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"Mornin', Guide!" The familiar man called as he walked through the door, stretching. "Anything new with you?"
"Good morning, John." The NPC did not look away from the terminal, hand to his forehead. It looked like he'd been crouched over the large, clunky computer for hours. "I've put a few notes to the side of the terminal, I guess, but if you ask me, it's hardly anything worth reading."
His tone was a little sharp, John noticed as he got closer.
"Hey. You kinda look tired, man." Did Guide ever get tired? When they first met in Classic, he never saw the NPC exhausted, and he always seemed to be walking around. In response, he turned his head slightly, side-eyeing John a little.
"I'm not human; I can't get tired, John," he remarked bitterly. Before the escaper could reply, Guide sighed and pressed his fingers to the space between his eyebrows, a habit he picked up from his creator. "That was rude. Sorry. Physically I'm not, but I feel like I'm seconds away from exploding."
"Why?" Guide's eyes shut again. "Oh- you don't have to tell me, but, I mean, you can tell me- I- like, we're friends, right? So I don't mind listening."
"I suppose it would make me feel better, yes. Would you mind?"
"I just said it's fine, dude."
"Oh- right. I'm making it so obvious." He laughed a little but didn't exactly smile. "I'm glad to be helping my creator and his friends out, but my god, there's too much! I'm- I'm practically buried in rescue missions, in filling out paperwork, in trying to get this stupid console to reconnect! How can anyone put up with this?" And with perfect timing, the console disconnected itself as soon as it seemed close to reconnecting with the call system. With a quiet huff, Guide drove his fist into the keyboard.
This was new, John admitted to himself. He'd never heard or seen Guide like this. Not entirely sure of his reply, he began to fiddle with his headset a bit.
"Have you told the team about this?" Another sigh in response.
"I would, really. I plan on it, but Crazy's out on… something, somewhere, I don't know. Hell if I know he's going to let this place fall into lava too-"
John winced, immediately snapping him out of his growing anger. He had forgotten the destruction impacted him too. Guide found himself a little speechless.
"…I'm sorry, I didn't mean that either. Don't tell him I said that, please. I haven't exactly forgiven him quite yet for the past."
"I-I won't, but you didn't?" John sat on the ledge, now facing away from Guide. "If I'm gonna be honest, I haven't either. Not that it's just as important, I mean."
The NPC moved away from the console, sitting next to him cross-legged.
"I think your feelings are still important." A weary smile. "Even as the years passed, you kept coming back, unlike many of the regulars. I'm sorry you never got to see the next Extreme Mode level."
"I don't think it's you who needs to apologize. Wouldn't be right." John twisted the drawstring of his hoodie. "It's- It's, well, it's gone. Every time we pass through those old rooms, up that lift of the ruins, it feels like, I don't know!"
"A shell of its former self. A total husk." Now Guide found interest in looking away. "By the time I was found, it had faded, but the sirens and the smell both linger in my mind."
"The news. There were casualties, weren't there? How could've the island… how could he…"
"He hadn't known at the time, but it was just above a dormant volcano. By the time he was made aware, that 'secret project' was taking too much of his time, and then he'd work on monitoring its activity." Guide now fully faced away, his shoulders shaking. "Too late. Now it's unrecognizable. I want my home back."
John put an arm around the NPC, letting the other cry in silence, without disturbance.
"In a similar way, I felt at home there too. I've been having a hard time adjusting, with so much lost. I-I'm not trying to like, make this about myself, I just… want you to know that you're not alone."
Shortly, Guide looked up, his expression weary. Though his eyes weren't brimming with tears like a human's, his cheeks were a little damp.
"I've hardly discussed the destruction with the other team members. It's nearly never the right time. I'm relieved to hear that you feel the same. Even if we have different viewpoints of the old Flood Escape."
"You're never alone, Guide. And your feelings are just as important as you've said mine are. You're allowed to feel instead of being a robot, man." For emphasis, John gently squeezed his shoulder.
"I'll keep missing it," he admitted.
"And that's okay. But you can't let it weigh you either."
After drying his tears, Guide straightened, though his usual smile was still a bit dismal.
"Reminding myself of what we've lost, in turn, reminds me how important it is to save, no matter who or what it may be." He stood. "Thank you, John."
"Of course! You're a real friend to me."
"I consider you a true friend, too." He hit the spacebar of the computer console, urging it to come out of sleep mode. "Do you still need help practicing that long jump?"
"I'm taking a break from that. It's stressing me out, hah. There's somewhere else I've been wanting to take a better look at."
"Oh?"
"The, uhm, the one with the crystals. What's it called?" He looked over Guide's shoulder and at the screen.
"Cave System. It's not prone to flooding today, I believe."
"Lucky me." John headed for the lift, looking back. "I'll see you later?"
"I might be there, in a half an hour. See you." Guide replied with a short wave of the hand.
He watched the lift detach from the floor before turning back to his work with a slight sigh. That short break was nice, but these reports wouldn't fill themselves out.