Day 43: Game Room, Third Shift

[piggy_king]

Peh. "Graduates." Who were they trying to fool? It's not like anyone here believed them, and no one ever visited the institute. What was the point in keeping up this sad little charade? To add to the realism of it? Well, whatever. If they wanted to continue this exercise in futility, that was fine with Porky. All it meant was that they spent more

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[no_arcana]

This was getting worrisome. Souji's headache was finally starting to go away a tiny fraction, but something was still keeping him off-balance. He couldn't put his finger on it quite yet, but it was there, it was something he could no more ignore than the throbbing of his head.

Clearly, the sun room was no place for him, with its constant noise. Therefore, Souji let himself into another room, one with at least a smaller patient base. It wasn't silent, but it was certainly better than staying in the more crowded room. Now he just had to find out what was wrong with him, and also, what that 'I.R.I.S.' person was going on about.

For now, though, he wanted to do something. Not play with those kind of scary people with their gameboys, no chess, didn't want to bother people who already had games going... ah hah! One person probably the prettiest in the room was setting up what seemed to be a game of cards, so Souji walked over and started watching. Didn't say anything at the start, but certainly seemed interested.

[no_arcana]

Souji smiled in his usual friendly manner, nodding in greetings to the other guy. He certainly seemed polite enough, but not exactly the most friendly. If he was anyone else, he might be put off... but for someone who'd met the Amagi Challenge, this was a piece of cake.

For the most part. Kind of.

Instead of introducing himself right away- what was the point, really?- he inclined his head towards the deck of cards. "What's the name of the game?"

[no_arcana]

Souji never did understand why it was called 'klondike.' Made him think of a certain kind of delicious ice cream treat he enjoyed every now and again. In the big city, where they actually served things like that. Ah, as much as he'd enjoyed Inaba, there were some things that just didn't get to be experienced in the same way. A shame, really, especially since it didn't seem like he'd be getting to enjoy city life again for a little while

[no_arcana]

It was very true that solitaire was most certainly not a two-person game, but Souji wasn't exactly a big card person. Really, the game was immaterial; getting to play with someone else was what was important.

That was why he motioned for Jun to hand him the card deck; if someone recommended the game, then that person got to deal! "How about a simple game of War?"

But that frown... why was it there? The other boy was apparently trying to put up a facade, and it was cracking. But why? Whatever the reason, Souji shook his head. "You don't have to fake it, you know. Not with me." Hopefully the kid got the drift that Souji would prefer being on an honest footing- and earn a smile later- than to have it faked in front of him.

[no_arcana]

Yes, Souji Seta could expect something like that, and he was rather surprised it didn't work as well as normal. Perhaps he needed to brush up on his Timid Teacher series so he could understand this guy. Clearly there was something wrong, but for the life of him, Souji couldn't figure it out.

So, for the moment, he started shuffling the cards, idly laying them out in the spreads his mind had conjured for finding his Personas. Long blocks, lines, shifting them around like a carnival barker trying to score a cheap prize... then he looked up with a grin. "How about Memory?"

Speaking of memory, that made the boy remember something that he hadn't done yet. Force of habit, really- for a year, everyone in town had known who he was, introductions were a tiny bit rusty. That, and with his headache, it was a tiny bit rough for him. "...oh, and I'm Souji Seta."

[no_arcana]

Souji returned that smile with a quiet one of his own, glad that he at least seemed to be getting somewhere. Jun Kurosu? He'd have to remember that; it was kind of nice to see that someone here was friendly. To an extent.

Still, after a moment, he put the cards down into perfect gridlines, as was important for Memory, then nodded towards Jun. The boy seemed fascinated by the shift of the cards, now why was that? "...you act like you've never seen cards shuffled before," he lightly teased.

[no_arcana]

Souji could totally understand that. The slide of cards and the challenge of finding them had been a matter of life and death, yes, but it had also been fun as well. It was like a challenge with himself, finding those Personas and forcing them to awaken from the deepest depths of his mind. Certainly, he at least found it to be invigorating, and these card games were no different.

Of course, he couldn't exactly say, 'Oh yeah, it reminds me of fighting for my life against inhuman monsters and getting inhuman powers as a result,' so instead he took his turn with a quiet nod. And he'd be happy to let it go like this, to let the game proceed in comfortable silence between the two of them.

[no_arcana]

Unfortunately, the game was interrupted in the middle by the intercom going off, I.R.I.S. going on about the latest bit of nonsense- a tradition that Souji was already getting tired of. It was especially bad because of the game, which Souji had been enjoying a great deal; it was a little odd to have someone as quiet as himself around, but it was a refreshing change of pace as well. His headache was practically gone, though it still remained for some reason- a quiet twinge in the back of his mind, that never went away no matter how much he tried. It was odd, tremendously so- it should have gone away by now!- but there wasn't much for it.

So, the boy started gathering up the cards, smiling at Jun as he did so. "I'd like to see you again tomorrow."