Nightshift 25: Stairway near nurse station & waiting room 1

[itneverwas]

[From here]Xemnas briefly paused as he reached the staircase, his orange eyes slightly narrowing as he gazed upwards, trying to determine whether something above waited, or not

Comments

[unmocked_lawr]

[From here.]

Javert eyed the stairs warily as he and Alec approached. He could have sworn there had been less of them last night. Then again, last night he hadn't been badly cut up and bleeding profusely. That might have something to do with it.

He began climbing, casting about for something to focus on other than the stabbing pain in his chest. Trevelyan wouldn't have to wait until dayshift for The Talk to begin.

"So," began Javert in an almost conversational, if slightly breathless tone. "I had a 'therapy session' with one Dr. Sohma this afternoon."

[janus_006]

Oh, lovely. Javert had started the Talk so he wouldn't have to. How considerate. Alec lurched up the stairs behind him, his now-working flashlight clutched tightly in his good hand. "Therapy? Really? I don't start mine until tomorrow, I don't think." He didn't think he'd gotten his doctor's name. "So...how did it go?" he prompted, trying to get Javert to explain why, exactly, this was relevant. It had to be relevant, this was Javert they were talking about here. He wouldn't waste breath on idle chitchat.

[unmocked_lawr]

Javert merely quirked an eyebrow at Trevelyan.

"He reads books," he said coolly. Almost too coolly. "Rather a lot of them, apparently. Quite the intellectual, Dr. Sohma."

A pause as he struggled up another two or three flights. "Apparently he thought I'd be cooped up in my room all night. He lent me a book, you see."

[janus_006]

"Aha," Alec said quietly, walking slowly up after Javert. "Was this book by one Victor Hugo, by any chance?"

Keep talking. Talking helped dull the pain.

[no_side_effects]

[[From here]]

Wesker paused at the base of the stairs to look around, making sure that the area was clear of enemies. He then turned so he could keep an eye on both the girls as well as looking up the stairs.

[queenpeacecraft]

Pointing her flashlight more towards the ground and where they were going, Relena followed her older companion. She caught a hint of stairs and surmised they were exploring up there.

[claire_ity]

As Wesker had instructed, Claire brought up the rear, this time, holding her poker instead of twirling it (smirking slightly at his quip that it wasn't a baton).

So far, she hadn't heard anything coming up behind her, but was still slightly apprehensive about exploring the second floor. Would that woman be back again tonight?

[plaguedred]

[[From here]]

He came towards the group from behind, moving slowly and silently, flashlight off but held in one hand. It wasn't that Krauser thought it was a good idea to try to sneak up behind Claire. He hadn't even tried to get particularly close; he was still keeping a respectful distance back. Most people wouldn't hear him.

He knew one of the people present perfectly well, though. He was quite sure Wesker could see him, and wanted to follow the man's lead in talking to the group. Rule one in dealing with Wesker was to remember that he always had a plan. Better to be greeted by Wesker than challenged by anyone else.

[notachick]

[from here]

After waiting for a moment at the bottom of the stairs, Okita started up. He wanted to get to the pharmacy as quickly as possible to avoid the possibility that someone else had raided it first. In his haste, however, he wasn't going to be stupid. The stairs were dark and that meant something could be waiting in the shadows.

He went up a few steps and paused, clicking his flashlight on and once again applauding the future for its ingenuity. At least with these things, the chance of burning down a building was significantly lessened.

[reversebemylot]

[follow, follow!]Reservations, a hesitation to place his trust in others, these fueled Simon's opening his mouth. Something else closed it before he could express doubt. There was little reason for the woman in question to have been lying, no, the patients for the most part must have seen the wisdom of working together. Besides, Simon was fairly sure that sounded right. Another smile had been his only response to Okita's comment of how soon they might acquire the supplies, doubt rising up again, could it be that easy

[notachick]

When nothing immediately jumped out at them, Okita moved up the stairs cautiously. It didn't take long to reach the first landing and he turned his flashlight to illuminate the top. He was disappointed to find that the beam didn't reach that far. Instead, he listened, motioning Simon forward only when he was certain it was safe.

He could feel the tension in the air and Okita looked over at Simon, hoping the man wouldn't let nerves get the better of him. Tatsunosuke had horrible stomach problems because of that.

"We're almost there," he said reassuringly, as he continued up the way.

[ hooo over here]

[reversebemylot]

Following, ever following. It was funny to compare and contrast his life then, his life now. Life then had two parts: before decoding River's letters and after. In many ways, Simon had been able to hone nerves of steel well before the first of then. Acting as a doctor, a trauma surgeon no less, ensured it. But there was one thing and another, the unknown and the not--the unknown, rougher living, Simon learning in the after, and here.

If his nerves existed in a debilitating way, they had been stifled, shut beneath the alert expression and quick eyes. He nodded, not answering, not reassured as he did not require the comfort for himself--as always, Simon's mind wandered to River, and with that distraction he followed onward.

[yeeeep, and i am made of utter fail]

[never_learns]

[From here]

Yohji guided the two of them into down the corridor and towards the stairwell in silence. He could be quiet sometimes, even if he was known for being the outgoing one of the group. Talking on a mission could have got him killed anyway. Even if he wanted to, he was a little too preoccupied to hold up his end of a conversation.

He slipped into the stairwell, holding the door open to Aya. "This way. We should try this side of the building first I guess." Made sense.

[seiran314]

Yohji's first comment was lost to Aya. In the flickering light of a passing flashlight, he saw a face he could have recognized even in his dreams, no, nightmares rather. Heart skipping a beat, his feet stumbling, he just headed wherever Yohji's voice and form was leading him. For a moment forgetting he should have been acting like a professional assassin.

He was dreaming. There was no other way to explain this. Maybe hallucinations if he finally had flipped over the border of sanity. Kikyo was not in the same building with him.

"...um, stairs..." he muttered, distracted. "Yohji..." His voice shouldn't have sounded that weak. Infuriating! Even after he had killed Kikyo, he still affected him this much. The flashlight was trembling in his hand as he followed after Yohji, hand reaching for the wall for support. Say something - anything! "...that's fine," was all he could squeeze out finally.

[never_learns]

Yohji turned back to Aya, frowning slightly in concern. He seemed distracted, not something Yohji was used to seeing from the usually taciturn assassin. Aya was always the one who'd been so focussed.

He reached out, touching Aya's shoulder for a moment lightly before pulling back. Probably a bad move if he was acting so odd. "Problem?" he asked curiously. "You look like you've seen a ghost." And that was usually Yohji's problem.

[seiran314]

Aya blinked, rubbing shaky fingers over his eyes before glancing at Yohji. "Gh-ghost?" It did not make sense. First of all, Kikyo was not alive. Second, Aya did not believe in ghosts. And last but not least, he did not stutter.

Frowning, he glanced back towards the hallway where they had came through just now and shook his head. "I thought I saw someone I once knew." He sounded nervous, and he did not like that fact.

[muted_flame]

[ From here. ]

The area by the stairway was near empty. As far as Roy could tell, there was only one other group of three nearby. That probably meant that everyone had already went on their way to carry out whatever plan they had set for the night, which made the alchemist irritated about their failed attempt all over again.

There was no point in getting hung up on it, though. They would just have to do what they could with the remaining time. At least he didn't very many signs of there having been any fighting near the stairs. No bloodstains, or pieces of a monsters that had been sliced off...

[felled_hero]

"Just weird," Hughes said, shaking his head. "Me and this guy I ended up with were at the bottom of the stairs and we heard... well, it sounded like laughing. Like a bunch of little kids or something. And I know there's some monsters around that look like kids, so I figured it was one of those. So we go up the stairs, ready for a fight but... there was nothing there."

He knew that probably didn't sound strange on its own, but considering this place...

"There was no sign there'd been anything up there at all. Now monsters and whatever is normal here, but...disembodied voices? That's a new one."

[grabby_hands]

"Huh," Greed said, focusing more on new kernels of information rather than his dislike for the man who had given them. After a moment of contemplation, he tried to verbally shrug off the statement even as his curiosity and desire to be cool and calm battled inwardly.

"Well... Hey, you knew that Elric kid, right?" Greed said, looking towards Roy. "He had a voice coming out of an empty suit of armor, so who knows what the hell else could be possible?"

An empty suit of armor that Greed felt held a key to true immortality, but he didn't mention that part.

[muted_flame]

"Alphonse? We both knew him," Roy informed Greed, glancing over to Hughes as he spoke. "But I doubt it's anything like that. For one thing, he would have heard clanging..."

The alchemist started up the stairs. While it used to be a prime place for attacks in the past, that hadn't been as much of a problem lately. Not that he was complaining--it would have proved extremely frustrating if they hadn't even been able to make it up due to some monster.

"I did hear from Fullmetal that there is a creature here along those lines, however. Moving armor--though I don't recall him mentioning it speaking." He wasn't going to worry too much over the disembodied voices, since, for one thing, they weren't hearing them tonight. Better to focus on the present.

[ To here. ]