To avoid missing out on anything, River and Aspen observed the man the whole time. He was unbelievably patient with every single person, investing a lot of time in his check-up. By the time he left the room, the bell started to chime.
The Actor vanished inside a room they hadn’t entered yet due to it being locked – the director’s room.
“Found the director. Sucks, we should have tried to slip in with him…”
“We will have another chance sooner or later.”
On the right wing, the situation had been just about the same. The director had already been inside the room and spent roughly an hour just talking to the patients before leaving. Plaster reported the comments he could remember, although none of them were of interest.
The tall man nervously peeked at Aspen every once a while, then exhaled in relief when Aspen didn’t care about him at all.
River was quiet at first before noticing that everyone was staring at him. He had turned into the teamleader for some reason. He held back a sigh and rubbed his forehead. “Let’s finish checking up on the other rooms here. I want to check as many as possible so we can have the evening on the second floor.”
It wasn’t as easy checking the other rooms, which had closed doors.
There were two washrooms on each wing, with toilets and showers – one side male, the other side female. They were quite clean, with rules being put up on the wall. As long as everyone worked together, the washrooms would stay a clean and comfortable space.
Next to the washrooms were actual patient rooms. Due to being placed towards the cemetery, they had no windows but each of them was of comfortable size with a nice little bed. None of the rooms had a place for patient files to be placed, which meant they must be kept elsewhere.
“Oh I know that name.” Aspen pointed at one of the rooms. “It was in the book out at the reception. There was a timeframe added for him, two months. Do you think these rooms are for those that don’t stay long?”
“It might be.” River had his ear up against a door next to the patient rooms, trying to listen. There were several female voices coming from inside, laughing. A room for the nurses?
Next to that was the director’s office… or room, in general. Following that was a room for security guards, probably where they could sleep. The personnel here should be living inside the asylum.
Because there were people inside, they could enter neither of the three rooms. They could, however, take a quick glance at the last room – a little storage space for cleaning supplies. There was nothing of interest inside, especially because all chemicals were locked away inside a cabinet with a glass front.
“And still the only person who might be an Actor is the director…” River muttered under his breath, watching people move around.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
There was another meal – dinner – then everyone started leaving for their rooms. It got pretty full, so the group stuck to the sides to avoid running into a shadow.
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“Aspen, we will check out the administration if possible. If it’s locked-”
“These are old locks. I can try to pick them.”
“…Good. Then we will check that out. You three go upstairs and split up – take a glance at any open rooms you can find but don’t endanger yourself. If you find an Actor… a distinctive shadow, call for me immediately.”
“About… About the other two people-” Amber dared to speak up, now that they had spent several hours together without Aspen doing anything dangerous.
River guessed her intentions. “Honey is no problem. She’s just searching for a way out. As for Deer… Try to avoid him. I can’t say how he will act.”
“Got it.” She nodded, taking his words to heart.
“He didn’t look dangerous”, Rhythm tried to ask, still uncertain. He scratched his chubby cheek. “He didn’t mess with us either.”
River placed a hand on Aspen’s head. The smaller guy didn’t resist, just smiling as he faced him with a docile gaze.
“Does he look dangerous?”
No one could say anything about that.
“Also, don’t you think it’s weird that someone knows about Aspen’s shackles? What kind of normal person would know that? I’m not saying Aspen isn’t more dangerous than him, in general. What I’m saying is that unless you mess around, Aspen is harmless for you – but Deer isn’t the same.”
“Point taken.” Plaster quickly stopped the conversation, worrying that it might get out of hand otherwise.
“Then we will go upstairs. Should we meet at a certain time again?”
“No. Just call if there’s something or you think you’re done.”
Not only was it useful to split up, it also ensured that Aspen had breaks where the other three weren’t around. Who knew how many times this would rewind?
While walking, Aspen folded his hands behind his head and chuckled. “Do you really think I’m more dangerous than him?”
“I’m not sure.” The easterner shook his head. “You’re predictable, in a way. If you’re angry, you’re still not likely to attack someone who quietly sits in a corner and doesn’t bother you. But Deer… likes messing with people for no reason at all. I don’t know if he killed someone, but death isn’t the worst you can do to a person. That’s why it’s hard to say who is more dangerous.”
The administration was locked, but a spare key was inside the security office. The guard inside happily left to get a coffee in the kitchen, leaving it behind.
They unlocked the door and put it back.
The administration room was full with shelves, each of them holding numerous files. River groaned, but got to work on one side, Aspen on the other. Who knew if there might be something important here.
While skimming through the pages, sitting on the ground, he spoke up again. “Can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“When you meet someone like Amber, who knows you’re a killer but is still somewhat amicable, how… How is it then? The feeling of alienation, I mean.”
A long hum came from opposite of him. “It’s like… Ah, I know. Imagine apes and monkeys. It doesn’t matter if there are some that understand me more and communicate with me more. They’re still distinctly different. It’s still not the same, because all we are doing is meeting on a middleground to converse without truly understanding each other.”
“…Then what am I?”
“I’m still trying to figure that out.” Aspen laughed. “But I’d say… maybe we are different evolutions of the same species? What would you say about that?”
River would never know how he’d be if he had grown up normally, with a supportive family. It was possible that he’d have been a social person, but at this point, he felt he was too broken for that kind of thing.
Amber, Plaster, Rhythm, Honey – they were all the same to him, just that they were different levels of troublesome and useful.
Chess pieces.
He himself was one, but was he starting to grow so detached that he could think of other humans as his own chess pieces?
It did seem that way.
“It’s not wrong”, he finally replied. His eyes were constantly lowered, focused on the pages even as he spoke. “That is why we can make use of each other. A relationship based on a mutual exchange… It’s the safest.”
“And it’s an exchange without an end. An exchange that will always be useful for both of us. So… you and me, we don’t have to worry about betraying each other.” Aspen’s little canines appeared due to his wide grin. “I’d never hurt you, River, or go against the things you want. That’d only harm myself.”
The solemn words were like a vow, and they were Aspen’s formal decision.
They were equal.
“In return, I’ll accept you the way you are.”
The equally solemn return was much more quiet, but Aspen heard it. He smiled, quickly changing the topic to avoid either of them becoming uncomfortable. “So far, all of this is normal. It’s just reports.”
“I’ve got a ledger here. The expenses look weird – too big for two floors.”
“Our mysterious third floor again, huh? Are you sure you don’t want to go search for it?”
“Of course we will. I’m only waiting for night to fall so that there’s less people around and we can move more freely. We might have to break into some rooms to find the way up. It should be some hidden path.”
“Cool! I love that. A hidden path in an asylum! Sounds like a horror game!”
“We are in a horror game, in case you didn’t notice yet.”
“…I can’t deny that.”
They were both surprised at how much they were talking. After so many days of constantly chatting on the phone, they had gotten used to the contact. Like a dam breaking, neither found it hard to keep up the conversation from one topic to the other, just exchanging thoughts on the setting.
So cute~ Aspen and River are getting along better and better! I wonder if Aspen will find out what Deer did… but at the same time I don’t want him putting himself in danger for some jerk. I can’t wait for the real romance between the two to begin. The asylum theme is also great! Thank you very much for this chapter full of sugar. Another great Monday thanks to you~ ^^
“it sounds like an horror game” dude….
Thank you for the chapter!! <3
Thanks for the chapter ! ^^
I’m waiting for that vow to turn into a wedding vow (if possible T°T).
let’s hope 🙏
So cute~ these two are truly so cute (≧ω≦)