Sydney adopted an expression of mild surprise, eyebrows lifted as the meandering path of conversation led to a decisive conclusion being drawn about her. She allowed a moment's curious indecision to play out across her face, like she was weighing two separate options, or silently debating between two different revelations, before she let out a puff of breath and seemingly settled on relief as her most pressing emotion. "Thank goodness," she breathed, a sigh easing tension down through her shoulders. "I would hate for you to get the wrong impression. It's dreadful when people mistake me for a contractor."
She and Nick had been poking around places they weren't strictly meant to be since they were children. It was their thing. They had other things, of course, other connections and habits and similarities and shared passions, but this was their deepest connection. Their most unshakeable habit. Part of her was very aware that sharing this, even unintentionally, with another person was wrong. Some sacred violation. It felt like betrayal. Dishonor. Sydney shook off the feeling, but she was ultimately grateful when their discovery kept her from explaining what she and Nick used to share together.
"I'm glad you were the one who caught me climbing that wall then," Sydney said. She meant it. It was fortuitous, really. And convenient. Syd was grateful to know the other woman, too. Grateful that something clicked and a bond of familiarity was acknowledged. Breaking into Max's room instead of leading Zoe into Nick's felt like less of a violation, at the very least. She directed her flashlight up a bit, so she could see room numbers as they walked.
Zoe's next statement was a reminder that only Sydney had been here before. She almost apologized for the oversight, for not offering a warning at the very least, but Sydney thought that would've probably been a bit silly. "Oh, no, they're absolutely lying about all that," she said. Her gaze flicked to the next door in view, then back to Zoe. "I think they abandoned renovations quite some time ago. And...I think that's because they know this part of the hotel might be...unsettled."
Which was a very polite, very cautious way of saying haunted.
She cleared her throat, stopping as the next door came into view. Lowering her bag to the ground, Sydney unzipped the main pocket and extracted the lockpicking set Nick had given her ages ago, after he learned the skill himself. "729E," she explained, before she went to work on the lock.