[Before the party]
[Just before an awkward silence can settle between them, Rei spots the headquarters.]
It is just ahead.
[She takes in the lights and the decorations from a distance, and also hears the hum of mingled voices, and for a moment there's a look of pure, naked fear in her eyes. She stops walking abruptly, a little shiver dancing up her spine. That sounds like... a lot of people.]