Day 58: Arts & Crafts (Fourth shift)

[immortale]

Firo was glad to see the end of lunch, if only for the fact that in a few more hours, the day would be over. Night was the only time he had any real freedom of movement, and it was the only time he could do something worth doing, instead of just sitting around

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[scintillatingly]

To go from sitting quietly on his own to suddenly have someone standing before him and talking very excitedly was almost enough to cause Sora to jerk up in his seat. He was confused enough by just that, but add the fact that he was being called by the wrong name and for a few seconds all the boy could do was stare at the man in front of him.

When he was asked about "Sora" as if that wasn't who he was, that was when things got really strange. But his mind caught up with what was being said eventually and he realized that the man in front of him had to be Mr. Meekins -- and more than that, he'd confused him with Neku!

It was something that had happened a few times before. It wasn't so surprising, seeing how at one point it had been him, Neku, and Roxas wandering around. The similarities in appearance made sense for his Other, but with Neku it was one big mystery. They'd already discovered how certain things about their worlds were too similar for comfort, but Sora tried not to dwell too much on that.

For now, he just needed to focus on clearing things up. "Oh, no, I'm not Neku! Actually, I'm Sora!" he explained as he patted himself on the chest. He laughed then, to make it clear that he wasn't bothered by the mix-up. "People have confused us before. So you're Mike Meekins, then? It's nice to meet you!" It wasn't so surprising that the man was like this in person based off of his bulletin messages, but Sora liked people who were eager.

[dork_at_duty]

As the boy replied, Meekins gave a start. It was far from the first time he'd confused someone for someone else, but this was especially appalling since this was the leader of the club! Of course, that Sora wasn't wearing the giant headphones that Neku had been should have been a clue. But then again, the hospital seemed to be strict on what they allowed the patients to wear during the day.

Thankfully, unlike the majority of those numerous previous times that Meekins had mistaken people's identities, Sora didn't seem upset over it. If anything, it sounded like Meekins wasn't the only one who had done so, which was a small comfort. Visibly relaxing, he saluted the boy again and allowed a small smile. "I'm sorry for the confusion S-- Sora! You two do look very much like each other! You could almost be twins! But yes, pleased to finally meet you in person!"

Then he remembered the reason for this meeting, nearly having forgotten it in the midst of his awkwardness over mixing up Sora for Neku. "As for the assignment from last night, I did meet with Mr. Neku as you could tell. He decided that we visit the medical wing to investigate the drug trials taking place there. We..." He broke off abruptly, gulping in unease, before he continued. "We did participate in the drug experiments. Neku seems to be all right, and... and I thought I was, too, but...." He cringed and looked down at his feet, his expression wary as though he expected to see a large snake slithering on the floor.

[scintillatingly]

Twins? Yeah, it was a thought that had gone through Sora's mind before, but he really didn't get why he and Neku looked so similar. It was possible that it was merely coincidence -- that eventually there were going to be two people across all of the worlds out there who looked similar -- or that there was more to it. He'd decided not to worry too much over it in the end, though.

Luckily, the man didn't take too long to move from that mix-up and get to the point at hand. Sora wouldn't have minded just chatting and getting to know each other, but getting a report right off the bat was good too.

So Neku and him had actually tried those drugs? It looked like a few of the club members had decided to go that route, and Sora felt kind of bad for it. It wasn't as if he'd forced them to, but he could see why they might have felt like that would be the most fruitful use of their time.

Much like what Soma had hinted at over the bulletin, it sounded like things hadn't gone well for Mike. Sora frowned and leaned forward in his seat a bit more. "What happened? Are you all right?"