paixaorpg | Insert Title Here [OPEN]

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Insert Title Here [OPEN]

Characters: Hojo, Zack, Cloud, Maya, Phoenix, Miles, Dias, Isaac, Ashe, Yaten
Content: The crew stops in Muspelheim for the night
Setting: Morem o Lisboa
Time: Very early Saturday morning(as in one or two AM)
Warning: None yet

Hojo was quite suitably miserable by the time they got back into the domes of Paixao. Sitting upright, especially when shoved into a rather small space, was not at all good for his wounds(he was beginning to think a few ribs had been fractured on top of everything else) and the ride back had brought on his motion sickness very close to full force. On top of all that, it seemed as though all the running around in freezing rain he'd been doing for the past week was finally starting to catch up with him, in the form of what promised to be a very unpleasant cold.

Almost everyone in this motley crew of people was in need of a place to stay the night, so they didn't go too much further than the gates of Muspelheim before they sought out a hotel. Unfortunately, it seemed the only one in the area was the Morem o Lisboa, a decidedly expensive establishment. Hojo hardly noticed where they were at this point, though, scrambling to get out of the buggy as quickly as he could manage once they'd come to a stop. Being cramped for so long while on the verge of either falling apart or vomiting was doing more than bothering him by that point.

...And it was STILL raining. Hojo managed a scowl; he didn't think he'd been properly dry since he arrived in this forsaken city.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ooc: i'm baaaaack!! gah, i missed all the fun x)]

She feels as if she is being wrapped between two thick mattresses; secured from all the elements. The numbness envelopes her, hindering the outside world from disturbing her, but it was pleasant nonetheless. It soon dissipates however, and slowly the constant pitter-patter of the rain and the cold cold wind on her skin is more than real.

Opening her eyes slowly, she can only see blurs of colors at first, but they soon form into a lot of people getting off the buggy. Closing her eyes again as it hurts her head to be seeing such bright colors, she tries to remember how she found herself to be in the company of so many people. Then she remembers the rescue.

Gasping at the realization, Ashe quickly sits up from her position, resulting in her head throbbing once more. Holding it but not letting herself fall back down again, she steps down from the buggy as normally as possible even though her stumbling is stil quite apparent. She dusts herself off, trying to seem stronger than she really is, "W-where is this? Have w-you rescued Maya and Cloud and Zack already?" and then, as an afterthought, "where's Isaac?"

Oh, how lovely~

Edgeworth came out of the front doors of the hotel, fumbling with a few keys and his wallet as he approached the buggy.

"I've taken care of the rooms for all of you," Edgeworth said, passing out keys. "If you all would be so kind as to choose a partner to room with, I'll give you your keys. I'll be staying with Hojo." He threw a glance in the direction of the pale-looking scientist, then continued. "I would appreciate it if the wounded didn't room together, just for safety's sake--if one of them has a fit in the night, the other won't be able to inform us. Those who require payment will recieve it as soon as everything is settled--just come to my room in the morning and we'll work out the price."

Ashe was finally starting to come to; that was good. She mumbled to herself, disoriented.

"Everything is fine, Mrs. Ashe," Miles said, coming up next to her in the buggy and holding out his hand to help her off the vehicle. "We're in Muspelheim, and Isaac is here with us." He frowned, taking a look around. "...Somewhere."

Wasn't he just here a minute ago...?

Dias frowned as he took his key from Edgeworth. HE would be rooming with Hojo? Oh, that had 'inadvisable' written all over it. "Don't you think Hojo should be kept in the same room as someone who can keep an eye on him? Someone who will be able to take care of themselves if he transforms again, for instance?" His question was addressed to his employer, but his crimson eyes were fixed on the scientist. He didn't actually SAY 'someone like me', but it was scarcely necessary.

In the meantime, the parts of his brain not currently occupied with keeping his employer alive through the night so that Dias could be paid in the morning were busy observing various points of interest. First was that if Edgeworth had enough money to get them five rooms in what appeared to be quite an expensive hotel and still have plenty left over to pay them in the morning, his employer had to be QUITE well off - Dias did a quiet mental readjustment of just how much he'd ask to be paid for this job. Second was that the unconscious woman (Ashe, Edgeworth had called her) had woken up. Third...where the hell was Isaac?

Well, one good thing if Isaac had run off - it meant someone would be getting a room to themselves, and if Edgeworth insisted on rooming with Hojo, there was a chance it might be him.

Right now Maya couldn't care less who she roomed with or where she slept-- as long as there was a BED and FOOD and no more experiments or creepy scientists or freaky rooms or anything of that sort... she was content.

Well, as content as an extremely sleep-and-food-deprived seventeen year old spirit medium could get. The floor of the hotel looked comfortable enough as it was. There was an entire group of people around her that she should've thanked for helping Phoenix and Edgeworth to come rescue them, but that would have to wait for a time when she was coherrent enough to do so.

It was fairly obvious Maya's state was equivalent to a zombie. She sure felt like it.

Hojo wasn't so ill as to be oblivious as to what the others were doing. He glared at Dias when the swordsman turned his attention on him; if he never saw the damned blue-haired man again he would be a perfectly happy scientist.

Unfortunately, his body decided to get the better of him at that moment and he retched, doubling over and vomiting stomach acid into the fake bushes next to the hotel.

I really did not think it was possible for today to get worse, he thought bitterly as his broken ribs screamed at him for the sudden movement. Not like it had been HIS fault, stupid ribs; they should take their quarrel up with his stomach for being unstable and leave him alone.

[YAY. <3 ILU BOKIPIPI.]

Yaten had, indeed, sat on someone's lap. Now, though, he was trying to keep awake and failing miserably.

...Except for the part where Hojo had ralphed. Okay, EW. Yaten soon found himself joining Hojo-- appearantly the buggy ride hadn't helped settle Yaten's stomach any.

All. His. Fault. Yaten found himself grumbling. And it was- kind of. It was Hojo's ...something-like claws that had set his fear off, which had upset his stomach. And now Hojo's own retching had set Yaten's stomach off.

Taking Miles' offered hand, she steps off the buggy and looks around for Isaac but finding him nowhere. In another state, she would have thrown a fit at how someone would dare to break a vow made to her, but being too tired to even stand, she nods at Miles' answer. Letting go of Miles' hand, she tries her best to stand as straight as possible while listening to Dias commenting on the rooming arrangement.

In a normal state, she would have started getting fussy about the rooming arrangement, requesting to room with Yaten (whom she thinks is female), but she decides that she is in no position to request anything of them as she had probably been a burden even though she applied to help. "I am a healer, so those who are wounded should come to my room. I apologize for being such a burden when I should have been helping, so please let me do my part this time."

Phoenix let out a sigh of relief when they finally reached the hotel; it'd been a long, long day.

"I'll be staying with Hojo. I would appreciate it if the wounded didn't room together, just for safety's sake--if one of them has a fit in the night, the other won't be able to inform us."

Phoenix frowned; Miles staying with Hojo didn't exactly sound like the best idea to him, but he didn't bother to bring it up, hoping Miles knew what he was doing.

"If necessary, I can stay with one of the injured people." Phoenix offered, though being woken up by someone having a random fit in the night didn't sound very good to him. Sleep sounded good at the moment.

Miles was about to answer Dias, but was cut off at the horrible wretching noise Hojo was making. He flicked his gaze over to the sick man, then put a hand on his hip, corner of his mouth lifting in the slightest of smirks.

"I think I'll be all right," he said. "I think he's a bit too exhausted to pose much of a threat, and I'm a light sleeper."

Don't say a word, Phoenix...

He had too many questions for the doctor... and he didn't want to let the others know he still felt horrible for shooting him. Kidnapper or not, Hojo was still a person and deserved a fair verdict from a judge... though the 'innocent until proven guilty' didn't exactly apply... and did he really deserve the death penalty for giving someone a wing and a tail? Miss Fey was obviously unharmed...

"I am a healer, so those who are wounded should come to my room. I apologize for being such a burden when I should have been helping, so please let me do my part this time."

The lawyer turned and looked at the weakened woman, shaking his head slightly.

"I'm afraid you're just as weak as they are, Ma'am. Perhaps you should focus on resting first, and then you can heal them in the morning."

He rubbed his hands together as Phoenix spoke up about rooming with an injured... so he'd have to assign rooms as well? So be it~

"All right then, Phoenix. You can room with the dark-hai--Zack! Yaten and Cloud can room together..." His eyes swept across the group, pairing people as he went along. "...Dias, if you would please room with Maya, and Ashe can have a room to herself, unless Isaac returns."

Edgeworth wasn't exactly sure if it were entirely appropriate to have Maya room with a full-grown man, but if anyone were going to keep her safe, it would most definately be him.

Hojo spat into the bushes, wincing at the acrid taste in his mouth.

"Well, all that's just lovely," he said as he walked back over to the group, shivering like a wet kitten, "but it's raining and freezing and I would very much appreciate it if we could avoid standing out here any longer than is strictly necessary." With that, he turned and walked into the hotel, not even bothering to see if anyone was going to follow or not. Let them freeze to death; Hojo had had quite enough of the foul weather for one lifetime.

I'm afraid you're just as weak as they are, Ma'am. Perhaps you should focus on resting first, and then you can heal them in the morning. Ashe frowns at how Miles is seriously looking down at her; she is not that weak! "I am fine, Mr. Edgeworth. Some wounds cannot wait until morning, after all."

Then listening to the man explain the rooming arrangement, "I-in case you haven't realized, Isaac is not my husband!" then noticing that this might not be fair for the others but knowing that it would not do to room together with the crazed man, "I would rather room with Yaten, if she and Cloud do not mind." she throws a pleading glance at Yaten. "It would not do for me to be found out having slept in one room with another man, if you understand what I mean."

She suddenly regrets saying anything, realizing once again what a bother she had been to the rescue group. But what has been said, has been said, and words cannot be taken aback.

"I think I'll be all right. I think he's a bit too exhausted to pose much of a threat, and I'm a light sleeper. Dias, if you would please room with Maya..."

Dias immediately raised an eyebrow. Although there really wasn't anything about him that suggested it, the truth was that he was nearly as old-fashioned as...well, as Ashe seemed to be. If one didn't count Yaten(who, for the moment, Dias had decided to ignore in terms of gender entirely to save himself the headache), then they had an even number of women; what had made Edgeworth decide to pair Maya with him rather than with Ashe, the mercenary couldn't have said. Apparently Edgeworth had decided Hojo was safe enough to room with himself, so he presumably didn't think the girl needed protection, which was pretty much the only thing Dias could personally offer her...

~~Correction, the only appropriate thing Dias could offer her, but he filed that along with Yaten's gender as Things That Are Better Off Not Thought Of.~~

Still, it wasn't as if anything would happen to Maya while she was rooming with him, so technically it WAS a good choice on Edgeworth's part, despite the apparent inappropriateness of it - and arguing against it would be going right up against one of the cardinal rules of being a mercenary(that being "do not question your employer until AFTER you have the money"). So, after a glance in Maya's direction, he simply shrugged. Anyway, he was starting to agree with Hojo on at least one point - the sooner out of the rain, the better. "As you like."

"Some wounds cannot wait until morning, after all."

Dias, on the verge of following Hojo into the hotel, paused when he heard that; he was more than a little tempted to say that some could, and suggest that Hojo's injuries at least be left unhealed to give him something to think about overnight and to keep him well-behaved. But, in the end, even he decided against it; the decision was largely due to the fact that he doubted Edgeworth would be quite so ruthless even on Dias' suggestion, or that a healer would leave someone wounded no matter what he OR Edgeworth had to say on the matter, so he considered the point moot...but perhaps there was also a tiny part of his own conscience, even now, that rebelled at such a callous thought, however practical.

"We ought to all get inside first, so we can at least start drying off," he muttered instead. "Just because we can't get any wetter doesn't mean there's any sense to talking out here in the rain." Dias strode over to the hotel's doorway, pausing once he was under the minimal shelter to speak over his shoulder - presumably directing the words toward Ashe. "When you heal Hojo, at least try to get some information out of him in exchange."

That said, Dias followed Hojo into the hotel lobby, ignoring the protests of the nearest staff member as he shook water out of his hair. When the rest of their entourage came in, the man would be likely if he didn't have a minor flooding on his hands; a bit of wet now wouldn't make much difference one way or the other.

Ashe's sudden protesting made Miles cringe internally. Women were so troublesome at times... he glanced over at Dias, who merely shrugged in reaction to his rooming partner, and fought back the urge to sigh. It was always something with ladies, be it unnecessery flirting, sudden moodswings, or just giving him trouble when it came to stating their name and profession.

Granted, Ashe did have a bit of ground for her disapproval, but... sometimes he wondered if it were better if he didn't even bother.

"Ma'am," he said, feeling the beginnings of a headache. "With all due respect, if you were to room with Yaten, that would put Cloud in a position where he may possibly be rooming by himself, since--" he glanced around, trying to spot the tattooed man again. "--it seems very likely we may have lost a member."

"We ought to all get inside first, so we can at least start drying off. Just because we can't get any wetter doesn't mean there's any sense to talking out here in the rain. When you heal Hojo, at least try to get some information out of him in exchange."

"I was planning to," Miles muttered back to the man before Dias walked into the hotel. Edgeworth sighed and turned to Ashe, nodding in the direction of the entrance. "Let's continue this inside, if you please."

It was cold and very wet outside. Yet all anyone could do was argue. Why did rooming arrangements have to be so difficult? They could have drawn straws for all Cloud cared. He was happy to have a room already paid for. Which room it was simply wasn't important. Neither was a roommate, though he would have preferred Zack. What was important was getting out of the cold rain. He had never shivered so much in his life. It felt as if he'd never get control of his muscles again. The first thing he'd do when he was well would be buying some proper clothing. His had a tendency of getting lost or destroyed. He was really falling to pieces.

At least he was out of that damned fortress. He'd been there for far too long.

While everyone was talking, Cloud took the opportunity to look around the buggy. It wasn't very big, and things were tight, but he looked anyhow. Did anyone manage to bring along his and Zack's swords? Those things were huge. They couldn't be missed by a long shot. Were they left behind in the fortress? "Damn it!!" he swore under his breath. Cloud's sword had been his livelihood. It was his link to a past he wasn't even sure was real. And now it didn't seem to be around. Definitely falling to pieces if he didn't even remember to lug his sword out. Now what good would he be to anyone?

Regrets could be dwelt on indoors. Right now, he was cold, achy, and hungry, and the space in the buggy wasn't comfortable. The people who could have helped him most were already indoors. He wasn't asking for any more help today. He took a breath and eased himself slowly out of the buggy. His legs shook horribly, but he managed to stumble towards the hotel doors without anyone's help. He didn't go much farther than the doorway before finding out he'd run out of energy. Movement had become too exhausting. Just great. Where was their food? He'd given Hojo money, but it seemed not to have come to anything.

At least it was dry inside. And warm. He slid down against a wall to a sitting position. Much, much better. Maybe while everyone figured the room situation out, he could have a little nap. Everyone already seemed to be settling things fine on their own. And his eyelids were so heavy.

Zack had nodded off intermittently on the ride back from the fortress, thankful just to be going home-- well, getting out of that place, at least. It was kinda sad that he hadn't been in Paixao even two weeks but was already thinking of it as home. It was better than any of the alternatives that came to mind, really.

Right now, though he was really only thinking about food and sleep, preferably in that order, although he wouldn't be surprised if he passed out He would have preferred to keep on eye on Cloud, but considering what'd he been told had happened with Hojo, he couldn't blame them for wanting to make sure no one was on the verge of turning into some kind of horrible monster.

"Look, everyone's rescued, no one's about to die, you can worry about interrogating Hojo later. Can we all stop arguing and get some rest?" he said wearily, following Cloud out of the buggy. He made it into the hotel leaning on his sword, wincing when he noticed it was cold and wet as always. Didn't this place ever get decent weather?

"Look, everyone's rescued, no one's about to die, you can worry about interrogating Hojo later. Can we all stop arguing and get some rest?"

Maya couldn't agree more. If she had the energy to, she would have simply bopped Edgeworth over the head, then told him to shut up and get to sleep. Speaking of him, he mentioned she would be rooming with Dias... He was the blue-haired man, right?

She wearily looked over her shoulder to peer at him; any other time Maya would have protested and request she room with someone she knew (which, in the end, would have been obviously Phoenix), but she was in no mood to argue. She didn't even debate the appropriateness of it. Besides, Maya doubted he'd even think about doing anything to harm her (or otherwise do anything to deserve a nice, swift kick).

"Room," she muttered through a yawn. "Bed. Tired. Need sleep. Want it now."

Afterwards she followed Dias towards the hotel. If she was rooming with him, may as well follow, too.

Hojo scowled in irritation as the others made their way into the hotel lobby. He was just as exhausted as the rest of them were. Maybe he could convince that annoying lawyer to bother him with questions after he'd had a decent night's sleep? It should be easier than dealing with that swordsman, anyway.

He WAS still somewhat brooding, turning the events of the night over in that exceedingly active mind of his. Why had he changed? He hadn't done any experiments on himself; there should be no REASON for such a transformation to occur. Not to mention the manner of the transformation still deeply disturbed him... the complete inhumanity of it, the lack of any discernable coherency or intelligence shook Hojo more than any physical change had the capacity to.

The scientist shook his head, not wanting to dwell on the matter any longer than necessary. He didn't have the proper means to figure anything out at the moment; speculation was useless unless you could figure out whether or not you were right.

"Are we done, then?" he asked, sounding decidedly less impatient than he had intended, coming off instead as simply weary. Which, well, was true, but it wasn't an impression he liked to present.

Ashe closes her eyes and counts to a hundred to calm herself down. No one, and truly no one, had ever said no to her before she got lost in this world. She is the youngest daughter in her family and she is a crown princess, no one would dare to say no to her, directly or indirectly! She has reached twenty-seven when she sighs and follows the rest of the group into the hotel. She rinses the water out of her hair and turns to Miles with an obviously pissed look on her face.

"Well then," she takes a breath to calm herself down, "I will room with anyone. I am sure that Isaac will not return so early in the morning. I will pay for my room and search for him once I have rested and done my part."

Edgeworth fought back an urge to sigh heavily with relief when the young woman finally agreed and handed her a key.

"I assure you ma'am, the rooms have already been taken care of," he said, smiling ever so slightly. "The rooms have two double beds in them, so no one will be getting overly familiar with their room partner unless they wish it so." He didn't want a repeat of his first night in Paixao with Phoenix. "Hojo and I will be in room 318--if you need help, don't hesitate to come knock."

Miles handed out the rest of the keys and gave one final glance around the room.

"Check-out is at noon, but I've had ours extended until 4pm so that we may have plenty of rest. I will not be paying for anyone's stay here past tonight, so please don't be late." He threw one final look at a very exhausted Maya and added, "Thank you all very much for your help. I don't know what we would've done without you."

Well, he knew what he could've done without Hojo, but that was beside the point.

Dias, fortunately for everyone involved, couldn't hear Edgeworth's expression of gratitude, being a bit too far away and preoccupied with wringing excess water out of his cloak(not to mention that it was difficult to hear anything over the protests of the hotel staff about the water all over the floor, protests he was currently ignoring). If he had been able to hear it, he probably would have commented that most of them had been pretty useless - himself included, however reluctantly; he knew he COULD have made himself extremely useful but he'd never really had the opportunity to do so - with the most useful member of the rescue party having been entirely uninvited and long gone. Although Dias had NOT appreciated the interference of that arrogant, silver-haired brat into what had been a job with far too many people to start with, he knew when to give credit where credit was due, and Riku had certainly accomplished the most of any of them.

Not a bad fighter, either...perhaps the next time they ran into each other, assuming there was no more pressing business at hand, Dias could fight the brat. It had been a long time since he'd met anyone who could challenge him, and Riku had shown enough skill that a fight between them just might be interesting...

But he was getting ahead of himself. First things first - getting dry and getting a decent night's sleep. Edgeworth didn't seem nearly amoral enough to slip off during the night without paying him(not to mention nowhere NEAR stupid enough, because a person would have to be exceedingly dimwitted to cheat Dias), so that was all right. Anyway, half, if not more, of their little group seemed ready to keel over with exhaustion as it was, so there wouldn't be much point in his staying awake.

Dias saying 'good night' would be far too much to expect of him. After one brief glance around at their group, he checked the number on the key he was holding - 316 - and headed upstairs to find the corresponding room, leaving Maya to follow or not as she chose.

He probably ought to check with Alphonse and the others with his journal, make sure nothing had happened to them in his absence...he could only hope Yuna's judgment of Tidus being the best guardian from their own world had been correct, if there were perhaps other things like Hojo lurking in Paixao.

Maya did follow; Dias was heading to the exact place she wanted to be right then, so there was no argument about where she was going.

Forgetting to say goodnight, or say much of anything else, to anyone, by the time she got upstairs and found her room as well, Dias had opened the door and was already inside, likely waiting for her to finally get in as well. Maya picked one of the beds at random-- and certainly hoped her roommate for the evening wasn't wishing to pick that bed, as well-- and fell backards on it.

Even this poor excuse for a bed mattress was comforting.

Strangely enough, Maya hadn't fallen asleep right away.

Dias, for his part, more or less ignored Maya when she came into the room. He had more pressing matters to deal with; getting out of his soaked - and, thus, quite heavy - clothing, or at least such clothing as could be removed while observing the minimum of decency, was first on the list. He draped his dripping cloak over the back of a chair(wooden, but as it was Not His Chair, it was also Not His Problem), pulled off his gloves, gave Maya one brief, speculative look as he debated as to whether or not she would mind, then decided she was close to falling asleep anyway and tugged off his shirt as well. It wasn't as if sleeping in rain-soaked pants wouldn't be bad enough without a wet shirt to top it all off.

Dias really would have preferred to keep his shirt on, if it had been practical. It wasn't just that stripping down to just his pants while he was rooming with a young girl might look questionable; more than that, he knew his torso wasn't exactly going to win any medals for attractiveness. He was fit enough, but he was also on the thin side, and he had enough old scars that from some angles he looked like he'd taken a roll in a bed of blades. And, of course, there was the one scar which he preferred never to talk about, the one that looked nasty enough that people who saw it almost always asked about...theoretically, you couldn't fault people for natural curiosity(it was only theoretical because Dias damned well could and did fault them for it, quite often), but that didn't make it any less sore a subject.

Maya rolled over, absentmindedly opening her eyes into a squint for a brief moment-- Oookay, he was changing, roll right back over. She did not want to watch someone whom she didn't know in the least change.

"Jus' don't do anythin' 'll kick ya for," she murmured, slurring in her extremely sleepy state. She rolled the blanket over her head in further attempt to cover her eyes. "'Cuz I will. Don't think that jus' 'cause I'mma girl that I can't do anythin'."

Dias glanced over at Maya (who now had her back to him, even better) as she spoke, eyes narrowing slightly as he worked out what the rather indistinct words actually were in his head - and then snorting quietly once he'd deciphered them. "Don't think that just because I'm a man that I'm interested in you," he countered, with all the tact of a brick to the head at ten paces.

With that matter settled, at least in Dias' opinion, he stretched out on his own bed, paying his roommate no further mind. He wasn't exactly tired yet; he'd had several shots of adrenaline during the day and never once a decent outlet for it, after all. And since Maya was obviously moments from sleep and not paying attention to him anyway, he pulled a small package out of a satchel on his belt, opened it - fortunately, its wrapping had kept it dry - pulled out his sketchbook and began to draw.

Maya snorted. Well, at least it was confirmed that he wasn't going to attempt a thing. She got herself in a more comfortable position before sinking her head into her pillow for good.

She couldn't help but shudder, though. No, it wasn't the tempurature, it was actually kind of warm inside. It was something else she couldn't put her finger on... She fell asleep before she could ponder on it further.

Hojo scowled a little. Now that THAT was all taken care of, he turned and walked off. He was exhausted and needed sleep and standing around in the lobby was not accomplishing this goal to the scientist's satisfaction.

Sighing once again after taking the offered key from Miles, she forces herself to look around at the elaborately decorated interior of the hotel. It has only been a few days that she is in this new world, but she has already spent so many nights in this particular hotel. At the very least, Miles had the decency to not be stingy and rent a dingy room instead. She turns away from Miles to go to her room but then calls out from over her shoulder, "Thank you, Mr. Edgeworth, and sorry."

She takes a step and is suddenly reminded of something, so she wheels around and looks at Cloud and Zack; Maya does not seem to be injured. "I am not yet tired, so I would not mind checking your wounds now so that you will have a more pleasant rest afterwards," she addresses Cloud and Zack. "We can go to my room."

Cloud had almost drifted off during all the discussion. He woke up sharply when Miles had passed out room keys and explained the check-out conditions. Fine and well. He’d be long gone as soon as he’d gotten himself some rest and some food, whether Zack was in tow or not.

The blonde woman was speaking to him. He shook himself out of his stupor and listened to her words. She made an offer of healing. Well. Cloud glanced over himself. He did not see any visible wounds. He ached, to be certain, but he had no open injuries. There was a sharp pain in his heart, but that was due to the terms of the experiment. He would play out his part and see what came of it. He would not undo what had taken so long to pan out.

“It is a generous offer, miss,” Cloud said quietly, “but I’m not sure what you’d be able to heal on my part. Unless you’re able to cure fatigue, hunger, and severe chills, there’s not much you can do. And if you could do that, you’d have to do it here and not in your room. It’d take me an hour to simply climb the stairs to the“ –he checked his key– “third floor.” Just the thought of so many stairs was dizzying. He doubted a place like this would have some sort of lift. It was awful to have to admit such a weakness, but it was necessary in this case.

He was still kicking himself about leaving his sword behind. He saw Zack had his after all. What an idiot I am! Cloud was probably getting delusional as well. Just another ailment heaped onto his already overflowing plate.

It is a generous offer, miss, but I’m not sure what you’d be able to heal on my part. Unless you’re able to cure fatigue, hunger, and severe chills, there’s not much you can do. And if you could do that, you’d have to do it here and not in your room. It’d take me an hour to simply climb the stairs to the third floor.

Ashe thinks for a moment and walks over to Cloud slowly, "I suppose I am not able to heal your ailments instantly, but I can help care for you," she offers a hand to the sitting Cloud. "At least let me help you to your room, as an apology for being a dead weight when I volunteered to help." The man seems to experience more than just fatigue, hunger and severe chills, but she does know about that pride of men that prevents them from admitting their weakness.

She turns to Zack, "what about you, sir? Maybe your ailments are easier to treat?"

"Sorry, miss," Zack said, "but I'm in the same boat as Cloud, really. Nothing wrong with me that a good night's sleep won't cure." He valiantly restrained himself from glancing over his shoulder again. "Other than, y'know, a few souvenirs from Hojo, but I doubt you can do much about darkness in the heart or whatever he was blathering on about." He felt a little guilty, though, having to turn down the girl's earnest offer of help. Feeling completely useless was something he'd been facing all too often, lately.

"The best thing you can do," he told Ashe, grinning conspiratorially, "is get Spike here to stop being so goddamn stubborn and admit he needs some help once in a while. I'll probably be turning in soon, too, if Phoenix here doesn't mind, so maybe we can all drag ourselves to our rooms together?"

It was quite a feat to not giggle at 'Spike' as she does have to admit that Cloud truly has a unique hairstyle. Ashe smiles instead, noticing the way Zack sounds so fond of Cloud; it is not everyday that she meets such kind and sincere person such as Zack. He seems to really care about his friend, and that is about the only things she has found in this strange new world. She also finds herself quite fond of his grin; it reminds her of Rasler.

"No need for apologies, obviously," she returns his grin with a toothy smile, "I will be forcing Cloud to accept my help then." She turns back to Cloud and crouches so that she is on his eye-level, "I am a hypocrite for saying this, but not admitting your weakness will not make you strong." She offers her hand once again, "let me help you?"

He wasn’t hearing this! Both Zack and the woman thought there was something wrong with him, aside from what he’d already admitted. And that grin from Zack was enough to make Cloud wish he were strong enough to leap up and slug him one. They thought they knew best! How smug they were! They didn’t begin to understand his motivations. They were passed off as simple stubbornness. Well, he shouldn’t have to prove himself to anyone.

And that nickname had resurfaced. He’d have to think of an equally embarrassing one for Zack if he decided to keep his company. At this point, Zack’s presence had become almost a nuisance. He’d come flying out to the fortress on some half-thought out rescue plan. And it had only earned him some funny tail and a lot of weakness. Keeping the Zack-Strife mercenary business intact might not be in either of their best interests.

To things at hand. The woman would not be forcing him to accept her help. There would be no need for that. He threw a dark glance at Zack before he reached for the woman’s hand. “I accept your help,” he said simply. “I hope for your sake you have a lot of patience. It will be slow going.” He would ignore the part about not admitting weakness. He already showed enough of it before regular strangers. And he had just admitted some to this woman. What more could they possibly want from him? The woman likely wasn’t a miracle healer and could not restore what he needed most.

[ooc: it's that icon again! I lovelovelove it! :D]

His annoyance at his friend, and probably her as well, is apparent but she deems his frown rather adorable. It reminds her of the frown of a little boy who just realized that he cannot fly out his bedroom window, just like his parents had told him, and now has a scrape on his knee and a scowl on his face. She stifles a giggle as Cloud throws a dark glance at Zack before accepting her offered hand. I accept your help, I hope for your sake you have a lot of patience. It will be slow going.

She places the hand he put in hers around her shoulder and tries to help him to stand, "I am not normally so patient, but I do realize that what I have done, or not done, had been a burden to all of you, so I will do this no matter how long it takes."

"I'll probably be turning in soon, too, if Phoenix here doesn't mind, so maybe we can all drag ourselves to our rooms together?"

"No objections here," Phoenix said, turning to the other man with dark spiky hair. He was a bit amused at their conversaton; the whole refusing to accept help thing reminded him of a certain prosecuting attorney. "You'll need help getting up to the rooms as well, I assume?"

Cloud got to his feet, using the leverage the woman provided for him. He leaned heavily against her. The stairs were going to be a joy to climb. If his knees buckled, he’d probably take the woman for a ride as well. She didn’t look extremely strong as it was. Hopefully something so embarrassing would not happen. If Zack saw it, there would be no end to the flurry of comments and teasing. Being called ‘Spike’ was enough friendliness from someone who was still pretty much a stranger to him.

“Fine. Let’s just go,” Cloud said tersely. He wanted to be left alone. The sooner he went to sleep, the sooner he could wake up and manage his affairs. There was the matter of proper clothing to be taken care of, along with finding a suitable sword. If the fortress was already gone, perhaps there was rubble that could be searched through. His damned sword… how could he have left such a valuable thing behind? He felt near useless without it. If the search proved fruitless, there was a weapons store he saw on the map. They wouldn’t have his type of sword there, but at least he could get something so he wouldn’t be completely defenseless.

She thought that the lean man would not weigh so much, but as she pulls him up and lets him lean against her, she hopes that they will not stumble on the way to his room. Yesterday was not a good day and she hopes that this day will not turn out bad even before the sun rises. Ashe takes Cloud's right arm and slings it over her shoulder so that she can better support him. Taking care not to stumble, she positions her footing so that if the man decides to fall, he would not fall on her.

Fine. Let's just go. The man seemed as uncomfortable as she is, and that strangely makes her feel a little bit better. "Yes, just take care not to stumble," she smiles meekly. "It is better to be slow than to fall down the stairs, right?"

She hopes that she can get over this as soon as possible but far in the back of her mind she wishes that it would not be over. It feels better to have someone with you, even if the situation becomes embarassing. She does not think she can stand being alone anymore, it just feels too cold and too empty. She will not let them know of this, however, because it would show her as weak, which she obviously is not. "Watch your step."

Zack waited until it looked like Cloud would make it out of the lobby without any major disasters, then turned to Miles. "Yeah, unlike some people, I can admit when I need a hand. Thanks for the help." Not that he liked feeling this helpless, but he couldn't deny the truth.

"I'm going to sleep all day tomorrow," he said brightly, having at least made it to his feet without help, "and then if I feel any better, I'm finding myself a bar and celebrating what I really hope will be my last escape from a mad scientist."

...Zack realized suddenly that he and Cloud were still facing the same money issues that had gotten them into this whole charade. Ah, well, he'd mooch off Miles and the rest while he could, and then he'd figure something out. Though he suspected that trying the mercenary gig might not be the best idea. Hell, poor Cloud even seemed to have lost his sword somewhere along the way. Some pair of mercenaries they would make, when they couldn't get along and their most notable actions so far had led to them having to get rescued by the most unmilitary crowd of people possible.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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to Cloud and Zack, mainly.

To Ashe

To Cloud and Zack

for Ashe and Cloud

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I love you two. Really. >>

I love you too!! x)

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