damned_institute | Day 73: Library (2nd shift)

Don't let them snoop? If Lloyd didn't already know the secret the library held, that would have practically been asking him to poke around as much as his nurse would let him. But since he did know about the trick to the secret door, he settled instead for searching for Kratos or Castiel. If he didn't find one of them this shift, he'd have to think about putting up a note on the bulletin, but considering what he wanted to talk to them about, it would probably be better if he kept it off the board and spoke to them in person.

"Here, why don't you settle down with a nice book, Nigel?" his nurse encouraged him as she guided him toward a chair. "Poor dear. I noticed you didn't eat anything for breakfast. Maybe you just need to get your mind off of whatever's tying your stomach in knots."

Lloyd made a face at that comment, unable to hold himself in check. "Maybe if the doctors gave me my Key Crest back it wouldn't be a problem."

His nurse sighed, shaking her head. "I thought you were making more progress than that, Nigel. Here," she said, handing him a book. "I'm sure a good book will help."

Lloyd grumbled, but accepted the book anyway, albeit reluctantly. He should have known better than to expect anything from his nurse. Rather than cracking the book open, though, Lloyd set it in his lap and watched the room. Surely one of his companions would come in soon...

[For Castiel.]

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Kratos looked up as Tsurugi said his name. The book, which had turned out to be a ludicrously large poem in disguise, was gently closed, presumably to be opened again later.

"Tsurugi." He hadn't exactly planned out what he would say next, having somehow deluded himself into thinking that Tsurugi would say something else that he could work with, but he knew for sure that he could not just plainly ask after the boy's health; for some strange reason, Kratos had issues consciously showing legitimate concern.

Thus, it was necessary to find some alternate explanation, some legitimate reason for him to be in this seat, attempting a conversation. Thankfully, the search didn't take too long: there had be something brought up last night that was still fresh in his mind. "Ah--I had been meaning to ask...did you receive any notes last night?" If this went well enough, perhaps they could slowly transition into the reasons behind the general sense of fatigue hanging around Tsurugi today.

Ah. So he wanted to talk after all. Business, by the sound of it, but Kyousuke supposed he shouldn't be surprised. Kratos didn't seem like someone who did unnecessary things, even if it was something as simple as sharing a table.

"Yeah," the boy nodded. "I've gotten two so far." He make a quick a glance around him before proceeding with the rest, but the nurses seemed to be more making sure nobody was moving around too much than paying attention to them, who were already seated. He could almost shake his head. If Landel was concerned about the switch, why bother bringing them here in the first place?

"There was one about finding an archive, and one last night about splitting into to teams to cut the head off the problem." He was trying to choose his words carefully; even if the nurses weren't strictly listening to them, there was still a chance they could overhear by accident, and they wouldn't want them to hear exactly what they were up to. "It said there's supposed to be a team handling the technical side, and another actually carrying things out. Apparently, I'm supposed to be in the second." Which was fine with him—that's how things always were.

"It sounds like they're dividing things intentionally. Sora said he didn't get one, but his roommate did," the boy mentioned. Which made him wonder how they were choosing the teams. By suitability...? That didn't seem quite right. Kyousuke could hardly claim he'd never fought before, but it wasn't in the same way as most of the people here. Or maybe that was exactly why they thought he'd be an asset. But there was no point in thinking too much about it. It was something they needed to do, so they'd just have to do it.

"I see. I received similar notes myself, and was wondering who might be on the 'technical side'--" Now fully engaged in the conversation, Kratos set the book aside for good. "--although, my group is focusing on the first one for the time being. That has proven challenge enough."

He tilted his head to the side. "Have you been able to make any progress yourself on either one?" He hadn't seen Tsurugi either time they'd made it to the third floor, but with all those teleportation pads sending them every which way, frankly, Kratos wasn't surprised.

"... I see," Kyousuke commented. "I'm going to try to think more about the harder part. An archive should still be there, but with this, we may only get one chance." If they screwed up there, there was a chance it would ruin the rest of their progress, and that was something they couldn't afford to see happen.

"No," Kyousuke admitted, and from there, he hesitated. The first night he'd tried, they'd simply run out of time, waking up as soon as they got to the top of the escalator, and though it was an understandable setback, he didn't want to make any excuses for himself. Last night, however, was more complicated, and he found himself frowning, tense just thinking about it. His instinct was to not mention it all, but he knew Kratos had been through the hell of being dragged to the second floor. While it wasn't something they'd discussed, it seemed ... fair, to reciprocate that knowledge.

"Last night I was ... preoccupied," the boy muttered awkwardly, feeling pathetic. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything... He didn't want to talk about it at all, and what was worse, it sounded like he was trying to excuse himself from not having accomplished anything. Another part of him almost wanted to blurt everything out, for reasons he couldn't even fathom, and because of that, he silently hoped Kratos wouldn't ask what he meant, so that he couldn't give it the chance.

"That sounds reasonable," Kratos said with a nod. It was good to hear that at least one person would be addressing their newest note, especially since apparently, this was their chance to destroy Landel himself.

He frowned as Tsurugi said the word "preoccupied". It reminded him of another conversation, one in which he too had tried to be suitably vague in order to deflect attention. He hadn't quite used the word "preoccupied", but the way Tsurugi said it resonated with the memory of his talk with Lloyd the day after he'd been taken for experimentation. It was possible that Tsurugi was speaking of something similar, but Kratos felt like it would be too much to pry and ask him if that was what he meant, even though it would certainly explain how Tsurugi had appeared earlier.

"I...see," he said slowly, and although his raised eyebrow and tone suggested that perhaps he suspected more, he didn't say anything further about the subject. "That's unfortunate. Hopefully, tonight will be more productive."

That he knew about, that made two people who wanted to focus on the archive, and one who wanted to go after Landel. He wondered how everyone else here was deciding to go about things; if the teams ended up too lopsided, they wouldn't be able to accomplish everything, and that would be a problem. ... He wondered why the rebels were sending some multiple notes. Wasn't it a little haphazard to do things like this? Hopefully they knew what they were doing enough that everyone didn't get spread too thin.

"... Yeah," the boy responded quietly. The suspicion was easy enough to recognize; he probably would have reacted similarly. And for him, just that small bit of questioning meant Kratos may as well have known. That was ... fine. It didn't quite reach the level of a silent understanding between them, but it still eliminated the need to have a conversation about what really happened, and that was good enough for him.

He swallowed, trying to alleviate a strange sense of tension, and pressed on with the conversation, not wanting to linger on the implication hanging in the air. "I think we're focusing on different things, but Sora should be coming with me. We should be able to get something done between the two of us." That was all he could do—make up for missing time. And to somehow remind himself he'd only missed a single night, even if it felt like months.

[9 MILLION YEARS LATER]

So that was what Sora had been up to. Since Arts and Crafts seemed to have unofficially disbanded, Kratos no longer had regular contact with his former leader, and while it hadn't been very long since they'd last talked, he did honestly want to know what Sora was doing - not just because he subconsciously worried that Sora would get himself killed again, but also because Sora had mentioned a very interesting development during their last conversation. However, it seemed that he had since shifted his focus to the third floor.

"Quite literally, it's hit or miss," Kratos said with an audible note of disdain. He didn't care much for the unpredictability of the teleportation pads, having had his fill in the twin worlds. "But perhaps you'll have better luck."

Day 73: Library (2nd shift)

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