Night 69: M51-60

[behind_my_smile]

Fai had finished his dinner in relative silence.  He had been thinking about the events of the day and the fact that he had yet another long night ahead of him.  He had determined that he should do some exploring but as the doctor's voice came over the loud speaker, something had caught his attention.  The third floor..he wondered if that was the place that Kurogane had been trying to take him when he had first arrived.  Things had been a little strange then and they never seemed to end up where they were supposed to.

Standing up, Fai set his dinner plates aside and headed out into the hall. He looked around for a moment, finding that things were fairly quiet still.  It seemed he was a little early in heading out.  He wondered who he might run into while out tonight.  He hadn't met a lot of people on this world yet, but the few he had were certainly interesting.

Starting down the hallway, Fai briefly wondered if he should stop by Kurogane's room before continuing. The other had said he would check up on him.  That thought made Fai pause.  He had promised to wait for Kurogane to check up on him before venturing out each night, but certainly the ninja wouldn't care if Fai met him half way or even made it to the room before Kurogane left. 

With a smile on his face, Fai continued down the hall. He put his hands behind his head as he took his time. No sense in rushing since he did have all the time in the world to get there. And with no destination really in mind, Fai wouldn't have to worry about being late.

[Open]

Comments

[seekingmystrength]

As close as Kurogane was to Fai's room, the time he took getting there once the doors unlocked was short - barely a minute at the most. So when the ninja rounded the corner and found Fai already out in the hallway himself, there wasn't any excuse, at least in his mind. He couldn't even wait one damn minute before trying to wander off!

"I told you I was coming," he said, annoyed that he had to give as much of a reminder. He was sure Fai hadn't forgotten that much in so short of a time and didn't like having to waste his breath. "Don't run off before that."

He'd be even more annoyed if he had to fight a monster first thing at night because Fai had lured it out.

[behind_my_smile]

"Ahh~ There you are Kuro-pippi. I was just coming to see you. I know you said to wait but I figured it wouldn't hurt anything to meet you halfway." Of course Fai could have been terribly wrong about that. He was fully capable of defending himself but that didn't mean he wanted to.

He dropped his hands down as he finished closing the distance between them, stopping just in front of the ninja.

[seekingmystrength]

"Do you even remember why I'm coming to check on you?"

If the magician took a moment, he may have understood just why it could hurt for them to meet halfway. Kurogane was checking to see if he needed blood, and if he did, any monster who caught that scent would be on them quickly if that kind of thing took place in a hallway.

[behind_my_smile]

Fai pouted with a sigh. "Of course I remember." He placed his hands on his hips, "It isn't like I expect you to feed me out in the hallway. Had we been closer to your room when we met up, we could have just gone there. But since we are closer to mine, I'll just have to back track a little. Don't be such a worrier~" Fai lifted one hand to poke at Kurogane's cheek.

[seekingmystrength]

Kurogane swatted his hand and stepped back, snorting, "Stop that."

He'd intended to go to Fai's room and meet him there, but it this was going to become some annoying habit of the magician's, then it needed to stop.

"You've already been here long enough to know that going through doors can land you somewhere else entirely. Monsters are going to be the least of your problems if both of us end up separated when you need blood. You can either stay put or come to me, but make up your mind which it's going to be."

[behind_my_smile]

Fai's upper body drooped forward as he looked at the ninja miserably. He hated that the ninja was right. "But what if you take too long or get distracted or delayed and then I'm waiting all that time but you aren't actually going to come so I end up going hungry anyway?" Fai really just wanted argue in order to argue. He was probably just going to settle on waiting for Kurogane to come to him.

[seekingmystrength]

If Fai was in such a mood as to argue with him, then he probably didn't need any blood. Kurogane had been thinking that two days was long enough without, and that he might have to force the issue, however that had only been a guess. The time between could have been longer, and Fai less difficult when he needed to feed. Whatever the case, Kurogane wasn't going to put up with this.

"I'm going back then," he said, turning to go. He had said he would check, and he had.

[ooc: Tsubaki's on her way!]

[behind_my_smile]

Fai really was fine for another night, but he just had to give the ninja a hard time. He lifted his hand in a wave. "Be safe going back~ Don't get lost." Even if Fai did need it, chances are he wouldn't tell the ninja. He wanted to give him plenty of time to recover and Fai had a hard time believing that just a couple days was enough time given the state the ninja had been when he had arrived.

[thecamellia]

_{[from here]}

"--Kurogane-san?"

Tsubaki poked her head around the corner, peering down the hallway to find the source of that familiar, gruff tone. She'd recognize that voice anywhere.

"It's me..." she added by way of greeting, gaze slowly travelling from Kurogane to the man behind him. Kurogane looked almost the same as he had before, but Fai... She hadn't seen him since the staff had announced his departure from Landel's; it hadn't been until Kurogane had warned her he'd returned that she'd even known he was back.

Back, but different.

[seekingmystrength]

He was about to shout that Fai should just come to him the next night so he didn't have to put up with this when he first sensed, then heard someone coming. Tsubaki appeared following those signs, the ninja girl coming around the hallway.

He hadn't expected to see her show up, despite having known she would want to check on him at some point. They hadn't been able to speak throughout the day, and she was likely still worried over how he was doing. Checking the bulletin hadn't been high on his priority list that day. He'd only gotten to it once, and late in the day.

"Tsubaki," he said by way of his own greeting before glancing back.

Another bulletin board conversation had let her know about Fai having shown up, but Kurogane hadn't explained beyond saying that the man was different. Fai meanwhile didn't know her at all, or shouldn't have. "This is Tsubaki. She's a ninja like me," he told the magician first, then added, "She knew you from before."

[behind_my_smile]

"Ahh another nin.." That second part made Fai pause before he could get out his amusement at Kurogane bonding with a fellow ninja. Something close to uncertainty flickered across his face. He hadn't done well with people that had known him before. He was different..really different..and so it seemed to throw them off. And Fai didn't like going into the specifics of what had happened to him with people that weren't Kurogane. He wondered if Kurogane had shared anything with her but he decided it wasn't really his place to ask.

His smile returned, though it was the masking one that he always wore when unsure of how to respond to something. He raised his hand in greeting. "Nice to meet you..again. I'm glad Kuro-pon has made fellow ninja friends."

[thecamellia]

Tsubaki glanced between them again, stepping further into view. So it was true, then? Fai... no longer remembered her?

She'd heard the rumors before, of people leaving and returning with no memory of their previous stay, or leaving and returning a noticeably different person than the person they'd been before, but it was difficult for her to wrap her head around the idea that she was looking at a future or a past version of the man she'd known. A different version of Fai. He did look different, but...

There was no flicker of recognition when he looked at her, and that essentially told her everything she needed to know, regretfully so. Somewhere along the way, she had become a stranger. That knowledge was sad in its own way, but those were feelings Tsubaki pushed aside in order to move closer and bow in greeting, a smile on her face.

That Fai didn't remember all they'd been through didn't change the fact that those things had happened.

"Ah, yes... I'm Nakatsukasa Tsubaki. Nice to meet you," she said. "I'm glad you're well, too."

[seekingmystrength]

"Were you looking for me?" Kurogane asked, wanting to keep the situation from dragging out too long.

Between Fai's faked smile and Tsubaki's uncertainty of how to react, Kurogane couldn't see any other option for him to take. He didn't like these kinds of things, and in these hallways, explanations of the complicated were best avoided. Getting a simple answer of "yes" or "no" would at least get them moving.

[behind_my_smile]

Fai stayed quiet. If Tsubaki had been looking for Kurogane then it might give Fai an excuse to escape from a possibly uncomfortable situation. He was still having a hard time dealing with a roommate that knew more about what happened to him while in this place then he actually knew himself. He felt very out of place on this world. Everyone had gone through some terrible things and while he would like to avoid that kind of thing, he felt bad that his days here had been so easy when they had to deal with such hardship..and in some cases..loss.

[thecamellia]

Tsubaki turned her gaze to Kurogane when the man cut in, feeling the pinch of just how awkward their relations had become in so short a time. But at least in this... in this she could be useful. Skirting around discomforting subjects was something she knew a little about.

But Kurogane's only brought attention to just why she'd wanted to find him in the first place. She nodded automatically.

"Yes! I wanted to see how you were after... you know, taking the flower."

[seekingmystrength]

"You didn't get my message," he realized, knowing that was his own fault. He hadn't sought her out, and he'd only managed to get a notice up near the end of the day. That was why she'd made the trip to come and find him. "I'm fine."