sweethymns | Mι∂ηιgнт Ɠяιη∂

[Iona takes a step back, putting one part of her cloak over her shoulder and stretching out her right arm and moving it around in circles to prep herself.]

Alright! This shouldn't take that much effort so lemme just pull...

[She's only using her fingertips and already the mirror is beginning to give a little by opening forward like a door. Iona glances into the mirror and is startled— a slender face, narrow eyes, a white mask, solid yet not, staring right at her—]

WHOA!

[She says that out loud and takes a step back. She blinks twice. The dust may be obscuring her view and yet...]

Gus?

I don't think this is a just a mirror...!

Edited 2016-06-07 07:08 (UTC)

[ Gus'd been checking the closet for a trapdoor, but apparently Iona's on to something. So he picks himself up from a pile of dusty clothes, shakes out some dirt from his hair to make his way on over to whatever she's found, which seems to be— ]

—Whoa, alright, that's. Creepy.

[ Some guy has a weird fetish........ ]

You think someone's been using this place for... [ he squints. ] ...reasons?

[ Gus what the hell is that supposed to mean ]

[Don't be lewd Gus, Iona lets out a huff of breath again. The masked figure has disappeared, but it should be clear to them now...]

It's a mirror on this side... But for the other side...

[Iona's pulling the mirror open with both hands now and the mirror swings forward revealing another hallway with stone walls and unlit, but used and half-melted candles. When viewing the opposite side of the mirror that was opened, it can be observed that one can look out into the dressing room.]

Huh. One rumor down Gus.

[Iona looks at him seriously with an affirmative nod.]

The theater's even bigger than we imagined.

Edited 2016-06-09 05:52 (UTC)

...So you think there's foul play going on?

[ He's not quite sure what to think of that, given that nothing explicitly bad has been called to his attention as of yet— maybe Claude knows, he's more politically inclined. ]

You know, you're pretty good at getting yourself into trouble, Iona.

Haa... Well, that's being a witch for you! Trouble is a friend.

[She takes a step inside the hallway and offers a hand to Gus.]

C'mon! You're not gonna let me disappear into the Creep Hallway by myself are you?

Well...

[ There's a flicker of hesitation as he looks back and forth between the rest of the room and Iona, as if he's not certain whether or not to get his hands down and dirty in this affair if there's nothing really threatening about it. After all, he knows his father and what he's done to make tonight a success.

He's not afraid of his kin, but he absolutely hates having to deal with the aftermath of things.

But he finally concedes, not just because he's thirsty (he is), but because he's curious.

Curiosity killed the cat, etc. ]

...Alright. Don't make too much of a mess, okay?

[ A light grin, and he takes her hand to go into the deeper recesses of the theater. ]

Don't worry about it! Let's not go too far to begin with.

[The hallway seems rather long and at the end of it, there's a dip, indicating a staircase.]

Do you think there's more than one person here? It looks like it'll just go deeper and deeper if we're not careful.

[ It's dark, and muggy, and most of all, it smells like death in here— not bad, per se, but musty, like dried bones and crumbling paper.

Gus wrinkles his nose, swipes his hand against molded walls. Regrets it, and wipes his palm on his ludicrously expensive slacks. ]

Can't really think of one person that would want to be here, let alone more... [ it really is pretty depressing in here, like traversing through a dungeon. ] If the place does go deeper, it'll sink into the sewer system. A lot of complicated systems run underground, so who knows what kind of traps we'll have to deal with if we keep going down...

Traps?

[Iona lights up at the word. She shouldn't though!?]

Oh, but yeah, we better be careful about those then.

[A beat and she turns to look at Gus curiously.]

Would you be able to disarm one if you could study one?

[ Iona always seems to brighten up at the mention of Bad Things... why is that, huh!!! Even he's not that reckless?!

Except he is, because he puffs up and looks immeasurably proud of himself at this next comment: ] Of course! Who do you think I am? I'm only the best tinkerer in the city!

[ On second thought, this isn't really the most glamorous title in the world, huh. ]

I betcha' you are!

[Even in the middle of this dank and darkening dungeon, her words and attitude are bright. She gestures at her head with a light fist.]

You're rather goofy a lot of the time, but Oren says you've got a lot more going on in your noggin than you let on. So I trust I'm in good hands!

[Are you Iona?!

(They're being watched from the shadows, he's not too far away, but he's waiting, watching, let's not be hasty...)]

Did he really say that?

[ Oren? Color him surprised, to be perfectly honest— sometimes he wonders if Oren doesn't think he's a complete airhead.

(He wouldn't be wrong, but he wouldn't be entirely right, either).

They press into the dark, cold depths of the under-theater dungeon, heavy with antiquity and something else; something vaguely morose, like years of regret and rage. Like crawling into someone's unpleasant subconscious.

Gus's expression turns a touch more somber. ]

Hey. You want to talk about something?

Something like that. But you know, more choppy like he is usually.

[As they move along, Iona pulls her cloak over her shoulders again. The atmosphere, is getting to her whether she wants to admit it or not. When Gus speaks, she looks up at him.]

Sure? What about? Something you wanted to ask me, but you haven't gotten to yet?

It's about me.

[ Which seems like a weird thing to say, but he also realizes that she doesn't know much about him, all things considered. For someone as open as Gus, he keeps his personal life fairly well under wraps... which might be strange, a little perplexing.

His expression borders on something warm, but also hesitant. Like he expects her to say 'no', that she doesn't want to hear it. ]

D'you mind?

Edited 2016-06-22 01:42 (UTC)

... No. No, I don't mind at all.

[Iona looks faintly surprised at the fact that Gus is being open in a different way than usual. She and Oren never did push the Aubert brothers about what their life entailed (they made some dreary guesses on their own), but in the end they were guests of the Midnight Grind, that special in between that made it possible for them to even meet in this lifetime.]

Feel free to tell me anything you're comfortable with.

[ And he draws a long breath, head tipped up to face the dim ceiling covered with moss and cobwebs. In a way, he doesn't like talking about himself just as much as Claude. Not about the things that 'matter', or the things that aren't about the here and now. ]

Mm, well.

[ Maybe it's just the air in this place. It makes him melancholy, as if all his secrets will die here if he doesn't say them out loud. ]

The first time I remember meeting Claude was in a place like this. A basement. [ The cellar of some safehouse, he remembers— his barely teenage half-sibling in a pressed vest and slacks, standing by himself by a row of old wine bottles and empty crates. As if he'd been collecting dust there for decades, too.

Gus was only four, but he remembers. ] My family's really... uptight? Well, my father is, at least. I guess he never liked that Claude was the one thing that didn't go 'right' for him, you know?

I guess this place made me think about it. What it would be like, if someone really had to live in a place like this for their entire lives.

[ His argument is a bit disjointed, as if he can't really figure out what it is he wants to say: whether he wants to talk about how unhappy he is about some facets of his life, or if he's expressing some sort of remorse for not having found this place sooner. ]

[The witch's brows furrow as she takes in Gus's words. She feels... Upset? No, perhaps sad, and more upset that she feels pity. That's the last thing she ever wants to give the brothers because pity rarely if never, helps. Gus's past observation about Claude seems to paint a clearer picture about him and maybe that's why she feels...]

And seeing him like that... That didn't sit right with you did it?

At least he's not there anymore then.

Well! I was four, so I guess I didn't really understand. [ A light laugh, as he steps over a crumbling stair. ] He was always really...

[ An attempt to articulate this with his hands, here. ]

...Mature? About it. Like it was really normal, you know. Do you want to know what I asked him?

[ His laugh, this time, is a bit more subdued. ]

I asked him if he was playing hide and seek, and all he said was "if so, I guess you found me".

He was...I guess he was thirteen. So, if he seems cold... don't get too mad at him, okay?

Oh, Gus...

[There's a difference between being resigned and mature wasn't there? Iona says that to herself, but she isn't so sure. She shakes her head.]

I don't know if I'd be mad. It's kind of weird, but I don't get angry very often.

[It's true that the brothers have yet to see anything resembling fury on her part. Irritation, frustration, yes, but rage doesn't seem to be a part of Iona at all.]

So the way I am, it might just be weird to him too.

[Suddenly, the eerie stillness of the air is broken with someone humming. It's so faint that Iona has to freeze, breathing quietly to see if they can both catch that voice.]

Did you hear that?

He likes you.

[ Gus says with some finality, as if that's that. He also knows that Claude doesn't like liking people, but that's something else they'll discuss sometimes else...

...because holy shit, someone else is here. His shoulders draw up, alert. ]

Uhhh, yes, yes I did. Either we're hearing things, or someone very weird is down here.

[There's no time to spare with their previous conversation now. Iona is focusing very hard as the humming becomes clearer somewhat. The voice is... Absolutely beautiful, even more so than the voice they heard onstage from Christine Daae.

But it's hurting Iona's head and she clutches her forehead with one hand.]

Oh, god DAMN...!

Edited 2016-06-22 03:22 (UTC)

Io—

[ The rest is cut off when a similarly searing pain splits across Gus's skull, and he devolves into a stream of French curses, one hand instinctively reaching to try to support Iona while the other grapples with the wall. ]

—Come on, we need to find a place where the voice doesn't echo as much...!

[ Or else they'll suffocate under it, he fancies. He tugs Iona to the side, brows furrowing over narrowed eyes as he realizes that they've come to a fork in the passage: one leads up, the other further down. ]

... Okay, that? Let's not do that.

[She means the fork in the passage. They are not ready for that next level, not without really knowing with what they're dealing with.]

We're going back, okay Gus? We'll figure it out on safer ground.

[(Because any further down, they might lose each other, they'll get lost if they don't keep their hand to the level of their eyes.)]

Don't worry! I've got goggles that have lenses that can see through the d...

[ And he rummages in his pockets for it, so sure that he's come So Prepared for adventure...

...except. He isn't??? So much for that. ]

...It's in my other jacket pocket!

[ Which one, though, he has so many... the point here is that he looks very distressed as he starts heading back in the direction they came, with Iona in tow. The doge is foiled again... ]

[He could have had it all...]

Yeah, I think we'll take that as a sign.

[How is it that the singing voice is so beautiful, so ethereal, but so maddening? Iona's frustrated that she can't confront it, not without getting the bigger picture. Back to where they come from then and the voice becomes fainter and fainter as they go further away.]

I'll seal the mirror in the room. Whoever is down there is gonna have to find another passage.

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