(Untitled)

[triggered_it]

WHO: Adrian, Dorian, Slade, eventually Hayley, maybe, and anyone else who wants to join comment here.
WHAT: Wandering around in the basement of the House on Haunted Hill. Looking for Wardens. Getting traumatized. That sort of thing.
WHERE: PORT.
WHEN: Sunday.
WARNINGS: Spookinesssss.

Comments

[victimofnoone]

"Adrian!"

Hayley caught sight of her friend headed upstairs, recognizing the look in his eyes as something she had worn when she had first discovered that Harvey Dent had left the Barge of his own volition. Immediately, she stopped her warden with a hand tugging on his arm. It seemed unnecessary to explain to Ned why they had stopped given that she had just shouted the other man's name, but she felt the need to elaborate before scampering off. "Just, give me a second, please? Stay in line of sight, though, so nothing happens."

Despite Ned being older and in the position of power in the relationship between the two, Hayley had started taking charge primarily because the older man was tormented by the things he had endured in his limited time in the cells. The girl had learned to deal with a lot. The ghosts taking the forms of Aaron and Jeff had only served to agitate her; it wasn't until the corpse of Donna Mauer was asking her why she hadn't discovered the truth that she had even considered feeling anything other than rage. Even that one she had been content to ignore after a minute, despite that the guilt would continue to gnaw at her thoughts for days to come. After all, she might have found justice for Donna, but she had never learned for certain which of the men had raped and killer her friend.

Hayley cast one last glance at Ned before rushing forward to the other inmate, setting a hand on his forearm. Though she wasn't often fond of touching, even less so with the man she found herself continually disappointed with, the girl knew that the solemnity that plagued his expression could only mean something of the worst nature. There seemed no reason to waste time. "What's wrong?"

[triggered_it]

He actually recoiled at the sound of his name, even recognizing Hayley's voice. He couldn't help it. He didn't want to stay and talk about his problems right now.

"Nothing," he responded, quickly and not very convincingly. He wasn't particularly trying to act anymore. "I know where Martha is," he added in agitation. "She's upstairs as Evelyn Price. I'm not saving her. I don't believe the Admiral when he says that we'll be stranded here forever." He was rambling now.

"I found her warden item." He held up the superphone, laughed slightly, and then let it drop to the floor, not bothering to pick it up.

"I can only hope it is true, at least in my case, though perhaps not in Martha's." He meant the Admiral's statements, though what he was doing talking about the Admiral, he hardly had any idea by now. His expression darkened. Yes, he probably should ask her if everything went well, if she had seen anything, but he felt like being self-centered, for once. He was tired of pretending to be someone kind, and interested, and concerned.

"I'm going upstairs now," he finally declared, as if making some bold statement of defiance.

[victimofnoone]

Hayley could tell something was indeed very much not alright with Adrian, though she couldn't begin to pinpoint what it was at this particular moment, where the man wouldn't talk to her and there was no sign of anything which might have caused his mood. In fact, there was no sign of anything outside of Adrian himself and it suddenly occurred to her that that should not be how it was. The girl quickly jumped up two steps, careful not to step on Martha's item, to stand in front of him, standing as an obstacle in his way despite that she couldn't do much to fight him if he truly desired to be rid of her.

"Where's Dorian?" There was a dangerous edge to her tone that belied the image of the innocent girl she often projected. It was in response to his own change, not to threaten him, but as a mechanism of keeping them on even ground. Hayley looked down on him as if she had some power, despite a lack of justification for the attitude. "Tell me what's going on."

[triggered_it]

"He shot himself," Adrian replied, annoyed. "We both saw ghosts pretending to be people we know."

That's all it was. He hadn't really spoken to Jon or the Comedian. They had gotten inside his mind, taken the forms that would agitate him most, and he had reacted exactly how they had intended. He was still playing their game, but it was better and more satisfying than continuing to play a dishonest facade of kindness and patience.

He didn't want to be here, on the barge; he wanted to go home and see for himself what had happened. Jon had been right. People were so immeasurably stupid. It was entirely possible, given physics, given some aspect of physics, that the world's destruction already had been set in motion long before he was even born, long before Alexander, even: Laplace's demon back with a vengeance. He had given everything: his intelligence, his perfect, flawless mind, and for what? For those simians to nuke themselves, anyway? Was it possible, that even had an investigation occurred, they would still be so fucking stupid and blind?

Yes, it was entirely possible.

"Hayley, bring your warden upstairs with me. It's not safe to stay down here. We can talk there."

If Hayley wanted to see how he really was, he would show her.

[victimofnoone]

Hayley was intelligent enough to understand the more subtle implications of what he was saying. She held up a finger to ask him to wait one second for her, then quickly dipped the couple stairs back beneath him to bend down and pick up Martha's item, as well as to gesture to her warden in order to call him forward toward them. Her arm movement was swift, suggesting the urgency of the matter and, as she slid Martha's item into her pocket, she called out to Ned as he neared them. "Hey, we're going upstairs for a minute or two. Just.. go with it, please."

Indeed, she had told Adrian that she wanted to see what he was like and now, when he seemed most in need, was no exception. Despite his curt and cold execution of statements, his suggestion still belied that there was a caring within him that he might not have even recognized as existing. As the three moved up the stairs, Hayley beside Adrian and continually glancing back at Ned, she spoke softly. For now, she was trying to let Adrian decide when he wanted to speak and to share what had happened; if he went too long without a word, then she might force the conversation.