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The halls felt endless, hues of browns and yellows across the hotel interior. Well, when it wasn't looking like a broken down, vacant mess. Despite the only inhabitants seemingly being monsters and two others, it was relatively clean.
Speaking of the duo, they were new to the looping rooms, making their way past door sixty. The taller lead the way, taking quick steps along the carpet flooring, with the shorter following behind, only pausing to nab any money they found.
The tall man known as John— or "Sinner" to most who mattered— pushed open the next door, stopping in his tracks. Not much came from his throat, but the way his back straightened out was enough to indicate his surprise. Or, to the expendable behind him it was enough.
The shorter poked their head around him, also taking a pause too. The room ahead was different than the usual interior, taking on a colder color scheme. A hospital room laid out before them, three beds on each side of the wall— some disturbed— with various medical equipment on desks. A white cross was displayed above the opposite door, something John noticed nearly right away.
Not wanting to gawk, the sinner stepped into the room, starting his walk until he nearly reached the middle of the room. Huh. Usually there was a set of footsteps behind him.
Taking a quick look over his shoulder, he noticed the expendable hadn't moved from their prior spot. Actually, they were farther back, gazing out the window.
Turning fully around with a tapping foot, John cleared his throat, "You alright?"
"Huh?" The diver perked up, flashing the usual toothy smile but a little wider than normal. "Oh, yeah, yeah. Just was lookin' for some alternative routes, you know?"
John simply hummed. Alternative routes? The only way forward seemed to be… well, forward, yes? That was what he always thought anyways. However, it didn't seem his aquatic friend was very keen on moving. With a heavy heart and heavier anxieties, he walked back to take a gander at the window as well.
"Think we could get out through here, huh?" the expendable asked, tacking on a laugh at the end. It was wobbly though, like they were trying replicate rather than create.
John however took the suggestion seriously despite his suspicions, crossing his arms. "Possibly. I usually just break through places to get where I want to go, but I'd rather not get glass in my hands. Nor boots."
With a near to scoff, the expendable rounded John to a potted plant. It was nearly the size of the shorter one but they were already set on their goal. "What about this plant, huh?" Bending down, their arms wrapped around the base of the pot. "C'mere, help me out here."
The sinner stood in place instead, brows furrowing upon the sight. A five foot man— Er, that's what John thought their height was anyways— desperate for demolition. Marvelous. "Why are you so keen to— on going a different way?"
The expendable stopped, head perking up through their struggle. With a gruff grunt, they unhanded the plant, standing with their arms on their hips instead. "We gotta try somethin' new, yeah? It's just uh—" Despite having no visible eyes, their head still glanced over their shoulder to the hospital room. "It's no biggie either way, right?"
With squinted eyes, the sinner paused, staring intently before spitting out, "Are you scared to go in there?"
The expendable sputtered straightening up almost immediately."Wha— What??" Barking out a laugh, they continued,"No! No, of course not! Why the hell would you think something like that?"
"Because you're attempting to uh, smash a window. And go through the rain instead." Taking another glance at the window, the rain pounded against the glass, a sound that nearly made John jump. Not to mention how high up they could possibly be.
Another scoff, "I assure ya', I'm not scared of some little room, okay? I've been through much greater things than this."
Ah right, all those fish they were up against. Spooky. "Okay then," John agreed, standing in place before gesturing over to the door, "Then why don't you go ahead first?"
The expendable's smile dropped, slowly twisting their body around to face the frame of the door. A step towards it made the dull thud of the carpet all too daunting, hands glued to their sides. Until eventually… they just went right back to the potted plant. "You sure you couldn't lift this? You look uh, strong enough."
Ignoring the fact that he just didn't blatantly believe they meant that, John figured the hospital fiasco was more important. "Why are you so scared of it? I can check for something in here."
Maybe they knew something he didn't? But before the expendable could even attempt to correct that assumption, John was already in the room, taking his time in looking around. By the corners of the beds, under them too, anywhere any monsters could be hiding out.
Hanging around the door frame now, the shorter man opened their mouth, only to clam up. Giving it another shot, they managed to get out a nearly weak, "Joh— Johnny!" The sinner flinched. Ah, that nickname got him again. As per usual. Turning back to the door however, the expendable sighed, "It's… It's not any of that."
With some hesitation, John made his way back to their side, eyes wide with expectancy. Well, as wide as they usually were.
"It's uh—" the shorter man huffed, head turning away. "I'm not scared of the monsters here or anything. Ya' should know that by now."
And John did. At least it didn't seem like they were scared, not to this degree. He nodded, silently asking them to continue.
"It's just— I-I mean, you've been in a hospital, right? They're creepy and it's never good if you're in there, ya' know?"
"Yeah, I guess they do freak me out too. But not to this degree." Not so much he'd wanna jump out of a window just to avoid one.
With a bit of quiet grumbling, the expendable let their arms cross, brows furrowed more than before all for them to mumble, "I… I just don't like heart monitors, okay?"
"Heart monitors?" John parroted.
"Yeah, yeah," they threw their hands up in the air, letting them fall back on their thighs. "Go ahead, laugh it up. I'm sure it's hilarious."
The expendable waited in silence, shoulders scrunched up while they awaited the other to burst out into giggles and chuckles of which they'd never seen from him… but it never happened.
"… I'm not laughing," John reminded them softly, hands now clasped in front of him. That didn't get the expendable to lighten up through, still stuck in their sheltered stance. They couldn't sit here forever though, no, the sinner wouldn't allow such a thing. "You know what I do when I'm scared of something?"
The shorter man didn't answer verbally, but a hum did make it's way through, head turned slightly towards him now.
"I just run through it. Don't really look back. Just keep going."
"… Run through it?"
"Yeah. Adrenaline seems to keep me going. You don't even have to look at the scary stuff sometimes. Just watch your feet and make sure you don't trip, you know?" He paused, taking a glance down to the floor. "It's just… better that way."
After a moment, the expendable scoffed, the noise quiet with a bit of mirth to it, "That sounds cowardly, don't ya' think?" With little response, the expendable looked up fully, only to find the sinner's eyes seemingly downcast to the carpet flooring. Uh oh, accidentally struck a nerve it seems. It wiped any sibilance of a smile off their face, sighing out quietly. They were all too quick to fold. "Fine, fine, I'll— I'll do it, okay?"
The taller man perked up at that, eyes stretching out wide. They were almost sparkling if you looked close enough. "Really?"
"Yeah, yeah, I—" they paused, turning towards the door, "Quit lookin' at me like that."
Despite the frantic nodding, the sinner's eyes didn't get any less bright, moving to stand next to the expendable. "We could race. It could be a race."
Why he felt the need to exclaim that twice was beyond them, but the expendable couldn't help but smile about it. "Ya' know what? Sure. It's a race then."
"You can get a head start."
"Oh? Cocky, are we?" the expendable laughed.
"Maybe." Plus, he was worried they would chicken out last second. But that could be kept as an inside thought.
Surprisingly, the expendable didn't pester any further, their foot starting at the line that separated one room from another. "What do ya' think, three second head start?" they suggested, to which John nodded in agreement.
Their foot stayed at the metaphorical start line for a good bit, breathing a bit heavy. They adjusted the collar of their suit, eyes scanning the room before them. An uncomfortable feeling squirmed up their back, hands curled up into fists. Just look to the floor, focus on not falling.
Finally, after quietly counting down to themselves, one step turned into two before they briskly ran down the couple of stairs and into the room. Just focus on not falling. That was all they needed to do.
John however was more focused on something he deemed more important: Winning. After the expendable had taken off, he quietly counted down to himself. Three… Two— Okay his excitement got the better of him and he definitely skipped one. Completely hoping over the stairs, he pushed himself back up and rushed through the room and past the expendable. He all but crashed into the door with a loud bang, causing it to fly open. Old habits died hard, huh?
The expendable was just over half way, head darting up at the sound before picking up the pace. Finally reaching the door, a heavy huff left their lips, brows furrowed in bewilderment. "Wuh— Oh my God??"
The sinner turned around excitedly though, hands now clasped in front of his chest. "We made it. See, that was fun! Right?"
Fun? Uh, sure yeah, was definitely amusing. Maybe they should think twice before calling them a stick in the mud. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, that was fun! Didn't…" they nearly wheezed, "Didn't know you had that in ya'." Well, at least they were past that god awful room now. They paused, straightening out their back with a sigh. "Uh… Thanks. For that whole thing."
"Of course!" The silence lingered until John leaned in a tad, "We could go again?"
"I feel like I nearly died. I'm good, man."