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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[iwhipthefool.livejournal.com]

He seemed to freeze and Franziska felt the corner of her lips curl into a sardonic smile. There was something undeniably empowering about seeing a man turn pale at the very sight of you. It was the power, the feeling of absolute power being held in her very hands that she liked. For someone who had to walk in the shadow of not one, but two men lauded in their field - her field - having even one person who bowed her to was a much needed ego boost. Especially now when her pride had been damaged by this blasted institute.

But now he was apologizing and Franziska quirked an eyebrow. Ignoring her? So that was what he'd been trying to do? She'd hardly noticed, but if he was going to apologize for it? "I see," she said, her tone cold as usual. She really had no idea what he meant by 'ignoring' when she'd hardly been awake at all in the past 24 hours, but she could guess. And if his guilt worked to her favor? All the better. "It was an action unbefitting someone of your station, Kibitoshin. But you will be given a chance to make it up to me; you can come with me to find the supplies I need. Agreed?"

[bitpartgod.livejournal.com]

Here it came. Kibitoshin flinched, ready to take another beating, when- hold on, why wasn't she hitting him? After a moment he dared himself to look at Franziska, only to find her... not looking angry? He blinked, wondering if it was the light playing tricks with his eyes, but no- her expression didn't flicker. And somewhere between the surprise and the relief, he managed to completely forget that he had ever been mad at her.

Oh well. He'd remember later.

"I know, I know..." he answered sheepishly, bowing his head. Well, 'relieved' didn't mean 'not embarrassed', and with Franziska 'not mad' certainly didn't mean 'forgiving'. She was probably never going to forget-

"... you mean it? Really?" Kibitoshin blinked. Were his ears playing tricks on him now? If they were, he didn't want to know. Seconds later and he was smiling, nodding and clenching his free hand into a determined fist. "That's great! I won't mess up again, I promise! Just lead the way!"

[iwhipthefool.livejournal.com]

Hook, line and bait - wasn't that the American saying? She really couldn't recall, but she hardly cared for semantics when she'd just found herself a willing packmule. A willing and enthusiastic one; that was a plus.

Holding the pillowcase out to him, Franziska let her expression fall back into its usual cold facade and then looked toward the stairwell. General storage would hold at least candles and then she'd need to find a scalpel to substitute for a knife - unless a stop to the kitchen would provide something. She disliked the idea of holding a potentially dangerous weapon for any length of time, but it seemed that everyone here had...something up their sleeves. Delinquents, the lot of them.

"I would not say something I did not mean, Kibitoshin," she chided, fixing a steel-grey glare on him before turning away. She thought she heard someone cry out from down the hall, and the sounds of a scuffle from the other direction. It was time to move. Unless the fight was between two people, she hardly had time to go about playing Rescue Ranger. "Upstairs. General storage. You do know where that is, don't you?"

[bitpartgod.livejournal.com]

Kibitoshin wasn't sure whether getting used to Franziska being an ice queen was really a good thing or not, but it certainly helped in the current situation. He smiled benignly and didn't argue on the grounds that it was much, much easier than trying to match wits with someone with the mental equivalent of a rapier whip.

"General Storage? Let me see..." He considered the question. Well, like she had said, it was upstairs, and... wait. Had he even been upstairs? Hmm. That made things more difficult. "I think so. Roughly. Maybe." There was a long, long pause. It defeated him utterly. Toeing the ground, he finally relented. "I'll check my map on the way up..."

Moving swiftly out of Franziska's reach (was that a dog leash?!), Kibitoshin made for the stairs and prayed that she'd lost her touch.