Sydney liked to think of herself as a kind person. She did her very best to remain positive, even in the hardest of times, the most difficult of moments. She was forgiving, and she made efforts to be generous. In that light, she knew she could find a way to look beyond Zoe's misstep. She could, given a few moments, forgive the use of the C-word in connection with her. What helped— what saved the situation, really— was the unexpected familiarity they were discovering in this hallway. Even though it was dark, even though Zoe likely couldn't see the expression at all, there was a warm softness to her expression as Sydney glanced at her companion. Yes, all could be forgiven. With each step, they were a bit closer to that eventuality.
There was more to be found in this hallway than friendship, however. For Sydney, the friendship was the unexpected aspect, the unpredictable discovery. Not at all what she had been looking for. The musical question mark in Zoe's laughter told Sydney, for the other woman, what Syd had to share might be the bigger surprise. But there was really no backing away from these truths, not with Sydney. She wasn't embarrassed by her beliefs, not even when people thought she was rocking a few too many loose screws because of them. "There are ghosts on this island," Sydney said, as simply as though she were discussing the weather. "And I think if ghosts didn't lead to them stopping the renovations after the storm, the fear of them was what did it. You can see that they started to renovate. It wasn't like they just ran out of time before we were all arriving here. You can see that they stopped working in this hall a long time ago..."
Every other part of the hotel was beautiful. Impeccable. This was the only place that had been abandoned. The dust and debris, the signs of projects started only to be left unfinished, all told a story that didn't line up with what the hotel claimed.
She thought it best to focus on the lock, careful with each movement so she wouldn't scratch the mechanism as she worked. It seemed silly, considering the state of the entire hallway, but leaving scratches to prove she'd been tampering was just bad form. Nick taught her better than that. At Zoe's question, Sydney hummed in lieu of holding up a finger to imply the other woman hang on just another moment, and then she heard the lock click. Smiling triumphantly, Sydney stood up from her crouch, grabbing the handle of her bag as she moved. She pushed open the door and looked at Zoe as she held it open. "Let's say...communication tools. Mostly. That's the neatest summary."
And once they were inside, the first thing Sydney extracted from her bag was a container of thumbtacks and an alphabet garland, along with clear intentions to string it up on the wall. "Grab one side?"