damned_institute | Day 38: Game Room

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Day 38: Game Room

She’d never been in the Game Room before.

It didn’t look spectacularly interesting, she had to admit… but it’d be more fun than just hanging out in the Sun Room, right? Yuffie idly thumbed through a deck of cards, walking around the room to examine various bits and pieces. Board games, video games, chess… No really awesome prank material that she could see, but maybe she could rope somebody into a game of poker? That could be fun, but… ah, then again, most of the patients were just like her -- they didn’t have anything really cool that she could swindle out of them. Not until Nightshift, anyway.

Still! She’d keep it in mind. It wasn’t like there was anybody else in the room yet anyway, so any potential swindling would have to wait a little while. What could she do in the meantime, huh? Pick- pocketing a nurse could be fun..! Wait -- no, not when it was quiet like this. She’d have to wait until there was more cover, unless she got distracted. Yuffie hadn’t stolen anything in days, not since that time in Doyleton, with the Kaito kid…

Yuffie smirked. That had been fun.

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It looked like Claude was doing pretty well himself, and so after a moment of deliberation, Guy sat down on the floor across from his friend. In a way, it felt nice to be able to stretch out like this, and it wasn't like he hadn't taken a seat on dirtier ground in the past, especially when they had been traveling through Auldrant and had to camp out in the middle of nowhere.

Crossing his legs, Guy eyed the cards for a moment before nodding to Claude. "Not much, but I guess we need to work things out for tonight. I have that juice still," he explained. And Claude had his medical supplies, so there was that. Exchanging the items could always wait until another time if Claude had plans, though.

Guy considered telling Claude about his encounter with Sync earlier in the day, but in the end he decided it wasn't worth mentioning. He'd rather think about the God-General as little as possible - he didn't want to give the boy the satisfaction of getting worked up about him when he wasn't even present, after all.

Claude vaguely wondered if they had card games like this on Auldrant, but figured they could move onto lighter topics of conversation once they got everything else settled. It wouldn't do them any good to run out of time before ironing out the things he'd spoken with Dias about earlier today.

He smacked his forehead once Guy mentioned he had the juice. "That's right! And I have all that medicine you got for the clinic, don't I?" He laughed, suddenly looking a little sheepish. "Sorry about that." Claude had a tendency to wind up with Guy's things more often than not, it seemed. "I guess we'll need to exchange those at some point."

Still, this was an easy way to lead into what he'd wanted to bring up. "Speaking of tonight, though...Dias talked to me earlier and we wanted to know if you'd be interested in accompanying us to the basement tonight." Well, more like Dias had asked Claude to come, and Claude had suggested bringing Guy along, to which his rival had agreed, but that wasn't really important. "It's been a few nights since we last tried for it, so maybe it'd be worth another shot."

He had no idea Sync had bothered Guy earlier in the day, but even if he had, he probably wouldn't have mentioned it, either. Claude didn't want to turn an otherwise pleasant conversation into something else by bringing him up. Not only that, but he was still kind of upset over what had happened at lunch and didn't exactly want to think about it right then.

"At some point" made it sound like it wouldn't be happening tonight, which made Guy figure that Claude had his own matters to take care of this time. But surprisingly enough, he soon got an invitation for another basement run. Considering he had been wondering when that was going to happen again, he perked up slightly at the prospect.

It would be strange not to go with at least one other person from Auldrant, especially since Peony was usually the one who was set on going, but Guy didn't mind heading down there with Claude and Dias. He just hoped they made some more progress this time, and he could always report his findings to his friends.

"Yeah, that would be great," he said. "I still only have that meat cleaver, but since both you and Dias are armed," or at least he was fairly certain Dias was, as far as he could remember, "we should be pretty prepared." He would still hold his own with the cleaver somehow, he figured. While it hadn't stood up to Sync all that well, monsters were admittedly not as clever as the God-General.

Guy also had to admit he was curious to see Dias in action after the few conversations that they'd had, along with what he'd gathered about the man's rivalry with Claude. He'd never seen the two interact, but he hoped it wouldn't be too uncomfortable.

Claude hadn't wanted to assume Guy would be free anytime soon (he had other friends here, too, after all), but he was pleased just the same when Guy agreed to come along. "Oh, that's great!" he said with a smile. "You know, it's not often Dias agrees to have people along. I'm sort of surprised I didn't have to hassle him about it. He's normally a loner."

But, for some reason, he seemed to have taken a liking to Guy. Well, not that something like that was hard to believe -- Guy was very likable, and he gave off the air of someone who was self-reliant and trustworthy, yet easy to be around. It was nice to see Dias making friends (though he couldn't say he was completely comfortable with his rival talking to other people about him, but that was another issue).

When Guy mentioned his meat cleaver, Claude paused, as if hesitating a moment. He guessed now was as good a time as any to bring this up, even if it wasn't very pleasant for him. "Yeah, about that..." He glanced away, scratching the back of his head. "I've got Ashton's sword in my room, and...well, it's just collecting dust in my room, so..."

Looking over at Guy again, he quickly added, "I mean, it's not like a longsword or anything, so don't feel like you have to take it if you don't want it." Claude sighed, falling silent for a moment. "I'd just rather someone like you have it, that's all."

Edited 2009-01-19 21:00 (UTC)

Guy wasn't sure why Dias had been willing to have him along, especially since his attempts to cheer the man up before had failed pretty miserably. It didn't sound like Claude understood it, either, but Guy wasn't going to question it too much. He should just be glad it had worked out that way - maybe he could make up for the way he'd screwed up.

Speaking of which, it sounded like it was for certain that Ashton was gone. That was what Claude was implying by offering up his friend's sword, wasn't it? That was the only reason Ashton wouldn't need it anymore, and Guy felt a weariness take him over at the realization. He wouldn't wish that sort of thing on anyone, and both Dias and Claude had to be struggling right now.

Which was probably yet another thing that was going to make it awkward tonight, but Guy was willing to deal with it. Chances were that having him there as a buffer might be the best thing. People were most likely to argue when they were tense.

"Oh, well, I..." The prospect of having a sword, even if it wasn't the type that he was used to, was very tempting, but on the other hand it felt wrong to be taking Ashton's sword. Still, it would be silly to let it collect dust, as Claude had said. Guy let out a small sigh and made proper eye contact with Claude. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

That, at least, was a question he didn't have to waste any time thinking about. It was too personal for him to go giving it away to just anyone over the bulletin board or something. Not only that, but ever since his encounter with Sync, Claude was starting to realize that some captives here had less than good intentions. The idea of someone using Ashton's sword for ill made his stomach turn. But he didn't question Guy's character in the slightest, so he was certain his friend would put it to good use.

"I think Ashton would have wanted you to have it, too," Claude continued after a moment. He smiled, but he knew his tone of voice betrayed more of his feelings that he would have liked. "To be honest, he'd probably be a little upset if he knew that sword was just sitting in my room right now." He tried to give a tiny chuckle, even if it sounded forced to him. "Ashton's the sort who'd just leave his jewelry in someone else's jewelry box if he didn't have anymore use for it."

For a moment, he felt his eyes burn, and he looked away long enough to rub at them. "Sorry, I'm a little tired," he added quickly.

Guy certainly couldn't blame Claude for feeling out of it, especially since he had gone through similar stages while here, due to one thing or another. (If he was being completely honest with himself, Luke's disappearance was the main reason. He still hadn't quite accepted it.)

"Don't worry about it," he said, even though he did think the jewelry analogy was a little weird. Then again, Ashton had been the kind of person who liked to hang out in hair salons, so Guy wasn't too surprised.

He wasn't quite sure if Ashton really would have wanted him to have it specifically, but he could understand what Claude was getting at. "I guess I'll give it a try, even though I'm not so used to short swords." It had to beat the cumbersome meat cleaver, didn't it? It seemed like he was going to continue having weapon "upgrades" until it was finally his turn to have one made specifically for him. He thought he had been pretty patient so far.

"Did you want to get some shut-eye before dinner, maybe?" he asked. It would be better if Claude recuperated a little before tonight.

"If you don't like it, you can always give it back," Claude said simply. "I wouldn't be offended or anything, and I doubt Ashton would be, either." Even though it would have been nice to see a good friend use it, there were other people out there who'd likely jump at the chance of a solid weapon. Still, he sort of liked the idea of keeping the sword close by, just in case...

What, Ashton comes back? he thought to himself. Claude wasn't an idiot -- he knew that everyday that passed without hearing from Ashton was just another nail in the coffin, as much as he hated to say it. And yet, he couldn't completely throw in the towel, either. Ashton was a capable fighter who'd been on his own before joining up with him, who'd fought alongside him during their toughest times. Even if he didn't see him again for a long time, he had to be okay, wherever he was.

Claude wasn't sure he could even let himself think anything different.

It took him a moment to realize Guy had asked him a question. "Huh?" He rubbed the back of his head before giving his friend a smile. "O-oh, no, I'm fine. I don't think I'd be able to sleep anyway."

Now that they'd gotten all that taken care of, there wasn't really any point in dwelling on those sorts of things, was there? He doubted Guy wanted to hear him talk much about Ashton anyway -- it wasn't like he'd spoken to him more than a couple times, after all.

"Say," he said suddenly, "have you ever gotten a chance to look at one of those things?" To clarify, he pointed toward one of the captives with a hand-held console.

Edited 2009-01-20 03:50 (UTC)

"Well, I'll probably use it at least until I get my own sword made. Then I'll return it to you." Guy figured that was fair, since he wouldn't have any use for the weapon after that, and Claude could hopefully find someone else who would appreciate it. He was sure there were people out there who would jump at the chance, and so Guy was flattered that Claude had offered it to him first.

Hopefully it wouldn't be too strange to be traveling with Dias and Claude while wielding that weapon, but he tried not to worry about it.

Claude was tired, but not able to sleep. He really couldn't be in the best shape, in that case, but Guy knew better than to start asking concerned questions or anything like that. Claude had implied Ashton's disappearance, and that was apparently all he had to say about it. If he wanted to unload any more than that, Guy only hoped that his friend realized he was all-ears.

The subject change made it even more obvious, though, and so Guy followed Claude's finger-point with his eyes until he spotted the portable game-player. "Yeah, actually, I have. Uhh, Luke showed it to me," he admitted. Now his friend who had vanished was getting brought up. Whoops. "I didn't get to look at it for too long, but it seemed like it'd be fun." He was more interested in taking it apart, but that could only be done at night when there were usually better things he could be doing.

He nodded when Guy mentioned getting another sword. "All right, that sounds good." That made sense, after all. It was sort of how Claude had used Ashton's sword a little bit before his name had come up on Ed's list. At least Guy would have something a little more familiar than a meat clever to work with, even if the sword's design might not have been his first choice.

Claude wasn't terribly surprised that Guy had gotten a closer look at the hand-held console, but he hadn't realized Luke had been involved. "Oh...right..." He inwardly cringed, since he'd just been trying to make light conversation. Then again, it wasn't like they could just never mention their missing friends, either. It didn't seem fair, or right.

"Did, uh..." The blond rubbed the back of his head a little. "Do they have things like that on Auldrant, or not really?"

At least they were onto easier questions now. "Sort of," Guy responded, tilting his head up toward the ceiling as he thought back on it. "There was something like it on Nam Combanda -- err, that's this island that we stumbled upon while we were traveling." He could have explained how it was the Dark Wings' headquarters, but that would be a whole other story that they probably didn't have the time for right now.

"Anyway, the one there was a lot bigger, and it definitely wasn't portable. There was just one game on it, called Dragon Buster. It was pretty simple, but still a lot of fun, from what I could tell." He usually didn't get the chance to play it much himself, since Luke tended to latch onto the thing whenever they visited that place.

It seemed like they couldn't get away from talking about his best friend, though this time Guy made sure not to mention it out loud, since he didn't want to make things too awkward. "How about you?" he asked in return.

Nam Combanda...what an interesting name! He knew he shouldn't have been surprised to hear that video games existed on Auldrant, but it was still sort of funny to think about for some reason. Every time they had these discussions, Claude tried to imagine what Guy's home planet looked like -- whether the cities were crowded, or what kinds of vehicles they used, for example -- but his mental image often changed with every new piece of information he got.

"Dragon Buster, huh?" he said with a small smile. "Well, simple stuff can be really fun if you just want to relax awhile." It sounded like the types of games they had on Guy's planet were less advanced than the ones in the 21st century, even. Still, it seemed almost charming, and he sort of wished he could see it.

Claude perked up a little when Guy asked him about his home. "Oh, yeah, there are a lot of video games where I'm from," he explained. "There's even a whole industry that revolves around it. It's actually pretty competitive -- all these different companies are always trying to outdo each other by coming up with the best systems and titles. Some are portable, and some you can hook up to your television, but they've got some where you're practically inside the game, and it's like you're really there."

He rubbed the back of his head, grinning a little sheepishly. "I used to play them all the time. Actually..." Claude leaned forward and lowered his voice a little, as if he were letting Guy in on some kind of secret. "When I was a kid, I thought it'd be really cool to be a video game designer."

"That's true," Guy agreed. And considering everything they had been through, Luke had deserved to relax every once in a while, even if some of the others had rolled his eyes at him. With some of the rough times they'd had to endure, it had been nice to see Luke acting like a kid again. Guy knew that was his "babysitter" side talking, but it was a hard habit to kick.

As Claude started explaining about his world, Guy watched him, smiling to himself as he tried to imagine what it would all be like. It was definitely a bigger deal on Claude's version of Earth, from the sounds of it. This was the sort of thing he wished Luke could hear about, but he couldn't dwell on that too long.

The mention of a game that was almost real had him particularly curious, but Guy held his tongue until Claude was finished. When it became obvious that his friend was about to divulge a secret, Guy also leaned forward to make sure he heard what Claude had to say over the other patients' conversations.

He grinned, pulling back and nodding. "That would be really cool. I don't know what it would require, but I bet you'd be good at it. And hey, that thing you mentioned, where it's like you're inside the game? How does that work?" There was a chance Claude didn't know himself, but if he had been interested enough in the subject to aspire to it when he was younger, he might be able to give Guy a general idea.

"You think so?" He laughed, scratching the side of his head without realizing it. "I dunno about that, but the thought of being a designer one day was part of the reason I started drawing and writing as much as I did, even though I never thought I'd get the chance to actually do something like that." Claude smiled a little. "Maybe I really just wanted to tell a good science fiction story and didn't realize it."

As for how games like that worked, he hadn't been able to study all of the finer details of it like an actual game designer or engineer would have, but he at least understood how they functioned.

"Well, in simple terms, there's a room with a grid and a set of omnidirectional diodes that are capable of projecting images that completely surround you," Claude explained. "By using force fields to go along with these images, you have the illusion that the scenery around you is real. Depending on the coding you use for the images, you can really program just about anything -- a beach at sunset, a misty valley, a nice field with a picnic for you to enjoy, different events during history, an obstacle course for training, and even people for you to interact with."

Before he'd come to Expel, that had really been his only exposure to unspoiled nature -- which, when he thought about it, wasn't really much of an exposure at all. Still, he had to admit it was a really neat device that had a lot of purposes.

"As you can imagine, a lot of video game designers took advantage of that and created games that literally immerse you in a new world," he continued. "It took 'role playing games' to a whole new level. You weren't just playing as someone else on a screen -- you really were someone else, if only for a little while."

In retrospect, he had to wonder if that was partly why they'd appealed to him so much back then. The freedom and control those kinds of games gave the player were really something. Of course, people did things like curl up with a good story or watch holovids to unwind and forget about life for awhile, so maybe it wasn't so different from that.

Edited 2009-01-21 07:43 (UTC)

While Guy really admired the fact that Claude could both draw and write, he didn't quite see how that connected to games. After all, not much writing could have gone into Dragon Buster, though now that he thought about it, someone had probably sketched out the level design and things like that. And if games were such a big industry in Claude's Earth, then maybe they did require some more sophisticated writing. Who knew?

Guy listened patiently as Claude started to explain. He couldn't quantify all of the terms, but for the most part he had some idea of what his friend was getting at. It sounded fantastic, if he was going to be completely honest with himself. It was probably the highest form of escapism, but everyone should be allowed that from time to time, as far as he was concerned.

"It sounds like a ton of work would go into creating something like that," he marveled, leaning back slightly as he tried to think it over. Since he barely knew the mechanics, though, he really only had a superficial idea of what it would be like.

"But what's a role-playing game?" He had never heard the term used before, but he was definitely curious now. It must be some genre of game - once again, probably necessary in a world where games were so popular. Guy really wished he could see some of these things for himself, especially since the games on the portable console here obviously didn't match up to what Claude was describing to him.

"Oh, definitely," Claude agreed. "Putting together a full-scale, professional game requires a lot of work from a lot of people -- initial concepts, hashing out the basic mechanics, character designs, voice acting, script writing, not to mention all the coding you'd have to do, and then making sure it runs bug free. And that barely scratches the surface, really." He smiled. "Of course, that doesn't stop people from putting together their own projects, even if they're amateurs."

As for role-playing games, he had to pause to think of how to explain that one. "Basically, they're video games where you play as a fictional character -- maybe even one you designed yourself, depending on the game -- and you can meet other characters or players, form alliances with them, and then go on quests to kill monsters, find cool items, or maybe even save the world, if that's what the story requires. The more stuff you do, the stronger your character becomes, which is usually reflected through statistics you can check in a menu or something. And with some of them, you can actually connect with players from far away so you can play together."

Claude leaned back on his palms again, looking thoughtful. "I guess on some worlds a game like that wouldn't seem so fantastical. But where I'm from, we don't have things like demons or monsters, and anything resembling magic was nothing but a fairytale until around the time I was born. Still, maybe the appeal of going on a fun adventure in the comfort of your own home could carry over, regardless of where people are from."

That had all been a little long-winded, but Guy had asked, so hopefully he wasn't bored.

It was a lot more work than Guy would have guessed at, especially when things like voice acting and script writing were mentioned. He would have never expected a game to require all of that, but he imagined they were even more enjoyable to play when they were well-done. Then again, Dragon Buster had been fun enough on its own from what he'd gathered from Luke. Though maybe if Luke ever got to play one of the games from Claude's Earth, Dragon Buster would seem pathetic in comparison.

Claude was right to say that a game about things like that didn't sound that impressive to someone like Guy, but he knew that his situation was unique. Most people on Auldrant would probably love something like that, especially those that weren't actually fit to fight any of the monsters that traveled the planet, but seeing how he had basically lived all of that...

Well, it might still be fun. He probably wouldn't ever get the chance to find out for certain, though.

"It could be," he agreed. "Did you play a lot of those, then?" If he turned it around, maybe a game that was about some far future where there was all sorts of technology would be better suited for Auldrantians to play. He smiled to himself as he wondered at what that would be like.

"Sure," Claude replied. He paused and chuckled a little. "Well, as much as any kid on Earth would, I suppose. I couldn't play too much or else I never would have gotten my studying done, you know?" There was such a thing as being obsessive, after all. "Once I was commissioned as a military officer and sent off into space, though, I didn't have the time to think about things like that anymore."

RPGs, holodecks, homework, chores, burnt TV dinners...man, all that stuff seemed like ages ago, now that he thought about it. His life had changed so much since then. And while he'd be lying if he said he wasn't at least a little homesick for Earth, it was difficult to imagine himself going back to the way things had been before. Not that he'd really be able to. He wasn't exactly a child anymore, was he?

He sure hoped Mom was okay.

"But what about you, Guy?" he suddenly asked, regarding his friend with a curious expression. "What kinds of things did you do as a kid on Auldrant? Was there anything you wanted to be when you grew up?"

That all made sense to Guy. People grew up, and things got in the way, and those small luxuries became more difficult to grasp. Though he had been lucky, in a way. As a servant at Duke Fabre's manor, he'd definitely had some off time where he and Luke could just goof off. Though considering why he had started working there in the first place, it hadn't always been fun and games.

Unexpectedly, Claude forced him to think back even further that that. Guy did his best to forget his childhood as much as possible, and he found himself staring off as he tried to think of what to say.

"Well, I'm not sure, really..." A lot of it was vague in his memory now, and he definitely hadn't done much for fun after Hod had fallen. His goals had become singular once Van had told him of their plan - his childhood and upbringing certainly hadn't been normal, that was for sure.

"I started on as a servant at Luke's father's mansion when I was pretty young," he said, wanting to give some answer without outright lying. "So a lot of it was spent learning the ropes, and taking care of Luke... which was fun, sometimes." He knew they had agreed not to keep secrets like this, but there were some things that Guy knew he wasn't ready to divulge to Claude just yet.

Claude blinked at his initial response. It looked like he had to think kind of hard to answer him, but it was difficult to tell whether it was because it was so long ago, or because of something else.

Guy had mentioned living in Luke's family's mansion before, but he'd left out the servant part. "Oh, I didn't know you worked for his family," he said after a moment, a little regretful that he'd unintentionally brought Luke up yet again. But by this point, it was probably inevitable, wasn't it?

Still, that was an awful lot of responsibility for someone young to have, and it explained why he couldn't really think of anything specific he'd done to amuse himself when he was a kid. Had he been born into servitude, or had something else happened for him to wind up with a job like that at such a young age? Claude had no idea how social classes functioned on Auldrant, but Guy had made it sound like working as Peony's servant was his own choice. He wasn't sure if he ought to poke around at those details, though, and decided not to question all that too much for now.

It didn't really answer his question in terms of what a typical Auldrantian child did for fun, but he was already starting to get the sense that Guy was anything but typical. That certainly didn't make Claude think any less of Guy, but he couldn't help but feel a little concerned sometimes. He'd mentioned a traumatic event in his childhood, hadn't he? It had to have been pretty bad, if that was the root of his gynophobia.

As open and friendly as Guy was, there were a lot of things Claude didn't know about him. But that was all right. He liked being with his friend, and that was really what mattered right then.

"Sounds like you grew up kind of fast, huh?" he added, looking a little more somber now. "I guess it's not surprising, though. You're usually so calm about everything, while the average person would probably be freaking out over this same kind of stuff, you know?"

Had Guy really never specified that he worked for Luke's father? That was a little surprising, though at the same time he knew he would have wanted to avoid that whole subject if possible. One thought led to another, after all, as was obvious enough by now.

He felt his guilt building up as Claude responded, though he had the presence of mind to nod at his question. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I've always been level-headed, I guess." It was awkward talking about himself like that, but he'd had it pointed out by other people enough times to figure it was true. It was just hard to believe when his inner thoughts could get so tumultuous sometimes.

And he had grown up fast. Too fast. Holding back a sigh, Guy rubbed at his eyes before making eye contact with Claude again. For once, his expression was bordering on intense.

"There are a lot of things about my past that are pretty painful, along with things I'm not proud of," he flat-out admitted to his friend. "I'm not sure I'm ready to tell you all about it yet, but maybe someday..." He trailed off, hoping that Claude would understand.

Guy dreaded telling his friend about the fact that he had once held murderous intent for someone who was now his best friend, but he knew he'd need to do it eventually. It was better than Sync being the one to spill the beans, wasn't it? (And he wouldn't put it past the God-General.) Claude still might think less of him when he found out, but Guy also knew he couldn't keep these secrets forever. Not if he truly valued Claude as a friend. If the younger man ended up hating him for it, then Guy would just have to deal with it.

Somehow, Luke had learned to accept it, so hopefully Claude could too.

Claude had never seen that kind of look on Guy's face, which was only intensified by what he was saying -- it unsettled him, but he made sure to meet his friend's gaze as he listened. He'd already gotten the sense that Guy had dealt with a lot of things in his life, but it was slowly starting to sink in that maybe he didn't have a single clue about what they really were.

When he'd finished speaking, he wasn't sure how to respond for a moment.

"Guy..."

Bad things often happened to good people. Claude knew it was a fact of life, but it still made his heart ache to see people he cared about carry around such heavy burdens. With the way he was talking, everything that had happened with Sync was probably only one of many skeletons hanging in Guy's closet.

"I understand," he said after a moment, and he genuinely meant it. "Don't feel like you have to tell me anything unless you really want to, all right?" He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck for a moment. "I'm sorry if I brought up any painful memories for you, though. That wasn't my intention."

He'd be lying if he said he didn't want to know the things that troubled Guy so much, but he'd never pry into something that was obviously very sensitive. Maybe his friend would open up to him someday. Maybe he wouldn't. That was for Guy to decide, and Claude could wait.

Leave it to him to accidentally bring an otherwise light conversation down, though. He'd have to try to be more considerate of Guy's feelings in the future.

It was then the nurses began to collect the captives from the room so they could have dinner. Claude sort of wished they didn't have to part on such a dark note, but maybe it was good for them to have a little time apart before they met up for nightshift.

"By the way," he said suddenly, looking a little apologetic, "would it be too much trouble for you to come to my room tonight? Dias already agreed to meet me there, so..."

All in all, Claude seemed to have taken it pretty well, though Guy imagined that he was dying from curiosity. There wasn't much that he could do about that right now, though. He felt more honest this way, and he had made a vow to do that after the disaster with Sync.

"You don't need to apologize," he said, speaking quickly now that he realized the nurses would be getting to them soon. "I just wanted you to know." He felt bad for dumping that onto his friend, and he could only hope that Claude wouldn't dwell on it too much. Guy wasn't going to be doom and gloom like this all the time, after all. It was generally pretty rare for him to get into a mood like this, but too many memories had been dredged up this time.

"And yeah, I can definitely meet you there," he said, managing a smile to show that he wasn't letting things get him down. "It's not like it's a long trip, anyway." And then he could deliver the juice, and once Dias arrived they could all be on their way -- hopefully with some more luck this time.

The nurses had made it to them by then, and both of the women were sending them impatient stares. Guy laughed lightheartedly. "Well, it looks like that's all for now. I'll see you soon." He pulled himself up to his feet and moved over to one of the women, keeping his distance as usual.

"Well, in that case, I appreciate your saying something," he replied with a small smile. Claude wanted to add that he was open for listening if Guy ever needed to talk, but he didn't want to it to be misinterpreted as trying to pressure him into saying more, so he let the matter drop.

It was probably just as well, if the way the nurses were looking at them was anything to go by. Claude was kind of hungry, now that he thought about it, so maybe it'd be good to eat some dinner and chip away at his book while he waited for night to start.

"Okay, great," he said as he gave a brief nod. "Talk to you later, then." And with that, Claude stood up and made his way toward one of the nurses, though not before giving his friend a brief wave.

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Day 38: Game Room

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