Anise was actually sleeping well for once. When morning came, she was curled up on her side, her arms tightly hugging her pillow in the same way they would usually hold Tokunaga
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Zack was getting pretty sick of it. He didn't really care what the risks were. Tonight he was heading out on his own. If someone came across him and wanted to tag along, that would be fine, but he wasn't going to waste more time waiting around when he could manage just fine alone. It wasn't that he wanted to push people away, but someone needed to make progress around here and it was going to be him. He was used to getting things done and not being able to was wearing on him at this point
( ... )
And what is the point of this chapel, I wonder, Maya thought as she entered. It'd been mere curiosity that she wanted to see it; she saw enough of the Sun Room during the day.
Her guard had been kind enough to let Maya change her mind after leaving a comment on the bulletin board, at least, though it did leave one to wonder: why was she in nurse garb instead of her more sinister uniform? Maya had asked, but she hadn't answered. As per usual for her, but Maya amused herself by imagining how she'd react if she told her about the conversation Maya (and everyone else, presumably) had overheard on the intercom before they'd gone-forcibly-to bed.
But even that couldn't hold her attention for long, and she became distracted by the room. A bit lacking, was it not? It took a slow walk down the aisle to realize why: the imagery was somewhat off. Rather, it didn't seem present. Strange.
Speaking of strange things.... "Sleeping in the first row?" she said teasingly as she took a seat beside the young man. "Sacrilegious, yes?"
Having someone tease him while he was sitting in a church (or chapel, but it was basically the same thing) was almost too familiar for him to bear. But even as he opened his eyes, he knew that it wasn't Aerith who was speaking to him. The girl looked sweet enough at first glance, but she wasn't who he'd been hoping (maybe praying) for.
Still, he couldn't let on what he was feeling, both because it was rude and because he didn't really want to talk about it with a stranger. In the end, he always fell back on distractions instead of facing his own moods. Well, it had worked so far.
"I wasn't sleeping," he responded as he tried for a smile. It came to him far too easily. "Besides, it's not like anyone's giving a sermon." He motioned to the empty pulpit in front of them.
It seemed that she would be his company for the moment, though, and so Zack decided to introduce himself. "I'm Zack Fair," he said with a nod. "Haven't seen you around before. What's your name?"
Were such things done here? Maya had seen many chapels, but had never been to a gathering that took place in one. "I suppose not. I'm Maya. Pleasure to meet you."
Straight to business? No, that was bad form. She'd have time to ask the questions she wanted later. Moreso since her selection was quite random; she'd simply picked whoever had been nearest. Next time she'd pick someone who seemed knowledgeable about where patients disappeared to.
Now, then. That was the second time someone she'd spoken to had used that expression. "Do you normally keep a record of who you see?" Surely he'd passed by many others, even in a day? Likely it was simply an expression. "Something on your mind? The face on your chest bothering you, perhaps?"
Zack didn't know if it was obvious that he wasn't feeling so great or if Maya had just made a guess, but he was going to have to be more careful in the future. The fact that he'd been resting his eyes when he'd just woken up had probably been a giveaway. Well, he could always avoid the questions that he didn't want to answer.
"I will admit I liked the other uniform better," he said with a laugh. "But nah, I don't really keep track. You just start to see some of the same faces once you're here for long enough." It meant that she was probably newer than he was, at the very least. She would clarify if she felt the need to, but Zack wasn't too interested in knowing how long she'd been here. It didn't seem to matter all that much when it came down to it.
"How about you?" he asked, deciding to turn things around before the conversation got too focused on him. "How're you doing this morning?" She seemed to be in a good enough mood, but it was possible that she was also hiding her true feelings.
Had one of her questions been skipped? Here she'd thought she had picked the harmless ones. No matter; here, trust was paramount. In any case, the question had been general enough that the lack of response didn't tell her much. If she were one to analyze such things, that is. Which she was not, hm
( ... )
So it seemed that Maya had had a reason for coming to talk to him after all. Maybe she hadn't come here with the express purpose of asking about a missing friend, but it had clearly been on her mind. They had that one thing in common, then, although Zack already knew that Aerith was gone. It seemed that Maya was still holding out hope for the person she'd described
( ... )
Maya had a small mental list of people she hadn't seen around for what seemed an unnaturally long time; Senna was the most obvious (and possibly the most recent) who sprang to mind after her conversations with Gren and Rose. Best not to ask after the others, however: if patient disappearances truly were common, it must be a sore spot.
In addition, Maya couldn't spend all of her conversations asking after others. What a wasteful opportunity. "Thank you kindly," she said faintly, leaning back into the back of the pew. She needed a new tactic; doing it this way made her impatient. Perhaps she should ask first, which left her free to discuss other things once the most urgent matter had been settled. Quite a paradoxical way to have a conversation, but...she'd manage.
"Enough depressing things," she said with her let-us-leave-that-topic-for-now smile. "I hope your night was okay? No monsters, I hope?"
Zack thought it was a bit strange that the girl didn't follow up with more questions, but maybe that was all that she needed to hear. Or she was planning to go to the bulletin to discuss it further. It wasn't the most lighthearted of subjects, obviously, but he would have answered her questions if she'd wanted.
The topic she decided to jump to instead wasn't necessarily less depressing, but it did open up something that he could complain about if he wanted. He wasn't one to do that too much, but he did end up sighing in response. "It was... all right. I got to meet up with a friend of mine, but we weren't really able to do anything." Going to check on Tifa had been a bad idea, and yet Zack hadn't had the heart to tell that to Cloud
( ... )
'Do?' Do what? "For some, meeting up with others for another night is the goal, you know." But clearly, here it was not the case. Maya hadn't yet begun to think of the ways one could subvert the asylum. A symptom of Fair's longer stay, perhaps?
But of course Maya would need to think of these things eventually. It was simply that anywhere away from Wataru was fine (however atrocious calling such an event 'fine'), and for its drawbacks, Maya had not encountered Fangire within these walls. She wasn't in enemy hands, she was in a place she could meet people and amuse herself observing their outlandish behavior, she didn't lack for food or shelter.
Yet it was still causing her grief. Her mental list of the missing was several people long. She may as well start getting serious with her rebellions now. "Is that mindset not the same for everyone?" she responded. "Time is not something we can reverse." A small joking smile; she didn't mean to trivialize his frustration, but she'd heard this sentiment a fair amount. "What are you planning?"
She had a point. Sometimes, making sure that your friends were all right was all that was necessary. In Zack's opinion, though, that was something that could happen during the day. At night he wanted to at least keep others out of danger by stepping up to fight -- and if not that, then he wanted to explore places, find items, do something beyond wandering the halls around the room blocks aimlessly.
It seemed that Maya felt that a lot of people were in the same boat as him, but Zack still got the sense that there were some patients who really were getting places at night, and he wanted to be among that number. He wasn't used to this constant failure that had become a pattern here.
"Well, tonight I'm going to see how far I can get on my own." Cloud, Tifa, and Yuffie had all proved themselves to be capable, so he didn't have to worry about leaving them alone. Cloud was the only one who wasn't armed (seeing how Tifa fought with her fists), but Zack had been convinced by now that his friend could handle himself despite that.
My, was this another evasion? There was no reason to be secretive, was there? "How far you can get to where?" she asked, making an attempt not to sound accusatory if he couldn't say. After all, what did she know of his circumstances?
Maya was attempting empathy. How novel. Her conversation with Arthur brought up the point that everyone was trying their best, but as there had been patients before Maya, their attempts couldn't have amounted to much. She had barely been acquainted with Doctor Landel before the change of asylum head occurred, and not much had seemed to change, except the strictness with which patients were treated.
Say... "How long have you been seeing how far you can get?" she asked, thoughtlessly framing her question in a slightly mocking way, as was her habit. "Before the General entered the picture?"
It seemed like Maya wasn't interested in the questions being directed to her, and Zack suddenly felt like this was an interrogation -- or at least like she was judging him. He wasn't much in the mood to be under a critical eye, but he also wasn't rude enough to just walk away from the conversation. Instead, he was quiet for a long while, trying to both calm his nerves and figure out how he should answer her
( ... )
Zack was getting pretty sick of it. He didn't really care what the risks were. Tonight he was heading out on his own. If someone came across him and wanted to tag along, that would be fine, but he wasn't going to waste more time waiting around when he could manage just fine alone. It wasn't that he wanted to push people away, but someone needed to make progress around here and it was going to be him. He was used to getting things done and not being able to was wearing on him at this point ( ... )
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Her guard had been kind enough to let Maya change her mind after leaving a comment on the bulletin board, at least, though it did leave one to wonder: why was she in nurse garb instead of her more sinister uniform? Maya had asked, but she hadn't answered. As per usual for her, but Maya amused herself by imagining how she'd react if she told her about the conversation Maya (and everyone else, presumably) had overheard on the intercom before they'd gone-forcibly-to bed.
But even that couldn't hold her attention for long, and she became distracted by the room. A bit lacking, was it not? It took a slow walk down the aisle to realize why: the imagery was somewhat off. Rather, it didn't seem present. Strange.
Speaking of strange things.... "Sleeping in the first row?" she said teasingly as she took a seat beside the young man. "Sacrilegious, yes?"
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Still, he couldn't let on what he was feeling, both because it was rude and because he didn't really want to talk about it with a stranger. In the end, he always fell back on distractions instead of facing his own moods. Well, it had worked so far.
"I wasn't sleeping," he responded as he tried for a smile. It came to him far too easily. "Besides, it's not like anyone's giving a sermon." He motioned to the empty pulpit in front of them.
It seemed that she would be his company for the moment, though, and so Zack decided to introduce himself. "I'm Zack Fair," he said with a nod. "Haven't seen you around before. What's your name?"
Reply
Straight to business? No, that was bad form. She'd have time to ask the questions she wanted later. Moreso since her selection was quite random; she'd simply picked whoever had been nearest. Next time she'd pick someone who seemed knowledgeable about where patients disappeared to.
Now, then. That was the second time someone she'd spoken to had used that expression. "Do you normally keep a record of who you see?" Surely he'd passed by many others, even in a day? Likely it was simply an expression. "Something on your mind? The face on your chest bothering you, perhaps?"
Reply
Zack didn't know if it was obvious that he wasn't feeling so great or if Maya had just made a guess, but he was going to have to be more careful in the future. The fact that he'd been resting his eyes when he'd just woken up had probably been a giveaway. Well, he could always avoid the questions that he didn't want to answer.
"I will admit I liked the other uniform better," he said with a laugh. "But nah, I don't really keep track. You just start to see some of the same faces once you're here for long enough." It meant that she was probably newer than he was, at the very least. She would clarify if she felt the need to, but Zack wasn't too interested in knowing how long she'd been here. It didn't seem to matter all that much when it came down to it.
"How about you?" he asked, deciding to turn things around before the conversation got too focused on him. "How're you doing this morning?" She seemed to be in a good enough mood, but it was possible that she was also hiding her true feelings.
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In addition, Maya couldn't spend all of her conversations asking after others. What a wasteful opportunity. "Thank you kindly," she said faintly, leaning back into the back of the pew. She needed a new tactic; doing it this way made her impatient. Perhaps she should ask first, which left her free to discuss other things once the most urgent matter had been settled. Quite a paradoxical way to have a conversation, but...she'd manage.
"Enough depressing things," she said with her let-us-leave-that-topic-for-now smile. "I hope your night was okay? No monsters, I hope?"
Reply
The topic she decided to jump to instead wasn't necessarily less depressing, but it did open up something that he could complain about if he wanted. He wasn't one to do that too much, but he did end up sighing in response. "It was... all right. I got to meet up with a friend of mine, but we weren't really able to do anything." Going to check on Tifa had been a bad idea, and yet Zack hadn't had the heart to tell that to Cloud ( ... )
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But of course Maya would need to think of these things eventually. It was simply that anywhere away from Wataru was fine (however atrocious calling such an event 'fine'), and for its drawbacks, Maya had not encountered Fangire within these walls. She wasn't in enemy hands, she was in a place she could meet people and amuse herself observing their outlandish behavior, she didn't lack for food or shelter.
Yet it was still causing her grief. Her mental list of the missing was several people long. She may as well start getting serious with her rebellions now. "Is that mindset not the same for everyone?" she responded. "Time is not something we can reverse." A small joking smile; she didn't mean to trivialize his frustration, but she'd heard this sentiment a fair amount. "What are you planning?"
Reply
It seemed that Maya felt that a lot of people were in the same boat as him, but Zack still got the sense that there were some patients who really were getting places at night, and he wanted to be among that number. He wasn't used to this constant failure that had become a pattern here.
"Well, tonight I'm going to see how far I can get on my own." Cloud, Tifa, and Yuffie had all proved themselves to be capable, so he didn't have to worry about leaving them alone. Cloud was the only one who wasn't armed (seeing how Tifa fought with her fists), but Zack had been convinced by now that his friend could handle himself despite that.
Reply
Maya was attempting empathy. How novel. Her conversation with Arthur brought up the point that everyone was trying their best, but as there had been patients before Maya, their attempts couldn't have amounted to much. She had barely been acquainted with Doctor Landel before the change of asylum head occurred, and not much had seemed to change, except the strictness with which patients were treated.
Say... "How long have you been seeing how far you can get?" she asked, thoughtlessly framing her question in a slightly mocking way, as was her habit. "Before the General entered the picture?"
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