the jinn (thejinn) wrote in crownplazaic, @ 2021-01-05 10:03:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log/thread, jinn, salim |
Who: Jinn and Salim
Where: In the hall, outside the kitchen
When: Shortly after this.
What: Half-truths.
Status: Complete
Warnings: None
When first Shadow and then Laura had disappeared from the hotel, Jinn had swung wildly between impotent fury and fruitless grief. He had done so quietly. Other residents were experiencing the same thing and it would've done no one any good if he contributed to the general mood. He was similarly composed now, his footfalls on the creaking steps no more emphatic than they would've been yesterday or the day before, his hand on the banister in no danger of splitting the carved wood. His expression was blank. Although the time for it had passed, he had donned his tinsel-and-baubles sweater without much thought for fashion. What difference did it make? Salim was here. Salim had been taken by the hotel, away from the life he could've had — good or bad, regardless — if Jinn hadn't crossed his path, and he did not remember a thing. Jinn shouldn't have said anything. Laura was gone; there was no one else here who knew him. But Jinn had spoken out of turn. And now Salim was waiting in the kitchen, likely hoping for answers. Fifteen feet. Ten. Jinn saw the door that had once slammed shut behind him, sequestering him inside the kitchen on his very first day at the hotel, with a young woman who had at first feared and prejudged him (and then become something of a friend, before she, too, vanished from this place). He felt similarly apprehensive now, even as he knew what awaited him. He never made it to the door. The fear that seeing Salim again would be painful proved justified. It hurt, alright. It hurt in the best way possible. Salim was right there: in the hall, likely trying to find his way to his destination. He didn't remember Jinn, so there could be no flash of recognition when their paths crossed. Jinn could have kept walking. Unfortunately, though he was a coward, he wasn't cowardly enough for that. "Salim." Jinn studied him from behind his tinted glasses. The idea of sitting down with this man and pretending to catch up over coffee suddenly struck him as preposterous. He'd only make matters worse. "Jinn." He tapped two fingers to his chest. "On second thought, a walk would be better. You may wish for a tour." It was one of the few wishes Jinn could grant him. |