damned_institute | Day 27: Lunch

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Day 27: Lunch

Renji wasn't so certain what this grilled cheese thing was all about, but he liked the sound of some soup. Even if it was strange western soup, well... there wasn't anything bad people could do to soup, in his experience. His good mood was starting to fray at the edges, a little, from the strain of dealing with the Ichimaru issue, and even more from what had been on the bulletin board earlier.

He'd never had difficulty simply writing something before. But...

He shook his head as he entered the line. He didn't want to think about it. He wanted to hold on to the tenuous equilibrium he'd managed to find.

Renji got himself a large bowl of soup, water, and even one of those sandwiches, just to try it. Old habit, recently awakened, had him over to one side of the cafeteria, where the fewest people possible would have the chance to pass behind him. He sat there with his back toward the wall and started eating.

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How long had he been here? Reno found himself taking a second or two as he counted back the nights. Fuck, he was losing time already. This was depressing.

The smile was indeed too pleasant. In fact, it reminded him of Sephiroth's smile. But given Yuber wasn't doing anything to trouble him, Reno shrugged off the eerie similarity.

"Over a week," he replied. Eight days, specifically. Man, it felt a hell of a lot longer.

When the reply came it really wasn’t any surprise. He’d already suspected that Reno had been there longer than he had, and it left him wondering how many other ‘veterans’ roamed these halls. Was it truly that difficult to escape these premises? Not that escape was high on his priority list at the moment, but it was a little food for thought.

“That’s quite an impressive feat considering the dangers that lurk during the night hours.” The knight murmured before he shifted himself enough to cross one leg over his knee. Resting his free arm casually over his thigh, Yuber’s gaze held a decidedly sharp gleam in them as he added. “I take it that you hold at least enough skills from your original realm. Are you a fighter of some sort in your world?”

Reno’s build seemed rather on the slight side, but that honestly didn’t mean that they were weak. His own body was deceptively slender, but he was in no way weak and defenceless.

Reno tilted his head, thoughtful. "Less than you'd think. There's a bunch of kids around who've been here about as long as I have. Or hell, maybe longer. Besides, I can count on one hand the number of people who've outright died."

Disappeared was another story, but getting killed...hadn't really happened yet. Bizarre, but not unexpected. Like most of the patients suspected, the institute was probably more out to just toy with them. They'd certainly managed to brainwash him into keeping people alive. Wasn't all that hard to do the same to a bunch of critters and monsters.

He glanced up at Yuber's final question. "I get by," he said simply, not quite wanting to divulge his exact capabilities. "Speaking of realms, where do you come from?"

It was true he likely wouldn't have heard of it, but information was information, and it wouldn't hurt to know exactly how many dimensions this place had managed to dig its hands into.

The rather evasive reply was both amusing and intriguing to say the least, and Reno had been the first he’d come across who hadn’t yet elaborated on their duties when asked. It left Yuber curious, and in turn, watching the redhead with far more interest than before as his mismatched gaze studied Reno’s features carefully.

“I’ve been summoned from the Suikoden realm,” Yuber smoothly murmured as he continued to regard Reno thoughtfully. Presently he couldn’t get any clear indication to if Reno was leaning more towards Chaos or to Order, as the redhead hadn’t given off too much evidence to support either possibility yet. Time would eventually tell though. “And which lands have they torn you from?”

Aware of the eyes on him, Reno considered remarking if Yuber really found him that attractive, but then decided against it. Maybe if they'd been more acquainted.

Suikoden? Nope, couldn't say he'd heard of it. It had a slight Wutain edge to it, though Reno doubted it had anything to do with that. Still, the parallels between his dimension and a few of the others were uncanny.

"Me? Got dragged in from Gaia," he replied. He wasn't sure if Yuber was familiar with the name. In all likelihood, he could be—there were a number of people from Reno's world running around here.

The blank stare he got in return was to be expected. The only other patient he’d come across who held any slight knowledge to his realm was no longer among them, and all the others were just as clueless as Reno seemed to be. Not that it bothered the knight in the slightest. The less people who were aware of his realms true power the better.

“Gaia?” He asked as a slender brow rose up in question. What was it about that world which made its people so desirable? Shaking his head slightly, the overly pleased expression curved at his lips again as he rolled his hand around his wrist to emphasis his words. “It seems to be quite a popular realm to take people from. You’re the third one I’ve come across since my arrival.”

So he had come across the name.

"Oh yeah?" Reno matched Yuber's raised eyebrow, interested in exactly which one of the others Yuber had met. More specifically, whether the guy had run into the saner types or the psychos. "And who might the other two be?"

Yuber didn’t bother to stop the small chuckle from escaping him as he saw Reno’s interest. Humans always were a rather curious race – a character flaw that was always far too easy to exploit – and it was a trait of theirs the knight wouldn’t wish to change. Where would be the fun if they lost such curiosity?

“Mmmhm Kadaj and one named Cloud Strife.” He confirmed with a silky sound as he lazily regarded the patient before him. “Although I can’t say I was terribly impressed by that young silver haired fool.”

Hard to tell what exactly caused the amusement, but Reno didn't bother digging into it too deep. Besides, Yuber's remark about Kadaj was enough to both draw Reno's attention away from the chuckle and evoke a snort.

"Can't say you're wrong to feel that way." He found it interesting that Yuber made no mention of Cloud, which seemed to suggest Yuber was at the very least impressed enough to not lump Cloud into the same category as Kadaj.

Granted, it wasn't like a hell of a lot of people would ever put those two in the same category.

"What about you?" he asked. "You the only one from your world here?"

“If nothing else, I found Kadaj at least holds some worth in the entertainment area.” From Reno’s remark it was obvious that the redhead didn’t think much of Kadaj – he couldn’t blame him – and he was beginning to piece together that Reno could have been in opposition against Kadaj. He wasn’t getting the sense that Reno worked with Cloud though, considering the others complete lack of mention of the blonde haired warrior.

“No, there is one other here from my realm.” It was Yuber’s turn to snort softly as the question was returned at him. Gremio could hardly be considered worthy even if the foolish servant was attempting to gather him useless information. “But their use in the grand schemes of things is rather… limited… at best.”

"He's dangerous in his own right when he's with his brothers, but I doubt he'll even look twice at you. He has...other targets."

Namely Shin-Ra and AVALANCHE, although both Kadaj and Sephiroth did seem to have eased up a bit in their pursual. It wasn't much of a comfort, though, all things considered.

He cocked his head. "Grand scheme of things?"

“I don’t know whether to feel honoured or not.” The knight said, but the amused expression highlighting his features gave away his true thoughts. “He does seem rather stuck on – what was it he called Cloud,” Rolling his hand around on his wrist as he searched for the word, Yuber smirked in satisfaction as it came to him, “that traitor brother of his. Something pathetic about world destruction.” Snorting softly at the mere thought of such useless destruction, Yuber was reminded yet again as to why he found Kadaj foolish in the first place.

What was the point in planetary destruction anyway?

Whatever dislike he’d shown moments before disappeared at Reno’s question, as Yuber’s overly pleasant disposition returned. “His life is a mere drop in the ocean that connects it to the select few who are chosen to create and maintain the very world he and the other mortals live within.”

"Yeah, he has a bit of a sibling complex. Not to mention an Oedipus complex." Reno gave the fork in his hands a single twirl between his fingers, contemplative. "Actually, he's just not a real well-adjusted individual overall."

At least Yuber was against destroying the world. That was always a good sign.

"Fascinating," Reno said. "I can't say I have any idea what the hell you're really talking about, though. You implying you're one of the creators of the world or something?"

“I see.” Yuber was certain he wouldn’t have been surprised about this ‘Oedipus’ complex if the knight knew what it meant. Either way what complexes Kadaj had or not honestly wasn’t interesting to him. “Those less balanced in life are the ones you need to watch out for the most.” Granted, most of his work was contracted to these particular individuals, but he was hardly at risk of something a mere mortal could do.

“No, the Sword and the Shield created the world. The Twenty Seven who create the natural laws and life in the realm were born from the results of the epic battle that created the planet and the stars.” The knight smoothly murmured. Lifting up his right hand, Yuber revealed the symbol of his Rune etched onto the back of his hand as he added. “This is the symbol that marks me as one of those Twenty Seven.”

"Uh-huh, no shit. Coulda told you that myself."

Most of the terms Yuber was using flew straight over Reno's head - Twenty Seven, what? - but the gist of it was there. It sounded like some kinda religious lore. He blinked when Yuber lifted his hand, though it wasn't the rune that distracted him but -

Oh, so that was what had been so off about the guy: he cast no shadow. What the fuck? That was just creepy. If it hadn't already been clear enough earlier Yuber wasn't human, this definitely sealed the deal.

"And what do you do as one of these Twenty Seven?"

The basic concepts behind the Suikoden realm seemed to be far too much for outsiders to handle Yuber noted. Reno here didn’t seem to be any exception either, but he was hardly going to hold that against the redhead. Some native mortals from the Suikoden realm did not understand the true higher governing above their own rural laws.

Lowering his right hand back down to rest on his thigh, Yuber eyed Reno quietly for a moment as he considered whether or not to answer the question. “I promote evolution of the various species,” He murmured after deciding that such information couldn’t cause any true harm. “A balance needs to be kept between Chaos and Order as Order would bring nothing but stagnation to the planet. To make certain that Order does not out-balance Chaos; I offer my unique services to select humans in exchange for the opportunity to continue on promoting the evolution period.”

"So in other words, your job is to help people fuck things up."

Which...was more of an interesting concept than anything. Theoretically speaking. Reno had always figured people just naturally screwed stuff up on their own, but it wasn't too farfetched of a concept to think there were those built specifically for that purpose.

He leaned his elbow on the table and rested his chin in his hand, feeling too lazy to sit up properly. "That mean you support a place like this? Or does this not count because you got caught up in it yourself?"

“If you wish to put it so simply – then yes.” Yuber didn’t bother stopping the laughter that welled up at Reno’s simple summary of his occupation. He supposed that in some very basic level of understanding, that it was his duty

“I serve whoever regardless of their intentions as long as my terms can be met. Regarding this place though…” His demeanour entirely changed though as his thoughts drifted onto the institution in particular. Finding his amused expression bleeding from his face, there was a certain predatory gleam within his mismatched gaze as he regarded the redhead before him. For the slight against his very being... “I would rather show them what true Chaos really means.”

The mere thought of having his Rune’s abilities restored and running unrestricted throughout the walls of this vile institution made the wait far more bearable. He could already tell just how thrilled the Eightfold Rune would be at being unleashed even despite it being disgustingly dormant at the moment. Soon though… soon he’ll no longer have to wait.

The shift in demeanor was rapid, but not all that unexpected. Yuber wasn't the only one who had something against this place.

Reno dropped his hand from his chin and let out a short laugh. "Hey, if anyone's gonna stop you, it won't be me. Long as I don't get caught up in the whirlwind, of course."

Getting the hell out and burning the place down at the same time. It would've been more of an attractive notion if he'd had a damn clue as to what any of them would do afterwards. No one had yet to figure out how to go back.

Relaxing back into the chair, the predatory gleam only lasted a moment longer until his more pleasant nature returned to the knight. He would continue to wait and bide his time until that moment, until then, there was no point in worrying over such a thing.

“Then you best be far from here before it happens.” He pleasantly stated as if he was simply talking about the weather. His revenge would hardly be put on hold because a few patients were remaining in the area. If they were foolish to be there, then it wasn’t his problem if they were caught up in his vengeance.

“So Reno,” Yuber began as he reached up to brush aside a few golden bangs that partly obscured his vision. Lowering his voice slightly, he made certain to keep his words just between the two as he smoothly murmured, “How do you plan on escaping this delightful establishment?”

If Yuber was expecting a straight answer, he would be sorely disappointed.

"Mm, that?" Reno tilted his head, as if contemplating. "Well, I do have this grand vision of destroying the place with a few neatly placed explosives. Either that, or I need to find myself a female doc I can use to seduce my way out."

Although he hadn't considered taking it that far, he had found it a pretty damn shame that there was a signficant lack of woman doctors. He could do so much more with them than he could with...whoever-the-hell that jackass was. House.

The answer he received only caused Yuber to smile in amusement. Although there was no giveaway in their tone, the knight found that the answer to be more evasive rather than anything else. It didn’t take much to see that despite the question actually being answered, that there truly wasn’t an answer at all.

Which was an interesting concept to say the least, and he’d found (at least in his realm) that those who held such deceptive concepts were either thieves… or those intelligent enough who operated on the side of Chaos.

“I have to say Reno,” Tilting his head forward slightly, the knight regarded Reno with open interest as he continued in a murmur, “you are quite far the most interesting human I’ve met from your realm.”

In truth, Reno hadn't been expecting such a comment from Yuber, figuring instead the man would either play along with the concept or give a snort and change the subject.

The remark seemed to almost flip an unconscious switch in him, as his lips curved into a teasing smirk.

"Am I now. And what makes you say that exactly?"

He wasn't hitting on Yuber per se, but there was really no other suitable response he could give to something like that. Besides, flirting was always his default reaction. He found it tended to work out pretty well in most situations.

A charming smile slipped across his lips as he saw the instant change in Reno’s expression. The fact that Reno was flirting with him however, flew instantly over the knight’s head. Such human behaviour always seemed unnecessary and useless to the knight – not to mention those from his realm were far too cautious or goal orientated to consider flirting with the dangers he represented.

“I have my reasons,” Yuber murmured as he leant back into his chair before giving a carefree shrug. “But one could say that I find your deception a rather interesting concept for starters.”

That it flew over Yuber's head kinda flew over Reno's head, considering he wasn't trying to hook up with the guy or anything and so wasn't specifically watching for a response.

Long bored with his food, he his plate aside. "Hell, everybody lies," he said. "Wouldn't consider it something all that interesting, if you ask me."

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