Work Text:
I was walking through the quaint little city I lived in one night to get some fresh air. My work had been particularly stressful today, so I thought I could use this opportunity to calm myself before going home. But those plans changed as I heard voices. They were faded, but I still heard them coming from above. I walked around trying to hear the voices and their conversation in more detail, but I couldn't really make out too much of it. Something about secret identities and being careful with them? Like I said, I couldn't really hear much from them, but they sounded like cosplayers to me. I wrote it off as just that and kept walking, although the conversation still lingered in the back of my mind.
It lingered throughout the next day and into the next night, piquing my curiosity. I took another walk to that same location where I originally heard the voices, to see if the people consistently met here. I waited a little bit and was surprised when I heard those same two voices again, just as faded as before. At this point, I was trying to find a way to get closer to the voices without them noticing, checking around the area to do this. I eventually found a building with an unlocked door, a building that was 2 stories high, no less. I grinned at this, wanting to go in right then an there. But just as I was about to open the door, the voices were gone. Frowning a little at this development, I went back home, my eagerness and curiosity never wavering, awaiting the next night.
Throughout the next day, I was just waiting for work to be over so that I could prepare. I kept wondering who was up on the roof of that building, and what they were discussing. Some of my co-workers said I was distracted, which made me pause for a moment and think to myself, “Why am I doing this?” I then thought back to all those months of boredom and stress I’ve had at this job, as well as having nothing to do at home. Then I remembered just how excited I was, how eager and curious I was to find out what was going on with those voices on the rooftop. And I held that excitement closer to me the rest of the day as I thought about how I’d prepare for that night.
I ended up spending quite a bit of money on this venture, spending it on flashlights, night vision goggles, a funnel to hear the conversation better, a notebook to record said conversation, you name it. And yet, throughout that whole venture, when I was picking out the items, when I was at the counter to buy said items, when I was walking home with the item, that thought, “Why are you doing this?” kept popping up. And by all accounts, to an outsider, it was weird and silly to go to all this effort just to eavesdrop on a simple conversation. And yet, every time, I just clung tighter onto that excitement I felt whenever I thought about my plans, all questioning going away as the time drew closer and closer.
And when the night did arrive, I excitedly got the equipment together and ran to the building. I opened the door, and turned on the flashlight, getting a good look at the place. It looked abandoned, with graffiti all over the walls, some stray moss growing on the floor, and chairs strewn all around the place in a disorganized fashion. I started to walk around the area, pointing the flashlight all over the place, looking for some stairs. After a few minutes, I eventually found some. They looked a little rickety and old, but I figured they probably worked fine as I walked up them. Throughout that walk, though, I was hoping that they didn’t creak, or else they’d alert the people above. Because of that worry, it took a little while to get up the stairs, since I was walking extra slowly to make sure nothing happened.
After I got up to the top of the stairs, though, I realized I could hear the voices a little more clearly, hearing tones and inflections. One of them was taking the matter at hand pretty seriously while the other seemed more laid-back and mischievous about it all. I wrote that down in my notebook before looking for a window to peer out of. Because despite now hearing the voices more clearly, they were still a little muffled, so I could only get about half of what they were saying. They were definitely talking about superhero stuff, particularly the mention of villains and preparations, all of which I noted down in my notebook before officially starting the search for a window.
I treaded carefully throughout my search, since the wooden floors felt old, and therefore potentially creaky. But I eventually managed to find a window, one without any coverings or screens. I turned off my flashlight and put it away, opting to put the goggles on as well as prepare the funnel. I peered out the window and looked around and up, finally getting to see the people up there. The serious one had long hair, looking and sounding feminine, while the other mischievous one had more froofy hair.
I could now hear them more clearly, catching more of their conversation. It seemed to have the theme of the mischievous guy not taking his heroic responsibilities seriously, leaving the serious person to pick up his slack. The mischievous one seemed to be dismissive, however, with an uncaring tone as he told her to calm down. I put the funnel to my ear to hear the conversation more clearly, wanting to make absolute sure I was hearing it correctly. I even stretched myself a little more out the window to try and help matters.
As I did so, the serious one’s tone got frustrated, which led me to infer that this uncaringness was a common thing that happened between these two. I kept all this in the back of my brain, notebook in my pocket and unable to be taken out yet. Although, I did feel it shift around in said pocket as I kept positioning myself. Wanting to make sure I didn’t lose it, I held a hand over the pocket opening to keep it from potentially falling out, but in order to do that, my position shifted more, which I was afraid would make noise that’d alert the two apparent heroines.
Thankfully, it didn’t seem to do so, which was probably because they were too wrapped up in their own apparent frustrations. And as a little more time went on, the two’s tones got angrier, as apparently the mischievous one had other problems that the serious one apparently didn’t seem to notice, or apparently even care to notice. It seemed like the conversation was going to turn into a full-blown argument, and I wanted to see it. Problem was, I was facing to the side to keep the funnel in my ear to hear the conversation better. So I went to put the funnel back into the building, leaning back from the window to do so.
But as I leaned back out the window to face the arguing heroes, I heard a creaking from the windowsill. Panicking, I covered my mouth, as if even the slightest breath would alert the two people above. Although, that probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference anyway, seeing as the conversation above came to a halt. The voices were quiet, and, assuming they’d start looking around to find the source, I leaned back into the building and took a few steps away from the window. But in my panicking, I wasn’t being careful of the old wooden floors, which creaked in my steps.
Throughout all of this, the voices still remained silent, which didn’t help anything as that meant I couldn’t gauge whether the two heroes could find me or not. After a minute or two, I began to hear movement. I thought for a very fleeting second that they were just moving away from the building, but my panic returned in full force as I realized that the sounds of the movement were getting closer to that window. After hastily picking up the funnel and notebook, I began to speed walk down the stairs, hoping there’d be a room in the first floor that I could hide in. But in that haste, I forgot to be careful of the rickety stairs, which creaked noisily as I went down them. Fear coursed through me as I looked through the window, not wanting to get caught and questioned. I saw a figure’s hand on one of the sides of that window, ready to come in.
Realizing that it was too late to pick a spot to hide, I just ran out the building. Adrenaline and fear were fueling my speed as I ran, hoping that no one was following me. I don’t know whether any of my equipment was dropped during my panicked run home, and I didn’t care, more focused on hearing any telltale signs that I was being followed. A few minutes later, I ended up making it back to the house. I bolted through the door, and locked it heavily, making sure to lock every window and shut every curtain I could, just to be safe. I ended up not sleeping that night, whether it be from adrenaline, fear, or just wondering what was going on during that conversation. Because despite all that, curiosity still coursed through me, and was at the forefront of my mind even throughout work. I didn’t know whether I’d eavesdrop again or not, but I did know that if I did, I’d come more prepared the next time.