Day 37: Sun Room (4th Shift)

[secret_orchard]

There were still too many things on Armand's mind for him to truly relax. The morning with Alec had been a help. And seeing that TK was going to be well helped him know that it was time to work out something else, but what? He'd already, without success again, tried to reach one of the club leaders about his sole idea of something new and different

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[razing_phoenix]

After a boring shower, Guy had checked the bulletin and organized some meetings before heading into the cafeteria for lunch. That had also been uneventful, though at least hamburgers were easy to eat. He hadn't been forced to ask anyone for help, and while it had taken him longer than normal, now that was done with.

The fact that Anise was the only person who seemed available for meeting up had Guy worried, but he tried not to get ahead of himself as he moved into the Sun Room and found a place to sit. He imagined it would be a while before the Fon Master Guardian showed up, since he didn't expect her to rush her shower or anything like that.

Still, where was everyone? Jade, the emperor, Ion, even Sync - the Sun Room was fairly empty now and while some of them could have been showering or in the Arts and Crafts room, he also hadn't seen them around at lunch. It was disconcerting

[gald_digger]

[From the showers!]Once she left the ladies' room, Anise spotted Guy in no time. Waiting patiently, just as promised! Such a gentleman. It worried her just a little that he was alone, though. Had none of the others come through the Sun Room this shift? Maybe Guy had seen them

[razing_phoenix]

Anise's smile was enough to bring one out of Guy as well, even though he couldn't help noting that hers wasn't completely genuine. He couldn't blame the girl for that, considering their circumstances and the fact that it was appearing more and more likely that their numbers were dwindling. Still, the two of them were still around, and they had each other at the very least. He would have liked to put a reassuring hand on Anise's shoulder, and he tried not to be too bothered by the fact that he couldn't.

"Oh, it's no problem," he promptly responded, motioning with his left hand for her to take a seat on the other side of the couch. It would be a safe enough distance away.

"I guess this answers your question, huh?" he asked, jostling his arm just slightly. He got a spike of pain for his trouble, but he was able to ignore it, and it faded away into a manageable ache soon enough.

[gald_digger]

Plopping down on the offered seat, Anise leaned forward with her hands on her knees, turning her body slightly to face Guy as best she could. It wasn't often that she got to sit this close to him (with his permission, anyway) and even if there were still a couple feet between them, it was kind of nice!

"Yeah," she affirmed, her voice quickly shifting from its initial playful tone to something more serious. "What happened?" There was even a hint of concern in her face. There weren't a lot of things that could take down an armed Guy, and even if it had been a regular run-in with a monster, he probably would have just said so on the bulletin instead of calling a meeting. Something was definitely up.

[razing_phoenix]

While Guy would have preferred that more of their friends were here so that he could avoid possibly having to tell the story yet another time after this, he figured that getting Anise informed was better than nothing. She had a better chance of finding Ion than he did, so she could always pass the word along.

"Sync happened," he replied with a sigh, glancing away for a moment to try and smooth out his frustration. "Me and Claude fell into a trap of his, and I got this for my trouble." He glanced down at the sling and the splint, not really appreciating the constant physical reminder of his mistake. Still, it would ensure that he tread more carefully in the future.

"It seems like he's using this whole situation to just do whatever he wants, especially since he doesn't have any orders to follow. He's more dangerous than I counted on." Then again, if he'd been properly armed maybe this wouldn't have happened, but none of them could exactly count on that.

[gald_digger]

Sync.

When she heard the name, Anise abruptly straightened in her seat. She hadn't seen the God-General since her run-in with him several days ago, and part of her had been hoping that he was just going to ignore them and do his own thing after that. Looking back, it had been a pretty naïve hope.

"Sync did that!? And to Claude, too?" As soon as the words flew out of her mouth, Anise drew her hand up to cover her mouth and gave a quick glance over her shoulders, just to make sure the boy in question wasn't around to overhear. He already snuck up on her once before in this very room, so she couldn't help but feel a little paranoid. Relieved, but not nearly relieved enough, the girl sank a bit in her seat, lowering her gaze to her lap. "So that's why his face was all messed up..." Stupid Claude. When she asked him about his injuries that morning, he left the most important part out!

Dangerous was right. While all the other patients were struggling to get by without their weapons or artes, Sync didn't have that problem: with his

[razing_phoenix]

So Anise and Claude had spoken after that had happened, then? Guy wasn't surprised to hear that his friend hadn't explained what had happened to Anise. Chances were Claude hadn't wanted to start spreading the story around unless he'd been sure that Guy was all right with it, but Anise was practically family at this point. Besides, she deserved to know

[gald_digger]

Sync, that bastard... using Ion's identity for his dirty tricks! That alone was unforgivable

[razing_phoenix]

"As low as he wants," Guy replied with a somewhat defeated sigh. With someone like Sync, who really didn't care what he did or who he hurt, they couldn't take anything for granted. He would do as he pleased without feeling a shred of regret, and they were just going to have to be prepared for that.

Which was probably why both of them were wondering if maybe Ion had already become prey to the other replica. On the other hand, if the Fon Master really wasn't around, there was a chance that what had happened with Luke and Asch had also happened with Ion and Sync.

But Ion and Sync were both replicas, while Luke and Asch were replica and original. It wouldn't work the same way, would it? Their disappearances didn't have to coincide

[gald_digger]

Anise nodded, facing her friend as calmly as she could despite her growing anxiety. "That's what I plan to do." It was why she hadn't signed up for club activities tonight: so she could check on Ion first thing, and then choose what to do from there.

She didn't know what to hope for. Anise didn't want to find out Ion had been injured or sick in bed or something like that, but her biggest fear was that she might not find anything at all. If that happened... what was she going to do?

The idea of losing Ion again was just too...

Anise could feel a lump forming in her throat, and quickly forced herself to stop thinking any more about that. There was no use getting upset over the what-ifs. She knew there wasn't. Uncomfortably, the girl crossed her arms across her chest, partly to look more composed than she felt, and partly to keep her heart from leaping right out of it. It was feeling like it just might do that

[razing_phoenix]

"Let me know tomorrow what you find out, then." Guy let out a sigh, wondering himself if he should check in on the emperor before he made his way over to the clinic tonight. Considering the man's room was right next to his, it would be no trouble to do so, and yet he was concerned about what he might find

[gald_digger]

"That's great!" Forcing a smile that wasn't quite as convincing as she would have liked, Anise dropped her arms and shifted back into her initial, more natural-looking sitting position with her hands on top of her knees. At this point, she was happy to be hearing any good news. Hopefully Guy was going to be back in action after tonight