Nightshift 41: M31-M40 Hallway

[thirdboywonder.livejournal.com]

[from here]

Finally! All Tim had to do now was follow the numbers to the right room. Why the hell was everyone so far away from the room he was in? It was probably on purpose; the doctors here had to know more than they were letting on. Otherwise, why would they know his actual name, but not Raphael's?

Too many questions, not enough answers. Maybe Jaime would know something.

[to here]

Comments

M31

[kingside]

They had taken Bart.

Lelouch stared at the door, eyebrows knitted and bat close at hand as he tried not to think-- but the chances were fairly slim, weren't they? He had neglected to ask Luxord how many new arrivals there had been, which made it impossible to determine the exact number of patients at now the institute, but as the population seemed to remain within a certain range and they couldn't possibly take that many each night, it wasn't likely. But...

He abandoned his seat and went to his closet, pulling it open and trying to distract himself by putting on his coat (unnecessary when they wouldn't be venturing outdoors, but he needed the extra pockets) and shoes. Suzaku's room was fairly close, which meant that (if he was coming at all-- no, don't think that way) he would be arriving soon. And if he didn't-- they couldn't have taken him, too, not after taking Bart. Statistically speaking, it was entirely possible, but--

Lelouch sat back at his desk, flipped through his journal with forced calm, then gave up and put it in his desk drawer. After napping through fourth shift and dinner, he had regained some energy, but it wasn't doing him any good now. Where the hell was Suzaku?

Re: M31

[superdynamic.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/629246.html?thread=53389054#t53389054)]

It was one of the first times Suzaku didn't feel nervous or out of place as he knocked on Lelouch's door. He was sure of his position now, sure enough that interacting with Lelouch in general seemed easier. This might be because he had shut out any deeper questions regarding Lelouch's inexplicable behavior, but Suzaku was blissfully unaware of how completely he had ignored any aspect of Lelouch he didn't understand. It was something he couldn't understand, to the point that some part of him refused to make the effort. Serving as Lelouch's knight and being at ease with his presence would be enough for him, and he couldn't bring himself to expect anything else. That hope had died too long ago to be resurrected now.

So Suzaku thought of nothing more than his duty as he knocked, hoping he had arrived in a timely enough manner.

Re: M31

[kingside]

Ah, there he was. Lelouch smiled faintly to himself, relieved, but he made sure to hide away the expression as he gathered up his things and went to the door. The last thing he wanted to do was alert Suzaku to the fact that all was not well or that he'd been even slightly worried about him. It was perfectly acceptable for a prince to worry about his knight, of course, but when Suzaku couldn't possibly-- it was best not to go there.

Tucking his radio into his jacket pocket and his bat under his arm, Lelouch opened the door and gave Suzaku a brief and far more neutral smile in greeting. "I see you made it in one piece," he observed, as if it were Suzaku and not him who kept getting mauled whenever he ventured outside his room. "We're headed to the second floor storage rooms tonight," he continued, joining Suzaku in the hall. "I need to make an inventory, assuming others haven't cleaned them out already. We'll return here once we're finished to discuss things further." Things meaning Sam and Dean, not to mention the changes Lelouch had made in his plans with the introduction of St. Just's club. Those weren't nearly as significant as the Winchester problem, however, so they could wait.

Re: M31

[superdynamic.livejournal.com]

"Did you expect me not to?" Suzaku murmured, his lips twitching a little at the corners in an answering smile, quite without his permission. He was glad to see -- glad to see that Lelouch himself was in one piece. Things would be a little more difficult if he wasn't. On the other hand. . . but surely Lelouch was just joking. He must trust Suzaku, or he wouldn't have been so honest the night before. Suzaku needed to stop ascribing meaning where there wasn't any, though of course you never knew with Lelouch. Which brought up the issue of why he was so honest in the first place -- second floor storage rooms. Right. It would be crucial to focus on the mission if he didn't want Lelouch to get clawed up yet again.

"After you," he said, nodding down the hallway. From the reports Lelouch had gathered, it seemed the monsters always managed to sneak up on their prey. If he were in the rear, he could still keep an eye on the hall ahead and yet provide a line of defense against attacks from behind. Of course, he didn't exactly plan it out that thoroughly; he just wanted to keep Lelouch within his range of sight. "Which ones are we going to?"

Re: M31

[kingside]

"You've surprised me before," Lelouch replied simply, smirking just the tiniest bit. That smile-- probably didn't mean anything, as always, but it was nice to see it on Suzaku's face regardless. He just had to be sure that he didn't let himself get used to it. That would be hard when it kept getting easier and easier for Lelouch to drop his guard around Suzaku, but when the alternative was such an effective deterrent, he didn't anticipate that he'd have much trouble with it.

He started down the hall at Suzaku's nod, trusting his knight to follow and watch his back both literally and figuratively. Whether that would make any difference at all in who was attacked first, if anyone, he wasn't sure (he had yet to gather enough information on the monsters for any one defense to stand out as even barely adequate), but he couldn't deny that it was nice to take the lead again. "General storage and the janitor's closet. There's a chance that we may encounter some of the more dangerous creatures on the way there, but with any luck, the route I've picked out should minimize that possibility."

The door to the hall just outside the men's block was thankfully just at the end of the M31-M40 hall, and after opening it, Lelouch took his bat in hand again and stepped through cautiously.

[To here.]