damned_institute | Nightshift 26: M51-60 hallway

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Nightshift 26: M51-60 hallway

Another evening, another extremely quiet dinner. Jack wasn't sure what was up with his roommate, but he kind of missed having a little light conversation over his meal. Especially when it was a meal as good as steak.

After a moment of consideration, he decided not to bring his second knife with him. He certainly wasn't going to trust Luxord - the man was crazy as a loon, if hot - and while it wouldn't bother him that much if he got gutted with one of his own knives, he'd rather not lose the weapon when he already had his other knife on loan. And considering he'd slept with people before to get a chance to steal their stuff, he certainly wasn't going to put it past anyone else. The skillet, though, he did take. Most people would consider it a humiliating enough weapon that they wouldn't want it, which was stupid, but it was something to work with. It also was a lot harder to go for something that big without anyone noticing. He grabbed his flashlight, and his radio. The apron was left behind tonight as well.

There was an extra cheerful bounce to his step as he headed out. Either way, this was going to be a fun night. Hopefully Gin would have some fun without him, as well.

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Usopp had said they would meet at his room, so Sai stayed close by. In the event that they'd forgotten the room number (though he didn't know if that mattered so much, as he was at the end of the hall), he would be visible.

Once again he was armed with two trowels and the small rake, held in place around his waist by a sweatshirt with its sleeves tied. He needed to turn one of these into a proper bag at some point. He also had his flashlight this time and, for once, his radio. It seemed he had missed something important not bringing it before.

Now it was only a matter of waiting and watching the halls. Would he see Sasuke tonight? He hadn't shown the one previous.

((From here. (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/184780.html?thread=13038540#t13038540) ))

With his frying pan in hand, Luffy continued to allow Usopp to steer him in the right direction. Once they approached the correct hallway, however, the pirate's eyes lit up. "So, this is North, huh?" he remarked, as if the realization suddenly sunk in. But before he could continue with that train of thought, he spotted a familiar face standing outside one of the doors.

"Yo!" he called cheerily, waving his pan in greeting.

"Sai!" Usopp perked up too, waving over Luffy's shoulder with his empty hand.

Sai looked ready to take on an army. Well, the night's atmosphere sure felt like they might have to... Usopp hurried over, grinning. "Hey, I brought something for you!"

Would Sai like it? He'd probably just stare, then smile politely at it. The important thing about gift-giving is not the reaction of the person who receives it, it's the intention of the giver. Boy, that sounded corny.

Still, he reached into his closed coat, then held out the piece of cloth in his hands to Sai.

Sai had just raised a hand to wave back at Luffy, smile in place, when he saw Usopp bundled up as though he expected snowfall. He stared at both of them blankly. "Hello. Are we going somewhere cold?" Perhaps he should go back in and retrieve some warmer clothing himself if that was the case.

Then Usopp was handing him something, and Sai accepted the item slowly. It was just a piece of cloth, and the pirate had drawn some sort of marking on it. Was it a headband like the other was wearing himself? Still smiling, he asked "What is this for?"

"We might be going into the refrigerator," Luffy replied brightly. At least, he hoped they would. He paused, suddenly looking thoughtful. "I don't think you need a coat for that, though."

When Usopp handed Sai the bandanna, the pirate peered at the design with an obvious interest. "Ohh, it's a special mark just for you!" he exclaimed. Usopp was very good with these sorts of things -- after all, he was the one who designed his own Jolly Roger. "That's so neat!"

"This isn't for the temperature," although there was a chill in the air; that was it, he had to ask the guy with weak emotions if he felt anything. "This is body armor!" Usopp turned around as though modeling, even though it was only an extra set of the Institute's clothes plus the coat. "Let's see a leech bite through this!"

"And Luffy's right--it's a mark for you!" Smiling and not knowing what to do with it was the reaction Usopp had expected from Sai, that was fine. The drawing of the skull was head-on, unlike Usopp's 3/4ths perspective, and since a skull was always smiling Usopp had seen no need to alter the face. Instead, he'd added Sai's short black bangs, and behind it crossed a short sword of the type he imagined a ninja used with a gardening claw. "I improvised--if you want it changed, I can do a new version. See, I've got one, and Luffy's got his hat, so I thought you should have one too. It's a gift!" He kept grinning, encouragingly. "You know how to tie a bandanna on, right?" He'd ask about the feeling of complete and horrible doom looming over their heads after this.

"A mark..?" Sai stared at the design for several moments. If he had been asked to create a pirate symbol for himself, this wouldn't have been what he'd have done. However, this was a gift which meant that shouldn't matter. He turned the cloth around in his hands, then folded it into a band and tied it around his forehead. "...In ninja villages," he began as he did this, "each village has a symbol representing it. They are displayed on metal plates attached to headbands. Forehead protectors." He finished, and smiled at Usopp again. "I think it will be all right if I wear this. Thank you."

Then, having almost forgotten, Sai pulled out a folded sheet of notebook paper and handed it to the long-nosed pirate. "Oh. My roommate let me copy this. I wasn't sure if you'd found a more complete version." On the paper was a map of the second floor (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v16/FoxxLaverinth/2ndFloor.jpg).

"Whoa, body armor?!" Luffy exclaimed, suddenly getting a better look at Usopp. What a fantastic idea! And to think he'd just thought that his friend had dressed like that on a whim. Maybe he should have done something like that too, though Luffy figured they wouldn't have to worry about leeches unless the kitchen was infested with them tonight.

He was glad to see Sai seemed pleased with the gift, and he couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, it looks like your a ninja-pirate now! Now we all have stuff on our heads!" Like a merry little band of thieves going to help themselves to a room filled with senbei. Or something like that. Either way, Luffy definitely approved.

When the pirate saw the map, his eyes brightened considerably. "Oh, wow! I don't have any maps at all!" That had been Nami's forte before his arrival here, and it hadn't even occurred to him to put together anything like that on his own. "It looks really nice..."

Usopp paused in his posing for Luffy's exclamation, pleased at the appropriate response to his cleverness. Actually, the first night, he'd done the same thing--it just hadn't been useful, and so he'd gone casually last night to his detriment. No more carelessness! For now, he still wasn't armed very well, but they'd be fixing that too soon enough.

"Oh, your village has a specific symbol? Do you want to have it added on the next one?" Usopp asked Sai, a little surprised. "I don't want to get you in trouble with the other ninja or anything. But that one looks good on you! It's stylish!"

He took the map and glanced over it, then pulled out his own notebook to look at the map there. "It's a lot like one I got this afternoon. But thanks for bringing it! Sometime, we should all go upstairs and try to finish the map off. We have a whole downstairs map now," he added on the side to Luffy. He handed Sai's map back to him.

"Say, Sai?" Usopp hesitated, considering how to ask. "Uh, do you feel anything... weird... in the air tonight?"

"I don't believe this would get me in trouble," Sai replied, "but I can draw the symbol for you later if you want." Usopp's next question caused Sai to drop the smile and blink in mild confusion. "Something weird in the air?"

Thinking about it now, there was a sort of heavy presence. A large chakra aura perhaps, except that it didn't really feel like chakra - though it did remind him just slightly of the feeling he'd received from Sasuke's sharingan the first time they'd met. It wasn't nearly as strong as that, however. "A bit, yes. Someone may be emitting a powerful aura nearby." Was one of their captors showing themselves? With everyone's power levels reduced, he didn't see how it could be one of the patients.

"What, we have a full map of downstairs?" Luffy asked, genuinely surprised by this bit of news. "Cool!" Maybe he'd have to take a look at it sometime, even though he'd likely get turned around while using it as a reference.

"The air is pretty weird," the pirate remarked. "Kinda heavy. But, we can still breathe it, so it should be okay, right?" He was getting tired of standing one place for too long, not because he was afraid of getting attacked, but mostly out of impatience more than anything else. "Let's go!"

A powerful aura. That was creepy, and obviously the aura itself felt like looming horror, but at least it was a good solid name to put on it. Some person or enemy here just had a very powerful aura. So they'd avoid it at all costs and everything would be fine.

Usopp shrugged exaggeratedly at Luffy's surprise over the maps, obviously swelling a bit with pride. "Ha! But what else could you expect of this genius intelligence-gatherer, Captain Usopp?" Fortunately, he managed to stop preening in order to follow Luffy's request.

"Now that our team's all together, let's go! To the kitchen!"

[headed back down here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/184780.html)]

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Nightshift 26: M51-60 hallway

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