Nightshift 20, Outside Room F1

[lustful_thing]

Lust ignored the intercom for the most part. She was tired, her body drained and in need of rest. When the damned radio began spewing nonsense, she finally roused herself from bed. She retrieved her blades and slipped them on, realizing she had no plan whatsoever. She rarely did, but at least she generally had someone to meet up with. Not

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[clockmongler]

[Coming from here.]

It was a slow trek from M2 to the F1 hall, what with having to carry a worn out II along with him (Luxord never did say he was winning an award for strength), but Aesop seemed keen on saying that 'slow and study won the race'. Clearly, the man never once dealt with a time limit before blood hungry demons bounded on him.

F3, F3… Had that not been what Naminé said during breakfast before that nuisance of a replica interrupted them? He was sure of it, truly... The Gambler glanced around the area, still cursing whom ever had the gall to steal his flashlight the first night he was there and his staggering inability to get around any faster. But F3 was right there, as promised. Sadly, he hadn't the hands to open the door at the moment. He said no words, merely nodded his head in the direction of the handle to Xigbar.

[numberii]

"Got it, got it." Of course, being dragged around wasn't a walk in the park either; his ribs were feeling sore from where Luxord's bony shoulders dug into them, his arm starting to fall asleep as it was slung across those self-same shoulders. A refreshing stroll, this was not. But for Xigbar, who'd been through much worse, it wasn't too bad.

He pried open the handle, shoving it with his free hand and wincing in pain. Still hurt, still achey. That would teach him to keep in his bounds.

[clockmongler]

Bony?! Lines, all lies! With the door open, Luxord wasted no time to slink inside, opening his mouth to call out the girl… who was not in her room. It felt as if a bolt of lightening has struck the Gambler, his mind's odd attempt at anger, surprise, or whatever it was trying to create making him crunch down on the candy cane in his mouth. She wasn't here! Where could she possibly have gone?! What if something bad did happen and-

Noticing he had been squeezing the other's wrist, he loosened his grip, quietly making his way over to the bed so II could rest there. Naminé had to be close by, shouldn't she? They didn't that that long, did they? Since they were here though, perhaps the files they took earlier would be here as well. They would be rather helpful in showing what exactly the doctors had on them, in any case, then he could find Naminé. Wherever she went… oh, she was not going to hear the end of this, not for a long time!

[numberii]

"Huh... looks like the bird's flown the coop. Told ya, X. And she knew I was comin', too; makes you wonder, don't it?"

Xigbar was just as shocked as Luxord was, but that hardly meant he was going to show it.

And now that the Gambler had released his death-grip on Xigbar's hand, he felt a little better. Sitting down was even better, and II quickly flopped full out, to put some ease on his aching back. And aching everything else. "So now what?"

[clockmongler]

"I don't know," he replied in what one could assume was frustration. Now that Xigbar was taken care of, Luxord began scourging the room, looking this way and that for where Naminé put those bloody files… Half way through checking under the bed, the Gambler spoke up once more. "She knew VII, XI, and XII were going to be present. After what they put her through, I think I understand her actions," he muttered from his position, arm stretching to see if anything were placed there (which, as it turned out, nothing wasIt took the next three minutes and six seconds for Luxord to realize Naminé put them in the one place he considered too obvious to check; the drawers. He stared back at the folders who might as well have been giggling in mockery at him, blinking once in disbelief at that waste of time. "Well." He picked up the two manila folders and dropped them next to where II was located on the bed. "The staff here made these. Naminé and I found them two nights ago in the File Room, though in your state, I'd advise not to go there. Some

[numberii]

That one eye tracked Luxord as he flailed about the room, lazily considering the other Nobody as he searched in every single nook and cranny. He wasn't sure what the Gambler was looking for, but by the way he tore everything up, it had to have been important.

Then the other grabbed the manila folders from the one place they should have been, and as soon as Xigbar picked them up, he laughed. Oh... oh, it wasn't often he saw such a waste of time over something so small, but he had to live it up while he could. "Having some eyesight problems, X? Or just outsmarted by a kiddie?"

Let's see, let's see... he flipped through the files, Luxord's first, and scrutinized it. "That reminds me, you never did talk about your Other. Tell me so I can see what's what?"

[clockmongler]

Luxord could only glower at the man, hands balling into fists. "I assure you, my eyes are fine. I merely did not look there because it would have been a place the staff would check. I thought Naminé was smarter than to hide them there." At the mention of his Other, however… the glare vanished and was placed by something unreadable. He did say he would tell, didn't he…? It was too late to take that back.

He sat down on the side of the bed, facing away from II. It was water under the bridge now, but it never was something particularly enjoyed speaking of. IV, V, and VI knew the most about it, and even then, the Gambler had taken their file (it did not stop VI from using it as means to make him snap, however). "He was insane," not the best start, and the blond isn't shook his head, trying to reword it. "He-… he went insane in an asylum, after his father placed him there. The Mister of Justice had killed his mother during a manhunt for some gypsy-woman, and his father said he needed to hide in a place where no one would look. They couldn

[numberii]

"Huh." Paris, was it? Made sense, with how Luxord sounded and everything else, but it was certainly something to think of. And now he knew how it tied in with the report in his hand, which made things much easier. Daddy issues, problems with authority... Xigbar was willing to bet that Luxord had some other things just lurking under the surface.

If he was III, the Freeshooter would have started searching them out right that second. But as it was, he'd leave all of that for later. He was too sore to go anywhere.

"So you went crazy and joined up with us, and went even more crazy? No wonder you're in the loony bin with the rest of us. Definitely got a lotta guts to pull that off. Kinda what you get for listening to someone else and not using your own noodle, though. Just think; if you'd ditched your old man and gotten out, you'd be not-so-whacked."

Of course, the fine art of empathy was thoroughly lost on Xigbar. Nor did he particularly care to not hide his calls once he had made them.

[clockmongler]

"I did not leave because he didn't tell me to. I did not leave the place because I couldn't," it seemed easier to correct the mistakes than go over details for some reason, and blond relaxed slightly as he spoke more. "There was a manhunt going on to find this woman. The Judge looking for her set guards at every exit and was systematically burning the city to the ground. We-…They," he corrected himself, "couldn't go back to London even if they wanted to; the best idea was to wait it out somewhere safe."

"The problem was that his father convinced the staff he was insane. They wouldn't let him out until he was 'better', and since this was… 1482, I believe, they still practiced this little thing where they tied their patients in chains. Getting up and leaving wasn't that simple." The void expression vanished as he grinned, eyeing something distant and most likely not there at all. "He couldn't take me out. Why do you think I skinned him alive?"

[numberii]

"Mm... yep, in my professional medical opinion, you're nuts. Dude, you shoulda let us know earlier, otherwise you might have gotten a pad of your own. And here I thought you were at least a little stable." Oh yeah, Xiggy was grinning the more he heard, not surprised in the least to hear about all those problems. About par for the course, for the Organization.

Maybe that anonymous poster had a point, after all?

"Now, if I remember right, asylums like that had other nice things, too. Didn't give lights at night, for one thing; that meant sometimes rats would get a nice helpless meal, and when the morning came the good docs could write it all off as animal damages, or acts of God, or whatever. And the cells weren't sound proof, so if one crazy got to yowling the whole place would go off. Man, haven't heard anything that'd twist my tummy quite like that."

A pause, then he looked at Luxord. "They have anything like that over there in Paris?"

[clockmongler]

"Well, I apologize for having the common courtesy of not going completely batshit on you when I first arrived. And I'm quite capable of being stable," well, that went better than expected (which would have sounded wrong to anyone else, but he meant it). It was nice to have that off his chest as well. But at the last question, the Gambler tilted his head to glance at the other, expression serious once more. "No. Not anymore."

The grin came back though, just as quick as it left. "It was pretty much abandoned after the Heartless attacks and the murders."

It crossed his mind that he should be looking for Naminé, and he frowned once more. She had to be nearby… She was smart enough not to wander far in a place like this.

[numberii]

"'Common courtesy'? As if! Man, you're supposed to let your buds know how bad it is before you're thrown into life-and-death deals. If you have some weird phobia or something, it's a pain for all of us." He paused for a moment, then raised one finger with a smirk. "Oopsie-daisy, forgot who was the welcome wagon. You can tell me, and I'll even keep VI in the dark about it. Just so you know."

As the grin faded and returned, Xigbar felt his own widening as well. "Ah, so that's how it was? Man, that had to be some Fourth of July fireworks show. Killing them with chains and skinning your old man with cards? That's a way to make an impression!"

Of course, II had rather lost sight of the 'mission' in the tale and his good-natured ribbing thereafter. That, and it was rather more Luxord's mission than his own now; once he was put back on track he'd be happy to get back to work, but for now it was mostly fun and games. Besides, who knew where the witch had toddled off to?

[clockmongler]

"Zexion already knows," he replied with a shake of the head, oddly grinning despite the conversation at hand. "Ever wonder why I always got away with not having to take shots?" That first and only attempt at it had ended… less than pleasantly, but it still ended with him being excused from any sort of injections (not that VI would listen, that rat bastard…). "But the information itself is a tad useless here. I've not the power to turn them into cards and attempt to rip them to pieces in their paper state, so, obliviously, a little hysterical screaming and punching orderlies get you nowhere." A frown at that. It was right in the file to not bring out those damn syringes, yet they did it anyway. Repetitively, he might add; they even did it this morning

[numberii]

"VI knows everything, dude, or he'll worm it out eventually. I've just got one little secret from him, and you wouldn't believe how hard it was to keep that from him. So it was better telling him than anyone else. ...not that I'd tell him anyway, but I swear he's a real head-shrinker. Kinda scary."

Coming from II, that was quite the compliment. Then again, Luxord knew better than most what the Manipulator could do, didn't he?

The older Nobody flipped through Namine's files, tapping his chin as he read on. Not that there was anything particularly interesting, but... still. "Got killed by a snot-nosed brat. Me, the dude that gets parties started in our little shindig. The old goat does his thing, we get traitors everywhere... dude, how'd everything go to hell like that? We were there, everything was dancing along like the Superior wanted, and then all of this?"

It was still hard to believe. And it meant that he had failed, most of all. That grated on his nerves, more than anything else did. Falling to that punk...to distract his

[clockmongler]

Having had enough of being awake, Luxord merely shut his eyes, nodding along with whatever II was saying. It wasn't until the mention of the Keybrat that he began paying attention once more, grinning sadistically at the Freeshooter's complaints. Of course, the boy beat him. He beat everyone without a second glance, and then came back for seconds. The boy was a killing machine, and even if Luxord himself was killed, he knew enough to not pit himself against the kid if the boy was at full strength.

But hey, if Xigbar wanted to touch the stove no matter the constant warnings that it was hot, the Gambler would not stop him. Let him get burned. Then they would have something to laugh about later while drowning out the world with rum and whiskey.

Eyes still closed, the blond managed to yawn out a 'file room' before covering his mouth with his hand. Did he not say earlier that some sticky mummy almost killed him in that room? "You're in no shape to go in there now. I suggest tomorrow."

[numberii]

Of course, being said that something couldn't be done, or that he was in no shape to do something, was more than enough for Xigbar to be convinced that he had to at least try to do it. And heaven help him if there was actually something there that wanted to eat him, as he wasn't entirely sure he could even walk in a straight line, let alone run fast enough to get out alive.

But where was the fun if everything was certain?

"Tomorrow? As if! There's too much to do to wait until tomorrow. I'm going to the meeting first, and you're coming with, and after that I'm dragging my pile of bones down to the file room and doing a little digging. Tomorrow? Mm... I think I'm gonna scold Namine a little for wandering off like that. Among some other things."

Getting up was a pain, but if anyone knew how to deal with pain and bear it, it was Xigbar. That a great deal of that pain was self-inflicted hardly mattered in the grand scheme of things.