[ Active / Closed ]

[theredchampion]

Who: Red, The girl, Lock
Where: Kitchen
When: Day 005
What: Plot shenanigans
Warnings: Your lives will get both easier and more difficult from here on.

Comments

[allthekeys]

He would not see her arrive. She even made him wait a few moments, taking her time to show herself again.

But when she did come, she seemed to appear from nowhere at all, tiny head tilted slightly to the side as she studied him. It was really only her own curiosity that had spurred her to appear at all.

"Hello, Niall. What do you want to ask me?" Her hands were tucked in front of her, eyes serious as they studied him.

She looked, really, like nothing more than a child watching particularly interesting person in a crowd, a child who hadn't quite yet learned it was quite rude to stare.

[theredchampion]

He's patient, though. Patient enough to wait. When you've lived thousands of years, what's in a few minutes or hours more? And when she does appear, he meets her serious eyes with his own blank gaze.

"I've had a deal broken by another. A very sad thing, I'm sure you'll agree."

[allthekeys]

She frowned, a real expression to demonstrate the depth of her displeasure and tilted her head to the other side. "Who broke a deal, Niall?"

[theredchampion]

A lady after his own heart. He holds her gaze steady, processing her reaction.

"The child Lock. We played a game, but I'm afraid he cheated. Said he'd give me as much truth as I gave him, but seems he had a mind to leave when the questions did not suit him. Foul play if I ever saw it."

[allthekeys]

"Lock?" Her brow furrowed briefly, as she seemed to try to place the name. "Who is-oh." She scowled, turning her head sharply towards the doorway. "Come."

Lock looked a little worse for wear than the last time Niall had seen him, stumbling through the door and taking a moment to right himself, glaring at the girl with an expression that highlighted how much he didn't want to be here at all. A fresh bandage was wrapped loosely around his head, the far side spotted with fresh blood. He looked tired, and stressed, and like he might be in pain, but his scowl never shifted. "What?"

"You broke your deal."

Something like alarm flickered over the boy's face before he controlled it, smoothing his features as best he could. "No I didn't."

"You owe him five."

Lock tossed Niall a look, slow and withering. "He used them up."

"You owe him. You will keep your deal."

[theredchampion]

Niall tilts his head in mock-sympathy, blows smoke as he watches the two.

"I'm afraid our dear lady is right. You rather outnumbered me in your questioning, and most find it rude when a person leaves that abruptly. After I was so honest with you 'tis a grand shame you could not find it in your heart to stay true to the rules."

He glances up at the girl, gives her a darkly amused smile.

"And thank you, miss, for enforcing your own. 'Tis the mark of good hostess when she cares for her guests so."

[allthekeys]

She frowned. "How can I expect you to keep the rules if I don't?"

"He used them all!" Lock scowled, fists tight at his side.

"Five. And if you leave again in his debt, you'll owe him another one, and he'll gain one from me. The rules," She paused, considering the boy for a moment before continuing, placing odd weight on the word as she spoke. "Lock. The ones that you agreed to." There was an air of finality to her words, enough that Lock's shoulders slumped and his head dropped a little.

"Fine. Five questions."

She nodded, frowning briefly at Niall. "He's mine. Remember."

[theredchampion]

He nods back in acceptance, a simple gesture of understanding.

"Good terms, miss."

And he holds up a hand. Five questions, five fingers.

"How many rooms does this house have?"

So much of it is closed out or changing itself, space not making sense. It seems as good a question as any.

[allthekeys]

Lock scowled, glaring at the girl until she faded from view, and then once again at Niall. "Numbers? Somewhere between one and a million, it takes more on as time goes by and even I don't know how many there really are. Hard to count when you're running for your life-isn't-" He scowled more, seeming to realize his mistake. "Not a question."

[theredchampion]

"Good catch, and I'd wager it is."

An interesting answer, too. Good to know the truth of the matter. These things are easier faced when you have a better feel for your location. Niall smiles in a predatory way, bends one finger. Four.

"What is the most interesting room in this house?"

[allthekeys]

Lock scowled, staring at him darkly, knowning how close he'd come to adding another number to his debt.

"You'll have to clarify that question, my most intresting room won't be very intresting at all to you." His face pinched, ignoring the automatic impulse to make the words a question. "Because the room I found the most fun is the one that doesn't have gravity, and it's not very useful to anyone but me."

[theredchampion]

Interesting. This place has a powerful and complex magic about it. Niall tilts his head curiously, lowers another finger -- counting clarification as another question.

"Then to use your own words, what room in this house would be most useful to the rest of us?"

[allthekeys]

"One of the communication rooms." He frowned, glancing at the door that had so recently appeared in the wall of the kitchen. "Something that would help you keep track of each other, I guess."

[theredchampion]

A communication room of sorts, he says? Niall frowns a little, considering this for a moment -- weighing the benefits against the losses. It certainly would help exploration if they were able to keep track of each other, but at the same time being able to call for help more easily might lessen the intimidation of such a place. He debates a moment more, lowering a finger again to keep count. Two questions left, then -- and at the very least perhaps he's found a way to occupy himself.

"Where is the nearest communication room, then?"

[allthekeys]

"Up near the greenhouse and the hot room with the plants." He kept his eyes on Niall, lips pressed into a thin line.

[theredchampion]

He tilts his head, pockets his hand as he comes to his last question and studies Lock thoughtfully.

"And could you take me to it? It'd certainly keep me out of your way, and out of trouble."