damned_institute | Day 35: Bill's Hardware

Leon wandered in after Kagura, hands shoved in the pockets of his jeans, trying to look bored. He glanced around the store, doing a quick mental inventory of where things were and what he needed. They had lighters, but they were up on the front counter by the cashier. Hopefully he'd have better luck with nails and wire.

Glancing at the man behind the counter, Leon decided to stay up towards the front, at least until he was given permission to explore the place. The less threatening he looked, the better.

Perry, who had been wiping down the check-out counter as they entered, gave the newcomers a great big friendly smile (as well as an extra nod of the head to Kagura). "You feel free to look around to your heart's content, little lady."

The girl seemed a bit young to be the man's girlfriend. He might have thought them siblings, except they looked nothing alike. None of his business, he supposed. "You folks after anything in particular?"

"That's so nice of you," Kagura replied, offering a polite smile in return and looking at the array of things on the front counter. "I'm not really looking for anything in particular," she admitted, hoping to hold the man's attention with a few questions at least. She tried to keep her attention focused on the shop keeper and not Leon.

"My friend kind of dragged me along. To be honest I don't know a lot about much of anything here. The most I've really done was help my cousin with some home repairs last summer, but I do love arts and crafts. Do you have anything simple maybe? I'm not very good with the difficult things. Something to pretty up a room perhaps?"

Leon was only half-listening as Kagura chatted with the cashier. She'd do fine, he was sure. He drifted away from the conversation, idly examining the various tools scattered about. He lingered near the claw hammers, but knew that trying to smuggle something like that back to the Institute would be fruitless. He'd lose the hammer and get sedated for his trouble.

There were a couple other men chatting quietly near a rack of tools, and Leon rather suspected their aims were similar to his. He slowly moved in their direction, hoping that the three of them could work together to get a few items.

[down to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/449427.html?thread=36742803#t36742803)]

Wally looked around the small store, noting the aisles of tools and the fact there were a couple of other people here already. They looked like patients, though without the normal smiling logo, he couldn't be sure. He gave a trademark Flash grin to the guy behind the counter as he walked past, taking a wild guess that he was the Bill the sign mentioned.

"See anything useful?" he asked Cid, keeping his voice down so as not to bother anyone but taking care not to look like he was planning anything. And Batman thought he was the only one who could be subtle. He paused behind one of the shelves, hoping that it would obscure him enough that he'd be difficult to see from the counter, but not suspiciously so.

As for himself, Wally wasn't sure what he could really use to defend himself with that was small enough to sneak out and back into the institute and that he wouldn't feel too bad about taking. Maybe he'd be better to come up with a distraction so that Cid would have an easier time getting something useful. Nonchalantly picking up a set of screwdrivers, he made a bit of a show of checking the sizes while muttering to Cid: "If you need a distraction..."

"Zeppelin...?" Cid muttered as he followed Wally into the store, and while he'd normally be quick to write off the kid's confusion as ignorance to Shin-Ra's newest technological advances, he had a feeling from the 'they still use those?' comment that he was probably from a different world. It figured: that blond kid, Guy, from the other day had been impressed with Cid's know-how, but he couldn't damn well expect everyone to be behind him technologically, could he?

In any case, he hoped this hardware store wouldn't stump him with shit meant to fit different schematics than the ones he was used to. While he didn't really care what people thought of him, it'd still suck to look like a dumbass in front of another patient when this was supposed to be his field of expertise.

He looked down the aisles, taking in the wares and realizing most of it was for pretty mundane home improvement purposes rather than fixing up an engine or pounding out metal. (Not that he was expecting to pull a plane out of his ass under these circumstances, but yeah.) Still, he was relieved to see that it all looked more-or-less familiar, and stuff like a wrench or a screwdriver or pretty much anything else under the damn sun could help him out at this point.

Cid frowned as the kid made his comment, and he looked over his shoulder: the shop owner seemed to be busy with a couple of other people at the moment, but...

"Just not sure if we'll actually get this shit back on the buses," he grumbled, knowing what happened when people participated in stuff like riots and daytime thievery. "Hate to sound like a goody two-shoes, but that kinda crap usually earns you a big kick in the ass 'round these parts. ...If y'get caught."

But if they could find a way to smuggle it...

"So we won't get caught," Wally whispered, winking at Cid. There had to be some way to get something useful out of here and back into the institute without anyone noticing, right? Of course, he'd have to find something useful first.

"Uh, any idea if we could use any of this stuff?" he asked sheepishly. A lot of it just seemed pretty basic and not exactly useful to him, but then he'd never had to use a weapon before, so he wasn't sure what exactly 'useful' would mean. Not to mention that the smell of food from earlier had reawoken his appetite. Swiping something was beginning to take a second place to keeping up with his metabolism.

Cid took a look at the stuff Wally had grabbed and scratched the back of his head.

"Well..." he said, leaning forward to grab the set of screwdrivers away from the kid and glancing over the range of sizes with a more experienced eye, "kinda depends on what we come across. Against monsters and nurses, sure, y'can't do much with tools but bash in a baddie's brains with a wrench we prolly can't steal anyway, but if we find some electronics or even get to break open the radios..."

He heard a sound from the door and looked up to see someone else enter the shop. If they were going to swipe something, they'd better do it now, before a lot of eyes were on them, so Cid moved to shove the kit under his jacket as soon as the store-owner turned away...

Wally blinked as Cid began talking of electronics and radios. It wasn't really his area of expertise, that was for sure. "I can't say that I've got much experience with that," he muttered, feeling a little useless. He brightened. "Though, I might be able to help you out by keeping Bill over there busy..." Though the idea of going to find food was becoming rather tempting.

Cid had to admit once again that it was nice to have some actual clothes on, if only because they provided more coverage under which to hide stolen goods. He looked at Wally and smirked a little as he nodded. Maybe a kick in the ass was what he needed; he'd become so goddamn cautious at this place that he'd forgotten how good it felt to break rules that needed breaking. Hell, he was Cid Highwind! He wasn't a pansy!

"Yeah, you do the talkin'," he said, turning back towards the items on display in the aisle. He scanned the baskets of tools, trying to figure out which ones he could best put to practical use. After all, he'd be going back to Landel's Institute at the end of the day, not a hangar.

"Excuse me." Their conversation was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice as what appeared to be the only assistant Perry had at the moment appeared from around the corner. He didn't seem to fit the image of a hardware store worker, dressed up far too nicely beneath the required smock. The name tag, stuck on the sleeve of his shirt as though this was some sort of fashion statement, said 'Roger.'

"Can I help you two men with anything?"

Okay, time to put your money where your mouth is, Wally, he thought as the assistant appeared from around the corner. A quick glance at the front of the store showed that a young girl had the owner's attention, so hopefully he'd just have to keep the assistant busy and hope that no one else turned up.

"Can you ever!" Wally said enthusiastically. He grinned hugely and flung an arm around the guy's shoulders. "You see," he glanced down at the name tag, "Roger, I'm thinking of doing so renovating around the home - you know, on that DIY kick? - but I really don't know that much about what kind of tools are the best for the job - besides a hammer and nails I mean - so someone with a bit of insiders info, an expert opinion, would be really great!" As he was talking, Wally began manoeuvring Roger away from Cid and over towards a display of power tools. "Hey! Those look handy, would you mind giving me a demo?"

Leon approached the other two, nodding slightly as one of the men guided the store employee away from the potentially useful items. He carefully sidled up next to the remaining man. "You from the Institute too?" he asked under his breath. "Doing a little... shopping?" He glanced around the area, nodding to himself when he spotted several rolls of copper wire. He just needed to figure out how to get some of that into his jacket...

After making sure that the staff was occupied, Leon moved over to the copper wire. There was, conveniently, a wire cutter right next to the rolls; probably so shoppers could cut off however much they needed and take it up to the front. This seemed like the kind of town that wasn't supposed to worry about crime much.

Sparing another quick glance around, Leon located a thinner gauge of wire and quickly started unspooling it, getting about four feet before clipping it off. He bent the wire in half, then half again. He kept the wire against his arm, heart pounding, as he casually wandered towards the back of the store. Once there, he glanced down, as though his shoe was untied, and knelt down to "fix" it. While kneeling, he quickly worked the wire up his pant leg, making sure it was safely held by his boot before standing up.

The replica's mouth hung open in surprise as he entered the door, rows upon rows of items he had never seen before laid out in front of him. The smell of wood was prevalent; it reminded him very much of the woods near Daath. It was very pleasant, and he smiled at the memory.

There was so much to look at; where to go first?

Ion decided the safest bet was to head towards the front counter, peeking over the edge to train his eyes over the assortment of strange tools that lined it. His fingers reached for a brightly-colored plastic lighter, fumbling with the small container as he examined the wheel on top closer.

...Ion had no words for what this might be.

"Hey, you be careful with that."

Perry leaned over the counter, reaching out to slowly and gently remove the lighter from Ion's hand. Couldn't have mentally hampered kids running around with those in their possession, after all.

"Oh! I'm sorry, sir," Ion said, smiling up at the man. His eyes followed the plastic container with curiousity evident on his face. "What is that used for? I'm afraid I've never seen something like it."

The large man couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at this kid. As if the green hair wasn't odd enough. They really did have some crazies, didn't they? Of course, it could be this kid simply had overprotective parents. You know, the kind that kept anything remotely dangerous in locked safes in their bedroom or something.

"It's a lighter," he answered carefully. "Burns things. Not for playing with."

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/447260.html?thread=36650524#t36650524)]

Bourne noted that he wasn't the only person to take an interest in the hardware store...and he also noted that he wasn't the only person with criminal intentions. He could use them as a shield if the shopkeeper took an unusual interest in the quiet, furtive 'mental patient' looking at tools, which, in the right hands, could be instruments of mass mayhem.

He quite liked the screwdrivers. Really, anything long and able to be stabbed with was good, although he already had pens. The issue, of course, was getting it back to the Institute.

That is, if he even went back at all. That cemented it. He had to at least try. Maybe the shopkeep would be distracted by that weird-looking kid with the lighter. He meandered to the back of the store, pretending to be interested in things like hammers and screws, until he found something that could be quite useful indeed.

Duct tape.

If the shopkeep was occupied, maybe he wouldn't notice Bourne surreptitiously slipping a roll of tape underneath his shirt. It would be embarrassing to be caught, especially here, like this. But his luck could still keep on the sour streak it had been on ever since he'd taken that leap into the river...

[And now Jason rolls for initiative...does he nick it? Oh, DM~]

[Lock and load. :D]

The tape secreted underneath his rather baggy shirt, Bourne made his way back to the front of the store, taking a cursory glance at various items as he returned. Leaving in too businesslike a manner was automatically grounds for suspicion, and he couldn't afford that. A lighter would be good, but it was too close to the front of the store to bother dealing with. Better to take what he could and get back to his other objective - escape.

The asset left the store shortly after, headed back the way he'd come. He knew what he was looking for.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/447260.html)]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/447260.html?thread=36428828#t36428828)]

Harley pushed open the door as nonchalantly as possible, holding the door a few extra seconds after entering to ensure it wouldn't smack Itchytacky in the face (as funny as that might have been). She couldn't say she had been to all that many hardware stores, but this place wasn't entirely impressive. The faint smell of wood and metal just made her feel almost out of her element. It was a good thing she was excited enough to ignore that to a point.

She didn't stray too far from the door, waiting for her companion to come in and take the lead so she could follow him like an excited puppy. She offered her best charming smile to anyone to happened to spare a glance in their direction upon entering.

Itachi watched his companion with confusion and some wariness. She seemed very happy about something. His attention turned to the store as he followed her in, however. There were already a few patients in there, likely with plans similar to their own. After all, none of them had money, so there would be no other purpose for going into a shop.

Itachi edged down one of the aisles, expecting Harley to follow. Boxes of nails and screws, which weren't very useful, but the staff of the store seemed busy and would likely not hear a murmured conversation here.

"The staff here are occupied with the other customers. We may not need a distraction," he muttered out of the side of his mouth, idly picking up a couple nails and staring at them.

Harley walked right behind, curiously looking up and down the shelves of the aisle they had entered. She noticed the place was far busier than expected, too. Here she thought they'd be the first to think of going there.

She pouted her lower lip out in disappointment, but said nothing else on the matter. If he didn't think they needed the distraction, then it probably meant they didn't. In a way, this could be viewed as a good thing, since they could now both grab things and make out better.

"I guess," she muttered back, luckily catching on to the 'keep quiet' hint without being told. She peeked over at the nails Icktockey was looking over and looked across the aisle at some small oil cans. Not exactly the most useful spot. But seeing the oil cans reminded her...

She looked down at her overall shorts. There was a large pouch pocket in the front, but otherwise there weren't that many places to stick any item she snatched. Except her shirt. She could probably stick something small and not sharp in there if need be. The pouch was big enough to hold a football in it, but anything too heavy would drag the whole thing down and be very obvious. Harley would have to be careful what she stuck in there.

Turning her attention to her partner again, she whispered, "By the way, how big are yer pockets?"

Itachi put the nails down and moved further down the aisle. "Not very big," he murmured, a note of irritation creeping into his tone. These pants were so impractical, too tight and with pockets that no sane person could actually make use of. What was even the point of having pockets if they couldn't be used? Not to mention the point of having pants that restricted movement, or the point of straps and chains that could not actually be used for anything. At any rate, he could probably fit a small, sharp object into them, or slip some other type of thing down his sleeve.

"Screwdrivers," he pointed out as they continued further into the shop. "Wrenches. Adequate, but we might find something better." This place had to have some sort of knife. Probably hammers and saws as well, but they weren't Itachi's type of weapon, not to mention that they'd be hard to smuggle out.

Small pockets were no good. Back at the institute, they had giant man-eating, white bugs of death and rabid monster cats. Throwing some tacks didn't seem like anything that would do the trick. She personally preferred something big and heavy, the kind of thing one would use to smash a skull in, though she doubted she'd find a good replacement for her own mallet back home. Especially if she had to worry about grabbing anything too heavy.

Harley wandered right behind, examining the contents of their particular aisle. She wasn't exactly an expert on hardware stores, but it looked like this aisle had mostly hand tools. The screwdrivers and wrenches got bigger as they walked along and transitioned into manual hand drills, files, sanders, and steel chisels. Peg boards displayed wrecking bars and pry bars, and closer to the bottom were rubber headed mallets. She winced at the rubber heads. Didn't that defeat the purpose of a mallet?

Outside of their aisle along the back wall hung the bigger items, it looked like. From what she could see, there were handsaws mostly far too big to get out unnoticed. Plus, sticking one of those down one's pants didn't sound like the brightest of ideas.

In an astounding display of subtlety, she stopped walking to try and grab Itskitchy's attention as she looked at the big peg board. Useful? Yes. Possible to smuggle out? ...That was the question now, wasn't it? If they looked around for too long, the place might die down and they'd lose their chance to grab stuff. But if they kept looking they might find something better and easier to smuggle.

Decisions, decisions....

Itachi took note of the things they passed, but he didn't feel quite satisfied. Yet he looked back when Harley stopped. Long pieces of metal could certainly serve as weapons, as she was probably thinking, but he would still rather hold out for some kind of utility knife. He didn't know what kind of weapon Harley usually used, though.

"Those could work. I would rather look for something else, but if you prefer these, maybe you should take one." He glanced unobtrusively through the gaps in the shelving -- the staff still seemed occupied, and these items were small. Maybe he should take one; it was possible something might interfere and he wouldn't get another chance.

Day 35: Bill's Hardware

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