Day 34: Lunch

[thatdamnedninja.livejournal.com]

Yuffie bounced all the way through collecting her lunch, all the way to a good seat- one with a nice view of the whole cafeteria, which was something she'd been missing out on during the past day or so that she'd been stuck in the Institute- and hell, she even bounced into her seat.

A good mood? No, really?

Despite the occasional blip, talking to Sagara had been awesome. He was a fun guy; he wasn't a prude, didn't have a stick shoved so far up his ass it was poking out his eyeballs, and he'd actually had a conversation with her. One that hadn't revolved around doom, gloom or how much life sucked. If she could find other people like that and keep in touch with Sagara, maybe there was a little hope for this place.

After a quick gulp of pink lemonade, Yuffie settled to munching through her food and keeping an eye on the door.

[Waiting for Dean, I think? :x]

Comments

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

"A snack? And if I'm not around it's because I got free of here!" He didn't like the turn this conversation was taking. He was practically shouting, which would attract attention too. "If that brat attacks me, I'll fight back."

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

Cocking his head as though listening to something, he smiled. "HE would like that I'm sure. Someone to fight, to vent his frustration. His inablility to save anyone here, to hide what he is. A few hours of blissful oblivion would be welcome I'm sure." He waved a hand.

"Calm down. Wasn't that what you told him just a few moments ago? Calm down? What will shouting at me get you? I have no interest in fighting you here and now. Shall I release him so that you can attack him?"

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

Shaking a bit with reaction, Tony crossed his arms over his chest. His anger wasn't quick to subside, but he knew it was pointless. "I won't attack him. Stay or not, but don't threaten me. I'm not helpless, you know."

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

"Am I threatening you? Oh my. I was unaware. Do forgive me." His voice sounded sincere, though his eyes shone with amusement. "And here I thought you were tougher than you looked."

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

"All the more reason not to threaten me, Takaya-god-whatever you are." This was so different from what he was used to. People here were so cold.

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

"I'm certainly not the worst this place has to offer you," he pointed out. "And I'm certainly not your enemy. As distasteful as I find it, Takaya would probably die to save every single person here that he's alienated and angered, even you, and I cannot fight that conviction." There was that smile again.

"A sense of justice can be easily manipulated though, and this place knows that quite well."

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

"I'm no savior either," Tony grumbled. "Even if I am different, I'm only a kid." But he did have a sense of justice, and of right and wrong. "Why do you hate everyone so much, especially Takaya?"

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

"Do I hate him? He is me, after all, and hating him would imply that I hate myself." He smiled. "Is that what you're saying, Tony?" He put a slight purr on the name.

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

It was hard not to recoil at that animalistic purr. "People do. Hate themselves. Sometimes. And all I see in you is hate, so why not?"

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

"I hate life." There was a definite purr to his voice that time, as though he got a great deal of enjoyment out of his loathing of all things living and happy. And he did.

"And Takaya is just that, as are you. So, I suppose I hate you as well."

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

Tony shivered. "Good for you. At least now you're being honest." He looked from side to side, wondering where he could retreat to if "Takaya" got murderous. He still didn't know if any of his strange talents would work.

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

"I've been nothing but honest to you this whole time," 'Takaya' said, pretending to be hurt. "Unlike Takaya, whose lies will get him into trouble one day.

"Really, I'm impressed by you Tony."

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

"Impressed? Why?" He would never say he was nothing special, but-- "According to Takaya, I'm ordinary here."

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

"You may be ordinary in one sense of the word, but..." He held up a finger. "You are sitting in what pretends to be a mental hosptial. You have no reason to believe anything I'm saying, and yet not once have I seen the thought of 'this guy must be crazy' cross your face. It's an interesting lack of reaction."

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

"Was I supposed to think that?" He jokingly called Tia crazy sometimes or a dope, but why did he believe this guy? "You don't sound as if you're lying," Tony ventured, though how he wasn't certain. "Do people usually say that?"

The first person he'd seen had said that this wasn't a real institution, but did that mean he should assume that no one here was crazy?

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

"There are people here that are quite insane," he said. "Just not in the way this place makes them out to be. It might not be a real hospital, but that doesn't mean everyone here is as upstanding a character as you or Takaya here," he added, gesturing to his temple.

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

"As long as they leave me alone, I don't care," Tony said. "Especially Takaya and you. You want me all mad at you. I won't do it." He nodded and looked away. "There must be other people here who aren't so strange as you."

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

"Takaya wanted you angry with him so you would leave him alone," the false Takaya said. "I don't care how you feel towards me, but Takaya is worried about you now. Since I've taken such an interest in you and all." With a shrug, he leaned back in his chair. Takaya's efforts were futile in the long run, and now he didn't even seem to want to come back out.

"The rest of the people here are just as strange, if not more so, than we are. But you'll find out soon enough on your own."

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

"I can take care of myself," Tony said defensively. "He can keep his worry." He frowned though, since if anyone knew what the person using Takaya's voice could do it was Takaya.

He decided to change tactics. "What other activities are there here? During the day."

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

He allowed the chance in subject for now with a soft chuckle. "I don't pay much attention to the things that happen during the day," he said. "But there is a schedule on the board. If it follows the same pattern, tomorrow we get to go outside. Exciting, isn't it?"

His smiled vanished, leaving his face empty. "With luck we'll be allowed off the buses before nightfall this time."

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

"Buses? Where do we go?" But it was the last statement that seemed important. "Why is that? What happened at nightfall on the buses?"

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

"Into town. And what happens on the buses at night is the same thing that happens all over at night."

Now he smiled again. "Every kind, smiling staff member here shows their true nature and tries their hardest to kill you," he paused here, as thoug thinking. "Or eat you. Maybe in that order, but probably not."

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

"That's not possible," Tony said. "People don't do that." He didn't think they did.

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

"Maybe not where you come from little boy, but here, anything is possible." He chuckled again, the sound soft and cold. "Sounds like the tagline of some fairy story, doesn't it?"

[tony-castaway.livejournal.com]

"I don't believe in fairies either," Tony muttered. "It was Tia who did all the reading. These people, the ones herding us from place to place try to kill and eat us?" He shook his head. Being strange can lead one to believe any number of strange things, but this was too much.