It was pretty normal for other patients to come by while Sora composed his messages to the Arts and Crafts club, seeing how they usually took him a while to write. He always wanted to make sure to cover every detail and to phrase things in a way that made sense. A lot of it was repetition at this point, but after how things had gone last night he thought he needed to make some sort of mention to it.
He was just putting the finishing touches on the note and signing his name when the man who had taken up a spot next to him spoke up. Sora paused and glanced over as he finished writing, setting his pen down as he took in the stranger's face.
The first thing he noticed was that the man seemed to be in a bad mood. His face was drawn and tired, and his body language and the slump of his shoulders made it almost feel like there was a storm cloud over his head. Sora frowned, since even if he was in a good mood, he didn't like seeing other people so upset.
His mood was what the man chose to comment on, and Sora figured he might as well explain. "I got to meet up with an old friend this morning, someone who I thought I wouldn't ever get to see again. It's hard to be in a bad mood when something like that happens!"
As for last night, that hadn't been so bad for him either. He'd seen some pretty gory things, but he couldn't be too bothered by any of that when he'd had his powers back, even if it had only been temporary.
The youth's reply did nothing to ease the growing annoyance Facilier was already feeling towards him, but the witch doctor kept a (mostly) cool appearance as he turned his gaze back to the notes on the board. After all, it would be bad form of a gentleman such as himself to have an unwarranted outburst in front of all the nurses here.
"An old friend you say, hmm?" he asked, his eyebrows rising slightly as his teeth bit into his lip against the urge to sneer at the boy for such a foolish reply. For someone trapped in a world where all sorts of horrors were possible at night, this boy sure had his spiky head in the clouds! Why in the world would someone be happy over a mere friend when there were so many more important things to attain!? If Facilier himself were to have any "friends", their connection would need to be profitable; otherwise it was nothing more but a waste of time to him! What was it about this friend that had the youth so perky in a place like this?
"Your friend sounds quite important to you..." Facilier remarked, his purple eyes shifting back down to the boy beside him. "Is this friend very helpful to you in someway?" Like being of use when it comes to escaping strange limbos, and bringing in some profit in the process? Facilier doubted this friend could do any of that!
Sora hadn't expected their conversation to take this turn, if he was honest. He'd given his explanation for why he was in a good mood, so wasn't that enough? But the stranger seemed curious, though the question he asked wasn't one that Sora could relate to that much. He didn't make friends with people based on how useful they were, after all.
"Well, I guess he helped me out when I first met him, and we'd been working together..." Not that Sora hadn't been able to take care of himself, but he and Renji had gotten through some pretty dangerous nights together. Sora liked to think that they were equals, but the fact that Renji was older did make him feel a little bit like an older sibling or something along those lines.
Not that Sora knew what that really felt like, being an only child, but he could at least guess. "Anyway, I thought he was dead this whole time, but then he just showed up this morning! It was a shock, but a good one." He pinned his note to the board and then stepped away from it with a smile.
Now that he and this stranger were talking, Sora figured he might as well introduce himself. He extended his hand to the man. "My name's Sora, by the way."
Listening to the boy's words, Facilier reached for a pen with his long fingers but kept the notes untouched for now. He gently tapped the pen on his chin, his lips pursed into a slight pout at the youth's answer.
So he was just glad someone else was alive in this dangerous world? Well that was disappointing! Having nearly useless friends to burden you with worries over their welfare was quite foolish in Facilier's opinion. By now the boy was coming across as more unknowingly pitiful than intentionally annoying, which in a way spared him from the witch doctor's foul mood. Seeing the boy appraise his finished note with another sunny grin confirmed Facilier's suspicions: the poor lad was doomed in this place.
Oh well, it wasn't the Shadow Man's problem. He was just a tad too busy looking out for his own skin anyway...
"A... pleasure to meet you Sora," Facilier smoothly replied, meeting Sora's hand with his own and shaking it firmly. He gave the boy a half-smile, one that would have been seen as the condescending sort, an expression which Sora would have likely missed if he were just as naive as he was cheerful then.
"I am Doctor Facilier," he added, withdrawing his boney hand and placing it upon his chest with a small bow, "And did y'all mention that you thought your friend was dead before?" Facilier asked, his long fingers twirling the pen around his knuckles with little ease, "Ah, forgive me if this sounds rather... dark, but I thought this world was for those who had already died..."
Doctor Facilier? That was kind of a mouthful, wasn't it? Still, Sora took the man's hand with a nod, giving it a shake before pulling away. He got the feeling that the doctor wasn't taking him completely seriously, though. That was probably because he thought he was just some kid who didn't know anything, when that was hardly the case. Sora didn't really like being treated that way, but protesting would just make him seem more childish. He'd just have to make it clear that he was competent in other ways.
And anyway, even if Facilier did see him as just a kid, he was still asking him questions, so that meant something, right? Sora moved away from the bulletin slightly, wanting to allow others space to write their notes, but remained close enough that he could continue his conversation with Facilier.
"Well, it's true that there are some people who show up here after dying," he started with a nod. Most of the Organization members had been in that boat, even if they were all gone now. "But there are plenty of other people who haven't died yet. I'm not sure how Landel -- or Aguilar, I guess -- decides on stuff like that, but..." He shrugged.
With the way the question had been asked, Sora could only assume that Facilier had died before arriving here. That stood out, but Sora knew better than to ask for details. It was probably a touchy subject.
Facilier turned to face Sora, standing tall and thin as a rail beside the crowded bulletin board. His one hand was still busy fiddling around with his pen as he listened to Sora with his head slightly tilted up in haughty direction.
The witch doctor doubted he would receive a decent answer, but Sora's answer brought a hint of a frown passing by Facilier's face. "You don't say..." he replied, slowly straightening his head and cupping his chin in thought. If Sora was correct, then his answer had officially thrown a monkey wrench into Facilier's theory about the institute. Did this place work by any remotely sane pattern? It didn't help that Sora's answer held enough confidence for Facilier to consider it as valid too. Did the cheery youth really know what he was talking about?
"So the higher-ups here choose whoever is to be entrapped in this establishment?" Facilier asked, "That explanation for this place did cross my mind before... I had reason to believe that it was exclusively for those who had uh... passed on though..."
The topic of death didn't usually bother Facilier until now, not since he was nearly dragged to the Other Side by the Loa; naturally such a memory was far from pleasant for the Shadow Man to dwell upon. He didn't quite enjoy talking too much of it. Seeing that Sora may know a thing or two about the institute, (despite his belief in the all so wonderful power of friendship), Facilier decided to shift the conversation to another question he had in mind for awhile.
"Say, do y'all happen to know just who this Landel fellow is?" he asked, crossing his arms and cocking his head towards the ceiling where the aforementioned man's voice usually sounded off from. "I've only caught a glimpse of him when the soldiers dragged him out. I get the impression that he is quite despised by everyone here, and that he is very powerful..."
The more that Facilier spoke about it, the clearer it seemed that he had died before coming here. Sora could have offered his condolences for that, but it felt like it would have been out of place, seeing how the man hadn't fully admitted to it. Plus, they had only just started talking to each other. It didn't usually take Sora long to make friends in this place, but he knew that there were certain boundaries that shouldn't be crossed.
"It's hard to say for sure, but yeah, we're probably all picked out. It doesn't seem like we end up here by accident, anyway." That wouldn't make sense, since there were too many instances where people were brought from the same World. Then again, there were others who were completely alone, and Sora couldn't say that he understood the reasoning behind any of that. It was probably meant to be mysterious.
It sounded like Facilier was pretty new still, though, since he went on to ask Sora for more details about Landel. Unfortunately, it wasn't something that anyone here knew that much about, even people like him who had been around for a while.
"No one knows who he is, exactly, but he was running the institute way before the military came around. I guess maybe the military is in charge of him, but even though they kicked him out, he still made his way back somehow." Sora didn't quite get how that had all played out, but he could make some guesses. "I guess he has some kind of power that they don't have, or he was just really sneaky about it."
Which meant they were right back to where they started, but Sora figured that if their powers could come back once, it could happen again. He wasn't about to lose hope now!
Facilier hadn't expected Sora to know much more than he did, but he still had to fight the urge to slump his shoulders with disgruntlement at Sora's answer. The witch doctor knew he shouldn't have bothered with the chirpy little boy! Oh well...
"I see..." Facilier said, turning his attention back to the board and picking up a note to write on. "To regain his control over the institute and oust the army overnight without as much as a single gun shot firing off... Very powerful and sneaky indeed!" he remarked, his tone shadowed by a hint of envy and even reluctant admiration. "If only we had such power ourselves! I'm sure we'd all be outta here in no time then!"
Despite the lack of solid information on the mysterious Landel, thoughts and theories were already flourishing inside Facilier's head. For a single man with no weapons to disarm an entire army overnight and bring nothing but chaos to the institute... He must have had magic at his disposal!
Having heard enough from the messy-headed youth, Facilier gave him a shallow smile and a slightly dismissive nod. He had other things to think about and attend to for now.
"Well, it was a pleasure speaking with you, Mr. Sora!" Facilier said as he began writing the first of his notes, addressed to that silly pirate Guybrush. "I'm 'fraid I have some messages here to attend to before the nurses drag us off somewhere else again!"
The Shadow Man gave Sora one more glance before focusing his attention on his message. "I do hope you and your friend stay safe and well!" he added with his lips pursed into a fake pout, "It would be a shame if you were to lose your companion again..."
It was true that there was no doubt about Landel's power. It made Sora wonder how he would even match up against the man, if he ever got the chance to fight him. He realized he wouldn't be fighting on his own, but even with all of his powers back, would he even stand a chance? Sora hadn't yet come across an enemy that he couldn't defeat, but...
In his opinion, that much power was dangerous. Even if it would help them get out, he didn't think it was a good idea to hold that much strength. From his experience, it usually came with a price, and he still thought it was possible that Landel was borrowing from the darkness to be that strong.
Still, that was his own opinion, and it wasn't something that he could expect Facilier to understand, either. Most people didn't know about the darkness or the Heartless in this place, so Sora tried to stop himself from mentioning it too often.
It looked like the man was done with him, anyway. Sora knew that it was sometimes really important to get notes up, so he could understand why Facilier needed to focus now. "Okay! Good luck with that! Oh, and just Sora is fine. I'll be doing all I can to keep myself and my friends safe, so you do the same."
He wasn't quite sure how to feel about the conversation they'd had, but he could dwell on that for the rest of the shift. After waving to the man, the boy wandered off.
It was pretty normal for other patients to come by while Sora composed his messages to the Arts and Crafts club, seeing how they usually took him a while to write. He always wanted to make sure to cover every detail and to phrase things in a way that made sense. A lot of it was repetition at this point, but after how things had gone last night he thought he needed to make some sort of mention to it.
He was just putting the finishing touches on the note and signing his name when the man who had taken up a spot next to him spoke up. Sora paused and glanced over as he finished writing, setting his pen down as he took in the stranger's face.
The first thing he noticed was that the man seemed to be in a bad mood. His face was drawn and tired, and his body language and the slump of his shoulders made it almost feel like there was a storm cloud over his head. Sora frowned, since even if he was in a good mood, he didn't like seeing other people so upset.
His mood was what the man chose to comment on, and Sora figured he might as well explain. "I got to meet up with an old friend this morning, someone who I thought I wouldn't ever get to see again. It's hard to be in a bad mood when something like that happens!"
As for last night, that hadn't been so bad for him either. He'd seen some pretty gory things, but he couldn't be too bothered by any of that when he'd had his powers back, even if it had only been temporary.
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"An old friend you say, hmm?" he asked, his eyebrows rising slightly as his teeth bit into his lip against the urge to sneer at the boy for such a foolish reply. For someone trapped in a world where all sorts of horrors were possible at night, this boy sure had his spiky head in the clouds! Why in the world would someone be happy over a mere friend when there were so many more important things to attain!? If Facilier himself were to have any "friends", their connection would need to be profitable; otherwise it was nothing more but a waste of time to him! What was it about this friend that had the youth so perky in a place like this?
"Your friend sounds quite important to you..." Facilier remarked, his purple eyes shifting back down to the boy beside him. "Is this friend very helpful to you in someway?" Like being of use when it comes to escaping strange limbos, and bringing in some profit in the process? Facilier doubted this friend could do any of that!
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"Well, I guess he helped me out when I first met him, and we'd been working together..." Not that Sora hadn't been able to take care of himself, but he and Renji had gotten through some pretty dangerous nights together. Sora liked to think that they were equals, but the fact that Renji was older did make him feel a little bit like an older sibling or something along those lines.
Not that Sora knew what that really felt like, being an only child, but he could at least guess. "Anyway, I thought he was dead this whole time, but then he just showed up this morning! It was a shock, but a good one." He pinned his note to the board and then stepped away from it with a smile.
Now that he and this stranger were talking, Sora figured he might as well introduce himself. He extended his hand to the man. "My name's Sora, by the way."
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So he was just glad someone else was alive in this dangerous world? Well that was disappointing! Having nearly useless friends to burden you with worries over their welfare was quite foolish in Facilier's opinion. By now the boy was coming across as more unknowingly pitiful than intentionally annoying, which in a way spared him from the witch doctor's foul mood. Seeing the boy appraise his finished note with another sunny grin confirmed Facilier's suspicions: the poor lad was doomed in this place.
Oh well, it wasn't the Shadow Man's problem. He was just a tad too busy looking out for his own skin anyway...
"A... pleasure to meet you Sora," Facilier smoothly replied, meeting Sora's hand with his own and shaking it firmly. He gave the boy a half-smile, one that would have been seen as the condescending sort, an expression which Sora would have likely missed if he were just as naive as he was cheerful then.
"I am Doctor Facilier," he added, withdrawing his boney hand and placing it upon his chest with a small bow, "And did y'all mention that you thought your friend was dead before?" Facilier asked, his long fingers twirling the pen around his knuckles with little ease, "Ah, forgive me if this sounds rather... dark, but I thought this world was for those who had already died..."
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And anyway, even if Facilier did see him as just a kid, he was still asking him questions, so that meant something, right? Sora moved away from the bulletin slightly, wanting to allow others space to write their notes, but remained close enough that he could continue his conversation with Facilier.
"Well, it's true that there are some people who show up here after dying," he started with a nod. Most of the Organization members had been in that boat, even if they were all gone now. "But there are plenty of other people who haven't died yet. I'm not sure how Landel -- or Aguilar, I guess -- decides on stuff like that, but..." He shrugged.
With the way the question had been asked, Sora could only assume that Facilier had died before arriving here. That stood out, but Sora knew better than to ask for details. It was probably a touchy subject.
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The witch doctor doubted he would receive a decent answer, but Sora's answer brought a hint of a frown passing by Facilier's face. "You don't say..." he replied, slowly straightening his head and cupping his chin in thought. If Sora was correct, then his answer had officially thrown a monkey wrench into Facilier's theory about the institute. Did this place work by any remotely sane pattern? It didn't help that Sora's answer held enough confidence for Facilier to consider it as valid too. Did the cheery youth really know what he was talking about?
"So the higher-ups here choose whoever is to be entrapped in this establishment?" Facilier asked, "That explanation for this place did cross my mind before... I had reason to believe that it was exclusively for those who had uh... passed on though..."
The topic of death didn't usually bother Facilier until now, not since he was nearly dragged to the Other Side by the Loa; naturally such a memory was far from pleasant for the Shadow Man to dwell upon. He didn't quite enjoy talking too much of it. Seeing that Sora may know a thing or two about the institute, (despite his belief in the all so wonderful power of friendship), Facilier decided to shift the conversation to another question he had in mind for awhile.
"Say, do y'all happen to know just who this Landel fellow is?" he asked, crossing his arms and cocking his head towards the ceiling where the aforementioned man's voice usually sounded off from. "I've only caught a glimpse of him when the soldiers dragged him out. I get the impression that he is quite despised by everyone here, and that he is very powerful..."
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"It's hard to say for sure, but yeah, we're probably all picked out. It doesn't seem like we end up here by accident, anyway." That wouldn't make sense, since there were too many instances where people were brought from the same World. Then again, there were others who were completely alone, and Sora couldn't say that he understood the reasoning behind any of that. It was probably meant to be mysterious.
It sounded like Facilier was pretty new still, though, since he went on to ask Sora for more details about Landel. Unfortunately, it wasn't something that anyone here knew that much about, even people like him who had been around for a while.
"No one knows who he is, exactly, but he was running the institute way before the military came around. I guess maybe the military is in charge of him, but even though they kicked him out, he still made his way back somehow." Sora didn't quite get how that had all played out, but he could make some guesses. "I guess he has some kind of power that they don't have, or he was just really sneaky about it."
Which meant they were right back to where they started, but Sora figured that if their powers could come back once, it could happen again. He wasn't about to lose hope now!
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Facilier hadn't expected Sora to know much more than he did, but he still had to fight the urge to slump his shoulders with disgruntlement at Sora's answer. The witch doctor knew he shouldn't have bothered with the chirpy little boy! Oh well...
"I see..." Facilier said, turning his attention back to the board and picking up a note to write on. "To regain his control over the institute and oust the army overnight without as much as a single gun shot firing off... Very powerful and sneaky indeed!" he remarked, his tone shadowed by a hint of envy and even reluctant admiration. "If only we had such power ourselves! I'm sure we'd all be outta here in no time then!"
Despite the lack of solid information on the mysterious Landel, thoughts and theories were already flourishing inside Facilier's head. For a single man with no weapons to disarm an entire army overnight and bring nothing but chaos to the institute... He must have had magic at his disposal!
Having heard enough from the messy-headed youth, Facilier gave him a shallow smile and a slightly dismissive nod. He had other things to think about and attend to for now.
"Well, it was a pleasure speaking with you, Mr. Sora!" Facilier said as he began writing the first of his notes, addressed to that silly pirate Guybrush. "I'm 'fraid I have some messages here to attend to before the nurses drag us off somewhere else again!"
The Shadow Man gave Sora one more glance before focusing his attention on his message. "I do hope you and your friend stay safe and well!" he added with his lips pursed into a fake pout, "It would be a shame if you were to lose your companion again..."
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In his opinion, that much power was dangerous. Even if it would help them get out, he didn't think it was a good idea to hold that much strength. From his experience, it usually came with a price, and he still thought it was possible that Landel was borrowing from the darkness to be that strong.
Still, that was his own opinion, and it wasn't something that he could expect Facilier to understand, either. Most people didn't know about the darkness or the Heartless in this place, so Sora tried to stop himself from mentioning it too often.
It looked like the man was done with him, anyway. Sora knew that it was sometimes really important to get notes up, so he could understand why Facilier needed to focus now. "Okay! Good luck with that! Oh, and just Sora is fine. I'll be doing all I can to keep myself and my friends safe, so you do the same."
He wasn't quite sure how to feel about the conversation they'd had, but he could dwell on that for the rest of the shift. After waving to the man, the boy wandered off.
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