Yet another intercom jingle sounded, and the nurses, anticipating the Head Doctor's orders, already began grouping around the patients as he began to speak
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Talking with Hayes had somewhat improved his mood at least. It was reassuring to speak to someone who knew how the galaxy really worked... he hadn't had much opportunity to do that as of late. If nothing else, at least he had another person willing to help him try and find out what was behind those doors... he'd have to write up a copy of his list of materials for him.
The food tonight at least didn't seem as complicated as before... they reminded him of a tongue, somewhat. A little odd trying to eat it, particularly with his hands, but at least it wasn't a huge production like some human food.
He needed to try and get his thoughts together... night was going to fall, and if it was like any of the previous ones, things were going to get strange again.
Kirk was in remarkably good spirits when the day's activities ended, and could be heard chatting with the nurse as he approached M66. While she remained as professional as ever when it came to his overtures, he was still able to add an extra two minutes to the walk back with conversation. It wasn't much, but he'd take it.
He was still grinning when he stepped into the room and the nurse locked the door behind him, but his blue eyes took on a warmer light when he saw ZEX mangling his lasagna with his hands. While ZEX might rank high on the "weirdness" scale of roommates, Kirk found himself considerably more fond of him than some of the ones he'd had in the Academy.
"Hey!" Kirk walked to his desk, but ignored the food, instead pulling open drawers to assess his supplies. "How was your day?"
"Mm?" ZEX had been involved in his thoughts (and his struggle with the food), and hadn't heard him come in. He swiveled somewhat in his chair to face him properly. "Oh, hello. I was wondering where you were."
Not entirely true, but the sentiment of it was sincere enough. He did enjoy Kirk's company, even if it was in part because he reminded him a little of his lost Captain. "I spoke with your doctor friend today."
A few moments to think of what to say after that. After all, McCoy hadn't exactly offered him any solutions, but he hadn't expected any. "It was good to speak to someone knowledgable who could actually see what happened to me." That could work.
"Bones?" Kirk's eyebrows raised at the significant pause, and he stopped long enough in his search to look at ZEX. Bones wasn't exactly known for his warm bedside manner (especially when it came to insouciant command track students), but Kirk had bothered him enough in the Academy's medical facilities to understand that the man was a professional, first and foremost. If Bones wasn't the problem, then...
"So..." he began, but didn't complete the thought. Instead, he turned his chair towards ZEX and settled into it, taking the second to think through his approach. He didn't want to pry if ZEX would rather not speak of it, but knew well enough that sometimes people needed prodding to open up. "What did he say?"
More grabbing. They really were so grabby, the nurses, it just made her irritation grow. She hated being grabbed by anyone. For that matter, she hated being touched except by a select few people. Anyone else who'd tried grabbing her in Midgar, including other ShinRa employees, would likely end up with a broken wrist at the least. She spent most of her time entirely too wary of potential threats. It was what she was paid for after all.
The food smelled good, she had to say. And she ignored the nurse's comments in favour of checking it out. Ice cream was always good and she started eating that first instead of waiting for it to melt. The spaghetti could just wait.
The door opened, and Taura walked in, several strides ahead of the medtech, who was huffing and puffing in an effort to keep up. Taura, on the other hand, had a light flush from the cold, but no other signs of having just spent the last couple of hours playing volleyball, and then when that had proved a lopsided contest, jogging laps around the field. The staff had given up pacing her, and had settled for posting sentries at even stations.
She had smiled at each of them as she passed; she wasn't trying to run. Solo escape had been only a fleeting, quickly dismissed thought. They got out of here as a group, and that was that. It was the only acceptable answer.
"Dessert first? Never a bad plan." She wanted something warm, though, and poked a fork through the spaghetti. No meatballs turned up, so she just started twirling forkfuls of noodles. "Did you have any plans for tonight?" she added, around a mouthful of food.
Cissnei smiled when Taura returned, holding a hand up in greeting as she finished off her mouthful of ice-cream. "No point letting it melt, right?" she asked. "It's stupid giving it to use at the same time as the main meal." Not least because a nurse occupied with a serving tray was an easier target and she quite liked the idea of using a trolley to run down orderlies as she spend down the corridors of the Institute.
"I have nothing planned," Cissnei admitted with a shrug. She'd not really thought about it. There had been Zack and then there'd been the news about Reno which she still wasn't certain about but Rude wouldn't lie to her so it had to be true. "Ran into an old friend last night and headed upstairs but never came up with anything for tonight." He was probably going to see Aerith.
Taura was taking the other option for making sure her ice cream wasn't melted; the only way she could have eaten her food faster would be to have it ground up and injected. She mulled over her next question between alternate bites of salad and noodles.
Well, it had been on the bulletin; the History Club had some notion of operational security, but this had been out in the open. "My assignment is...downstairs. Have you been down there? Do you know what to expect?"
It was simultaneously both a completely logical and very strange direction to go. Go deeper in to get out. The staff -- as strange as it was to think of those things as staff -- had clustered around the entrance to the third floor, not the basement. Turning up to an important mission uninformed was not something she relished.
It's not your fault no-one ever told you, Taura.
It is my responsibility to ask. I'm asking. When did you stop asking questions, Miles?The version of the Admiral she kept around in her head to bounce ideas off of was markedly silent
( ... )
Once they were away from the Sun Room again Yukito found it a little easier to think -- but he still felt incredibly confused nonetheless. The fact remained, of course, that Fai was alive. As impossible as it was, his death in the arena hadn't been permanent. It was a relief, and yet still didn't relieve any of Yue's guilt, since the fact remained that he had died in the first place.
And then he was returning to his room and upon entering the room block remembered that morning, when Ken's side of the room had been unnaturally neat, like nobody had slept there at all. Would he return for dinner? Hopefully so -- Yukito didn't particularly want another roommate, and not just because there would be some awkward questions later on. He'd actually liked Ken; he was a nice enough person, despite what he'd said his occupation was back at home, and had tried to be helpful when he could
( ... )
Before he could process what was happening, he'd seen Lockon being herded away from the group during their abrupt and efficient (the first time he had ever considered something too efficient) change in shift. To call Tieria alarmed would've been an understatement, but there was little he could do about it with his own escort (and her syringe, no doubt) blocking him. He hadn't even been able to discern which direction he had gone in before he lost sight of him completely
( ... )
Meeting up with Cloud again had definitely been enough to make Zack's head spin, but he was glad that they'd found each other. It had been good to see his friend in such good health, and he seemed to have more faith in himself. He'd grown, probably in ways that Zack didn't even completely understand yet. But just seeing it in the younger man's eyes had been a relief.
It turned out that there were some perks to being stuck in some sort of experimental mental institute post-death. Who would have figured? At least he wasn't stuck in a tube and being infused with mako twenty-four-seven. It could have been worse.
On top of that, he was going to get to see Aerith tonight. Well, if he could find her. Zack wasn't one-hundred percent clear on where they were going, but he'd stumbled his way through places without maps before. (Not often, but at least he'd done it a couple of times.) Either way, he was determined that it would work out, and positive thinking could get you pretty far. He knew from personal experience that that didn't always
( ... )
Just as he finished confirming that the pens in his drawer could probably be fashioned into horribly crude weapons with correct materials, the opened door and footsteps had him whirling backward to look.
The man had a smile that was highly inappropriate for the situation they were in and hair that apparently defied the laws of gravity. He was approaching Tieria, too. All the outstretched hand got was another downward stare.
"Is it?" He didn't plan to return the comment; being greeted by this person he only just met didn't elevate his mood at all, so why would he? Tieria fixed some strands of his hair that had fallen out of place, and with that, he turned away to resume the task at hand by taking out keys. "My name is Tieria Erde. Of course I'm awake. If you'll excuse me, I was evaluating the area before you got here."
It wasn't that he thought Zack couldn't possibly be of help. He did want to see the items firsthand, and suspected that if he could explain any less than obvious uses for them, he would regardless.
Oh, it looked like he had a real winner here. The guy had a bit of an attitude and hadn't even bothered to shake Zack's hand, but none of that was enough to deter the soldier. He was used to people like this; for every over-eager, joking infantryman he'd come across, there were two more anti-social types. Their general had been one of the worst cases of that before he'd gone off and lost his mind
( ... )
Soubi ignored his dinner and headed straight for the bed and under the covers. He didn't want Demyx to ask any questions. He still had to work out how to approach Ritsuka. When would this wear off? A life on honesty was too horrible to think about. He got out of his covers and wrote a note on his journal, resting it against him on the bed.
'DON'T ASK ME ANY QUESTIONS'. (I'm not mad at you...)
Well, at least the boss was trying to make Bucciarati feel at home. First there had been the pizza for lunch yesterday and now spaghetti and gelato for dessert. Bucciarati would have hoped for something like pasta con calamari or capesante alla griglia. but he was willing to put up with spaghetti considering the circumstances.
One thing that did bother him, however, was the strange lump on his roommate's bed. It was obviously Bucciarati's roommate, "Matsuda Hiro," but...did Matsuda think that Bucciarati was somebody else? It was possible, but...the boss had never really hired the most normal people as assassins.
"Uh, Matsuda?" Bucciarati called out tentatively, "I know you said not to ask you any questions, but...I believe you ought to know that we're going to be roommates now. I'm Michelangelo Falcone."
Bucciarati flinched when "Matsuda" jumped out of his bed and gave him a death glare. Was "Demyx" the name of this boy's stand? Was he really crazy enough to believe his stand was a real person? No, of course not. Not even Prosciutto was crazy enough to think that. It was far more likely that "Demyx" had just been "Matsuda's" roommate before Bucciarati. Perhaps Matsuda's anger was the result of not being able to finish off Demyx himself?
"Ah, I'm afraid that I have no idea what happened to Demyx," Bucciarati said, taking a quick step back, "All that I know is that my nurse led me here. My room's been changed, apparently. Like I said before, I'm Michelangelo Falcone. And you are...?"
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The food tonight at least didn't seem as complicated as before... they reminded him of a tongue, somewhat. A little odd trying to eat it, particularly with his hands, but at least it wasn't a huge production like some human food.
He needed to try and get his thoughts together... night was going to fall, and if it was like any of the previous ones, things were going to get strange again.
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Kirk was in remarkably good spirits when the day's activities ended, and could be heard chatting with the nurse as he approached M66. While she remained as professional as ever when it came to his overtures, he was still able to add an extra two minutes to the walk back with conversation. It wasn't much, but he'd take it.
He was still grinning when he stepped into the room and the nurse locked the door behind him, but his blue eyes took on a warmer light when he saw ZEX mangling his lasagna with his hands. While ZEX might rank high on the "weirdness" scale of roommates, Kirk found himself considerably more fond of him than some of the ones he'd had in the Academy.
"Hey!" Kirk walked to his desk, but ignored the food, instead pulling open drawers to assess his supplies. "How was your day?"
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"Mm?" ZEX had been involved in his thoughts (and his struggle with the food), and hadn't heard him come in. He swiveled somewhat in his chair to face him properly. "Oh, hello. I was wondering where you were."
Not entirely true, but the sentiment of it was sincere enough. He did enjoy Kirk's company, even if it was in part because he reminded him a little of his lost Captain. "I spoke with your doctor friend today."
A few moments to think of what to say after that. After all, McCoy hadn't exactly offered him any solutions, but he hadn't expected any. "It was good to speak to someone knowledgable who could actually see what happened to me." That could work.
Reply
"So..." he began, but didn't complete the thought. Instead, he turned his chair towards ZEX and settled into it, taking the second to think through his approach. He didn't want to pry if ZEX would rather not speak of it, but knew well enough that sometimes people needed prodding to open up. "What did he say?"
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The food smelled good, she had to say. And she ignored the nurse's comments in favour of checking it out. Ice cream was always good and she started eating that first instead of waiting for it to melt. The spaghetti could just wait.
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The door opened, and Taura walked in, several strides ahead of the medtech, who was huffing and puffing in an effort to keep up. Taura, on the other hand, had a light flush from the cold, but no other signs of having just spent the last couple of hours playing volleyball, and then when that had proved a lopsided contest, jogging laps around the field. The staff had given up pacing her, and had settled for posting sentries at even stations.
She had smiled at each of them as she passed; she wasn't trying to run. Solo escape had been only a fleeting, quickly dismissed thought. They got out of here as a group, and that was that. It was the only acceptable answer.
"Dessert first? Never a bad plan." She wanted something warm, though, and poked a fork through the spaghetti. No meatballs turned up, so she just started twirling forkfuls of noodles. "Did you have any plans for tonight?" she added, around a mouthful of food.
Reply
"I have nothing planned," Cissnei admitted with a shrug. She'd not really thought about it. There had been Zack and then there'd been the news about Reno which she still wasn't certain about but Rude wouldn't lie to her so it had to be true. "Ran into an old friend last night and headed upstairs but never came up with anything for tonight." He was probably going to see Aerith.
Reply
Well, it had been on the bulletin; the History Club had some notion of operational security, but this had been out in the open. "My assignment is...downstairs. Have you been down there? Do you know what to expect?"
It was simultaneously both a completely logical and very strange direction to go. Go deeper in to get out. The staff -- as strange as it was to think of those things as staff -- had clustered around the entrance to the third floor, not the basement. Turning up to an important mission uninformed was not something she relished.
It's not your fault no-one ever told you, Taura.
It is my responsibility to ask. I'm asking. When did you stop asking questions, Miles?The version of the Admiral she kept around in her head to bounce ideas off of was markedly silent ( ... )
Reply
And then he was returning to his room and upon entering the room block remembered that morning, when Ken's side of the room had been unnaturally neat, like nobody had slept there at all. Would he return for dinner? Hopefully so -- Yukito didn't particularly want another roommate, and not just because there would be some awkward questions later on. He'd actually liked Ken; he was a nice enough person, despite what he'd said his occupation was back at home, and had tried to be helpful when he could ( ... )
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It turned out that there were some perks to being stuck in some sort of experimental mental institute post-death. Who would have figured? At least he wasn't stuck in a tube and being infused with mako twenty-four-seven. It could have been worse.
On top of that, he was going to get to see Aerith tonight. Well, if he could find her. Zack wasn't one-hundred percent clear on where they were going, but he'd stumbled his way through places without maps before. (Not often, but at least he'd done it a couple of times.) Either way, he was determined that it would work out, and positive thinking could get you pretty far. He knew from personal experience that that didn't always ( ... )
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The man had a smile that was highly inappropriate for the situation they were in and hair that apparently defied the laws of gravity. He was approaching Tieria, too. All the outstretched hand got was another downward stare.
"Is it?" He didn't plan to return the comment; being greeted by this person he only just met didn't elevate his mood at all, so why would he? Tieria fixed some strands of his hair that had fallen out of place, and with that, he turned away to resume the task at hand by taking out keys. "My name is Tieria Erde. Of course I'm awake. If you'll excuse me, I was evaluating the area before you got here."
It wasn't that he thought Zack couldn't possibly be of help. He did want to see the items firsthand, and suspected that if he could explain any less than obvious uses for them, he would regardless.
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'DON'T ASK ME ANY QUESTIONS'.
(I'm not mad at you...)
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One thing that did bother him, however, was the strange lump on his roommate's bed. It was obviously Bucciarati's roommate, "Matsuda Hiro," but...did Matsuda think that Bucciarati was somebody else? It was possible, but...the boss had never really hired the most normal people as assassins.
"Uh, Matsuda?" Bucciarati called out tentatively, "I know you said not to ask you any questions, but...I believe you ought to know that we're going to be roommates now. I'm Michelangelo Falcone."
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"Where's Demyx?" he demanded. He climbed out of the bed completely and looked at the man as though ready to grab the nearest weapon if he had to.
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"Ah, I'm afraid that I have no idea what happened to Demyx," Bucciarati said, taking a quick step back, "All that I know is that my nurse led me here. My room's been changed, apparently. Like I said before, I'm Michelangelo Falcone. And you are...?"
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