notfaking_it | (no subject)

The gala had been a bit of a bore.

Lily was used to it, mingling with investors, the people who essentially paid for her to be a dancer, and she was usually good at it. Even tonight, she doubted anyone noticed that she was bored, but it had gone on long and all the champagne in the world couldn't make it end any quicker. She passed by Nina several times, pausing long enough to talk to her, to laugh about something that had been said, but she knew it was encouraged for them to be as social as possible and so she moved on after a few minutes.

It was something she was good at, even at her worst, and Lily smiled and laughed as she knew she was supposed to.

Between conversations, she set down her champagne flute and slipped toward the bathroom, her purse in hand. Raising her hand as she passed Nina, she grinned, then slipped through the bathroom door, glancing down into her purse for her compact as she crossed toward the mirror. Her heels clicked against the tile floor and when she glanced up, at first it seemed that nothing was wrong.

But the bathroom was gone.

Beyond the mirror she had glanced into stretched a long, golden hall and Lily shifted, moving away from the mirror to stare at what had appeared. She blinked, then turned back toward the bathroom door only to find it gone, replaced with a beautiful hall, the walls adorned with art she'd never seen before, rich looking and lush.

"What the hell?" she murmured.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I went immediately to the books, the only place I felt I would find answers without arousing too much suspicion. The first volumes were useless, fictions and romances, and I continued to look, fingers running over bindings.

I hope you're here. I hope you're finding it easier than we are, Father. "Lily, what if we don't find a way back? I do not see any packages, not like Darrow."

On her own, she could have adjusted. It would have hurt, but Lily knew she'd be able to deal with the loss of Delta and Nina and Eden again. She'd dealt with loss before and this time wouldn't have to be any different.

But not with Eleanor here. There would be a reminder of what Darrow had been like and she didn't want to adjust again.

"It's not the same," she said, though she didn't even know that to be true. There was a desk in one corner and she went to it, rifling through drawers. "It feels different, doesn't it? Like... like something's going to happen."

"I know, but..." I shrug as I poke through a few more books. There's nothing there that can help me. Or us. Or you, if you are here somewhere. This all feels so wrong, but I can't describe what wrong feels like at this moment.

"Where can we go? No one's come to us with a packet no one's welcomed us. We are strangers here, with no place to hide."

Lily opened another drawer, pushing papers aside to see if there was anything helpful, but there was nothing. She closed it again with a sigh, then leaned against the desk.

"Maybe we should find a central meeting place," she said, even though she didn't know what that would help. "Maybe there's someone here who can give us... I don't know. Something."

I don't know if I can trust people here, but I see no reason to argue other than my fear. And fear is something I should face, isn't it? So I do the only thing I think I can do, I nod. "We may as well, I am not finding anything useful here."

I can protect us if need be, I have my plasmids, my strength, I can fight.

"No, neither am I," she admitted as she pushed off the desk. If it had to happen at all, she wished this had happened at a different time, that she hadn't been at that gala, dressed up, made up, and yet still somehow terribly out of place here. She didn't mind being the odd man out -- she usually liked the attention -- but she wished they were both a little more inconspicuous at this point.

Heading back out into the hall, Lily looked one way and then the other, then motioned for Eleanor to follow her. "There seems to be some kind of meeting place down this way," she said. "There's a crowd..."

"We should stay along the edges, listen in. If we talk to people, it will be obvious we're not from here." I mean, more so than we already stick out. Neither of us seem to be wearing anything like the local people, and we don't sound like them either.

Lily looked down at her dark gown, then smiled a little. "I think it's already pretty obvious." The others were dressed in light, flowing clothing, nothing like what she or Eleanor were wearing.

"But you're right. I don't want to talk to anyone, I just want to hear what they're saying," she continued. "Maybe we can figure something out."

"And maybe we'll find some others." Please let it be you, Father.

I move to start back towards the crowded areas, wondering if you've told her about me, about the things I can do. I will fight if I have to, but I truly don't want her to be afraid of me. Or of you when she finds that you were once able to do the same things.

Generally, Lily didn't do a very good job of blending in and she thought they probably didn't have a chance here. Neither of them looked like they belonged. Despite that, she looked confident as the approached the crowd, knowing if either of them look afraid or worried, they would draw even more attention to themselves, something she wanted to avoid even if she wasn't sure why.

"It's tonight, then?" a woman asked as they neared, though she wasn't speaking to them. "I thought it was."

"Pardon me?" My instincts tell me this is wrong, I should be butting in, but there's something in the way the woman speaks that gets my attention. "I don't mean to intrude, but I'm new here. What is tonight?"