Day 48: Courtyard

[thatdamnedninja]

"I could tell you some stories," Yuffie suggested brightly, "of unquestionable legality." Illegality, that was. Petty little things like the law didn't usually mean very much to her, except for the times when she had to uphold it. Always fun for the breaking, though, the law, and messy for the clean-up. Just the way she liked it

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[blood_and_pocky]

[For Zack!]

Aidou had a headache.

He was sure, in fact, it was the same monster headache that’d been dogging him since his arrival, oh, almost a month ago. He’d found its strength was directly proportional to his level of failure, so naturally upon waking he’d wanted to bury his pounding head under the pillow and pretend he didn’t have to go through yet another day of patient theatrics. Augh, he was just sick. Of everything. When had his lack of progress become a consistent habit instead of merely an intermittent aggravation? It was enough to make the vampire--

Well, it was enough to get him very, very angry, but that was also a futile habit of his. Hence, Aidou had sat through breakfast grinding his teeth, but by the time second shift came around, the sharp bite of frustration had dulled to a distant (and familiar) sense of disappointment. No, there no point in shouting out his fury, as much as he might like to. And no, this losing streak wouldn’t last, because he was going to change it. Tonight he’d do something. Something more fruitful than what he’d been doing of late.

As though in compromise, the day when his nurse would be trying to get him outside “into the sunshine” was a day where there actually wasn’t any sunshine. Aidou was perfectly happy to make a break for the outdoors, to the woman‘s chagrin. After warning her not to bother with a coat, as he wasn’t going to use it, he staved off further complaining by ducking outside with a sweater under his arm. Not that he was going to use it, either. He wasn’t normally any more pleased with the cold than the next vampire, but it suited his mood; that, and his affiliation with ice left him basking in the low temperature, a ghost of his stolen powers.

For once, there was no wincing or scowling involved in meandering along the courtyard path. Pausing at a spot by the pond, Aidou stretched, bringing his arms up in a victorious ’v’ above his head. Finally, a gloriously beautiful day! At least where the impenetrable blanket of dark grey clouds was concerned. It was almost perfect. If given the choice, he could’ve stayed out there until dinner shift and beyond, but unfortunately, he had only a short time to enjoy being free of the building without fear of a sunburn. At least there was going to be opportunity for him to wash that day, even if he’d have to do it in the presence of other naked males.

… And there went any good thoughts. Short-lived as usual.

[zack_fair]

Speaking to ZEX had opened up Zack's mind even more when it came to realizing just how powerful the Head Doctor was. This was on a whole different scale from anything Hojo had been allowed to do. While the man had experimented on both him and Cloud, they were only two people. How many of the patients here had once been in different bodies, for instance? It was enough to make his skin crawl if he thought too hard about it. Still, it was good to see that ZEX took enjoyment out of some things, and he hadn't been as down in the dumps about his situation as he could have been. That was always good.

He would have to make a note to find ZEX some other time, so that he could help him out with the knife and fork. The guy's fondness of humans was a little bit creepy, he had to admit, but Zack wasn't going to let that stop him from lending a hand. It wasn't like there had been anything malicious about ZEX, after all.

Getting another chance to head outside was a good thing in Zack's book, but it was a shame that it happened to be so overcast today. Given a choice between a sweatshirt and a coat, Zack naturally chose the coat. Slipping into it, he walked into the courtyard and took a curious glance around the area. It was sizable, but the wall still made it clear that they were caged. To think, it would be so easy to just jump that wall and start running, and yet he knew that couldn't end well. Besides, how could he leave without taking Cloud and the others? Speaking of which, he had been beyond relieved when he'd see his friend writing out messages on the bulletin board after breakfast.

In any case, he might as well enjoy what they were given, and so Zack started to wander along the path, observing both the trees and the pond. This was a nice change from the covered city he'd been spending most of his time in. Missions had always been welcome for the very fact that it got him out into the world and away from the gloomy city of Midgar.

As he walked, he saw a familiar face standing nearby and immediately stopped to say hello. "Aidou!" he greeted with a quick wave. "How've you been?" The young man had been very helpful when they'd first talked, so Zack was perfectly happy to catch up with him now.

[blood_and_pocky]

While the courtyard was not impressive, it seemed a fair indulgence that he take a little time to walk around, do something while he was outside in the fresh air. Something other than sit around on a lumpy couch or a hard plastic chair. Working his legs out at the same time he scoped out the area would be killing two birds with one stone.

With the sweater still held in one hand, Aidou brought his hands behind his head and yawned. It’d be better than nothing. The pond was starting to be a noisy spot, anyway.

Before he could move, though, someone called his name, making him turn. Huh? For an irrational moment, he feared it was the annoying dumbass from his last foray outside during daylight hours, but that guy couldn’t have possibly known his name. And the voice was different. And… Oh, so it was this guy. He lowered his arms. “You,” the noble said at once in recognition. Zack. He blinked, and automatically gave a noncommittal ‘you know’ at Zack’s question without really paying it any attention.

But actually, out of all the people… This could’ve been somewhat fortuitous. He considered the man with new eyes.

[zack_fair]

Zack had to admit he was a little disappointed. He knew that they'd only spoken once, and that Aidou hadn't showed himself to be the most eager person in that moment, but what kind of greeting was that? The soldier frowned and threw both of his hands into the air. "That's all I get? 'You'?" It was clear that he was only making a joke, but he did have to wonder why he only deserved a lackluster greeting.

He noticed that Aidou had a sweatshirt, but wasn't actually wearing it. Fond of the cold, then? Zack had to admit that he could deal with cold weather pretty well himself. He'd managed to make his way through snowy areas and over tough terrain without complaint, so the state of the courtyard at the moment really wasn't so bad. Still, the nurses had offered him a coat, and he wasn't about to refuse that.

It was around that point that another patient ended up falling into the pond, though, and the splash almost reached the spot where he and Aidou were standing. Zack raised an eyebrow and started to scoot away from the water. The guy looked all right, if soaked, but Zack wasn't gung-ho about getting wet in this weather.

"Anyway," he continued after that interruption, "have you been working on those plans of yours?" Aidou hadn't been very clear about what he was attempting to do, exactly, but that only made Zack that much more curious.

[blood_and_pocky]

There was something to be said for the sort of social interactions the noble was used to, especially with those who weren’t his own kind. Aidou didn’t think anything of what he’d blurted out until Zack frowned at him, which derailed his train of thought, causing him to backtrack. What was that supposed to mean? He openly wrinkled his nose in a look of speculation, clearly a touch nonplussed. “What about it? Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten you,” he offered. So what did Zack thing he was supposed to get? That hadn’t been all that rude, had it? Well, okay, he’d said it in more uncouth Japanese, but when he couldn’t be sure Japanese was what Zack was hearing what with the nonsensical language spells, so there was no guarantee such a thing had even translated.

It couldn’t have been a big deal--it clearly wasn’t to the guy in question. But it did make Aidou wonder again (a little cynically, at that) about the sorts of standards he was setting for himself the longer he was imprisoned. It was almost as if to make room in his head for the headaches and the suffering of indignities, he was unconsciously forgetting about the people around him. They are all just various levels of ‘you’ to him. Only Sasuke seemed unbothered by the vampire’s choice in cutting out some of the fluff involved in dealing with people, but the boy had the social graces of someone like Kiryu.

Aidou didn’t miss how screwed up that was, considering Aidou was on the extreme end of the social butterfly spectrum, not lumped in with the pariahs on the other. Ew. But oh well. If anything, he had even less time or patience to worry about that sort of thing. If he really wanted to, he could charm anyone he wanted. Even wearing horrendous clothing and crippled by a headache.

Besides, Zack had read his mind!

The topic brought a pleased smile to the corner of his mouth, and at the sound of a body hitting water somewhere to his left, he just turned his face away, unfazed by the disruption. Tuning out stupidity was a completely unrelated thing, and not worth worrying about by half. “I’m glad you asked, actually!” he cut in immediately. “What are you doing tonight? I’m aware your circumstances are different, since you’re probably spending your time with your companions now.” Picking up that sort of information tended to happen during times the patients were eating together and Aidou was keeping an eye on things. Hmm, but just in case: “Don’t take that in a creepy way,” he added. He was just observant, not a stalker.

[zack_fair]

It wasn't that Zack had been worried that Aidou had forgotten him (it had only been two days, after all!), but it was more that the guy hadn't looked all that interested in even seeing them again. Then again, he couldn't blame him too much when all Zack had done during their first meeting was dump questions on him. Either way, he hadn't actually been as offended as he'd acted, so it was all water under the bridge as far as he was concerned.

Still, it seemed that bringing up the topic of Aidou's plans was enough to get the younger man going. Zack immediately responded to the teen's smile with one of his own, but what he hadn't expected was for him to ask about tonight. A bit sudden, wasn't it? Especially when ZEX had asked him a similar question just a shift ago. Suddenly it seemed like he was in high demand! Zack was kind of flattered, but that didn't solve the problem of being unable to be in two places at once.

At first Zack had just figured that Aidou made a guess about him being busy with friends, but then he made that creepy comment and he had to rethink it. Still, Aidou had said to not think of it as creepy, and so he did his best to set it aside. "I'm still not sure, to be honest," Zack admitted as he dragged a hand through the back of his spiky hair. "I have to check with my friends, like you said, and someone I met earlier today was also wondering what I was doing tonight. I'll get back to you, though!" He didn't intend to go back on his word, but he still didn't know if tonight was the best time.

It wasn't that Zack meant to lead people along, but he honestly hadn't expected so many people would want his help. And he wanted to be loyal to those people he was close to, so it made it difficult.

[blood_and_pocky]

The opportunity to plan and get his business in order was the best medicine possible, in Aidou’s opinion. He’d been averaging a suitable amount of blood, but at the same time, he was stagnating in other areas. Very important areas, like how this place continued to do what it did. It was good that Zack had stopped by on his own.

In a perfect world (which this obviously was not), the ideal response would’ve been a utter falling into line with Aidou’s plan, but the young vampire he couldn’t even begin to list everything that was so wrong with their situation that he was being forced into working with humans in the first place. Zack’s uncertainty didn‘t come as a surprise. Factoring in that the newcomer assumedly had people from his home here with him, and Aidou knew he really needed to find alternate options for these moments. The noble was, after all, a stranger, and accommodating strangers would be second priority in this man’s case, even if Aidou’s goals would no doubt serve everyone involved just as well as himself.

But the problem was, he had exceedingly few options at that point in time.

“I understand. I‘ll wait for your decision,” said Aidou, who crossed his arms. At the same time, he was once again thinking along similar lines as Zack. Friends were one thing, but was this guy popular or something? It looked like Zack was already accumulating hangers-on. “Still, you should have an idea of why I ask. I want to investigate a particular area, one I doubt the majority know much about yet. The problem is that a certain number of people are needed in order to do so.” And it was a pain in the ass, as talking to Zack was acutely reminding him, since it meant he needed to patch together a semi-functioning group to get him through, something Aidou was struggling with. Damn that Wolfram for disappearing!

That being said, Aidou couldn’t rely on Zack’s presence, which meant he either had the rest of the day to try and rope someone else into his mission, or prepare for it just being the two of them. The former was bordering on impossible. But at least he and Sasuke had those baubles to try and make sense of… Aidou glanced toward the pond, expression turning thoughtful as he chewed the thought over.

[zack_fair]

It was good to see that Aidou wasn't taking his response personally or anything. It wasn't like Zack wanted to turn these people down, but he'd ended up with a lot more on his plate than he'd planned for. He knew it was good to keep busy, but he was going to have to make sure he kept everything straight. He usually had relied on his phone for that, but he obviously wasn't so lucky here. Even writing by hand on that bulletin board had been a blast from the past.

As the kid went on to explain why he needed him, Zack nodded in response. In that case, it sounded like any other patient would do, which honestly made him wonder why Aidou had decided to ask him of all people. Not that Zack didn't think he would be a good pick for the job (of course he would!), but Aidou had been here a while. He would have thought he'd have met a ton of people who could help. Still, maybe it went back to what ZEX had said about there not being many military types here.

"I get it," he said. "I don't mean to string you along or anything, so I'll try to let you know as soon as I can. But where's this area and why do you need more than one person to look around there?" He figured that if he was possibly going to pitch in with this, then he might as well get all the details. A mission briefing of sorts, if he wanted to put it into familiar terms. Not that he considered Aidou a superior by any means, but he wanted to have all the facts before he checked in with his friends about tonight.

As for ZEX, that was a whole other problem. It sounded like his problem wasn't quite as urgent, though, so maybe he wouldn't mind if Zack put it off for now. Or he could come along. That was an option, at least, if Aidou was planning on recruiting people.

Having distanced themselves a bit from the pond, Zack then took a look around before sending a glance at Aidou. "Anywhere you wanted to go?" he asked. He liked the idea of stretching out his muscles a bit rather than just standing around, but he'd leave it to the kid to decide.

[blood_and_pocky]

Dimly, he had to repress a snort at the words ‘string you along’. If it wasn’t his enemies themselves, something else was bound to confound him either way, Aidou had found. His expectations were already low, so it didn’t much matter. The sentiment was nonetheless quaint.

He gave an absent shrug of one shoulder, coupled with a shake of his head. “Nowhere in particular,” he replied, taking it as a signal that Zack wanted to move as much he did an invitation.

More importantly was Zack’s initial question, and the vampire straightened, turning toward the courtyard path so that he could fall into step if the other wanted to continue on. Aidou remained cautious regarding the give and take of information, but being too tight-lipped could be just as much a hindrance as running at the mouth. Since he’d taken the step to involve Zack already, there was no point in withholding the details of where and what they‘d be doing should they actually cooperate at night. It was still up in the air about what Zack would do with those details, but that was something Aidou had to roll with.

He shifted the sweater on his arm before pointing at the ground beneath their feet. “Below us. The basement. As for why a group is necessary, it’s a theory of mine. Two seems to be too few, while three allows people to pass through the doorways.”

[zack_fair]

If Aidou didn't have anywhere specific that he wanted to go, then Zack was content with just taking a stroll as they talked. It would allow him to get a good idea of the scope of this courtyard, and what he was quickly realizing was that it wasn't all that big. Enough to allow them to stretch their legs, but that was about it. An illusion of freedom, but he knew better. No one was going to find their wings here.

It was still preferable to a mako-filled tube, though. So long as he kept that in mind, he would never be able to get too downtrodden. It was like that was his style, anyway.

When Aidou pointed, Zack couldn't help staring down in mild awe. So there was a basement here? This was the first he'd heard of it, but he wasn't surprised to discover that that was the place to be. The Shin-Ra mansion had been the same way. Down in that basement was where four years of his life had been wasted, and yet Zack felt no trepidation at the prospect of venturing into this one. They needed to get to the bottom of this!

"All right," he said as he looked up again. He was still unclear about how Aidou knew that multiple people were necessary, but he'd leave it alone for now. "So who's our third man gonna be?" he asked. Or, err, third woman, if that's the case," he clarified with a grin. Zack wasn't one to discount someone's skills because of gender. He knew some women out there were tough as nails. Cissnei was proof enough of that.

Speaking of which, where was the Turk? He'd have to check up on her if he could. Or leave a note for her, at the very least.

[blood_and_pocky]

Ah, yes, one variable always involved in picking teams were temperaments. And the fact that Zack seemed the type to accept some things as they came without distracting Aidou with a bunch of pointless questions or outbursts or other mental fits was fine by him. He eyed the human, assigning a few more ‘like’ points to him. The basement had been chalk full of messy and somewhat rough plans from the beginning, Aidou knew this, but the lack of proper preparation would be much easier if the people he had to work with could just deal with things instead of getting on the noble’s nerves.

A part of this was the willingness to follow Aidou’s words without second-guessing him, but that went without saying.

“Someone I’ve been cooperating with regarding the basement for a while. His name is Sasuke and he‘s already in,” Aidou answered. He didn’t hold prejudice against females, either, considering the balanced scales of the vampire world, but most of the women he’d had dealings with in the Institute were all deficient for the job in some way. Anise was the latest example of that. If Aidou happened to be hurt again in front of someone like her…

Well, he couldn’t necessarily trust Zack in that regard, either. He’d just have to ensure there was no reason to reveal his nature if it came down to working together.

[zack_fair]

So Aidou already had someone else in mind, huh? It looked like he would be the third piece of the puzzle, then. Zack was going to feel even worse if he had to decline, in that case. It sounded like Aidou was more or less ready to put his plan into action, and Zack would be holding him back if he had to devote his time to something else.

As for having to work with a third person who he didn't know, that wasn't something that concerned Zack much. He didn't have issues when it came to teaming up with strangers, since it didn't take long for them to not be strangers anymore. He was sure he'd get along with this Sasuke guy just fine.

"If not tonight, then tomorrow night for sure," he said decidedly. Zack was sure he could coordinate that with his friends. While he would have liked to work together with them as well (Cloud specifically), he was sure they'd have all sorts of time for that. He felt bad about ZEX, too, but he'd technically made this promise to Aidou first -- not to mention he got the feeling that Aidou's issue was a bit more urgent than ZEX's.

Then, the intercom went off and Zack paused in his walking. He glanced over toward the doors that led back into the building and watched as more nurses piled out to come round them all up. "Guess our time's up," he said with a small shrug. "I'll get a hold of you over that board, okay?"

[blood_and_pocky]

That would work. If Sasuke had his other business to attend to then, well, Aidou would figure something else out to round out a three-person group. Almost any other fighter-type would be preferable to cooperating with an ex-human again; if he looked at things that way, he had a hell of a lot more choices. There was always the option of helping Sasuke in order for Sasuke to be free later…

Outwardly, Aidou just nodded and gave an acknowledging, “Okay,” while inwardly suppressing a scowl at Landel’s routine interruption. It was exceptionally infuriating that afternoon, though. Ugh, that fool! What he wouldn’t give to end that life once and for all.

At least his morning hadn’t been a total waste. This’d been something resembling progress.