring at her. Find a door? He'd thought about that, but he'dn ever thought it would do any good. He flexed his fingers and then his shoulders slumped. He shrugged, glancing down at the floor. He shouldn't object.

"...OK."

He glanced down the hall, "I... think the entrance is down there somewhere."

[vbyv]

Well, he'd agreed. Couldn't ask for more, right?

Faith flexed her fingers, following his gaze down the hall. If the door was right there, what had stopped him from leaving? Sure, place was kinda creepy, but there had to be more than just it's dark. And where the hell did this staff he'd talked about go at night?

"Down there somewhere it is."

She made off, careful not to leave the kid behind.

[ here]