LOCKED TO alchemicals

[deaftly]

[He doesn't remember anything. All he knows is that there's a bright light in his face and he just wants to sleep. After a couple of minutes of tossing and turning he finally opens his eyes and sits up. The room he's in is perfectly white, without any sort of interesting features. There's a desk and a chair, but nothing on either of them. They're as white as the walls and floor, and on closer inspection, the bed he's in is just as white and spotless as the rest of the room. The sheets are a bit on the stiff side even though he's been sleeping under them, and the bed is kind of hard for his liking, so he finally squirms out from under the covers and stands.

The clothes he's wearing strike him as being wrong, though he can't recall what the "right" clothes would be. They're white - like everything else - and they're very simple. He doesn't have anything to compare them to, but the material is soft and kind of thin and feels a little odd. He shrugs off his confusion about the clothes and starts for the door. Even the doorknob is white, which strikes him as strange for about half a second before he yanks the door open.

The room that he enters is spacious. Like the room he woke up in, everything is white. There's a sofa, a small table in front of the sofa, and a couple of plush chairs. There's a couple of doors leading elsewhere, and his first order of business is to see where they lead. One leads to a perfectly white kitchen which isn't interesting right now (though some part of him wonders if the food will be just as white) and the other door he comes to is locked. There should be a front door around here somewhere though, right? He doesn't want to be here. He can't remember why he's here (or anything, really) but being here doesn't seem right.]

Comments

[alchemicals]

It's kind of a weird place to start, you're right. Maybe Fucklandia's a desert nation.

[He's being sarcastic...]

Or maybe I just liked stories about jackrabbits when I was a kid, who knows. It's kind of boring either way.

[deaftly]

Well, maybe! I mean if it's a desert then that might explain why you're not familiar with barcodes. I mean, I dunno what technology is like out in a desert.

[...]

And what's a jackrabbit?

[alchemicals]

[dude.]

...Pretty sure they're like bunnies or something. Out in the desert.

[deaftly]

Oh. Desert bunnies.

[...there are bunnies in the desert????]

Well uh, there... was a point somewhere... um... Right, you could have been from a desert!

[He tried, shut up.]

[alchemicals]

[Pretty sure there are bunnies everywhere, they're a fuckin' plague.]

Could have been. I doubt it, unless I was getting sunburned all the time - my skin kind of sucks for some reason - but I guess it's possible.

[deaftly]

[Naki nods a bit at that - it's true, Kimbley does look pretty pale to have been living in a desert.]

Well, maybe you went to a desert at some point or you wanted to go there or something? It must have had some sort of impact on you.

[alchemicals]

Must've, yeah...

[He kind of trails off for a second, though he doesn't seem bothered.]

I don't know, I don't remember anything about it. It's just the first place I thought of.

[deaftly]

Well, it's definitely different! Maybe it'll come to you if you keep drawing.

[He's pretty curious what Kimbley could have been doing in a desert, honestly.]

[alchemicals]

Maybe! Let me know if anything comes to you too, yeah?

[Back to the wall he goes, though hell if he knows what he's going to be doing.]

[deaftly]

Yeah, sure thing!

[Naki's got some more to do with the city, so he'll be focusing on that for awhile. There doesn't seem to be anything particularly unique about the city and eventually he loses interest and moves along the wall to another blank spot. Coming up with more landscapes is harder now for some reason, and he can't seem to think of anything else to draw.]

[alchemicals]

...You okay over there?

[He's sort of noticed the lack of motion, Naki; he's...admittedly not doing much better.]

[deaftly]

Yeah, I'm alright, I just... don't know what else to draw. Nothing else is coming to mind.

[Naki sighs and turns to look over at what Kimbley's been doing.]

Have you been having any luck?

[alchemicals]

Not really.

[NOT A WHOLE LOT, THAT'S WHAT.]

...I don't know, I'm probably going to sleep for a bit; I'm tired as hell.

[...That might be due to the whole not-eating thing, jackass, but okay.]

[deaftly]

Oh, okay. I'll um... did you want me in the room with you right away? I mean I can draw on the walls in there, so it's not a big deal either way.

[alchemicals]

If you want to, I'm not going to say no. Do whatever you want; it's going to be pretty boring either way.

[deaftly]

It'll be fine. I'll come into the room in a little bit, alright?

[alchemicals]

Okay. Don't worry about waking me up, all right? Just come in whenever you're good.

[Good lord he is going to go pass out so hard if no one minds.]

[deaftly]

[Some time has passed. It's hard to say exactly how long because Naki hasn't been keeping track (though he's beginning to suspect that he wouldn't like knowing exactly how long it's been anyway) but it's been enough time that he's had to eat. Obviously he waited until Kimbley was asleep before trying the... most-likely-human meat, but whatever it was, it was good. Sure, it was cold and kind of gross, but it was way better than anything else in the refrigerator. He hasn't tried eating anything else, simply because it all disgusts him. Well, except coffee, that's fine. In fact, he's gotten in the habit of making coffee frequently.

To say Naki's observant would be an overestimation of his abilities, but even he's beginning to think something's wrong with Kimbley. Of course he hasn't said anything about it because he's probably wrong, right? Right. So instead he'll just doodle on the walls like always.]

[alchemicals]

[The funny thing about not eating is that after a while - a few days or so - you stop being hungry and you start being tired.

You don't really notice it, either; sure, you know you're sleeping a lot more than you usually do, but it doesn't hurt any and it's not like there's anything wrong with sleep. If anything, it passes the time. Makes you feel like a regular goddamn time-traveler, what with how well it passes the time. Lay down for five minutes and suddenly you're six hours into the fucking future!

Either way, he's started tying his hair back with some ribbon he'd found in one of the drawers in the bedroom; it's nothing fancy, just enough to keep the longer portions of it out of the way. He's noticed it's been shedding more than it usually does; swear to god, if this place legitimately ends up making his hair fall out he's going to be pissed.

He's made a habit of checking the drawers in the house; it's easier that way as opposed to making Naki it do it, because Naki's not observant enough to notice what's changed most of the time and because there's no point in freaking him out if he does have a shining moment of clarity and realizes that something's off. Besides, it's like getting to go on the world's dumbest treasure hunt first thing in the morning. Something to do, anyway.

Speaking of something to do - Kimbley doesn't join Naki at the walls today, instead sitting down at the table, toying with something between his hands.]

Seems our benefactor finally gave us something to do. You play cards?

[He still sounds tired as hell, despite the fact that he just got up a short while ago, but he's content with trying to get the plastic off the deck and opening the box.]

[deaftly]

Huh?

[Naki looks up at that. It takes him a moment before he caps the pens he was using and approaches, sitting in the other seat and staring at the box in Kimbley's hands.]

Cards... I think so? I don't really remember any games off the top of my head though.

[Something is definitely off about Kimbley. He sounds kind of tired, but that doesn't make sense. He got up not all that long ago, right? Naki decides not to focus on that and instead gestures to the cards.]

Where'd you find these? In that same drawer or somewhere else?

[alchemicals]

Same place as always. If there's anything good about them, at least they're consistent.

[Just...let him break the deck once he's got the cards out and shuffle a little while he talks, then.]

I think I remember a few games. Nothing great, but I can probably teach you easy shit like twenty-one. We can't really bet anything, but it's something to do, I guess.

[deaftly]

Yeah, sure, it'll at least be something different.

[Things he never thought he'd get bored of: drawing on the walls.]

Um...

[Naki frowns down at the table for a moment before he continues.]

...Are you feeling okay?

[alchemicals]

[If he sees anything weird about the question, he seems to shrug it off after a second; he just kind of laughs a bit, the sound quiet.]

Me? Yeah, I'm doing fine. How about you?

[deaftly]

I'm fine, but I mean you seem... weird.

[Naki absently pushes his hair out of his eyes as he thinks.]

I mean you're... um. Hmm. I don't really know but there's something different. I guess you seem more... shit I know there's a word for it that isn't "lazy" but I can't remember what it is. 'Cause you're not lazy, you're just... tired a lot, I guess?

[alchemicals]

...Oh.

[He stops shuffling at that, headtilting a little.]

I guess I've been tired lately, yeah. It's not like I'm sick or feverish or anything, though.