Nightshift 41: Outside the Institute - North

[windstwilight]

[from here]The wall came up quicker than she'd expected, and Senna was glad for that. She found the footholds quickly, and then paused on the top, willing to help any of the others if they needed help. She leaned a hand down loosely for anyone to take if they wanted, bracing her feet on the top. "Everybody cool

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[scintillatingly]

[From here.]

Landing was still painful, but it wasn't quite as bad as it had been when Sora had done it with an injured leg. He was beat up, but it would all have been much worse if he was hurting every time he took a step. He was still grateful to Hanatarou for healing him that particular wound for him.

Sora got to his feet slowly. Finding his flashlight was easy since he'd left it on so he didn't have to go groping through the dark for it. He used it to find the extension cord, and once all of that was gathered he was more or less ready to go.

The area seemed empty, but that didn't mean that others hadn't passed through or that monsters weren't around. Sora kept an eye out while he waited for Allen.

[broken_exorcist]

Allen didn't wait long before dropping down near Sora. At least his legs were fine after the fight, so he managed to land without a lot of trouble. He still had his cord wound around his waist and didn't have much need for a torch, so he dusted himself off and was ready to go.

Now that they'd run the route a couple times, Allen was pretty sure he knew the way.

"We should hurry," Allen said, despite his body's protest.

[scintillatingly]

Sora didn't plan on delaying any more than they needed to, and so the moment he knew that Allen was ready, he nodded to the other boy and directed his flashlight at the ground in front of him so that he could start navigating over the rocky terrain. The lack of any light other than the one he was carrying meant that it was hard to judge the definition of the ground and actually know when there was a bump or a rise or a dip. What it resulted in was having to go much slower than he would have liked, but Sora knew that he would be even less happy if he tripped and jarred his wounds

[broken_exorcist]

Allen stayed about level with Sora's pace. Dashing around at night was one of his specialties; exorcists did most of their work at night and the Akuma weren't about to wait around until they could see in proper lighting before trying to kill them all.

When Sora asked him about last night, Allen wasn't sure he wanted to talk about it, but there was no reason for him to keep it from Sora either. It was just kind of embarrassing to admit how badly he'd messed up.

"I ran into someone from my world. We're... well... the simplest word would be enemies," he sighed. "I know he won't hurt anyone during the day, but it just seems like... if he started targeting other patients and I wasn't there to stop him, I'd feel responsible, you know?"

Did that even make sense? He understood the reasoning perfectly; his world, his enemies, his responsibility, right? That shouldn't change no matter where he was or what was going on around him. "So I followed him, just to see what he was up to, but... he spotted me and we kind of... got into a

[scintillatingly]

It was eerie how similar their situations had been. Sora wasn't sure what to make of it. There wasn't really any way that it could have been the institute's doing, since it had been their own decisions that had led to both fights, but still. Sora glanced at Allen, shocked at how much they apparently had in common.

"I know what you mean about feeling responsible," Sora agreed. "It's hard for me to know if my old enemies from before I got here are hurting people or causing trouble at night, but sometimes I wonder if they are and I'm just letting it happen." He knew he couldn't be in multiple places at once, but the point was that he could completely understand Allen's sentiment.

He sighed as he quickly returned his gaze to where he was walking. He needed to remember not to let his eyes wander if he could help it, but having a conversation while constantly staring forward was pretty weird.

"Anyway, I'm glad you got out of it okay," he finished. "I'm really hoping we can actually get into that quarry tonight!" He wanted to believe

[broken_exorcist]

Rather than spooked at the similarities, Allen felt relief that someone actually understood what he was talking about. The last time he'd tried explaining with Renji, it hadn't gone so well.

"Yes! Just like that!" he nodded, smile less forced now. "I really glad I'm not the only one who feels that way. Ah- I mean- not that the situation is good, but..." he trailed off, scratching his head. At least there was something else to talk about.

"Mm, I suppose I don't look it, but I'm pretty sturdy," he assured Sora, "And y-yeah, I wonder what's down there. Could be just another pile of rocks, but I guess I can't help hoping it'll be a clue or a passage or something that'll lead us to finally getting out of here."

[scintillatingly]

Even though Allen ended up apologizing, Sora knew what he meant. When something was bothering him, it was easy to feel like he was the only person out there who had those problems, seeing how his life had taken such a strange turn. It meant that he couldn't really talk to anyone about them, so knowing that there was someone else in the same boat was rather comforting.

"Yeah, and for me it's not just one person," he said with a sigh as he considered Luxord, Xigbar, and Scar. He still recalled the night when Luxord had supposedly attacked someone, and while the man had claimed it was due to brainwashing, Sora still had his doubts about that. "Anyway, if you ever need someone to talk to about it, you know where to find me."

Sora wasn't so sure that the quarry would be that fruitful, but he also didn't want it to be completely pointless when they had been working on getting there for so long. Having a clue for how to get out be hidden someplace like a quarry just didn't seem likely, though. "I guess we'll see," was all he said, since

[broken_exorcist]

There'd been two Noahs around before, so he could sympathize, but he also wondered just how many enemies Sora could have. He seemed really nice and friendly, so it was odd that so many people would be out to get him.

"Ah- Sure, I'll remember that," Allen promised, increasing his pace. "Just um... how many are there?" It'd been easier when there were other Exorcists here too, but now he was the only one left. One Exorcist, one Noah, so it was fair, he supposed, but he still didn't like it.

Allen didn't have terribly high hopes for what they might find, but even if it was just crossing one more place off the list of ways out, it might help. He was silent for a while before he could figure something else out to talk about.

"Oh- ah, we're going to town tomorrow, aren't we?" he wondered what other shops he'd be able to visit. It was silly, but it was exciting too, seeing all the things that'd come to be in the world since his time.

[scintillatingly]

Sora hadn't meant to worry Allen by making it sound like there were a ton of people out to get him, and so he quickly explained. "Oh, it's only about three, actually." It was still enough to give him plenty to worry about, but at least Demyx had proved that he wasn't going to cause much trouble here. If anything, Luxord and Xigbar seemed to be tormenting him as well

[broken_exorcist]

Three? What was a little disconcerting. Sora didn't make a big deal of it, so maybe that was a small enough number for him to handle. Even thinking it to himself, it seemed pretty unlikely. He just wished there was a way that they could all figure out some kind of truce while they were here. It did none of them any good to fight amongst themselves; their numbers were limited enough as it was. To compound that by hurting other patients would only make escape even harder

[scintillatingly]

Maybe just checking out the shops would be enough to pass the time while he was in town tomorrow. Sora was kind of hoping for something more exciting, but chances were the town wasn't that exciting in general. Still, sometimes people played fun games and things like that! But it was probably about time that he explored the area a little more. So long as he took it easy, it shouldn't be much of a problem.

The example for a type of store that Allen gave was enough to pull Sora's attention away from where he was stepping once again. "Huh? Fingernail painting? But isn't that for girls?" Why would Allen be excited about something like that? Maybe it was different on the world he came from, but Sora thought that would be pretty strange.

If he knew the boy a little better, maybe he would have teased him about it, but in the end Sora almost stumbled and that was enough to distract him from the topic for a moment. He let out a sigh and looked forward again. They should be getting close...

[broken_exorcist]

They seemed to be making pretty good time. He didn't remember all if it, but the path was familiar at least, which meant they were going in the right direction.

Sora's response surprised Allen though. For girls? But they hadn't said anything like that at the shop! He could feel his cheeks redden with embarrassment.

"What- really? I went with a friend and- ah- They said it was fine, so-" he stumbled over his words for a moment, caught off-guard by the question. He had thought it strange at the time, but the nice woman in the shop had assured him that it was fine for him to get his nails painted.

Realizing how silly it was to be upset over something so trivial, he let out a short laugh. There was so much else going on and he was worrying over the unimportant things. "I guess I still have a lot to learn."

[scintillatingly]

Sora hadn't expected Allen to get so flustered about it, although if he thought about it, he probably would have had the same reaction if they'd switched places. He smiled a little, if only to show the other boy that it was all in good fun.

"Well, maybe it's different here than where I've been, but I always got that feeling," he explained with a shrug. "It doesn't really matter, though, so don't worry about it!" If Allen wanted to paint his nails, then why not? If he enjoyed something, then he should definitely take the chance to do it, since happy things were in short supply at Landel's.

At least Sora could be sure that he would be in good company most of the time, though. He and Allen sure had spent quite a few nights together over the past week or so. He was starting to get pretty comfortable with the other boy.

"Maybe I'll try it out, if I can't find anything else to do." It kind of depended on who he ended up wandering around with, but he could at least keep it in mind. It was always interesting to try something new.

[broken_exorcist]

"I didn't even know it was a common practice until I heard about it here," Allen said sheepishly, scanning the area ahead of them. When he'd been in the circus with Mana, everyone painted their faces, both boys and girls. He'd thought it was strange to paint hands and fingernails, but not all that weird that he wouldn't try it. Oh well.

"Seems like I always get caught up in one of their shops. Last time it was the toy store. I had no idea there could be so many different things," he scratched his head. Granted, he hadn't known what about half of the toys actually were or what they did, but there were so many bright, attention-grabbing colors, it was hard to be bored.

A familiar outline in the distance caught his eye. It looked like they were almost there! Maybe they would make it this time after all.

[scintillatingly]

Sora thought it was funny how different things developed in different worlds and then not on others, but he knew that would probably be boring to talk about for someone who didn't have the same perspective that he did. He wished he sometimes had more time in each world to find out more about all of them, but at least he could still hear about completely new worlds while he spoke with the other patients here.

"Well, actually getting to go into a shop is kind of a big deal when we're stuck here all the time, right?" Sora pointed out. How he wished he could go to one of the shops in Radiant Garden right about now... There were so many familiar faces he would have liked to see. "What was the toy store like, anyway?" Sora thought that would be a fun place to check out, even if he got the feeling all of the toys would be aimed at young children

[broken_exorcist]

"There were lots of toys I don't think I've seen before. Boxes with lots of buttons on them and stuffed animals in every shape I can imagine," he described the shop with a little enthusiasm, smiling slightly in spite of himself.

When Sora smiled and saw the edges of the quarry, Allen nodded. "I'd say we made pretty good time regardless."

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