damned_institute | Night 50: M11-M20 Hallway

Entry tags:

Night 50: M11-M20 Hallway

[M12]

Klavier felt a wave of sickness as soon as that man's voice came over the intercom again. It was less apprehension and more bubbling anger than anything else. It wasn't so much the mocking that was grating as it was the sound of him sounding so smug, so satisfied with everything that was happening. So safe. Klavier told himself it was fine. Let the man believe he was untouchable. It would make it all the more satisfying when he was ripped down from his pedestal and made to face the consequences.

So last night's events had been done intentionally, after all. Herr Doktor was setting up a new system. A system of what, no one could say at this point, but if it resulted in anything like the previous night, it would prove to make things even more complicated than they already were. If anyone was to do anything, it would have to be now before they finished setting up whatever it was they were doing.

Herr Doktor was already mocking them to investigate to their heart's content, probably confident there was nothing to be found out there. But there was bound to be something overlooked. There had to be cracks in the system. And Klavier would find them all and see this place ripped down.

But first he needed to validate this claim about jewels and rings and whatnot. A teleportation ring? It didn't seem possible... But a lot of what didn't seem possible was fact in this place. Klavier opened the drawer on his side of the room and searched the inside. His good hand shuffled the contents about a little in search for anything like what the man had described, but there was nothing. The only "ring" in there was the small keyring. ...What were these keys for anyway? He picked them up questioningly and looked over the drawer again.

"...Nothing."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Haseo let out a short, heavy breath through his nose, brows drawing together. He'd been through far worse than seeing Kanji off, of course, so being asked if he was alright over that was pretty useless. Not that he blamed Endrance for trying- by this point, it almost seemed to be his job to ask about that kind of thing, regardless of the level of significance.

Which is why it wasn't all that surprising when the next thing out of the man's mouth was proof that he could tell something else was wrong. The Rogue shifted again, but kept the silence in a semi-irritated way that was probably more telling than actual confirmation. He'd spent years not being used to getting read like that, or people even caring if he wasn't completely balanced aside from physical health. On the outside the concern might have been flattering, but in the moment, it still threw him off a little.

"Atoli," he started finally, "She was here today. As a visitor." The fact was making him feel even more defeated than he had expected. Atoli had been-- well. He'd promised a lot of things to various people in the recent past, but after what that girl had been through, what she might have been through in that undetermined time she'd spent here and since disappearing, it wasn't fair at all for her to be treated like that.

And now he'd implied another promise- one that 'Erin' might not have actually understood, but one he intended to keep all the same. That said, he decided to keep that and the words exchanged in general to himself. In more ways than one he really had to move on. Even if he still wasn't sure how he felt on a lot of things- not just about Atoli, but about Shino too, who he had spent half a year pouring almost everything he had into finding a solution. It didn't seem right at all to be dwelling on such retarded things with Endrance standing right there. The two of them had been through far, far more, after all.

Haseo glanced up; all of that, over the course of just a second or two. Just when had fate decided to start making the level of complication in his life go so high? Needless to say, he still didn't relax much. While what he'd just said was bad in itself, of course there was more- "I think Alkaid must be... gone now, too," he admitted, "Nobody's seen her for a while."

It wasn't intentional, not really. You just learned to read the body language of people you were close to over time. Endrance suspected Haseo would be able to do the same thing if their positions had been reversed. It was clear when something wasn't right, and it wasn't just feelings that were getting in the way and making him feel like there was something off.

That little irritated shift was just further confirmation. It might have thrown Haseo off, but to Endrance, it came naturally. It wasn't a matter of reading the language to make him angry.

But he hadn't expected the words that came out of Haseo's mouth. He looked off to the side, picturing the Harvest Cleric - he hadn't seen her too many times, but she had a way of making an impression. But he had heard about what happened to people when they went home. Atoli didn't deserve any of that, he knew that. Endrance hadn't expected it to hurt him so much to hear it, though.

"I'm sorry I...I couldn't protect her. I should have done more, I should have found her the minute I found she had been here. I'm so sorry," he said, his voice sounding more apologetic than his words. "I...I couldn't..."

Endrance swallowed around the lump forming in his throat, willing himself not to cry, and then the news about Alkaid hit. There was another wave of guilt, stronger than the first. "I couldn't protect either of them. And I couldn't protect you when you needed me..."

Haseo was silent for a long moment after that apology, his free arm crossed over his chest and looking up at Endrance through the darkness and errant pieces of his silver hair. Briefly, he was almost upset enough right then to just take what seemed easiest and take it as Endrance's fault after all, despite how nonsensical the idea actually was. Almost, because this wasn't the first time they'd been through almost the exact same problem, and though only a few months ago it would have seemed perfectly alright to do that kind of thing to someone, he'd admittedly had his eyes opened quite a bit since then. It still wasn't his responsibility to make anyone happy or anything, but it also wasn't right for him to let it go like that.

"Sit down, Endrance," he half-ordered, making a slight gesture with his hand. It was hard to say what he was thinking at the moment, and in the absence of certainty he looked down, staring at the simple sword in his hand and then over at the one he'd set down. Neither weapon was a piece of art by any means, but they did what they were meant to. He couldn't deny being extremely thankful for their presence; he knew that getting a weapon was often difficult for 'patients,' and he had two of them.

But again, they weren't anything like the Blade Endrance had just gained from their strange trip to Lumina Cloth, beautifully crafted and with an undeniable, powerful connection to its owner. However, in a way the short-swords had the same contrast to 'Tempting Rose' that Haseo felt he had to Endrance. They were meant to get the job done, and though he'd heard more than once that there was a sort of strange beauty in the way he fought as a PKK and in the Arena, most people's admiration of him was something totally different than the kind aimed at the Blade Brandier.

Haseo was still struggling with seeing other people as not much more than tools, but he realized then that he didn't want Endrance to blame himself and suffer like that- for reasons that didn't have to do with being practical, actually. It had been like that for a while, but it hit him especially hard right then.

What could Endrance say to that? Nothing, and so he sat down on his bed, but that made it a little harder to meet Haseo's eyes. He knew apologizing over and over, as much as he wanted to do that, wouldn't do anything. The words would just go empty and hollow, and he wanted to mean them when he said them.

Endrance looked down, then put his head in his hands. That guilt just wouldn't leave, no matter how much he wanted to say, or did say. There was so much, and it weighed heavy on his slouched shoulders. "I...I know. Shut up, Endrance, it's not your fault. Right?"

The laugh that followed rang false, only just covering a choked sob. "That's...it's...I want to believe it but I can't. Not when so much has happened, and I've been so powerless to stop it all. What do you even do at a time like this? I...I don't..."

He stopped talking after a moment, and just stared at the floor, sighing once.

Edited 2010-07-19 02:30 (UTC)

And what had Haseo meant to say? He froze, alternating between furrowing his brow and opening his mouth despite his words suddenly vanishing into thin air. However, the usual anger found alongside his dislike of something was notably absent, replaced with a sense of not-quite frustration. He swallowed, lowering his chin slowly.

A beat later the stuff he was holding was pushed out of his mind, and he shoved the weird ring back into his pocket while he bent to place the sword down where it was out of the way. Without wasting any more time, the teenager then half-knelt on the bed next to Endrance, letting out a breath as he put his arms around the Blade Brandier in a tight embrace.

"Why do you say that sort of stuff?" he said quietly, eyes semi-focused in the darkness over Endrance's shoulder where the little light in the room was blocked out by their presence. The position was a bit awkward with most of his balance on one leg, and he had a strange awareness of how the strange fabric Endrance's clothing was made of felt odd even through the sleeves of his own shirt, but it hardly seemed to matter. At least for the moment.

"It isn't your fault."

Endrance was stunned silent when, instead of -- whatever it was it he had been expecting, and he wasn't sure what that was -- Haseo's arms were around him. He returned that embrace, letting his head rest against the Rogue's chest. There was his heartbeat, so strong, and he just listened for a moment, the steady rhythm calming him.

"Haseo..." The Blade Brandier still wanted to argue the point, just a little, but that quickly faded. "I...it's force of habit. It's so easy to lose people here, through that...that bastard doctor's whims that it's easy to blame yourself. Since I've been here longer than you...I..."

Endrance took a long, deep breath, and then another, before looking up, red eyes meeting red. "I love you. I want to protect you. And that extends to the ones you want to protect, but...in the end, it comes down to...to you. I..."

The words wouldn't come out, and the actions were instinctive, rather than planned, when Endrance leaned in close, softly kissing Haseo.

"Sorry," Haseo muttered, mentally applying the apology to several things all at once. He let the silence drag on again while Endrance hung onto him, trying to think even though his mind felt completely tangled up. That seemed to be a pretty common occurrence lately, but he didn't really let himself feel uncomfortable about it.

He couldn't help it. It wasn't possible anymore to hold any illusions about acting as an anchor for Endrance- especially when right then it had taken on a form that was quite literal. In a way it was both flattering and humbling, but those words about people disappearing stung when coupled with that fact. He couldn't promise he wouldn't leave, because as far as he knew it wasn't under his control.

After everything that had happened, being like that was a bit soothing though, and... not all that surprising when Endrance confessed to him. Again, and then clearly tried to kiss him. Haseo noticed that the usual height difference had been reversed; it would have been pretty easy to just refuse if he didn't want to.

But second thoughts weren't very relevant in the end. After the initial moment of surprise, the Rogue found he didn't have too much of a problem at all obliging a kiss so long as it was brief, and closed his eyes while he slowly returned it. It wasn't like the last time though- that night after he'd been taken for experimentation... well, it couldn't really have been called insincere, and it would have been stupid to say he didn't share at least some of that attraction even then, but the desperation likely could have been spooned out of the air in solid form.

Now, the teen knew there were more pressing matters to be attending to, but... a moment after he broke it off the teen changed his mind and kissed Endrance again, freeing an arm to push that ever-present blue fringe out of the way before settling his hand at the base of the Blade Brandier's neck. Hopefully Klavier wouldn't decide he'd forgotten something and come back, and hopefully Tsukasa hadn't figured out this particular room number too.

"Don't say you're sorry to me," Endrance murmured in the short space of time between -- between kisses. Between kisses -- and not the kind that were made out of desperation after an experience no one in this world needed. No, these were different, softer, more hesitant. There wasn't desperation, only...something he couldn't put words to.

He wasn't going to let himself go too far into thinking about whether this was mutual attraction or something hormonal or some combination of the two of them, or even whether this was or wasn't something that ran deeper than just soft kisses and strong fingers at the back of his neck. There was only one thought running through his head as he wrapped his arms tighter around Haseo.

I love you.

Endrance wasn't going to take the lead here, despite having been the one to initially initiate the contact. But he did kiss back, a little harder than before. His lips parted just slightly, something he'd tried to control, but there wasn't much that could be done there - some things just happened, and this was one of them.

That request sounded awfully familiar to Haseo, nearly identical to something he'd said himself roughly a week earlier. However, aside from a half-existent scoff he chose to just let it go, avoiding the risk of tangential conversations. Figuring out who should apologize for what could be figured out later, and hopefully, nobody would then feel obligated to apologize for this. Unless... whatever.

It definitely wasn't anything like hormones that held the teenager back- if he were to give in to that line of motivation, things would probably go much, much farther than embraces and experimental kisses in the dark. The thought made his face turn hot and his mind jump back into reality a little bit, even if it didn't stop what he was currently doing for any more than a second.

The creepy atmosphere didn't lend well to the situation at hand either, though. Not when every room in the building was a reminder of some instance of wrong-doing against oneself or a friend. Not when the threat of further danger hung over their heads constantly.

Then-- static? Haseo made a short, surprised noise in his throat and broke away, instantly cautious at the sound of a radio springing to life somewhere behind him. He turned one way, then the other, only just barely managing to keep his balance before he spotted the small radio that had suddenly begun emitting... not the weird music or white noise like usual, but an excitable, unfamiliar voice.

"The ring," he started, but clearly sounding a bit choked at the sudden change. He froze and averted his eyes, looking vaguely irritated, though the close proximity made the act both difficult and obvious. It turned out that reality suddenly crashing back onto you was by no means pleasant.

Don't make this awkward, damn it, the Adept Rogue thought, flushing. Just...

Reality suddenly crashing back down on you definitely wasn't pleasant. Not in the least. Endrance turned and glared at the radio, as if glaring would help turn the mood back around, but there was nothing to do about it. He let out a scoff that sounded a lot like...one that Haseo would let out. It might have been funny if that irritation wasn't so clear.

He wasn't going to suddenly start kissing the Rogue again. It would be far too awkward. Instead, he flushed dark red, not saying anything for a long minute.

"S-so...can I...can I see it? Er, the - the ring, I mean," Endrance said, trying to disentangle himself without making things too awkward. He wasn't going to apologize for the kissing, not in the least. That wasn't something to apologize for.

But...even as much as he wanted to return to the mood from just a moment ago, that was gone, and...something inside said not to push it too far. It was attention from Haseo, the kind he wanted, and it was a precious thing to be savored, not something to be pouted over when it was taken away. One couldn't kiss in the dark forever here, as much as he wanted to stay here and do just that.

Haseo let go and pulled away, but then glanced back with an odd expression. "Huh? Uh, yeah," he said slowly, then a beat later swallowed, forcing his mind to other things while he finally moved to pull the ring back out. An instance of something nicer-than-usual didn't erase the fact that they were still stuck in a near-hopeless situation, or that there were still friends missing with little clue towards what they were going through. That responsibility couldn't just be pushed aside, even if he barely even understood what it was.

"Not much to it," he said then, his tone flat and body language subdued, trying to move so that the band's bloodred stone could be seen more clearly in what little light was available. He paused, mentally going over the almost-nonexistent amount of information he knew regarding the presence behind the radio, compared to what had happened so far and been stated over the intercom by the apparent big bad himself.

"It could be a trap," he admitted finally, echoing what had been said earlier, but this time went on with what he'd wanted to say earlier in response to Klavier's concerns. "But that... doesn't really seem like Landel's style. It's too obvious." The Adept Rogue's brow furrowed again, and he might have crossed his arms had they been free. He left what was like something Landel would do unsaid- things like dragging people away for torture, inflicting sudden fatal wounds, or even just kidnapping them all, all without warning.

That odd expression made Endrance pause, flushing. "I...I liked what happened. If things were in the least bit different, I..."

He didn't continue that thought past the initial statement. There were things that didn't necessarily need to be said immediately, and besides that...it led to a lot of implications and thoughts that weren't conducive in the least to actual investigation and going home.

The dark red color of that stone didn't go unnoticed. It truly was the color of blood, and made him wonder exactly what kind of stone it was - not ruby or garnet, certainly. He decided that he didn't want to know.

"You're right...it is too obvious. He doesn't announce his traps out loud...they're all whispered in secret behind the scenes, or unannounced completely...So. What is the point? What's so strange about these that all effort to break them to our will needs to be stifled?"

Haseo resisted the urge to bite his lip. It hadn't even occurred to him that the violent end to the radio's message might have something to do with someone else not liking what was being discussed, but it made sense once it was pointed out. Figuring this kind of thing out was still not something he was generally used to... especially not ever since people like Yata and Pi, all decked out with their wealth of knowledge and tools like the Serpent of Lore, had started doing it for him.

He was a man of action, damn it, not someone who was content to sit around in dark rooms speculating while time ticked by and solutions that could have been found by just going out and searching for them went undiscovered. Plus, all they had here was... a radio. One whose only semi-helpful transmission Haseo had ever heard was the one that had just been played. He didn't even have the luxury of knowing whether or not it could be trusted at all.

"I don't know," he answered, sounding frustrated as he stared at the ring. "But we either try it, or wait until tomorrow to see if anyone else did." He let out a heavy breath, somewhere between a scoff and a sigh, then looked up, his eyes drifting toward the wall and wondering what it would take to break the ring's jewel as instructed.

Then, with the next breath, he shifted, turning to locate and retrieve his short-swords. Although it wasn't something they usually had with them too, he decided then that a radio was probably worth adding to the normal 'inventory' as well. He also decided he would have given a lot to regain the ability to carry more than physically possible, like he should have been able to with this body. The Adept Rogue sorely missed his menus.

"You've never been one to wait around when there's something to try..."

It was absolutely true, and it didn't take a genius to see the impatience radiating off the Adept Rogue. When he started getting his things together, then that was the biggest sign. Endrance saw that and nodded once. "And I don't think you want to sit here all night and wait."

He shifted, taking the handle of his sword. The Blade Brandier didn't think he would ever get used to the idea, or the feeling, of Mia's spirit being right there. It wasn't a bad feeling, not in the slightest, it was just...strange. It was strange and wonderful at the same time, and he didn't mind that at all.

"Before we go out...do we know where we're trying to go, other than...home?"

There wasn't much need to respond to those initial remarks from Haseo's point of view (or rather, many ways he could respond), but he nodded back shortly anyway, regathering his determination as he finished assembling the scant things important enough to go along. The latter question was one that had come up before though, and again the Adept Rogue had little insight into what should be done. For a moment that uncertainty might have been obvious, but in the next he straightened. After all that, he refused to submit to it.

"Well, how many times have we tried getting those damn files?" he asked, mildly annoyed. Too many, of course, and Haseo hated just giving it up. The only time they'd been able to get anywhere near them, it had turned out that they didn't know how to find what they were looking for. And once Haseo had been instructed how to spell their "real" names, they had once again been kept from reaching them. Of course, that particular roadblock had been the same as what had happened to everyone else the night before, but... it was still very suspicious.

However, come to think of that incident...

"You know, if Ceiling-man was right, then... I'm guessing this ring probably wouldn't put us back in Lumina Cloth right away," he continued after a short, thoughtful pause, "So, that leaves the waiting room, right?" It was an admittedly boring place, but that was where they had been directly before they'd been transported 'home.' It was also very close to those elusive files.

And Haseo didn't feel like arguing the point any more. With a huff of breath, the Rogue stepped closer to Endrance. "Hold this," he said, and didn't really give the Blade Brandier much choice as he held up the older of his two short-swords. Immediately, he then turned, paused for just a moment, and quite unceremoniously smashed the red-stoned ring against the wall until it gave way.

[ To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/947653.html?thread=71375557#t71375557). ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Night 50: M11-M20 Hallway

Re: M12

Re: M12

Re: M12

Re: M12

Re: M12

Re: M12

Re: M12

Re: M12

Re: M12

Re: M12

Re: M12

Re: M12

Re: M12

Re: M12

Re: M12