damned_institute | Day 42, Afternoon: Morris Park

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Day 42, Afternoon: Morris Park

With the early morning’s embarrassment out of the way, Depth Charge had decided to devote a chunk of the day to familiarising himself with Doyleton: its ins and outs, the stores, the street names. Anything that could prove useful if he ever managed to escape- that, and having something to keep his mind busy after the incident in the used car place. Not only had he looked stupid, he’d looked careless and stupid, and neither of those were looks he really wanted to go for.

Finally he drew his circuit of the town to a close in a run-down park just off of Kelley Street, and boy did it ever look like slag. There was something oddly refreshing about it after the squeaky-clean stroll he’d taken around Perfectville, and anyway, he could hear the sound of a stream in the distance. Good enough for him.

The paper bag he’d been given on the bus was starting to feel irritatingly heavy to him, so it didn’t take long to pick a bench and sit down to eat. Depth Charge opened it up. Ah-hah. There it was. His old adversary. The orange fruit.

What was it Mori had done? Peeled the top part away? With the care of a ‘bot picking the wires on a ticking bomb, he began to strip the outer layer off of the fruit. So far so good. At this rate he might even be able to eat the slagging thing...

[What light through yonder window breaks? Tis the East, and Lugnut is the sun!]

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One hand slipped into Sai's pocket for a moment, then went back behind his head again. The headband Usopp had given him was long enough to allow for a good amount of adjusting in the back. That meant that the ends were of reasonable enough length to help hide what he needed hidden. He generally kept them folded under the rest of the band, but he didn't think the nurses would make much of a fuss if he didn't. With his hands still underneath his head, he worked the cylindrical object into the knot so that it was partiall under his headband in the back and partially worked into a slit in the extra fabric that came off of it. It was small enough that it shouldn't be that apparent at any quick glance.

At Shikamaru's movement, he looked over. "Are you cold?" he asked, glancing down at the boy's sleeves. "We can ask the nurses for heavier clothing." He'd considered asking for a jacket for the sake of hiding the sedative, but he'd be out of luck if they decided to take them back before they got on the buses. It would be too obvious a location anyway.

Sai was doing something, moving around or rustling grass or whatever, but Shikamaru didn't bother turning his head. Whatever he was up to, there was some reason behind it. Of the two of them, Sai was far more aware of what was going on around them.

"It's probably just the drugs," Shikamaru said. The air did feel cold, but then again, the sky was that shade of crisp, stark blue that went along with autumn, and he had no idea how long he'd been in the park. The sweater they'd given him, while thick, was well-worn and frayed at a couple of seams. It was a pain, but other people had ended up in clothing far worse. The fabric was comfortable, if not airtight, and that was what really mattered.

He closed his eyes briefly, imagining the late summer breeze he'd left behind in Konoha. Shikamaru didn't have strong feelings about seasons (he didn't have strong feelings about much, especially not right this moment), but he figured it would be a bit more comfortable there in the quiet part of mid-afternoon. The thought stayed for at least a few seconds, maybe a minute, before it drifted away and a sensible but very small part of him prevented the rest of his consciousness from following.

"Do you know how long this stuff lasts?" Shikamaru asked, opening his eyes and blinking a few times at the bare brightness of the sun. The words were slurred, as could be expected, but although his tone held little emotion it was closer to a curious inquiry than a complaint.

Sakura would probably want a report on all of this, but, like the rest of the world, that could wait until he felt like dealing with it.

"A couple hours, perhaps. It depends on your body type and how it reacts." Shikamaru would probably still be a little woozy when they got back on the buses, but hopefully he'd be better off by nightfall. Sai sat up, taking in the park and seeing if he spotted anyone else familiar.

When he saw nothing out of the ordinary, he focused his attention on Shikamaru again. "We should probably discuss what to do with the rest of the day. Can you focus at all?" Barring anything crazy happening that night, as it had the first Doyleton trip, they should probably go about seeing what their plans would be for the night - whether or not they'd be making another attempt to get to the basement.

They weren't words he wanted to hear, though he knew they'd be coming soon enough. With a groan of complaint, Shikamaru pushed himself up enough to pull his legs to his body and rest his forehead on his knees, eyes closed. He didn't plan things when watching clouds, not if he could help it, and that was the most stable position he could find.

The mental inventory took longer than usual, though part of that was because he knew he needed to be thorough. After nearly a minute, he spoke. "Yeah. If I try." Shikamaru didn't sound pleased by the fact, and the words were pronounced carelessly. It was bothersome enough to think clearly in this state...no way was he going to waste effort enunciating every word.

So. Working. This afternoon. Right.

They'd run into a few problems, if being forced to spend however long watching clouds could be considered a problem (he didn't think so, though others might disagree), but overall, the afternoon was closer to a success than a failure. They'd gotten the sedative that Sakura needed to study, which was the only specific task he'd been given, but Shikamaru knew that since most of the things expected of him were implicit, he couldn't consider his duties finished. He had to gather information, determine both its veracity and value, factor it into the Leaf-nin's strategies, develop contingencies...the real weight of planning fell on Kakashi, but since Kakashi seemed to trust him with it, it became his responsibility as well.

"I have to talk to Sokka about last night," he said. If the ticking creature's weapon had remained with the other boy, that would have to be dealt with. "Someone has to get in touch with Sakura before dinner, but Kakashi'll probably do that." That would be the logical step, since Shikamaru obviously hadn't been up to it and as a fellow Leaf-nin, Sai wouldn't leave him defenseless. He lifted his head to rub his eyes, still drowsy, but immediately regretted the sudden movement. "That's all I've got. Other ideas?"

Sai shook his head. "That's about as far ahead as we can plan at this point, I would think." He looked thoughtful for a moment, frowning. There was more on his mind, and this might not be the best time to bring it up, but if they were separated by the nurses later he might not get a chance to say it.

"I am... concerned," he began, "about what might happen tonight. The last trip into town was entirely uneventful, but the one before..." The ninja rubbed at his chin. "The buses stopped outside the building and night came upon the institute unnaturally, dumping everyone into the middle of monsters unarmed and unprepared." Not that he'd been there for most of that, having been dragged out for Special Counseling. That they might play out this scenario again while anyone was expecting it would be surprising, but there was nothing wrong with thinking ahead.

"Given the unusual events of last night's closure, I believe there may be cause to worry when we arrive back at the asylum." The fact that the last trip had ended normally might have been an attempt to lull them into a false sense of security.

Nothing good ever began with "I am concerned," but as Sai continued speaking, Shikamaru's attention drifted from the subject at hand to the volume of time the other ninja had spent inside this place. Three Sundays, so two weeks at a bare minimum...it was hard to conceptualize. After four days, Shikamaru was already fighting off doubts about his own emotional resilence, and he'd considered that one of his better qualities. He'd come from a stressful time, sure, but things weren't going to get any easier. He leaned back onto his hands, watching an unmoving tree as if expecting it to move, and the leaves had almost come into full focus by the time he realized Sai had stopped speaking.

"Right," Shikamaru said, slightly too late, as he reviewed what he'd just been told. More monsters. Right. More unbalanced fights. Right. More cause for worry. Right. Like there was some kind of rhythm behind this junk that would just click if he looked at it from the correct angle. "We should all stick together when we get back to the buses, then." That was about all they could do to prepare, if Sai was right. There wasn't enough information to come up with any kind of plan, was there?

For long seconds, Shikamaru looked as if he might be thinking, but when he spoke again it was merely to state the obvious. "You've been here a long time."

"Just over half a month." It felt like years, but as a member of ROOT Sai couldn't allow himself to show how much it bothered him, developing emotions or no. That many days wasn't all that much in the grand scheme of things, but he knew others had been around longer with no more to show for it than himself. "Sasuke-kun and Haku-san have been here longer." He hadn't seen Zabuza for several days. That couldn't have gone over well with the younger mist-nin.

He got to his feet slowly, then looked back down at Shikamaru and offered him a hand. "Can you stand?" They shouldn't lay around any longer than necessary. If the other ninja walked around some he might be able to work off at least a little bit of that sedative.

Half a month. Shikamaru processed the information with a relatively blank expression, and when the idea sank in enough to earn the obligatory grunt of displeasure, it sounded more tired than annoyed or dismissive.

He didn't feel like thinking about Sasuke, and though he'd never heard the name Haku, he knew from the bulletin that someone else from their world was present. He doubted he'd speak to either of them, since he had nothing to say to the former and no reason to talk to the latter. What was the longest anyone had lasted in this place?

"I think so," he said in response to Sai's question, then grabbed the boy's outstretched hand and pulled himself to his feet. It was easier to stand than he'd expected, though it still took a moment to steady himself. The sedative wasn't wearing off, but now that he wasn't lying down, he could see that the mental effects were stronger than the physical. Shikamaru wasn't the best person to judge, since acting rashly wasn't his thing, but his emotions were dimmed and even more nebulous than usual. If he'd been fighting Sai out of anger, he doubted he'd still be fighting, but his unfocused exhaustion had moved closer to the forefront of his mind. It was bothersome...given a little extra time, he could work around intellectual sluggishness and fatigue, but no amount of walking could get him closer to watching the sky.

Shikamaru yawned once more and rubbed his neck as he waited for Sai to start off in whatever direction they were headed. Even though he could think, he didn't intend to do it any more than he had to. "How'd you manage that?"

"Manage what?" Sai blinked, unsure what Shikamaru was getting at. "There's nothing to manage. I've just been here. Do you mean to ask how I haven't been killed, or how I haven't disappeared?" The ninja shrugged. "I'm far from the only one that's been around this long."

He began heading back towards Main Street. "We should go to the grocers. The bulletin is there." He would walk slow, so Shikamaru could follow. Hopefully there would be time.

[to be continued here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/671393.html)]

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Day 42, Afternoon: Morris Park

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