upmoving | COURT: Heart Game!

[Unfortunately it appears to be all alcohol. The bartender will talk to you like a normal customer, with a slightly dismissive attitude.]

[Whatever he will order the sweetest alcoholic drink for the kid and ask about the clientele.]

[You are given some kind of watered down berry cordial with a low alcohol content how nice. But the bartender doesn't want to give you much information it seems.]

This is a place where people mind their business. Don't go looking to poke your nose where it doesn't belong.

...But, you have a look to you. If it's company you're looking for you'll find it. Upstairs, likely as not.

...Thank you.

[He takes the berry cordial back to Ariel, reminds him to stay put, and heads upstairs, placing a hand on the fire poker to reassure himself.]

[The child stays put. Upstairs there are two doors. One slightly open, from which there are the sounds of two people... enjoying each other. The other is closed, and seems slightly weathered.]

[Well he will skirt that um, room that's a bit open and try the handle of the weathered door.]

[It's unlocked! The room past it seems dimly lit.]

[He slips into the room carefully, looking around for a light switch or something.]

[There isn't one. The room is dark and slightly musty-smelling, barely lit by a single gas lamp flickering low on a table in the far corner. It makes the shadows seem long and alive, moving on their own. Which likely doesn't help it be any less creepy when the door suddenly closes behind you and someone grabs for the back of your neck.]

[That poker he has been holding, he goes to whack at whatever's grabbing him immediately. Ruthless and trying to gain space, terrified instantly.]

[You hit it! ...And it doesn't seem to do anything. In fact, the person, because it does seem to be a person, seems perfectly confident in reaching for your arm, too. And for every moment it touches you your body feels weaker, smaller, like your strength is draining out and you're shrinking, and your assailant was big to begin with.]

[Oh god this is not okay. He strikes out again but mostly just tries to back the hell away, eyes darting around the room for another escape, some way out of this.]

[You manage to do that. You have the room to maneuver in, but the other person stays there by the door, blocking your way out. It's hard to get a good view of him, besides that it's a man, tall, well-built in the way that would probably be complimented as "strapping". His specific features seem indistinct, perhaps a trick of the light, perhaps a feature of the room itself. You'll find that besides the little table with the lamp, there's only a bed in here with you.]

[Not good, not good. He edges as far from the man as possible, not taking his eyes off him, but trying not to corner himself.]

Move away from the door. Let me out.

Now, now. You came in here yourself. Relax.

[Apparently the answer is no.]

It was a mistake. Let me out.

It's too late for that now. Come here.

No. Come here if you want me.

Well, if you insist.

[He will in fact come after you. Calmly, steadily.]

[Great at least that gives him a chance. He'll wait until the man's gotten close enough they both have a ways to get to the door and then try to dart around him to it.]

[There's not much room to do that, unless you climb over the bed. Either way he'll reach out with an unfair quickness to try to grab you by the arm and swing you right onto that very bed.]

[Well. That's unfortunate. He tries to club the man in the head, and no one can say he doesn't try exceedingly hard.]

[You try very hard, good job. He still seems immune to your efforts, and you still get weaker when you're in contact. He's also trying to get ahold of your wrists and climb on top of you.]

[No? Nononono. He absolutely does not stop struggling, kicking, biting, squirming, every attempt is being made.]

[You try, but your strength keeps draining, and he just keeps seeming to dwarf you more and more. But it's not that he's growing. You're definitely shrinking, becoming short and slight, and the more you fight the more your body slows, making struggling a monumental effort. You're helpless. You can't do anything. You're at someone else's mercy and that someone is steadily, surely holding you down. Waiting it out.]

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