Day 41: Lunch

[perfectrecord]

Just as von Karma started to enter the doorway leading to the Courtyard to look around for anyone remotely resembling his daughter, that pretentious lunatic's voice rang out over the Intercom, heralding the approach of lunch time. Right away, the damned nurse practically dragged him back into the cafeteria and towards the serving tables, telling

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[full_score]

Okay, so his conversation with his father probably could have gone a little better, but at least it hadn't gone worse. Then again, Dad had never really been the sort who thought the worst of people, much less had an explosive temper. Most importantly, though, Claude had gone ahead and cleared up the name issue, so hopefully it wouldn't be a problem later. If his father was wary of him now because of it, then with a bit of luck it'd clear up over time. Really, the whole thing had been awful stupid of him now that he thought back on it. But hindsight was 20/20, right?

He hadn't really gotten to eat much during breakfast, so Claude was actually pretty hungry by the time everyone was herded into the cafeteria again. The room wasn't too crowded yet, so, thankfully, it didn't take him long to go through the line and put some food on his plate. Not the healthiest choice, but Claude had always considered himself a bit of a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy anyway, so he didn't mind so much.

Once he stepped out of the line, he paused long enough to glance around for Leon or Sync. Neither of them seemed to be around yet, but Claude reminded himself that he'd have to keep an eye on them, at least from a distance. For now, he'd already arranged to speak to Guy. If he could make one less thing blow up in his face, then it was probably for the best.

His friend was sitting by the door, which made it pretty easy to pick him out. Claude approached him with a vaguely uncertain smile.

"Hey, how're you feeling?" he asked as he sat down across from him.

[razing_phoenix]

As usual, Guy hadn't had to wait too long before Claude made good on their appointment and showed up. He sent the younger man a smile that, while more certain that Claude's, was still mild.

He wasn't surprised by Claude asking after him, and sent a glance down to his hip before shrugging. "I'm well enough to get around, so that's what matters. But I got off the easiest out of all of us. How are you? Are you feeling any lingering effects of the poison?"

He knew the chances of that were slim, but it was best to check. Claude looked much better today than he had last night, that was for sure. It was good to see his friend's face in the light of day (even if it was only artificial) rather than pained and paling in a dark room.

Not wanting to jump to the chase too quickly in case the matter at hand was a sensitive one, Guy grabbed one of the "French fries" and started to nibble on it.

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((lol airport wi-fi))

Well, it was good to know Guy was holding up all right. Apparently no one else had suffered any effects from the poison after all. It was weird that Claude had been the only one who'd been poisoned, but he knew he ought to be grateful it hadn't happened to the rest of their group.

"No," Claude replied, "I'm feeling a lot better today, actually." He rubbed the back of his neck, looking a little sheepish. "I know I already told you and Dias this over the board, but thanks again for watching my back." The blond gave a small sigh. "I'll try not to get in everyone's way again in the future."

Not that Dias and Guy were acting put out with him over what had happened. But Claude still took responsibility for letting himself fall into that position in the first place. Dampened powers or not, he would have to push himself more if they were going to fully explore the basement someday.

Either way, Guy was no doubt wondering why he'd asked to meet with him personally. It was probably better to get down to business instead of beating around the bush. "Anyway, there are a couple of things I wanted to talk to you about."

Aside from explaining the stuff about his dad, he needed to check to see if Guy would be interested in getting Leon to make a sword for him. It was tempting to just talk about the latter first, but Claude knew he'd just be using it as an excuse to put it off. No, it was probably better to go ahead and get the less pleasant stuff out of the way first.

"I guess I should start with the original reason why I wanted to see you today," he added after a moment. After another pause, he lowered his voice a little. "Have you, um, run into anyone named Ronixis recently?"

[razing_phoenix]

[♥! Hope your trip is going smoothly.]

Guy could at least be glad that the poison Yuffie had linked to her weapon (or however it worked) was pretty weak. If Claude was already feeling better without any sort of antidote, then it hadn't been nearly as dangerous as Guy had feared it might be last night.

He was immediately prepared to wave Claude off when he started offering apologies and words of thanks. "It's fine," he said. "We were watching each other's backs. I mean, it's because of you that I didn't get hurt any worse," he pointed out. It was mere chance that Claude had suffered the most damage, so Guy didn't think he needed to beat himself up about it.

He was about to explain how exactly the poison worked so that Claude could maybe lose some of his guilt, but then the younger man started getting to the whole point of the conversation and Guy decided it was better that he leave that until later. He kept working at his lunch as he waited for Claude to get to the point.

He was definitely sensing some hesitation from his friend, which caused Guy to brace himself for -- well, he couldn't really even guess at what this was about, but he could assume that it wasn't something pleasant. The fact that it had to do with another patient made it potentially even worse.

"Don't think so," he said with a shake of his head. "I'm pretty sure I'd remember that name if I heard it." He wanted to start asking questions, but he knew that Claude was going somewhere with this, and so he was patient.

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[Thanks!]

At first, Claude hadn't known what Guy was referring to, but then he remembered how he'd shoved him out of the way when that girl had first attacked them. Claude hadn't thought much of it at the time since it'd been so instinctive, but he figured Guy had a point. His friends hadn't done anything for him that he wouldn't have done for them, right?

"I guess so," he admitted, feeling a little better about it now. "If we hadn't have been around for each other, it could have been worse."

He could have kept focusing on that, but he knew he had, other things he needed to talk about, too. Honestly, Claude hadn't expected Guy to have run into his dad. There were so many captives here, it would have been easy for them to have never met. Still, he figured he ought to at least check, and he couldn't help but feel a little relieved that they were still strangers.

"Yeah, it's a pretty distinct name, huh?" he said after a moment. Even without such a giant reputation attached to it, it was a name that was hard to forget. (And a much more distinct name than something like "Claude".) Falling quiet again, he turned and glanced around the cafeteria until he caught sight of the man. Claude tried to be discreet as he nodded over toward his direction. "He's over there, sitting next to Dias." Never mind that the idea of them talking together was still really surreal, but he'd have to get over that sooner or later. "I first ran into him a couple days ago."

Simple enough, except he was sure Guy was wondering where the hell he was going with all this. There wasn't really any easy way to explain it, though, so it was probably best to just get out with it. "The truth is, he's..." Claude rubbed the back of his neck again, and he averted his gaze. "Well, he's my dad, but he has no idea I'm his son."

[razing_phoenix]

It was exactly for reasons like last night that running around on one's own was a bad idea. Guy knew that some stubborn patients still did it, but he always wondered how many of them actually survived. It was a morbid thought, but it was also the sad truth of the matter. If those people could work past their pride and make a friend (or even just an ally), they would be that much more likely to eventually get out of this place in one piece.

Luckily, Guy was used to working and fighting in groups, and so making the basement runs with Claude and Dias hadn't been a problem. It was odd to be doing it with them instead of Anise and Luke, but he knew his friends had their own business to see to. Come to think of it, though -- he hadn't seen Luke yet today. He hoped his friend hadn't gotten into any trouble last night.

Claude was talking again, though, and Guy nodded at the comment about the name and then turned as subtly as he could in the direction that Claude indicated. Luckily, Dias was easy to pick out in a crowd, and so Guy soon pinpointed the man he was speaking with. He looked normal enough from afar, but that didn't necessarily mean anything.

Finally, Claude was getting to the point, and when the pin dropped Guy wasn't sure what to think for a moment. How could a guy that young be Claude's father? Though the fact that he didn't know probably meant that he had been taken from a time when he was much younger, which was just downright strange. Guy couldn't even imagine what it would be like to meet a younger version of one of his parents, though that also had something to do with the fact that he had barely known them.

Still, what if someone like his sister showed up here? He didn't even want to think about it.

"He's... oh, wow," Guy said, knowing that it wasn't a very intelligent response and yet not being able to produce much better at first. "Well, that's probably got to be one of the strangest things you've ever experienced, huh? How have you been dealing with it?"

[full_score]

Guy was probably right about this being one of the strangest experiences of his life, although he wasn't sure if it was any stranger than being whisked away to new planets, or seeing someone get possessed by dragons, or waking up in Landel's, or running into a version of his father who called himself Ronald Appleby. Now that he took the time to reflect on all that, he realized his life was pretty damn strange sometimes. Running into his father from 20 years into the past was like the icing on the cake or something.

In all honesty, he hadn't expected Guy to ask about how he was dealing with it. Claude fell silent for a moment, unsure of how to answer. As he collected his thoughts, he took a sip of his juice.

"Seeing him is sort of like looking at my parents' old wedding pictures," he finally said. "It doesn't feel real at all, you know?" Claude sighed, frowning to himself. "He's a great man, a hero back home, so I know some people would say not to worry, but Dad is..."

He hesitated, idly pushing some of his food around on his plate. Divulging details about his father's fate didn't seem like the best idea right then. For one, he wasn't so sure he had the heart for it. The whole thing was so horrible, and Claude wasn't exactly proud of the hand he'd had in all of it. And even then, it seemed wrong to burden Guy with something like that. He was already imposing enough as it was.

"Potential time paradoxes aside, I'd never forgive myself if something happened to him here," he quietly said. "But it's still so good to see him alive and well, and--" The younger man stopped and rubbed the back of his neck again.

"It's...complicated," he added with a faint smile. "Sorry, I'm probably not making much sense, am I? It's kind of you to ask about me, but I'm really all right." He wasn't even sure if he'd really answered Guy's question.

But when it came down to it, he still hadn't forgiven himself for what had ultimately happened. Claude had said and done a lot of things he knew he'd never be able to take back, and while avenging his father's death had been the only way he could have even hoped to pay for his sins, it would never bring back the Calnus, or its crew, or his father. Up until now it'd been easy to focus on other things, but seeing Dad again like this, with no idea of the things that had gone on between them before, was like a sock to the gut.

"Anyway," he added with what he hoped was a little more surety in his voice, "I guess the important thing is for me to figure out what to do now that he is here."

[razing_phoenix]

Guy wasn't sure he knew what wedding pictures were, except that they might be something like portraits. If that was the case, then he could understand what Claude was getting at. While all the paintings of his parents had burned along with their home (leaving Guy with nothing to remember them by), he still felt like he would somehow know it was them if he saw them again.

Not that he wanted to. Seeing a replica of his sister had been bad enough.

Claude definitely seemed conflicted about the whole thing, and Guy was sure that it would have been the same for him. He figured Claude knew his father a little better, though, which made it stranger, in a way. Time discrepancies were the name of the game around here, but this sounded so severe that it was hard for him to even wrap his head around. No wonder Claude had wanted to talk to someone about it. (Though did Dias know?)

When Claude mentioned that it was good to see his father alive and well, Guy caught the implication that that wasn't the case in Claude's time period. He frowned subtly and almost wanted to ask about it, but seeing how his friend hadn't said it outright, it was completely possible that he didn't want to talk about it. Guy wouldn't have wanted to talk about Mary if he didn't have to, either.

It was good to hear that Claude was all right despite it all, even though Guy wasn't sure how truthful his friend was being about it. Still, the fact that Claude trusted him enough to tell him about all of this was a good sign, and so Guy wasn't going to push him too hard. If the younger man really started having a tough time of it, then he had to know that Guy would be there to talk to him about it.

"Yeah," he agreed, "I guess there's a lot to consider. I mean, do you plan on... telling him the truth, ever?" It seemed wrong to keep something like that from a person, but would Ronixis really be able to handle knowing? A child was no small matter, and there was a chance that Claude's father (man, that was weird) wasn't ready to deal with that at his current age.

"If not, I guess the best thing would be to try and befriend him," he suggested. "If he's a hero like you said, then he should be able to take care of himself, right?" Unless he was a hero in some way that didn't have to do with combat.

[full_score]

Claude had to take pause at the question. How would Dad even react to something like that? Claude couldn't imagine what it'd be like if he ran into his own kid from the future. Granted, he was 19, and his dad was in his late 30s now, so maybe knowing he eventually had a child after all would be great news to him.

Then again, it was also true that he'd been a widower before his second marriage to Mom. Claude had never really heard him talk much about his first wife, but he knew that her death was something he always carried with him, even if he obviously hadn't let it hold him back in life. Still, maybe finding out he had a son in a second marriage would stir up wounds he hadn't quite patched up yet.

"I...don't know," Claude admitted finally. "It seems unfair to keep it from him, but I'm not sure telling him would be such a good idea, either. He might think I'm crazy, or he might not be ready to deal with having a son, or it might cause some kind of time paradox, and I wouldn't ever be born."

Not that bringing him to Landel's wasn't a paradox by itself, but it was still something he was a little anxious about. The most important thing was to consider his father's feelings, though. Claude felt like he at least owed that much to him.

"But you're right," he said with a small smile. "I've been trying to talk to him, so that's one thing I can do." He sent another subtle glance toward his father, and the smile faded. "But I don't think he really does much in the way of close-range combat, even in his prime. And if his powers are weakened, I'm not so sure where that'll leave him at night."

But that wasn't Guy's problem. It was Claude's duty to look after his family, so he would have to constantly check on him while they were stuck here. Still, he wasn't sure he trusted himself to do it completely alone.

"I know you've already got your hands full as it is," he added, "but if you could just kinda, I don't know...keep in mind that he's here and help him out if you see he's in a bad spot, I'd be very grateful."

[razing_phoenix]

It was true that the possible consequences of Claude telling his father about his -- well, his existence -- were pretty numbered. The time paradox thing was just the tip of the iceberg, although Guy didn't know that it was too much of a concern. Landel's had already messed with time so much that there wasn't much they could do to try and repair it. All they could do was hope that things weren't horribly broken in terms of time when they got out of here.

So Claude's father didn't fight close-range? That was sort of surprising to hear. Guy had subconsciously been assuming that if the man was skilled in combat, then it would be with a sword, but it wasn't like children always took after their parents. He wondered if the man used a bow like Natalia or maybe casted spells from a distance like Tear.

Of course, thinking about his friends just made him start to miss them all over again, and so Guy stopped considering that pretty quickly.

At Claude's request, though, Guy straightened in his seat and nodded diligently. "Of course," he said with a smile, taking another glance in Ronixis' direction so that he could commit the man's appearance to memory. He wasn't sure what the chances were that he would actually be at the right place at the right time to help the man when he was in danger, but he'd still do his best.

Guy wasn't really sure if Claude wanted him to interact with his father any more than that, but he didn't know how he should ask. It would be weird to just wander over and talk to Claude's dad, but at the same time Guy was kind of curious to see what the man was like.

Well, he might as well ask. Claude would be honest about it, right? "Would you mind if I... talked to him sometime? You know, just if I see him on his own at some point or something." Guy shrugged, doing his best to be casual about it.

[full_score]

Claude gave an apologetic smile when Guy assured him he'd at least help look out for his father. He still felt bad about dumping all this on him, but at least his friend was being very understanding. Even though Dias was already helping him, it was nice to know he also had someone like Guy on his side. Between them and Leon, and some of the other nice people he'd met at Landel's, it made mornings like the one with Sync seem like nothing.

"Thank you," he said, and he meant it. He felt so lucky to have a friend like Guy. Meeting him was, at the very least, something good that had come out of this hell hole.

He was a bit stunned, however, when Guy asked if he could talk to his dad. Really, Claude guessed he shouldn't have been surprised. If some of Guy's family had been brought here, he'd likely want to see them. Heck, if Dias and Leon had family here, Claude would be interested in talking to them, too.

And yet the thought seemed to turn his half-empty stomach into a cage full butterflies. Maybe he'd eaten a bit too fast, and the topic of conversation had made digesting his food a bit harder? It seemed like an irrational way to feel about something like that. The thought of Dias talking to Dad was strange, but not enough to make him nervous. Given all the problems surrounding his relationship with his father, though, maybe his feelings were justified.

"O-oh, I wouldn't mind!" he finally answered with a bright grin. And, really, weird butterflies aside, there wasn't really any problem with Guy talking to Dad. "To be honest, he could probably do with more friends here. Anyway, you don't need to ask my permission or anything! I mean, it's not like I'm the dad here, right?" He gave a strained laugh that eventually tapered off into a chuckle, and then a strange silence.

Okay, that was kind of awkward.

"Anyway!" He took another sip of his drink, trying to act as normal as possible. "Sorry to drop all that on you all of a sudden, and thanks again. But, hey! I got some pretty good news. It's about a sword."

It was a pretty obvious change in subject, but he'd pretty much said everything he'd needed to say about his dad, and Claude really didn't want to be a downer if he could help it.

[razing_phoenix]

Maybe it hadn't been the best idea to ask after all. Even though Claude was trying his hardest to act like it was no problem, Guy couldn't help but notice that he was acting off, especially with that terrible joke that he threw out all of a sudden. Guy actually had to fight not to cringe at that.

It made him unsure about whether or not he should actually go ahead with talking to Ronixis . He decided he would play it by ear. He didn't want to make Claude uncomfortable when he didn't have to, so he'd just have to see how much his curiosity about Ronixis held out. If he kept feeling like he should go up and talk to the guy sometime, then maybe he would.

"All right," he said, if only because it would be weirder if he didn't respond after all that. "I guess we'll see."

Before he could get any further, Claude rushed onto a new topic, though it was a potentially interesting one. "A sword, huh?" Even though Guy was already waiting on a weapon from Okita's friend, he might as well hear Claude out. "What's up?"

[full_score]

Claude couldn't help but sigh a little. Even after his attempts to act like he was okay with it, it was possible Guy wouldn't talk to him after all. He really did want to see Dad make good friends here. If he couldn't because of Claude's own hang-ups, then that would be pretty terrible.

He considered reiterating that, but after a brief moment of hesitation, he decided to just let it go for now. As it was, he'd probably already made an idiot of himself.

When Guy asked about the sword, he leaned forward a little. "Well, I don't know if I mentioned this to you before, but heraldry can be used for alchemy, although it's a different technique than the one the alchemists here seem to use."

Grinning, he added, "Anyway, Leon has been studying pretty hard, and he thinks he's able to make weapons now. If you want, we could put you at the top of his list for when he decides to open up shop."

[razing_phoenix]

Guy was pretty surprised to hear that Leon was actually at the point where he could make weapons. While the kid had seemed mature for his age, that was still pretty impressive. It also seemed like heraldry was capable of all sorts of things, seeing how it might even be able to work as an energy source. Guy hadn't been following that lead much recently, though it had been hard to stay on-track ever since the emperor had disappeared.

"That's... really nice of you to offer," he said with a smile. "I'm actually already on a list, though, and... I think my turn should be coming up soon, so I wouldn't want to take up Leon's time."

Besides, Okita had been working at getting him a sword for a while now, so it wouldn't have felt right to suddenly back out of that because he got another offer. Maybe his roommate wouldn't mind, but he didn't want to commit to anything yet.

"I guess I'll ask about how long it'll be until it's my turn, and if it's still going to be a while then maybe I'll tell them not to worry about it," he said with a shrug. He didn't want to be wishy-washy, but he was pretty sure that Claude would understand.

[full_score]

Claude had known he was on a list of some sort, but he'd certainly been waiting a long time, hadn't he? He hadn't been in Landel's quite as long as Guy, and he'd had a sword for a good few days now. Maybe the list Guy was on was really long? Still, if there were shorter lists out there, why didn't he just move his name over to one?

"Well, Leon was the one who asked me if there was anyone I knew who needed anything before he put up a note on the board," Claude told him. "I don't think he would have said anything if he'd thought it was any trouble."

Of course, if Guy didn't want to offend the people he'd originally signed up with, maybe he needed to talk to them first after all. Claude could get that. He'd probably feel the same way if he were in his shoes.

"Sounds fair to me," he replied. "I mean, you already have the metal for it and everything, so they can't blame you for finding someone else if it turns out it's going to be awhile longer after all, can they?"

Maybe it would have been better to just wait if it were something trivial, but having the right weapon could really be a matter of life and death under certain circumstances. As far as Claude was concerned, the sooner Guy got a sword that was better suited for his fighting style, the better.

[razing_phoenix]

It was really nice for Leon to have made that sort of offer in the first place, and so Guy was grateful to both him and Claude for thinking of him before anyone else. On the other hand, he would be that much more helpful on those basement runs if he actually had the right kind of sword. (Though he wasn't sure that it would have helped in a case like last night's, for instance.)

"Yeah, I don't think it'll be a huge deal, but if my turn is coming up soon then I might as well stick it out," Guy said with a shrug. It was helpful that he already had the metal ready, though, regardless of who made the sword for him. It had been collecting dust in his room for a while now, though.

"Anyway, I'll let you know, Oh, and that reminds me... did Luke ever respond to your post on the board?" There was a chance that his friend had just missed the message (Guy wouldn't be surprised), but he hoped Luke had seen it. He couldn't go running around without a weapon anymore.

He would have liked to get a hold of Luke himself, but he didn't know if that was going to be possible by this point. It was too late in the day to track him down unless they ran into each other coincidentally.