Night 46: Main Hallway, 1-West

[quickdrawbkiddo.livejournal.com]

[from here]

Beatrix had walked this path to the Sun Room so many times, she could do it in complete darkness. Which was exactly what she was doing. Knowing the way, there was little need for light as it would only draw creatures and other unwanted attention. Silently counting her steps, at the right number, the assassin headed left and down the hallway.

[to here]

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[composers-proxy.livejournal.com]

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."

[liveforthispart.livejournal.com]

"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..."

[composers-proxy.livejournal.com]

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)]]

[moral-liberty.livejournal.com]

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.

[liveforthispart.livejournal.com]

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?

[moral-liberty.livejournal.com]

"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.