Night 55: M41-M50 Hallway
.....Ow. Okay, uh. Was all that static really necessary? If that guy was hoping to give everyone a migraine, he was certainly on the right track. He excelled at being annoying as much as he did delivering creepy, cryptic messages. Alright. Good for you, whoever you were.
But no matter. The strange speech over the intercom was the least of the ( Read more... )
But no matter. The strange speech over the intercom was the least of the ( Read more... )
- ah. In the box, Kibitoshin's hand first met plastic, then cloth, then with a sharp pain the blade of a sword.
Jerking his hand back and snatching up the plastic of the flashlight, he turned on his light and peered down at the contents to see just what had attacked him. And, to his amazement, three different blades glinted back at him like cat's eyes: the two swords and the knife. There was even his uniform there, folded neatly at the bottom, and he hauled it out eagerly and with more than a hint of relief. It was, after all, his only link to home.
After a moment's thought he hurried to his feet and started to tear out of his Institute uniform, tugging the various layers on as quickly as possible. His first worry might have been Lightning turning up and him not having anything to give her or her friends, but now it was being half-dressed when she opened the door. That would have been beyond embarrassing, especially given the type of person she was- he had a well-informed hunch that told him she could probably eat him alive if she wanted to, but was choosing to play nice. Relatively nice. Sort of like Franziska with a little bit of impulse control.
Franziska... he'd felt bad about her all day, but every time he'd gone to the bulletin board to put up an apology he'd forced himself to turn around and walk away again. Apologising meant he had to take back what he said, and- and actually, he didn't want to. Even if this meant the end of their admittedly-one-sided friendship, he wanted to stand by it.
Argh. Why was standing by so hard?
[HEY WHAT COMES BEFORE THUNDER]
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Once she was more than a stride or two away from them, Lightning didn't bother at all with looking back at Snow and Zack. No need. She was busy with an occupied mind, anyway- primarily because, as certain as she'd sounded when talking to the two about securing the weapons, she couldn't actually make the outright promise herself that she'd be able to get it done. There were any number of things that could go wrong- on one end of the spectrum, this Kibitoshin guy could have changed his mind after her speech in the cafeteria; on the other, he could have never intended to give them to her in the first place. If that was the case and he had something spiteful planned in contrast to that sort of... eccentric conduct he'd already shown, he was in for a surprise. She was a cautious woman when she wanted to be, and dangerous always.
Keeping her own demeanor and posture steady and straight, she paused outside room 46. Then, with a deliberate motion, she knocked sharply on the door, ready for anything but not expecting much. Time to get a look at these blades.
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"Ah- just a second!" he called, knotting the sash twice and then darting over to the door, smiling a little. He'd also maybe been just a little bit worried that she wouldn't turn up at all, so that was one problem down. Assuming it was her and not a monster, but how many of those were in the habit of knocking politely?
Thankfully, when he opened the door the figure in the hallway was definitely Lightning- and just beyond her he could see a couple of other people, presumably waiting for her. The friends...? He could ask later. "Glad you could make it!" He stepped aside so that she could enter, heading to the box so that he could get the weapons and lay them out on the desk properly. "Here they are, just like I said."
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However, it wasn't all that important, and in the end she didn't really care enough to ask about it. She just stepped through the door, noting that even here the sound of her boots and movement was audible in the semi-darkness. The quiet was slightly unnerving to someone so used to the sort of bustle heard working a popular beach-town like Bodhum; even the half-tamed wilderness between the cities always had some sort of background noise, but here... hardly anything at all.
As such, to her Kibitoshin's relative cheerfulness seemed abrasive in contrast to their situation. She had to resist a sigh at his commentary- she knew it was just pleasantries, but had he really expected her not to come when he'd promised her weapons?
"Let's see, then," she answered smoothly, moving forward with her pale eyes trained solidly on what the man was doing. She really hoped that the things were in decent shape, if they'd belonged to someone else first... although then again, it was entirely possible that she'd take them anyway even if they weren't.
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One by one, he took the blades out of his box and laid them onto the desk: first the butcher's knife, then the simple sword, then the elaborately decorated one. It seemed strange seeing them laid out like that, each one with so little relationship to the other as to seem that they'd come from three different people rather than one. Stranger still when he could feel the woman's eyes on him the entire time, as though he were conducting some sort of strange ceremony rather than simply handing a few things over.
As he reached for the third sword, he felt his hand brush something else- Haseo's shoes. For a moment he hesitated. It was entirely possible that someone else in the Institute would be able to find a better use for them than letting them sit in his box... but that was almost as good as saying that Haseo would never come back. And how could he possibly admit that to himself?
"Here." He put the final weapon down and stepped back so that Lightning could get a better look at them. Even if the lightness of his tone had lost its shine a little, he still managed to smile. "Do you think you could use any of these?"
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There were several things which caught her notice- namely its weight, heavier than she expected... and its design. There wasn't anything wrong with it, as far as she could tell, but it was strange regardless- she was used to fancy things, to put it simply, since even the most utilitarian of weapons within Cocoon tended to be miniature works of art, particularly with swords and knives. However, only one of these weapons was... anything more than a completely blank slate.
And there was something else, but....
Regardless, her impromptu inspection was quick, choosing not to respond to the question until she was absolutely certain about all of them. Turning them every way she could in the limited light, she studied the edges and how they balanced in her hands. She noted the apparent difference in manufacture of the knife, the damage to the plainer sword that suggested it had come up against something that was more than its match... although it wasn't until she had both short swords in her hands that she finally guessed at their intended purpose- why this unnamed former prisoner might have had two weapons that were noticeably shorter than what would typically be considered 'normal."
Only then did she let out a breath, and glancing at Kibitoshin, flipped both swords to point the other way in her hands with a notable lack of effort. When she set them back down, it was only with great reluctance, even if she tried not to show it.
"Yes," she answered finally, "It's not what I'm used to, but... in this case, I think anything's better than nothing." There was another considerable pause as she stared towards the desk, but then she looked up to the man once more instead with a steady gaze. She wanted these weapons - all of them, actually - though first she just had to know.
"Do you know where they came from?" she asked, "Before your... friend left them to you?"
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Watching her work, he couldn't help but feel a little tug of envy. Maybe if he'd finished his training or tried a little harder, he wouldn't have had to give them away. Maybe then he might actually have been useful.
But that was a pointless thing to linger on. He was who he was, useful or otherwise, and there wasn't anything he could do especially do about it now. All that aside, he was still pleased that Lightning wanted to take them with her; she seemed like one of the best possible people to use them, and now that he'd seen her friends outside he could be sure that she wasn't just going to hoard them all to herself.
But just as he was about to tell her to go ahead and tell her to just take them all, the woman spoke again. And Kibitoshin shifted. "I... I don't really know. I never asked," he admitted. He thought on the matter for a moment. "A friend of mine might have made one of them? He has the power to create weapons, so--"
The Kaioshin broke off abruptly. Has? More like had.
The silence widened to a gulf. He struggled to find the thread of conversation again, swallowing awkwardly and trying to seem professional. "I-in any case, feel free to take them all now. Like I said, I'd rather think of them being used than just sitting around." That sounded more buoyant than he'd expected; he clung to it.
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That would explain the odd something she noticed, though- as if the two short swords had been made in an already-sharpened state despite the lack of signs of that she was familiar with from back in her own world. Of course, she wasn't exactly an expert in older-style bladed weapons - truthfully, her forte was firearms - but...
In any case, once again she suddenly found herself right on the outside of an unspoken awkward situation. Probably to be expected, after what she'd asked when she'd seen that it was a touchy subject. She looked up out of her thoughtful gaze, her lips pressing together, but said nothing. Another 'disappearance,' then? Perhaps the ability to make weapons was too good a trait for an unlucky place like this, then. A shame.
"Thank you," she answered, respectfully ignoring his awkwardness, and though her voice was neutral she meant it sincerely - as much as she was likely to ever give to someone she was completely unfamiliar with, anyway. She wondered at his motivations still, but she couldn't begrudge him his reactions as he handed them off. With her custom Blazefire Saber and survival knife, she of all people knew already that weapons often carried some significance, which was why she hadn't given even a second thought to the reverence the man had seemed to show to these. With her, even if didn't feel much like it in her hand, when she then picked up the knife again, she couldn't help but be reminded of the gift from her sister... a point of an entire storm of varying emotions. For numerous people.
"If you ever need anything..." she started then, feeling like the offer was at least a given after all this. She was careful not to promise anything, given what she so far continued to believe about the nature of the prison she'd found herself in, but the intent was there. Putting something sharp in her hands was the best thing someone had done for her so far here.
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Luckily for him, Lightning didn't seem interested on lingering on the subject- or maybe she was just being kind and sparing the both of them the awkwardness. It was hard to tell from the way she'd spoken, as though it didn't really matter either way.
And that was true, he guessed. They both had places to be, people to talk to, things to be doing. There wasn't really room in the night for hanging around and reminiscing. Maybe that had been his mistake before, getting so caught up on what had already happened that he lost track on what was happening right in front of him. But you couldn't just forget everything like that, could you? How could he possibly forget Leon or Haseo?
"You're welcome. And don't worry, if I ever need someone with a lot of weaponry, I know who to call." He managed a smile, trying to show he was mostly joking. He wouldn't really take her time like that unless he really needed to. "Though that goes for you too. I'm a healer, so if you run into trouble or something, feel free to track me down. Take care, and don't push yourself too hard, okay?" Another dry swallow. "It's dangerous out there."
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"I understand," she said quietly, and just began collecting her new acquisitions for good at that. The problem was she had no sheathe or cover for any of them, and she already knew from watching Kibitoshin remove them from his box that it was pointless to ask if they had any. With little other choice, she worked the knife into the leather sleeve of the jacket around her waist, pushing it through between the belt and her body with the material acting as insulation against stabbing herself. Of course, it was far, far from optimal, and she'd have to find another solution if she got to having to put the jacket on, but it would do for now.
With a sigh, she took a short sword in each hand again too. It was awkward, but she figured she could probably hand one off to Zack as soon as she regrouped with them right outside the door anyway.
"Keep out of trouble yourself," came the reply as she finished, although she just happened to make it sound less like a pleasantry and more like a... soft-toned order instead. And with that, she moved to leave, finding little reason to eat up any more of the time left of the night for either of them.
[ Back to here when permitting. ]
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No. He had to go out tonight, if only to prove last night wasn't just a fluke. He could survive, and he could take care of himself- and not only that, but he could take care of other people, too.
And Kibitoshin was positive there were people out there who needed taking care of. It hadn't felt like his meeting with Lightning had gone on all that long, but who knew in terms of the way time worked here? It could have been hours for someone else. Maybe seconds.
... that was too creepy for words.
His mind made up, Kibitoshin picked up his flashlight again and drew in a slow, deep breath. It shook, in spite of himself. This had the potential to get hairy- but he could handle it. Would have to, really.
[to here]
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