Night 47: North of the Institute

[hat_einen_vogel]

[From here]It hadn't been the most graceful landing, but at least Prussia had landed on his feet without injury; a twisted ankle right now would not have been the best thing for his escape

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[slipperymagic]

A moment or so later, another man joined the picture. The delay was both because Howl needed to heft himself up onto the wall after Keman was up, as well as because he felt the need to spend a few seconds arranging his leap so that he would not ruin his suit. (Or worse, embarrass himself. A suit could be easily mended, but a reputation was trickier.) He already had dirt and moss and who knows what else all over the fine cloth thanks to the wall, but there was no need to make the situation worse.

His caution paid off, because when he touched down it was almost graceful. The leap, he imagined, was enhanced by the way the movement picked up his hair and sleeves. Once on solid ground, he stood with all of the dignity he could fake, which as it happened, was quite a lot. There was, after all, a stranger amongst them now. If he had a heart, it would have been beating a little faster at the sight of a dark figure skulking behind the wall, right where they landed. Why couldn't he have been just another ten yards or so off from them?

"Lovely evening," he offered, but his sunny disposition was painfully out of place, and honestly a little weak. He turned his attention back to Keman to save some face.

"Seconds alone and you're already wounded?" he complained, but moved to pull Keman to his feet all the same. If the stranger grew sharpened teeth and lunged at them, he wanted Keman mobile. "Up with you!"

[hat_einen_vogel]

Definitely not guards, unless climbing over walls while injured (as the younger one obviously was) and chatting up escapees was part of some weird foreign job description.

He quietly sized the two up: neither of them looked like much, and they especially didn't look like any kind of soldiers. Of course, their appearances could be deceiving, but they weren't-as far as he could tell, and he wasn't entirely sure he could tell while he was like this-Nations, either.

"Like I'd attack anyone who couldn't put up a decent fight," Prussia snapped defensively. He lowered his torch slightly; it was still trained on the pair, but it shouldn't shine in either of their eyes now.

He looked from the boy to the long-haired man. If either of them was in charge of their little two-man team, Prussia would pin the man as the leader; he had a poise that the boy was lacking. It was to him that Prussia directed a question, "Are you escaping, too?"

If they were, perhaps there would be some benefit in travelling together. Without knowing the land or even whose land it was, he knew he was at a marked disadvantage.

The question of why anyone else would be escaping from a hospital briefly crossed his mind, but he brushed it aside. If they were, they had their own reasons for it; the reasons didn't particularly matter to him.

[slipperymagic]

Howl raised his eyebrows at the recent addition to their little party. He tried to look unimpressed, when in reality his mind was considering the possibility of this young man suddenly attacking him. He seemed testy enough for it, or at least enough for Howl to feel totally justified in his concern. He wasn't sure if he ought to be glad regarding the man's assertion that he wouldn't attack defenseless-seeming Howl. After all, Howl did not fancy himself helpless, per se, and his pride stung for the assumption, but on the other hand, it meant not having to fight. He did like that part, admittedly.

Tossing his dark hair out of his face, Howl at having been addressed first. His eyes remained glassy and blank, but in this case, the smile was perhaps no more convincing than they were. Genuine cheer was hard to hold onto outside in the cold, with social strangers and deadly monsters all over. It was as if everything Howl couldn't stand had gathered in one location. But such was his life! Simply a series of massively dangerous inconveniences which he usually only partially deserved. Still, he knew for a fact that he did not deserve this.

"Everyone is trying to escape, although I'm not sure if it'll do us any good in the long run," he explained enigmatically. It wasn't often that he got to be the experienced one here.

[hat_einen_vogel]

"Everyone, huh…?" Prussia mused, eyeing the pair one last time. If everyone here was trying to escape, that just confirmed any lingering speculations that the hospital was a prison hospital-albeit a shitty one, what with the utter lack of guards. As for escape not doing any good in the long run, that just sounded like a roundabout way of saying that there was no way of knowing what would come next.

The kid had a bit of spirit at least; his protest against what Prussia had said may have been muttered, but at least it had been voiced. If escape wasn't his priority right now (and if the kid wasn't already injured), he would have been happy to put his words to the test.

Prussia wasn't, however, going to take the kid up on the offer to come with them... not in so many words, at least. He turned away from Howl (was that his name?) and the kid slightly, waving his torch towards the east. "I'm going that way. There's a forest over there, and it'll provide some cover unless either of you have a better idea."

[slipperymagic]

Howl sighed, but like Prussia, did not say one way or another if the new person ought to join them. He simply began meandering in that direction, adjusting the sleeves of his bright red coat unnecessarily. As he did so, he finally got a chance to take a more careful look at the third party member.

Blond hair, Howl acknowledged with a bit of jealousy, although it was a great deal duller than his preferred shades of gold. He was moderately tall, and had darkish eyes. The flashlights didn't help Howl to identify the exact color just yet.

"Have you ever been in there, Keman?" he asked over his shoulder. Howl slowed his steps in hopes that someone else might take the lead; he'd be happy enough calling the shots from the back. Or, even better, from the middle. That way he'd be the least likely to be pounced upon by whatever lurked out here.

[hat_einen_vogel]

Prussia hated the idea that yes, he really did need a guide, but Keman obviously knew at least a little about the lay of the land. Judging from Howl's question, that made him the only one.

"Better to be wet and cold and miserable than locked away," he commented as he started to walk as well, at a pace quicker than Howl's. He was glad to be moving again; the night was cold, and seeing Howl's coat--no matter how flamboyant--made him wish he had a coat of his own. Hadn't he seen one in the same closet he'd found the boots in? He should've thought to take it.

Keman had asked his name, and Prussia glanced at the boy. It had been a couple of years since he'd last introduced himself to a human that didn't already know who he really was, but answering with his human name still came easily to him. "Call me Gilbert."