He’d only just passed out on his desk when his rest was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Come in.” Rilon quickly fixed his glasses and sat up straight, preparing for whomever it could be. Silently, he prayed that it wasn’t Asiah, who’d stormed out only hours earlier.

Maybe more than that, judging from the red sky.

“Good morning.” It was Lear — the voice was too deep, too calm to be his brother’s. “You slept well, I reckon?”

Rilon couldn’t find the right words to reply in time. Instead, he stammered, making incomprehensible sounds, then shrugged. He ran his hands through his hair.

“Something wrong?” Lear’s voice rose a few octaves.

Rilon shook his head, leaning over in the chair. What Asiah said ran through his mind, giving him unsure feelings about his father, so he was hesitant in telling the truth.

Abusive? Lear never appeared like that, at least, not that he could remember.

“Get out.” He stared at his father and pointed at the door. “I’m fine.”

Anxiety rose again in his throat, anxiety that he had no control over. This didn’t feel right.

He fixed Lear with such an intense gaze that his father nearly flinched under it.

“Your brother wants to speak with you.”

“Asiah can fuck off for all I care.” Rilon’s voice nearly rose to a yell, his distress rising with it. “Now GET OUT!”

He hadn’t meant to raise his voice, but after seeing anger flash in his father’s eyes before he left, he didn’t regret it.

“Mein Gott, he gets on my nerves.”

Still?

“Good morning.” Rilon sighed. At least Hyde was a person he could get along with, even if he was.. technically just a voice in his head.

That more or less made him sound like a madman.

I’d have a mature conversation with him.

“That’s the last thing I want to do. He… gets upset easily.”

Is this where you got the idea of locking yourself in your room from?

Rilon felt no need to respond to Hyde’s question. He knew that he was trying to get to know him, but what he’d asked was a bit too personal.

He seems much calmer after what happened to your mother.

“I don’t think he wants to upset me.” Now he was losing his trust in Hyde, and surprisingly very easily. The memories leading up to what had happened were a blur, if not practically nonexistent.

He got up from the chair and headed outside to the balcony. More than anything, he wanted to clear his head than stare out into the city, but one was impossible without the other.

Before the railing, he sat down, staring through the bars. He was just in time to catch the sun rising above the mountains in the distance.

You chose this because it faces the East. You like watching the sun rise.

“You really shouldn’t know that.” Rilon huffed. “Don’t you have your own life?”

I’m inside your head. Isn’t it obvious that I’d go digging around eventually?

“It’s been a week.”

Fair point.

This wasn’t going to work.

Rilon got up from the balcony, heading back inside.

The apartment felt too small for him after the openness of the balcony, too cramped. He headed for the hallway, fixing himself up in case he ran into anyone.

He locked the door as a precaution. He didn’t want to make that mistake again.

Rilon wanted to go somewhere other than the tenth floor. Too long he’d confined himself to this particular floor, which felt too small for his liking.

He took the stairs up, running instead of walking. The floors went up, quick, one by one, almost a blur.

Strangely, he preferred the euphoria over anxiety. Was it strange at all?

Not really.

Eventually, stamina had to run out, stopping him.

Rilon stopped in the corner of the stairwell, glancing at the number of the floor.

35. Good job.

Rilon collapsed to the floor, breath heaving. His lungs burned from the run, and would take a while to recover.

This was better than he had felt in years.

It would be fun to do it again.

Rilon.

Rilon stared up at the top of the stairwell. Strangely, his brother was standing there, staring at him coldly.

“Asi?”

With the cold look never leaving his eyes, Asiah smiled. “Did you have fun?”

“What do you want?” Rilon snarled. The last thing he wanted right now was a lecture from his brother.

Asiah stalked down the stairs, his hands clasped behind him. To Rilon, he looked strangely formal in this manner. He shivered — this didn’t feel like his brother at all. Asiah was usually never like this.

“I thought I should apologize.” He said, almost hesitantly. “For my behavior earlier.”

“You said that there was nothing to apologize for.” Rilon went to head back downstairs- a vain attempt to get out of talking to his brother.

Yet Asiah followed close behind, almost breathing down his neck. “You don’t accept, dear brother?”

“Get away from me.” Rilon shoved his brother away and took off down the stairs.

They made it several floors before Asiah had caught up with him. Rilon ran out of the stairwell, nearly running into the hallway wall. Breathless, he clenched his fist and turned around with a loud snarl. “If you’re here to tell me about Father, I won’t have any of it.”

“You’ll figure it out sometime.” Asiah only blinked, not showing a single sign of emotion.

Yet then, he sneered. “You won’t like it when you do. You'll regret figuring it out. You really will.”

Without a further word, he turned and headed back up the stairs.

Rilon struggled to catch his breath, staring in shock at where his brother had once been. He swallowed bile rising in his throat.

I need to find Lear.

Now alone, Rilon chose to take the elevator, this time down to the second floor. Lear’s living quarters. Where else would he be, sulking away from the rest of the world?

The ride, in its entirety, took five minutes, but Rilon remained quiet, even in his thoughts, huddled in the back corner, watching the numbers fall. He found it strangely amusing, even though counting was a simple thing that even a five-year-old would know.

He tilted his head back toward the ceiling and closed his eyes, letting the hum of the elevator be the only thing within the confines of his mind.

As the elevator lurched and the door opened, Rilon remained there for a full minute, gathering himself.

I thought having a conversation was the last thing on your mind.

“I can change my mind.” Rilon himself lurched forward, running out of the doors before they shut for good. “What, do I not have that right?”

Hyde did not reply; Rilon could picture him glowering at him with an icy gaze.

This had been the first time he’d been to this floor in a long while - this place felt like a maze to him. Unlike the normal floors, which divided themselves into an aisle likeness, the President’s quarters were deliberately divided at random, so that one unfamiliar with its layout, such as a potential assailant, would easily get lost within them.

Unfortunately, Rilon was also unfamiliar with this floor. It would be difficult for him to navigate without some sort of help.

Also, unfortunately, he was completely alone.

At least keep calm, Ri. As he walked forward, he attempted to soothe himself, even in vain.

The hallway was too dark for him to navigate. This was also a deliberate design. Only Lear had the key for the lights to navigate his way out.

He reached out a hand, touching the wall to feel his way around. It was cold enough to send a shiver up his hand.

It abruptly ended. A corner. Rilon turned, only to be cut off by a dead end.

Could Lear navigate these halls in the dark?

Rilon turned back, but didn’t head down the hall that he had come. This time, he was blind, keeping his hands close to him in a hug.

There was something about being in a strange place in the dark that constantly gave him a feeling of disquiet. Sure, he was alone in his room in the dark, but that was different. He was familiar with its surroundings, plus it was always lit by even the dimmest sliver of moonlight on sometimes the most cloudy of nights.

The lights suddenly switched themselves on.

Lear?

“I thought I heard footsteps.”

The voice came from somewhere behind him. Judging by other steady breaths, his father was not alone.

Nervously, Rilon turned around. He was visibly shaking with anxiety, but managed to keep his voice steady. “I-I need to speak with you.”

Lear raised a hand to dismiss the guards, but Rilon stopped them. “They need to stay. I want them to hear what I have to say.”

His father showed no sign of emotion. No disturbance, no nervousness, nothing. He lowered his hand and sighed, but said nothing. The guards watched him patiently.

“My brother… spoke to me earlier, after we had gotten back. He told me that there was something that I needed to know. Something that I would not like when I found out.”

Lear’s hand twitched, and he briefly shifted on his feet, but still he appeared unmoved otherwise. Rilon nearly thought that he heard his breath catch.

You really wouldn't like it, Arlett.

Don’t call me Arlett, Edward.

“Was there a certain behavior you tried to hide from me. You tried to make me doubt that it ever happened. You tried to make me forget it, didn’t you?”

“I-”

“Don’t avoid the question, Lear.” Rilon snarled, making even the guards flinch. “What did you do to me? What are you trying to make me forget?”

Conflicted, Lear looked away, avoiding his gaze. Rilon knew that he had backed his father into a corner. This wasn’t something that he would readily admit under normal circumstances, but now he looked completely helpless.

“What you’re doing to me, sometimes physically.” He finally said, after several moments of more conflicted silence. “What you’re doing… but imagine it on a daily basis. Without reason or motive.”

Daily basis.. sometimes physically… without reason or motive.

The realization hit him like a train, and was just as physically jarring.