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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[human_sponge]

Talking to Alita had given Peter the chance to vent about last night at least slightly, although vent wasn't even the right word. Peter wasn't mad about what had happened, necessarily. It was more than he was confused, upset, worried, and crushed that someone as nice as Roland had been forced to such a terrible end. Losing control of himself and becoming some sort of monster that couldn't tell between friend and foe, only to go so berserk that there was no choice but to attack him...

Peter was impatient with the nurses when they forced him into a coat before they would let him outside. They insisted that they didn't want him to catch a cold, but that was the last thought on Peter's mind at the moment. Having grown up in New York, he had a pretty good amount of tolerance for cold weather, so he didn't see why they were bothering. In the end, he pulled the coat on as quickly as he could and then headed out into the courtyard.

It took some walking around, but he eventually found Heat sitting up against the wall and looking like he was about to freeze to death. It was chilly, but Peter honestly didn't think it was that bad. Maybe the man was used to a warmer climate -- and his name was a clue all on its own, wasn't it? He wondered if it was a nickname, then.

Walking over to the man, Peter stood nearby and glanced down at him, arms over his chest. His left arm was still stinging and sore from the bite, but he wasn't going to think about that right now. "We need to talk," he said, and his tone managed to be surprisingly firm.

[idontregret]

Heat had closed his eyes, but he pried one open as he heard footsteps approaching. He vaguely recognized the man as one he'd seen before - the one who'd been injured the night before and had been rescued by a handful of women. So he'd want to talk about Roland. Didn't that just figure.

Unfortunately, he wasn't in the best of positions to be ignoring him. The demon shifted, trying to make himself more comfortable since it looked like he was going to have to stay awake rather than be allowed to take the nap he'd been considering. No way was he getting up, though. If this guy wanted to talk to him so badly, then he could join him on the ground. He gave a single grunt of acknowledgment and nodded toward the space next to him.

"So sit down. I'm not goin' anywhere." This man already knew what he was. There wasn't anything for him to hide. He could only expect the worst for this conversation, really, and he didn't care. Normal humans couldn't sympathize. Not unless they were someone like Fred.

[human_sponge]

That was a far better response than Peter had expected. Maybe it was because the guy was too cold to get angry, although wouldn't it have made more sense if that'd exacerbated his mood? There wasn't much point in trying to analyze all of it, though, since he'd just been given his chance to talk.

Nodding, Peter moved over, brushed some fallen leaves from the spot where he was going to sit, and then settled down. He had to wonder if one of the benches might be a better place to do this, but he wasn't going to argue the point now. At least being off to the side meant they weren't likely to be eavesdropped on.

So, where to start? Peter let out a sigh, staring straight forward and watching his breath become visible in the air before he spoke up again. "So... what happened to him last night," he began. "Landel didn't have anything to do with it, did he?" The more he'd heard, the more Peter had suspected that was the case, and yet he still needed to hear it from someone who knew the truth. Accepting what that would mean might be hard, but at least he was braced for it. Somewhat.

[idontregret]

"Landel?" Heat snorted. "If he hadn't been here he wouldn't have been stuck on this place's weird timetables. He woulda been able to hunt whenever he wanted, or would have at least had more opportunities. In that way, it's Landel's fault. Otherwise?" His tone was lighter than usual, and lazy. He followed his words with a short chuckle and a shake of his head.

"Nah. We're demons. That's what we are. We devour our own kind to survive and if we don't -- you saw." Heat had never been one to beat around the bush and he saw no reason to start now. He'd never feared retaliation, either. In fact, he was smirking a little as he turned his head to gauge the man's reaction. "Why's it matter? You make friends with him or somethin'?"

He'd called his name out then, hadn't he? It figured that the Lokapala leader would have made other acquaintances before he'd arrived. That was probably why he and Argilla got along so well. They were companionable. Heat just ran people off.

[human_sponge]

The moment that Heat used the word 'hunt,' Peter felt that his question had already been answered. It seemed like there was an uncomfortable weight in his stomach now, and he shifted slightly, disturbing the ground around him. His shoes scraped against the dirt and he frowned to himself. As he'd thought, then. Roland had lied to him, or at least kept something from him.

There was that word again. Demon. So Alita had guessed right. This meant he really was going to have to ask Sam about all of this. Not that he imagined his roommate knew anything about Roland or Heat, but he'd probably be pretty interested to know that there were apparently demons in this place. Peter would have to be careful with how he told him, though.

While Peter had been planning to ask Heat what he meant by "our own kind," he was derailed from that when the redhead asked what he took to be a pretty flippant question. How could he be so calm about this when Roland had just died because of this place?

"Yes," he said, harsher than he'd planned, and yet he didn't regret it. "We talked sometimes, but I never knew that... that he could turn into something like that. Aren't you his friend?" Heat wasn't acting like it now, but Peter also knew it could just be a kind of defense mechanism. Because some people couldn't show how upset they were in front of strangers.

[idontregret]

"His comrade," Heat corrected. "Or I guess maybe... he's the comrade of my comrades. We didn't actually work together much before." No, he'd been too busy trying to destroy everything that had ever meant anything to him. His mind was a still a bit too fuzzy at the moment for him to try and work out a proper connection. He and Roland had some time to bond after death. That was what was important.

He shook his head. "Roland was more sociable than me. Most of them were. I'm not surprised he made friends with you." That certainly put him in an unfortunate position when the tuner had lost it then, didn't it? He'd probably been coming by to see him or something. Wasn't that how it always went? "Not surprised he didn't tell you, either. Why would he want to?"

Hadn't Peter seen?

"Issat all you needed?" He hoped so. It was far too easy to talk in his current state, especially since he didn't really have any reason not to.

[human_sponge]

So the relationship between the two wasn't even as close as Peter had guessed. Why had Heat been in such an uproar last night, then? Maybe it was due to the fact that even if he hadn't known Roland well, he still understood whatever had caused the man to go into that frenzy. And it was something that Peter would never truly be able to wrap his head around.

Even though he didn't like the way that Heat phrased it, Peter realized that he had a point. Why would Roland have told him that he sometimes turned into a monstrous thing that had to eat other people in order to survive? Especially with the way Peter had confronted him about the very person he was now talking to, he could see why Roland had kept his own secret from him.

That didn't make it hurt any less.

Heat seemed to want to get rid of him already, but Peter wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily. There was one thing that still didn't add up. "You said that you have to eat your own kind... but Roland tried to bite me." He glanced down at his arm, looking at the strip of bandages that peeked out from under his sleeve. "I'm not a demon," he finished as he looked back to the other man. He was a mutated human, maybe, but that wasn't the same thing as a demon the last time he'd checked.

[idontregret]

What, he wanted the whole explanation? Heat sighed, leaning his head back against the wall again where it lolled slightly. "Humans, demons... They've both got the right amount of..." What was the word? He gestured vaguely with one hand, trying to to get the proper terminology to come to mind with little success. "...Stuff. Normal food, normal meat... that won't do anything for us. Humans aren't as good as other demons either, but if we've lost it we aren't going to be able to tell the difference. If we're hungry enough we might not care anyway."

There were plenty of times in the past, once he'd reached the real world, that it hadn't mattered whether or not the soldier he was devouring was actually a tuner. It was all just another meal. It wasn't as if anyone in the Karma Society had been born a demon anyway. None of them had been.

He peered at Peter through a curtain of red, smirk gone but still somewhat apparent in his tone. "So yeah. Roland was a cannibalistic, man-eating demon. Just like me."

[human_sponge]

So either a demon or a human would do. Peter scratched the side of his head and then shoved some of his hair back behind his ear as he thought it over. When it was put that way, it almost made him think of vampires or something. Not that those were real, though... wait, hadn't he just been fighting off zombies a few nights ago? Maybe that was a better comparison.

Not that he was going to tell Heat that he was like a zombie, but it was similar.

The way the redhead tried to be so blunt and in-your-face about it was getting on Peter's nerves, but he tried not to let it show. With this new knowledge to work with, along with what Roland had told him about Heat, he couldn't judge him as harshly as he had before. He sighed and glanced at the man. "So that night when you tried to attack that girl... that was because of that hunger," he recalled.

Maybe it wasn't the best idea to bring it up again, but Peter wanted Heat to know that he hadn't forgotten. While he realized he had now become a victim of the same thing, he wanted to give Roland the benefit of the doubt. He wanted to assume that he had held back as much as he could have before giving in. In a way, Peter was glad that he was the one who'd been attacked, rather than some unconnected innocent.

[idontregret]

"Yeah, that..." The demon stopped mid-sentence, frowning and repeating what he'd said over in his mind. That night when he'd attacked... what girl? When had he fought a girl since he'd been in the Institute? For that matter, when had this man even seen him before? There'd been that girl on the rec field when he'd first arrived, but they hadn't actually fought so that didn't count. Bleary eyes focused a bit, and he uncurled just a little. "I haven't attacked any girl. What the hell are you talking about?"

Was there another tuner here he was being mistaken for? It might be possible in the dark - he wasn't the only one out of all the tribes with red hair. He thought he recalled someone else mentioning that he might have been there before as well, but he'd dismissed the issue soon after it had been brought up.

[human_sponge]

What? Peter stared over at Heat for a moment as he tried to determine if he was playing dumb or actually serious. It was only then that he noticed that the man's eyes weren't focusing properly, and that he was probably under the effect of a light sedative. It wasn't too surprising, with the mess he'd made at breakfast. Unless it'd happened even before all of that.

Did he really not remember? It was possible that he'd been in such a hunger craze that his memories of the incident were cloudy, but that was just Peter making conjecture based off of what he knew, which wasn't much. "You did," he said, his tone leaving little space for arguing. "It was a while ago. I didn't see you actually do it, but I saw the aftermath. It happened somewhere near the stairwell." It all still stood out clearly in Peter's mind. He'd been with Brooklyn that night. Brooklyn, who had been gone for a while now. He couldn't help hoping that the kid was all right, wherever he was.

[idontregret]

A while ago? How long ago was a 'while' in this guy's terms? Heat glared. He didn't need to be blamed for things he hadn't done on top of what he might do or had done. "I haven't even been here a week," he explained, "and I haven't attacked anyone aside from those that work here since then." Or perhaps that's what he was talking about? Except no... he hadn't attacked any of them near a stairwell.

"I would have remembered." If he'd lost himself to the hunger completely, it was doubtful he'd still be around. Even in a berzerker state when his thoughts were more animalistic, he still had enough control over his actions to recall what had happened once he returned to normal. This guy had to be referring to someone else.

Not that it was any of his business who he attacked in the first place.

[human_sponge]

Peter was no mind reader (not when he wasn't around that cop, anyway), but he was fairly certain that Heat was telling the truth. He'd seemed genuinely confused when Peter had brought up the attack, and yet he was certain that this was the same person he'd seen that night. Who else would have run around biting girls, anyway?

There was really only one explanation, then. Luckily, Peter was pretty familiar with the idea of people disappearing and then reappearing with no memories. Well, it wasn't lucky in that he'd had to go through it so many times already, but at least it meant that he wasn't too disoriented in this situation.

"I guess you were here before," he said as he glanced out across the courtyard. "Had anyone told you about that?" He looked back over to the sedated redhead and raised an eyebrow. It was odd to think that he could have spent a few days here and not have figured this out by now.

[idontregret]

"Someone might have mentioned it." Frowning, Heat tried to recall the conversation. He hadn't cared enough at the time. "It didn't make any sense then and it still doesn't. I haven't been here before." He normally would have used a harsher tone to argue with, but at the moment he just wasn't feeling it.

A sudden breeze made him shudder and his arms, already crossed against his chest, were pulled a little tighter to him. How long was he going to have to sit out there in the cold? A guy could get sick out here, and the nurses claimed to care about their patients' well-being. Thinking about the cold was a bad idea, as it only made him feel it more.

"I don't know who you saw before, but it wasn't me. It's impossible that it could have been." When would he have been brought there and why wouldn't he have any memory of it? Heat didn't pay much attention to the board except when it came to getting a hold of his comrades. There was a lot he'd yet to figure out.

[human_sponge]

For being a demon that had to eat other people in order to survive, this Heat guy didn't seem to have a very open mind. Peter let out a small sigh, more to himself than anything, as he prepared to explain. He knew that he wasn't obligated to give the information, but he'd come here with questions for the redhead, so it was only fair that he tell him something helpful in return.

"It happens more often than you'd think," he said with a shrug of his shoulders. "People will be here, then disappear and come back with no memories of that first time. It... it's happened to friends of mine," he admitted. Peter wasn't sure if he felt comfortable enough with this guy to start telling him about the whole saga with his brother. "Anyway, that time I saw you with the girl was more than a week ago, so that must be what happened." If Heat didn't want to believe him, then that was his own problem.

Despite Peter's lukewarm feeling toward this guy, he couldn't help but notice that he wasn't dealing with the cold well. As a New Yorker, he knew that he could handle this without too much discomfort, and in the end, Peter found it hard to be deliberately malicious. He started to shrug out of his coat. "Did you want another layer?" he asked.

[idontregret]

All Heat could think about when Peter mentioned him being there without his knowledge was the face of the man he'd been designed after - smiling, or rather half smiling since he had a tendency to look displeased more often than not, from the photographs Madame had shown him. Then there was the one from the recorded program, the one that looked just like him but happier, playing on the beach with the rest of his tribe. It wasn't possible, was it, that it could be one of them? Worse, there couldn't be another, could there? He was Heat. He was the only one left with this face and he didn't like the idea of someone that looked just like him waltzing around while he was unaware of it.

"That doesn't make any sense," he repeated, but with the distracted tone of someone already thinking about the possibilities. That was something to bring up on the bulletin, perhaps. Except then he'd have to deal with whatever morons felt like responding. Who knew if he'd even get a clear answer.

He didn't realize what Peter was doing until the man was already starting to shrug off his jacket. Heat looked startled and held out a hand to stop him. "I don't need your damn coat," he grumbled, and though he tried to wave off the offer it was clear he didn't know what to think of it. The demon hated showing weakness - especially his elemental weakness. And anyway, looking at Peter sitting around without a jacket on would just make him feel cold despite the extra layer.