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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[laguz_decoy]

Breakfast had been interesting, to say the least. Ranulf found that he enjoyed "sausages" (though they weren't as good as fish) and meeting Ritsu had been an interesting experience in itself. Before he'd gotten too in depth with him, however, a strange voice came from everywhere at once. The voice belonged to a man who seemed to be directing the days activities and if Ranulf hadn't known better he'd have thought it was the work of the goddess Ashera.

Before he could think much on this though, the same nurse as before had walked briskly over to him with what looked like more clothing. He supposed this meant he was going outside, which he had no objections over. He preferred the outdoors anyway.

Now he found himself in a courtyard, head tilted upward and eyes closed, tiny droplets of moisture cooling his skin. He'd taken the shoes, but had refused the sweatshirt and coat, wanting to surround himself by means of the cool air. He couldn't quite explain the feeling, it just felt... real.

After doing this for a moment, he gazed around the courtyard studying the various patients. He didn't see Tsubaki or Ritsu anywhere, causing him to emit a tiny sigh. Still being very apprehensive to beorc, he wasn't sure if he could introduce himself to any of them in this strange place.

He spotted a young girl sitting alone on a bench near the pond, her eyes glazed over in what could only be deep thought. She looked as lonely as he felt, seemingly preoccupied with a blank leaflet on her lap. He wondered if she wrote reports too. In a way, she reminded him of Ike's younger sister Mist, causing Ranulf to grin a little in spite of himself. Her non-threatening appearance and the possibility they may have something in common gave him enough courage to introduce himself. He walked toward the bench shyly, and spoke.

"Hey... is it ok if I sit here?"

[hajike_tobiume]

Pulled from her thoughts, Momo looked over, turning a bit more toward him than most people usually do to make sure she saw him, and gave the one that spoke to her a smile.

"You are welcome to it," she said. The man seemed a bit shy, but that was alright. "Though I confess I may not be the best conversationalist at the moment." She tilted her head a little. "But a distraction may do me good. I am Hinamori Momo."

[laguz_decoy]

Happy to see a pleasant reaction, he returned a smile of his own and slid onto the bench.

Ranulf laughed a bit at her statement, his expression taking on a quirky smile.

"Considering our current location, I'd say a distraction would do you more than good, yeah?"

Remembering the beorc tradition for introduction, he extended his hand for a "handshake" and replied with his own name.

"They call me "Alex" here, but you may call me Ranulf."

[hajike_tobiume]

A bit of a giggle came from the shinigami as she took Ranulf's hand.

"You may be right about that," she replied. "And this place likes to call us a lot of things that aren't true. Sadly, you get used to it after a while."

[laguz_decoy]

He nodded and was glad to find yet another person who seemed to be experiencing what he was. It helped reassure him his identity was factual and that he wasn't as crazy as the nurse seemed to think he was.

His gaze fell once again on her blank tablet, and he nodded at it.

"Writer's block?" he asked with an interested expression.

[hajike_tobiume]

With a shake of her head, Momo replied, "Lack of inspiration. I draw. Normally my hand will have a mind of its own when I am idling about, but not today."

She smiled. "Do you have any artistic talents, Ranulf-san?"

[laguz_decoy]

Ohhh, so she was an artist. Ranulf hadn't drawn many pictures before, other than scratch-maps of guide routes and illustrations of surrounding country for the King.

His eyes widened at her next question. He was taken aback for a moment, but gave her a jovial response and decided to demonstrate one of his talents.

"Probably not artistic, but I do have some talents?" He said as he stood up and peered into the water. "Would there happen to be any fish in this pond?"

[hajike_tobiume]

Momo giggled, covering her mouth. Ranulf was cute and so... new. She'd forgotten what it was like to see people before the reality of their situation came crashing down upon them.

"There are," she replied, "though only during the day would I suggest fishing."

[laguz_decoy]

Ranulf sat down again, wrestling with his shoes to pull them off. The nurse had tied them rather tightly. He figured Momo was referring to the "monsters" Tsubaki had mentioned the night before. After finally popping his right shoe off, he started on his left and turned to face her as he did, grunting with effort.

"You're referring... grrnnff... to the "monsters"... mmmnnff... right?" The left shoe flew off, going three feet in the air and landing on the wet grass with a dull "thud". "Oops..." he said, laughing a little.

"I was told about them last night, and was hoping it to be a nightmare." He said as he rolled up his pants to knee-length, once again giving her the same quirky smile. "Heh, a nightmare within a nightmare. Maybe I do belong here."

[hajike_tobiume]

Tilting her head, Momo watched in amusement.

"Yes, those. I wish I could tell you it was a nightmare that you could wake up from," she replied. "If you belong in here, then so do I."

[laguz_decoy]

He stood up removing his shirt and undershirt revealing his muscular torso. It was chilly of course, but as a laguz he'd been through conditions many times worse than this, so being "chilly" was a luxury. He didn't need to get his clothing soaked more than necessary and he'd have probably jumped in the pond in the buff, but knew from beorc customs that he had better keep his pants on at least.

He silently slipped his feet into the water, eyes darting back and forth as they concentrated on the dull shadows in the shallow pond.

"Well then," he said just loud enough for Momo to hear, his back to her as he kept his vision focused on several targets. "...I guess we're both crazy."

[hajike_tobiume]

...though Ranulf may be a bit more crazy than Momo. There was no way the shinigami would have gone into the pond, even during the day. Especially, during the day. She glanced over at the nearest nurses, finding they were currently engaged in conversation and hadn't yet caught sight of the shirtless patient up to his knees in the pond.

"So it seems..." A pause and then she started drawing the man as he was in the water. "Just a friendly warning that the staff may not agree with you about your method of fishing. Aren't you cold?"

[laguz_decoy]

If Ranulf hadn't been so mesmerized by the darting shadows, he probably would've taken Momo's warning about the staff into heavier consideration. He continued a little deeper into the water, his eyes finally focused on a single target.

"Cold?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "Yes, to an extent. I've been in colder situations than this though." He sounded highly distracted, as he brought his arms up to his chest, hands poised in front of him, fingers twitching. This was it. He pulled his elbows back to strike AND LUNGED...

Unfortunately, he'd forgotten that he no longer possessed a tail, and his eyes went wide as he lost his balance. Windmilling his arms in the air, he emitted a "Wh-WHOOAAAA..." and fell face first into the pond. The splash was a large one, simultaneously scaring off any chance of a "breakfast snack" and possibly alerting the staff.

Coughing and sputtering, he stood up out of the water completely drenched, his turquoise hair matted to the sides of his face. He wiped some the wet hair from his eyes and gave Momo a sheepish grin while laughing at himself.

"I- I guess I missed!"

[hajike_tobiume]

After the initial surprise, in which Momo set her sketchpad down and approached the edge of the water, she giggled. She probably shouldn't be laughing, but Ranulf was already laughing and sometimes it was best to just let these things be laughed off.

"Must be an extra-speedy fish," she replied, still giggling a little. "Are you alright?"

[laguz_decoy]

He nodded, the pond water dripping from his bangs. "I'm alright... for the moment."

Remembering Momo's warning, he cast a look over at the group of nurses on the other side of the courtyard. It seemed, even with his big splash, they were still preoccupied. Silently thanking Ashera, he slipped out of the water and back onto the shore, snatching up his undershirt and pulling it hastily over his head. He'd been so excited to be outdoors he'd momentarily forgotten where he was.

He quickly sat back down on the bench, hoping not to attract any unwanted attention as he unrolled the cuffs of his thoroughly soaked sweatpants. Hopefully, the nursed wouldn't notice that either. He looked up at Momo as he pulled the other grey shirt over his head, the adrenaline still pumping through his veins giving him the ecstatic expression of someone who'd gotten away with something.

"That was close. I was so preoccupied by the fish, I'd almost forgotten where I was!" he said, silently chuckling in relief.

[hajike_tobiume]

"It was still quite impressive," Momo replied, stifling another chuckle. An impressive fall, at the very least. It was odd, though, how off-balance Ranulf had seemed. If he was used to fishing like that, wouldn't his balance have been better?

Collecting her sketchpad, making sure to sit where the bench was still dry, she angled the paper toward him. Upon it was the basic sketch of Ranulf in the water. Even though it was far from complete, it was clearly him in it. "You did give me some inspiration, though. You aren't going to catch a cold sitting out here in wet clothes, are you?"