InsaneJournal

In Útgarðar the Ancient Live...
Who: Richard & Adam.
What: Richard sets an effective lure for meeting fellow tenants.
Where: 507.
When: 30 September, 11:37 a.m.
Warnings: None yet.

It had been a long and arduous night for Adam Vejas. To the EMTs, nurses, physicians, and other medical personnel with whom he came into contact, it seemed that the nearer October drew, the stranger their work became. His own experience seemed to bear the theory out. Injuries were more frequent, particularly those of the inexplicable or atypically brutal variety. Violent crime had increased. Car crashes, house fires, assaults... the list went on. Even the waning of the full moon had done little to help things, thus keeping the more superstitious in their line of work quite thoroughly on their toes. But perhaps, he thought, it was only his shift.

Following the uncomfortable altercation with James, Adam had arranged to switch shifts with a coworker. His new assignment meant seeing less of Alex, but also less of his newly returned tormentor. He suspected it was a poor deal for more reasons than he dared admit, but for the time being, it was all he knew to do. As Adam stepped off the elevator, back onto his comforting, familiar floor, he could not help but press cold fingers to his cheek, prodding at the mark still fading there. Thus the double edged sword of pale skin shone through: It held color remarkably well, as both his tattoos and the faint grey smudge of his bruise could equally attest. The late shift had allowed him to hide the mark from the better part of their neighbors, but it also meant being party to the worst the steadily cooling nights had to offer. This was an acceptable, rational explanation to the increased violence he had seen, and Adam resolved to take it. He had had enough of mysteries.

Thus distracted, he was nearly to his own door (ignoring, of course, the sudden quickening of his pulse as he passed Alex's) before he heard the faint but rising notes of music. His keys stilled in his hands, the song sounding louder once that merry jingling was silenced. He cast his dark gaze down the hall, noting an open door, and light streaming from inside. The apartment in question had stood empty for some time; curiosity got the better of him, and he found he had to answer. He slipped his keys back into one pocket of his jumpsuit, his head canting curiously as he drew nearer.

"Hello?" he called, a friendly upward lilt creeping into his voice. Drawing up to the open door, he rapped his knuckles against the frame, peering inside. "Anybody home?"