damned_institute | Nightshift 55: Main Hallway, 1-West

[From here.]

All righty. First one here. Surprise surprise.

Peter took a thin breath and took up a post across from the hall, where he could watch both entrances for the gang. His arms crossed and he leaned against the wall. The whole thing was rather broody-looking, to be honest. Not the kind of chipper attitude you expected from a guy dressed like a cast member of Cirque du Soleil.

He was allowed to have bad moods. They happened. He hadn't started the night in one, but he'd tripped into it easily enough on his own. That sort of thing happened when your life sucked this much, okay. There was no sanctuary from the suckage. He sighed yet again. It'd be easier to perk up once somebody else showed up. Then he could push his mind away from all of this garbage and pound some small talk out of it.

Not to mention that waiting out here alone in the big hallway was twice as creepy as it was moving alone through the little ones. His flashlight swung back and forth. Please don't let anything be creeping on me in the dark. Please please please...

He was so not in the mood for whatever monstrosities were lying in wait for him. And knowing Landel's, they were.

[For the Platonic Family!! Y'all know who you are.]

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[[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/1063418.html?thread=77073402#t77073402)]]

The problem, of course, was more than breaking the locks -- it was finding the locks in the first place. Until then, they were trapped in the rat maze, hoping only that what information they could find and what challenges they completed meant more information toward the goal.

Tonight, perhaps, a greater piece of the challenge. Sasuke swept the hall with the Sharingan for an instant, satisfied that Sakura had yet to arrive, and leaned against a wall in wait.

It took effort to avoid trying to tug at the necklace resting around his neck: years of wearing nothing even close to it made the metal heavier than it felt in his hands, a niggling presence to which his skin failed to completely acclimate. Sasuke turned to balancing the weight of the two weapons in each hand to occupy them, the one well-crafted, useless, and the other a rough-made point of vision in Sasuke's world of darkness.

[waiting for Sakura!]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/1064711.html?thread=77109255#t77109767)]

It didn't take long to find him, not for a set of eyes used to seeking him out. She smiled to herself, but remembered that they were here to be serious, to make progress. It was with much more grace, though, that she was able to approach, her boots sounding almost silently on the tile beneath her feet, trained for stealth.

"Sorry to make you wait Sasuke-kun," she began, hoping he hadn't been here long. Though she'd left as soon as night had fallen, time had a way of playing with them, especially after dark.

"I brought the prize from last night, but all of my other things were gone," she said, more to inform than in any sort of plea for sympathy. There was a loud cracking of her knuckles and a jingle of the dogtags around her neck that followed the motion. "But I don't think I'll slow anyone down tonight."

After a few minutes there came a subtle approach, the footsteps of someone trained for silence. They were something that Sasuke might not even have noticed a few weeks before, but sound had been akin to itch of Itachi's necklace for a while now: too obvious, too present, until he'd slowly learned to turn it into strength.

Thus, when Sakura spoke, Sasuke was prepared to confirm that it was her more than he was surprised, straightening away from the wall with a brief shake of his head to indicate that he hadn't had to wait too long. He was about to explain what he understood of the ring's use when Sakura's comment made him frown instead, hefting the weapon he held in his right hand slightly.

"My belongings were returned," he said. "As were my roommate's, I believe. Did they bother explaining why yours are still missing?"

At least he hadn't been waiting long. She was glad for that much. But hearing that her things were still gone didn't seem to please him, whether or not that frown was directed at her...

And why were only her things were missing? What the hell? They'd told her she was in trouble for helping out at breakfast, but she'd already served that sentence with an empty stomach and standing around all day. Had hers been stolen? Was this just another of their tricks to mess with them? She shook her head, "they didn't say anything about it. I'm not sure. But I've still got my fists if we run into anything. And a few pens. And- well- my chakra if things get bad too. Even if it's just a small amount, it's better than nothing."

Another unspecified differentiation between patients? Sakura was likely of a different class, given that she'd been here rather less time than Sasuke had been. He'd have to check with Sai or Aidou, whomever he located first, in the morning to see if he'd had his belongings returned in full. If not because of these ranking systems, then perhaps it was another arbitrary division like last night, but ...

But Sasuke was not precisely cut out for analytical thinking outside of battle, and the unclear method behind the Institute's actions frustrated his nature. There were too many questions to stand and contemplate all night, much like they had too much to do for Sakura's uncertainty to get in the way.

"I'm not concerned about your usefulness," he said shortly, and then transferred both swords into his right hand. He wasn't sure how it would work -- whatever Muraki had done that night ... but then again, Muraki might well have touched the man Sasuke had been fighting, and they had certainly been in contact. Whatever the case, there was little point risking travelling only to find that Sakura had been left behind, so Sasuke reached his hand towards the direction of her voice.

"Give me your hand." He readied his other arm, the round jewel on the ring facing outward on his fist to smash against the wall.

Why was it everything Sasuke said seemed to have more than one meaning? Was he not concerned because... he trusted her to be useful, with or without weapons? Or did it just mean that he was more interested in why her things were missing when others weren't? In finding out if it was just another of the institution's tricks or not? Either way though, it meant he didn't need to worry about her being useful, right? She really wanted to kick herself for letting a few words get to her, but it meant a lot, coming from him.

"Ah, well then-" followed immediately by- did he just-

Sakura didn't so much as hesitate when he asked for her hand. Whatever the reason, she wasn't passing up an opportunity. And this time she didn't even have a sprained ankle! She put her gloved hand on his. What now? They were in a crowded hallway. Surely he didn't intend to- not that she'd put up much of a fight, but there were people standing around not that far away. Give me your hand was just how it started. Then it would be close your eyes and maybe even a come with me or don't worry, I'll protect you.

"Of course!" this was no time to be timid, after all.

Sakura didn't finish whatever it was she'd meant to say, and although it was irritating in its way (why start if she didn't intend to finish?), Sasuke let it go in favour of moving on with the night. Whatever information had been gathered just now he could parse in the monotony of the daytime.

As soon as he felt their hands make contact, he lifted his fist and slammed the ring against the wall, the jewel shattering on impact. For a moment, he thought nothing was happening and what he'd heard about them was merely a fluke --

[[to here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1071425.html?thread=77195073#t77195073)]]

Nightshift 55: Main Hallway, 1-West

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