Day 64: Waiting Room/Lobby 2 (Third Shift)

[somesoulsearching]

Though Brook had been led the way towards the waiting rooms before, he hadn't been expecting to have another visit so soon. Not everyone seemed to get one after all, and with how upset Yorki's grandson had seemed to be after their last meeting, he'd thought the young man wouldn't have wanted anything more to do with him. Despite all that, he did think seeing Yohan again might be a nice change of pace. He liked making new friends even in places like this.

After entering the room, he looked around for anyone familiar before taking a seat to himself. Like last time he was ready to see what would come but wouldn't be so jumpy as to think his visitor was a ghost. That had been a shock before! But he should have known better. No ghost would have been floating around during the day time.

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[damned_visitors]

As much as he hated to think of Florian stuck here, Barry knew he needed to pay him a visit sooner or later. That was what friends did for each other! Besides, laughter was definitely the best medicine, and Barry was happy to say he was more than qualified to administer that brand of treatment.

Even if hospitals scared him silly sometimes.

Scratching the side of his abnormally long nose, he surveyed the room like a captain ready to conquer uncharted waters before catching sight of a familiar face.

Adjusting the backpack hanging from his left shoulder, Barry rushed forward to meet the man he'd come to see, a wide smile spreading across his face. "Hey!"

[somesoulsearching]

While he'd been expecting a blond man to come visit him, Brook had no problem being wrong about that when he glimpsed instead black hair and a nose that had no rival entering the room. It had been a while since he'd seen such an extraordinary facial feature, particularly this one, but that was beside the point just then.

Brook jumped to his feet the moment he registered just who had come through the doorway, smiling brightly and laughing. "Usopp-san! I never thought you'd be the one coming to visit! I almost can't believe my eyes!" he exclaimed.

And really, he couldn't even though he had them. He'd been so sure that his friends had all returned home by then. Seeing one of them there, and not wearing the same outfit as himself, did put a bit of a hole in that belief, he had to admit. If Usopp was there, then where were the others?

[damned_visitors]

Ah, there was that old "Usopp" name again. Barry had to admit it had been a pretty good story of his, albeit one he'd taken a little too far. At least Florian hadn't cracked another Skull Joke yet. That had to be some progress, right?

"It's Barry now," he corrected him with a wave of his hand. "Posing as a pirate isn't that great of a cover story since it just gets you chased by more people trying to lock you up, you know?"

Leaning forward with a conspiratory glance toward the staff, he added in a low whisper, "Plus, I hear the pirate health insurance benefits are lousy." Peg legs, eye-patches, and getting locked up in here? No, thanks!

[somesoulsearching]

Barry? Brook paused at the admittance before eventually realizing that Usopp was saying that was his name. By the way Brook took his meaning, it sounded as though Usopp was having to play along somehow. It was obviously true that claiming to be a pirate usually didn't end too well, particularly when it came to the World Government. Brook hadn't been too careful in telling others there of his profession, and while it hadn't ended badly yet, he was still stuck there. Usopp, or Barry meanwhile was visiting from outside of this place.

Was he on the run maybe?

"Ah... so it's Barry now? I suppose there could be worse names!" he joked with a laugh. Of all the names Usopp could have chosen, Brook would have thought he'd pick a more imposing name. Barry didn't sound too impressive from where he was sitting but then again, neither did Brook.

[damned_visitors]

[Sorry for the delay. DX]

Barry laughed. "Right? It's really not that bad of a name after all!" Giving a boyish grin, he rubbed the back of his neck. He'd spent so long running away from it that, in the end, he'd only caused himself more trouble than it was worth, going as far as to believe a lot of the lies he'd created. But now he comfortably wore it, and he didn't intend to have a repeat of everything that had happened before.

"Anyway, how've you been?" He gestured at the chairs, indicating that they should take a seat instead of awkwardly standing around. Barry had been kind of hoping that Florian would have been better by now, but maybe he just needed to see a few more familiar faces before he got better.

[somesoulsearching]

[It's all right!]

"It's not!" Brook agreed before something came to mind. He tilted his head and wondered aloud at his friend, "Is it the only one you're using? You've had a few before, haven't you?"

While Brook hadn't heard Usopp using anything other than his own name, he'd heard enough about other times. Something about a sniper king came to mind, but there hadn't been a whole lot of elaboration during that conversation, and then there were all the stories the young man had told him! As much as he'd heard, there was the chance that Usopp wasn't even really his friend's name, but he would always give the benefit of the doubt. That's what friends did, after all.

"I've been doing well! That is, some strange things happen from time to time, but it's fine if you've got friends with you," Brook said cheerfully, following Usopp's cue towards the chairs, "Oh yes, we can sit if you'd rather not stand the whole time. Actually, I don't even know how long this visit is supposed to be for, do you?"

He didn't want Usopp to be worried that he was on his own at all. Those he knew from home weren't there, but he did have others. He'd recently made friends with Renji, and then young Anise was learning to play the recorder, and there were so many others. If he got the chance, he'd have to tell Usopp about them.

[damned_visitors]

"A-ahahah, yeah, I guess so!" he laughed, maybe a tad sheepishly. "But it's just Barry now. No need for anything fancy!" Man, he really hoped Florian still wasn't buying into any of that pirate stuff, but Barry didn't have the heart to just lay it flat for him to hear. That was the doctors' job, wasn't it?!

Thankfully, they made their way toward the seats, and Barry soon took a chair for himself. "Nah, I don't know how long they'll let me be here," Barry admitted. "I'll just stay until the nurses get sick of me! It's been too long since we last saw each other. Life just isn't the same without you around, you know?"

He had an idea of what kind of "strange" things Florian was talking about -- scary stories about the night that didn't actually happen. While Barry was a fan of wild tales, stuff like that hit a little close to home, so he was happy to avoid the topic altogether.