damned_institute | Dayshift 22; First Shift; Sun Room

Barret almost regretted mentioning family visits when he heard her change of tone. The thought of seeing Marlene again warmed his heart, and filled it with just as much longing. He was being to accept the fact it would be a long time before he ever saw her face again. "Might be better if they don't. Don't want 'em fuckin' with our heads anymore than they have." He sighed, propping his elbow on the arm rest and pressing his chin to his knuckles, "They ain't doin' nothin' to help my supposed mental condition."

"You're going to see someone?" Kiden asked, hoping to not be too obvious about her own opinion on them. She hoped it'd be someone he wanted to see. Maybe his little girl, didn't he mention her before? Kiden knew that not everyone's family had the same... complexities as hers. Sometimes they had different ones. "I hope it's not a trick." She added, though. She didn't trust these people at all.

"I don't know," Barret replied honestly. Truth of the matter was, he didn't want to see anyone. If he found out they took his little girl from her world he was liable to kill someone. He shouldn't go, even if he was scheduled to have a visitor. Still...

"It will be a trick. This whole mother fuckin' place is a trick. We ain't where we suppose to be, ain't that a really big trick?"

"...the doctor sessions are a joke, the night shift is crazy... now visitors?" Kiden muttered under her breath. She hadn't meant to say that out loud, but that's what she felt. Being uprooted and thrown in here wasn't good for her sanity. Ha. Ha.

The blonde began to pace, just a little. Two steps forward and two back. "...Prolly. Could be worse though," She tried to be positive.

Zelos woke up before his nurse came in. There was another bed in his room, and he was thankful the person in it was asleep. He held the sword he'd gotten last night in his hands, weighing it for a minute before hiding it in the room.

The breathed and counted to five, facing the wall. One, two, three, four...

When the door opened up to reveal his nurse, there was a wide grin on his face.

She gave him the choice of the chapel or the Sun Room.

It wasn't a tough choice.

He wasn't in the mood to sit alone - there was too big a risk of him brooding. Instead, he saw the wheerchair!man from yesterday. He was with a pretty blond, no less. Perfect targets.

He wandered over to them, smiling brightly and addressed the blond as though the man wasn't even there. "Hey, I haven't seen you before," he said, pulling up next to her without asking. "What's your name, cutie?"

"You right," Barret replied to the girl. Before he had the opportunity to say more, a stranger approached them. More accurately, approached Kiden and pretended he didn't interrupt a conversation between two individuals.

There was no masking the frown or growl that came from his direction, glaring at the stranger with unhidden annoyance, "I think it just got worse with the presence of this fuckin' bonehead."

Yuffie woke with a start this time, her eyes wide as she stared up at the ceiling. For a moment, she could only stare, wanting to just believe it had all been a dream.

She scrambled out of bed, barely noticing the bandages that were wrapped around her neck. There was a cool feeling between them and her skin, probably some kind of medicine or cream to keep the swelling down. But she couldn't concentrate on that. She'd just watched some die. It if had been any other stranger, she wouldn't have cared so much, but that was Aerith's friend that she'd just seen being stabbed through the neck! And Aerith, too...She'd seen it, too.

Yuffie couldn't help but feel horrible for being the one to hold her back, keeping her from helping that man, Zack. But also for not being strong enough to keep her from pulling out to the hallway way, keep her from seeing that horrible image. That piece of metal being flung... sticking straight up from the body...

The young ninja stood grabbed onto the dresser next to the bed to keep herself steady. How was she supposed to even look at Aerith now, let along talk to her?

For the first time, Yuffie was in her room when the nurse came to collect her. When asked where she'd like to go, she vaguely remembered something about there being a surprise from the intercom in the Chapel... "Sun room." Her voice sounded quiet even to her ears. She'd had quite enough of this place. She wanted no more surprises. No more monsters. No more death. She wanted to go home.

Reaching the sun room, she was tempted to just flop down on one of the couches and hide her face in the cushions, but her eyes were drawn to the familiar form of Zelos. Was he feeling as horrible as she was?... She moved to approach him but stopped shy by a few feet when she noticed Barret was there as well, remembering the message she'd left for him early int he night. She really didn't want to deal with him right now, but she wanted to be around Zelos... At least he'd understand what she was feeling, right?

What was this, a party now? Kiden couldn't help her kneejerk reaction when the redhead approached them. She turned to face him and squared her shoulders. It was a combative stance and she wouldn't hesitate to smack him. The last person who'd called her a cutie had grabbed her ass and she'd tried to break his elbow on the floor of the hall. Kiden did not appreciate.

"What's it to you?" She asked. Maybe it wasn't wise to be so immediately on the offensive, but her nerves were raw and this was just the kind of guy that pushed her buttons. Kiden didn't need playboys running around.

Zelos completely ignored Barret, as though he wasn't even there. "Just curious," he said. "You don't have to get all defensive." he kept his tone smooth and easy.

His heart sank when Yuffie turned up. He wanted to avoid talking about last night as much as possible, but it couldn't be avoided. And he didn't want to be cruel to her, either.

He turned from Kiden and poked Yuffie on the nose. "How are you doing?" he asked her.

This entire situation was beginning to highly frustrate the large man as he turned his glare to an approaching Yuffie. Based on her face, she didn't look so good either. Last night must have been a bad night for everyone. He would have had more sympathy for her had she not tried to piss him off at every turn.

He could have really used a punching bag right now, "Do I have a fucking sign on the back of this wheelchair that says 'Piss me off'?"

Yuffie scrunched up her nose as Zelos poked it, but there was no amusement in her quiet-for-once voice when she responded. "Ok, I guess..."

Her gaze slipped to Barret for the shortest of moments, darting back away from him when she'd noticed the glare. Yeah, he was still angry with her. Somehow, this didn't make her feel any better.

And something about the words he spoke set her on edge. What did he have to be so angry about, anyway? Just because she'd walked up? He didn't watch someone die what seemed like a few minutes ago. "Stop being such a jerk..." she muttered in the same quiet voice, almost on impulse.

"We've not met, no," She said to Zelos after a bit, and took a step back, not distancing herself... but it looked like Barret and Yuffie had something to sort out. Though she did want to stay in ear range, especially since Barret looked like he needed a ... something. Probably something she didn't have.

"...I'm Kiden. Seems like you all have stuff to talk about," She didn't mean to sound so defensive, but playboys always did bring out her bad side. Kiden was used to dealing with them in a school setting where they thought all girls would fall over for them. Or something.

Zelos stood at Barret's side and peered over at the back of the wheelchair. "No, but it does say, 'Sarcasm...just one more service I offer'."

Provoking someone was a good way to get his mind off things. Ignoring whatever reaction the man had, he turned to Kiden. "I'm Zelos, and don't sweat it." He gave her a charming smile that wasn't at all inappropriate.

He tossed an arm around Yuffie casually, waiting to see how far the other man would burst.

Barret inadvertently returned the favor to Zelos as most of what he said went through one ear and out of the other. His full attention, and the object of his frustration was directed straight for Yuffie.

"Stop bein' an immature brat. Don't you got more God damned sheets to ruin? Get outta my face before somethin' goes down that we both regret." He was wrong to strike at her the day before, that he knew, but it was too soon to apologize, after what she had done just to get under his skin.

Yuffie finally notice the other girl, but only when she seemed to be backing out of the conversation. Stuff to talk about? No. Not really. She really didn't want to talk to Barret.

Zelos's comment amounted to a small quirk at the corner of Yuffie's lips. She couldn't help it. It was kinda funny. And somewhat true, right? And she felt better when he put his arm around her shoulders.

At least until Barret spoke up.

She stiffened at his rebuke about her being childish, but it was the dismissal that bothered her the most. What right did he have to just tell her to get lost? None, that's what.

"Shut up, already," she snapped back, still nestled safely in the embrace made by Zelos's one arm. "If that one little sheet was the worst thing to happen to you last night, then I don't want to hear it from you. You deserved a lot more than that."

Zelos squeezed Yuffie's shoulder a bit. "Relax," he said, with the air of a person who truly did not give a damn about the person in the wheelchair. "It's not worth it. Besides, now that I'm here, I think I should get all your attention!"

Just to annoy the man some more, he lead Yuffie to sit down right near the wheelchair, but once more acted as though the person in it didn't exist. "Did you want to talk to me about something, hunny?"

Barret's temper was seething, and he was close to visibly shaking to keep it under control. Yuffie's intentions were to hurt and piss him off, and the strangers' was just to make him angry. What he hated more than anything was a nobody trying to start shit with him.

They were close enough to hear him, and he rose his voice loud enough to not quite be considered a yell but close, "You ain't got no mother fuckin' idea what happened to me last night, so don't be goin' around actin' like you know shit. You don't know nothin'. Jus' like I don't know what the fuck happened to you. But what I do know is if this little ruby punk bitch you got sittin' beside you says or does one more God damned thing to annoy me I'm gonna pound his face in so raw the doctors here will be feedin' him through a tube in his neck--do you understand that?" He was in a wheelchair, that much was true. But that wouldn't be enough to hold him back in a moment.

His glare remained, even as he worked his wheelchair away from the pair, looking to Kiden, "Best we go talk elsewhere. I ain't in the mood to deal with that no more."

Yuffie didn't want to sit down. She didn't want to talk. She just wanted to leave this horrible place. She couldn't take being here. Zelos's attempts to comfort her were appreciated, but they just weren't enough to quell the anger she felt towards Barret's outburst. She didn't even care if her throat hurt anymore. Or if barret was rolling himself away.

"Just shut up, you jerk! Don't you dare even think about touching him! He was actually helping us when we were attacked, unlike someone I could name. Your stupid wheelchair be damned, if you had the energy to roll your stupid self over to the female ward and spend the night with some stupid woman, you could have at least tried to help us! You lie and say you're gonna rest, when you're really sneaking off for some nighttime action. Well, we all had plenty of action too, watching Aerith's friend get stabbed to death in the throat, so I hope you're happy!"

Yuffie was close to visibly shaking as well by the time she finished, bitter tears running down her cheeks. She rubbed at them furiously. She didn't want to cry. She was a ninja for crying out loud! Ninjas didn't cry. But she couldn't help it. She wasn't really mad at Barret, but something about knowing he'd been off in the woman's ward when he should have been either resting his wounds or helping them fight made her want to lash out at him. Did they suddenly not matter now that Barret had other people to hang out with at night?...

That's how it was. Kiden was listening and she processed it and ignored her kneejerk to punch the other girl and Zelos. Instead she chewed her lip as they went back and forth. They were all so unfair. It wasn't as though they could know anything without talking about it. Miscommunication was the worst. Which didn't help her instinct to punch someone, even if someone else had died... which brought her back down again.

"...Shut the fuck up." Kiden said darkly she stood beside Barret and shot Zelos and Yuffie a look. "I don't know anything 'bout any of you. But you're all so ready to hate on each other. Jump to conclusions much? If you really wanted to work somethin' out an' not just make people feel for you, you'd've said something. ... this place is hard enough to.. whatever, without going off on each other. An' you don't have to worry about Barret hittin' anyone, because I'll do it instead. If someone died... if someone did die... being angry isn't going to help anyone."

Kiden knew what it was like to be angry about death. That had been her defining feature for so long... but then she'd taken time out of life and pulled everything apart and put it back together again. She was tired of rage.

Today sucked.

He held onto Yuffie, who was still shaking from her outburst. He envied her for being able to be so honest about her feelings.

He was at a loss for what to say to Kiden. She had a point, of course. And it wasn't like this was the first time he'd had to deal with death - he really should have been used to it now. However, he happened to suck when it cam to dealing with emotions, and it didn't help that he felt fully responsible for Zack's death.

Not that he was going to say any of this to them.

"It's getting too crowded, don't you think?" he asked Yuffie, leading her away from Barret and Kiden. They were there first - if anyone was going to move, it should be them.

Some of the fire was taken right out of Barret with Yuffie's speech, but not all. Even though someone had died in front of her last night, a friend to a mutual friend, she still found it ok to act as though it were some how his fault. She was an immature kid, but that didn't make it all right, it didn't make him any less angry.

Kiden's words almost made him smile. The girl had some fire too, and she was spitting it at two complete strangers on his behalf. He could have handled it, but out of sheer appreciation he owed her. He patted her shoulder when she was through just before maneuvering his chair to face them again.

"Death ain't easy on nobody. I know that, even better than you do, Yuffie." The death of his friends, his entire town still haunted him, especially since he felt partially to blame for it all, "But I'll be damned if you blame me for somethin' I had no control over. What I did last night was my God damned business, and I'll at least tell you it wasn't cake and sprinkles. Someone I like almost died last night. I ain't gonna yell at you no more right now, 'cuz you already gonna regret what you jus' said. Keep in mind that Kiden is right...and we're all we got to move forward."

"Shuddup..." Yuffie muttered. Her throat was burning from all the shouting she'd done. She coughed a bit and rubbed at her bandaged neck, but it didn't make it feel any better. "What would you even know. I don't need some stupid lectures from either of you... Especially not from a stranger and some lying jerk."

She left it at that, allowing Zelos to lead her away. She didn't care if they said anything else. She wasn't going to listen to them, anyway. She didn't even know that other girl ~~what right did she have to be inserting her opinion anyway?~~ and Barret had already lied to her once when she was trying to be serious... No one ever took her seriously, anyway. Just because she was the only kid. She rubbed at her eyes again to make sure all the tears were gone. Ninjas didn't cry.

Kiden had turned away from as soon as she was done. Their reactions didn't matter to her, or that's what she thought anyway. If she got too wrapped up in what strangers thought about her she'd lose sight of her friends. Kiden was tired of losing sight of what was important.

"...sorry, I didn't mean to butt in..." She said to Barret and waved a hand, but she was sticking close to him now. Too much stress to deal with, people were too caught up in themselves. She'd learned that lesson well, and it wasn't fun. "...just... you know..." She trailed off lamely.

"You ain't gotta apologize to me," Barret assured her as he watched the pair walk off. What Yuffie had said stung a little for the simple fact that he had lied, but what was liable to happen that night was none of her business and still wasn't despite the fact that her guess was pretty much right on target. She'd cool down.

"You got some guts, saying somethin' like that to strangers. Yuffie, the girl, she from my world but...not from my time. She two years younger than I remember her..."

Kiden watched them too, mainly because Barret was. So, Zelos wasn't from their world, but Yuffie was. That would be... disorienting and Kiden wondered how it was possible. Then again, she'd spent three months lost while the rest of the world had only passed for a few weeks. That was more plausible than them all being from different worlds, for her.

"...It's not guts, I think I'm just stupid," Kiden replied with a small smile, but it was a bit damp. Someone had died, apparently. She thought back to last night with the nurses and the men and wondered if any of them had died.

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