Day 50: Courtyard

[hasnomeaning]

Again, there were choices. After leaving the child and the animal, Rei had followed again. When prompted where she wanted to spend time, the pilot had no preference. If they wished her to do something, they would place it before her. If they left her with options, she would take the ones they did not want. So her response was minimal, and so the

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[scintillatingly]

With the way that Ritsuka described it, that really didn't sound too bad. Sora eyed the small ripples of the pond water and rested his chin on his knees as he thought it over. Maybe it would have been nice to talk to someone like that, but he could usually just use his friends for that sort of thing, so there didn't seem to be much of a point when he knew he wasn't sick. Still, he was glad that things had worked out for Ritsuka, and that some people could get along with their doctors.

"Hopefully you guys can get to know each other well even now, then," he said, glancing back to the other boy with a smile. "I mean, it should be easier now, right? Since you can see each other more than once a week." And if the man was still a doctor, then maybe he could continue to give Ritsuka advice about things and hear him out. Seeing how the boy had so much to deal with here, maybe he needed it.

Everything Ritsuka was saying about the visitors Sora agreed with, but there was one thing that stood out to him. "The person you saw had been here before?" he asked with a tilt of his head. "Who was it?" There was a chance that Sora had never known them, but he wanted to check just in case. If it was a friend that he'd long ago had to admit was gone, then he wanted to know that they were okay.

[forgot_it_all]

Ritsuka brightened at the thought that he and Muraki could get to know each other better and nodded. "Yeah, that's what I'm hoping. Sensei is a good person, and since he doesn't know much about this place anymore, he's going to need allies. I'm hoping Soubi and I can help him out some, although I don't want to crowd him, you know?"

Maybe he'd even be able to get Muraki to take a photo with him when he settled a little more and felt more at ease around Ritsuka. They'd never been able to do that before because the Institute sort of forbade that whole contraband thing, but Muraki had been understanding. He'd even offered to print the photographs out for Ritsuka once, before he disappeared.

Stretching his legs out in front of him, Ritsuka felt the camera's weight and glanced over his shoulder. The nurses were watching since they were so close to the pond. It wouldn't be a good idea to try and make a memory with Sora. They'd have to wait until later, when the hawks weren't circling overhead.

"Who was it?"

Sora's question caught Ritsuka off guard and he hestitated a bit longer than he normally would in answering. "Oh, uh...did you ever know Alfons? Blond teen, blue eyes, from Germany. He liked technology a lot and was friends with Ed and with me and Miku." Both who were now gone. "It was him. He disappeared a long time ago and...I worried he was dead or something worse, but he seems to be doing well. Really well. It was...surprising. In a good way."

[scintillatingly]

It was true that new patients needed all the help that they could get. Someone who had been qualified to be a doctor was probably pretty capable, but still, Sora could understand why Ritsuka felt obligated. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind your help," he said with a smile. "But who's Soubi?" Sora didn't think he'd heard the name before, but now he felt like he was supposed to. Sometimes it was tough to keep track of all the names he heard here, especially of people who he'd never met. And yet... why did it sound so familiar?

When Ritsuka suddenly started to look around, Sora glanced down at the item of interest and took note of the camera in the other boy's lap. Whoa, he'd actually found one of those? Sora had never come across one, though he wasn't sure how much help it would be. It wasn't like a camera could hurt a monster, after all. Still, it was a neat thing to see.

Whatever Ritsuka was thinking about, it seemed to pass as he moved on to answer his question about the visitor. When Sora heard the name, he made sure to think far back, but it wasn't ringing any bells. He remembered Ed, and even Miku sounded familiar, but not Alfons. Even though he hadn't known him, though, he was glad to hear that he was doing well.

"He thinks he's... supposed to be in this world, right?" he asked with a frown. "That's how it was with my visitor, too, but I don't think he was ever at Landel's." Sora would have known if Donald had shown up here. Unless...

Had Donald been here before him? But no, that wasn't possible. He wouldn't believe that.

[forgot_it_all]

Without realizing it, Ritsuka's face flushed slightly when Sora asked about Soubi. "Soubi's a friend," he said, almost a bit too quickly for his own tastes. Taking a mental step back, Ritsuka tried again. "A friend from home. He's an adult, but he takes good care of me." They were partners after all, but Ritsuka had always hoped it was more than that which kept Soubi around. "...I rely on him a lot. Maybe too much, but he's important to me."

It wasn't until those last words tumbled out of his mouth that he thought that maybe he was saying too much. It wasn't like Sora was asking for an in-depth on how confusing his relationship with the Fighter was. He was just...asking who he was. Time to switch subjects. "Um anyway yeah, Alfons thinks this world is his own and he doesn't seem to remember anything that happened here at night, or rather thinks it's like some kinda dream or whatever. It's frustrating, but there's not much we can do to convince them otherwise. I'm just glad that they don't end up like those people in Doyleton. Alfons said he slept pretty well at night, and those people looked like they hadn't slept all week."

The nurses were starting to move now and Ritsuka frowned, hiding the camera from sight by pulling his knees up to his chest. He really didn't want to get it taken away after all the work he and Soubi had gone through to find it in the first place. But at the same time...he wasn't sure when he'd see Sora again and he was missing out on taking a lot of photographs lately. Leaning in toward the other boy, Ritsuka lowered his voice and whispered, "But anyway, I have a question for you - don't tell the nurses I have this yeah? They'll take it away. But do you want to make a memory together? It'll have to be quick, but we're both busy so I don't know when I'll see you again."

[scintillatingly]

So, a friend of his from home. That was a simple enough answer, although Ritsuka seemed to have a lot to say about Soubi. Sora knew how that was, since it wasn't as if he would have been able to describe either Kairi or Riku in just a word, if asked. Unless he was trying to keep things simple, but "best friend" didn't quite cover it. "I don't think it's bad to rely on people," he said with a smile and a shake of his head. Other people made them stronger; Sora knew that was true for him, at least, so maybe it was the same for Ritsuka. Or maybe the younger boy just need an adult to help him through all of this, which made sense too.

As Ritsuka moved on to explain how Alfons had acted, Sora nodded as he thought it over. That all made sense in terms of what this place did, as sad as it was. Then again, the fact that Ritsuka's friend was sleeping well for once did sound nice. Sora still missed his old bed back home sometimes, as much as he tried to make himself focus on the present and what he had to do. The beds here weren't all that comfy, and they didn't really get much of a chance to sleep in them. Not really.

The idea of Donald or any of the other visitors turning into zombies was pretty scary. Then again, Sora had seen Donald as little more than a mummy, but... this would have been different. He was glad to know that that probably wasn't happening, at least.

When Ritsuka clutched at his camera and then leaned toward him, Sora immediately knew that he should so the same and drew closer. He violently shook his head when the other boy asked him to keep the camera secret. No way would he tattle on a friend like that! As for the question itself, Sora was a little confused (make a memory?), but he got the general idea. "You mean take a picture?" he asked, tone hushed. "Sure, I don't mind!" He scooted a little closer to the other boy, figuring that it would be easier to take the photo that way.

[forgot_it_all]

Ritsuka didn't want to rain on Sora's parade, but he wasn't sure if he could accept that it wasn't bad to rely too much on people. He'd relied on Seimei for so much and then Seimei had left. His mother had relied on Ritsuka and Seimei both to save her and then she'd lost them both and gotten a stranger in her baby's place. His father relied on Ritsuka's silence and his mother's negligence to go on with his life where he didn't have to be bothered by his crumbling household. Ritsuka had seen what happened when someone relied too much on one person and that person was taken away. He didn't want to hurt like that again, but he also didn't want to stay alone forever.

The term "a double-edged sword" had never been so appropriate.

But rather than stay on that subject, Ritsuka turned toward his distraction and nodded, smiling a little when Sora agreed to the photograph. He usually didn't mind when people didn't understand what he meant by making memories, so Sora's momentary confusion didn't faze him. Not everyone understood the importance of the camera and its impact on Ritsuka. Not everyone needed to know. It usually made people pretty happy, even without the knowledge of the reason why. "Great, just gotta do it quick."

Checking over his shoulder, Ritsuka scooted closer to Sora and turned the camera on. He put his head as close to Sora's as he could and said, "Count of three. One." He raised the camera and held the button down halfway, smiling as the camera got ready. "Two." He could hear the camera start to focus in on them. "Three."

The lens snapped and after holding still a moment longer, Ritsuka pulled away and checked the nurses again. They weren't looking yet, but he could see them starting to talk among themselves. Maybe the shift was ending soon? Or maybe they'd seen the camera. Ritsuka hoped it wasn't the latter. Turning back, Ritsuka clicked the camera over to the display function and showed Sora the photograph they'd taken. "What do you think?"

[scintillatingly]

The moment that Ritsuka got a little closer to him, Sora also took the cue to scoot in. It wasn't like they could ask one of the nurses to take it for them, since Ritsuka probably wasn't supposed to have that camera in the first place, and so they were just going to have to do it on their own. It looked like Ritsuka was pretty accustomed to doing this, though.

When the other boy started to count down, Sora waited for him to approach three, and once it was close enough, he broke out into the best grin that he could manage, which was a pretty huge one. It was the least that Ritsuka deserved!

Unfortunately, it wasn't like they could linger in that pose for too long, and so Sora made sure to move away from Ritsuka once the picture was done so that they wouldn't attract too much attention. It looked like they'd gotten away with it, probably thanks to the fact that the courtyard was so spread out.

Sora actually didn't know that much about cameras, but he'd been hoping that Ritsuka's was the kind where you could actually look back on the photo immediately. There wouldn't be much point to it otherwise, since he doubted there was any way to develop them here. Luckily, it wasn't that kind, and a second later Ritsuka's was showing him the picture.

With the sun and the pond behind them, it had come out really well! Sora smiled down at it and nodded. "That looks great! But you should probably put it away now. I think they're going to come get us for dinner pretty soon." Still, mission accomplished. Now Sora kind of wished he had his own camera...

[forgot_it_all]

Sora had a nice smile. It was open and kind, bright and sunny despite all the bad things that must have happened to him here. He had an honest smile, one that came from the heart and reflected the heart as well. It was the kind of smile that Ritsuka couldn't replicate and thus the kind he liked to take pictures of the best.

"Thanks. And yeah, I think they are." Reluctantly, Ritsuka clicked the power button to the off position and then hid the camera back inside his waistband. It was times like these that he was thankful he was so skinny. If he were any bigger, the camera would show up through his shirt. "...And thanks. If I can ever get these developed, I'll give you a copy, okay?"

Ritsuka wasn't sure when that could happen, but he did know that printers existed somewhere here. Maybe one night he could steal into the doctors' offices and try to print them out there. He wasn't sure how well that would go, but it was worth a shot. Before Ritsuka could say anymore, he noticed the nurses heading their way and sighed. Time to go get ready for the night then. Pushing off the ground, he climbed to his feet and gingerly touched his shoulder before smiling faintly at Sora. "You take care, okay? Don't go anywhere until I get the photograph to you."