Night 68: Main Hallway, 1-West

[his_legacy]

[From here]

And there he was. Link stood near the wall, idly tapping the toe of his boot against the ground as he waited for Soma and the others she had recruited. He doubted they would take long. Soma seemed like a competent young woman. Hopefully that meant that she would have found strong allies to take with them.

He stood with his flashlight, along with the katana she had allowed him to borrow. Link was in his tunic from home, as he always was at night.

[For Soma and the Green Team!]

Comments

[freewill]

[From here.]

Oddly enough, Lust wasn't here yet. Castiel had been certain that with the slow pace he was moving at, she'd definitely have made it here first. If she was in as bad as a state as Lingormr had mentioned, though, then it was possible that it had taken her more time than usual to get ready. Lust had made it clear that emotions were new to her, so perhaps it had been too much.

Castiel didn't have another plan and going out on his own would be idiotic, so he decided to lean himself more bodily against the wall, in order to take some pressure off of his wound, and wait. While it was easier to get around without the crutches, he couldn't deny that he was still exhausted.

Castiel looked to the right, keeping an eye out for Lust and that odd outfit she wore.

[a_sin_for_him]

[from here]

Castiel didn't have to wait too long. Lust had wasted little time in getting a move on. She had an immediate goal and it was something to focus on, hold on to. Deliver this to Castiel. For his friend. It was such a small thing, but at this point...

Well, even the smallest of triumphs were symbolically great.

She kept her light pointed down, so as not to blind him if he was waiting. Which he was, she saw him as she came into the main hallway. Good. That was good.

The last thing she needed had been to come upon his dismembered corpse at their meeting spot, instead.

[freewill]

The sound of clacking footsteps drew Castiel's attention as something familiar, and before long he saw Lust moving down the hall toward him. The red mark on her chest was something he'd noticed before, but not truly put much thought to. Too focused on other illnesses, or his own pain. But now he wondered if it was a mark of what she was, or something else.

She said nothing, even as she approached, and he realized that he would need to attempt to start the conversation. He drew in a breath. "Lingormr mentioned that you had taken a turn for the worse, when I spoke with him before dinner. Your friend never showed himself?"

It had to be worse than that. Maybe he'd turned into some rabid monster and had been put down. Maybe he'd hurt someone else. Either way, Castiel hadn't seen any white-haired men with scars across their faces during the day, so it had to be bad. He suspected that if he still had all of his senses, he would have been able to pick up on the negative energy coming off of Lust in waves.

[a_sin_for_him]

"My friend is dead," Lust said, simply, when she approached. There was no reason to delve into specifics or details. Castiel had already had to listen to her dithering worries over breakfast. Not unfounded worries, either, as it turned out.

She held out the flower, stiffly, her expression a guarded one.

"Both my friends are dead," she amended. "This is yours. I don't have any use for it anymore."

[freewill]

It was as bad as Castiel had thought, then. He stood there for a few moments with an unreadable expression, staring at the flower that Lust was now offering to him. It was true that it shouldn't go to waste, and hopefully it wouldn't, provided that Aigis hadn't also succumbed to either death or transformation.

Castiel took the flower from her and then carefully placed it in the pocket of his trenchcoat. It would be safe there.

"My condolences," he finally said, bowing his head. He didn't even know the one who'd died, so there wasn't much more that he could say. "It seems you were right to be concerned." He could have asked for more details, but did it matter in the end? Dead was dead.

Instead, there was something else that grabbed his attention. "Both your friends?"

[a_sin_for_him]

"I had two friends who were ill. They're both dead now. There isn't much more to say on the subject."

Or rather, that Lust wanted to say on the subject. It was better if she distanced herself from it, kept her from her mind. Otherwise that sense of cold aching started up again. She hated that feeling.

"I hope that does you more good than it does me. Had you anything in mind for your evening plans?"

She wanted to move the conversation away from death, as well as perhaps have something to focus her own energies on. She'd rather be useful than grief-stricken.

[freewill]

Lust's luck had definitely not been in her favor in the past few days, then. Hearing that two were dead from the illness Castiel had only barely escaped made him even more certain that he'd made the right decision by choosing the surgery route instead of waiting it out. At this point, with the state he was in, he realized he didn't even know where he would go if he died. He wanted to assume Heaven, but would it be as an angel or something else? It was a chilling thought.

Both of them were eager to get away from the subject of death, and so Castiel considered Lust's question. He hadn't done much in the way of planning, partly because it was hard to know how far he could make it with his injuries. But if Lust was asking, then chances were she was without a traveling partner as well.

"Nothing specific," he said. "I saw your note and didn't know how long the exchange would take." It was doubtful Lust had the motivation to do much of anything right now, but focusing on a goal for the night could take her mind off of things. "Where were you planning to go?" he asked.

[a_sin_for_him]

"I hadn't planned on anything. It's harder, when no one's giving you the plans already." Lust managed a bitter laugh a that. How different it really was, when you had to make all the choices and decisions all on your own.

"But I won't spend the night in my room." She was determined. She shook her head emphatically, her jaw tight. "I won't waste away and let myself be useless just because of heartache." As though it were a cruel word, an unpleasant word.

"So if you've anything to do, I'd welcome to invitation to join you."

[freewill]

Harder, without being given the orders? Castiel paused at that, because he unfortunately knew how it felt. Granted, he'd been making his own decisions for some time now, but he couldn't deny the fact that he'd spent a large portion of that time searching for his Father, still looking for orders in his own way.

He kept those thoughts to himself, instead trying to work out what they could do for the night. Both of them without a proper direction, and Lust still reeling from the pain of a loved one dying. Castiel could see how much she wanted to resist the things she was feeling, but it seemed like once the emotions started, they never stopped.

"I don't," he admitted. "My only request is we don't go outside again. It might be worthwhile to look for some medical supplies." Castiel himself wasn't any good at using them, but if he was going to get injured like this again in the future, he'd rather have them around. And if they were lucky, the Medical Wing might hold some information on how this whole illness had been spread in the first place.

[a_sin_for_him]

"A useful goal."

And useful was likely the most important credential at the moment. Medical supplies were always good to have on hand, whether to be used as is or traded for something more important if the opportunity came up.

"I did the same thing, one of my early nights here. It wasn't a particularly strenuous adventure." Lust had no desire for anything on the strenuous side. She wasn't so naive as to think they'd have a calm and quiet trip, but the things she'd encountered inside the Institute seemed milder compared to what was outside. And they knew where they were going, and how to get there.

"And we were able to get supplies. We'll do that."

[freewill]

A goal that was both useful and not as dangerous compared to some of the other tasks they could have picked for the night. And he wouldn't have to try and trudge through the forest like the previous night, so it seemed like the most prudent plan they could come up with at the moment. Not that Castiel was known for being prudent, but he didn't have much choice at the moment.

Castiel nodded to Lust, pushing off of the wall and then sending a glance down the hall. It wasn't far to the medical wing, but after hearing of two different deaths, he knew that there was no such thing as being too careful.

"Let's go," he said as he hobbled forward. His limp wasn't as bad as the previous night, and he wasn't using the crutches, but he wasn't moving very quickly either. Nonetheless, he led them toward the Sun Room.

[To here.]