nico cavalcante ( werelynx ) . (withoutwill) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2015-01-11 16:50:00 |
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Who: Nico.
Where: His and Gerlinde’s house.
When: Morning.
When he awoke it was with a start, sucking in a lungful of air that felt at the same time too little and too much, his chest heaving for the first few seconds before the rhythm eased and returned to something akin to normal. It was like coming up for air after being held underwater. Disorienting and a little overwhelming, a relief in the purest sense. With dark eyes he scanned the room to find the threat where there was none, the sense of vague foreboding hanging over his head like an ominous storm cloud. There was something nearby that could harm him, something at an uncomfortable proximity that he would do better to have greater distance from, but nothing in the room indicated what. Alone as he was in the room it was impossible to figure out why he felt the tightness of anxiety at the top of his abdomen, a tense discomfort that had him pulling himself from the bed and up onto his feet.
Nico pushed his hair from his face as he moved from the room, his footfalls so quiet they were almost silent. The house was hushed, gloomy for the dark shades closed over every window, his eyes narrowing at the sight of them. Had they always been like that? Was that what was making him feel so disoriented? The clock on his nightstand had said it was morning but there was next to no light in the house. It wasn’t natural for a person to wake up when it was dark, that went against what most people called a body clock, but before he could reach the window and open the dark shutter to let in some light he noticed the door that was ajar, alongside the same side of the house as his own room.
There was someone in there. Though there was no sound coming from within Nico knew there was someone else in there.
With one hand he gingerly eased the door open a little more to look through, his body poised to jump back and away. When the door was wide enough so that he could see through the gap it was easy enough to pick out the shape of someone beneath the sheets of a bed within. A woman, small and light.
Gerlinde. The name was provided in a whisper from the back of his brain along with a low humming sense of biting disapproval. Dislike. Distaste. Nico felt his expression shift accordingly and stepped back from the door just as silently as he had approached it, looking around at the house's interior. Gerlinde was someone he didn’t like, didn’t trust. How long had they been sharing a house? Why? Had she done something to make up for the mistakes of the past?
With a shake of his head Nico moved away from the room completely, dismissing the questions for later, after the last cobwebs of sleep had blown away and he could think more clearly. Right now he just wanted to steer clear of that room but he couldn’t shut the door, she would hear it, and that meant going elsewhere. Maybe downstairs. There was another door in sight and the same voice that had whispered his housemate’s name told him it led to the basement.
The return to his room was brief, just long enough for him to acquire some clothes into which he could change and he did so without making a sound, without losing his balance even once as he pulled on his pants without lowering himself into a chair or onto the edge of the bed. The sneakers that he withdrew from the closet looked fairly new, worn perhaps three or four times, still clean enough that he could tell they were well made and therefore fairly expensive. Like the rest of the clothing, actually, the bedding and furniture too.
With more questions in his head than he had answers he opened the door to the basement and headed down without turning on the light until he was at the bottom, shutting himself in on the way down so any sounds would be muted. Not that he planned to make any, he intended to be as quiet downstairs as he had been on the ground floor but better safe than sorry. There was no need to take any chances. The longer he could avoid waking Gerlinde the better, if he could leave her to sleep for as long as possible then that would be preferable and he would feel all the more relaxed for it.
The light switch was around the corner of the wall at the bottom of the stairs and he found it easily enough, his hand seeking it out automatically once his feet touched level ground. It hadn't even occurred to him that he didn't need the light, that without them he had been able to see clearly enough to move around without running the risk of colliding with anything. The lights flicked on obediently and after the first moment where he had his eyes shut as they blinked into life he opened them to look around.
It was the sight of the cage in the middle of the room that had him stepping back against the wall, one hand flat against the cool surface as he drew in a deep breath and cast his gaze upward almost as if he could see through the ceiling to the house above. The room was clean and well-lit, spacious and tasteful, but there was something about it that rung false. Not just that cage with its very real bars and sturdy lockable door. There was something in the air, a stale but potent sense of distress and anger.
Nico couldn’t be here. This place wasn’t safe.
As hurriedly as he could he made his way back up the stairs to the ground floor, constantly reminding himself to be quiet, keep his footfalls light, barely a whisper against the steps. When he shut the door to the basement he did it as gently as he could, his dark eyes already seeking out the door. Locked from within but easy enough to escape, his jacket was hanging right there beside it and he unhooked it as he went, his other hand turning those locks and sliding the chain from its housing. There was a place to hang the end of the chain fixed to the inside of the doorframe and he did so hurriedly but carefully, not wanting the links to rattle as he pulled the door open and stepped out into the cool morning air.
The hood of the jacket briefly sat atop his head as he pulled it on and for a moment he left it there as he patted the pockets to find a wallet. Inside, where only he could reach it, tucked down far enough that a thief would have a hard time slipping it free. The jacket was as tailored as the rest of the clothes he was wearing, carefully chosen and no doubt just as expensive. When he pulled the wallet free and opened it there was money inside, enough that he could pay for a room somewhere if he resolved not to come back here and that thought was already well and truly taking root in his mind.
No I.D. though. That limited his options a little but he could work around that.
With one last glance over his shoulder at the house he walked down the path and away, his pace brisk and purposeful. One of his hands lifted to sweep the hood back off his head at last, the wallet tucked safely back in its pocket in the inner lining of the jacket. Nico kept on walking, determined to put plenty of distance between himself and Gerlinde. If she wanted to talk she was going to have to wait for him to come back, something he was in no hurry to do, not after what he’d seen downstairs. That or she would have to track him down and he didn’t plan on making that easy for her. Not in the least.