damned_institute | Day 34: Lunch

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Day 34: Lunch

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]

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Falis paused in her eating and locked eyes with the bot. "Unexpected shit comes up all the time. Sometimes you have to push the unexpected aside and keep your commitments," she stated.

If her potential client wasn't a young biy, she would have pressed further, pointing out how had he been on time she might have gotten to the kitchen in time to save that Hisoka-boy's life. She chose not to since it seemed a little too... mean. Even for her.

"That being the case, you're lucky I'm in a decent mood and will overlook most of last night as long as you can pay and I accept your contract."

An answer came to Ken almost immediately, but the words fell dead at his lips. He was not here to make excuses, he was here to make a deal. Nothing more.

Good thing for that outcome, then. "I understand," he said, nodding slowly.

"The job is kind of weird so I don't know what payment would match it, but..." Ken sighed inwardly. "I need to find out the identity of a friend's roommate."

"Odd request for a bounty hunter," Falis replied, raising an eyebrow. "Especially since usually when you ask a friend something like that, they tend to tell you."

She chewed on her piece of chicken for a moment. "Oh. I'm Princess Alita Forland. You may have heard of me," she added on. Given her post on the bulletin board, the only one that she'd ever bothered to sign, it wouldn't be surprising if her name was getting around with the others like it did back home.

"Usually, yeah," Ken agreed. His line of sight dropped to the floor. "She doesn't want me to get involved, though." As a matter of fact, Yukari would probably kill him if she had an inkling of his current intentions.

Alita was the sort of name he'd recognize after hearing it once, but catching it prior to now was a different story. The boy mulled on that for a few seconds before shaking his head altogether. "Sorry. I haven't." A pause. "I didn't know you were also a princess."

Ah... so the boy was doing this in secret. He must really be worried about his friend.

"Yeah, I am, but I've been a bounty hunter far longer than I have a princess, so don't let the title fool you into thinking I'm not competent," Falis stated. "Check the board for my credentials later if you want to know if you've made a good investment or not."

"You got a name? I don't work for the anonymous."

"Got it." It felt weird to treat the entire matter as a business deal (even when it technically was), but Ken supposed it could not hurt to check. Not like he could say no to smart investing.

"Oh. Yeah." Though anonymity felt safer, it was probably in his best interest to give Alita an identity. "My name is Amada Ken," the child answered. "Though, I'd appreciate it if you could keep that name from getting back to my friend." For fear of the aforementioned killing, of course.

Amada? Weird name for a boy. Whatever.

Falis still hadn't picked up on some of the other reversing the order of their name, so she assumed Amada was his first name. She munched on her food for a moment, nodding, before replying. "I generally don't give out the names of my clients anyways - bad for business. So, this is what I need you to do: Outline exactly what it is you want me to do and I suggest being very specific."

Ken probably wouldn't have minded the misunderstanding, had he known. People often used either name; plus, there was another Ken around. Things resulted in less of a mix up when dealing strictly in surnames.

But since the boy had no idea, he simply continued as Alita instructed. "All right," he said. "I want the name of the second person in room F29, the one who is hurting my friend. Real, or the fake names they give us, it doesn't matter. I can work with either." Ken knew how to trace names back to people.

"That's it, really. If you can get any other information, I would appreciate it, but I won't make that part of my requirements."

That's what he wanted to hire her for? Falis kept her face straight, but she kind of wanted to start laughing. This would be easy for her to do. She felt a little underappreciated, given her skill, but she also felt a little bad for charging the boy for this.

But business was business.

"Okay. I can do that. What is your friend's name, what does she look like and do you know any of her typical habits here? I fi am to be undetected by her, I need to know as much as I can."

For once, he was stumped. Ken never had to describe the junior in detail before. She had always been "Yukari-san" to him. Thus, all descriptions were always assumed, never laid out. Plus, back home, a full profile meant one of two things: a police report or a personal ad.

One can immediately see the extent of his dilemma.

"Uh, well." He bit his lower lip, mulling on where to start. "Her name is Yukari. She's a little less than a head taller than me...so maybe 160, 165 cm tall?"

So far, that all sounded remotely correct. Ken, therefore, continued, "She has shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes. Um, what else?" The child frowned, frustrated at the lack of adjectives coming to mind. "Normally, I'd say look for a 17-year-old who wears a lot of pink, but that's kind of pointless... Oh."

His expression soured considerably. "She wears bandages on her neck. It's her only injury. As for habits, Yukari-san is pretty normal as far as people go. I can't really pick out a behavioral pattern that's unique to her, though she likes to punch guys occasionally."

Edited 2008-08-09 23:44 (UTC)

That wasn't much, really, but it was enough. The bandages in conjunction with the hair description should be enough to separate the girl from the one she's supposed to be investigating. The bounty hunter nodded.

"Alright. I'm capable and willing to take on this contract," Falis replied. "What do you offer for compensation?" She didn't work for free.

Last night, before his unfortunate "misadventure", Ken had figured out a payment that matched the information he was seeking. As the boy owed a little more this round, he had to consider other alternatives.

"I can get you an item," said Ken, "if you have an idea of where it is. If you don't, I can still search for it. Just as long as you're sure the object physically exists in hospital." He would not be pleased if his payment was to be, say, a metaphor.

The bounty hunter pondered her options for a moment. She had a sword now so that wasn't needed anymore. Then a thought occurred to her. She grabbed her rarely used journal and flipped it open to a blank page and started writing a list.

a couple jugs with sealing caps full of hot water
one empty jug
funel
metal bowl and masher
sugar
corn

Falis tore the sheet off and slid it across to Amada. "Pick these up for me and we've got a deal. You should be able to find them in one of the kitchens."

Ken picked up the sheet immediately and read down the list. Most of the items seemed retrievable, though the child had to wonder what Alita was planning to do with them. Some kind of drink, perhaps?

There was one object, however, that confused him. "Do you mean corn as in...actual corn?" he questioned tentatively. "What about the canned stuff?"

"As long as it's corn something, it'll work. I don't know why you'd put corn in a can but that's fine," Falis answered.

"Got any other questions?"

Oh, good. That made the task several notches lower on the difficulty scale.

"I think the can helps to preserve the corn for several years," Ken pointed out, "and nope. I can work with this." It wasn't too bad of a deal, honestly. The child would simply need to plan out his half and put forth some effort.

For the first time since their meeting, he smiled. A tiny smile, barely noticeable, but it counted. "Thank you, Alita-san."

Falis waved her hand like it wasn't a big deal cause... well, it wasn't. "Yeah, yeah... thank me when I've got that name for you."

"Oh. And I won't be starting on the contract until tomorrow. I've got important plans tonight."

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Day 34: Lunch

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