EVENT; LIFTS & CORRIDORS

[ataraxites]

CHARACTERS: Ensemble production!
LOCATION: The Corridors.
WARNINGS: Space crazy, violence, etc.
SUMMARY: You may have simply been taking the lift with passerbys, but now you're hopelessly lost.
NOTES: Notes on the corridors.

Those on their way to meet a friend at dinner, or heading to their department, may never reach their intended destination. Instead, characters will find themselves in an unfamiliar part of the ship, abruptly stranded. All attempts to access the elevator will prove fruitless, as the doors cannot be pried open and the lift will not respond when called. It looks like you have no where to go but forward. Hallways will connect only to other hallways, giving you the impression that you're always on your way somewhere- but can't quite manage to arrive. Time spent in the hallways will seem endless, but with luck you may find a break in the monotony. It is possible for characters to find one another, which would be preferable, as it's probably safer traveling in groups. Those that spend an excessive amount of time in their own company will find themselves feeling increasingly hostile and paranoid, until even the walls seem to be watching. That may not be such an exaggeration, with those murals that continually appear...

Comments

Noah - ota

[skindeep]

[He starts out trying to remember as much as he can about the hallways: how many times he's turned to the left and right, so that he could at least get back to where he started. But the hallways are endless and identical, and after awhile Noah just can't keep up with it anymore.]

[He's frustrated, but not panicked, and only a little tired. Treadmill time is finally paying off. He can keep going until he finds something or someone.]

Breadcrumb trail...

[Noah's parents never really read him bedtime stories. His father sometimes enjoyed telling him about the Battle of Megiddo or the Industrial Revolution as he tucked him in. But he definitely remembers something about a breadcrumb trail. If only he had some flour, water, salt, and yeast. Oh, and an oven. But all he has is another hallway, another corner to turn - left, this time.]

[deprecate]

[ Cillian would also quite like some bread, if for a different reason entirely. He's not sure how long he'd been wandering the corridors but he's hungry. When he'd left the lifts, it was only in hopes of finding some tools to help him fix them, but now he can't even find his way back to the lifts themselves. ]

[ Eventually he takes a nap, a ball of black hoodie tucked into a corner with his knees drawn up to his chest and his arms wrapped around his aching legs. It's more a doze than anything else, because he's too nervous about what else might be in this corridor with him, but he's not as fit as he could be and he needs to rest. ]

[skindeep]

[At first Noah thinks it's a child, which is bad enough. But then he recognizes that hoodie from the last jump.]

Cillian?

[He touches his shoulder gently, reaches to move the hood back from his face. Now he's in danger of panicking. Noah wanted him back in their room, eating jelly beans and opening a tin of tuna for Edgar, cursing his boyfriend with that thick, endearing accent.]

[deprecate]

[ cillian reaches up and catches at his wrist before he's fully awake, grip tight with paranoia. but almost immediately he realizes it's noah and calms, tipping his head right back to look up at him with sleepy eyes. ]

Jesus Christ I'm tired. 'Lo.

[ he does a scan of the corridor around them and back to noah. ]

[skindeep]

Hello, love.

[Noah smiles, but his relief is fleeting.]

How long have you been here?

[Not that he could answer that question either. There's no way of telling how much time has passed in these hallways.]

[deprecate]

Dunno.

[ cillian pushes a hand through his thick hair, mussing it. time has passed, and he's walked a lot, been hungry and tired. but he has trouble keeping track of the days on the spaceship at the best of times. ]

Longer than I'd like to have been.

[skindeep]

That makes two of us.

[He crouches, his hand idly stroking Cillian's knee. He still looks tired, and Noah wants to let him rest but knows that he can't.]

We need to keep moving. Can you do that? If you don't feel strong enough, I can always piggyback you. It's no trouble.

[No, he's serious.]

[deprecate]

[ cillian's look says, very plainly, are you for real right now. ]

I can move. You certain we can't have a little longer resting? We could take it in turn to keep watch.

[ though keep watch for what, he isn't sure. ]

[ despite this genius idea, he's getting to his feet, stretching to work the kinks out of his spine, which crackles. ]

[skindeep]

Edgar's all by his lonesome.

[But it's not Edgar that he's really worried about. Cillian's pale skin and fragile bones on his best days, and Noah worries about him every day. But thinking about how Cillian needs food in him as soon as possible isn't just his mother henning this time.]

Just a little stroll, but I promise we'll rest if it gets too much. Quite rude of the lifts to stop working, isn't it? I'm a little surprised that they didn't start right up again for you.

[deprecate]

[ Noah's tone is mild, but Cillian takes a moment to cup his face and kiss him quick, smoothing his thumb over a cheekbone in reassurance. ]

I'll be right.

[ Except for how he's already used the supply of insulin in his bracelet and eaten his jellybeans and now he's got no way of doing anything when his blood sugar starts to spike high again. Except for that. He takes Noah's hand and, yes, he can walk. ]

Gears were stuck. I was gonna get in and fix them, but I thought I'd just duck down the corridor and see if I could find something more than my own two hands. Didn't work out so well.

[skindeep]

[Noah knows that he's actually transparent. Even with a smile on his lips, there's still worry in his eyes. And he can be calm in the face of the Tranquility's terrors until it involves the man at his side. He squeezes Cillian's hand and pulls him close.]

So it is just a mechanical problem?

[Of course it is, what else could it be? Noah wonders when he got so superstitious. But he slows to stare at one of the murals on the wall, and can't deny the uneasy feeling inside of him.]

Reminds me of an exhibit I went to once.

[That all the artists were schizophrenic is something he keeps to himself. Noah guides him away.]

It might take them a little longer without you, but I'm sure things will be up and running again soon.

[deprecate]

[ The painting disturbs Cillian on a profound level, and he turns even as they're going, to keep looking at it, the vivid red of it, like fresh blood. He blinks a couple of times, trying to stop it from imprinting itself on the back of his eyelids, as he turns back to Noah. ]

If we find our way back, I still might be able to fix it.

[skindeep]

Then consider it my job to find the way back.

[Noah smiles over at him, thumb brushing against the back of his knuckles.]

Oh, and remind me to come back here with my paints when it's all mapped out. I'd like to put something a bit more cheerful on the walls. Say...a nude self-portrait?

[He tsks almost immediately though.]

No, you're right. There isn't enough wall for that.

[deprecate]

[ despite himself, cillian laughs. mostly because he's imagining the picture: noah laid out with a rose and a cheeky wink. ]

Really prefer you didn't, if I'm being honest. Though I'm sure any of your work would brighten up the ship.

[skindeep]

Because of the painting itself? Or because you just don't want me back in any strange part of the ship?

[Noah watches him for an answer, in a way that suggests that something hinges on which it is.]

[deprecate]

Little of column A, little of column B?

[ cillian gives a rueful grin, distracted from their predicament. ]

I quite like being the only one who gets to see whats under your tshirts. Well, outside of jumps, obviously.

[skindeep]

I can start wearing a tshirt for the jump, but would that make my arse look big?

[Noah winks at him before turning a little more serious.]

It's just that someone mentioned mapping unknown areas of the ship a few weeks back. I was thinking of volunteering.

[deprecate]

[ that kills his amusement quick smart, the expression dying on his face. ]

And end up places like this? Lost in the hallways for fuck knows how long?

[skindeep]

Hopefully not!

[Noah's voice lifts cheerfully, and he gives Cillian's hand a squeeze.]

But once they've been properly mapped, no one would ever get lost in them again.

[deprecate]

Yeah. Mapped by someone else.

[ He doesn't seem inclined to argue, just picks up his pace, tugging at Noah. Maybe sick and lost wasn't the best moment to bring up Noah risking his life. ]

[skindeep]

[No, it probably wasn't the time or place. Maybe he should've saved it for post-coitus, when Cillian is warm and a little more agreeable.]

Hey, hey, slow down.

[Said quietly, Noah reaching his other hand forward to cover Cillian's.]

It's off the table for now.

[deprecate]

For now.

[ Cillian casts him a dark look, because that just implies they're going to be arguing about it later. He sniffs hard, scrubs at one cheekbone with the knuckles of his other hand. ]

Could we just keep going? It won't fucking matter either way, if we die out here.

[skindeep]

Cillian, hey.

[Noah tries to hide his shock at Cillian's words, how it hurts just to hear them. He doesn't keep going, but instead stops completely and tries to tow the Irishman into his arms.]

It matters.

[He swallows hard, because it matters more than anything to him, and hearing Cillian say words like that makes him desperate to prove it.]

The discussion is closed, alright? I wouldn't do anything that upsets you this much.

[deprecate]

[ Cillian allows himself to be towed, and he gives a shudder when Noah folds him into his arms. He's scared, and sick, and tired, and worried that his clock is ticking. ]

[ He pushes his face into one of Noah's broad shoulders and tries to catch his breath. ]

I want to go home.

[ His voice is small, and he doesn't mean their shared room. ]

[skindeep]

Oh love, I know.

[There's heartbreak in his tone now. Noah gets homesick too, stays perpetually worried about his parents and his brother. But he's so damn thankful for Cillian, and tries to stay strong for him. Even now he tries to wrap him up, to be what's around him instead of this ship.]

We just have to get through this first.

[Noah presses his face against that dark hair, a little worried that his embrace goes too tight when he feels Cillian shiver.]

D'you want to rest for a few minutes? Maybe you'll feel better.