Day 53: Sun Room, Morning

[scarefaux]

With breakfast finished and a new acquaintance made, the Scarecrow's mind turned to his other friends. The disappearance of Depth Charge's friend had brought back memories of how he'd felt when Kaiji went missing: helpless, useless, as though he should have and could have done something more to find him. If only he had his brain, then maybe he

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[razing_phoenix]

The conversation he'd had with Claude had been necessary, but that didn't make it any less draining. As Guy was led from the cafeteria out into the Sun Room, he couldn't help wishing that he could just go back to his room to get some rest. Claude had been extremely understanding about everything, but there was still a lot that they needed to get through. He still had to consider his friend's offer to just spend the coming night sorting through all of it. Part of him thought it was a waste of time, but if they let this stew for too long, who knew what would happen.

However, as much as he wanted to just go and hide away in his room for a while, Guy knew that that wasn't an option. He had people to talk to, information to gather and also to give out. Natalia was at the front of his mind, since he'd left her hanging on the bulletin board and he already felt guilty enough about that. But it was the sort of thing that he wanted to tell her in person, even if he was pretty sure she'd already figured out what had happened.

Maybe not the full extent of it, though -- that both Luke and Asch were likely gone, if she'd even gotten to see Asch in the first place. To find out he'd been here and she'd missed her chance to talk to him again would probably crush her.

Upon stepping into the room, however, Guy didn't see any sign of the princess. He let out a sigh and allowed a nurse to steer him to an empty spot, where he bodily fell onto the couch cushion and leaned against the armrest. Resting his chin in his hand, he watched the door from the cafeteria, keeping an eye out for Natalia and doing his best not to appear as tired as he felt.

He couldn't help wondering if she'd had to face a shadow of herself, and if so, what it had said to her.

[For Natalia.]

[nobleobliged]

Breakfast had remained, overall, a grim affair. Natalia's appetite, reduced, had barely stomached half a waffle and the fruit; she'd mostly nursed her juice and wished she was better able to lift both their spirits. Not that it had not been good to spend time with Anise, even under such solemn circumstances. When the intercom announced the closure of the meal and the move to another room, Natalia bid the girl a reluctant good-bye.

As she walked the short distance to the Sun Room, Natalia thought back to her posting. Within the room, she stopped at the Bulletin Board and looked over the replies, lingering on Guy's. A few disappearances -- and a promise to speak later. Anise had neither spoken to nor seen Guy the night before, thus he could only mean Luke or Asch, and for him to say a few cast a definitive cloud of foreboding.

Perhaps now was the later to which he'd referred. Turning from the board, her eyes swept the room, seeking the former servant. Her enthusiasm, her desire to meet again with Guy was tempered not only by the topic, but by the dregs of her shadow's words. Keeping them at bay (leech, burden, unable to--), Natalia found him seated on a couch, the seat beside him not yet taken. A remarkable thing, given the speed at which the room had filled. A beat of hesitation, her hand curling at her chest, before Natalia forced herself into a quick stride forward. Once standing over him, she attempted to smile, though staring her shadow's hauteur in its identical face put a damper on her own in this moment. The words issued weak and halting.

"Goodness, Guy, you look almost bored. Shall I entertain you?"

[razing_phoenix]

In the end, she found him without him even having to wave her over, and Guy made sure to straighten in his seat as she approached. Still, that hadn't stopped Natalia from noticing his earlier posture, and Guy was merely relieved that she had read it as bored rather than troubled. So he was still as good at putting on that mask as ever.

"There's no need for that," he said with a smile. "Let's just talk." He wasn't even sure what Natalia would have done had he answered yes to that question, but perhaps it was better not to find out.

Scooting as close to the armrest as he could, he motioned to the other side of the couch. It occurred to him that this was where they had been when they'd first spoke, and he could see this becoming a tradition if they weren't careful. There was nothing wrong with that, of course. The Sun Room was as good as any setting for a conversation.

Speaking of which, he needed to deliver his news before Natalia started to badger him. He was honestly surprised that she hadn't started firing questions at him like arrows just yet. So, where to begin...

"Did you know of Asch's presence here?" he asked first. Once he had that out of the way, he'd decide how to best handle telling her the rest of it.