[attr="class","mimi"]it does take her aback a bit, being called crazy. her gaze flies back to the stairs and, there, she gets over it pretty quickly. so what if she is a little bit crazy? nobody's completely sane. everyone has a sliver of that delightful insanity that keeps them going when everything else is too insanely sane.

what does upset her is hearing him say he's nothing special. she slows down. she frowns. she eyes him in disbelief. "you're very special, lance. you're amazing."

suddenly, she wants to let go of his hand because her eyes is kinda itchy and she wants to cover it. but for that she has to let go of his hand, which she doesn't want to do for a number of reasons, most notably that he'd then be too scared to keep going. this is what young mimi believes.

[attr="class","seelie"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-drampa inactive"]

LANCE VOLLANS

[attr="class","lance"]

[attr="class","lance b"]

[attr="class","lance i"]even in the darkness he can feel her eyeing him in disbelief. the frown is also oddly visible. the falter in his confidence lasts for far too long and her words are a reminder of it. he nods, steels his expression, and carries onward.

"i know."

with her hand still in his, he leads her to the left, down a super dark corridor with multiple doors all around them. he's not too sure which one to go to, so he stops and defers to her instead.

"which door?"

Mimi Cheng

[attr="class","mimi"]mimi's happy to hear the usual lance back from his short vacation. maybe it is the spoopy atmosphere of the haunted mansion that makes him feel weird, she decides. "that's more like the rival i know."

when they find themselves having to choose from amongst many, many doors, mimi's first thought is that she wants to ask shifu to use extrasensory and tell them which the winning door is. then again, that's cheating and mimi doesn't want to cheat. the second thought is that it really doesn't matter which because they'd end up going through all regardless.

"how about that one?" she says, pointing at the one door that's slightly ajar. there's no cobwebs either, unlike every other one, so naturally she expects it to have been used fairly recently.

slowly, she pushes it open and offers a friendly "hello?"

[attr="class","seelie"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-drampa inactive"]

LANCE VOLLANS

[attr="class","lance"]

[attr="class","lance b"]

[attr="class","lance i"]there's one door that's slightly ajar and he can't tell if that's a good or bad thing. why is it ajar? did someone open it and forget to close it behind them? lance considers the possibilities but realizes there's no way for him to figure it out.

thankfully, mimi takes the initiative and pushes it open for them. it slowly creaks open to reveal an empty and very dusty bedroom that looks like it once belonged to a little girl. the dolls on the bed and the pink decorations around the room tell him as much.

"looks empty. let's move on."

Mimi Cheng

[attr="class","mimi"]empty, just like lance says. mimi finds it disappointing, but the swiftness with which he wants to leave has her grip on his hand tightening. she agrees that they should move on, but there's something really odd about this room that makes her want to stay if only to figure it out. "not so fast, knight."

her gaze scans the bed, one of the only places that lance's phone can shed light to. "the bed is clean," she finally concludes. everything but the bed is dusty, consistent with the long time she expects the bedroom to have gone unused. but the pink bed in the center? not a single speck of dust. she frowns, taking in the implications.

before she can decide whether they have a ghost using the bed or there's actually someone else living in this rundown house, the sound of wood being dragged startles her. she turns around to find the dresser now placed in front of the door. now that's scary. she takes a step closer to lance.

"who's there?" she calls, but no answer comes.

[attr="class","seelie"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-drampa inactive"]

LANCE VOLLANS

[attr="class","lance"]

[attr="class","lance b"]

[attr="class","lance i"]her hold around his hand keeps him tethered in place, unable to flee like he so wanted to moments ago. he clicks his tongue, annoyed, but concedes to make her happy.

the bed is...clean? he narrows his eyes, suddenly more suspicious as he peers at the dustless bed. "why is it clean?" it takes a few moments for the pieces to click in his head but once it does, his posture tenses.

right as the sound of wood being dragged across the floor sounds across the room. he jumps, turning back to shine the dim phone at the door only to see a dressed in its place.

"i don't like this, mimi..."

something passes in between their legs, like a gust of wind but not quite, heading towards the center of the room. he points his phone to the bed to see...

Mimi Cheng