[Day 2, Afternoon] Deeds in the Dark

[tsuki_no_noroi]

Who: Nii Jieni, Professor Hojo, possibly Tseng (closed)
Where: Hojo's house of science
What: After Rufus beats Hojo up; leaves, and after Nii Turk-naps Tseng. Shortly before lights out.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Snark.
Note: So totally breaking the no-more-day 2 posts thing, sorry D:

Comments

[hojo_hakase]

And there sat the origin of the sound. Hojo had managed to prop himself up against one of the counters and now sat trying to reach the freezer with the ice packs in it. His shirt was open, and his ribs were purple, probably fractured. One hand curled up uselessly against his side, swollen and equally severely bruised. It hadn't been a good few hours since Rufus had made his getaway, clearly, and it'd been a rather fortunate thing that the meeting had distracted anyone from curiously wandering in on it.

Except, of course, Nii. Hojo glanced up at the footsteps, met the man's eyes when he appeared from around the corner. Ah, of course. The specimen.

"So glad you could make it." Even if he was late. Hojo gave up on the ice packs, reaching instead for the edge of the counter, using his back to help push himself up. Oh, he was certainly not what he used to be. Without his power, to be reduced to his frail old man... How pathetic

[tsuki_no_noroi]

Nii raised an eyebrow, dragging the Turk in by one foot and depositing him in a corner. He reached to lock the door -- and realised that it was a key based lock and the key was gone.

Hm.

"I presume you presume correctly," Nii quipped back. "Did your last patient --oh, specimen-- escape and give you those souvenirs in the process?"

After all, there wasn't anything else in the city that would pose a major threat, and the monsters outside probably wouldn't leave anyone alive. He glanced over, propping up his own glasses. The bruises were well formed; it'd evidently been some time.

[hojo_hakase]

"Not a specimen, simply a very discourteous visitor. Don't be concerned with the door; I'll have uSUC change the locks. It's no matter." He pushed away from the counter tentatively, favouring one leg while he did his best to rebutton his shirt. With one hand severely beaten, it was easier said than done.

He studied the Turk in the corner, raised a brow. Well. That was unexpected. "Him?"

[tsuki_no_noroi]

Nii hunted for a cigarette as he leaned against a counter, not offering any assistance unless it was specifically requested. "A discourteous visitor? Someone you invited, I take it, since people don't randomly barge in and beat people up. Unless it's some of kind enemy?"

He even managed not to sound sarcastic. After all, if someone had randomly committed violence, well, there was a chance that Hojo was the first, but wasn't going to be the last.

He nudged the Turk with his foot. "Yes, him. He was a convenient target. Isolated."

[turks_honor]

Self-isolated, angry and outright foolish. While all of the above applied he was still alive. Though if that was good or bad was yet to be seen. Though he would be a trifle outraged to know his uniform was so casually trounced upon. Being nudged with his captor's foot, he made a soft, uncomfortable sound.

The quality of his unconsciousness was wavering, like one was so unconscious they weren't anymore. Or something of the sort. Maybe he was hallucinating, totally possible.

There were voices he could recall, but he couldn't bring names to the fore of his mind. Whatever they'd shot into him was keeping him quite down, quite hard. He was damn thirsty, but beyond that, he felt too numb. Sedatives were a bitch.

[hojo_hakase]

Well, that was terribly convenient by Nii's standards, he supposed. Hojo had expected a somewhat more rigorous selection process. The scientist hobbled over, inspecting the specimen as it groaned weakly. Awake but not aware, not fit to fight. Excellent.

"He belongs to the man who beat me. They'll notice he's gone quite quickly. We need to hurry; get him up on--"

And just like that, everything went black, and the loud speakers in the square let out a loud scream of feedback and suddenly fell quiet. Hojo frowned in the, dark, immediately turning to fumble near the doorframe, batting at the light switch with his finger. Click. Click. Clickclickclick.

"Hmm."

Nothing.

"How bothersome. Power outage, perhaps?"

[tsuki_no_noroi]

Well, of course Nii had been keeping a special eye on the Turks, but he wasn't about to admit it.

"Rufus Shinra?" he raised an eyebrow. "The blond? Now why would he prance in here and give you those love taps, I wonder?"

Well, if the specimen was coming back to life coming around, they'd best take those samples first. He'd just reached for the swabs, when the power went.

He sighed. When it didn't come back on after ten seconds, he sighed again.

"Possibly. Is there a torch around here?"

[turks_honor]

The voices persisted, crashing into his skull with a foce he considered unforgiving-- or was that him making that noise? He couldn't tell and truth be told wanted nothing more than to curl up in a ball and shut out the world.

Even if the lights went out it didn't matter. Sensation the likes of something nearly hypersensitive were making themselves known, and he wasn't sure if he was clothed in normal clothes or if it was too rough to be considered fabric.

His eyes opened briefly, but he couldn't tell the difference between shut and open. Even if consciousness was coming to him, it slipped out from under him just as quickly as it came.

"Don't hurt... 'lna..." he croaked aloud, slurred and clearly not with the program, but getting there.

[hojo_hakase]

"Love taps." Hojo eyed Nii for a moment in the dark, and shuffled to the table, fumbling until he felt the smooth surface under his fingers. He smacked his hip on the edge and swore.

A torch? Hojo shook his head, scowling. Stupid... "It didn't come high on my list of requests from uSUC. I naively thought that ancient technology would be reliable if it had lasted this long."

The timing was quite convenient. Hojo couldn't help but suspect that there were other elements at work; a thought that both amused and annoyed. Their timing could have been better, but now he rather wanted to know who was responsible. Meet them. See if they were worth his time.

The soft, weak voice of their captive cut off his thoughts, and he tapped the tabletop impatiently. "You can grab him well enough, can't you? Follow the groaning."

A light formed, distant through the high slats of windows, coming from the square - just enough to cast the room in a cool glow. How perfect. They'd need to make quick use of it, should it be brief.

"Haul him. I'll get the

[tsuki_no_noroi]

"Love taps," Nii grinned cheerfully back, unable to see the eyeballing, but generally sensing it. "Whatever the problem is, it seems to be large scale. Lights are down all over the city."

His grin stretched a little more. "Oh, we're going to have monsters. How nice."

The moan from the captive made him want to sigh and roll his eyes. It never rained but poured, it seemed. The drug was supposed to keep him out for longer than that, and if there had been light, Nii would been able to find more sedatives. Milder sedatives. He wasn't sure if he wanted to shoot him again, even if he did have more rounds in his dart gun. He'd probably take out an eye by accident or kill him from overdosing, and then there would be questions"Mm," he said, in response to Hojo's brusque tone. Nice to be working with someone who had his priorities right, instead of that soft-hearted Dr Hwan back at the Tenjiku labs, or his other minions, who were good at getting work done, but woefully lacking on the initiative scale. Getting his hands under the Turks' arms,

[turks_honor]

Would strapping down be such a necessity when he was still dead weight? Hauled on top of the table, he couldn't make a move to protest if he wanted to. Silence ensued, save for the slightly strained breathing.

Whatever bid for consciousness he'd tried to grapple with had slipped from him, and left him completely dead to the world. Too bad it was all going to hell outside. What more to explain his dissapearance with, or to distract fellow Turks with? Prime opportunity, wasn't it?

[hojo_hakase]

Not a necessity for now, perhaps, but who knew how long he might be kept here? Hojo worked in the half light, pulling straps tight across Tseng's forehead, chest, hips, knees, all along his arms to keep him nice and still. He went at his mouth, pried open his jaw and a gloved hand pushed the swab in, swept it across the inside of Tseng's mouth. He pinched his tongue, keeping it out of his airway as he shut the Turk's mouth again.

He looked to Nii. Monsters. In any other circumstance, Hojo might have been thrilled at the prospect; now, it was just another inconvenience, another danger to be wary of. They were sitting ducks in this place, particularly if the monsters heard the sounds outside, felt the distress.

"Where did uSUC put the weapons, Nii." There was no tone of inquiry to it - more a demand than anything.

[tsuki_no_noroi]

"Hm. Now that, I wouldn't exactly be privy to. I could have checked, except..." Nii gestured around in a vague way, indicating the dead power.

"And you didn't have any weapons on you. It wouldn't be nice to steal someone else's, would it?" He grinned. "We could search the city, but from the plans, it seems that there are any number of places that could be converted to storage. On a purely practical basis, I'd hazard to say that they aren't very far from the spaceport."

He was actually being somewhat helpful. And with only the slightest bit of sarcasm. Sometimes, Nii surprised even himself.

[turks_honor]

Straps? He must have posed a serious annoyance to them if they were so adamant to keep him still and lying down. Unecessary, but he figured they would rather be safe than sorry.

Noth withstanding that a scientist had taken him out. But these things happened... sometimes.

Though his mouth was casually invaded he was relatively dead to the world. The brief stint previous was just an anomaly at best. Though the best souce for DNA was blood instead of mouth tissue. With the power out and facilities lacking, hopefully they wouldn't take drastic measures.

The darkness wouldn't let him dream, chemicals working to keep him in a stative coma, so to speak, though nothing nearly as drastic. Once they wore off he'd be awake, if not groggy.

Please to be punching me in the fact for taking so long, k. ;;

[hojo_hakase]

Something to keep in mind. Hojo eyed the other man, a very thin smile crossing his face; he had to have something to gain from it, of course, and Hojo doubted he was involved in this plan given the inconvenient timing. Did it shake Nii, to think that he may no longer be the one in charge? Was he helpful because he realised that the rug had been pulled from under him?

Did he need Hojo? ... No. But Hojo was suddenly a stronger asset than he had been before, it seemed, if he was willing to offer more than facetious responses.

Hojo capped the swab, placing it on the far table. The darkness was beginning not to matter. Once he was orientated, his memory was precise enough to allow him to maneuver with surprising efficiency, even ambling along with his wounds as he was.

"What to do with the source material, I wonder...? He could be quite the detriment if he's permitted to continue his existence. On the other hand, I imagine that, given that you assigned this task, you have your own opinions on that."

*punches*

[tsuki_no_noroi]

Nii... frankly couldn't be entirely bothered about the sudden change in circumstances. He was more than capable of looking after himself, held no love for the present circumstances or present regime. Life was simple when the only one you really answered to was yourself.

And Hojo was no stronger and no weaker an asset. He was simply there, and perhaps Nii was getting a bit more used to him, or perhaps baiting him was no longer quite as fun.

"We could pack it in ice and put in a fridge," Nii suggested, lighting up a cigarette. The flash of the lighter cast a brief glow. "Oh. You meant the original sample." Nii glanced at him. "I daresay his disappearance would not go unremarked, though. Perhaps there's some way of altering memories..."