Day 49: Early Afternoon - Tasty Burger

[feartehreaper]

[ Continued from here. ]

The damn burger place was actually the last place Haseo would have wanted to revisit after the previous week, but there was little other choice when practically dragging the distraught Endrance along with him and trying to find an appropriate shelter: he couldn't be certain anywhere else close would have somewhere to sit

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[finalwitch]

The downpour came shortly after the time spent in conversation with the odd man. Ange hadn't minded either: rain was comforting in ways sunlight could not provide, and the man was strange enough to warrant some interest. They had not talked long for her to catch a name, but she supposed the two would cross paths again. This place was made for repeated presence, for better or worse.

She had then spent the better part of lunch wandering from building to building, eyes and mind fixed on nothing in particular. Her brother must have found more suitable activities (he'd always been the active type, hadn't he) to be so absent, or Ange had finally succumbed to logic and purged the illusion. She didn't know, and yet her eyes found themselves occasionally twitching toward glimpses of red.

A nurse found this particularly disturbing and guided the young woman to a nearby establishment--"Tasty Burger", according to the sign. Hamburgers weren't exactly her type of meal, but if the boy in the corner was of any indication, the company was bit more tolerable. Ange walked toward him, face blank.

"You're looking well," she commented once within earshot.

[timeseal]

The comment seemed to sail over Rolo's head, the boy not reacting at all to the young woman's comment. Rolo only truly reacted when he finally noticed that someone was moving towards him, catching the familiar sight of Greta and putting two and two together. Oh. Rolo straightened up then, laboriously pulling his upper body up and off the table. Maybe it was an invitation to sit down, or maybe Rolo was just trying to not look like he needed any sort of dry, sarcastic comments.

"I'm not," He grumbled, but such an answer probably invited more questions and Rolo bit his lip. He hadn't been expecting company, much less Greta. It wasn't like he didn't like the girl, it was just... unexpected, that's all. Still, if someone had to approach him, he was unusually glad it was her. It could have been Stephen. Or someone else trying to tell him that the town was overrun by zombies.

A lightbulb went off in Rolo's head. There was one way to find out the truth of that story. He trusted Greta enough not to be one of those people.

"... Did anyone tell you anything stupid about this town? Like zombies or something?" It was probably strange, because Rolo was asking that question in a completely serious manner, eyes fixed on Greta.

[finalwitch]

He's not? Had the unfortunate circumstance that had plagued Rolo the day before carried over to today? The young man had mentioned something about his brother being mad at him. Sadly, Ange's own circumstances had severed that discussion quite early. Maybe now would be a good time to dig deeper and...make it up to him, so to speak.

To her surpise, however, the question that came out of Rolo's mouth was far from the topic of family. She spared him a look as the girl lowered herself to the table's seat. "Zombies? You mean the living dead?" Or however that term went. She admittedly wasn't too knowledgeable in regards to recent fiction of the horror genre.

"Not that I recall," she said. "Why?"

[timeseal]

Of course, Greta wouldn't know anything about that stupid joke. She wasn't in Stephen's little joke or whatever. That alone seemed to satisfy Rolo, maybe even cheering him up. To be honest, Rolo couldn't believe that he had two people approach him about this in the first place. Just two people didn't prove anything. He could probably confirm this by talking to Lelouch but...

We have better things to discuss. There was no way he was going to waste his brother's time talking about stupid things like zombies. He didn't even want to waste Greta's time, which was why he pushed aside Greta's question.

"Nothing. It's a stupid joke someone tried to pull on me," He shook his head dismissively. "Sorry, I don't even know why I asked. It's pretty obvious it's just a lie." Sure, Rolo could believe that there were... monsters in the Institute (probably mutated animals or something, like his brother said), but zombies? He wasn't that gullible.

Needless to say, Rolo had little to no experience with being "bullied". It didn't happen back at the Directorate (well, if there was any bullying going on, Rolo might have confused it for "discipline"), and his status as Lelouch's brother sort of protected him at Ashford, so it was pretty clear to see that he was a little more annoyed at this than he should have been. Maybe he was just unused to being intentionally targeted for someone else's amusement.

[finalwitch]

"I see." One of those. If there was a person who understood the nature of a "stupid joke", it would be Ange. Thankfully, given her absolute cynicism and lack of general trust in others, she often caught such pranks before fruition. Unfortunately, that left room for other things...

She tossed her hair, apparently satisfied with Rolo's substantial lack of an answer. "I don't mind," replied Ange. "Jokes usually aren't worth a second glance anyway." Something else, however, was. The young woman would normally not bat an eyelash at another's business, but Rolo had fallen into a new category. She wouldn't say she was concerned. Curious, maybe.

Her gaze locked on the other. "Hey, I had a question about your brother." A pause. "If you don't mind."

[timeseal]

Much as Rolo wouldn't admit it, it was actually somewhat nice to have someone who understood, or at the very least, agreed with him. The more Rolo thought about it, the more he realized that Greta's company wasn't all that unpleasant and actually preferred, if he had to choose.

At least, this was what Rolo thought until Greta raised up a question. One about his brother. Immediately, Rolo stiffened, which was probably rude considering how he raised a question about her own brother just the day before. Of course, Rolo could come up with a million excuses to explain his behavior. Why would she want to know about Lelouch? Suddenly, he regretted running his mouth yesterday.

... It was worth letting her ask, though. Depending on what she had to say, Rolo might have to act appropriately.

"What is it?" He relaxed slightly, though the uncertain look in his eyes probably remained. Did Greta meet his brother, or was this just an extension of the conversation they had yesterday?

[finalwitch]

Half of Ange anticipated the reaction, the tension lacing Rolo's form. You normally did not approach people, throw out a question about their brother, and expect compliant results. Not in her book, at least. This part wished to withdraw the inquiry and pass onto much lighter subjects. Like the weather. You could probably squeeze out a few sentences about that, no?

The other half, however, stayed firm. What she had in mind was such a simple question; if Rolo didn't want to answer, he didn't have to. She wanted to gauge his response, that was all. See if they were similar in circumstances.

This side eventually won out, which she laid out in straightforward terms. "What you mentioned yesterday," Ange started, before trailing momentarily. She blinked. "Is your brother mad at you?"

[timeseal]

Rolo suddenly exhaled, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding. So, it was about yesterday? He guessed it made sense, he cut that conversation rather abruptly. Not only was it something he probably had no business discussing with a stranger, but ... well, if her brother was gone, Rolo had enough sense not to remind her. It didn't do him much good to think about it either.

"... No, we resolved that. I was mistaken," He answered, withdrawing the locket from his pocket as he explained. Perhaps to encourage him, or to prove a point. Right, that's what it was. If Lelouch was mad at him, then he wouldn't have given Rolo that important mission to do, right? Lelouch would have yelled at him, or walked away, but he didn't do any of that. So, Rolo was mistaken, and he actually was sort of kicking himself for doubting his brother.

"My brother is really busy, and I didn't realize that, so it was my fault for assuming something that stupid," Rolo mumbled, suddenly compelled to defend Lelouch and perhaps justify his first answer. Why he would have to do that, if he was so confident that Lelouch didn't hate him the first place?

Right, that's what it was. That was the reason, right? It was the truth, so Rolo was going to accept that and hold onto it. But, he also had to make sure that he didn't speak too much on it. Maybe Greta was... concerned? No, it couldn't be that. Maybe just curious? She had to have a reason for asking, but Rolo couldn't quite figure out what it was.

[finalwitch]

The entire matter was apparently a misunderstanding, likely a situation taken out of context. A bit anticlimactic for her tastes, but Ange supposed it was the better route in the end. Still, she found the answer off. It almost reminded her of another, who claimed to be embroiled in a matter with siblings. There probably existed more to it than a simple mistake, or maybe something so simple was enough to drop one's moods. Either case, the young woman would do so well to be extra considerate regarding Rolo's brother.

She just needed to decide on the how. Her version of consideration did not exactly jibe well with general opinion.

"Resolution's good, at least." She nodded slowly as though to confirm that point. "People have been having issues with their siblings lately. I was wondering if it was going around." By "people", she really meant three (and one of them being herself), but that didn't matter.

[timeseal]

Would Greta continue to interrogate him? Rolo was unsure of where this conversation was headed, and he couldn't say he liked it. Greta eventually pulled the conversation to safer territory, though what she said piqued Rolo's interest. Other people having sibling issues, huh?

The boy didn't care too much for "other people", preferring to keep to what made him and his brother happy, but it was a little comforting to know that he wasn't the only one who seemed to be in difficult circumstances. Because of their disagreement, Rolo felt terrible for bringing even more stress to Lelouch; he wondered how much of it was this place.

Yes, this place. If they were at home, things could be done (he would go back to being dead but at least Nunnally would be too), but they were here, and there were interrupted plans and the like. Rolo slowly nodded, as if what Greta implied, that this sort of thing was happening to other people and it wasn't just him seemed to make him feel better.

"It's this place," He reflected. "That's all it is." He looked up at Greta then, his curiosity about her own sibling coming back slowly. It was probably fair to ask her, since she had asked him, but it wasn't like that information was really important or necessary.

"... Why are you asking in the first place?" Perhaps it sounded accusatory, but Rolo was unused to people being concerned. Peter was "concerned" and now Rolo couldn't help but be the slightest bit wary.

[finalwitch]

Ange had to consider it--the claim that this place was responsible for current woes. In a way, it made sense. If there existed a difference between the time now and the time before, it was their presence in the hospital. Even for all the similarity, the young woman could see a few startling contrasts to Saint Lucia Academy. Dead brothers, for one. Time inconsistencies, for another. Logical improbabilities? Most definitely.

She leaned back against her seat, legs crossing in the movement. Rolo's nod was taken with one of her own. "Yeah," Ange muttered, hardly sounding pleased with the prospect. "That's probably it." Just this place. That was all.

And it seemed the turn for revelation had fallen to her. Rolo came off rather doubtful in his question, but given her own, the tone was understandable. Ange supposed she owed it to him. "I think I'm going crazy," she explained.

Her gaze fell at the table before them, not caring what it might have implicated to the other. "That's all."