Day 43: Courtyard, Third Shift

[oftemptation]

Once again, Endrance's nurse interfered with his plans. He had been planning to look around the Game Room, but the moment he began to move towards the Sun Room, she had taken him by the arm. "Your family has asked that we make sure you get as much fresh air and sunshine has possible, and you won't get that by staying inside playing video games all

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[notachick]

If there was ever anywhere he wanted to be during these free days, it was outside. The cold air didn't exactly help his condition, but he felt somehow freer out here, where he could see the sky stretching infinitely overhead. It was better than watching it pass him by through the skylight of the sun room, and here, he had a better chance that people wouldn't listen in. And he had a better chance to find someone. Unfortunately, when Okita emerged into the sunlight, he realized that certain someone wasn't here

[screwthegods]

It was colder than it'd been yesterday.

Unconsciously Homura folded his arms over his chest, a barrier against the chill in the air. A reflex, a gesture that almost bordered on a show of weakness, something that Homura wouldn't have done except...except. He wasn't thinking of outward appearances just then. He wasn't thinking of anything, except that one thing he couldn't stop thinking of.

Genjyo Sanzo--Konzen--Sanzo was dead.

He should have been planning for that night. Putting up a reminder, dividing the members into groups. He still had Adelheid's condition to consider, and his own goals. And the new patients: some had already shown interest, and Homura had--his group had suffered too many losses to ignore them

[notachick]

Such a pretty white, but hidden in the smallest grooves of the petals, Okita could see the hints of gray. It wasn't a pure white, it was nature's white, the kind that seemed beautiful until one looked too closely. The flower was pretty though, even with its imperfections, and Okita found himself running his fingertips along the curves of the petals ever so gently, trying to capture that feeling of near purity in his hands. He didn't seem to be gathering anything more than light puffs of pollen, however, and Okita pulled his hand back, searching the expanse of green before him for more flowers like this one. Hidden beneath the green, he could see them, dotted here and there - the last of the late autumn blooms

[screwthegods]

It was odd that he would have startled Okita so; like Homura, the man had the honed survival instinct of a warrior. The smallest sounds could be the only hints he might get before an enemy struck at his back, and missing those tiny warnings could prove fatal. Just what had Okita been thinking about so deeply then, that he hadn't realized Homura had approached

[dahliahasthorns]

Alright, fine then. Sync wasn't going to tell her anything new (wow, a man being useless! What a surprise!), and as long as he gave her what she wanted, she could care less about his basement-plots or whatever he was doing. Even following him around and pretending to be fascinated was marginally more interesting than playing someone who wasn't a challenge all night. He knew how she really was and he still put himself in danger by sticking around with her. If something bad happened to him, it wasn't her fault (well, it might be, but he was still the idiot

[fencing_captain]

Eating two breakfasts, even if they were both healthy, made Juri feel bloated. So she jumped at the chance to get outside. She first asked to get her outdoor shoes and a sweatshirt, then she was eagerly out in the cool air.

The nurse, though, seemed to have something against a girl exercising by herself at the field. Juri couldn't bully her way there either. So when the nurse deposited her near a pretty young woman who also had red hair, she began to suspect some kind of motive in it. There was no way the people here could know the inner working of her heart, and it wasn't just any girl that was going to trigger it either.

She crossed her arms, and tried to pretend she wasn't angry. She scorned the pretty just on principle. "Just so you know, I didn't ask for this," she said, deciding to be rude right off to see if that granted her any kind of reprieve.

[dahliahasthorns]

Aww, company (the nurses did not fail her)! And... grumpy company at that. Ugh, this was going to be fun.

Angry or not, Dahlia still made sure to cower under that empty, cold voice. She was so cold, she could only watch as the butterflies around her flew away! "Ah...!" Why would they bring her this of all people? ...At least she could probably defrost the ice queen better than she could that saucy little twerp. Introductions were in order.

"I'm sorry you don't want to be here." She held out a hand like a cute little girl attempting to be brave and failing miserably. After a few seconds, she dropped her hand into her lap and fiddled her thumbs in a nervous gesture. So scary! "I-I'm Dahlia. Dahlia Hawthorne."

[fencing_captain]

For once, someone seemed afraid of her frowns. Juri was so surprised, she almost dropped the facade. Well, not quite a facade, because she was genuinely angry to be dumped her, but it wasn't this Dahlia's fault. She dropped her arms though, and nodded in a real greeting.

"We have to make do, I suppose," she said, as if it were a great concession. Maybe this shift wouldn't be so tedious as she thought. "I'm Juri Arisugawa, Miss Hawthorne. Do they do this to you often?"

The nurses tended to do that kind of thing to many of the supposed patients here. Juri prefer to pick her own company, but without her familiar surroundings, she spent more time alone than not. Maybe the staff noticed, and didn't want that to continue.

[otnemememento]

Leonard's nurse left him alone in the Courtyard, claiming that the fresh air would serve him well. The sun was warm, the smell of grass hanging in the air. Guess I can't complain. Could be worse.

His hand trailed to his right arm, scratching at an irritated spot under a bandage. He flipped his journal open, scanning his notes. Whatever I did sure itches like h--

His thoughts were cut off as a dirtied, blood-stained picture dropped from his journal. He wasn't sure what to make of it- Looks like a great makeup job. God, it looks absolutely real. The note on the page from which the Polaroid had fallen was even more disturbing. It's my writing. God, what is this?

He looked around for a vacant spot, taking a seat on an empty patch of grass. He pulled two more polaroids from his pocket, returning the one of the monster to its appropriate page. It's hard to trust yourself when you're ranting about monsters in scribbled writing. Surely it was important at the time.

[For Anise]

[gald_digger]

The intercom announcements just kept getting more and more disturbing. Graduates, it said... Anise had feared as much, but it felt unreal to hear it confirmed like that. Did that mean her parents had been through what she was going through now? The thought made her feel a little sick

[otnemememento]

Leonard turned quickly, surprised by the interruption. He scanned the girl's face, quickly glancing back to the Polaroids he had sitting on the grass in front of him before returning his attention to her.

"Just trying to organize my notes, Anise," he answered, scribbling on one of the pages of his journal. "I have to keep them in some sort of an order so I know what's going on, what I need to do, what's real and what isn't."

He stuffed the two photographs into his pocket, setting his journal on the ground. "And yourself? What are you doing out here?"

[gald_digger]

It was nice that he gave a surprised reaction, but it just wasn't as satisfying as the screaming and jumping Guy would do whenever she did the same thing to him. It really was tough to get under this guy's skin, wasn't it? Even though she sort of managed to do it once last night.

Anise hummed at Leonard's answer, then sat down next to him. She supposed it was pretty common for some people to keep a lot of notes. She had a few of her own; mostly just maps and room numbers, though.

"Nothing really!" the girl replied in her usual chipper tone. "Just thought I'd get some fresh air, and I saw you here." She pulled her knees up to her chest and sighed. "Last night sure was disappointing, though. It's great that we're safe and all, but I was hoping we'd make it farther than that..." Even though getting out of the town probably still wasn't far enough to escape the institute.

[tofindherwings]

She'd spent her time after being separated from Rude people watching for the most part. Nurses, other 'patients' of this place. It was all good research since she didn't intend to be trapped here for too long, no matter what Rude had said. She trusted him, really she did, but they were Turks. They didn't get trapped. They were usually the ones doing the trapping after all.

The chance to go outside was something that she wouldn't pass up. The Courtyard seemed as good a place to start as anything. The walls were high, but not high enough to prevent someone scaling them. There had to be something else though to keep people from just bolting if the night was as bad as it was made out to be. It just wasn't visible which was a little irritating.

She settled for walking around the perimeter for now, looking for all the world like she was merely out for a stroll.

[For Reno]

[offduty]

Rude had said she'd be here, but it was still kinda a surprise. Been a hell of a long time, at least.

But hey, Reno was never gonna say no to having another Turk or another chick around. Two-in-one? Even better. Especially with what Yuffie had mentioned earlier about Kadaj being here. Goddamn. Little bastard just didn't stay dead, did he?

He hadn't been specifically looking for Cissnei when he decided to go for some fresh air (real fresh air, unlike the smog of Midgar), but when he spotted her wandering along, he made his way over. He walked forward, not slowing down even when it looked like they were about to crash into each other.

He flicked two fingers in a lazy salute. "Enjoying your impromptu R&R?"

[tofindherwings]

It was easy to just fall into an easy walk next to Reno when he arrived. Of course it was, she'd never left the Turks. Not in her mind at least, no matter what Rude said about how much time had passed. If she'd really been gone (comatose or whatever else) for such a long time, surely that would have been more difficult.

She smiled at him, tapping her lips with one finger. "Personally, I'd prefer the Costa del Sol if I was going to get a vacation, but at least you can breathe here without feeling your throat get coated with grime." Living in Midgar forced you to get used to it.

[offduty]

"Just about the only plus," Reno agreed.

He glanced at her again out of the corner of his eye. She looked same as ever, not a day older than when he last saw. (Of course, Reno would say that he didn't look a day older than whenever, either, but that was different). What with the whacky time travel stuff or whatever, he was willing to bet his dick and an inch that she wasn't exactly from where he and Rude and Elena were.

"Rude says you guys spoke," he went on. "He brief you good? 'Cause you know how he is when he has to use words."

[spandexorgtfo]

Kratos waited with almost bated breath for his nurse to once again lead him to one of the waiting rooms; he'd assumed that her silence on visitors was just accidental. However, as she led him out of the cafeteria, there was no word, so he ignored the tiny stab of disappointment and asked for some fresh air and the courtyard

[for_marian]

For his part, Leon was nothing but relieved when he was not led to either of the waiting rooms. That didn't mean he wouldn't have a visitor next shift, but at least this shift he was safe from that particular experience. Seeing this world's version of Hugo and Marian--still playing out the same awful roles--would be even worse if he had to face Stahn immediately afterwards. It had been bad enough when there was noone here who understood or knew anything about Leon's background.

Wandering out into the courtyard for some fresh air, Leon spotted a familiar form that he was rather happier to see. ... Though Kratos had seen Leon embarass himself completely after getting off the dratted bus, yesterday, he did also seem to be aware that Stahn was mostly to blame for the incident. Hopefully he wouldn't judge Leon too harshly for the moment of weakness. "Kratos."

[spandexorgtfo]

Kratos turned at the sound of a familiar voice. "Leon," he acknowledged with a brief nod. There was some amount of relief evident: Leon had nothing to do with Sheena, and the young man was always someone he never minded speaking to. "Your friend Stahn and I were wondering where you were last night."

He was unsure if he should mention the conversation they had had about Leon as well: he might assume that as a result Kratos pitied him, and that could not be farther from the truth. Rather, the older man had gained more respect for his fellow soldier whose own trials were as great as his own.

[for_marian]

"I woke back in my room this morning. I have no idea how I got there." It was a little sad to realise that this sort of thing no longer particularly surprised Leon. To be picked up from one place and dumped in another entirely unawares... it was becoming old hat, and that was a bad sign. Complacency could, at worst, get him killed and even at best it could have him missing vital opportunities. "Judging by the activity on the message board, I missed lot."

... and was Leon ever glad he did. Zombies were... a sore subject.