Day 21 - Sun Room

[soul-defender.livejournal.com]

Ichigo was only too eager to leave the cafeteria and its fresh memories behind when the softened chime of the intercome rang clear. What had begun as another ordinary meal, a rather agreeable one despite the lack of the proper utensils, quickly became somewhat unnerving. His conversation with...what was his name again?...took so many sharp turns, he should've felt dizzy. It was easy to feel a little sorry for the guy, though; surrounded by stangers in a very strange place, it was hard to blame him for being so alarmed.

The Sun Room occurred as a more enjoyable choice to spend the time; he had nothing against music, but something about being surrounded by some of the most unruly characters he'd ever met, each of them armed with cacophonous weaponry, didn't sound smart. Once his nurse departed, the young man picked out a cozy little spot near a flood of sunshine and settled in, cradling his head in the palms of his hands. There, he stared up almost bitterly at the ceiling with sharply focused eyes, still exuding the same unapproachable sense of being as ever.

The room was warm, even a little comforting, for any of the tired, weary masses found in Landel's halls, or even those who just craved a little peace and quiet. All he could hear, from end of the room, were soft footfalls and hushed voices. That sounded just fine to the 'berry head.

Comments

[bigshotbarret.livejournal.com]

Damn. God dammit. God fucking Dammit. If there was anyone he was hoping to avoid in this condition (aside from possibly Kadaj) it was Yuffie. He'd learned to tolerate her, and even like her on some occasions over the years...but she still had a tendency to rib about the wrong thing at the wrong time, which was the perfect fuel for his fiery temper.

She wasn't too bad yet...but the conversation only just started, "Ain't you a barrel of fuckin' laughs, sunshine? Somethin' happened last night, but I can assure you it wasn't no animal. This place does somethin' to folks that don't make them act like themselves. Brainwashin'. That's what happened."

[materianinja.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, yeah. I've heard all about it," Yuffie assured him, dragging up a chair next to him and seating herself backwards in it quite comfortably.

"So!" she continued with the same grin, undisturbed by the tone in his voice. She was a ninja on a mission. "Who cut you up like yesterday's roast beef? I heard it was some girl." Her grin widened a little bit, just enough that she knew it would piss Barret off. "Did she throw her handbag at you or something?"

[bigshotbarret.livejournal.com]

Barret glared dangerously at her tease, "I ain't in the mood Yuffie. If you heard all about it, you'd know it wasn't that simple." He paused, the glare softening just a little, "Who told you, anyway?"

[materianinja.livejournal.com]

"Somebody." Yuffie continued to grin, feigning an innocent look.

"You tell me who stuck you full of holes, and I'll tell you who told me, k?" She paused a second or two before adding, "And please let them at least be older than ten. I'd really have to feel sorry for you if you, Cid, and Vincent got your butts handed to you by a little girl."

[bigshotbarret.livejournal.com]

It really wasn't a big deal to Barret who told Yuffie about it. It was practically all over the bulletin board. He felt like she was merely here to pick at him which frustrated him, especially since she appeared to have no intentions of leaving until she got what she wanted. Typical Yuffie.

"When a girl is trained as a weapon and has weapons at her disposal like a katana AND an axe while the ones' she faces ain't armed at all...well you figure it out." He stopped to look away from her at his injured knee, remembering, "She's wasn't ten, but she's still a kid to me."

[materianinja.livejournal.com]

"Well, that's just bogus," Yuffie scoffed, leaning forward and crossing her arms over the top of the chair, resting her chin on top of them. "Who the heck would give a kid something like that and let her run around a place like this? Bunch of idiots, that's who. And I don't see why you couldn't have just grabbed her and taken the weapons away. I mean, geez. Three full grown men. Come on, now."

So...she was trained to be a weapon? Ok, well, she'd seen some mention of that on the bulletin board, but that didn't tell her anything. She needed more...but she didn't want Barret clamming up like Vincent had. She had to ask before he got suspicious...

"So what'd she look like, anyway?"

[bigshotbarret.livejournal.com]

"This God damn Institute, that's who," Barret replied with angry heat, though it wasn't directed at her anymore. "This place uses the patients to do shit they have no control over. It happened to Elena and Vincent too. The ones behind this shit have the ability to brainwash us, make us attack one another. I don't know why...no one really does."

Now he did want to back hand Yuffie's mouth shut. He restrained himself, but unhappily did so, "What the hell does it matter what she fuckin' looks like? What're you plannin, to do, beat the shit out of her to prove somethin' to us? If you are concerned, I appreciate it really, but quit tryin' to kick a dead horse."

[materianinja.livejournal.com]

Yuffie almost visibly winced at Barret's accusation, the grin gone form her face. Though not dead-on, he was pretty close.. Damnit!

"I don't know what you're talking about," the ninja countered without lifting her head, though a light pouting scowl furrowed her brow. "What would I have to prove to you guys, anyway? Nothing, that's what." Technically, it was the truth. She had the intention of kicking the girl's butt, but it wasn't to prove anything. It was because she didn't want anyone tearing up her friends like this...Even if she wasn't going to openly admit it. "I was just curious is all. I think being kicked around by a little girl has made you stupid...er."

She paused to consider what Barret had said before. "Hypothetically, even if I did go after her, she'd totally deserve it. I mean, you don't just attack people like that. Especially unarmed ones. I've heard all this 'brainwashing' stuff before, but come on. No one can make you do something like that without you at least wanting to a little bit. That's just crazy."

[bigshotbarret.livejournal.com]

Barret forced himself to look dead into her eyes, hoping that connection might make her understand what he was preparing himself to say, "If I hadn't seen it, I might agree. But you listen good. I ain't gonna tell you who it was because I don't trust you enough not to do something dumb. This place is responsible for most of the bad shit that goes wrong here. If Vincent can't fight it, and I know he's a tough mother fucker, there may not be a way to fight the brainwash. Just be prepared for when it happens to one of us."

[materianinja.livejournal.com]

Yuffie shifted uncomfortably under Barret's gaze, not liking at all how he was looking at her. She didn't like what he was telling her, either. He had some nerve to be accusing her of doing something 'dumb'. Geez, and here, she'd actually been worried about him... A little.

"Alright, alright!" Yuffie muttered, waving off Barret's serious tone with her hand and looking generally disgruntled at having been blocked by both Vincent and Barret. "Whatever. You can have your stupid secrets... But it's not gonna happen to me. I'm not stupid enough to let these weird doctor people mess with my head."

[bigshotbarret.livejournal.com]

Barret actually laughed softly at her declaration. "Well then, for everyones' sake, yours too, I hope you can fight it. From what I've heard, no one has been able to." The thought did worry him, and he wondered if there were any possibilities in fighting the effect. So far, however, it seemed rather impossible. "She was a stranger. It's gonna be twice as hard havin' to fight a friend."

[materianinja.livejournal.com]

Yuffie squirmed again when she heard Barret talk about fighting a friend... Was he referring to her? She wasn't sure, but it felt a little awkward. Barret just...wasn't a sentimental person... Or not that Yuffie could tell.

"I guess..." she muttered in uneasy agreement. She'd hate having to fight the others, too. Even though she'd done it before...several times.

"But anyway..." A topic change was the only way Yuffie was sure to be done with this awkward subject. And she'd been dying for some answers to her other questions, anyway. "Who's this Kadaj person from the bulletin board? Do you know him?"

[bigshotbarret.livejournal.com]

Talking to Yuffie like this didn't even leave room in his mind to explore the possibility she may not be from his time. Upon closer inspection, that much was confirmed, especially after having to question who Kadaj was.

"Kadaj, like his brothers Yazoo and Loz, are Remnants of Jenova. In my time...they were killed, and for a damn good reason. Kadaj is always whinin' about his momma because his whole purpose in life was to jump start the reunion with Jenova." He took a brief glance at Kadaj. After the wave of disgust passed over him, he turned back to Yuffie, "What's the last thing you remember before you got here?"

[materianinja.livejournal.com]

Kadaj was from Jenova? That's the mother he was talking about?

Ew.

Yuffie followed Barret's gaze over to the silver-haired kid. It had to be him that Barret was looking at cuz Yuffie could have sworn on her life that she was looking at a younger version of Sephiroth. Why she hadn't realized this before was beyond her... But probably had something to do with putting the whole incident out of her mind.

"Last thing I remember, everyone kinda went their own ways after we beat Sephiroth and after the Meteor scare. I went back to Wutai to check up on everyone, and then I ended up here not long after." Yuffie st up straight again, leaning back and stretching out her arms, her gaze drifting back to Barret. "So, I thought the whole Jenova thing was handled and all... What the heck happened?"

[bigshotbarret.livejournal.com]

Barret didn't really want to answer. Remembering the alien from another world creeped him out plenty, talking about her made it that much worse. Still, Yuffie needed to be up to date on this whole deal surrounding Jenovas' offspring...or whatever the hell they truly were.

"I don't know all the details, since I was filled in on the most important ones when I was still there, but the gist of it is that Jenova's head was still in the Northern crater, and the crybaby trio wanted it to bring about the Reunion. Somehow, Kadaj morphed into Sephiroth and fought Cloud, but our Spike like always came through. Kadaj was killed. Cloud killed off the other two just after Yazoo, the long haired one, put a bullet in his back." he chuckled a little, almost regretfully that he wasn't there at that moment to help his comrade, "He survived...that bastard has nine lives. And Kadaj wonders why we all sling momma jokes at his faggoty ass..."

[materianinja.livejournal.com]

The thought of Jenova wasn't any less 'creepy' to Yuffie than it was to Barret. And the thought of that horrible Northern Crater was just as bad... But this Kadaj morphing in Sephiroth? Yuffie couldn't help but make a face at that. A very unpleasant and uneasy one. Still, she was relieved to know it would all be settled...and that Cloud would pull through again. Barret was right. Cloud did have nine lives. Or 43576837534 of them.

At the mention of the jokes, though, Yuffie couldn't help but grin a bit. "You were helping with that? Heehee.. It was totally so much fun. He throws a tantrum like he's five, doesn't he?"

[bigshotbarret.livejournal.com]

"Helping?" Barret questioned with a large, easy grin, forcing himself to keep his gaze away from Kadaj, "I started that bulletin."

He nodded his head in agreement, the grin never faltering, "More like he's still in his terrible twos'."

[materianinja.livejournal.com]

"You started that?" Yuffie started laughing at this, more amused than she'd been since she'd first woken up in this place.

"That was way awesome. I didn't know you were into random mischief... And yeah, Kitty is totally in his terrible twos." She was suddenly very tempted to go over to the silver-haired boy and harass him face-to-face. She glanced in the other's direction, tossing the thought around in her mind as she grinned.

[bigshotbarret.livejournal.com]

Barret was amused as well, until he caught her random glance his way and frowned just a touch, "Now it be one thing fuckin' with him on that board, but don't be a smartass and bringin' it to his face unless you really wanna get into a brawl with him. He's a dangerous remnant..."

He almost looked himself, the frown melting from his features as it was replaced with a small grin, "As much as I'd like to tear him up and rid us all of that whining asshole, seems we got bigger things to worry about...like survivin' the night. We may need him...as a distraction for the baddies. Heh heh."

[materianinja.livejournal.com]

"Awww..." Yuffie whined, giving Barret a look that clearly stated he was ruining her fun. "I can handle myself just fine at night. I haven't gotten in the least bit of trouble yet. And anyway, I wasn't gonna 'rip into him' or anything. Just kinda poke at him a little. For fun. He totally deserves it."

[bigshotbarret.livejournal.com]

"I agree he deserves it, but," Barret did look over at the silver-haired remnant with a thoughtful expression before turning away and looking toward the floor, "But he's pissed right now. Real pissed. Someone like him pissed off with someone like you pokin' fun at him spells trouble with a capital T. I advise against it Yuffie, but you gonna do what you gonna do. I ain't gonna stop you." He looked at her then, "Just remember, if he comes out on top, remember you did it to yourself."

He felt strange, acting like some sort of parental figure to one he considered a brat on more than one occasion, but he felt like this place was changing him. It was necessary to look out for your friends any allies, even against themselves.

[materianinja.livejournal.com]

Ugh. Yuffie groaned at the 'it'll be your own fault if you don't listen' tone of what could only be described as a lecture. Coming from Barret of all people. Yuffie stuck out her tongue with a grimace.

"Ok, ok! Geez... You're sounding like my father or something," she muttered, resting her chin against the top of the chair's back again. Hearing that 'lecture' had totally killed any kind of mischief making mood she was in.

"Nag, nag, nag. I'll be a good girl, daddy. I promise, ok?" the ninja continued to mock, rolling her eyes. "I'll mind my manners and be a polite little thing and only harass him on paper, where he can't hurt me. Cross my little heart."

And if Barret believed that, she had a bridge near Wutai to sell him. Because she was going to hunt the silver-haired boy down later and make a grand time of it... Just so long as Barret was out of sight.

[bigshotbarret.livejournal.com]

"I don't believe you, and I'm disappointed you'd lie about it. But you wouldn't be Yuffie if you didn't." Barret laughed, shaking his head at the ninja. He knew she wouldn't listen to him--it was in her nature to be mischievious. He did his part in warning her, and if she was going to put herself in the line of fire for some mayhem in the name of fun then so be it.

"If you gonna fuck with him though, just don't be alone when ya do it. Usually better to travel in numbers, and I doubt anyone but his fellow queers will back him in a showdown. And don't forget to insult his momma."

[materianinja.livejournal.com]

"Will do." Yuffie grinned again, giving Barret a cheesy thumbs up. Making more 'yo momma' jokes at someone like that was easier than cake. Though, the thought of scrounging up other people to watch her back seemed too much of a bother for her...

"But really.. Disappointed?" She was still grinning. "You know you love me just the way I am. Your lives would all be totally boring otherwise."

[bigshotbarret.livejournal.com]

"Love? That word is too god damn harsh. I'd say more like tolerate, like a chocobo does a fly on it's back," Barret laughed before placing his hands to his gut. He knew before the complete end of the day, and probably during nightfall, he was going to bust open at least one of his stitches.