anti-party [open]

[Tally]

After training was done for the day, Col dragged his aching body through the halls to his room.  Val wasn't there thank goodness, but the last thing Col wanted just then was to sit in that cell and stare at the wall.  He needed a drink but had no credits to buy any from the commissary.  He was stuck with the standard issue bottled water available for free to all personnel.  It was bullshit, but he grabbed a bottle anyway and left the room again.

Tonight would be Devi and Chica's party thing.  He'd just about rather go through an extra drill routine than get stuck in a room with the other candidates.  Col took a long, circuitous route that wouldn't bring him close to the party.  Trying to read the invitation had given him a headache.  Trying to reply to it would have made him want to crawl in a hole somewhere and freakin' die.  So he hadn't responded and had gone out of his way to avoid both of them.  He weren't gonna hang around Chica if he could help it.  Devi he didn't know but she was like as not someone he were better off not meetin'.

For a long time he wandered through the halls, letting sore muscles unwind and venturing to parts of the ATC he weren't familiar with.  He didn't get lost no more, and that was somethin'.  He could read the signs now and the maps more or less.  The place could be interesting if you let yerself see it.

Eventually he started looking for somewheres specific, some place he could go to get away from all the people wandering the halls and maybe cut himself off from some of the mental noise bombarding his head.  How did the Pilots manage?  It was exhausting bein' around so many people all the time.  Complete silence would be so damn sweet.

His aimless wandering eventually brought him to a door leading out into a supply stairwell.  Peering through the window, he saw it was dim inside, and deserted.  He didn't even bother looking around before slipping in.  They didn't want him in there, they could just come on in and tell him theirselves.

His footsteps echoed in the vast stairwell.  It went upward farther than he could see.  There was also a large cargo elevator there, so he figured the stairs themselves were a holdover kept around for emergencies or times when the lift weren't workin'.  A light on the second landing flickered, piercing the silence with electric crackles.

The areas beneath the stairs drew Col's attention.  Supplies and sundries were gathered there, some in cardboard boxes on the floor and others stacked in large, simple wooden shelves.  In the dim light, Col saw things like extra rolls of toilet paper, bottles of cleaning products, and many cartons of paper-wrapped straws for the cafeterias.

Thus far no one had busted through the door to yell at him, so Col shuffled further in.  Stupid uniform jacket was getting hot. He shrugged it to the floor, the simple cotton t-shirt underneath much more bearable, then ducked under the stairs and sat against the wall.  The cold bottle in his hand was dripping condensation.  Col twisted off the cap and took a swig of it before leaning his head back and pressing the bottle against his forehead.

At least none of the other candidates would find him here.

[Anonymous]

Poor Col. Under the impression none of the candidates could find him. Luckily, Phenyo had caught onto his ‘scent’ and had been following it for a while now. While she wasn’t running, she still hadn’t seen him but she could hear footsteps off in a distant hall. They weren’t changing and she kept hearing them, so they must have been Cols.

Phenyo still had to say sorry for freaking him out at orientation. It’d be a while ago but she felt horrible for the way he pulled away from her so quickly. Bah, where the hell did he go?

She’d lost his ‘scent’ - Phenyo still had no idea what it was actually called – and now she was just wandering aimlessly looking for it again. It took a while, and when she found it again she was completely and utterly lost.

That worked for her, if she didn’t know where she was, no one else could find her! Well, unless they did the tracing, following scent thing. No matter though, Phenyo looked around and made a face. Well… If she went to far, the ‘scent’ went a way, so… She turned and looked at a door. Must be in there! Grabbing the door knob she opened it and walked in.

Whoa.

This was a damned big place.

Uninvited and probably unwanted, Phenyo went in anyway and took a seat beside Col. Not touching, but less than three feet away. Heaving a big sigh, she closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall and folded her leg up to her chest, doing her best not to think or cover up what she was thinking. Of course she was still really bad at it, but she could try!

Not a word was uttered, not because she didn’t want to say sorry. Mostly because words would echo here, and if they said much, they’d echo and get caught.

Being punished never flew well here. Remembering that Phenyo rubbed at her side before taking a breath and looking over at Col and smiling slightly. From far away her eyes just look green, but up close, one seems to be much lighter while the other was darker, both contrasted with her purple hair.  A quick apologetic smile and she leaned back again and stared off into space.

While it seemed intrusive, Phenyo would rather have someone to get into trouble with than do it herself. Here was hoping Col would have the same kind of logic.

[Tally]

Col's eyes snapped open at the sound of the door opening.  He sat absolutely still, not even breathing, hoping that whoever had wandered into the stockroom would go for the stairs or the elevator and not look into Col's little hiding place.  Probably weren't a Pilot.  They usually cleared out by the end of the day.  Could be other staff though, and they could chase him out if they saw fit.  But shit.  He just wanted an hour, just one damn hour, where he didn't have to look at anyone else or deal with anyone else.

Beyond the slant of the staircase beneath which he hid, the person's shadow moved about.  He might have tried a psychic reading on whoever it was if he'd known how, but he'd spent most of his life repressing those abilities.  Down on the dark ground levels, psychic abilities were seen as a curse and the dragons above were angry and elusive gods.  One could live their whole life in the lowest tier of Haviah and never see a dragon or a Pilot except on the television.

When Phenyo emerged, Col let out the breath he was holding.  He wasn't sure if he should be relieved or concerned.  If it had been Chica, he'd have gotten up and left without a word.  This one he didn't know what to think of.  He weren't on friendly terms with a lot of the candidates.  He didn't like them.  He didn't trust them.

Didn't seem like she wanted to start nothin'.  He tensed when she sat down with him but relaxed again after awhile.  Why wasn't she at the party?  Could be he weren't the only one looking for a break from it all.

A break.  Heh.  He'd barely been here a week and he was lookin' to get away.  Four years left to go at least and already he felt like he'd hit bottom.  Damn.  It was gonna be a long four years.

It wasn't so bad having another person there with him.  He took another swig of water, not thinking about much, just sitting there.  He was determined not to worry about anything for a little while.  It was quiet here, and deserted except for him and Phenyo.  Peaceful like.  He felt himself starting to unwind.  The stacks of supplies were sparking his imagination, too.  All this having to be clean and orderly all the time was makin' him wanna tear his hair out.  He felt like he wanted to make a mess.  Maybe he would.

Col didn't own a watch and there was no clock here, so he wasn't sure how long he and Phenyo sat there in silence when a thought struck him.  "Hey," he said.  His voice echoed though he'd spoken quietly.  Somehow the big space made him want to talk softly.  "Did you follow me here or what?"