circle7 | event!

A healin' spell? You gotta be kidding me.

[Now that there's a light, and he's on two feet, he gives the kid a flat look. (He still jumps back when the flame grows, this time careful about stray buckets. Great. I'm stuck in a closet with some over-imaginative kid with fancy tricks.]

That's dangerous, y'know.

[A small smile, tinged with wryness - it's an adult look, perhaps he learned it from Lightning.]

I know. That's why I learned it.

[Ope, time to change the subject.]

Did you find a lock?

...You lost me. But yeah. The knob, at least.

[His arm is extended out, fingers gripped around the door knob as though it'll just up and leave if he lets it go. There's no keyhole that he can feel, and it only wiggles a little.]

Locks from the outside, probably...

Say, you don't happen to have one of those intercom devices, do you?

[The guy may not be from PSICOM, but perhaps he has access to similar technology. If only he could summon Alexander from outside. He wasn't about to try his luck, though - should it appear inside, both of them would be squashed in an instant.]]

Sorry, you're outta luck, there. Hold on a sec.

[Jayden backs up a step, and readies himself to kick the door down.]

[Hope recognizes that stance. Looks like Jayden wants to pull a Snow. He has a lot of practice with what to do when that happens - he pushes himself back into the closet as far away from Jayden as possible.]

[Good kid after all. Three... two... one-]

Nngh!

[Jayden's leg raises, then foot slams into the door. He almost regrets it - that wood is tough. But, he did feel it give way under the impact, just a bit. He gets ready to try again.]

[Well, not as graceful as Lightning, but it does the trick. The door snaps on its hinges, swinging open with such force that it hits the adjacent wall and nearly ricochets right back into Jayden's face. Hope's eyes squeeze shut as the sudden light pierce sinto the closet, shielding his face with his hands.

Now that it's not too dark to tell, Hope blinks as his vision adjusts. Jayden is tall, he notices, and dressed...very oddly. Thankfully, his reserved nature keeps him from saying anything.]

Thanks, mister...?

[Guess all that fighting paid off after all. Jayden brushes off his clothes, dirtied from falling all over the closet.]

Norman Jayden, FBI. You?

[He's dressed weird? This kid is the one who looks out of place. (Although both of them look out of place when standing around in a janitor's closet.)]

[Hope glances past Jayden for a second. The man was still standing right in the doorway. The boy sways slightly from side to side, but there's no room to slip past him. Oh well.]

Hope Estheim. What's an 'FBI'?

[Come to think of it, the kid's behavior would make sense if he wasn't from the US. But he's never heard of a place called Cocoon or Polumpalum - whatever it was.]

You ain't from around here, huh?

[Although 'here' is a rather vague term considering that, introductions aside, they're lead into another closet. Too early to celebrate after all.]

...You're kiddin' me.

[Well. So much for that escape plan.]

I'm not even sure where 'here' is.

Is there another door in there you can kick down?

[Jayden sighs, stepping into the next closet. It almost looks like an exact mirror image of the other, aside from all the objects knocked over in the process of getting out of the other side. Unfortunately, that means there's no door.]

...I don't see one.

[The agent swears under his breath. (Slip-up; honest.)]

[Like the closet they're in, the small room across from them is tiny and rectangular, with wooden paneling. There's a small lightbulb hanging from the ceiling - and just as Hope notices it, the small light bulb in their closet clicks on. The contents of the other closet were identical as well...right down to the sheer arrangement of fallen brooms and buckets and bottles they had knocked over in their fall. Exactly, without even a hair from the toppled mop out of place.]

...That's weird.

[The only thing out of place from the mirror image would be... well, them two.]

...You're tellin' me.

[Maybe it's a clue. Should I use ARI..? The agent reaches into his coat, fingers tracing the outline of his glasses. There's not really any evidence around here, but they might be useful. ~~They'd probably be old-fashioned to Hope, though.~~]

[What was- ...He was putting on sunglasses in a closet? Hope bites his lip, but he isn't the type to make commentary anyway, so that thought he also keeps to himself.]

Let me try something.

[Reaching behind him, he knocks over the tilted broom onto the floor with a click. A second passes.

Then there is an echoing clack from the other room, except its corresponding broom doesn't move. Instead, the back wall that they're facing seems to suddenly cave in a little at the center - like revealing a hidden door.]

...Creepy.

...

[Jayden, efficiently surprised by the reaction (but how can rooms react), puts the glasses away.]

This... has to be some kind of trick.

[But in his disbelief, he tries it himself - he kicks one of the mop buckets across the floor. It cracks a little more.]

[From there, it's an all-out mess-creating spree. Hope's room at home was usually kept immaculate - his mother's influence, and a bit of his own nature as well. Making this much ruckus and disorder was kind of...refreshing. By the time they're done, their side of the room is an absolute pigsty, as if a small hurricane had just blown through it (he could've set an Aero on the area, but...this way was just more fun, if less efficient).

When Hope looks back to the mirror room, the back wall has a door-sized hole carved into it, and a doorknob has magically appeared on the left. He laughs, a bright and excited sound.]

It worked! We did it!

[Once Jayden realizes what the kid is getting at, he joins in. Shelves, mops, brooms, cleaning supplies - they all go toppling. Upsetting the balance of the two rooms seems to be the key here, and once the rooms look nothing alike, they finally stop. Then, lo and behold, a magic door. (Though 'magic' to the agent just means 'unexplained.')

Jayden still doesn't get how it's all possible, but hey, the kid figured it out, and credit goes where it's due. He smiles down at him, and even in that small gesture, it looks like a rare expression for the man.]

Good job, kid.

[Looks like knowing Hope's name didn't change anything, though.]

[At the compliment, Hope smiles too - the type of smile where modesty keeps you from showing it too much, but the happiness is pretty damn evident anyway, so you duck your head to hide it.]

I-It's nothing; they were puzzle rooms like this back in Gran Pulse, that's all. Looks like we can finally get out of here.

[Jayden seems more like a let-me-take-point kind of guy, and while Hope has no problems assuming the lead when he has to, he doesn't particularly mind following either.]

You're familiar with this kind of stuff, then?

[In this case, Jayden probably feels he's better off taking the lead. (Still underestimating the kid.) He steps towards the door, cautiously reaching for the handle. Who knows what's behind this thing. Blake with a god damn grin on his face, I bet.]

[The secret door, unlike the first one, gave away with a little push - it wasn't locked. What they found, on the other side, however, was about as useful as the second closet. The door swung into darkness, and from what little light spilled in from their side, they could see that both the walls and floor were a drab gray concrete.

Hope made a slight frustrated noise, and with a wave of his hand, sent a Fira into the hallway. For as long as it flew, before dying out, the surroundings remained the same.]

...Well, might as well give it a try.

[Jayden jumps back as the ball of flame retreats down the hall.]

The hell was that?! How did you...

[The man nearly flattens against the nearest wall. Earlier, the huge flame could've been pinned on a trick like hair spray, or gas making the lighter flare up, but that... Jayden raises a hand to his head, mumbling.]

God, it should've been obvious before. I'm having another episode, aren't I?

[Startled at such a strong reaction himself, Hope jumps a little.]

Epi...sode?

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1/2

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rofl you really DO need some smiling icons

NO ONE WANTS TO ICON A SMILING HOPE

WHYYY

Iconners like depressed kids idk.

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