Nightshift 30: East Wing, Hall 2-A

[reunion.livejournal.com]

[From here.]

This looked promising-- well, as promising as a dark and potentially danger-filled hall could look. The fact that just about every hall looked the same at night was also completely irrelevant, but Kadaj wasn't thinking about that. He was too busy keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of that woman or, worse yet, the hooded creature he'd run into with Yazoo. Any other monster would have been fine, but those two...

To fill the silence, he spared a glance back at Hughes and said, "What I meant by 'You sound like Shin-Ra,' by the way, was that they too were also the police force. There wasn't really an area they didn't cover, actually. Is it the same for you on your world?" He wasn't sure what he'd think of Hughes and Roy if the answer was "yes," but since whatever organization they were a part of hadn't experimented on Mother like Shin-Ra had, they were automatically better people in his book.

Comments

[felled-hero.livejournal.com]

"Uh, well, the government's pretty military based, but plenty of government workers aren't in the actual military," Hughes explained. "Public works, engineering, civil services, those sort of things aren't necessarily handled by solders. Military mainly handles a lot of stuff, but not everything."

At least officially. Unofficially... yeah, the military pretty much controlled everything.

But there wasn't any reason to bring that up.

[reunion.livejournal.com]

That was all right, then. Kadaj didn't actually care how Hughes's world was run, of course, but the less of a resemblance there was to Shin-Ra, the better. It was always nice to know that people like Rufus and his father would have been crippled on any world that wasn't their own. Any shortcoming of theirs was one he had to enjoy.

"I see. So you're not really like Shin-Ra. That's good." He sounded more distracted than sincere, but that was more to do with their surroundings than anything Hughes had done. "How do the alchemists fit into the picture? They don't have the same duties in your world as Roy's stuck with here, do they?'

[felled-hero.livejournal.com]

"Alchemists do all kinds of things," Hughes answered, keeping his eyes open for any strange movement or doors of interest. "Some of them are in the military, like Roy. In either combat or research or whatever else the Fuhrer can think of to stick them in. But plenty of alchemists don't bother taking the exam to become State Alchemists, or they fail. Those ones end up doing all sorts of things. Medicine, repair, construction, art, anything for the good of the people. That's one of the big things about alchemy - that it be used for the good of the people."

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The good of the people. Right. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Kadaj focused on the hall once more-- or, more accurately, on the walls. There had to be a door around here somewhere, otherwise what was the point in having a hall that led to nowhere?

He soon found what he was looking for, and, trying not to smile too widely, he headed towards it and reached out to give the doorknob an experimental twist. Locked...? That had to mean there was something good behind it, but he didn't know what. "Any idea what's behind this?" he asked.

[felled-hero.livejournal.com]

"Something they don't want us getting into," Hughes said, frowning some. Sometimes locked doors could be broken into - a handful of locks weren't exactly in the best condition. But some were impenetrable without a key.

"Think we can bust it open, or should we look for one that's unlocked?"

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"And take the easy way out?" Kadaj replied, sounding amused. "Whatever made you think I'd want to do something like that? No, I'm sorry, but 'busting it open' is the only way to go. You should have expected that, Mr. Hughes."

Letting go of the doorknob, he stepped back a few feet and let out a small sigh. This would have been so, so, so much easier to do with Loz around, but if it meant seeing what was behind the door, he supposed he could suffer this indignity.

Mentally wincing at how loud this was probably going to be, he lashed out at the door with a good, solid kick-- quickly following it up with another just in case the first hadn't been enough. That would probably earn them some unwanted attention, but as long as his efforts got him past that pesky lock, it would be fine, right?

At any rate, two kicks should have done the trick, but rather than check for himself, he smirked at Hughes again and said, "Would you like to do the honors or shall I? We wouldn't want you to step outside your comfort zone if you didn't feel up to it, but if you think you're ready, it would be just too cruel of me to deny you your chance to shine, don't you think?"

[felled-hero.livejournal.com]

(Gah, sorry, thought I'd posted this!)

Hughes looked down at the knife in his hand, figuring it would have been easier to just jam the blade into the lock and break it. But what the hell, Kadaj had already decided to just beat the hell out of the thing.

"By all means, go right ahead," he said, gesturing to the door."

[reunion.livejournal.com]

[No worries~]

It was probably a good thing Hughes didn't mention how he would have opened the door out loud because chances were that Kadaj would have taken that as his cue to try and kill him. Since he hadn't, though, the remnant merely gave him an indulgent smile and tried the doorknob again. It turned easily under his grasp this time, and not even bothering to hide his triumphant grin, he opened the door and peeked inside.

"Hmm, I wonder what could be in here?" he mused aloud, then fearlessly stepped inside.

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/315777.html).]

[reunion.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/315777.html)]

And further down the hall he went! What secrets could this part hold? Kadaj snorted softly under his breath and glanced back to check that Hughes was still with him before beginning the search for another door. Maybe the next one would be unlocked? Or, better yet, the door that Hughes's key went to! Unlikely, but what a fun thought that was.

It seemed like they would find out sooner rather than later, at any rate, because Kadaj quickly found the next door in the hall and stopped just in front of it. He wasn't about to burst in when an ambush could very well be waiting on the other side, so instead he shot another glance in Hughes's direction and shifted his weight. If he'd been pouting, he would have given the distinct impression of a child waiting impatiently to receive a treat, but since he wasn't... well, the impression was still there, but it wasn't nearly as strong.

[felled-hero.livejournal.com]

"Everything okay?" Hughes asked, eying the door and then Kadaj. "Locked, or...?" Or was Kadaj just being a little bratty?

[reunion.livejournal.com]

"Or," Kadaj stated simply, then opened the door. ... That had been easy. Maybe there wasn't anything interesting in here?

Frowning, he stepped inside.

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/319841.html).]

[reunion.livejournal.com]

[Screw starting a new thread. From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/319841.html)]

And here they were again. This was becoming entirely too predictable, but hopefully whatever room they encountered next would break the pattern.

Walking right past the next door in line under the assumption that it had to be yet another useless bathroom (which was correct, in fact), Kadaj said over his shoulder, "So, what made you want to join the military?" The question came out of nowhere, yes, but he was getting bored and had to say something to fill the silence.

[felled-hero.livejournal.com]

Hughes shrugged at the question. "I like helping people," he explained. "And I was never really interested in alchemy. I figured going into the military was a good idea." And it ensured he had a place to live, and a steady job for pretty much his entire life. It had seemed a safe bet. Especially with how war torn Amestris tended to be.

"Plus I always wanted to move to the city. Of course now that I'm getting older and I've got a family, I've started thinking how nice t would be to get out of the city." He chuckled some, shaking his head. Oh, the wisdom age brought.

[reunion.livejournal.com]

"Family..." Good for him. There weren't many people Kadaj would have thought that sincerely about-- hell, it was still uncertain whether he truly meant it in Hughes's case-- but it seemed appropriate to think it now. Hughes was definitely one of the less offensive he'd come across at the institute so far, so... why not?

Because he's human, he answered himself immediately, shaking his head. He kept forgetting-- oh, forget it. He was supposed to be pretending the other patients weren't anyway. How else was he supposed to get along with them? Thinking Hughes was all right was perfectly acceptable, then. Besides, anyone who had an idea what real family was like had to be a good person... somehow.

"Think your children will end up moving to the city again when they're older?" he asked, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards into a small smile. Hughes's answer would have to wait, though, because Kadaj chose then to open the door to the next room and go inside.

[To here. (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/320996.html)]