damned_institute | Day 39: Sun Room

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Day 39: Sun Room

That really hadn't been the breakfast she'd been expecting, but Yuffie couldn't bring herself to complain. The kid made for good company, and was, if nothing else, pretty entertaining. She could've just done without the whole choking thing. That… That had been embarrassing. A bit. Okay, a lot. Yuffie was starting to get a feeling that this day was -- for once-- actually going to ping on her ‘interesting!’ meter.

Whether or not that was a good thing, she didn’t know.

By the time she’d reached the Sun Room's bulletin board, a kitten on her shoulder and a pen twirling between her fingers, Yuffie was starting to put her finger on why she had that weird, nagging feeling. Though on second thought, it was less like putting her finger on it and more like it had jumped up and punched her right in the nose; the feeling wasn’t just about waffles, magicians, or tricky candy thieves. Sagara hadn't answered her bulletin post; he hadn't answered any bulletin posts. She hadn't seen that stupid, spiky head of his all morning. It was like radio silence without a radio.

Agai-- No, Yuffie cut herself off sharply, frowning. She was just jumping to conclusions. It wouldn't be the first time, right? Right! And yet… instincts were instincts for a reason, and in a dump like this, who knew what could happen?

[for Okita?]

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"You seem kind of... I dunno, worried about something. And you're kind of red right in here..."

Elena gently reached out, her fingertips brushing lightly against his neck. A thought struck her, and her eyes lit up a bit in realization.

"Hey, weren't you with some girl this morning? I thought I saw you... Did she say something weird?"

Rude, for all his cautious watching, did not expect her to touch his neck and shot up, grabbing his journal just in time. Finding no truly graceful way out of this, he cleared his throat and sat down. He couldn't look at her when she mentioned a girl.

That as no girl. That was a man-made perfect woman.

"Wasn't weird," he said, a little defensively. "S'nothin'. Gimme a break down of your injuries," he said. He needed to know her condition and stuff, so yeah.

Ooookay. So she'd made Rude a little jumpy. Oops. Slightly embarrassed, Elena decided to drop the subject for now, figuring she was probably spot on in the matter, if not at least close.

Explaining she could deal with.

"The worst is here," she pointed out as she lifted up her shift halfway to expose her bandaged abdomen area. No one was really watching them, and she was still properly covered and all. And besides, they'd seen each other in worse conditions, right? If you looked closely you could see where the blood was faintly starting to come through in one spot. Elena figured she might have to ask for new wrappings eventually.

"I don't think it hit anything vital, but it really hurts to move much. The other spot is here..." Elena continued by dropping the clothing again, this time pulling up her left shirt sleeve to reveal the bandaged shoulder. "It's not bad, but it's kind of a pain, so I just use the other side more."

Rude rubbed his chin while he watched her. He only ever rubbed his chin when he was in very, very deep thought. The blood. He didn't want to poison Elena but...if it helped it'd be good. he had to find out more. Someone had clearly dabbled for them to have suggested it, right? Unless they were fucking with people's heads. Which was possible.

"We could bring it back, you know," he pointed out. They weren't stingy. Although, being men, they could handle more units than a woman so most was theirs. Plus the finders fee. But they'd give her a swig or whatever.

Edited 2009-02-19 18:16 (UTC)

It took Elena a moment to figure out what Rude was thinking of, but then she smiled. Maybe Rude was giving her a chance to get a break tonight and still not miss out on all the fun.

"I thought Reno said we wouldn't get to drink it. But... would that be a lot of trouble?"

She wouldn't mind waiting for them, if it meant she wouldn't be alone for the entire night, but not have to venture too far.

Rude frowned at her, wondering what the hell she meant by not drinking it. but it slowly sank it.

"I'd rather use the power of my own farts to blow shit up than waste every drop of alcohol in this place on it," he said, in a rare moment that he actually relaxed enough to say it loud. Elena was slowly getting more of this side, but it was still rare.

besides he wasn't so barbaric in his bomb making that he could only make molotovs. Rude was way more advanced than that.

He shook his head. It was no trouble. He'd rather have the stuff stashed in their rooms so it had no chance of disappearing. if there was any left. Hell, he wanted the bottle anyway.

Elena blinked briefly in surprise, and almost started laughing at the surprising remark. But that would have hurt a lot, and she was worried about Rude changing his mind about being more open in front of her, and she managed to stifle it in time. As it was, it took a couple deep slow breaths to make sure she was composed enough to speak.

"Ah... don't really blame you there. I wouldn't want to give it up either, and you guys have been drinking a lot longer than I have, even."

She found herself relaxing rather easily; Rude was comfortable to be around, really, once you got used to him.

"Maybe we should just plan on that? I wouldn't want to slow you down... although Reno's room is closer than yours, I think. Depending on where you're going to look."

Rude gave a her look that was almost sly. She hadn't said a word but seemed she wanted to. His lips quirked in the smallest of smiles and he awkwardly patted her head. He'd put up with Reno long enough to deal with all sorts of reaction. He'd rather she was just...honest.

Might have stopped her almost getting killed last night.

He'd kind of only just gotten over almost losing her last time to Kadaj. But it seemed she was learning the way of the cockroach, under the guidance of Master Roach Tseng. Good to know.

After she'd made him sound like a complete alcoholic, he nodded. They were going to Reno's room. If he had something to hide, he had to work harder. "We're hitting the Doctors Offices. Just on a hunch, but it turns out there're rumours."

Rude felt a horrible feeling in his stomach. He knew what was coming but there never seemed enough time to stop it.

"So, you're a girl, right?"

She did smile at the head pat, slowly getting used to Rude's way of speaking but not. Maybe things weren't as bad as she'd been making them out to be. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time Elena ever overreacted to something.

"Sounds good... maybe I can at least get a little sleep tonight while you're gone."

But at the question she blinked. And blinked again. And then she glanced down at her chest for a moment before looking back up at him in puzzlement.

"Erm. I was the last time I checked. Why?"

Rude followed her gaze, not realising where it was going at first, and quickly looked away.

"You ever...get asked out?" he asked. he'd started so he might as well finish. And maybe she'd be kinder than Reno, you never knew. But shit, what if she thought he was just a big pussy?

He kinda wanted to ask if she ever thought Tifa might have liked him, even a little. Damn that ninja brat for giving him some twisted sense of hope.

Well, that was unexpected. But not unwelcome. Her smile faltered a little though, and she found herself trying to shift to a more comfortable position. Which almost didn't exist at that point. Being injured sucked.

"Not too often," Elena admitted, sounding a bit sad. "I've messed around with a couple low ranked soldier boys before, but if I'm in uniform they're more scared of me than wanting to do much. Maybe I'm just not good at it. Even Reno doesn't really want me..."

There, she'd said it. Maybe she just needed a makeover or something once they got out of here. But then there was that Tamaki kid, or so she'd heard...

Oookay. First there was the 'too much information' factor. He didn't need to know about her goddamn string of affairs or whatever.

And then Reno.

"You really think he's capable of liking anyone more than himself?" Rude sighed. He'd never had to deal with one of Reno's broken hearted bimb- alright, so not so much a Bimbo in this case. A naive idiot though, that was for sure.

He wasn't about to start disecting Reno's psyche although he had a good idea of a few things. Guy thought he had no issues, but everybody has issues.

"...between you and me...you could do better, alright?"

"Aww, Rude, that's sweet of you." Elena was genuinely touched by the sentiment, even if he hadn't meant anything too deep by it.

She was starting to feel a little off from the constant pain, but she did her best to ignore it. Talking seemed to be helping her a lot today, and she wanted to continue with the upward trend rather than stay quiet and let the depression eat at her slowly.

"It's not like I think he's an amazing guy or anything, y'know? He's a jerk more times than not, and I've seen the way he acts around people sometimes. But he's kind of got that intense thing going around him, and every once in a while you can't help but stare at him... Probably why he's a good Turk. And he's kind of cute in that rough-looking way."

"And it's not exactly looking like I'll ever get what I'd really want. He's still too focused on the job and not much else. And I've tried really hard to be professional and all, and... Oh!"

Rude probably wasn't all that interested in her ramblings. She needed an alarm or something to tell herself to stop that.

"I'm sorry! Did you want to know about you, maybe? Because I think you're great looking too, and I'm sure lots of girls would like to get to know you better... or I can just shut up now."

She rubbed at her eyes, still trying not to look tired.

Rude's expression was....flat. He'd totally been with her on the whole intense thing 'cause... it's not like Reno was a deep meaningful guy but he had the air of a creature about to pounce, you know? Like a tightly coiled spring. But it was rare he ever really went off. Rude was more likely to explosively get to end of his tether and he was supposed to be the patient one.

But, you know, she could have left it at that. the whole 'oh I'm sure girls like you' thing was kinda...just really annoying. The girls at the club said that. it wasn't like he NEEDED some girl in his life or that he was even actively looking. But the pity. Damn, it made a guy feel hopeless.

Girls at school had been like that. 'You're cute, I'm sure somebody else would want you'.

Not that he was being shot down by Elena personally. As if he'd have even asked her.

Anyway, he had a feeling Reno would be a little less painful to deal with.

"Nevermind. You been collecting any interesting information?"

Between the look she'd gotten and the sudden change in topic, Elena was more than aware of the fact that she'd said the wrong thing. Her shoulders slumped a little in defeat, but she was determined not to let him just close up and go back to business like that.

"No, I'm sorry... I told you I wasn't good at this, right? I wasn't exactly kidding. In fact, I know I'd be jealous of a girl that ended up with you and.."

Oh. Maybe... Was Rude jealous because she'd said she'd like Reno instead of him? Had she totally missed out on some clue or something? God, that'd be embarrassing! Why hadn't she figured it out earlier?

"I mean um, if you were interested, you could always just ask. I don't bite or anything... Um, if you wanted to, that is..."

Elena was just really twisting the knife. Rude was kind of happy with who he was, he just didn't get why people randomly got all sympathetic about him being alone. Sure he wouldn't mind a girlfriend and a little more confidence would get him a long way, but comments like this didn't help him with that.

But then... was Elena hitting on him? Shit. Only hookers ever actively hit on Rude. No, wait, sometimes the shy girls did too, but they were harder to work out.

What the fuck. He couldn't exactly glare at Elena and walk away. He had to WORK with her. What the...

Rude tugged on the collar of his shirt.

Wait, but was she serious? No. No, she was just hurt and desperate and lonely and horny or something. He didn't know. He just kinda...had to defuse the situation, right?

So...how? How did Reno turn her down? Just the whole...ditching them for Yuffie? But Rude didn't know if Lust was a definite possibility for tonight and shit...

"There's a boxing club."

Was she serious though...? Shit. No. Not a place he wanted to go.

So.... maybe that wasn't it after all? In a way Elena was kind of relieved, since it meant she hadn't missed out on something big. But at the same time... it was slightly disappointing. She'd always thought she was pretty growing up, but considering the way her luck had been running for at least the last year, perhaps she was missing out on something, some reason no one really saw her as that attractive.

Boxing, huh? Elena just nodded slightly, her hair dropping down a bit in her face. Talk about romantic...

"...Hey. Think I should get them made bigger or something?" She glanced down at herself again. "It'd be a pain in combat though. Or maybe I just need more padding or something. ...painkillers would be nice too. I forgot to ask the nurse after breakfast. You do think I'm okay, though, don't you?"

"...!"

Rude stared at Elena, his face actually forming an expression. One of absolute...shock.

Although he totally wanted to point out that Tifa still managed. Pretty damn well, too. And Sheena seemed confident. And Lust.

He blinked at her, not that it was an obvious movement, what with his shades.

"Ok?"

What? Rude had been the crude one first. Elena was just going along with it.

"Like... pretty or something, at least. Although maybe Reno has the right idea just picking up random girls. If you don't see them for too long they don't have as much chance of getting in danger from you, right?"

She laid down on the couch, her head not quite touching his leg, trying not to wince from the movement.

"It'd be nice to be important to someone, though. Just for a little while. I'm lucky that at least I got really good partners that put up with me even when I do stupid things. And talk too much. I just... want to be better at something."

Rude frowned, less afraid of the situation now. She didn't think she was pretty? Goddamn girls. Was that all they cared about?

Where was Reno, he did the talking thing better.

"You're pretty," he said, sighing a little. Of course she was. She's was better, really, she was cute. Lust was... drop dead gorgeous, but, ultimately, not what real guys wanted. Insecure dickholes with a lot of cash and vanity maybe. But a woman like Lust was, well, gonna be lusted after. The cute girls were....realistic. And safe. And aged better.

The danger thing...yeah. She had a point. Which was why Rude liked a little independence in a girl. Maybe that was Elena's trouble. She tried too hard to match up to the boys, to stand on her own. Truth was...she'd lasted this long. She was a Turk and had every right. She could...ease back a little, you know?

Rude flicked her nose when she said she wasn't important. "Idiot," he muttered. She was important, but he wasn't about to go spilling his guts to tell her about it. And the only reason they hadn't kicked her ass out of worry was because she had to get better first so they got their goddamn point across.

Rude slowly and carefully put his arm down so his hand was very lightly resting on her hip. Of course, this caused him to get his usually shy reaction, but... whatever. She was important and shit so..yeah. It was fine.

Elena smiled a little at the touch, and relaxed a little, letting her eyes drift closed. "Mmm, thanks."

She really did care about both of them, and she wanted to be able to match up to all the things they'd done before she'd been promoted... but hearing Rude say even that little bit was kind of a comfort.

"Rude, I don't feel so great," she admitted softly after a few moments of silence. "Maybe you could make sure I don't get molested or taken away by crazy nurses or anything for a while..?"

Rude watched her for a moment, only a little worried. She was a Turk, she could handle this shit but...well, if it could be made easier, they'd try, obviously. He'd post about that blood soon.

"Don't I always?" he said, leaning back into the chair. A rest sounded like a good idea, and nobody would know his eyes were closed behind the shades....

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Day 39: Sun Room

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