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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[thatdamnedninja]

"Here we go, Hanna, sweetheart!" Nurse Plucky exclaimed. "Isn't it a wonderful day? You'll be cheery again in no time."

"I'm cheery now," Yuffie retorted.

"Ah, well…" Coping mechanisms, the nurse's expression seemed to say. Homesickness, it went on, and the poor little dear no doubt misses her friends terribly.

Yuffie very carefully didn't punch it in the face. The expression, that was; though the nurse would be a hella nice bonus.

"Aren'tcha glad I'm not yappin' your ear off? Not that I yap, nope, not me, not ever, no siree. No? Yeah? Yeah. Thought so. See, I've just saved you from a fate you're depraved enough to consider horrible. You'd better be grateful."

Without further ado, and definitely without waiting for a reply, Yuffie took off down the path. She kicked up into a cartwheel without breaking stride, muttering a curse when her arms shook faintly. Damn. Damn, damn, double damn with a triple fudge sundae on top! It wasn't so bad on a scale of one to ten, not when she compared it to what she'd-what they'd-been through

[simplemechanics]

Despite his misgivings, Reeve had been preparing himself for this moment. The reunion with AVALANCHE

[thatdamnedninja]

Somebody was following her, but it wasn't until she heard the voice that Yuffie deigned to pay them any attention.

It was… no way, no way; it was! After working for him, with him, for almost over a year now, Yuffie knew Reeve's voice just as well as she'd ever known Cait's.

Something in the young ninja soared. Good ol' Reeve Tuesti. And he was a good guy, even with working for Shin-Ra on his record. Cloud had worked for Shin-Ra. So had Cid. In the end, they were all AVALANCHE. Though Yuffie did have to admit, (and would do so outloud, readily, if she ever got the opportunity); she was relieved that it was the man, not the machine given a human form. That would've been torture. Hilarious torture, but. Yeah.

She spun around immediately, a broad, genuine grin flashing up out of nowhere. "Reeve!" she greeted with a laugh, jogging back toward the man. "Man, I was wonderin' when we'd run into each other." Weeelll, actually, she'd been planning on tracking him down whether he liked it or not, but now she wouldn't have to. Nice! "It's

[simplemechanics]

Her smile was contagious, and although he returned it more mildly, he meant it. It was good to see a friend. Although perhaps that was too much of a leap to make, to call them his friends, but he trusted them, and he liked them. Although their opinion of him had been tarnished, Reeve had learned a great deal about Cait Sith's traveling companions. They were good people, even Yuffie with her penchant for appropriating resources that were not strictly hers.

She seemed so happy to see him that it caught him somewhat off-guard. See him again? Although that could have been a simple lack of distinction between himself and Cait. Most people assumed the robot was not as independent as he truly was. But she had even used his real name, naturally and casually. He didn't mind, but he had never officially given it out to them. There hadn't been time for him to sit and explain who he actually was, and why he had done what he had. In a way, this made the inevitable introductions trickier, because he was unable to default to names

[scintillatingly]

It had been really, really hard to let Donald go after that intercom announcement had gone off. Sora wasn't sure if there had ever been a time when his heart had fallen as far as when he'd heard the ping of the intercom come on back in the waiting room. It had been easy to try and ignore the fact that he missed his friends so much, but having it shoved into his face in such a painful way left him feeling despondent.

The boy's feelings were mixed, though. Even though Donald had left to go back to a life that wasn't his (in a body that wasn't his), they had gotten a small opportunity to talk and be in each other's company, and Sora couldn't see that as bad. He'd treasure that bit of time and remind himself of it as much as possible, so that he didn't forget why getting out of here was so important

[forgot_it_all]

Leaving Alfons had been one of the most difficult things Ritsuka had ever done. Today's theme seemed to be reconnecting with old friends, especially those who Ritsuka had once thought lost forever, and while it was never a good thing to see someone in here or brainwashed, it gave Ritsuka a bit of hope. Maybe there was a way to save them all in the end somehow or another. He had no idea how, but if he worked at it, he was certain some clue or hint or something would come of it

[scintillatingly]

When a pebble came bouncing by and plopped into the pond water, it splashed up enough to sprinkle against the fabric of his sweatpants near his ankle, soaking in just enough that he could feel it. Sora didn't mind, though -- if anything, it just made him more eager to jump right in and swim around, but that would most certainly get him sedated. Or he'd at least end up in a lot of trouble

[forgot_it_all]

Sora turned and seemed to regain his usual cheer, putting Ritsuka's mind a little more at ease. The day kids like Sora ended up getting depressed was the day when things really got dark here. There was so much that could drag a person's spirits down that seeing someone, anyone, who could withstand the onslaught was a gift. Sometimes, Ritsuka envied such people, but then he remembered that he used to be like them when he had been the other Ritsuka. Then he only worried that they might end up like him

[razing_phoenix]

Getting to speak with Natalia had almost felt like a dream, seeing how this was the first time he'd actually seen her in this place. Guy had almost given up hope for the princess showing up here; not that someone ending up in this place was something to hope for, but it would have taken him completely by surprise if it wasn't for what he'd seen in "Baticul" last night

[planetarial]

Pressing the staff for details had gotten him practically nowhere; all Yuusei knew was that this place was called Landel's Institute, it was Sunday afternoon, and the people who worked here here were apparently under the impression that he was ill in some way. They wouldn't return his deck or his other things to him, and claimed that he had been admitted by a woman - his mother, they said - named Martha. He'd very nearly lost his temper at that-- there was no way she'd abandon him here. Not ever. The more questions he asked, the more his escort tried to dodge them and engage him in small talk, which was something he wasn't particularly good at and had no real desire to try and force. They'd reached an impasse, and so Yuusei was forced to employ his oldest and most effective weapon: complete and utter silence

[razing_phoenix]

As expected, that bit of time to himself only lasted for so long, and Guy glanced up when he saw an unfamiliar face approach him. He uncrossed his legs and straightened in his spot on the bench as he eyed the other patient curiously.

Even though he'd never seen this particular person before, that wasn't such a surprise. There were enough patients here that you could go a while without ever talking to any one other person. What seemed stranger was the the boy looked so confused. Was it possible that he was new? Landel hadn't mentioned new patients coming in, so...

Guy didn't want to assume anything in case he ended up offending the other patient, and so he only gave a small smile and nodded. "Sure," he said, knowing that he had nothing better to do except sit around and admire the scenery -- all of which he'd looked at what felt like countless times already. "About last night, or...?"

[planetarial]

Yuusei was hesitant, but he tried to not let it show on his face. While he generally wasn't one to approach people out of the blue, what bothered him the most is that he had no way of knowing if this man was trustworthy or not. He was used to being able to easily intuit things about people, but - strangely enough - it felt as if the disorientation he'd experienced upon waking hadn't quite abated.

He seemed open enough, if his expression and body language indicated anything, and the fact of the matter was that Yuusei had very little to gain by being overly careful. If everyone dressed like him was in a similar position, then he'd have to try and learn from them.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I just got here today." Or so he'd been told. Yuusei paused, then, and considered his options. There were no less than ten things he wanted to ask, all of them equally important, but he'd stick to the basics for now.

"What is this place?" He asked, keeping his voice low enough that only the two of them could hear. "Really."

[bodhiandspirit]

Since the weather had cleared up, Rita wanted to take the opportunity to go outside and see the environment for herself. Speaking with the other patients had forced her to give the 'other planet' idea serious consideration, and she'd quickly learned that it was easiest not to argue it at every opportunity... but it was still difficult to believe. She needed to see for herself.

Rita shouldn't have been surprised by what she saw when she stepped outside, but in a way, she couldn't help it. The sky above was clear and blue, save for the clouds. No sign of the Adephagos.

This was really Earth, then? That left many more questions to be answered. Most importantly, how was Rita transported from one planet to another without any recollection of the move? The distance between solar systems had to be so immense that it would take more than a lifetime to move from one to another. Was it some kind of teleportation? But how could that be done

[fangirlfatale]

Morgan guessed she should've been doing something useful with that last shift, but somehow--for once--it just hadn't happened. She was still--well, actually, she wasn't sure what she thought about what Guybrush had told her earlier. So her last words (and they were still fresh in her mind: all the pain, the effort, the slightly embarrassing hacking of blood onto Guybrush's coat, which had smelled suspiciously like bacon) hadn't even been intelligible. Guybrush had avenged her death by killing the wrong guy--and uuuggff, it was even worse that it was DeSinge of all people, that wasp-waisted wuss

[bodhiandspirit]

When a long shadow was cast over her, Rita couldn't quite ignore the presence of the woman who had just approached. It didn't take more than a second to recognize that face.

"...Hmph," came the initial reply, accompanied with a cold look. Did she just come to gloat?

Rather than directly admitting to being wrong, Rita went on to simply state the facts. "There's something called the Adephagos where I'm from. It's an entity so enormous it can be seen in the sky from virtually any place in the world." She sighed, not quite wanting to continue despite having already made her conclusion clear.

"This can't be Terca Lumireis," she said finally, crossing her arms. Rita hated being wrong - hated it - but she knew nothing would come from clinging to a failed hypothesis.

[fangirlfatale]

Morgan helped herself to a seat on the other side of the bench. "Yeah. It's not the Caribbean either," she admitted. "In fact, I don't even think we're anywhere near a coast." If the landscape they'd seen from the window last night wasn't enough to tell her that, the sounds and smells outside now that the rain had stopped clinched it. No telltale scent of salt in the air, no sea birds overhead, temperatures much colder than she'd ever encountered in that part of the world--and most damningly of all to a sailor like her, the winds were all wrong. Not only were they not in the Caribbean, she was fairly sure now that they weren't even anywhere close to anywhere she'd ever sailed.

At least they weren't lost, though--or more like they wouldn't be for long. Morgan didn't know what an Adephagos was, but there was something in the sky that she could see from anywhere in the world too. "If we get a clear night, I can probably use the stars to get a pretty good idea of where we are," Morgan explained to the girl. She shot her a sidelong glance

[shorttank]

Leela considered watching the ancient movie, but she didn't really feel like being cooped up inside again just yet. Anyway, the little bit of plan she had for getting home required seeing as much of the hospital as possible. Only in a straight line, not jumping around like last night. She wanted a mental map, not a mental jigsaw puzzle with big chunks missing.

"I think the fresh air's doing me some good," she told Betty. "I feel a little saner already, but I bet I could get even more saner if I went back out. Enjoy the completely non-extinct pine trees? Look at things with both eyes?" Maybe meet someone else who'd been off their home planet. Talking to Taura had done wonders to push back the sneaking feeling that maybe Leela had somehow gotten a teeny bit wrong in the head