Night 58: West Wing, South Hall 1-A

[dual-worlds.livejournal.com]

((From here.))

As he stealthily moved through the hall, Spock noted that it was quiet and dark. He didn't detect other patients, nor any hostile lifeforms. Perhaps the rest of the way leading to Dr. McCoy's quarters was in a similar state.

Regardless, it was best to move as quickly as possible. The early portions of the shift tended to be the quietest, which meant Spock needed to take advantage of the still hallways while he could. He hadn't forgotten about the military's cryptic message, or the unusual silence toward the end of their meal period. It was possible something would interrupt their plans later, which made time of the essence. If they were caught in the middle of a meld, the results could be disastrous.

Walking at a brisk pace, Spock allowed his light to illuminate his immediate path and continued ahead.

((To here.))

Comments

[pullstrung.livejournal.com]

Don't panic! Don't panic?! For a moment, Woody actually thought maybe this whole thing had been a giant mistake, and he'd been on the verge of taking a step back and shining a light on his supposed assailant, but then--

"A monster?!" Wide-eyed panic gripping him, Woody wildly waved his flashlight, across the floor, the walls, the ceiling, anywhere. "I don't know!" he yelped. "You tell me!"

How could anyone not panic at a time like this?!

[ippo]

Oh no, the fate of their lives rested in his hands! Ippo tried to follow the erratic movement of his fellow victim's flashlight, but it only caused the shadows around them to dance and sway like creatures crawling across the walls to grab them.

His first instinct was to run. To hell with the man who bumped into him. The boxer knew he could outrun him and leave him to the mercy of the hallway, but in this crazy, mixed up world they lived in, if Ippo didn't help defend the less fortunate, who would?! Every man for himself was not going to win him the night!

So, clutching to whatever he could of the other patient to make sure he didn't run off without him, Ippo shook his flashlight around the hallway as well. Despite two lights, he couldn't track down anything that lurked among them, unless--

He brought his light up to the ceiling and screamed bloody murder, sure something was about to fall on them from above. But no. It was just the dark recess of a hallway light.

"Oh..." So did that mean there were no monster?

[pullstrung.livejournal.com]

The minute the other man yelled, Woody's stomach did a back-flip. "AHH!" As he waved the flashlight upward, he whipped his clothes rod through the air in a desperate attempt to shield themselves. "Back! Get back!" There was something up there, and it was gonna swoop down on them, and--

Wait. Wait. Willing himself to grow still for a second, Woody narrowed his eyes and peered into the dark. Nothing. They were...safe? The realization nearly made his knees grow weak with relief. As he turned toward the young man next to him, though, he couldn't fight the subsequent wave of frustration.

"Don't scare me like that!" he hissed.

[ippo]

Ippo was about to tell the man that he had started the screaming fight first, but it would do neither of them any good. It was over and Ippo technically brought in the "monsters" when he should have just moved out of the way to compose himself.

"I-I'm sorry," he finally said, hunched over and defeated. "I didn't mean to hit you! I was just trying to get back to my room and then you screamed, so I thought, 'Oh no, monsters!' and.... I... I'm sorry!" Bowing, the man looked up from his prostration, concerned. "Are you hurt? I'm... kind of wide..." Even as his own nose bled slightly from the zinger the man given him. Ippo wondered if he'd be good at boxing.

[pullstrung.livejournal.com]

As the stranger spoke, Woody slightly raised his flashlight in order to better see him -- dark hair, dark eyes, and not at all like a monster. Upon closer inspection, this guy didn't look much older than Andy. The odd feeling of towering over a boy his age wasn't lost on Woody, but he did his best to push that aside for now. As long as he was trapped in this nut house, he'd just have to deal with those sorts of changes (until he got his real body back, anyway).

Still, a small touch of red underneath his nose caught Woody's attention, and the toy couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. The image took him back to a time when Andy had taken a nasty fall off of a swing set, and Mom had to bandage him up while he gulped back tears. Did he cause this kid to bleed like that?

"No, I'm, uhhh--" It took him a moment to find the right words. "Fine. I'm fine." Letting out a breath, Woody lowered his clothes rod to his side. "Anyway, I should be the one apologizing for whacking you like that. I am so sorry." He offered a half-nervous laugh, and he would have awkwardly patted the guy on the shoulder if his hands hadn't been full. As annoyed as he'd been just a moment ago, Woody really did mean it. "Are you okay? Your--" The cowboy gestured to his own face as he gazed at the small injury. "Your nose is kinda..."

[ippo]

"Eh--?" Ippo parroted the other man's movements and felt a liquid drooling down his face. It caught dark red in the dim lighting, but he already knew what it was. He was no stranger to frequent nose bleeds.

"Oh, n-no, it's okay! I get beat up a lot, so it's no big deal. My nose is always broken." It was hard to pull off such a statement with a cheery grin, but Ippo managed. He didn't want this man to fret over something he volunteered to do to himself every few months.

"Uhmm, by the way... It's not good to be out at night on your own. You should always take someone with you no matter where you go--" His public service announcement derailed once he realized how terrible it was to lecture another patient about safety when he had slipped out of his room alone as well.

"W-Well, next time then." Ippo rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. "Try and... find someone to go with... Or maybe just stay in at night. Nothing good ever happens around here after dinner."

[pullstrung.livejournal.com]

Woody gave the young man a skeptical look. Always broken? What, did people use him as a punching bag all the time? Or did he constantly run into stuff? Either way, he could tell this kid was kind of a weirdo. Anyone who could have blood trickling from his nose and smile like that had to be.

The admonishment to find a travel buddy didn't go unnoticed, but Woody already knew all about that. It only took one night of almost turning into monster food for that lesson to sink in.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Woody muttered, leaning some of his weight against his clothes rod now. Did anything good happen here? True, he'd found Buzz soon enough, but where was he now?

"Actually, I was looking for a friend of mine," he said. "Have you seen him? His name's Buzz Lightyear -- blond hair, blue eyes, kinda short--" Woody paused, glancing at the other patient's small stature. "Well, maybe a few inches taller than you, but yeah."

andy's mom shoulda taught you to never troll yer friends

[ippo]

Ippo took what he assumed was an unintentional jab in stride as the man described his missing friend. Height jokes were nothing to get heated about. He was short, but in the ring it became his best weapon. As long as this guy didn't start making any innuendos about his giant wang, the boxer could handle anything thrown his way.

"I-I'm not sure..." he said, trying to run through the patient directory in his mind of thos he had met the last few days. The closest he could come up with were Claude and Aidou, but they weren't exactly short and... they weren't named Buzz Lightyear, so that kind of ended that assumption.

"Sorry, I haven't seen anyone with that description. Were... Were you supposed to meet up with him tonight? That's strange..." Head down, Ippo wondered what could have happened to this Buzz Lightyear and then a terrible idea hit him like a bolt of lightning. His back went stiff as he shot upright with a look of hopelessness on his round face.

"Was he kidnapped?!" Last night he had wandered into a man looking for a missing friend as well, who apparently had been taken by institutional staff for, well, Ippo wasn't sure, but nothing good! Maybe Buzz had been taken as well.

[pullstrung.livejournal.com]

"Well, we didn't make plans, exactly..." They hadn't gotten the chance. "I've, uh...been out awhile." That was the only way to describe what had happened to him. Not that Woody wanted to focus on that too much right then, of course. Quite frankly, it gave him the creeps. He was also more worried about Buzz. His heart sank when he realized this young man hadn't seen his pal anywhere around the institute lately.

At that sudden exclamation, though, Woody nearly jumped out of his skin. "WHAT?!" Grip tightening on his flashlight and clothes rod, the former toy threw his arms out in a fit of shock. "What do you mean, kidnapped?!"

As if once wasn't bad enough! Woody already had his hands full with trying to figure out what the heck these freaks had done with their real bodies. The last thing he needed was to lose track of Buzz, too.

[ippo]

Ippo took a reflexive jump back to avoid any of those flailing flicker jabs. It was nothing like Mashiba's hitman style, but they were coming from an unpredictable opponent. Who knew how he'd throw! The last thing he needed was a black eye from an untrained patient.

"W-Well, I mean I don't know for sure, but... Last night I was--that is, I... was helping someone find his friend. He'd been kidnapped and taken upstairs!

"I'm sorry, I.. I don't remember exactly where it was... I wasn't... exactly at my best." Or at his most human. "But it was upstairs! If... If you want, I can show you..."

[pullstrung.livejournal.com]

Upstairs? Woody's mouth pulled into an anxious frown as he gazed down the hallway with uncertainty. Was Buzz upstairs? He'd hate to keep exploring this area while they had no idea what was happening to him. What if they were torturing him!?

"Yes, yes, show me," the former toy said with a vigorous nod. "Please."

He'd never been upstairs before, but at least he didn't have to go up there alone. Ippo was a weird kid, and not all that reassuring, but he was better than nothing.

[ippo]

"Sure!" Ippo spun around with a confident twirl and his chin held high. He would show this poor patient where the others were being held. He would reunite these two friends! Man, Ippo felt so good right now!

Not it didn't last long. With every step, his steely will began to bend and crack. It was... really dark down the hallway, even with his flashlight flickering all over the place. "It should be down this way--The stairs, that is..."

[ippo]

[To here]