damned_institute | Night 45: M-A Block Hallway

[from here]

Junpei found himself a spot not too far from the door leading out to the hallway. Seriously, if Yukari waned the damn Evoker, she needed to run her mini-skirted ass down here to get it since he wasn't going much farther. It was only fair since he'd trucked down to her block last night.

Setting the bag of stuff on the floor, he leaned against the wall after adjusting the Evoker in the waistband of his jeans. He was not happy with having lost the t-shirt he'd had last night, forced to wear the smiley one again, even if it was turned inside out. He sighed and looked down at the square bandage on his arm. Vampire. He'd been bitten by a vampire.

Just to make sure, the junior checked his teeth. No fangs. Good. He probably would have freaked out if he'd found any. Still... curiosity got the better of him and he peeled half the bandage off to look at the bite. Twin puncture wounds with some redness about them. He poked it.

"Ow." Poking it was not a good idea.

[Hey, Yuka-tan... got any garlic?]

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Cliff opened his mouth, shut it again, and shook his head. So much for everything making more sense. He briefly entertained the thought of turning around and going right back to bed, but he was nothing if not good on his feet. Accept the facts and move on. There would be time to make sense of it later. That was what he tried to tell himself, anyway. He could at least pretend his thoughts weren't racing.

He shifted again, folding his arms across his chest. Whatever it was, this didn't look like a lie. Not enough in the way of theatrics or neat little explanations. How long had he really been out exactly? And what about the Eternal Sphere? Something uncomfortable knotted in his chest and Cliff firmly ignored it.

"I hate to say this kid, but I don't remember a damn thing about this place." He replied finally. He felt like he should be apologizing for something, but what could he say? Sorry for something he didn't remember and couldn't change anyway? "Looks like you an' me are gonna have to start fresh."

He held out a hand and attempted a smile, "No bruises this time."

He didn't say anything more, gave Cliff a chance to process what had been said and the implications of being here. It had taken a while for Yohji to come to terms with it, and that had been with Cliff's help and with the rest of Weiss and Schuldig. Ah, could he even manage it the other way round? He was no-one's pillar of strength. He had enough trouble dealing with his own issues.

He snorted softly when Cliff said he didn't remember. "Figured. It would be too much to ask for you to remember all this crap." And be able to deal with it as if it was second nature. It was probably cruel to wish for that, but Cliff was here anyway.

He stared at the outstretched hand blankly for a moment before giving a wry little smile and taking it. "Kudoh Yohji."

It was going to take more than a few minutes for Cliff to process what had just been said. A few weeks and a few more explanations would be nice while he was at it, but that would probably be pushing his luck for the night.

"Kudoh, huh? I'll remember that this time." His grip was firm, but nothing more than that. It was something of a peace offering, and it looked like that had been accepted at least. "Are you the only guy here who's gonna greet me like that?"

It kinda stung being called by his family name by Cliff of all people but it could just be an oversight. He had no clue what system of naming Klausians used after all. For all he knew, Cliff Fittir was just some transliteration of some really weird language that he'd never be able to pronounce. "Yohji, call me Yohji. Kudoh is my family name." A family that he hadn't seen in maybe a decade. Ugh, that was kind of depressing to be honest.

He smirked slightly at the question and shrugged. "I dunno. How many other men do you think you promised to take to space with you and then ditched?" It was a poor attempt at humour, and a painful one, but better than nothing, right? Eh, he could at least tell himself that.

Cliff nodded at the first part. Damn communicators were supposed to keep this straight, but he supposed he'd have more to worry about if he came across someone who didn't speak Terran. Come to think of it, it was sort of weird that Kudoh -- that Yohji did.

He couldn't help the spike of irritation at the question. If they weren't being sarcastic about it, the answer was that he had no idea what he'd promised or done in this place, and that was just one thing to worry about among many. Yohji had his reasons for being angry, but Cliff thought he did too.

"Give me a little credit." Cliff replied, kneading the back of his neck absently. "I know I'm stunningly handsome, but I don't leave a string of broken hearts wherever I go."

Yeah, he knew. It was unfair to be like that when Cliff didn't remember anything about what had happened. When he had no clue what had gone on between them and what this place did to him eventually. But damn, it was difficult to remember that when Cliff was there and looked exactly the same as he always had except perhaps a little tireder. He waved it off with one hand, sighing softly. "Sorry," he muttered. "It's not fair to take it out on you when you don't have a fucking clue what happened. It's just difficult seeing you here again."

Cliff nodded, but he didn't push the issue. This might be his fault, it might not be, but he was here right now, so he'd have to deal with it properly, and soon. "I don't know much about whatever's goin' on here, but it sounds to me like it's not your fault any more than it is mine. Just...give me some time to take this all in."

Night 45: M-A Block Hallway

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