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allroadslead March 12 2011, 02:22:34 UTC
Sam returned the smile. "Yeah, I guess it was time we did."

You know, given the circumstances, Sora seemed to be adapting pretty well. Not that this was too big a surprise from the other people he'd already met, but still. If they weren't both wrist-deep in soapy water, he'd have thought they were chatting across a table at a diner somewhere.

He wondered if Sora had parents or something. If it made a difference-Sam wasn't a hundred percent sure whether it was possible to be missed in the first place, but he was leaning towards the answer to that being a no. His own case wasn't much to go off of (hunters made it a point to disappear even before they, well. Actually disappeared), but there was Peter's brother. Senator, wasn't that what his roommate had said?

He nodded at the confirmation. "It's probably just one way of divvying up the hierarchy." He wouldn't be surprised if it got down to the higher ranks having some kind of authority over the lower ones. It'd be the easiest method of breaking any sort of solidarity. Though at this point, it was too early to tell how far this was all gonna go-but he figured assuming all the way was a pretty safe bet.

Curious, he glanced at Sora. "Did he say anything else?"

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scintillatingly March 12 2011, 06:43:47 UTC
Even though Sam was trying to make a guess at what the ranks were for, Sora didn't really get it. Divvy up for what? Why did there have to be a hierarchy in the first place? This military stuff just made no sense to him, and the only thing he could really relate it to was the Organization. They'd also assigned ranks through numbers that were based on when a member "joined," right? Which was why Roxas, the final one, had been number thirteen.

His hand was starting to feel sore from all of the monotonous scrubbing, and so Sora took a moment to wring the sponge out and then get some fresh water onto it. This seemed like way more work than fighting monsters to him, but he realized that probably wasn't the case for most people. His life hadn't exactly been ordinary for the past year or two.

At Sam's question, he took a moment to think back on the conversation he'd had with that soldier. It hadn't been that long ago, after all. "He said that if I continued to behave, I'd be treated well. I'm not sure what that means, but he did let me write on the bulletin board before coming in here."

He had no idea if either of his notes had been responded to yet, but he hoped that at least Venom got back to him. He wasn't going to keep his hopes up for Riku. Sighing, he started to clean again. At least the chore did a good job of distracting him from certain thoughts.

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allroadslead March 13 2011, 02:23:38 UTC
Sounded about right. Rank + privileges was pretty average. Sam did consider that maybe the soldier had gone easy on Sora because Sora was younger. He couldn't imagine all of them being completely heartless, but he wasn't naive enough to rule it out, either. Besides, he wasn't sure whether he was supposed to take these soldiers as actual people or if they were something else. The brainwashing thing was straight out of sci-fi, but it seemed real enough here, and it didn't have to just apply to the patients.

"Keeping your head down does sound like a good idea," he agreed. It'd probably be harder for some than others, though. Harder for most, even, because he'd figured out pretty quick that a good chunk of the people pulled into here weren't exactly the type to do as they were told. Hell, even he was finding his patience fraying, if he had to be honest.

He shifted along the floor. Man, this was some bad planning. Like, logistically speaking. People were gonna just keep stepping into each other's newly cleaned areas. He knew cleaning wasn't the point, but still. There should've been a system and the lack of one bugged him in that irrational way.

He started to say something else when he saw Sora's beret start to tilt again, the way it'd been doing this whole time.

"Oh, hey-" He reached up and pushed it back into place before it could fall right off. He hadn't missed the soldiers getting on people's cases about the state of their uniform. "Your hair really doesn't like being covered, huh?"

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scintillatingly March 13 2011, 02:45:27 UTC
"Keeping your head down" was what Sam called it. Sora just figured it was a matter of being nice and following orders. He wasn't a very confrontational person, not like Riku -- though he got the feeling that even his friend would have known better than to start arguing with these guys. They had no way to fight back and it would just get them on their bad side, which could have some serious consequences. All in all, his night with Kairi had been very calm, but that was because they'd chosen to take it easy.

Either way, he'd been behaving well enough so far, and while the general's attitude annoyed him, Sora was able to focus on other things and distract himself so that he didn't lose his temper too much. He wasn't that happy about having to clean the floor, but having someone to talk to made it ten times better. He always thrived around company.

But then his hat was starting to fall again, and both of his hands were wet with soapy, dirty water -- he flailed for a moment, not wanting it to fall again, but Sam came to the rescue.

He tilted his head back as Sam pushed the beret up to make sure that the hat was fitted more firmly onto his head. Even with that in mind, though, it probably wouldn't be long before it slipped off again. The boy sighed and nodded (though only barely -- any sudden movements with his head would probably send the beret toppling). "Yeah. Basically the only thing that makes it go kind of flat is if it gets wet..."

Normally he had no problem with his hair, but in this instance he was getting a little frustrated. Then again, he could always blame the hat instead. Why did they have to wear one?

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allroadslead March 13 2011, 03:31:24 UTC
Usually, Sam would've figured this for an exaggeration-you know, that whole, "my hair just won't stay in place" kind of thing-but he was pretty much witnessing the literalness of Sora's statement right now. It was kinda weird if he considered it too long and he realized he was only half-kidding when he wondered briefly if it was maybe...possessed or its own entity or something.

...Yeah, okay. This place was definitely driving him crazy. Oh God.

He scrubbed the floor a little harder, as if that would turn his thought processes back to normal.

"Maybe they'll let you bobby pin it on," he said wryly. It was only then that it suddenly clicked where he'd heard the name before. Or seen, actually. He didn't know why he hadn't made the connection immediately. Part of it might've been because he hadn't expected it to be someone so young, but in hindsight, he should've guessed from the tone of those notes that they'd been written by a teenager.

"Hey, uh. You're the one running the Arts & Crafts thing?"

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scintillatingly March 13 2011, 05:35:48 UTC
That was actually a good idea. Well, maybe. Sora had always thought that bobby pins were for girls. Kairi and Selphie had made them out of things they'd found on the beach, kind of like those thalassa shell necklaces. Would people make fun of him if he used those to keep his hat on? Maybe if he did it the right way, they wouldn't be visible at all.

He was probably thinking way too hard on this, though; it was causing his movements with the sponge to become more erratic. Eventually he stopped himself, glancing over to Sam with a smile. "Thanks for the suggestion! I'll ask them when the shift is over." The guy who had woken him up had seemed nice enough, so hopefully he was the one who'd take him to the next shift too, and then he'd have his chance.

Sora was pretty surprised when the club was brought up. He hadn't realized that even people who weren't members noticed that sort of thing, and it made his smile grow. "Yeah, that's me! Ahh, though I still have to put up the post for today," he realized, frowning to himself as the words came out of his mouth. He'd completely forgotten because of everything else that had been going on.

"But were you interested in joining? I can answer any questions if you are!" Sora knew that he needed to be better about recruiting, so he quickly jumped on the opportunity now that it had been brought up.

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allroadslead March 13 2011, 06:49:55 UTC
An almost involuntary smile tugged at Sam's lips. He had no idea where Sora was getting his enthusiasm from, but it was sorta refreshing. He didn't begrudge anyone from being in a completely crappy mood, of course, given the circumstances. It was just, you know. Nice to see people like Sora. And yeah, he knew it was probably a lot more complicated under the surface, but he could tell the kid was genuine.

At the question, he looked over. He hadn't expected Sora to leap on it like that. He pushed his sleeve back up, leaving damp spots in the material. Something told him that if Sora had had a clipboard on hand, he would've whipped it out and started collecting Sam's name and email address.

"I don't think I can, sorry. I've got...people." Who need me, he couldn't quite bring himself to finish. The kind of guilt that accompanied turning down a solicitation for a donation crept up in him. He knew he shouldn't be so caught up in his own problems, but there wasn't any way around it: he was. Still, from what he'd glimpsed on the board, it did look like Sora had a pretty solid group of helping hands. "Though if you ever need anything in particular, you should let me know."

It was more than an empty offer; if Sora did ask, he knew he'd help. It was what he was supposed to do, after all, and it continued to bother him that he wasn't doing it more. He knew it bothered Dean, too. The lack of any real hunting, that was. This place made it damn near impossible, but regardless-

He shook it off. Ruby. He'd agreed for a reason, hadn't he? Dean had been one. This was the other.

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scintillatingly March 13 2011, 09:12:43 UTC
While it was a bit disappointing to be turned down so quickly, Sora didn't judge Sam for it. The explanation he gave, short as it was, was more than enough for him to understand. People meant friends, those who relied on him and who he couldn't let down. It wasn't like he wanted people to leave important obligations for the sake of a club, after all. It was meant to be a support system, something for people to use if they needed guidance for what to do during the night.

"That's fine!" he quickly shot back, shaking his head and waving Sam off. It looked like his hat was behaving for now, which was good, and so he made sure to keep working at a new spot on the floor as he spoke.

The offer that Sam gave afterward sounded familiar. He'd heard it from Tsubaki and Scott, too. They'd said something to the effect of being too busy to commit every night, but that they might be able to help with specific things. Sora knew that it was more or less a polite refusal, and he didn't hold it against them, but he got the point.

"Don't worry about it," he continued. "But was there anything else you wanted to know about the club?" Sam had asked for a reason, right? Or had he just been curious? A lot of people tried to track Sora down because he'd been around so long (and now the label on his dog tags would make that clear), so maybe it had something to do with that.

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