Day 50: Waiting Room / Lobby 2 (3rd Shift)

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When they told him he would have a visitor, Nigredo could not even feign surprise. He had, after all, asked the one who looked like Citrine to visit again. Despite the falsity of her presence, the child had liked her in the sense that out of all his siblings, she had been the most forgiving on his sanity. Not to mention, a part of him wanted to

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Between the light blue hair and the voice, it wasn't difficult to tell who this was supposed to be. Mieu-Thing-sat right before him, as if nothing was the problem, as if he was supposed to not be feeling well. For every ounce of preparation he felt, he didn't expect that Landel would bring Mieu here, a cheagle of all things, and turn him into a boy. Luke wasn't upset, necessarily, but startled and surprised. Maybe that was what Landel wanted. He didn't want them to know where their friends had gone. He just wanted Luke to see how helpless his situation was.

That just made Luke more determined to take care of the bastard. It was apparent that this was a game to him, more than ever.

Luke carefully lowered a hand so that Mieu couldn't tell that he was upset. A faint warmth hit his cheeks, and he knew that could be incriminating enough, but doubted it would affect things too much. Mieu would overlook things, even like this. He doubted Landel would alter his personality along with his memories. It would change the effect of the situation.

"Somewhat," he finally breathed out. Luke knew they sounded a bit strange. "But I never thought you'd come and visit me. Heh, guess I should've figured, huh?" All cheerful enough, but he knew the words lacked the ease that Mieu was probably familiar with.

Some part of him really wanted to be happy to see Mieu. After everything Mieu had gone through after his own mistakes, Luke wanted him to be able to go back to the other cheagles and be happy. He wasn't supposed to be here. It just meant that nearly everyone from his world could be taken and changed. While his mother had been there in Baticul, that didn't mean she would remain.

Damn ... But for now, he knew he needed to focus on the conversation at hand, and he had to be careful: Mieu probably had a different name, too, and Luke would have to avoid it. He wondered if "Thing" would work, though. Some habits were nice to fall into, anyway, and that might be a safe one.

[damned_visitors]

Matt tilted his head to the side, curious as to why Brandon would only feel "somewhat" better. Not only that, but he was acting a little weird that he'd come to see him. Matt didn't completely understand why, though it could have had to do with him not feeling well. Maybe he hadn't been in Landel's long enough? Grandpa had told him it might take awhile, but Brandon was always so strong and brave. There was no doubt in Matt's mind that he'd get better soon!

That didn't answer why he hadn't expected him as a visitor, though. They used to do everything together! Even if it a lot of it had just been Brandon letting Matt follow him around, it was still a lot of fun. "Of course I'd come visit!" he replied, taking a seat next to his friend. He was mindful not to drop the gift bag he was carrying. "I wanted to come with you, but they said you'd get better faster without me." The boy seemed to sag a little in his chair, as though the very thought made him feel heavier. "Plus I still have to go to school. I'm sorry!"

When Brandon got sick and had to be sent off to Landel's, it was hard for Matt to let him go off on his own. But if that was going to help him get better, than he knew that was what what they had to do. He still didn't want him thinking he'd been abandoned, though!

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"That's what they said? That I'd get better?" He wondered who it was. It couldn't have been his parents, who were still back in the safety of Baticul. If that was the case, did that mean there were people here who believed they were his mother and father? What was the explanation for all of it? Why did he and Asch have this confrontation with one another? Luke's jaw clenched as he tried to piece it together, but no matter what amount of thought he put toward it, it didn't make any sense.

He studied Mieu and realized that this wouldn't be easy. A strong part of him wished he hadn't gone with the "somewhat," but if Mieu were to ask about how he looked forward to his life, he knew he couldn't answer. He didn't know what lied for him outside, and what he had returned to several times because of the choice made by Landel. Right now, Asch, Tear, and the others were out there, and he wondered what it was like for them. Did Mieu know them? Could he even ask?

Luke paused, and then realized he had a way.

"What about my other friends? Are they worried about me, too? I miss them since they left here." It was a leading question, but he suspected it might be the only way to help things. He wanted to help Mieu as best as he could, but he had to approach this carefully.

[damned_visitors]

Matt blinked, unsure of why Brandon would ask something like that. Hospitals were where people went when they were sick, right? Why else would he have been sent here? "Yeah!" he said with a nod. "Don't you think you'll get better too? I heard the doctors here are really good!"

Which made sense, because Brandon deserved the absolute best when it came to his health. He was such a good person who always let Matt hang out with him even when other people didn't necessarily want him around. Plus the only reason Matt was even alive today was because of Brandon!

He wasn't surprised when Brandon asked after his other friends. He was always so caring of other people. Though Matt knew he at least had people like Dana to keep him company, he was bound to miss everyone who'd already gotten better. Matt knew he would if he were in Brandon's place.

"Of course they're worried," Matt earnestly replied. "Especially Rachel. She told me to tell you to come home as soon as you're better."

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It struck him just then that he had more of a unique opportunity than most others. If Mieu knew him outside of this place, he could tell him what he was like when he left. If anything, that might provide information that could help them in the future. When he spoke to people through the tacked up messages on the bulletin board, it didn't feel like people were willing to share their information, so he had to do what he could. Maybe people weren't thinking hard enough ... or maybe they had just given up.

But that didn't fit his resolve from earlier, and his drive to make things better.

"I'm planning on it," he responded. Who was Rachel? Was it Tear? Or was it someone else? All the names lined up like that, he figured she could be the only one who fit the bill. It wasn't like there were a whole lot of girls in his life who weren't here at the moment. Rachel ... Rachel, he wondered if he could ask the nurses about her. If she was someone he cared about, maybe they would have something to say. Then again, he could almost feel them trying to keep him from being so curious, or the way they would brush him off.

"I mean, I've gotten better before, haven't I? I've just gotta do it again." His words didn't sound as sincere or forceful as he would've liked. In fact, he couldn't smile or sound upbeat like he normally did. In this case, it was near impossible to lie, but he hoped Mieu's current form wouldn't be able to catch on.

[damned_visitors]

Matt could tell Brandon's heart wasn't behind his words like usual, but maybe that was just one of the symptoms of his illness. Once the doctors got him to heal, then he'd be back to his usual self for sure! And, besides, Brandon was right. He'd gotten better before, so of course he'd be able to do it again. It was just a matter of staying better, but that was okay. Matt would just have to keep helping him once he was home again.

"That's right!" he replied with an enthusiastic nod. "Maybe it'll be even easier this time." Anytime you did something over and over again it was bound to get easier, right? Kind of like how Brandon had been while playing Dragon Buster. At first it had been kind of difficult, but then the more he practiced, the better at it he became!

Oh! Matt's eyes widened as he looked down at the gift bag in his lap. That reminded him, he still needed to give Brandon his present!

"Here!" he suddenly said as he extended the bag toward Brandon. "I got this for you! I hope you like it."

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Either Mieu had his memories altered, or it was pretty clear that there was a constructed life for him outside of this place. Luke thought to ask about his mom and dad, but he realized that regardless of the situation, there was a good chance that Mieu wouldn't be the best at answering that. He could give it his best shot at trying to get information out, but he knew the odds that it would go anywhere were slim. Anything that he had a chance at getting would be muddled by information with names he could only guess at-like the name Rachel, which he only just received.

So he shifted his attention toward the bag. At first, Luke hoped it would be something useful, but he realized the odds of that were slim. As helpful as Mieu had been along the journey, there was no way he could be now. But he realized he never really got a gift from Mieu before.

"About time you finally got me a gift, Thing," he slipped out smoothly, grabbing the bag from him. If Tear or the others were there, they would scold him for calling Mieu that, especially when he was like this, but he supposed it only fit that he was able to take some comfort in having the cheagle there. Even if the cheagle looked a little funny. He opened up the bag and out came a little toy, and his stomach sank. Hours playing the game back home came back to him, and it seemed odd that there would be a remnant of it here. Even the costume was the same. "Where did you get this?" he asked, hesitance clear in his voice.

[damned_visitors]

Matt beamed at Brandon's special nickname for him -- it'd been awhile since he'd gotten a chance to hear his friend call him that! Plus it looked like he was interested in the present. Maybe it would bring back memories of when the two of them would play that game. ...Well, actually, it was more like Brandon played it while Matt watched, but it was still just as fun.

"I ordered it online!" he cheerfully replied, but then stopped short when he realized Brandon didn't seem as excited by the gift as Matt had been hoping. He sounded more unsure of it than anything. The reason he'd gotten the present was because he'd thought it would make Brandon happy. Maybe this was part of his sickness, too?

Looking at the redhead curiously, he added, "Don't you recognize it, Brandon? It's okay if you don't, but I thought maybe it would help you remember the stuff we used to do together."

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The last thing that Luke wanted to look like was ungrateful because of the gift that Mieu gave him, but he realized it was difficult. Finding an element so similar to what he had in his world here unsettled him; it gave credence to any theories that people might have that their lives were a lie. Some credence, but not enough-too many people were caught up in this, too many people were going crazy from these different groups. The likelihood that their perceptions of everything would match up was slim. Still, he wondered if this was one of Landel's tricks. It was a plant left in their world, and if he could pull them from their homes and make their family members miss them, couldn't he pull something like this through, too?

"Oh, I recognize it all right," Luke said. He didn't even pay attention to the usage of the name 'Brandon'-he couldn't. "Heh heh, I remember getting the costume because I did pretty well at this one. I wore it once, remember?" He wondered how much the details would line up, but the story really slid out smoothly. There were barely any revisions at all. "Too bad you couldn't have brought that instead, but they might not like it here."

[damned_visitors]

How could Matt forget Brandon's costume? Actually, he had lots of costumes he liked to wear, and he would change them whenever he felt like wearing something different on one of their "adventures". He even had a wig! Sometimes Matt wondered what it would be like to have so many clothes, but it was hard to imagine himself wearing anything different from his usual things. But with how Brandon was, he bet he missed getting to change into different costumes while he was at Landel's.

"I wanted to, but your mother told me that they only let you wear those uniforms with the faces on it," Matt said, looking a little apologetic now, and he ended his sentence with something that sounded suspiciously like mieuuu. Then, he suddenly brightened up, as if just realizing something. "But maybe they'll let you keep one when you come home, and you can add it to your collection!"

When he thought of it that way, it didn't sound so bad! And it wasn't just an extra outfit he'd be getting, either. Brandon would come back from Landel's even better and healthier than before, Matt was sure of it. Keeping that in mind made their separation a little easier to accept, at least.

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The words "your mother" twisted Luke's stomach. Whoever it was in this world, Luke knew it wasn't the same woman who watched over him and took massages from him so that he could take care of her. He wondered what Asch would think of that, and he couldn't help but wonder what their reasoning was for him and Asch's situation. As far as he knew, replicas probably didn't exist in this world. That seemed like something that Claude might mention. But he realized he didn't know, and hadn't thought to ask. Maybe he should. Maybe that would make things clearer.

"They probably think I'm crazy for wearing them, too," Luke muttered, and his words sounded more uneasy than he might have liked. Coming off thoughts of his mother influenced that. "I doubt they're gonna let me keep anything. They never liked when I wore things like that." This was all guess work, but he imagined that it fit the bill. The clothes he wore, from the dragon buster one to the viscount outfit, would seem unusual and a little bizarre in this world, he figured.

"But-uh, Thing. Can you do me a favor?" He wasn't sure if he was allowed to ask for something, but he thought it was best to try. "Let my mom and dad ... and everyone else know that I miss them and I'm doing what I can to get better." He paused, considering for a moment. "And especially Rachel. Make sure Rachel knows I miss her the most."