Day 48: Courtyard

[thatdamnedninja]

"I could tell you some stories," Yuffie suggested brightly, "of unquestionable legality." Illegality, that was. Petty little things like the law didn't usually mean very much to her, except for the times when she had to uphold it. Always fun for the breaking, though, the law, and messy for the clean-up. Just the way she liked it

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[razing_phoenix]

It had been harder than usual for Guy to leave Luke at the end of the shift, and yet he forced himself to acknowledge the fact that his friend could handle it. Even if the younger man had just been put through something terrible, he was far stronger now than he'd been three years ago. It was going to wear on him, but not to the point that he couldn't function, the way he'd been after Akzeriuth.

Sometimes, it was just hard for Guy to admit that Luke didn't need to be taken care of anymore. The swordsman was still determined to be at his side whenever possible so that he could help, but he'd already given his advice and said what needed to be said. Luke could take it from here.

Guy was still somewhat worried as he moved out into the courtyard (complete with a nurse-provided coat), but he tried to let the surroundings distract him. The courtyard wasn't quite as nice to be in when the weather was bad and the sky was grayed over, but Guy tried to enjoy this bit of time outside nonetheless.

After he'd walked around for a while, a flash of movement caught his attention. Surprisingly enough, there was Ashton, in the middle of stretching. Guy tilted his head to the side and watched the other man for a moment before he started to walk over. Claude had specifically said that speaking with Ashton would be a good idea, and it had been on Guy's list of things to do today.

Once he got close enough, Guy lifted up a hand to announce his presence to the other man. "Ashton? I don't know if Claude told you about me, but I'm a friend of his. We've met before..." Ashton had to have heard about his lost memories by now, right? Guy hoped he wouldn't be confusing him too much.

[unluckiest]

Noticing that someone had walked up to him, and was raising a hand, Ashton pulled himself up from his deep stretch - slowly, so as to not strain his muscles in his haste. The man was blond, hair a little bit shorter than Claude's... and he had the gait of a fighter -

He stopped sizing up the guy when he heard his name, and the explanation that came after it. Another person who knew him from before. There was the boy from the bulletin, and the girl from breakfast the other day - so here was number three.

"Oh, hello there! Uh... good to see you."

Of course, Ashton's smile was a little forced, and his words a little stilted, but what else could he have said? He didn't want to be impolite to the man, certainly not. Now... who was this? Claude had mentioned a friend the other night, but had he given a name? He racked his brain for a moment, then shrugged. "Claude did tell me some things... yes, he sure did."

He paused a moment, trying not to seem awkward. He'd stopped stretching completely by now, instead standing there with his hands clasped in front of him.

"I'm sorry! You'll have to tell me your name again. I'm sure you understand, since you're aware of the... um, weird circumstances." He laughed awkwardly at the end there. Fabulous first impression, Ashton, he told himself before remembering that, no, this wasn't his first impression at all.

Whyyyyy did this place have to be so confusing? Everything was such a headache.

[razing_phoenix]

It was true that Guy had never gotten really close to Ashton before, but they'd spoken enough times that he'd been able to make some surface judgments about him. It was mainly that the man was slightly awkward at times, but generally nice (and passionate when it came to certain things, such as a sword fighting). Seeing him now just reaffirmed all of that. This was the same person he'd met before, even if he couldn't remember any of the talks they'd had.

Guy hadn't meant to stop Ashton from what he was doing, but he figured he could let him get back to it once they'd gotten past their introductions. He didn't see why they couldn't talk while the man stretched, after all. "Yeah, it's no problem," he said with a quick shake of his head. With all of the disorientation that came with arriving at Landel's, it was no surprise that Ashton hadn't recalled his name... if he'd even heard it in the first place.

"I'm Guy," he said politely, stretching out his hand to Ashton. "And I'm glad to see that you're all right after all." They could never really know where people went when they disappeared from here, or if they even went to the same place, so seeing Ashton again was definitely a relief, even if he was mainly feeling it for Claude's sake.

"Oh, and I wanted to thank you for letting me use your old sword," he said with a quick smile. "I should be getting my own soon, and then I can return it to you." If all went well, anyway. Then again, Ashton was already going to be getting that knife from Claude. The blades would be uneven lengths, and Guy couldn't imagine trying to fight like that. Still, he was sure Ashton would figure something out.

[unluckiest]

So the guy's name was Guy! What an interesting name. It did seem to fit him, as he was, without doubt, a guy. Ashton knew there wasn't such thing as an ashton, or a claude, or a celine. Though bowmans (bowmen?) did exist. He wasn't sure about welches. Oh, goodness, speaking of which, if Welch ever showed up here, he'd be in so much trouble. So much for his own free will; he'd be a gofer-slash-street-performer till the end of time! Or until she got bored.

He pushed those thoughts out of his mind very quickly, taking Guy's hand in a rather firm handshake, however momentary, before his hand returned to his side. "Thanks for your well wishes, Guy. It's very nice to meet you again." Ashton got the sincere feeling that Claude had been in good hands, what with both Leon and this Guy character around.

Oh, so this was the person who had gotten his old sword! Yes, now he certainly remembered. Claude had definitely mentioned Guy. "Ah! I hope that it's been keeping you safe. Please, keep it as long as you feel you need it. I had a reason for lending it out in the first place, so it's really no problem."

He wondered how often Guy'd had the chance to use it, or what it really looked like - how sharp it was, how intricate the work that had been done on it. It was safe to assume that it probably wasn't too fancy - there weren't exactly blacksmith's hammers or alchemical materials readily available here, as far as he could see. But perhaps Ashton would see it again someday.

"What sorts of things do, uh, you and Claude do around here?" His voice was mildly curious as he continued their conversation. "I know there's a bit of exploring to do, but have you come much closer to cracking the mysteries?"

[razing_phoenix]

Both when Ashton said that it was nice to meet him and when he insisted that he keep the sword, Guy got the feeling that he was being completely sincere. Honestly, Ashton just didn't come across as the sort of person who could be deceiving or ingenuous about anything. It brought a smile to his face, although that was quickly chased away when Ashton mentioned having a reason for lending the sword.

There hadn't been a good reason, as far as Guy was concerned. He'd just ended up with the weapon because Ashton hadn't been around to reclaim it, and he didn't see that as a justifiable excuse for holding onto it now. Still, he didn't see how he could get Ashton to take it back at this point. The best option would just be to get his own sword so that Ashton would feel that he could take his one back guilt-free.

"Well, last night me and Claude went searching for supplies, and we found a few knives in the kitchen. I'm pretty sure he meant to give one to you, so that should hold you over," he assured the other swordsman. While Ashton didn't seem particularly worried about his current weapons situation, Guy got the feeling he'd still be glad to hear about that. If Claude hadn't already told him, anyway.

The questions that Ashton had for him took Guy by surprise, though. He really had to be new if he was still asking things like that. Still, Guy quickly recovered from his shock and considered how he should reply. "Well, yeah, a lot of it is just looking around for new areas or for helpful supplies, but we did go looking down in the basement, too."

Even though he tried to open his mouth and say something about what had happened to him there, as he'd already discovered, nothing would come. He sighed and shook his head. "We weren't able to get much out of that," he settled for instead. "So now it's back to the drawing board, I guess."

[unluckiest]

Ashton was glad he seemed to be getting along with Guy pretty well. Really, he wasn't going to trust just anyone in this place - not after seeing what other sorts of people there were here at breakfast - but if Guy had Claude's seal of approval, he had Ashton's, too.

"Ah, some knives? How lucky for me! I'm just no good with blunt weapons like bats," he said apologetically. "Thank you for considering me like that! With a knife or two, I hope I'll be more useful in a place like this." And maybe he'd actually get some good exploring done tonight. No more sitting around!!

But even weapons wouldn't be any good if he didn't train! He lowered himself to the ground, beginning a set of pushups as they continued the conversation. (This was much easier without the dragons, wasn't it?)

"Most of the other people I've met here seem rather new, so I figured it was good to ask a veteran," Ashton explained, smiling as he lowered himself centimeters from the ground. Guy had seemed a little surprised, so an explanation was probably good to give. "But, thanks. I'll have to remember not to check the basement."

But... hmm. Finding new areas. True, there was probably some sort of boss to find somewhere in the Landel's corridors, but if they weren't finding anything, maybe they needed a fresh sort of perspective. Ashton thought about that for a moment, then looked up at Guy mid-pushup, slowly raising his hand to point at one of the courtyard walls.

"Well, do you know what's behind those walls?" Guy probably knew, right? "They don't look like they have wire or anything on them, so do you think someone could go over?"

[razing_phoenix]

When Ashton mentioned that blunt weapons weren't something he was used to, Guy nodded in empathy. He felt the same way. While swing something around using brute strength was something anyone could get the hang of, he didn't have any more skill with it than that. Sword-fighting he had trained to do, which was why he'd gotten his hands on something sharp as soon as possible.

"Claude should have one for you, so just make sure to ask him about it," he said with another nod. He then watched as Ashton started to get onto the grass and do some exercises. It was definitely a good idea to stay in tip-top physical shape in this place, so it wasn't like Guy could judge the man for that. Since it felt sort of strange to be talking to Ashton while still standing, Guy sat himself down and started to stretch his hands out toward his toes. It wasn't too intensive, but it was better than nothing.

Glad to hear that he'd successfully kept Ashton away from the basement, even without being able to give details, he then glanced over to the walls as the man pointed them out. "Hmm," he murmured to himself as he stopped stretching for a moment, "I can't say I've gone that way myself yet, but people definitely do it. It's probably dangerous, but there aren't many places here that aren't," he pointed out.

He and Claude had thought of going that way last night, but had ultimately decided against it. Guy was sure he'd end up focusing his attentions to the outside eventually, but it hadn't been a priority thus far. Ashton certainly sounded interested, though, and that was good. It was always smart to have something concrete to focus on in this place -- it kept morale up.