damned_institute | Hallway Outside Sun Room

By that morning, Kikyo had thought that this place was no hellish afterlife at all, but now he was beginning to reconsider. Maybe this was a kind of hell...surely he must have done something horrible to deserve being forced to sit in the company of such an insufferable idiot.

His brows furrowed with annoyance.

"I would rather not," he answered curtly.

"Aw, come on," The Fable chided. "What would you rather do then? Sing songs in the dark?"

"Entertaining as that sounds, I would rather not," Kikyo repeated. "As a matter of fact, why don't we dispense with all attempts at society? Surely such a prospect is just as welcoming to yourself as it is to me."

"Whatever you say, Babe," Jack grumbled, scowling and turning his gaze to the ceiling. It didn't even occur to him that he had mistaken Kikyo honestly for a woman. He knew Kikyo was a man; he had never been confused, like he had with Haku. However, for some reason, looking at his outline in the darkness, Jack had forgotten. Not that the Fable would admit his mental facilities were shutting down due to his injuries. Oh, no- He was getting the hell out of there and there was nothing this lady was going to do about it.

Wait, not lady. Man. Kikyo was a man.

"...wow," He blinked, shaking his head and trying to clear his mind of the haze that was beginning to creep in.

Babe?? For the second time while in John's presence, Kikyo wondered where his katana was.

To think that instead of letting the man bleed slowly and painfully to his death, Kikyo had actually helped him...strange things happened in this place they called Landel's.

The good news was, the urban ninja's consciousness was fading. Kikyo longed for the darkness and silence that would follow.

And actually, John had nothing to fear of passing out in Kikyo's presence. He would wake to find all his belongings still on his person - including his life.

"You are luckier than you think, urban ninja," he said absently.

Jack snorted. "Oh, really? Cause I don't think I'm particularly lucky today."

Between the humilation (and beating) at Haku's expense, THEN the beating from Gin, and now THIS, Jack was beginning to wonder if being the greatest and most powerful Fable who ever lived was really all it was cracked up to be.

"Ahhh," He sighed, shutting his eyes for a moment and opening them again, "If I'm lucky at all today, that in and of itself is pretty lucky."

"Hn," Kikyo snorted. He leaned his head to the wall behind him, still cradling Kougaiji's head in his lap. The boy's warmth felt so familiar, bittersweet. Like a trusting child, he'd fallen asleep, leaning into him as his world went black. How old will he be when Kougaiji discovered that those he trusted could hurt him the most?

"If you find any value in your life, then yes," he said drily. He didn't expect John to realize how close he had come to his own death, foolish and proud as he was.

Jack snorted and mumbled a "I don't need to worry about my life, you mundys won't let me die, you all love me too much" under his breath, and turned his head back to Kikyo.

"So, where's your tea today?"

And here again, the mention of tea. An odd fact to fixate on. Was it such an unusual thing to come across a man drinking a cup of tea? Perhaps it was unheard of in his part of the world.

The last time Kikyo was having tea in this godforsaken place, he was wearing it all over himself. A courtesy of Ran and his hand that flew across his face with force.

"I had some at lunch," he answered indifferently.

"Lucky you," Jack wished he had some tea right now, to take his mind off his pain. Actually, he didn't want tea; he wanted cigarettes and booze, though he didn't think Kikyo could deliver either. He pursed his lips and arched an eyebrow at Kikyo. It sucked that this guy was being such a bitch to him. Might as well try and resolve this rift between them since he was gonna be stuck with the man for awhile anyhow.

"So, why have you got such a nut against me? I only suggested that sane people don't drink tea in a place like this when they could be looking for a way to leave. I didn't think insulting tea is something to hold against a guy, unless it was the uber tea of all teas."

He smirked. "Or was it? If so, I need to get me some of that tea..."

"Hmm?" Kikyo turned to glance at him, and he chuckled.

There were any number of reasons why Kikyo had a 'nut' against this man, as he put it. The tea had nothing to do with it. Though quite frankly, Kikyo was not inclined to take a liking to much of anybody, regardless of civility (which John lacked).

"And what makes you think I am sane at all?" he replied with a dark smile.

"It's rude to imply otherwise, ain't it?" The Fable retorted with a mischievous grin. "But if you're aware of the fact, babe, then don't take it out on me!"

Huh. 'Babe' again. He knew he wasn't a woman, he really did. Why was his brain shutting down? This time he was certain he had said 'babe' when he meant 'pal' or 'buddy' or 'fellah' or 'asshat'.

"So, is it your lack of sanity that found you here to Landel's or what?" He quickly said, changing gears to try and distract from his failing logic.

Because this social nincompoop was the expert in gauging his own rudeness, for sure...

Kikyo grimaced at the 'babe' that John let slip yet again. Was this guy purposely trying to get under his skin? Thankfully, Kikyo was not feeling too annoyed or homicidal at present, so he let it slide.

"That is the idea, is it not? A place to hold in the madness of our minds," he said. "Or perhaps, to bring it out even more." He chuckled mirthlessly.

Jack laughed at that. "Then I hope they're able to provide you whatever help you need, whichever way you're hoping to go."

The Fable didn't know what to say beyond that and kept quiet for a bit to try and sort out his thoughts. Surely his body wasn't choosing to shut down now that it had been bandaged. The man might have rubbed him the wrong way, but he did seem to know a thing or two about treating wounds. Kikyo had certainly tied the dressings tight enough to cut off any circulation, let alone bleeding. If that was the case, then why did he feel as though he was still on the verge of losing consciousness?

Lest he do just that, Jack started singing quietly to himself. If Kikyo wasn't going to provide the conversation to keep him awake, he'd find other ways. "As I was goin' over the Cork and Kerry mountains, I saw Captain Farrell an' his money he was countin'..."

Kikyo fell into silence, sitting in the darkness while John sang softly to himself. Kougaiji's hair felt soft to the touch, silky smooth under his calloused fingertips. It was red, a deep wine color like Ran's had been. Ran's was darker than he remembered.

Was his heart darker as well? Kikyo's own raven locks slipped over his ear, shadowing his face as it tumbled over his shoulder in dark strands. He could still smell the scent of tea in his hair.

He closed his eyes, though he was not sleepy, and pictured in his mind the face of a boy he once knew.

Jack finished reciting "Whiskey in a Jar" and stared off into the dark, away from Kikyo and Kou. He needed something more to sing or do to distract himself, but he just wasn't feeling it. Why did Kikyo have to be such a...such a....

Whatever the word was. He'd think of it eventually. When his brain didn't hurt.

He sat there, quietly for a moment, then turned back to Kikyo to address him. However, in the darkness, he saw something else to Kikyo's profile, causing his eyes to go wide for a moment. Long black hair, feminine features- Jesus Christ was SHE here too?!

"Snow?!" He cried before he thought about it.

John's exclamation jarred Kikyo from his memories most inconveniently. His eyes snapped open and narrowed in the wounded man's direction, rather put off that the damn urban ninja was still conscious. Stubborn as well as uncivil, no surprise there.

The man was obviously having hallucinations in his blood deprived state, if he was seeing snow.

He pushed a lock of his long hair behind his shoulder with his fingers haughtily and without a word. Maybe if he said nothing, the man would fall back asleep, like he should have a long time ago.

Jack shook his head (which hurt more than it should, in his opinion). No, Snow wasn't here. Definately not. That was Kikyo, the bastard who...who...

Damn it, it really did look like Snow from over here, didn't it? But if Snow was here...

Jack pressed his back against the wall and looked about a bit concerned. "Where's Bigby, Snow?" God damn, if the Sheriff (or ex-sheriff) was here, Jack was going to be in quite a bit of trouble, no doubt of it, especially since at least one Mundy was aware of his Fable nature. "He's not here, is he?" Not that he expected Ms. White to answer his question straight or be especially nice to him; she'd never really been, though she'd never been especially MEAN either.

With a suppressed sigh, Kikyo replied to him calmly, like as though he had conversations with half delirious people every day of his life.

"I am sorry to tell you I do not know." At least it was an honest answer, though it sounded a little curt (and certainly not apologetic in the least). From the sound of it, the 'snow' John spoke of wasn't weather related at all, but a person's name.

Kougaiji reminded Kikyo so much of Ran, maybe it should come to no surprise that other 'patients' here made similar associations.

When "Snow" spoke, it immediately occurred to Jack that this was NOT Snow's voice. Not at all. He blinked twice, shook his head again, and tried to refocus on Kikyo.

"You're definately not Snow."

Right. It was Kikyo, the pain in his ass. Not Snow White, not by a long shot. As long as he could remember that, he wouldn't make the same mistake again. But that didn't explain why the room was spinning. How could he even tell? It was so dark!

"....I feel funny..." he mumbled.

"Hn." This man seemed to like pointing out the obvious. Kikyo would have rolled his eyes, if that was the kind of thing he did. Instead, he snorted softly and murmured, "Then sleep, you foolish thing. Before you mistake me again for someone else."

"No, I'd rather not," Jack replied curtly. "I'm fine as is. I've walked away from worse, like that time I was skewered on the fence and Gary had to come and ask the fence nicely to let me go and then all the wounds healed, or like the time all those cars hit me and I was back in two days or when I fought all those giants and stole their money..." Jack continued to ramble and boast his exploits, unrestrained or censored for the moment. Kikyo was so smug and Jack thought it was only right that he be put in his place and know EXACTLY how great the Fable REALLY was.

There he went off again on his tall tales, this time with elaborations on his many mishaps and misadventures. Kikyo was not in the mood to compare battle scars or the length of one's prowess.

Peace...was that so much to ask for? He'd never met such a talkative half-unconscious man in his life.

"Misfortune seems to follow you wherever you go," he said unsympathetically. "Walk away from this, and we'll both of us be the happier."

Jack glared at Kikyo. "Do you have any idea who I am, you stupid Mundy? I've had a good deal of misfortune, sure, but I always come out on top. And do you know why that is?"

Stupid? Kikyo's eyes narrowed sharply.

"I have no idea, I'm sure," he replied coldly, answering both questions at once. And his tone of voice made it clear that he cared not to hear the response that John seemed so eager to give, either.

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