Night 52: West Wing, North Hall 1-A

[zack_fair]

[From here.]Even though the hallway seemed especially quiet tonight, Zack wasn't bothered. He was used to moving around in quiet areas on his own, from caverns to wide open fields to shorelines. He didn't get spooked very easily, and if anything, he felt like he was in his element. He had a weapon in hand was was moving at his own pace, not

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[razing_phoenix]

[From here.]

The hall was relatively empty, with only one patient besides the two of them occupying it. Guy knew that this wasn't the most popular of meeting spots, but it definitely served their purposes for tonight. He glanced down the hall toward the other block for a moment, but didn't see any redheads approaching just yet.

"Luke's one block down, so he might be a few minutes," he informed Claude as he leaned himself up against the wall, prepared to wait. His friend also wasn't the most punctual of people, though Claude might have gotten to know Luke well enough (through his various times spent here) to realize that for himself.

Now would have been the perfect time to ask Claude about what had happened earlier, in the library, and yet Guy restrained. That was for Claude to speak about when he felt like it, right? For now, he'd keep things simple. They did have a job to do, after all.

[full_score]

It wasn't often Claude got to catch glimpses of Guy's cockier side, but even that was milder than what he'd seen from his other friends. Still, knowing he wasn't the only one feeling pretty good about tonight in spite of all the bad that happened over the past few days put him in better spirits. He stuck close to his friend as he followed him out into the hallway

[razing_phoenix]

Standing around in silence might not have been the ideal way to pass the time, but Guy didn't really mind it, either. With Claude, it never really felt awkward -- or it hadn't in a while, anyway. Even if there were so many issues that were floating between them (not any conflict about the two of them, but words unsaid and concerns that the other vaguely knew about), it still didn't get to a point where Guy felt as if there was tension

[full_score]

Guy seemed content with waiting, though Claude hadn't really thought he'd have any objections. He felt like he should have said more, thank him for being such a good sport about the weird conversation in the library, at the very least. But Guy changed the subject before he got the chance.

Claude hadn't expected any questions about the wall, of all things, and he blinked in surprise before glancing over at the door that led out into the recreational field. Was that where they were going? If he'd realized that, he might have grabbed the hard hat he'd picked up from the hardware store the night of the zombie attack. That was what he got for not asking for more clarification over the board, he guessed. Ah, well. No use in crying over spilled milk. They'd probably manage just fine with what they had, anyway

[razing_phoenix]

From the sound of it, Claude was even less informed about the outside area than he was. Guy didn't mind, of course; if there was one thing that he was good at, it was explaining things. That just wasn't something he ever wanted to admit since to a certain colonel, since he went around abusing that knowledge as he pleased.

Not recently, though, and thinking back on that actually brought a smile to the swordsman's face.

"Anise has been telling me about it," Guy started as he got more comfortable in his spot against the wall. If Luke hadn't showed up by now, then it was possible he'd gotten caught up in something and it might be a bit longer. Either way, staying on edge and keeping an eye out every two seconds would only make him more nervous, so he tried to focus on something else; namely, giving Claude his information.

"She found some ruins of a town out there a few nights ago, for one thing. But she also heard from a friend that there's apparently a quarry around, too. So I guess someone was digging for something..." It was all

[full_score]

He wasn't sure what Guy was smiling about. Normally he might have asked, but he didn't want to derail the conversation. They needed to go over what they knew before hopping over the wall, after all

[mirrorbirth]

[From here.]

Asch had expected to find a nurse, or perhaps another patient, especially in one of the main hallways. The unhelpful facility workers had been around all day, pestering him when he least expected or when he certainly didn't want their help, for lack of a better word. To not meet up with a single one was somewhat disconcerting, and it made him even more wary than he already was. The person he did find wasn't much better, despite being a familiar face; just down the hall from the door was Guy, standing with another man Asch couldn't recognize. The sight of the blond man made him pause, discomfort joining the irritation he was already feeling. There was no way that this encounter could end well. They had too much history, and Guy had always hated him, after all. He had no desire to deal with any harassment, certainly not considering the mood he was already in.

Then again, if anyone knew where Luke would be, it was Guy. So, steeling himself, he continued forward, hands clenching at his sides. "Hey! Where's the replica?"

[razing_phoenix]

It seemed that he and Claude were on the same page after all. When the younger man made his suggestion, Guy nodded in agreement. "I don't really know the exact layout and where everything is, so we'll just have to decide on one way to go and hope for the best." He didn't know if it was better to retread the ground that Anise had already covered or to look for something completely new, so he was just going to leave it up to chance at this point.

Of course, they couldn't actually get going until Luke showed up, and the more seconds that passed by, the more Guy felt a knot tightening in his stomach. He'd just seen Luke earlier in the day, and the redhead had already been experimented on and brainwashed in this place. What the hell would Landel have wanted him for now

[full_score]

Even if it probably wasn't the most efficient way, choosing a random direction and running with it was probably going to to be their best bet. As long as they only had vague stories from other captives to go by, that was really all they could do. Claude wondered if there were any maps of the surrounding area floating around, but doubted it. Maybe it would have been worth asking about, though

[mirrorbirth]

Asch glanced briefly at the unfamiliar young man, eyes narrowed. How did he know his name? Asch couldn't recall ever meeting the other blond, let alone introducing himself. He was hardly the social butterfly of the world, and sharing his name freely wasn't something he'd ever done. Especially not when he was on his own.

"No one invited me anywhere," he responded curtly, not exactly bitter about his words. Whatever they were doing, if Luke was involved, joining them wouldn't be a pleasure, especially if Guy was going to give him the evil eye the entire time. "Who are you, and why do you know me?"

It was a question asked out of a need to know rather than genuine curiosity; until the other man proved useful, Asch wasn't going to show genuine interest in him.

[razing_phoenix]

It didn't take long at all for the confusion to start between the other two, but Guy was able to gather some information just from Claude's question. So it seemed that Asch had really just come across them as a fluke, and now Guy wished that they had headed out the door onto the field just a little earlier. Though it went back to the same problem: where was Luke? Not even Asch knew, so

[full_score]

Oh, so it sounded like their running into each other like this was a coincidence, then. Still, Claude hadn't expected Asch not to recognize him, and it showed in the way his eyebrows shot up to his bangs. Guy was quick to clear things up (sort of), but that didn't make it any less awkward. He hadn't even realized Asch had gone missing! At least, that was usually what happened before someone came back with their memories wiped, right?

"Oh, my name's Claude," he quickly told the redhead. "You see, we used to be--"

But the intercom cut him off before he could finish his sentence. Looking up, he listened intently, stomach turning at the thought of Landel torturing that woman in his office like that. There probably wasn't a way to get to them, either. That bastard. Claude opened his mouth to voice his frustration, but it was then that the lights started to go crazy. "What the hell

[mirrorbirth]

Asch didn't respond to Claude at first; his focus was on the lights, and the sound of the intercom. That was new, and completely unexpected. Luke had mentioned something about the institute being dangerous at night, hadn't he? Glancing at his temporary companions, they seemed briefly startled but not surprised, so such things must have happened before- or at least, similar events that might lead them to consider it normal. He debated questioning them about it, but perhaps it could wait until other matters had been dealt with. He filed the information - and the shattering light - in the back of his mind to consider later on

[razing_phoenix]

Leave it to Asch to ignore half of the things that they told him. Granted, in this case Guy didn't mind so much, because the redhead was focusing on the most important thing, which was Luke. He waited as patiently as he could when he saw the God-General shut his eyes, knowing that he was mentally reaching out to Luke in the way that only an original and a replica could. Guy didn't know if Claude had ever had that explained to him, but he could worry about it later.

Though when Asch came back with his verdict on Luke's location, it was even worse than Guy had expected. "He's just gone?" he asked, blurting it out before he could reign himself in. How could that be, when both he and Asch had just seen him? It was possible that he'd been taken by Landel after all (for the third time) and was therefore being blocked away from even Asch, but either way, the end result was that they had no way of finding him

[full_score]

When Asch closed his eyes, Claude sent an uncertain glance at Guy, but didn't say anything. If his friend wasn't batting an eye at it, then it must not have been so strange for him. Maybe this was some kind of Auldrant thing he'd never heard about before now? As curious as he was, though, Claude had enough sense to keep his questions to himself. He did his best to patiently wait.

Finally, the redhead opened his eye, and to Claude's astonishment, announced that Luke was gone. He blinked, unable to hide his confusion. Wait...what? But how could Asch be so sure? It wasn't like he thought he was lying, but that was a pretty bold claim to make after just standing there for a couple minutes. Were he and Luke telepathically linked or something

[mirrorbirth]

Wait, what? Asch had expected anger, denial, even a dismissal. Guy's calm acceptance was strange, but even more so was the invitation. It didn't sound particularly genuine, sure, but the fact that it was Guy who was offering made it stand out to him more than anything. "Why are you inviting me?" he asked flatly, brows furrowing a little. He could tell Guy was in a hurry, but Asch couldn't quite bring himself to agree without a better reason than that. A part of him wanted to refuse anyway, unwilling to trust a stranger and someone who had wanted to kill him in the past - someone who still, it seemed, carried plenty of resentment towards him. But Luke had said that Guy had been here the longest, and that meant he was most likely to understand what was going on. It would be advantageous to learn from him. Discomfort was a small enough price to pay for information.