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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[razing_phoenix]

Seeing how people were moving in and out of the restaurant with a pretty steady regularity, Guy wasn't paying too much attention to any possible friends who might be walking in. The plan was to secure himself some food, find a dry table to eat at, and then watch through the windows for anyone he knew.

In the end, he got luckier than that. When someone almost brushed past him, Guy moved to give them room, and was then met with Claude's lit-up face. He smiled in return. "Claude," he said with a nod. "Funny, I was just talking to your..."

He paused and glanced around the room for a moment. Even though he knew that Ronixis hadn't followed him in here, what if someone else heard? What if someone here was a friend of Claude's father? There was no such thing as too safe when it came to this sort of thing.

"I was talking to Ronixis," he corrected himself. "Anyway, how's your day been?" However, at the point he'd reached the front of the line, and so Guy handed his coupon over and then moved to the side so that he could wait for his meal to be brought over to the pick-up area of the counter.

[full_score]

"Oh, really!" Claude couldn't help but look a little surprised. Well, not that it was all that strange for Guy and Dad to talk sometimes. Surviving a zombie invasion together was bound to foster some sort of friendship between people, and he'd asked Guy to keep an eye on him whenever it was convenient. He wondered what sorts of things Guy and Dad would chat about, though. Maybe his father told him a little bit about his job back home? But since Guy was from another planet, he wasn't sure how many details he'd go into.

Either way, he was appreciative that Guy was careful about his words in public, and it was nice to know they at least seemed to get along to some degree. With something like a relieved smile on his face, he fished through his pockets for his coupon and handed it over to another worker.

"And, um, I've been all right," he answered as he stepped to the side and waited next to his friend. Truth be told, he felt like he was having something of an "off" day, though whether it was because of his sleeping through all of last night, his run-in with Sakura, or the fact it was raining so hard, he wasn't sure. Maybe it was a little bit of all three?

"I met with Luke for a little bit this morning, actually," he added. "We talked about a lot of interesting stuff." The blond leaned back against the condiments counter, suddenly looking thoughtful. "It made me think about how there's still a lot I don't know about your world."

[razing_phoenix]

Seeing how the food probably wasn't going to come immediately, Guy turned himself around and leaned against the counter as they waited. When Claude expressed some surprise at the fact that he'd spoken with Ronixis, Guy only nodded. It was interesting to see how Claude and his father were both the same and different -- and besides, the man was just interesting to talk to on his own. It was slightly awkward, true, but thus far he'd kept the secret without any real issue.

Guy was slightly concerned that Claude was only "all right," though at the same time he could see why the other blond couldn't be any better than that. He just hoped that Sync hadn't kept his promise and tracked him down, but he'd ask about that later.

He'd much rather talk about Luke than Sync, anyway, as he was always glad to hear about Luke and Claude meeting up. He was also glad that they were getting friendly all over again. Now they just had to hope that Luke would actually stick around, so that Claude wouldn't possibly have to re-meet Luke once again. If Luke did disappear and then come back, it would be the fourth time. That thought in itself was depressing. Still, for now Luke seemed to be doing well, and so Guy would try to keep some semblance of hope.

Either way, he didn't let those inner concerns color the conversation. "Haha, really? Well, yeah, Auldrant's a pretty big place and there's a whole lot to see. I'm more familiar with Malkuth myself, but I spent a lot of time in Kimlasca, too." Mainly in Baticul, but seeing how that was the capital, it was one of the more important sites. "What did you guys talk about?" he asked curiously.

[full_score]

It would make sense for Guy to be more familiar with Malkuth since that was where Grand Chokmah was located. If he was serving under Peony, then it was also likely he was a citizen of that country. Claude wasn't so sure about the others, though he imaged there would be plenty of time to ask. Either way, Luke had said everyone was from these "outerlands" except for Tear, so Malkuth and Kimlasca probably helped make up that part of their world.

"All sorts of things," he answered vaguely before realizing that wasn't really a satisfactory answer. "Like about the Dawn Age, Yulia City, his friend Tear..." Claude smiled a bit at that, remembering how he'd reacted when he'd asked about her. "Healing, too, and how Earth didn't have anything like that for so long. He also asked what I thought about the monsters here, since the Earth I know doesn't have any."

He began to idly peel off his gloves now that they were inside and waiting for their food. "So, yeah, a lot of different stuff." Claude turned toward Guy again. "I never knew Auldrant had anything like an underground city. That's really interesting."

[razing_phoenix]

Wow, it sounded like Luke had talked about some pretty exciting stuff! Guy was almost sad that he'd missed it, but at the same time he realized he probably would have interjected with way too much babbling about both the Dawn Age and Yulia City, and Luke probably would have given up. In the end, it was better to give Luke the chance to explain those things for himself, especially since he'd spent so much time being the one who had to listen to everyone else.

"Yulia City is amazing," he said with a grin, but he wasn't allowed to continue since that was when the food came. Guy turned himself around and grabbed his tray. It was the same food that he'd gotten from this place before, so that was no big surprise. Waiting for Claude to grab his, he then steered them over to an empty table -- and actually managed to find one that other patients hadn't dripped all over.

Once they were seated, he continued from right where he'd left off. "Since it has all the technology from the Dawn Age, there's a whole lot to see. Even if we don't understand how most of it works, it's still fascinating." He leaned his head on his palm, staring off as he thought back to his time spent in that place. He'd always inwardly celebrated when he and his friends had found reason to go there.

"And you know, Tear was here once before," he commented, glancing back to Claude as he grabbed up his hamburger and took a bite. "It's too bad you didn't get a chance to meet her." Guy wasn't sure how Tear and Claude would get along, but it would definitely be interesting to see.

[full_score]

Once he grabbed his tray, Claude followed after Guy and settled down in the seat across from him. His friend's face was lit up in the same way that it always was whenever technology was involved, and that enthusiasm was infectious. For a moment, it was easy to forget about the stresses of the day, even if was only temporary relief.

"Sure sounds like it," Claude said as he unwrapped his burger. "It must be really well-built for it to still be fully functional despite being so old." What made it so different that it was preserved so well, while other aspects of the Dawn Age had been almost completely lost? Maybe there was more to the story that Claude didn't know, but it was rather mysterious that the city was largely intact even though so much about its original era was still unknown.

Luke had mentioned that Tear had been here before, too. It was strange to think there were other friends of Guy's who had come and gone. Claude wondered how long it had been for. Probably not too long if he'd never even heard her name before today. The thought made him feel a little uneasy, because it made him wonder if there were other people from his own world who could have disappeared without his realizing they were even around. He hoped not, but...

Well, there was no use in obsessing over that. It wasn't good for his appetite, and he needed to eat.

"From the way Luke was talking about her, it sounds like she's a really neat person," Claude said with a small smile. "I sort of want to ask how you met her since she's the only one not from your outerlands, but I have a feeling it's an awfully long story."

[razing_phoenix]

That was pretty observational of Claude, especially since he was only going off of what he'd been told. Guy nodded, since that same thought had run through his head a few times. All he knew was that he was glad that Yulia City had managed to be preserved, since there might come a day when they could decipher how everything there worked. He wasn't sure if it would be in his lifetime, but he could still hope for it.

"It's pretty weird, since it's just this one city surrounded by miasma... It's really self-contained, so getting to visit it was a pretty big deal." At first, at least. Guy had gotten the chance to go back there multiple times after that, since the city held secrets that they'd needed. It hadn't always been easy to get straight answers out of the people there, either.

As for Tear, Guy wasn't sure if "neat" was the right word, but she was definitely worth meeting. Guy respected her for a variety of reasons, and both her and Natalia's absences wore on him. It just wasn't the same without them.

"Yeah, it kind of is," he admitted with a small smile as he continued to eat. "It'd also be best if she could tell you herself, but..." The chances of that happening seemed pretty slim at this point. It had been weeks since Tear had been here last, so Guy wasn't even sure if he'd be seeing her again until they escaped. In fact, they might have to rescue her -- which would probably irritate her, but he knew she would be grateful for it underneath it all.

[full_score]

"'Miasma'?" he echoed. Luke had mentioned something like that too, come to think of it. "You mean like a bunch of bad air or something? Does Auldrant have a lot of pollution?" Claude had to admit that the thought of Guy's planet having dirty air sort of contradicted his image of it. But, on the other hand, that very image was changing every time he had a discussion about it with anyone, so maybe it was to be expected.

He'd suspected Guy wouldn't launch into details about how he met any of his friends, but he figured it didn't hurt to ask. Then again, he knew from first-hand experience how bringing up the wrong subject around him would make the conversation uncomfortable, which was another reason not to push for anything too hard. Technically, it wasn't even any of his business, though Claude couldn't help being interested in the people around him. Maybe it was a little nosy. He'd just have to keep acting unobtrusive about it.

"Well, maybe someday," he said before taking a bite of his burger. "Someday" could mean a lot of different things, of course, but he hoped it was under better circumstances regardless. Claude certainly wasn't going to wish for any of Luke or Guy's friends to wind up in this hell hole again.

[razing_phoenix]

While Claude was making good guesses, he didn't have it quite right, but Guy figured that it was hard to imagine what miasma was unless you saw it for yourself. "I'm not sure if pollution is the right word," he said with a frown, as he tried to find the proper way to describe the stuff. "It is toxic, though," he agreed. "It's because of the miasma that the Outer Lands came to be." It was still pretty amazing, when he really thought about it. Of course, that careful balance between the Outer Lands and what was hidden below had almost been broken, but they'd managed to fix it all in the end.

Now that he was drying off, eating some food, and talking with a good friend, Guy felt like the trip was getting better. They weren't accomplishing much just by sitting here, but the town honestly didn't have much to offer, and both he and Claude knew that.

Nodding in response to that last comment, Guy found that he did want Tear to be here. She was better off here than out in the world and brainwashed, like she probably was. Still, if he said that out loud, it would almost be like jinxing it, and so Guy kept those thoughts to himself.

Besides, as much as he liked to reminisce about friends, there was a more important question that he needed to ask. Guy set his burger aside for a moment and then made eye contact with Claude, grabbing his attention before he spoke up. "Did Sync bother you today?" he asked. The God-General could have just been talking big, but Guy wanted to make sure.

[full_score]

Wait, so the Outer Lands existed because of the miasma? How the heck did that work? Claude had imagined it like any other landscape, except in some places it covered an underground place like Yulia City, which...had bad air sometimes or something like that. The whole concept was still fuzzy to him, obviously, but even what little he thought he'd pieced together didn't seem quite right.

His confusion probably showed on his face. It sounded like another long story. Maybe that was another reason why Guy never bothered going into much detail about his travels before he came here.

Claude was about to ask about it anyway, but apparently talking about their homes was something they didn't often have the luxury of doing. The way Guy suddenly became more serious served as a reminder of that. As soon as his friend made eye contact with him, he lowered his own burger and became still. When Sync, of all people, got brought up, Claude tensed as if on instinct. Thankfully, he hadn't had to listen to his obnoxious voice since that awful night in the bathroom, but he figured his luck would only last for so long.

"No, I haven't seen him," Claude answered. "Why?" His eyebrows faintly furrowed. "Did he bother you?"

[razing_phoenix]

It seemed like the more he said, the more confused Claude became. The workings of Auldrant couldn't really explained in the space of a meal, though, and in the end Guy knew it wasn't important to what they were doing here. While it might have been nice to explain things to his friend a bit more, he also knew that there were other things they had to stay focused on.

Such as any immediate threats. Guy nodded in relief when Claude said that he hadn't seen any sign of Sync, eating a few more of the french fries as he thought it all over.

"He ran into me this morning," he said once he'd swallowed. "Just to be a pest, for the most part, but he made it sound like he was going to try and find you, too." Sync could have easily just been saying it in order to get a rise out of him, and yet Guy didn't want to dismiss it just like that, either. Just because Sync hadn't approached Claude yet didn't mean that he wouldn't eventually.

"Keep an eye out for him, okay?" It was both a request and some serious advice. Sync had proved that he was capable of more than Guy really wanted to admit to, but the evidence was there and he wanted to make sure he took the God-General seriously.

[full_score]

As Guy elaborated on why he'd asked him about Sync, Claude's face gradually darkened. Hadn't that monster already done enough after what happened in the basement? Just what did he hope to accomplish by harassing Guy all the damn time? Seemed like it'd be more of a waste of energy than anything else. Then again, Sync was obviously trying to make life miserable for everyone simply because he could. As if being trapped in a fake mental institute wasn't bad enough!

For some reason, the fact he'd brought Claude up to Guy in the first place was all the more infuriating, though it was difficult to pinpoint why at that moment.

Still, Claude tried not to let his anger boil to the surface for Guy to see, but it wasn't easy. His friend was a grown man who was more than capable of taking care of himself whenever Sync decided to show his face during the day. After all, it wasn't like he could do any physical harm with the nurses watching. He suspected Guy probably did a better job of weathering his taunts than Claude himself did. Knowing that didn't make it any easier for Claude to accept that Sync was bothering Guy at all, though.

Sync was just lucky he hadn't seen it happening.

"Don't worry," he quietly said, "I will." It'd be easier to deal with him if he were little more than a mere nuisance, but Claude was painfully aware of just how manipulative that bastard could be. Letting his guard down around him, even for a second, was too dangerous.

Willing himself to relax, his expression softened a little as he looked at Guy. "Are you all right, though?"

[razing_phoenix]

Seeing how Claude didn't always do the best job of hiding what he was feeling, it was pretty simple to notice the way he suddenly got worked up just at the mention of Sync. While it was flattering that his friend got so worried on his behalf (though Sync had definitely hurt Claude himself in a variety of ways, too), Guy did worry that the younger man might let his anger get the best of him. He had tried to kill Sync, after all, and while that had been understandable considering the circumstances, it wasn't really Claude's battle to be fought as far as Guy was concerned.

The way Claude responded didn't give Guy much faith that his friend would stay composed if Sync did end up finding him, but there wasn't much that he could do about that unless they stayed together. He didn't want to make Claude feel like he was being babysat, though.

"Don't let him get to you," he said instead, figuring that a warning was the next best thing. "It isn't worth getting in trouble because of him." Especially considering that in Doyleton, the nurses tended to watch them even closer than they did back at the institute.

When Claude asked after him, Guy shrugged as he took another bite of his food. "I'm used to him by now." It was still unnerving, true, but Guy could handle it. It might be a bit different if it was nightshift, but he'd deal with that if it ended up happening. His main worry regarding Sync had been about the curse slot, but that seemed to be a moot point -- so far, at least.

"How was your night, anyway?" he went on to ask, not wanting to dwell on the subject of Sync for any longer than necessary.

[full_score]

"I know that," Claude said. He remembered how easily Sync had been able to turn a confrontation to his favor by getting the nurses to sedate him for something he hadn't even really done. "I just..." The blond trailed off for a moment, unsure of how to finish his sentence. Anything he said would only serve as a reminder of what had happened in the basement, and he doubted either of them wanted to get into that while they were eating.

But the fact remained that he could never forgive Sync for what he'd done to not only Guy, but to Anise as well. The fact he and Dias had been caught up in it was barely the tip of the iceberg, as far as he was concerned. Every time he saw Sync's face, it just made him remember that something like that could happen again unless something was done to stop it. True, his friends had returned from the dead, but now that it looked like their dying was the cause of some memory loss...

Claude shook his head. "I'll be careful," he said instead, and he took another bite of his food.

He could tell Guy was trying to change the subject when he brought up last night. Normally, that would have been a good course of action, but unfortunately, Claude didn't have much to tell him. For a moment, he thought about lying -- it would be easy enough to tell him he had an average night, after all. But Guy was one of the few people he had a difficult time outright lying to, and so he made himself meet his friend's gaze.

"I, um, blacked out before I even had a chance to leave my room," he confessed. It made him feel uneasy because it had never happened before, and he recognized it as one of the symptoms that people experienced before disappearing. Still, Claude knew it wouldn't do any good to dwell on all of that, and he quickly offered his friend a smile. "Guess I needed to catch up on a few Z's, heheh."

He leaned his elbows on the table, suddenly looking attentive. "But what about you? How was your night?"

[razing_phoenix]

Even though it was clear that Claude was still struggling with both Sync and everything that the God-General had done, Guy was somewhat relieved that he didn't launch them into a conversation about it. What had needed to be said had already been said, and Guy was almost irritated that Sync's presence kept opening up old wounds. Even if there was no longer any stiffness in his neck or his arms and even if the curse slot hadn't amounted to much, it wasn't something so easily forgotten.

Besides, something had been taken from him when he died, even if he wasn't entirely sure as to what it was yet. He really needed to sit Luke down at some point. If he just told his friend that he had something important that he needed to talk to him about, he was sure Luke would be open to it. It might mean wasting a portion of a night, which made Guy feel selfish, but this wasn't something he could just let lie.

The news that Claude had missed an entire night was startling, and Guy paused in his eating for just a split second before he resumed. He didn't want to assume anything, especially since Claude seemed to be doing just fine now. It was possible that sticking to the grind of going out night after night had just caught up with the other man. Guy was going to cross his fingers that that was all it was.

"I hope you feel a little more rested, then," he said with a slightly strained smile as he finished off his burger and then continued working on the french fries. "I didn't get as much done as I wanted to last night, but we did meet up with Leon and got Luke a sword." That was the important thing. Now that both of them were armed with some manner of blade, their nights would hopefully go a lot smoother.

"There was this weird thing that happened, though. We heard this explosion from Leon's room, and it turned out another one of the rooms in that hallway had been set on fire," he explained with a frown. "It doesn't look like anyone got hurt, but it does seem like someone was trying to stir up trouble." That still made him uneasy, so he was tossing around the idea of asking about it on the bulletin the following day.

[full_score]

"Thanks," he replied with what he hoped was a more genuine smile of gratitude, though he wasn't sure how much more rested he really felt. Still, that was easy enough to forget when he heard Guy had to say next.

They'd met with Leon? Claude couldn't hide the surprise on his face. Luke hadn't mentioned that to him before, though it was true they'd talked about a ton of other stuff before the rain started getting worse. It was nice to hear the Fellpool was still doing well and working on his alchemy projects. He hadn't had a chance to see Leon personally since his lunch with him and Anise the other day. Though he tried to check up on him via the bulletin as often as he could, that was considerably harder to do in Doyleton.

"I didn't realize Luke had already collected some metal," Claude said, impressed. It sounded like he was really on top of things! "That's great. I'm glad Leon was able to help you guys out."

That explosion stuff was definitely unsettling, though. Claude's first thought was that it was Landel's doing somehow, or that a monster was responsible. Then again, the patients blocks had a tendency to be quieter than the rest of the building (though there were definitely exceptions). Was another patient somehow involved? The thought wasn't comforting, especially considering the kinds of crazy people one could find trapped here. The fact the explosion had happened so close to three of his friends didn't help, either.

"Thank goodness none of you guys were caught up in it," he said seriously. "I wonder what they were trying to accomplish, pulling an awful stunt like that."