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]

[He's been avoiding touching Naki this entire time they've been in here; it's less that he's repulsed by him - he's not - and more that the idea of initiating physical contact weirds him out for some reason. He's usually content to keep his distance and not touch the guy at all, but this...

...This is bothering him for some reason. He doesn't know why, it just is.

So he just...steps forward and reaches out a bit, and the motion is tentative and hesitant at first but after a moment he just pulls Naki forward and when he hugs him it's the most awkward gesture in the world but it doesn't take long for his grip to tighten around his body, holding him close.]

...You're dumb as hell.

[...And that's sort of muffled.]

I'm okay. I promise.

[deaftly]

[For a long moment Naki doesn't seem to know what to do with himself. He can't decide where to put his hands or what to do with his face, so the result is that he looks kind of alarmed. The words are what finally do him in and Naki reaches up to grip the back of Kimbley's shirt and suddenly he's bawling, the hiccups getting worse whenever he tries to catch his breath. Words aren't happening obviously, but this is really appreciated. He still can't remember anything, but he gets the feeling he hasn't been held like this in a very long time, and somehow this is making things even more difficult, though he's not sure if they're worse like this or better.]

[alchemicals]

Ah, shit...

[There's not much else he can think of to say to someone suddenly sobbing on him, and the words leave him before he can really stop them; for some reason, though, the longer this goes on, the more relaxed he seems to be with it. He isn't sure if he's done anything like this before he was brought here or not, but either way he just lets himself hold Naki tightly with one hand while the other finds the back of his hair, stroking it and letting his fingers run through it, the gesture surprisingly gentle.]

I'm not going to leave you, remember? I promised that I'm not going to do that to you.

[deaftly]

[Eventually Naki manages to get some sort of hold of himself and the deluge of tears goes back to sniffles. He's certainly not moving though, because this is weirdly comfortable. Kind of strange, but definitely comfortable. He also loosens his hold on Kimbley's shirt, since he's a little worried about ripping holes in it with how tightly he's been clinging. It takes him a little bit longer to manage words, and they're punctuated by hiccups.]

I-- Y-Yeah. Yeah, you promised s-so... so don't... don't fuck up, okay?

[It's definitely not eloquent and it's not even exactly what he wants to say, but it's the closest thing he can manage so it'll have to do.]

[alchemicals]

I'm not going to fuck up.

[The response is easy, almost automatically so; he doesn't stop playing with Naki's hair.]

...Look, I haven't been feeling well, but I'm on top of it, okay?

[deaftly]

...Okay.

[He's silent for a long time and slowly the hiccups begin to die down as well. When Naki speaks again he sounds... kind of muffled, but at least he's not crying anymore.]

...Don't you dare die on me. I don't want to be left alone again.

[alchemicals]

Yeah. It's like I promised, okay? I'm not going to leave you.

[He's all right with not pulling away for the time being; he just keeps holding him for a while, and after a moment his eyes slide closed a bit -

And that's when something hits him, and it's as sudden and as certain as that time they'd been handing those containers in the fridge, and he tenses up immediately.]

...Holy shit.

[That weird thought pattern isn't going away; he shifts a little, though he doesn't pull away - if anything, he wants to prolong contact.]

You feel weird as hell.

[deaftly]

...Huh?

[Naki does pull back a bit, but only so he can get a better look at Kimbley.]

What do you mean?

[alchemicals]

You...

[He's definitely still maintaining physical contact with Naki, though he isn't looking at him; rather, he seems to be focusing on...something, god only knows what, his gaze shot low.]

...It's your blood, there's a huge concentration of something there that shouldn't be and it's all over your blood, too, it's...weird.

[deaftly]

Uhhh...

[Naki looks more than a little disturbed, but he still doesn't pull away.]

How can you tell that? Oh fuck, am I bleeding or something!?

[He doesn't feel like he's bleeding and he's pretty sure he'd notice if that was happening, but how else could Kimbley tell something like that?

...Not that that makes much more sense, but it's slightly better.]

[alchemicals]

...I don't know. It's not weird in a bad way, it's just not anywhere near human, it's really interesting and I kind of want to...

[...I kind of want to...what?

He lets himself trail off, suddenly unwilling to finish that; he doesn't know where the one thing he felt compelled to say even came from because it's...sick, it's weird and sick and he can't figure out why the fuck he wanted to say anything of the sort, and it's easier to just leave it alone.]

It's sort of like that one time you handed me that container from the refrigerator - you asked me how I could tell what it was, and I didn't know then, either. It's the same sort of thing. I knew that was human, and I know you're not, and I think the difference is in your...blood, somehow? Maybe.

[deaftly]

[Want to what? The fact that Kimbley doesn't continue is a bit concerning, but Kimbley has plenty to say and Naki loses track of that thought quickly enough.]

Oh, yeah, so it's just... something you do? You can tell if someone - or something? - is human or not?

[That seems like a ridiculously specific ability, but why the hell not. They're already missing their memories, Naki can magically heal himself, and there's a container of human parts in the refrigerator for Naki to eat so you know what, this seems slightly more plausible than anything else that's happening here.]

You don't remember anything else about it?

[alchemicals]

No. No, not really.

[The answer is a bit too abrupt; he...doesn't, does he?]

I guess it's just...something like that, though I don't know what the hell I'd use it for.

[deaftly]

...Do you know what it is then?

[It sounds like he might, if he has no idea what he'd use it for.]

[alchemicals]

...No. Not for sure - I'm going to have to test it on some other shit first.

[deaftly]

What other shit? How do you test it?

[alchemicals]

I don't...

[This would be easier if he had any idea how he's doing this...]

...Come with me, back to the window in the room. I should be able to tell what it is.

[deaftly]

Alright.

[Naki lets go of Kimbley and returns to the bedroom, stopping just short of the window so Kimbley has room to do... whatever it is he's going to do.]

Do you need me to do anything?

[alchemicals]

No, outside of "don't tell me how dumb this looks."

[He'll just be stepping forward and laying his hands on it; he closes his eyes, because that seems to help him focus a bit more, though he doesn't stay that way for very long before he's headtilting at the mirror.]

Silver...?

[Well, that's just confusing.]

They can see us, we can't see them, that's fuckin' obvious. But that's...they've coated the glass with silver, for some reason. Silver...nitrate...?

...I was expecting aluminum. I don't know why, but I was expecting aluminum.

[...]

...I think I can tell what shit is made of.

[deaftly]

[Naki stays silent even after Kimbley seems to be done talking. He's got his head tilted as well, though it's for an entirely different reason.]

...What are you talking about?

[This is going right over his head and he can't even begin to figure out what's going on here.]

What do you mean "what shit is made of"? I mean, it's... a window. It's made of glass, right?

[alchemicals]

Yeah, but it's coated with something so we can't see what's on the other side. It's a chemistry trick. Paint a mirror or a window with a really thin metal and people on the painted side won't be able to see through it, while people on the non-painted side can see through to the other side just fine.

They usually use aluminum, I think. This is silver nitrate. The effect is the same, but I think...I think using silver nitrate was a bad idea? I don't know why, but I think it was. We can use it. Somehow.

[deaftly]

[Naki's really not sure what chemistry is, but Kimbley's said something even more important.]

How can we use it? Do you think we can escape through here then!?

[alchemicals]

Maybe...? I'm not sure. I just get the feeling that's supposed to be useful somehow.

[Mnnnngh.]

I'll think on it, okay?

[deaftly]

Okay. Let me know if there's anything I can do!

[He's not sure how helpful he'd be though, so...]

[alchemicals]

I'll do that, don't worry.

[He's not sure whether it's the sudden rush of feelings and shit surrounding this entire morning or what, but he's got to admit that he's feeling kind of weird all of a sudden, probably due to everything subsiding about as quickly as it came on. Either way, he's kind of lightheaded, so sitting on the bed sounds like an excellent course of action until he can get his bearings, hang on.]

So what do you think is even out there, anyway? It's not like we have any way to know, do we?

[It's stupid, but it's something to talk about until the...whatever this is passes, so let's just do that.]