yogen | lower

( watching alice make a run for it, then slam the door next, is he really terrified of matters like this? there's nothing more frightening than friendship, but the weird sounds in the wall, and the bump in the night is what stops him from from venturing further than in the hotel. taking in a deep breath, komaeda officially walks out through the hole in the wall, closing the door behind him with a gentle thud. he doesn't want too many people knows these escape routes and hidden paths, then he'll have to share the other secret passage ways.

curious, the ultimate walks forward, slowly, one foot after the other to not draw attention to himself. as he closes in on alice's door, the younger boy squats down, looking at how low the door meets the ground, and if he's able to slip anything underneath it. with his prosthetic, he scratches against the surface, his attempt of drawing the convict out without properly using words.

would alice feel better if komaeda spoke, or would he think that komaeda is a ghost (real! no clickbait!) this time, and not answer it. instead keeping quiet? he doesn't know the answer, and he won't find out because he'll keep making these sounds with his hand. slipping his hands underneath the slit of the door, he curls his fingers into the fabric of the back of his shirt, pulling it underneath.

... )

[ Even the room isn't safe. In the absence of any footsteps, the scratching at the door seems to reach past it, like claws raking down Alice's spine in a shiver. He tenses, hugging his knees to his chest. What should he do?! Hide somewhere — under the covers or inside the closet?

But this creature, having emerged from the walls, might continue to roam the hotel in search of new targets...

That was a tug on the hem of his shirt. The creature knows he's right there, and it's relentless, despite the door between them!

Pressing one hand over his mouth to smother any sound — not that it makes any difference now — Alice hastily fumbles with the buttons down the front of his shirt, undoing them one by one. He supposes he could tear himself free by getting up to pull away, but success isn't a certainty. Removing his shirt won't fail, on the other hand!

Two more buttons... One...

Alice slips his arms out of his shirt's sleeves, letting it crumple to the floor as he springs to his feet, whirling around to face the door. It's a good striped shirt, but he has a change of clothing. He can't replace himself.

Now to find his knife and lie in wait! Silently, properly concealed... Shin Tsukimi and Helena Adams will return sooner or later, after all, and they shouldn't be ambushed by something scary. ]

( it's a quick yank under the door, and the shirt goes under never to be seen again.

...

komaeda on the other side is holding onto it, looking at it as he wonders what could have happened to alice on the other side, did someone take him? confused, he slowly folds the shirt into a square, setting it to the side as he tries to peek underneath the door.

red eyes try to perceive something, but because he can't see on his side, doesn't mean that alice can't see the red that's lurking from beneath.

there's a small knock against the door, and he pulls away, the red disappearing as well.

...

...

knock knock knock. )

[ His shirt... Seeing it vanish before his eyes, dragged away through the gap between the door and the ground, brings on a twinge of regret. However, the ominous developments on the other side of the door confirm that it was the wisest course of action to part with it!

Thankfully, apart from what Alice can discern through that narrow opening, the door is apparently a barrier that this shirt-snatching wall-dweller of a spooky stalker thing can't break down. Even better, it seems that it's giving up...

Or is he mistaken? The knocking is polite, jarring for being so ordinary and unexpected, too soon after the entire scare — how suspicious! Alice hesitates. How is he even supposed to answer the door, shirtless and knifeless?! ]

...Identify yourself!!

( it's quiet, no response until he finally figures out what he wants to say. )

Me... but I'm sure hearing from trash like myself must be so exhausting.

( anything scary about this situation seems to be replaced with someome familiar for alice. he'll hear komaeda, on the other side of the door, as if he had just came, and any paranormal activity didn't just happen.

he places his hands into his lap, looking at the door, and with how dark it is in the hallway, seeing is difficult. he stands up, holding the other's shirt as if he didn't just rob him for this, and wonders if he'll open what keeps them separated.

...

but can alice trust it?

this happens in all scary movies. )

Edited 2022-03-07 23:37 (UTC)

[ First the knock, now Komaeda's voice... The timing is more and more suspicious! If something was out there, moving around, stealing clothing, then Komaeda would have seen it, but he sounds completely normal. What if the creature is impersonating him, in that case, for some reason? Reko was here, too, just an illusion...

Opening the door could be a huge mistake. Isn't there some kind of rule about inviting creepy beings inside? ]

Don't put words into my mouth...!

[ Drawing out the exchange through the closed door while he looks around for alternatives to his knife — a chair or a small cabinet? — Alice can't help the irritated edge turning his tone of voice sharper. His nerves object to all of this severely! ]

Tell me something that only the Fairy Godmother of Hope Komaeda would know, and I'll open the door!

I can tell you the first meal you had in Yogen.

( which would be soup and crackers, that's the easiest combination, and someone would have had to spectate him to know. truthfully, he doesn't know if that's the first meal the other has had, but it was the one that komaeda saw with him. it'd be the meal he'd say aloud, but the moment he decides to say something; it gets stuck in his throat, lodged in the center, and he coughs one after the other in a way to push it up. clearing his throat, he hums in thought...

huh... what did he eat. )

...I'm useless, my memory won't even give me that small bit of information.

( because that doesn't come as easy, he opts out with something else that can be useless. it's entertaining, and only means so much to someone that understands that he's the person in the walls. )

I know what lives in the walls.

( but a creature that lives in the walls would obviously know what lives in the walls....... )

The first—

[ His first meal? The very first one? To tell the truth, Alice can't remember that himself — he's visited the vending machines so many times, so how would he keep track of every single thing he's eaten throughout each day, unless he were to write it all down in a diary? What does stand out, however, are the cat-shaped rice balls that Nene Yashiro brought him once, and the can of soup that none other than the one and only Fairy Godmother of Hope retrieved from a vending machine without making any payment.

Surely, if this isn't a trick to convince him to let his guard down, Komaeda wouldn't forget using his bizarre wand that day, the day they met! ]

The Fairy Godmother of Hope Komaeda could simply mention soup to prove his identity, but you're talking about the walls?! I don't know what lives there, only that it was following me!

[ And a monster creeping through the hotel walls would know all there is to know about its domain! What it wouldn't know is anything concerning the school; there's nothing that it could have witnessed to bring up... The sudden coughing is somewhat alarming as well. ]

Are you saying that you saw everything?

Ahaha... Nope, I heard.

( he couldn't see him that much, but at one point he was able to see what was going on before the other made a run for it. is this being used against him, his bad memories? he thinks so because trying to think back, then given the answer has put him in a difficult spot.

...

it was soup. )

But I, The Fairy Godmother of Hope Komaeda, would know! It's the answer that you're searching for, aren't you?

( or what he should want to relieve himself knowing there's not an actual monster at his door. he thinks about knocking again, just a few raps of his knuckles. he's got a feeling that the other still won't come because he's uneasy at the prospect of something unknown hunting him down. grabbing at the door's handle, he jingles it again to see if he'll be lucky to knock something off so that he can get in. )

Are you going to leave me out here...?

( when did alice become so cruel, now komaeda's going to pout...

maybe alice hates him now. )

[ It's too convincing, the longer they talk, all of it! Even forgetting the soup can be explained — that day wasn't long ago, but it's so mundane beside everything else — and it's not a stretch to imagine that Komaeda has the ability to appear absolutely everywhere, at any time, always watching. Is he sulking now...? He really seems hurt, kept waiting in front of a locked door.

There — the door handle rattling makes him sound so desperate to open it like any other person, and Alice's resolve wavers. ]

Ghhh...

[ What if Komaeda was in fact observing the walls to intervene, if need be, and that's why the creature retreated?

Alice checks his surroundings a final time. The chair is within reach, and so is the cabinet. A deep breath later, he leans forward, stretches one arm out, and opens the door. ]

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