Nightshift 60: West Wing, North Hall 1-A

[complicatedliar]

[From here]Again he paused, this time just outside the doorway. Toward the end of the hall he saw a bit of light, which probably meant that was the door to the outside. And immediately on his left was another door, open, which just lead to another hall. That was the direction he wanted, according to his memory. He took another moment to listen, but

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[blowfishing]

[from here]

Yeah, he'd gone this way to get to the Recreational Field, but it looked so freakin' different at night. His adrenaline was already pumping from the change in atmosphere, no matter how thankful he was that there was no blood splattered all over the place right now. The beam from Jesse's flashlight was shaking just a little -- very little, because he'd faced worse than this, damn it. The cartel was scarier than this. Except no matter how scary some people could be, at least they were people, not unknown entities lurking in the dark

[pullstrung]

((From here.))

The moment he turned the corner, Woody slid his back against the wall again in an attempt to make himself as unnoticeable to potential monsters as possible. With a slightly unsteady hand, he positioned his flashlight further ahead. "C'mon, c'mon," he muttered as he searched for some sign of the two men.

Soon enough, though, he caught sight of a familiar face. After braving through last night's horrors and sitting through breakfast with this man, Woody didn't think he'd ever forget what Jesse looked like.

"Oh, good," he sighed with relief as he approached him with a half smile. I'm glad you made it, was the implication, but Woody knew better than to imply that maybe he wouldn't have under different circumstances. "How're you holding up?"

[blowfishing]

Thank god, that didn't take long. Turning to face Woody fully, Jesse's expression brightened up a little with recognition and relief. There was something about a familiar face in a dark place, especially now that he was almost one-hundred percent sure the dude was solid. Considering some of the other characters he'd had the chance to chat with during the day, he was beginning to suspect Woody and Mack were the most solid dudes of the bunch.

In which case, luck was on his side for once and he had a responsibility to be loyal to them. In order to signal this newfound loyalty and respect, Jesse raised his free hand up to Woody and clenched it in the air for a fist-bump, a friendly gesture he hoped would be returned.

A standard greeting among bros.

"Yo, my man Woody, I'm hangin' in there, y'know?"

[pullstrung]

While a faint look of surprise crossed Woody's face upon seeing the raised fist, he quickly recognized the greeting. Easily bumping his own knuckles against Jesse's, his expression grew warmer.

"Glad to hear it," he said with a hint of a laugh in his voice. Despite their grim situation, that friendly, casual gesture automatically put him at ease. Funny, how some things stayed the same, whether he was in a toy's body or not. Maybe some languages were just universal.

"It's a lot to get used to, I know," Woody quietly added, growing a little more serious as he let his arm fall back down his side. After how horrifying and exhausting his first day had been, Woody could genuinely sympathize with any new person he came across. "But as long as you stick with some buddies, you'll be a lot safer than you would be on your own."

[blowfishing]

Even though Woody was a little bit older, he was totally receptive to the way Jesse chose to interact with him. That was a huge deal. Smiling easier, he rubbed at the back of his neck after the fist-bump and glanced away like he was almost shy. There was nothing condescending about Woody, even though he actually did know more and could've showed it off if he wanted to. In fact, he continued to be comforting, helpful and nothing less.

They were all in deep shit, to be sure, but wow. Jesse's blue eyes refocused on Woody's kind ones, his expression appreciative of the genuine quality that existed there. "I talked to Mack again during the day."

"You both seem like... really good buddies. It's really cool. I think I'm pretty lucky that I ran into you two first."

[pullstrung]

Whatever it was he'd done seemed to put Jesse at ease too. Maybe that was something they could help each other out with in the future. Talking to someone else who didn't believe they were from a children's book, or worse, some stupid space drama, was pretty refreshing, actually

[blowfishing]

As tough as he liked to try to appear, the truth was he'd never done well on his own. Having some people to depend on, and even more than that, being able to give back in a way that wasn't toxic at the core, was a strangely satisfying feeling. Despite the shitty environment and all. Jesse felt himself light up a bit with the opportunity to prove himself, which meant pushing past the unsettling feelings and pushing forward

[pullstrung]

Jesse had a point, but Woody knew he'd probably have to dig deeper than most just to find out what the heck happened to his friends, his body, and...Andy. And unless this was place was overflowing with toys and he was just too blind to see it for some weird reason, he and Buzz were going to have to make that journey mostly on their own. It wasn't going to be easy, but they had to do it.

That meant focusing on what they could do at any given moment. When Jesse mentioned that he didn't have anything to fight with, Woody lightly tapped his clothes rod against the floor.

"As a matter of fact, I might," he answered with a light grin that might have been just a touch self-satisfied. Woody had been so desperate for something to beat monsters back that grabbing the nearest stick-like thing he could find had been second nature, but it actually wasn't a half-bad idea in hindsight. "I'm pretty sure they're in every closet. Wanna try grabbing one from somewhere once Mack shows up?"

[blowfishing]

Since he wasn't expecting a yes, Jesse's lip quirked up at the surprising reply. It wasn't as surprising when he gave it a second thought. "Serious? I guess that makes sense, yo. You had to get it from somewhere."

"I'll take anything I can get," he confirmed. Mack had talked about self-defense today, but as far as he was concerned without some kind of weapon he was as good as iced. With the flashlight tucked under his arm, Jesse took a moment to rub at his eyes with both hands. As a general rule he fidgeted as a way to manage stress, but it probably wasn't smart to let his guard down for even a second, so he grabbed at the flashlight and checked over his shoulder once immediately afterwards.

"You think he'll be showin' up soon?"

[pullstrung]

There were probably better things out there to use against a monster, but beggars couldn't be choosers, and sometimes a guy just had to improvise. Thankfully, Jesse seemed to agree, which would hopefully help him out in the future. "Good," Woody said with a nod. "We'll take care of that in a few minutes, then."

Maybe someone like Mack was fine with only his fists, but there was no way Woody was going to touch one of the nasty things that lurked around the institute -- unless, by some freak accident, it had latched itself onto him. And even then, he'd only grab onto it in order to fling it away from himself as fast as possible. Yep, a clothes rod suited him just fine for now.

Speaking of Mack, though, where was he? Shifting his weight onto one leg, Woody had to consciously keep himself from tapping his stick against the floor out of nervousness. "He should show up soon," he answered with a frown. "I mean, his room can't be that far. We ran into each other by accident the past two nights

[blowfishing]

If worse came to worse, he could always chuck his flashlight at the monsters. It had some good weight behind it; maybe he could aim for an eye or some other weak spot and then bolt for his life. He could barely believe that he was having to plan a strategy to battle some legit hallway monsters, but he'd seen and heard enough in just one night to resist any natural skepticism

[pullstrung]

Targets. Easy targets. That was the last thing they needed, and Jesse, unfortunately, made a really good point. Biting his lip, Woody anxiously peered over the man's shoulder, but so far no sign of Mack at all. At this rate, though, they really would become monster snacks

[blowfishing]

Eyes following the beam of Woody's flashlight, he nodded once. It was the same direction he'd just come from and Jesse could only hope that it was just as (seemingly) safe as it had been a couple of minutes ago. He steadied himself with another sigh and focused an intense gaze up at the taller man, one that spoke to survival above all else.

It was gnawing at him now, especially when Woody put it that way -- who stopped to chat in the middle of a danger zone when they had somewhere to be? There was a chance that they'd find Mack's body instead of Mack and he wasn't able to gloss over that, as much as he didn't want to consider that possibility. The next thing he said held undertones of worry, as big as he wanted it to sound.

"If he's alive, I'll kick his ass for making us wait," Jesse muttered and began striding down the hall with the expectation that Woody would follow in tow. "Let's bounce."

[rushing off to here]