uncurtained | pc catchall for junpei (crashout)

[After the "exciting" start to their day, Beck will find herself wandering into the lounge but...she's not alone? She's not alone because there's a guy there in front of the liquor cabinet and seemingly searching through the bottles before pulling out a nice bottle of scotch.

He shouldn't be doing this. He should be on his game and figuring out what's happening, but...his nerves are a little more than rattled. As he shuts the cabinet, he turns to find a glass and he spots Beck standing there. He pauses, giving her a slow nod of acknowledgement before going about his business.]

You don't know anything about how we got here, do you? [He could stand to start with "hello" but he's past pleasantries by now.]

[As she enters the room and sees him (and the liquor), she sets her duffel bag down heavily before shaking her head. She’s trying to keep calm, but it’s not hard to detect the stress in her voice all the same.

Accompanied by a sigh:]

You caught me... Fresh out of ideas. You?

[He holds up the bottle like a trophy.]

This is my last idea. [It's not hard to detect the stress, no, but he's being cautious all the same.] Looked everywhere I could. Too many of these rooms are locked.

[There's no judgment in the frown she wears as she looks towards the bottle, then back to him - it's more thoughtful and worried than anything else, and even that has more to do with the situation than the scotch.

After a few moments:]

Did you try to unlock them?

Yup. [The "p" in the word pops a little, displeasure in his tone.] Pretty sure there's some kind of mechanism I'm not seeing, so I'm going back to look again later when everybody's out of the hall.

Where’s a battering ram when you need one?

[There isn’t a smile on her face, but her frown at least lessens slightly.]

I’m Beck, by the way.

[He looks up a little, still unsure but there's a nod of understanding. Beck. Not Guinevere, which is what's on her profile, and he'll remember that.]

...Junpei. [No nice to meet you, no how do you do. His eyes flick away to look at the cabinet again.] What're you having, Beck?

[He'll get back to the breaking and entering in a second.]

[The look she gives him says clearly enough that she knows she shouldn't, and knows he shouldn't, either. All the same, after a few moments:]

Well, if you're offering... On the rocks.

[Her next words come with just a touch of the humor that would come naturally to her in a more normal situation:]

Do I owe you one?

[Haha he's ignoring that look :) But he'll do as instructed and fix her a drink with a little too much skill. Never a bartender, just someone who's watched too much.]

This one's on the house. [It's his own brand of humor which isn't really funny.] But I won't be that generous next time.

[He takes a pull of the drink he's poured for himself as he hands Beck hers. It's. Been a day.]

Well, cheers to there not being a next time, then.

[Once she has the drink in hand, she raises it towards him for just a moment before taking a sip.]

Well, whoever set this place up, you can't say they didn't pull out all the stops.

[She says, pointedly not looking at any of the portraits.]

[A mock toast, but he doesn't echo the sentiment.]

I've been thinking about that, too. If you look past all of the orgy statues and lewd paintings this hotel's the peak of luxury. Whoever brought us here wanted us to be comfortable for whatever reason.

[All the more reason to drink their booze and trust nothing.]

You think it's some bizarre social experiment...? You know, to see if anyone takes the hint?

[She glances down at the duffel bag, which is zipped closed but still full of assorted lewd inventory.]

Among other things, yeah. [His own bag is at his feet as well, and the toe of his sneaker gently collides with it.] Why else would you kidnap a bunch of strangers, lock them up and leave them with a nice gift bag?

...Okay, I'll bite. Among what other things?

[She takes a seat, finally, gesturing for him to do the same.]

[He approaches a little closer, but he doesn't quite sit. It's like dealing with a skittish cat, just be patient.]

They want something else from us. What that is, I don't know yet, but this isn't just about seeing who's going to fuck someone before the day's over. There's a specific plan here created by whoever's in charge. That person may or may not be one of our own.

[...Hm.]

Why do you say that? The last part, I mean.

We're obviously being watched. Someone deliberately chose to bring us here, and none of us remember how that happened. If you were going to monitor a bunch of people, wouldn't the easiest way be in plain sight?

[And also, you know, this has happened twice now and he's fucking tired.]

...I guess so, yeah.

[She pauses, though.]

But one person can't really follow all of us around, all the time, can they? Maybe they're paying attention another way. [...] Or maybe I just don't like the idea that someone I might have talked to is behind all this... Not that the idea we're being recorded all the time is much better.

[There's another drink.]

There are all kinds of ways people could be watching us. Moles, tracking devices in the clamshells, hidden cameras...you can't trust people in a situation like this.

[He's a ray of sunshine, isn't he?] Until we start looking closer, we're never going to know.

...Sounds like you've thought pretty hard about this.

[There's more she wants to ask, but she holds off.]

I'm guessing opening those doors might help, but...

[He doesn't reply. He doesn't want to reply, and even though he's told two people that this kind of thing isn't new to him, over the course of the day he's grown more frustrated at everything that he's just. Aggravated.]

But what? [And yet he's still keeping up this conversation, so Beck is keeping his interest well enough.]

I'm not exactly an expert in breaking down doors or picking locks. So, unless you've got another idea...?

If it was just about breaking the door down or picking the lock, anybody could get into these rooms. There's something we're missing. A puzzle of some kind, something that we need to take a second look at. That's why I'm waiting for people to clear out.

[She looks like she wants to ask something else, but she takes another drink instead.]

Well, we've got time, I guess.

[Too much time. It makes him nervous, sort of, but he seems calm and aloof on the surface even if his fingers tap the glass in his hand.]

So how do you kill time in a place like this? Besides the obvious.

pc catchall for junpei (crashout)

W0, Friday

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