Nearly midnight. The curtains were drawn, blinds shuttered, lights turned off - the apartment was nearly black. Pitch didn't mind that - where she came from, this was the norm, and her eyes had no problem making out details in the dark. What bugged her was the sound. Her hometown was dark, but it wasn't quiet, you'd hear all kinds of activity. Here, in the little apartment, all there was was the hum of appliances and the occasional rumble of a train passing in the distance. It was unnerving.
Most would be asleep by now, and Pitch's roommate, Root, was already out cold in their room. Pitch was exhausted, herself, but the night presented a rare opportunity for her. Her sensitive skin developed underground, and even brief exposure to sunlight would burn. She put on a light coat and stepped into the frozen midnight, to get a chance to see the world.
Outside was still quiet, but... a fuller quiet. Richer. Bugs chirped in the grass, the bulbs in the street lights gave off an electric whine, the rumble of the train felt closer and Pitch could feel the earth rumble gently. She kept her head down.
She was still new to the neighborhood, but she knew the layout well enough to plan a quick walk out. The apartment building loomed behind her, a massive concrete cube dotted with windows. It was the same kind of architecture you'd find in the underground, transplanted to the surface. Maybe it was made by an architect used to the underground. She should ask Root, sometime.
Her walk took her past the apartment building to a bridge that crossed the train tracks. The train had passed by now, and there wasn't another due for at least an hour. So Pitch reached the edge of the bridge, and began climbing down the welded metal latticework holding it up. There wasn't nearly enough stuff to climb around here.
Her roots touched the hard metal of the rails and she began walking down the track, trying to keep her balance on the steel beam. The train track was recessed into a sort of valley, and something about the arrangement made the breeze down here bite with a chill that made Pitch wish she'd dressed warmer. Nevertheless, her root-steps gently made their way to the nearest station, a few blocks away, where she pulled herself up onto the platform. The glass roof of the station let her see the sky for a moment. She made sure to close her eyes.
The same electric whine of the apartment was here, too, in large part coming from a vending machine tucked into the corner. One, two, three coins slid down the slot with a mechanical ka-chunk. Pitch reached for the fourth... only to find her coin purse empty. She swore to no one in the empty station. Payday wasn't until the end of the week.
Still, she had options. Her eyes scanned the machines contents - too sweet, she was pretty sure she was allergic to that, too expensive - ah, there was something. She stuck her finger into the rotary-phone style selection mechanism and dialed 23. A few moments later she walked away from the station, munching on some sort of granola bar.
From here, she would go-
She frowned. This tasted really bad. She wasn't buying this snack again in the future.
Anyways, from here, she would walk down another road in the direction of the apartment building. Not much of note - a charging station, a phone booth, a small park. She'd seen them before, and at this point wanted to get back inside and rest up for the coming workday.
Soon enough she was back at the apartment building. As she walked to the front door, she glanced to her left and something caught her eye. Protruding from the side of the building was a series of staggered metal rods, bent into a sort of ladder formation. Not a fire escape ladder - it was a bit too precarious for the average human or kobold. Maybe decorative? But given the rest of the design of the building, probably meant to be climbed by a plantoid. Common underground, sure, but in all her time on the surface Pitch had never encountered a structure like this.
She couldn't help but grin as she quickly scaled the side of the building.
Root's apartment was on the other side, and Pitch hefted herself onto the roof to cross it. About halfway, she paused. The next job would last a few days and she might not get the chance to see it again for a while. She didn't really want to see it, but in the same way a child doesn't want to see a horror movie. Cover your eyes, at a certain point, curiosity gets the better of you.
She looked up.
She didn't like looking up. During the day, it was nearly impossible without going blind for a half hour, sometimes more. During the night, when she could see it was arguably worse.
An empty sky, dotted with stars. The moon hung overhead like a spotlight. Pitch still had a hard time believing Root and the other surface-dwellers ever got used to it. An endless void, always looming over her, waiting for the moment her guard was down to lift her off solid ground and fling her into an abyss bigger than she could comprehend. She staggered, a wave of nausea rolling over her.
She asked Darue at one point. They told her that they had the same feelings too, growing up in the underground. But their frequent visits to the surface eventually made the fear fade away. Standing here, unable to see anything to hold onto in her field of vision, she had doubts.
She wrenched her gaze back to the roof of the building, taking deep, shuddering breaths. That was enough sky for now. She needed a breather. After a few moments passed, and she felt her nerves loosen up, she plodded to the other side of the roof and dropped down onto Root's balcony. Then, she crept inside and left the night behind.