Night 61: Main Hallway, 1-West

[madeinthehrl]

[from here]

The main hall was dead quiet as Soma rounded the corner. The last few nights, this place had been bustling with fellow patients; the sudden calm was very nearly unnerving.

Still, she tried to put it out of her mind. Marie didn't sense anything out of the ordinary--yet.

[to here]

Comments

[overlimit]

Good. Just as she hoped, Taura was first. Rita was about to respond to her comment just as the brat in question interrupted. Rita turned her gaze on him, taking on a contemplative look.

"... Well, now there's an idea," she murmured in reply, as if genuinely taking Taura's proposed scenario into consideration. But now wasn't really the time to be fantasizing about violence. She could do that any other time of the day.

Without offering any context for that exchange to the boy, Rita looked back to Taura. "Are we just waiting for Okita then?" Since Taura was the one making arrangements with the club leader, it seemed that she was the one to ask.

[ninelivesonce]

"No one," Taura answered Goku, her voice studiously bland. She examined the chipping nailpolish on her fingers like it might have a better answer, but it, as usual, was silent.

"Yeah. I told him we wouldn't wait forever, but we'll give him a few minutes, yeah?" Not that it was a sure thing that they'd know how long they'd waited, but leaving without giving him a chance wasn't going to solve anything either.

"I think he's from Earth, too. Might help, if we're going to have to answer riddles." Taura was smart, and so was Rita, and Goku -- well, Goku tried -- but none of that was a substitute for things like cultural differences and puns and the original Sphinx riddle only made sense if you'd grown up in some backwards bywater without countergrav intead of canes. (She'd researched, which no one expected from someone who looked like her, which was why she did it.)

[monkeyboy]

"Oh," Goku said, a bit put out. He was sure he missed something good. Oh, well! Nothing to do about it now.

He stood quietly beside Taura, but it didn't last long. The young boy's hands eventually got tired and he let them flop down at his side with sigh. Soon, he began to sway form side to side, stepping back and forth and caddy-corner, until the monkey boy began to spin round and round to entertain himself while they all waited for their last teammate.

[overlimit]

Riddles? Rita raised an eyebrow. It sounded like Taura knew a little more than she did about the upcoming challenges. But discussing that could wait until they were all present, so Rita held on to that thought for the time being.

Time passed, and several patients came and went through the hallway, but none stopped to join them. As the minutes crawled by, Rita's expression grew increasingly annoyed, both at the delay and at the monkey kid's restlessness. Eventually, her patience reached its limit.

"... I think we've waited long enough," she announced after a long silence, unfolding her arms and looking over to Taura. "I don't know what's keeping him, but like you said, we can't wait forever. We should get going." Though Taura was the one to say those words in the first place, Rita hoped she wouldn't be too hesitant to move along without Okita.

Rita raised her right hand to show the red-jeweled ring she was wearing. "We'll be using this to get to the basement tonight. Grab on to my arm when you're ready." Her left arm was extended to the two others. While physical contact with other people (especially brats) was something Rita avoided as often as possible, she was willing to put up with it for a few minutes if it meant a smooth ride to their destination.

[ninelivesonce]

"Agreed." She'd made the plan clear; they were lucky they hadn't been ambushed, either by monsters or by time's irregular march, and their luck wasn't guaranteed to hold. She set her hand on Rita's upper arm, gently.

Maybe this would be easier; the History Club's luck had gone beyond bad to horrible, recently, and misguided loyalty was no help to anyone. "I'm ready when you are, Goku. I'll tell you both what more I know once we're on our way."

[monkeyboy]

It was a good thing they were finally making a move because Goku was growing so nauseated from spinning he wasn't sure if he could continue standing upright, let alone function as an integral member of their mission. Call it a hunch, but Goku was pretty sure Birdy wouldn't appreciate him coloring the floor with tonight's dinner.

"'K-Kay," he struggled with the single syllable as he teetered over to Rita. The young boy reached out and grabbed onto the girl around her thigh. Bracing himself for who knew what.

[overlimit]

No one seemed to be objecting, which meant they could move on. Rita nodded when Taura placed her hand on the offered arm, but glared when Goku grabbed her leg instead. What part of arm sounded like leg to him? Was he really incapable of following such simple instructions?

Rather than snapping at him, Rita let out an exasperated sigh and turned to face the wall. Yelling at him to do it right would probably just waste time. She'd deal with it, but only for as long as it took to get to the basement. Fortunately, that was only going to be a few seconds.

"All right, here goes," she said, giving the others a brief warning before pulling back her fist and smacking it into the wall, smashing the ring.

[to here]