damned_institute | Night 46: Main Hallway, 1-West

There was just way too much about this guy that reminded him of Josh. But the way he held Neku's eye contact without even flinching was enough to make him be the first to look away, if only on the pretext of searching out Joshua. He was about to bail on the situation and leave the guy to his own devices, but he actually seemed curious enough to ask questions.

Neku scratched the back of his neck, trying not to feel out of place. "We were supposed to meet here and work together tonight," he replied. He wasn't sure himself exactly how he felt about the prospect of Joshua being his friend. He trusted him, sure. Enough to go out on a mission tonight that was mutually beneficial and all, but... friends? Maybe it was true.

"Neither of us had a partner, so... it seemed like a good idea."

Although Neku had broken away from his gaze, Kaworu continued to watch his expressions, and spared only a moment to follow his eyes down the dark hallway. There was nothing there, which did not surprise Kaworu. Again, he recognized the social cues of unease a bit too late, and then simply brushed them aside.

"So it is an arrangement born from necessity, rather than affection," he reflected, although he was only probing for a reaction. The response to a statement could be more informative than the answer to a question. Lilim often felt obligated to correct observations they disagreed with, while questions were easier to avoid.

While Neku had kind of been side-stepping the idea of his friendship with Joshua, this guy had called him on it, putting it in the bluntest terms possible. While he wasn't about to call Josh his BFF or anything, he didn't completely hate the guy.

"It doesn't really matter," he said, starting to get annoyed with the questions, but managing to keep from snapping as he said it. Still, he crossed his arms over his chest and broke eye contact.

"What about you? Waiting for someone or you just like asking people questions?"

"I'm not waiting for anyone, no," Kaworu confessed with a smile, though he could not entirely resist scanning the hall, looking for black hair and dark eyes. The one he was searching for was, unsurprisingly, not there. He wasn't even sure what he would have done if Shinji had appeared. Perhaps he would have called to him, reached out to him, sought his hand. And yet, how could Kaworu be sure that Shinji was real, or that he would stay? The other reflections of him hadn't.

He turned his attention back to the other boy, and believed that he knew him a little bit better now.

"Do you dislike it when people ask questions about you?" Kaworu continued. The other boy's mildly defensive attitude didn't sit poorly with him, and Kaworu was able to see that it was largely his own fault. He was prying, prodding. This Lilim may have been the sort that would have rather gone on his way never exchanging more than a few apologies for the mistaken identity.

If he wasn't waiting for anyone, what the hell was he doing just standing in the hallway? Probably just a nut. Couldn't be any weirder than the disappearing teacher from last night. Neku raised an eyebrow and gave him an appraising glance, but said nothing about it.

"I don't really care either way," he shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pockets. It was kind of awkward to just up and leave now that they were in the middle of a conversation, especially if he was just going to go walk halfway down the hall and stare at the ceiling until Josh showed up.

"It's my bad for mistaking you in the first place. So I guess you can ask what you want."

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/781144.html?thread=64023896#t64023896)]

Turning around the corner, it wasn't a door he found but a couple of guys chatting it up. Or you know, as much as you could really chat it up while not being particularly loud or attention-grabbing. Thing was, he'd been in such a rush, he almost didn't see them. Kanji let out a small surprised noise and quickly stumbled to a stop before he ended up walking into them both. For crying out loud! Why the hell wasn't he paying attention?!

"Crap. Uh, sor... ry," he said, pausing midword to stare at the orange haired kid for just a sec. Okay, for a moment there, he almost thought the kid was Yousuke, which would have been a freaking relief since the guy had been missing for a few days already. He wanted to think it was because he was busy and not... Well, anyway. It wasn't him. So that settled that.

The second guy, on the other had, he did recognize. It was... that kid! The one who asked a bunch of weird questions. Naoto and Yousuke's friend, um... Kaworu. Yeah, that was it. He wasn't quite sure why, but he always ended up feeling awkward around this guy. Not that Kaworu needed to do anything since Kanji was doing a good enough job of being awkward himself. What with almost running into two people and then just standing there, staring.

...Um.

Kaworu turned away from the orange haired Lilim as another joined them, suddenly and without much grace. Kaworu immediately attached a name to the flustered face of the other boy who had just stumbled upon them. Kanji, who seemed eternally ill at ease in his presence, but with transparent emotions that Kaworu was drawn towards. Seeing someone he knew did something to him, something that he hadn't expected. He felt as though he could breathe easier, and when he smiled it was simple and natural. Was he really so dependent upon structure?

"You seem better tonight, Kanji," Kaworu commented. "That's good." The last time he had seen Kanji, the other's anger, his fear, had boiled over as he lashed out at the nurses. Perhaps he was seeking control, or simply could not contain his emotions. Kaworu couldn't say. They had spoken of Naoto, who Kanji loved (perhaps), and Shinji, who Kaworu loved. But now, one of them had been found.

He glanced over at the stranger again, with a slightly wry smile. "I didn't mind, and now I think I've found what I was looking for. Excuse me for not saying sooner, but my name is Kaworu."

And suddenly there was a loud blonde staring at him. Even if it wasn't Shibuya, there were too many weird similarities. Seriously, why was this guy staring? Did he have something on his face? Had he grown a second head? What?

Neku hardly reacted despite the other guy's surprise. He just crossed his arms over his chest and tried to figure out if he had some kind of magnet attached to his back that attracted so many strange people. It wasn't until the Joshua look-alike spoke up that he had a name to go with the face. So it was Kanji and Kaworu?

"Neku," he replied, shrugging his shoulders as he glanced from one guy to the other. "Don't let me keep you. I'm sure the one I'm looking for is around here somewhere."

"Uh, yeah, I guess?" He seemed... better tonight? He'd answered before fully understanding the meaning behind the words. Oh, right right. Last time he spoke to Kaworu was when he first found out about Naoto, went ballistic, and got all drugged up. Not exactly the best impression to leave someone with. Especially since he'd been starting to get all mopey on the kid. Not that he didn't still feel the same way but that was a whole other thing.

Everything else they'd said, on the other hand, didn't make any sense at all. Kaworu found what he was looking for? This Neku kid didn't want to "keep them?" Why did Kanji feel like something had just gone completely over his head? He found himself looking back and forth between the two, looking a level more confused than Neku did when he'd done it. He wasn't sure how to react, really. Cause he was completely lost here.

He was tempted to just turn heel and leave. Seems like he'd really interrupted them. Or something. God, who the hell knew? He couldn't tell what people were thinking anymore. But just running off didn't seem right without saying something. He just couldn't think of what one said in this kind of situation. "You're not... keeping anyone, 'lright?" he said in what he interpreted as reassurance. "And I was just leaving so..."

Neku turned and scanned the hallway again and this time saw another person who could pass for Joshua. Better be him this time. One stupid mistake was enough for the evening.

"Right, well, I'll let you guys sort it out then. I think I spotted my group so I'll catch you later or something," he gave by way of explanation. Not that he really planned to see them again, but if they were all cramped together in this place, it might be unavoidable. At least he had names to put with faces.

[[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/779336.html?thread=64215624#t64215624)]]

Kaworu raised his hand to acknowledge Neku's departure. In the distance, he could see the outline of a boy with dull, light hair, about the length of Kaworu's own. He stared wordlessly for a moment, observing the few details that the dark hallway revealed to him, before turning back to Kanji.

"Where are you going?" he asked, craning his neck to look up and meet Kanji's eyes. Kaworu was beginning to understand the Lilim and their draw towards the familiar. It was pleasant, and the hallways felt less oppressive with someone he knew. Still, he did not know Kanji well. He could not even say that Kanji liked him, though Kaworu understood parts of him. Those parts were both universal as well as unique, but there was more to the tall blond boy than Kaworu could currently see. Lilim obscured themselves, intentionally or not.

Or... other people could start running off. That worked, too. Though he couldn't figure out why the hell Neku would run off and leave Kaworu behind when Kanji had been the one interrupting them. It didn't make any sense at all. Kanji stared after the boy, puzzled but not arguing in any way.

He figured Kaworu was going to follow the other kid's example and run off, too... but he didn't. In fact, Kanji looked down to find the guy staring up at him with that fiercely attentive look he always seemed to have. The same look Naoto had. Yeah, that one. A look like he was listening intently to every word you were saying and was staring into your soul. Man, even Kanji's hardest glare couldn't match the intimidation that kind of look had. He hesitated under the pressure of that look just for a moment before answering.

"...Uh, actually. I'm tryin' to figure that out myself." He looked down the hallway for a few moments as though hoping to find an answer in the darkness somehow (not looking for an escape route). "I was thinking a' lookin' around for where they were holdin' the people they take away. I mean, they gotta be in here somewhere, right? So I figured I'd just bust down every door til I found 'em." He was starting to ramble on wasn't he? Why was it when he actually did talk, he couldn't shut his freaking yap? God... "But, uh, some a' the doors here are harder to break down that others. Guess that's not really gonna work."

It was actually kind of disturbing. It was just a door, right? What the hell kind of shit did they have to put on it to make it so hard to break down?

"May I come with you?" Kaworu asked, maintaining his steady gaze. "I'd like to spend more time with you."

And he did. Kanji's path had brushed against his own before, and for a time they had shared the same needs. They had each felt the absence of a single person. One person meant so little in the big picture. To most, they were only a name, a number, a nebulous existence. Yet their loss would cause deep scars that could not be fathomed by anyone left unaffected.

But now, Kaworu had been given Shinji back. There seemed to be no reason for it. He had not done anything to cause it, or earn it. He had not even truly been present when Shinji had appeared, although he could remember Addison's relief and love. In many ways, they were the same as Kaworu's own. (In many ways, they had been completely alien.) But Kanji still felt that empty hole left by Naoto. It was not a comparison that came naturally, and though he knew it was true, it was difficult to line the two up. All he could be sure of was that he did not want Kanji to be in pain, even if there may not have been anything Kaworu could do to ease it.

The world was always changing. To change was to lose. It was to hurt.

Night 46: Main Hallway, 1-West

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