Day 59: Game Room (Fourth Shift)

[razing_phoenix]

Guy's head was still spinning from finding out that his friend was back once again. He realized that he'd done a good job of keeping his cool while explaining everything to Luke, mainly because nothing would have been solved if both of them had been reeling, but

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[damned_soldiers]

As the soldier strode from the cafeteria toward the Game Room (there was too much happening in the Sun Room at the moment to even think of placing herself there), she listened to the intercom announcement as usual.

It went normally enough at first, but then something went horribly wrong. What was that man doing? The woman couldn't stop herself from letting out a sigh and placing a hand to her forehead, even if it shattered the more composed front that she'd been putting forward during her conversations.

Really, Harrington?

Well, the damage had already been done. There was no point in dwelling on it, and so the soldier went and grabbed herself a deck of cards. She took a seat at an empty table and started to shuffle them, curious to see if anyone would be interested in a game or even just a conversation.

[Free for anyone to talk to!]

[ofthemotions]

After lunch, Mikado found himself shuffled around again until he was well-naturedly pushed into a small room. A room he quickly recognized, as this was where he came across Izaya for the first time. Or... where the man came across him, was more truthful, he guess. Ah.... At least there had been time enough to post something he'd been working on for a little bit. Nerves jangling, Mikado wondered what the reception would be like. And exactly how many members were here. If it were anything like that time

[damned_soldiers]

Well, that wasn't how she'd expected to be approached.

Her instincts had made her aware of when the boy took his fall, though she didn't have reflexes quite fast enough to get completely out of the way. What happened in the end was very marginal, though; his hands had knocked against one of the chair legs, causing it to shift slightly, but that was all.

There was nothing to be angry about, and if anything, she felt compelled to show concern. "Don't worry about it," she said with a shake of her head. "Are you all right? Do you need medical attention?"

She was only asking as a pretense. A fall like that was hardly serious, but just in case, she had better check. Her guess was that he had handled much more severe dangers during the nights here, though.

[ofthemotions]

Her concern was mildly embarrassing--his eyes slanted to the side, a hand moving to his hair. "No, I'm fine, I...." He glanced back at her, making sure he hadn't really upset her, and noticed something he should have from the start. She was... wearing what all the soldiers were wearing. And was just sitting there with a deck of cards like it was normal. Did he miss something? Or was this something abnormal that was touching this place?

...He realized he was staring at her, and instantly looked down. "Ah, sorry to have disturbed you. I didn't mean to. Um. Interrupt...." Her card playing.

[damned_soldiers]

This one really didn't know what was going on, did he? Or maybe he was just the sort of person who had his head in the clouds all the time. Not the best soldier material, but that almost made him stand out more. There had to be a reason he'd been picked by Aguilar (or Landel, she realized), unless there had been a mistake.

Of course, his age was also something that stood out, but she tried not to dwell on that point too much. As he apologized again, she shook her head. "That's fine. I'm here to talk, so if you don't have anything else to do, you're free to take a seat."

Now, would he get over his flustered state enough to take the opportunity, or was she going to end up scaring him away?

[ofthemotions]

He had wondered if he should start edging away and try to escape her further notice when she explained her reason for being here. The boy paused in his fidgeting, straightening somewhat to look at her in curiosity. Another soldier to talk to? Izaya would be better at something like this. But Mikado couldn't pass up the opportunity. He moved around the table, slipping into the seat opposite. "Just talk? Like last night?" he asked to clarify. "I don't really know anything about..." Mikado glanced to the side. "Moles or anything. I'm sort of new here."

...Possibly too much information. And she might not even be interested in things like that. He was off-balance from this. After dealing with the grunts and commands of the soldiers for the past days, someone from their group addressing him as a person was almost strange. What was different?

[damned_soldiers]

Last night? The soldier wasn't entirely sure what the boy was getting at initially, and was mainly just surprised (pleasantly so) that he'd taken her up on her offer. It wasn't like she enjoyed the idea of such young people being here, but maybe speaking with him would shed some light onto why he'd been picked out specifically. In any case, young soldiers weren't as uncommon as most people would be led to believe.

"That's fine," she said with a shake of her head. "But are you saying that you were able to speak with Major Harrington last night?" If so, then that was certainly a good conversation starter. If someone new had managed to make his way up to speak with the major, then that stood out all on its own, didn't it?

[ofthemotions]

Hm. She seemed pretty low key about this. Something in him relaxed further and he nodded to her. "Yes, myself and another visited him last night." And by that, Mikado meant that Izaya talked to Harrington while the soldier occupied Mikado with flame tricks.... Not that Mikado would complain, really. It was definitely something interesting. He wondered if she had something she was supposed to find out, too. She couldn't really just be randomly talking to people, right?

...Though having her here gave him a good chance to try to get some information on what all this was. A part of him felt ill-experienced to do so. He was new here, a level one character, and really, shouldn't he just fall back and listen? Still, if he just fell to silence, nothing would get accomplished. At least if he tried.... He came to a decision and looked at her firmly. "I'm Ryuugamine Mikado," he said. "Pleased to meet you. Will you answer questions if I ask you them?" He paused, then continued. "Would you tell me why we've all been taken here?"

[damned_soldiers]

So he really had found Harrington last night. The soldier couldn't speak too highly of the man after that slip-up with the intercom announcement, though it wasn't really her job to pass judgments on her fellow soldiers anyway. She nodded, wondering why the boy didn't have more to say than that.

Before she could ask more about it, though, the teen offered a name and then asked a question of his own. She couldn't ignore it, especially when he had recovered from his embarrassment earlier and was attempting to be straight-forward with her now. It felt a little bit like he was trying too hard, but he was still making the effort.

"I can't say too much on that specifically," she admitted, "but I'm more than happy to answer your questions. How much I can say depends on what you ask." She paused then and tilted her head, not completely willing to give up the whole issue of last night. "Did Harrington tell you anything?"

[ofthemotions]

...Well, it didn't seem like he'd be getting a name from her. Hm. And she wasn't about to just hand him any answers, either. But she wasn't shutting down that method of communication. So basically, he'd have to be a bit more clever about it.

...Which, in the end, wasn't really his strong point, but he'd seen enough of it in media. And he had gotten to watch Izaya a bit last night... Which was either the man having a lot more information than he did or bluffing entirely. And if it was the latter, Mikado wasn't too sure if he could pull that off. Well. He could at least try to get some answers. "Just that he was looking for a few moles. The person I was with talked to him more than I did." Mikado had been... entranced like a child for half of it, but he wasn't about to tell her that. "I'm curious, actually," he started again, glancing at her. "Are we really in America? Where at?"

[damned_soldiers]

It didn't seem like this one was too interested in giving a lot of information out either. Or he didn't have a lot to tell. What he said about himself seemed to imply that he was a bystander more than someone who took action, and yet here he was talking to her. Then again, that had happened because he'd almost tripped into her, so...

The question he asked was typical of someone new, and her mouth quirked for a moment before she nodded. "Yes, we're in America. Whether it's the America you're used to..." She trailed off and shrugged. "Anyway, I can't say anything more specific than that. But where are you from?" The name he'd offered made it easy enough to guess. "Japan?"