damned_institute | Day 39: Sun Room

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Day 39: Sun Room

That really hadn't been the breakfast she'd been expecting, but Yuffie couldn't bring herself to complain. The kid made for good company, and was, if nothing else, pretty entertaining. She could've just done without the whole choking thing. That… That had been embarrassing. A bit. Okay, a lot. Yuffie was starting to get a feeling that this day was -- for once-- actually going to ping on her ‘interesting!’ meter.

Whether or not that was a good thing, she didn’t know.

By the time she’d reached the Sun Room's bulletin board, a kitten on her shoulder and a pen twirling between her fingers, Yuffie was starting to put her finger on why she had that weird, nagging feeling. Though on second thought, it was less like putting her finger on it and more like it had jumped up and punched her right in the nose; the feeling wasn’t just about waffles, magicians, or tricky candy thieves. Sagara hadn't answered her bulletin post; he hadn't answered any bulletin posts. She hadn't seen that stupid, spiky head of his all morning. It was like radio silence without a radio.

Agai-- No, Yuffie cut herself off sharply, frowning. She was just jumping to conclusions. It wouldn't be the first time, right? Right! And yet… instincts were instincts for a reason, and in a dump like this, who knew what could happen?

[for Okita?]

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Ion... Ion, too? It seemed almost too good to be true, and for a moment Luke could see himself forgetting why he would have any complaints about this place. Even the hope of Asch being safe, and Ion... the person the least deserving of any more suffering.

Completely of his own will this time, he hugged Anise before even thinking about it, just squeezing her around the shoulders quickly before letting go, and then only pulling back a little, his hands still on her shoulders. "Ion... Ion! Anise, that's great!"

Anise was caught off guard by the sudden embrace, but it was far from unwelcome. In fact, it was pretty rare for Luke (or any man) to do anything to show affection to her. It was nice to be on the receiving end for once.

Looking up at him, she couldn't help but smile. "Yeah... I'm really glad." When she had first seen Ion alive and well, she had barely been able to contain her happiness. It had been like everything that went wrong before was suddenly right again.

But now things were getting complicated again. The smile faded as Anise remembered the Fon Master's current condition. "But... he hasn't been doing so well lately. I don't know if he's sick or if something happened, but he's been sleeping for days, and nothing wakes him up." Ion would be so happy to see Luke again... and it was obvious Luke wanted to see him, too. He had to wake up soon.

That didn't sound good. Even during the toughest times of their travels, Ion had always worked hard not to slow them down. He must really be feeling bad if he hadn't been out of bed for days. Luke squeezed one hand on Anise's shoulder lightly; he wasn't very good at comforting anyone, but he wanted to do... something. Ion was the most important person in the world to Anise, he didn't want her to ever have to lose him again, and... it would just be unfair. Too unfair for that to ever happen again. "Is he in his room now? We should go visit him."

It had been a while since Anise had somebody who could comfort her like this. There was Guy, of course, but he couldn't come near her, and there were her parents, who would comfort her as best they could, but they still didn't understand what she was going through...

It was really good to have Luke back.

Of course, having someone there to lean on didn't mean Anise was willing to let herself lean too much. She lifted her chin and faced Luke with a small smile. "Yeah... I'm visiting him every night. He's in room M5. I think he'd be happy if you came to see him, too."

Anise wasn't sure how much time she would have tonight, what with the new 'club' she was working with, but Ion took obvious priority over that. Maybe she could give Honey or somebody a copy of her recipe, so anyone who beat her to the kitchen could get a head start and at least round up some ingredients. That was an idea.

Anise seemed to be feeling a little better, so Luke pulled away, giving her space back. He felt better too. Going to see Ion gave him something to look forward too, and if Ion wasn't feeling well, maybe Luke could do something to help. He smiled. "I'd be happy to see him again too." 'M5' seemed a little familiar, hadn't there been similar numbers on the doors in the hallway he'd been lead out of? He didn't know what the door on his room had said, but he knew the doors he'd passed as the woman lead him the hall were more like M50. He shook his head, not exactly disheartened, but wishing he could be more useful. "I don't know where M5 is though."

"You don't know?" It was hard to get used to the fact that Luke really didn't remember anything from his first time here. Fortunately, it wasn't too hard to get him back up to speed again. Grinning, Anise gestured to the large bulletin next to them. "I guess you're in luck, then. They post maps every day or so here."

She then turned to face it, looking the board over in search of the message she wanted. It didn't take long until she found it, pointing to show Luke. She traced her finger along the first floor map, stopping with it hovering over the M-A block. "This is where Ion's room is," she explained. Anise then moved her finger to the F-A block. "My room's over here. It's F14. You'll remember that, right? You can come visit me anytime, hee hee." Her voice now had her usual playful tone that had been somewhat absent during the more serious part of their conversation.

Luke gave Anise a sidelong glance. It was good to hear her having fun again, but geez. "I can remember it." Luke paused, he could remember it, right? But he usually wrote this stuff down in his diary... "Uh, actually. Hold on."

Stealing a piece of paper from the bulletin supplies, Luke scribbled the information down. Better to be safe than completely lost. While he was at it, he sketched out brief directions to both rooms, making large box shapes with smaller boxes within, just enough to get him in the right hallway. Then he turned back to examine the map, trying to follow back the way he'd come. Luke was aware he wasn't the smartest person around, but he learned from experience, and if there was one thing he'd gotten a lot of experience on in the past year it was memorizing how to get around in completely new places. This building didn't have anything on Daath's cathedral.

"I didn't see what my room number was, so... I'll have to tell you later. But..." He reached over to the map too, tracing his finger along to show her the route. "I know it had to be, this hallway." His finger stopped on the M51-M60 hallway. "About halfway down."

Somehow, Anise wasn't surprised Luke didn't know his own room number. She was kind of impressed he could actually narrow it down to the hallway, though. It was already a big improvement from his last stay at the institute. She committed the spot to memory, just in case.

"Oh, while I'm here..." Anise grabbed a pen and began to write more on the note she had been holding since the start of the shift. "I promised Guy I'd keep him up to date on how Ion's doing. We've been using code names on the bulletin board - you remember those Abyssman costumes Emperor Peony made for us?"

The girl then paused, pen in the air. "Oh. Should I tell him you're here, too?" Her face then shifted from a thoughtful look to a mischievous grin. "Or... should I let you surprise him?" She giggled. Sure, telling him was the polite thing to do, but a face-to-face reunion would just be way more interesting, wouldn't it?

Luke glanced at the paper Anise had been writing on, then sighed. "I guess that makes me Abyss Red, huh?" He guessed if they had to keep their identities a secret, it would work. But... "Why use code names at all?" He didn't get it, was there someone here he had to hide from? It looked like nothing but fellow prisoners to him.

And as far as Guy... He hadn't thought about it that way at all, but he guessed surprising him would be kind of fun. It was nice to know that he meant enough to someone he could count on them being happy to see him. Though, since he'd died, maybe he'd be getting punched again. Luke ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Go ahead and tell him, I'm going to find him as soon as I can. But he shouldn't have to worry any more." He'd caused Guy more than enough grief for a lifetime.

"Boooo. You're no fun," Anise pouted. Some people just didn't know how to make a cool impression. But she understood his reasons, and she supposed she would have wanted to know right away if it were the other way around, so she didn't push it past that, instead tapping her pen on the sheet as she considered how best to word the good news for Guy.

As for why they had code names... "Everything we put up here can be read by everyone. The staff probably know everything that happens to us anyway, so it was just an extra safety measure before, but..." She lifted her head and glanced around the room until her eyes settled on the young green-haired boy. He was sitting near the bulletin, which made him way too close for comfort. Anise lowered her voice, just to be sure he wouldn't overhear. "Some of the patients here are enemies, too."

Luke followed the direction of Anise's gaze, and at first didn't know who he was looking at. But he never had gotten used to seeing Sync without his mask.

"Sync... Sync's here?" His first feeling, after surprise anyway, was grateful. Sync had insisted his life was worthless, but he was a replica too. Luke hoped that with a second chance he could learn the same things Luke had figured out. He turned back to Anise, following her lead and not drawning attention to himself. "I get it. I'm glad he's alive, but he probably still wants to fight, huh?"

Of course, if Sync was here, that meant others might be here too. "Anise..." The thought of Master Van being alive again made his heart hurt, but he had to know. 'Is... Is there anyone else?"

Anise nodded. She had a lot of mixed feelings about it herself, but Luke summed up the bare bones of it. She couldn't stand Sync, but she couldn't stand the thought of anything happening to him, either.

When asked about the others, Anise started to count them on her fingers. "Me, Guy, Ion, Sync... oh! And Emperor Peony." That was the only one she had left out until now, not counting visitors and those she was sure had disappeared. "But he's in the same boat as Ion. He's been sleeping for days, like he's in a coma or something." Weird that it would happen to two major leaders at the same time.

"Emperor Peony's here?" Luke knew he should be worried about the Emperor apparently doing anything other than sending everyone off on annoying errands, but even the idea of him being here was a little hard to accept. "Man, next Uncle will show up.

Er..." Luke realizes how cold that sounded. 'I mean, I really hope he's okay. But still..." He shook his head. "Maybe we should go visit him too." Plus, if the Emperor's room was the same kind of rappig-sty as it had been in Grand Chockmah, maybe he could find a big piece of metal for Ed to use...

The idea of King Ingobert showing up was a weird one, but with the other major leaders of Auldrant already here, it kind of fit the pattern. If there even was a pattern.

"Visiting the Emperor? I don't actually know his room number. Guy's been checking on him every night, though." Anise would have liked to see the Emperor more often, but with the limited time nightshift offered, it was best to leave that to Guy.

Her note finished, Anise tacked it to an empty spot on the board. "All done!" It wasn't much, but it covered the important stuff. "The bulletin's useful for a lot of things, so you should take a good look through it sometime," she suggested. It was the best way to find out the details about what went on in the institute. Luke definitely wasn't the studious type, so it was hard to say how much information he'd absorb, but hopefully he'd get something out of it.

Nodding, Luke didn't give as much immediate attention the board as Anise might have been hoping. He would look at it... sometime. For now he examines his little handmade map. "We can only do what we want at night, right?" He sighed. What a pain. But without weapons they wouldn't be able to force their way through anything. "I want to go see Ion with you, then. And I'll get Emperor Peony's location from Guy."

Which just left the question of getting something Ed could use to make him a weapon. He really didn't like being unarmed in this kind of situation. He wasn't really going to bet on Emperor Peony having what he needed... and anyway, if the Emperor was asleep Luke couldn't ask to borrow anything. "Hey, Anise. Do you know where I could get enough metal to make a sword?"

"Oh, you already heard about that?" That was a surprise. People usually didn't learn about the clubs right away. That made things easier, at least. "Actually, I was out looking for metal just a couple nights ago. I think it was..." Looking back to the maps posted on the bulletin board, she found the second floor map, and with her finger she traced a path from a stairwell to the janitor's closet. "...here. We found a lot of metal pipes in this room."

She smiled somewhat sheepishly then. "I can't go there with you tonight, though. I've got something I need to do after I see Ion." She had already agreed to help out the Cake Club. It was almost embarrassing to admit it, with all the other, more important things a person could be doing at night. But it was also an opportunity for Anise to make some good connections! She wasn't going to let it go that easily.

What was Luke going to do, though? If he was going to go that far, he was going to need a traveling partner or a makeshift weapon - preferably both.

Looking at the map for a moment, Luke stole another piece of paper and added these directions to his list. "Pipes, huh? I guess that should work." He nodded to himself for a moment before looking at Anise. "Don't worry about it," he nodded into the direction of the map. "This place is pretty big, right? I guess there's a lot going on at night. After we check on Ion we can split up."

Not that Luke could really be prepared for what might be necessary at night in Landel's. Having taken out probably thousands of 'monsters' before, even without a weapon, the threat didn't hold much weight. How long could it take to get a closet on the second floor? He'd have a sword in no time.

That sounded like a good plan. "Okay, let's do that," Anise quickly agreed, but frowned just a moment later. "But... you aren't going to head out alone, are you? You know what's out there, right?"

If someone had told him about the weapon-makers, someone probably told him about the monsters, too. It wasn't like fighting monsters was anything new to Luke, but fighting monsters unarmed was. Anise had seen how much damage some of the monsters of Landel's could do to fully armed groups of people. Running to the far end of the building alone and empty-handed was suicide.

"Huh?" Luke scratched at the back of his neck. When Anise said it outloud, it sounded like a pretty bad idea. "Uh, I hadn't really thought about it yet. I know there are monsters... but I can still run from them, right?" After all, if he couldn't get a weapon without a weapon, what was the point exactly?

"I guess you can, but..." It still sounded way too risky. There were some monsters that were just too quick to run from. And some attacked in groups...

Anise couldn't think of anything worse than finally getting a friend back and losing him again that same day. But what else could they do? It wasn't like he could get a weapon without actually going out and getting it. Unless he got lucky like Anise did, and somebody just handed him one.

"Just be careful, okay? Find somebody if you can," Anise advised, not looking directly at Luke as she spoke. She didn't want to look too worried about him.

"I'll be careful." Luke touched her shoulder so she would look at him, and smiled. "Hey, it's not like I want to get hurt. But I can't just do nothing..." He shook his head, doing 'nothing' sounded like the worst thing he could do right now. If they were in such a dire situation, he wanted to be able to help as soon as possible. Unfortunately, fighting was about all he was good at, and to do that he needed a sword.

"Anyway, Guy's here, right? Maybe he can help. Or someone else... I can't be the only one looking for a weapon." And if worst came to worst, he could always turn back. He didn't want to die after all, but he wasn't going to give up before he started, either.

Anise glanced up reflexively, quickly realized she needed to put on a better face than what she had, and smiled. "Yeah... you're right," she conceded. It wasn't like she could hover over him all night to make sure he didn't do anything reckless, so for now she'd just have to trust him. At least he seemed to understand how dangerous it was.

It was then that she heard a loud click, followed by the all-too-familiar voice of the Head Doctor. "Oh, it's time for lunch. I better go. Keep in touch!" Anise took off for the exit, turning and waving at Luke from the cafeteria doors just before disappearing behind them.

Hopefully the next time they met, they wouldn't have so much serious stuff to talk about.

Luke blinked, a little surprised when Anise suddenly took off. "Heh... guess everything's pretty scheduled around here." He lifted a hand to her and waved, trying to smile reassuringly until he back was turned. And once she was gone sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He was glad to have something to do... plenty of things to do from the looks of it. But he was in another position where he felt lost and stupid about everything, and thanks to the way this place was set up, his friends weren't even going to be there all the time for him.

Looking back at the bulletin once, Luke shut away those thoughts and headed out the way Anise had gone. It was too bad Tear wasn't here, or... at least too bad that he couldn't see her somehow. He would like to talk to her about his worries and have her tell him what an idiot he was being. But at least he could still hear her voice in his head.

Luke, just do what you can do for now. Focus on one thing at a time. You won't learn anything if you get too caught up trying to do everything.

Smiling, it was silly, but still comfortable to hear, Luke wandered out toward lunch.

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Day 39: Sun Room

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