ménage à porte trois

catscradled:

Astrea had already taken a few glances at Mercury’s and Sol’s wrists, (although she probably could have guessed their numbers based off of their codenames; Mercury was the first planet from the sun (unless she had been basing her codename off of the chemical element?), so having a bracelet number of 1 was sensible enough. Sol, however….did souls have any correlation to the number five?) was able to quickly do the math and calculate their digital root. One plus five, plus six.

3. And they only needed three people to pass through the door, correct? She crosses her arms once more, as if it were her default pose.

Her calculations are interrupted by a familiar voice, and a familiar face to accompany it. If she remembered correctly, his number was eight. It hadn’t been that long ago.

Ignoring his jab about being out of place, Astrea shrugs her shoulders and turns slightly so that Felix is included in their little circle of conversation.

“You are not,” she says, tilting her head slightly at his naming of the other two figures standing closer to Door 3 itself. Cat, Hex….? Were they codenames? Hex seemed obvious enough; the prefix for six. But what could ‘Cat’ have meant? A cat’s nine lives? Or it could have been a nickname, a shortening of a longer name? Maybe ‘Kat’ was the female one?

It was a dead end train of thought, and Felix was already asking about their bracelet numbers. (Adding in an eight and a six…?)

“We have a digital root of three,” Astrea replied, although the second half of her reply is cut off by the arrival of one of the two who had originally been standing by the door. Astrea’s about to raise her voice and say something, but reminds herself that now is neither the time nor place for that and so she holds her tongue, shrugging her shoulders once more.

“The three of us,” she repeats, pointing to Mercury and Sol, “have a digital root of three. But, adding in an eight and….a six?” She pauses, looking at the woman, but not only is one of her eyes concealed, she’s keeping her left hand in her pocket. Was this woman ‘Cat’ or ‘Hex?’ Nonetheless, “…That would give us a digital root of eight. So in other words, this fancy “corpse party” of yours would need a digital root of four.”

Corpse party. She just wants to know how they died. Felix had shown some sort of vague competency with medical terms and concepts, so maybe he was a doctor? All the better.

Sol manages to stay silent throughout their conversation, feeling out of place due to his lack of knowledge on the other three who Dinah had been conversing with. He had figured that he’d leave Dinah to the talking, a surprising course of action to take considering how boisterous and talkative he had a tendency to be. However, in a situation such as this, opening his mouth constantly was most likely not a very good idea.

He listens to them all converse, the tall, aggressive woman, the boyish looking one with unkempt hair, and the older looking, moreso…promiscuous man respond to Astrea. One of them was Hex, one was Cat, and apparently the promiscuous man was Felix. Although, that didn’t exactly sound like an alias or a codename to him, honestly speaking.

“Well, if we’ve got a working digital root, shouldn’t we head off now? It probably isn’t a good idea to wait here.” His statement had been directed towards all of them, and his tone had been a slightly impatient, but also a bit more assertive if anything. He had felt himself becoming more anxious, letting his mind wander to many gruesome possibilities as they all spoke, and had enough of their chit chat.

“Name’s Sol, but now isn’t the time for fancy introductions now is it?” He flashes a a diminutive, jocular grin, a complete contradiction to the behavior displayed not long ago, but it had been an attempt to lighten his previous qualm. This “Corpse Party” wasn’t something he was too thrilled about.

(Source: deadend999)

i should think to tell you the rules of this game.

caughtinflight:

Mercury and her new friend are standing there conversing when she hears her already familiar new nickname being called out to her. Great gargantuan galloping gazelles. Not that she was bothered by it, she just found it particularly amusing. She put her hands on her hips and leaned forward, giving him a look with a raised eyebrow. “Well well well, look who’s come crawling back!” she said, a usual jocular hint in her voice.

She did find it a bit funny, in the humourous way, that she and Sol were ending up in the same place again. It was like their positivity magnetized them to each other. Instead of, you know, the usual positive-negative way that real magnets worked. Anyway, it was getting wacky and fuelled the grin on her face.

Astrea, as she introduced herself, is a bit more somber than the other two are, but she isn’t a downer by any means. Not that Mercury really holds any ill thoughts towards downers. She remains a little oblivious to the adjustment of Astrea’s arms, but she does pay attention to the fact that she herself has insofar just been introduced to this woman as “Carrot-Top”. “Oh, for tangy tangerines’ sakes. Ignore what that kid said. Call me Mercury! Good t’ meet ya!”

It looked like another little Door 3 group had been forming outside of their own triangle. The sediment was settling. The door groups were looking more organized; in fact, one had started going through Door 1 already. This time Mercury glanced at the bracelets around her and ran through the calculations. 

It had been apparent that despite the short time he had been separated from Carrot Top, her playful and strangely optimistic demeanor remained. He felt wary around her to be perfectly honest, how genuine her optimism seemed to be set off his senses. But, as a person, she seemed to be alright at the least.

  “Well well well, look who’s come crawling back!”

“Pfft, please, this just must be some sort of weird, ginger voodoo in the works.” He reciprocates her jocular tone, considering a bit of friendly banter would do well to ease his worries. He also couldn’t deny that the cheeky grin plastered on her face was incredibly hard to not return, and ends up doing so in the process

Ignoring the conversation between the two, he glances at their bracelets, and quickly remembers what their main objective was once again. Entering Door [3]. He nearly wanted to back out, and enter another door at the very last second, however another group catches his sight, making him realize that Door [1] is already occupied, and that his decision was most likely set in stone at this point. Doing otherwise would only cause more trouble, and he couldn’t let, you know, just a little chest-constricting fear shake him too awfully, right? They should most likely get a move on at this rate. Quickly.

 “Astrea. …And, I’m certainly going to try to.”

Their handshake is casual, nothing too prominent. Choppy’s— Whoops, Astrea, apparently hadn’t been as joyous as our beloved Texan. The slightly pout-like frown that spread across her lips was enough to reveal that. He wasn’t sure whether to be relieved to find another person here who actually had a fairly understandable attitude, or to be disappointed. 

“Well, from the looks of it, we’re not the only ones who’ve got our eyes on this ‘prize’” He emphasizes the end of his statement with a tone that was chock full of sarcasm, and had been referencing to another trio he had noticed near the door as well. He could only assume that they were headed in the same direction.

“Shouldn’t we get a move on, then? We still have to sort out our digital roots and whatever to actually get into to the doors, don’t we?” Afterwards, he slightly motions towards the other group, in hopes that the other two would accompany him. He had at least wanted to stick close, not too close though, to those he was more familiar with.

“Let’s get going then in that case, alright?”

(Source: deadend999)

i should think to tell you the rules of this game.

caughtinflight:

It could certainly be said that from the looks of it, Mercury had practically been trying to force Door 3 open with sheer force of will; however, like a puppy her attention is suddenly snapped away by this new arrival. Fully snapped away, and suddenly Mercury’s facing her and giving her attention as though the door that she’d just been staring down doesn’t exist.

“You betcha! I figure we might as well find out what we can from what’s behind here, y’know?” The thought others had of those hanging around Door 3 seeming to be almost sociopathic hadn’t crossed her mind. Since Mercury knew her own truthfulness, she didn’t really grasp the idea that others were suspicious of it.

She was one to jump right into things, perhaps while not always thinking. In fact thinking was something she only tended to really delve into, and visibly, when prompted. So here she was standing straight in front of Door 3 with her usual attitude. They call this “blissful ignorance”.

“So, how about you? Are y’ thinkin’ about it too?” Mercury was clearly interested.

In the midst of his conversation, he couldn’t help but to be shocked by the sudden explanation; he felt his stomach churn, and he nearly broke out in a cold sweat every time the word “die” was audible. He also couldn’t help but to take notice for the first time how feminine the voice was. He glanced at the others for a bit, incredibly suspecting of the fact that the voice on the loudspeaker may have been his fellow kidnapees. 

He assumed that the Japanese had been geared towards Kyo of course, causing him to briefly look at her. There are too many thoughts on his mind, and too many things he’d like to do at the moment, he’s overwhelmed. Instead, all he does is merely click the button on his conspicuous watch, reading the “33” emblazoned on it. Well shit, 33 isn’t much. Urgh, he couldn’t stand this, he felt utterly trapped and always had a hatred towards being ordered around, which unfortunately was the only option available if he truly wanted to survive in this situation. He assumes that it’s time for him to get settled, and he makes his way to Door 3. Ah, isn’t that where Carrot Top said she was heading too?

His legs are weak with anxiety, and his walk over to the area is without speed. He approaches Carrot Top, and what seems to be a person he has yet to meet, as they converse. They bore what he considered to be choppy, dark, average length locks and at the least, had a pleasant fashion sense. 

“Well if isn’t Carrot Top. Nice to see you here again! I apologize if I’m intruding.” He firmly places his hands, giving a warm grin. “I’m taking it that you’re going through here too?” His question is directed towards Choppy, despite them being a stranger, his tone is an amicable one nonetheless. He speculates on what their motives for wanting to enter this Door were, considering it wasn’t a place of rainbows and smiles. Hell, none of this damn airship was, this door just happened to be one of it’s most prominently grotesque areas. He could feel himself becoming faint simply thinking about being completely exposed to what’s was in there, but he had his own personal (and awfully willful) reasons for wanting to head there himself.

“This hellhole is more popular then I expected, that’s for sure.” He lightly chuckles and afterwards, extends his arm and motions the other for a handshake, the usual greeting of course. “Name’s Sol, it’s as pleasurable as it can be in this situation to meet you. And you are?”

(Source: deadend999)

> begin stage_zero; “strobe” [Open to All??]

eternally-snowing:

Her eyebrows raised the moment Sol had suggested that her name was an alias. True, the name she had chosen wasn’t even a name for a person, but it had some sort of effect that made people think it was. Was this man perhaps a mathematician? His wardrobe, however, suggested otherwise…

“ … Alias? Is that what you think…? “ she says in a sort of teasing tone, though, her expression remains the same; emotionless. She raises a hand to her cheek, lightly touching it in thought as the other curtsies in return.

What an odd fellow.

The moment his expression changes, however, she lightly lets out a hum as if to say ‘ah, I see what you’re doing now’.

“ … Yes, teamwork is going to play a key role… In making our escape from this place… “ she begins as she lightly dusts off her dress. “ … Though of course, that’s just my theory… “

She looks back at the taller, ginger haired man with her red eyes and her gaze unwavering.

She seems perplexed due to his assumption, but he’s not exactly sure why. Her tone and lack of comfort were a dead giveaway to the fact that it was an alias, not to mention he’d assumed that everyone had one. He had also recognized the name Mersenne somewhere, where, where, where…

He felt like such a fool. He was ashamed to have studied music for such a large portion of his life and not have even realized this earlier.

Mersenne, the surname of the women who invented musical theory, and she was a mathematician of the like…? He didn’t quite remember her first name, but she was a woman prominent throughout his studies, causing her name to manage to remain in the very back of his mind.

  “ … Alias? Is that what you think…? “

“Hmm? Of course I do. Everyone here goes by a codename, if I’m correct?” He tilts his head a bit, taking notice of her tone. Her facial expression is stone like and stiff, but her tone suggests otherwise, and he can sense a bit of playfulness in it. “Mersenne is a pretty name but it’s also uncommon. Unless whoever named you really liked math or musical theory.” He chuckles, as per usual. 

As he curtsies, she seems to not react very, er, badly to it? She’s stoic, nothing more, nothing less. Although, she seems a bit fazed, or possibly pensive.

What a strange and cryptic person. 

“How did I do? Do I need to pump up the grace or somethin’?” He lifts up the bottom, edges of his blazer once again, and smoothly twirls around on his feet. He faces her once again, a tiny grin plastered on his face and all.

“ … Yes, teamwork is going to play a key role… In making our escape from this place… “

“ … Though of course, that’s just my theory… “

“Yes, probably…I don’t think that whoever our kidnapper is brought us all together without a reason at all.” He swallows, wondering if this was merely a ploy. He could have been speaking to the kidnapper currently, for all he knew. The lack of certainty in this all was most likely what caused him the most amount of stress.

He clenches his fists, and begins to dwell on what may happen to him here. If he would be alright, and more importantly, if his family, acquaintances, the rest of these strangers who may be planning on harming him, would be alright. Even if he didn’t trust them, he still knew that they most likely deserved to live and return to their previous lives as much as he did.

“But I think that we’ll get out of here. It may be hard but…” His gaze is also unwavering, harsh, yet concerned. This honestly, was the most truthful he had been in a long while. “I think we can do it.” We have to be able to do something, for crying out loud. What the hell am I, we, supposed to do if we can’t?

> begin stage_zero; “strobe” [Open to All??]

eternally-snowing:

Penelope’s fashion sense was, to say the least, simple. There was nothing very eye catching about the clothing she wore, and perhaps she wanted it that way. Besides, there were very few colours Penelope had any desire to wear.

She was a bit boring when it came to any sort of creativity.

Regardless of her fashion sense, the albino slowly turns her head to the other male and begins to examine his features. Red hair and a seemingly upbeat demeanor (or at least, more optimistic than some of the others in this place). He reminded Penelope of Mercury and a little bit of Astrea, too, which were, coincidentally, the only people that really grabbed the young woman’s attention thus far in this place.

“ I see, “ she replies with a flat tone, slowly averting her gaze to Sol’s outstretched hand. Right, a handshake. Again, she was awkward with these sorts of things, so she gently grabs the male’s hand and lightly shakes it twice before returning her hand back to her side.

“ … I’m Mersenne… “ she introduces herself without any sort of smile or any emotion really, but she does offer a curtsy.

“ … It’s… Nice to see another person that is calm… “ she thinks aloud.

Sol always had a peculiar fashion sense; he had a tendency to either favor simple, nicely coordinated outfits, or gaudy, flamboyant clothing. Her wardrobe wasn’t exactly the most creative in his mind, but she had well coordinated taste at the least. Although, this was simply a passing thought that he latched onto in order to distract himself.

He grasps her hand, her grip is uncomfortable and light, and the handshake is brief. She seems to be very socially inept, but that was alright. There were more important matters at hand, and everyone had their flaws of course. Yet, she struck him as someone to be terribly suspecting of due to her stoic demeanor. To an extent, it frightened him. It was almost as though she knew something that he didn’t, and that itself was enough make him feel uneasy. It was most likely his paranoia and anxiety in the works, but it mentally ate away at him nonetheless.

“ … I’m Mersenne… “

Her tone is stiff, and the name doesn’t slip off her tongue easily in the slightest. It’s obvious to tell that she isn’t comfortable with it. It was clearly an alias, right? Didn’t everyone here go by codenames? He can’t help but think that it’s a beautiful name though, although it reminds him of cute, elderly women.

“That’s a pleasant alias, I can say that for sure. I like it.” His tone is warm, and welcoming, in contrast to her monotonous tone. “Do you mind if I call you Mersi? It slips off the tongue a bit easier.” His question is followed with a slight joyful chuckle to top off his amicable attitude. She curtsies towards him, a formal gesture one would think, too formal for that matter. However, he makes light of the situation, and instead of bowing as a gentleman would, he curtsies back, lifting up the bottom ends of his blazer to substitute for a flowing article of clothing. He gives a cheeky grin, and afterwards places his hands firmly on his hips.

“ … It’s… Nice to see another person that is calm… “

Him.

Calm.

He nearly chortled.

Was he really that much of an impeccable actor? Bravo little trooper, you’ve outdone yourself this time. The jokes and the smiles were mainly a coping mechanism, and he knew that for a fact. He had been anything but calm at the moment.

He refuses to let his true emotions show however, and instead, nods in agreement. “This is a rough situation to be in but panicking isn’t going to help anyone, y’know?” His facial expression is a bit more grave now, his joyous grin having faltered now. “If we keep a watch out for ourselves and one another, I’m sure that we’ll be fine.” Ahaha, yeah right. I’m sure that those deceased bodies behind Door 3 thought the same thing… 

> begin stage_zero; “strobe”

caughtinflight:

Mercury nods, satisfied with his decision. More information would come around the mountain when it very well pleased to, but what everyone needed were some good communications…if that wasn’t too much to ask for.

“You’re both a #1 Dad and a #1 Mom? That’s no fair, I thought both of those titles were already mine. How about we split our titles, then? The #1 Mom spot is mine though, just a heads up, carrot-top!” 

She grinned when he laughed, but gave him a disturbed look when he came out with her new apparent nickname. “Carrot-top?” she repeated incredulously. “Hey, I’m no Archie Andrews!” No, that would be a bit too unfortunate, even if she’d loved the old books. It seems like she’d gotten the #1 Dad moniker out of this too, though, and to heck if that wasn’t suitable.

Mercury is pleased when Sol voices his optimistic thoughts on what they’d need to do to survive. It seemed that her reminder of the loudspeaker had done him some good. Kyo, though…well, she had never really been biting. It’s like I’m here with some bulls. She crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow, bemused. In a way, she’s shocked by all of the pessimism she comes across here…which is utterly vice-versa to what the other captives have been thinking. She doesn’t know this, of course.

“So, Carrot Top here is from the midwest, huh? I don’t visit the western parts of the US often. How’s the weather there?”

Holy handcuffs, he’s said it again. She supposes it’s going to become a regular term of his, but she doesn’t make much of it, really. It’s almost kinda endearing. “Hot. Texan. That’s our heat, though,” she tells him, satisfied, matter-of-fact and gesturing with a hand. “How’s NY?” In comparison to her lifestyle, New York city itself was like the big smoke and lights as opposed to her bare sticks.

“So both of you are from America…?”

“Seems so!” Mercury exclaims, grinning a bit. It was nice to have that sort of connection. Kyo was all the way from Nagoya in Japan…the idea of that distance seemed so foreign to Mercury’s own world within her home state. But she did happen to be related to people who travelled a lot.

He’s pleased with Mercury’s subtle support, it had added some sort of truthiness to his statements. He glances at Kyo, noticing that she seems to be somewhat deep in thought, and almost disturbed, shown by the way she fidgets around a bit. He wants to ask her if anything’s wrong, but assumes that it’s wiser to let her be, not questioning what she could be possibly thinking about instead. After all, these were strangers. Even if his paternal instincts were strong, his suspicion was certainly on par with his concern.

Mercury seems to almost be offended with his pet name, causing him to wonder if he should apologize. “Not a big fan of carrots, are ya? I could always just go with Merc’ if the nickname is too much of a bother to you.” His smile doesn’t falter in the least as he says this; after all, it was common courtesy, was it not? Dubbing others with pet names had always been an awful habit of his, he had been told this before by—

“….You’ve had an on and off pattern with your attendance recently. Is anything wrong?”

Thinking of acquaintances, friends, would simply worsen his stress right now. He tries his hardest to brush the thought off, and hums a tune underneath his breath in order to distract himself.

“Hey, I’m no Archie Andrews!”

“Well come on, who wouldn’t want to be Archie though? Have you seen how cute his dog is? Spotty was totally the best character in those comics.” However, his attention is quickly turned to Kyo, who seemed to be muttering something in a rather irritated manner.

“You two are like a wrinkly, old…. arguing couple!”

“Wrinkly…?” Did the foundation wear off? He bites his lip, struck with slight panic or moreso panic that was slight in comparison to the greatly pressing thoughts on his mind. He realizes that his facial expression must express his worry to an extent though, and a tiny grin is plastered onto his face once again. “Well, I use a whole lot of face lotion, so I guess I just can’t help the wrinkles!” He chuckles a bit, patting his cheeks in a frivolous manner. “Although, old people are pretty darn cute.”

Kyo remains silent throughout their discussion concerning the loudspeaker, and the atmosphere is suddenly much heavier. He rapidly attempts to direct the conversation elsewhere, back to the location talk.

“…It’s nice. Mostly during the spring.”

“Well, that’s wonderful to know. I’ve always been a fan of the springtime. Blossoming flowers, rain showers, plenty of sunlight. Always been pretty calming, hasn’t it?” The smile on his face doesn’t falter in the least, he refused to let it, considering how grim the mood had already been. He truthfully did enjoy the spring time though. It was a great source of artistic inspiration for him.

“America sounds interesting, too. I visited a few years ago. New York is beautiful.”

“Interesting…yeah, that’s the right word for it.” Aaah, New York had been the furthest thing away from beautiful in his mind. Awful air pollution, litter, and irritable, coffee-driven pedestrians who would nearly run over you if you didn’t cross the road at the speed of light. Beautiful. “New York’s a real busy and confusing place, but it’s got it’s charm.”

“Hot. Texan. That’s our heat, though,”

From the looks of it, she’s become accustomed to her new pet name. He simply giggles for a fairly short while, and nods back at her. For such a hot place, that’s the last thing the conservatives are there! Ahahaha, oh man he needed to write that one down.

Mercury responds to Kyo’s question before he can, and he once again, nods in agreement. He had begun to wonder on other matters, however. The other doors; he couldn’t help but to be curious about them. Not to mention, there had been much more people here than he had expected. Perhaps it’d be a sensible idea to become acquainted with the strangers who he’d been forced to spend these next 9 hours with? Although, the reminder of the fact that he’d have to be stuck here for such an excessive amount of time caused him to shudder out of uneasiness.

“…What door do you two plan on going into?…I’ve personally got my eyes set on Door 3, but I want to check out the other two doors as well.” His tone is much more grave than it had been before, as well as his disposition. The wasn’t exactly a light hearted topic, yet he felt obligated to discuss it.

(Source: deadend999)

> begin stage_zero; “strobe” [Open to All??]

eternally-snowing:

Well, that was quite the event. Penelope would stick around if only to collect her thoughts and think about what had just occurred, but the gas seeping out told her otherwise. It wouldn’t kill them right away, or at least that’s what she assumed; the gas would take a while to destroy their lungs.

Penelope’s first thought was to investigate door 3, but it seemed that everyone was crowding around there, or so it seemed. Door 1 was right next to it, but it was door 5 that caught her eye. It was right neat the hallway for the cabins… There wouldn’t be a way out over there (she doubted any of the doors provided an easy ay out), but there must be something important in there to progress… Well, there were probably important items behind each door, but she’ll stick with door 5 for now. Besides, it appears some girl has vomited closer to door 3…

It was odd that seeing corpses did not disturb her like it seemed to have effected the others, but she guessed that was natural. She never really had a very strong attachment to deaths, especially those of strangers.

Slowly and calmly, Penelope makes her way to door 5, her white features easily reflecting the sudden bright lights off of her. Perhaps she appeared like a saint to others or perhaps a devil, regardless, she stops in front of door 5. This one had a reader like the ones back in the cabins, but this one was different. Looking back at her bracelet which glowed with a bright [3], she couldn’t help but wonder if she needed a digital root to open this door, too.

And if so, she would definitely need the bracelet numbers if others to open it.

She must seem a bit odd to others, as she stands there rather calmly, examining the door. Will you approach her? Or are you too busy having a panic attack to do that?

After Garrett’s previous discussions, he takes his time to meander around the other doors in order to get a grasp on his surroundings. He’s set on entering Door 3, due to his curiosity and willful desire to piece together what’s happened, hoping that it’ll assist in him surviving this fiasco. Yet, one of the other reasons, one he’d prefer to not admit to himself, why he wanted to enter Door 3 was that he foolishly thought that was some chance that the bodies weren’t necessarily dead. There was no blood present; perhaps they really were alive. He forced himself to ignore how gruesomely twisted their limbs our, in an attempt to lighten his worries. He wanted to believe that there was a chance to maybe help them, and allow them to help him as well. A stupid, absurdly optimistic thought, but it had given him some sort of illegitimate sense of hope.

He wanders towards Door 5, noticing someone else had been present around there as well. Their skin was incredibly pale, and he assumed that they had most likely been albino of the sort. He hadn’t been very fazed, although albinism was a fairly rare condition. He also couldn’t help but think, darn, they’ve got some rad fashion sense, that’s a pretty mad eloquent dress. That had been the least pressing thought on his mind at the moment, however. 

He approaches the stone-faced fashionista, in the same faux easygoing manner had he done with the others. “Ah, I don’t believe we’ve met yet. Codename’s Sol, nice to meetcha…well as nice as it can get in this palooza that is.” He chortles a bit, as a way to assure that his tone doesn’t sound too pessimistic. “And, you are?” He extends his arm, silently motioning for a handshake. 

> begin stage_zero; “strobe”

caughtinflight:

“Right beside my ‘#1 Dad’ one,” she adds. Like Sol thought of her - of course Mercury is unaware of this - she’s glad for his company as well. It was nice to have met someone else with her level of optimism, especially in a situation like this when most everyone was doom and gloom, even though that was to be expected of course.

Despite some more joking and pleasantries the atmosphere completely changes when Mercury brings up those questions about the corpses behind Door 3. Suddenly everything seems cold, and funereal. Sol fidgets around uncomfortably, and Kyo looks like she could be sick again.

“We shouldn’t worry about that now though. The most we can do is keep a watch ourselves…and for each other, and do what we can”

Mercury nods her her head in agreement, hands on her hips. “Makes sense to me,” she says. “And we don’t have the darn time for anyone else to be busy acting like fools again.” She’s referring specifically to the brawl that took place in the hallway before. There was no time for that…

“Do you think we might end up…. like them…It doesn’t look like they knew what they were walking into…”

Kyo’s visibly uncomfortable with that thought. Mercury takes a brief moment to think about it, then she recalls something, and proceeds to speak. “Remember what the loudspeaker said just before?”

“Nine hours. That is the time you will be given. Should you fail to escape the boundaries of this dirigible within those 32,400 seconds….”

“We’re supposed to escape from here. I guess we just…have to be careful along the way. We…know the consequences, at least.” She glances at Door 3. What could have happened there? Had the people beyond the door gone through the whole process this group was engaged in now? Why had they died? Why had the kidnapper chosen them and killed them?

This was dangerous. Seeing as how the others are getting antsy, these thoughts remain known only to her.

So Sol is from New York, and Kyo is all the honkin’ way from Japan. Howling harpies, the US and Japan are pretty far from each other, to say the least. Well, it was her turn to share. “I’m from the good ol’ Texas!” She makes an amused face. “We’re from all over the place, aren’t we?”

Kyo slightly reaches out her hand, seemingly attempting to finally take the blazer, but she quickly halts when Mercury speaks up again. He realizes just how how patronizing they sound, and wonders to himself if he should act a bit more distant. Although, there were more important things on his mind, and the thought was quickly overshadowed. At this point, there was a good chance that Kyo didn’t plan on accepting his offer for the blazer, thus decided to retrieve the garb and gradually dress himself.

“Mmm. It’s nice to meet you too.” 

She doesn’t respond with much, merely briefly nodding at him. He couldn’t help but to find Kyo’s gestures childishly cute, but awkward nonetheless. She’d reminded him of a lost child to be honest. Although, that was most certainly for the worse. She had almost reminded him of…

“Are you okay? It looks like you haven’t gone to sleep in days…”

No. Now hadn’t been the time for nostalgia. She gives a bashful smile, only for him to return her pleasant expression with a broad and assuring grin. Forced of course, which most of his smiles tended to be.

“I wish… we knew why we were here…”

“I do too. But we’re probably not going to be given any answers ‘till later, so we shouldn’t think too much about it.” He furrows his eyebrows, appearing to be pensive. He couldn’t deny the fact that the same thing had been a very pressing matter on his mind too, he had actually even thought it may have been some sort of assassination attempt. He had been well-known around the state of New York due to his own career and his family’s background (and certain scandals…) but that didn’t seem logical to him. “Well, just remember that you’re not alone. You’ve got us, at least.” He felt obliged to attempt to reassure her, causing him to beam with forced optimism. 

 “Right beside my ‘#1 Dad’ one,”

“You’re both a #1 Dad and a #1 Mom? That’s no fair, I thought both of those titles were already mine.” He couldn’t help to but to genuinely chuckle, he truly did like her sense of humor. She hadn’t used others as the punchlines of her jokes; that appealed to him greatly. However, the more she spoke, the more he couldn’t resist simultaneously suspecting her yet liking her. Her positive attitude and consistent smiles had seemed to be have been so genuine in an unearthly situation like this, which frightened him. He wouldn’t let it show, and instead returns her playfulness since it was a great distractor for him. ”How about we split our titles, then? The #1 Mom spot is mine though, just a heads up, carrot-top!” He chimed in as an addition to his previous statement.

“Do you think we might end up…. like them…”

He fidgets around briefly, considering he had been thinking the same exact thing. It was assumed that the bodies they had witnessed (although he barely caught a glance) were thrown into the same situation they found themselves in now due to the bracelets they wore (which could have simply been their beloved kidnapper playing tricks on them for all he knew). He could only imagine how they were killed, their bodies unmoving and distorted to such a ghastly point, frankly, and he had pitied them. The thought of it was a enough to fill his entire mind with dread.

“It doesn’t look like they knew what they were walking into…”

Just as he was about to speak, Mercury instead fills the silent void.

 “Remember what the loudspeaker said just before?”

He places his hand on his chin, rhythmically tapping his index finger against his face, and attempts to recall what the loudspeaker had announced. Nine hours.

“We’re supposed to escape from here. I guess we just…have to be careful along the way. We…know the consequences, at least.”

“And we don’t have the darn time for anyone else to be busy acting like fools again.”

For once, Mercury’s lack of comfort was visible. ”Merc’ couldn’t have said it any better. We just need to make sure that we don’t waste time, and keep ourselves focused. As long as we persevere and keep a watch out for ourselves and one another, I’m sure we’ll be fine.” His words weren’t exactly melodic or joyous, but they were still affirming and steady nonetheless. Mercury’s response had eased his worries a bit, which had been fairly rigorous for most to do. She almost made him feel slightly hopeful.

“I’m from Nagoya. It’s probably not that surprising…” 

“Japan, huh? I’ve heard it’s a real nice place. I’ve always wanted to visit it myself to be honest.” He shrugs his shoulders in an upbeat manner, the usual temperate grin springing back onto his face.

“I’m from the good ol’ Texas!”

“So, Carrot Top here is from the midwest, huh? I don’t visit the western parts of the US often. How’s the weather there?” He chimes, making an effort to lighten the conversation. He isn’t very shocked to hear that Carrot Top is from the midwest though. He also can’t say that he’s a fan of Texas. Eugh. Conservatives. Texas had been without a doubt, one of the most radical and corrupt political centrals in America throughout time, although, it’s not as though he couldn’t say the same about certain aspects of New York. Hey, she seemed like a pretty open-minded Texan nonetheless. Besides, he wasn’t a fan of stereotyping!

(Source: deadend999)

Mingling for Once || Open

socialequilibrium:

[ Even though the reassuring grin was there, the biochemist still took that as an offence; sharpening his glare after he had finished that sentence. Darren wasn’t even going to talk to any of them, all he wanted to do was get answers and then return to examining the door or just move to the side and wait to move on.

The student didn’t particularly like the man talking to him. He felt like he was being really condescending. Though, Darren was never good with picking up signs which show that a person could be joking, teasing or just being sarcastic. ]

“I gathered. I only wanted to confirm that my assumption was right.”

[ He folded his arms and listened to ‘Sol’ explain how he came about that codename of his. It was actually quite a good and logical way to come up with names. There was even a part of him that like it. But he felt like he should partake in this as well. Even if other people don’t use code names, he’d still use his. He wouldn’t want any of these people or the voice to know who he was. If the voice didn’t already know that is.

Pushing his right arm forward, causing his jumper to slip down from over the bracelet he looked at the number ]

{8}

[ Darren placed a hand over his mouth and thought. It didn’t take him long though. Sol had obviously based it off of something he was interested in; you could tell he had something to do with voices based on how loud he was, and basing it off of ‘Do Re Mi’ only narrowed it down.

But anyway, back to his codename. It didn’t take him very long. Not removing his gaze from the {8} that was plastered on this parasite of a bracelet, he spoke ]

“Oxygen.”

[ Without moving his head, he moved his gaze back to Sol ]

“You will call me Oxygen then.”

Sol could feel the other man’s eyes nearly burn right through his skull at this rate, and his glare was gradually intensifying as Sol spoke. Yowch, guess that must have not sat well with him, huh? “It seems as though you didn’t take what I said very well,” He frowned a bit, his gaze becoming a bit sullen “I apologize if it offended you, I meant no harm, trust me, you’ll know when I really do” His facial expression beamed somewhat towards the end of statement, and he recoiled back into his light hearted attitude quickly. Normally, he’d worry a bit more deeply into his social slip ups, but there were much more pressing matters on his mind currently.

“I gathered. I only wanted to confirm that my assumption was right.”

“I’m guessing that you’re the analytical type who catches on quickly in that case? I’m sure that you’ll be fine amidst this mess then” His tone had been non-sarcastic and had been moreso reassuring then it had been snarky, he tilted his head, and gave an agreeable but noticeable smile. 

The younger man then begins to extend his own arm, his bracelet now in Sol’s sight. It read a luminescent, red “8” akin to the “5” on his own. He notices him clasp his hand over his mouth, his body language clearly showing that he had become pensive. Most likely speculating on what his own codename would be, Sol assumed.

 “Oxygen.”

Wha-

 “You will call me Oxygen then.”

Oxygen…? An unusual codename, long-winded too, that’s for sure. Oxygen and 8, what on Earth would those two have to do with one another?

Oxygen, what does oxygen have to do with the number 8? Did it have 8 molecules, nope, did it…Oh right! The atomic number, 8, I get it, oh rats, who would actually want to remember the periodic table at a time like this? Must be a chemistry student or a science fanatic of the like, or maybe a mixture of both. Interesting, nonetheless.

Sol folded his arms, somewhat glowering mainly due to how impractical the codename was. “Oxygen, because of it’s atomic number, right? Correct me if I’m wrong, chemistry was never my forte.” He found biology fairly interesting, as well as psychology, although his interest faded the second he had go in depth with and study every single part of the anatomy corresponding to those subjects. “I wouldn’t say that’s a convenient codename to be honest. It might make it difficult for others to call you, and for you to be able to recognize when your own name too. Not to mention that’s a mouthful of a name too” His fingers began to rhythmically tap against his thigh, as he thought of any other substitutes that would be more efficient.

An idea had come right to him, his mouth had been agape for a few seconds due to his epiphany “Ah! Why not shorten it? To something such as ‘Oxy’ or ‘Ox’? It slips off the tongue real nice, and it’s a lot more convenient.” His mouth had formed into a tiny grin, oh gosh he had been satisfied with himself. He had wanted to recommend “Moxy”, a nice play on the adjective of course, but he had a feeling that the other man’s glare would have burnt through his skull if he had actually suggested that.

Mingling for Once || Open

socialequilibrium:

[ The man he approached seem to be quite a few years older than him. He looked more like he had had a job for a couple of years, where as Darren was still in his first year of university. Though it didn’t matter, you have to work with people older and younger than you in business so it was good training. Although Darren had been not so comfortable with working with other people at school, merely taking a silent role and doing his own thing. Plus any verbal interaction was work related, which he could handle.

The man was certainly upbeat, energetic and loud enough. Though the student didn’t think for a second that these traits were being used as calming mechanisms, all he thought was that the man didn’t have a full grasp on what was happening to him. He didn’t comment on the man’s explanation of the situation they were both in, he heard the strange voice explain everything as well. However, he was particularly interested in the name he was given ]

“Sol? That can’t possibly be your real name.”

[ The man spoke English well and he’d never heard of ‘Sol’ being a name. Darren crossed his arms, tilted his head slightly and spoke, his tare still as sharp as his personality ]

“I’m sorry if it is your real name, but why should I tell you mine if you refuse to tell me yours?”

[ The student came up with many hypotheses, one of which being not letting the ‘voice’ know anything about their persons, or perhaps the man in front of him is related to their situation somehow. Either way, he waited to see if his assumption was correct ] 

The other man remains silent throughout his response, simply observing him as he spoke. It hadn’t taken long for Sol to quickly realize that he clearly was not exactly the extroverted kind, and had been the type to fulfill the role of a listener moreso than they did a talker. He had met many like as well; the artistic industry allowed you to meet an incredibly large variety of others, causing you to most certainly become much more open-minded. How astute yet withdrawn the other man came across as hadn’t fazed him one bit, to be honest. 

“Sol? That can’t possibly be your real name.”

 ”Hmm? Real name? It’s my codename, of course. ” He placed his hands on his hips in an assertive manner, raising his brow for a few seconds or so. He hadn’t been too taken aback by the sudden harsh accusation, considering he wouldn’t necessarily blame anyone else for taking excessive caution in a situation such as this. That would be the more common reaction, if anything.

“I’m sorry if it is your real name, but why should I tell you mine if you refuse to tell me yours?”

 ”Aaaah, I see. Looks like someone didn’t get the memo here.” His gave a small reassuring grin in order to prevent himself from coming across as condescending or anything of the like “We’re not using actual names considering it doesn’t sound like a very good idea to administer our legitimate names in a situation like this, now does it? Most of us here are using codenames, aliases, the works…” He then raises his arm, making sure that his own conspicuous watch is easily viewable 

“Based on our bracelets. I’ve got a bracelet the reads ‘5’, so my codename is based off of the number 5.” Briefly glancing at his watch, he then quickly focuses his faze onto the other man once again “‘So’ is the fifth note in the solfege system, which is basically a simple method used to keep track of your vocal pitch, so I mashed So and solfege together and got ‘Sol’. Get it now?” His tone is pleasantly warm and assuring, making it obvious that he’s not one to be offended easily. Especially due to the fact that he had been fairly late to the entire codename mumbo jumbo himself, of course!