damned_institute | Day 42: Crossroader's Bar and Casino (evening)

_{[Free, no limits.]}

Grungy establishments like this 'Crossroader's Bar' weren't Yomi's typical style--what she saw in Japan were much different than this. But everything about where she was and what she was doing was out of the ordinary; Yomi had to put oddities behind her.

Besides, when it came to a bar, even one so cliché as this, what was there to know?

There would be people, talking and smelling of booze, and unwelcome reactions. The last, she expected. These people, hospital and townsfolk alike, seemed as real in body and mind as any other to her, so if they were truly human, bar flies would be judging her--the crazy girl with tragic delusions--the same way she was judging them--the oblivious captors. And that was an example of the strangeness she was facing, that she could be on the same playing field as humanity again, when she'd become something else. Something with a hunger for human blood. Yomi still had that hunger, and the means to satisfy it, but still, she was at people's mercy.

Well, she could be good. Until things returned to how they should be.

Yomi stepped inside, the clump of her shoes on the floor giving her entrance away. Her eyes didn't need long to adjust--she looked around her, taking in the room as though in the midst of deciding if she should stay or go. In reality, she had nothing to be hesitant about, and there were only so many worthwhile places to scope out if she couldn't leave the town. Newly legal in body, the bar was a suitable choice.

When her gaze had done a circuit of the room and its occupants, she continued inside, making her way up to the bar. The girl slid into a stool, which put her back to the rest of the bar. Now, was she considered a customer?

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Okay, so the sonofabitch had something up his sleeve, judging by his "I'm better than you" vibe. And it was a vibe, 'cause Rude didn't actually look it. He never looked like anything, except maybe a a really goddamn shiny egg with sunglasses.

Reno shifted, fully aware of what Rude was thinking about his foot being right there. He cocked an eyebrow.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," he smiled. Well, his lips weren't as set as usual, anyway. "Yuffie's gonna come see me tomorrow. I need you and Elena there too."

He sat up a little, still careful of the foot, and pulled some folded paper out of his pocket. Not all of it was in his own handwriting, but the name 'Ritsuka' was printed on a sheet that he had written.

Reno's eyebrow went a little higher at that. He thought about asking, but he shrugged it off. Rude was a sneaky bastard, but he didn't seem like he was planning to blow anyone up, so Reno figured it was okay to not ask this time. Anyway, it apparently had more to do with Yuffie, and Rude wanted him there with Elena. If Rude fucked with Yuffie and got kicked in the balls, it would be worth the wait.

...Not that he was keen on, y'know. Rude getting--oh, fuck it, who he was he kidding? A little pain on someone else was never not entertaining.

He eyed the paper. Ritsuka, huh? That name, it was kinda familiar. He'd heard it before, might've met--the kid? Yeah. Awhile back, couple weeks or so. Kid had come with Elena, if he remembered right.

Reno plucked the folded note out of Rude's hands, but didn't open it yet. "What's up with this?"

"Research. Met this kid, pretty sharp, asked him a few questions..." There was the hesitation of a thug. "Turns out there's a few similarities in this 'world' and ours."

Rude wasn't about to go into his theory further. The kid had hit the nail on the head, pretty much, but Reno....he'd take some more time getting into it probably. Especially if Rude brought in, you know, the computer game thing.

Okay, now Reno was interested. He dropped his foot from Rude's chair (not before knocking it one last time against the seat) and leaned forward. He thought about opening the note and reading it himself, but then he pushed it back towards Rude. Why read when someone was right there willing to brief him? Shin-Ra made him read enough files, anyway.

"Uh-huh," he prompted. Rude didn't talk a lot, so his explanations tended to come in stops and starts, like he had to recharge his word batteries or something.

Fancy that, Reno was paying attention. Aaaaand, too much attention. Rude's shoulders sagged when he realised he had to talk. It wasn't that he couldn't talk around Reno, he just....couldn't be arsed.

He tapped a finger on the table as he leaned forward and looked at the sheets.

"Right. So...Midgar is... this...." Rude frowned a little and peeked at the paper and frowned some more, so much that it could even be considered a frown by the stardards of expressive people. "A world tree. What t- right. Mythology. They believe in, you know, Midgard, the world tree. It has a serpent too." And a spaceship or something. All this information was prepared in his head, it was just relaying it... He didn't thin he'd have to.

Ok. Something easier. "There's a big religious mountain called Wutai in a place called China that is, itself, much like the Wutai we know," he managed to reel off. Recycled information from the bulletin, ready-prepared.

"Materia is some old word for material, makes sense, Mako is a type of shark. Random shit," he shrugged.

Okay. Normally, when someone thinks bar and casino, they think of loud music and bright flashing lights. Waitresses in skimpy outfits and blackjack dealers shuffling all fancy so they can get a tip. People yelling and talking and laughing. Either way it was supposed to be a lively, fun place to be.

What Harley had walked into was none of those things. It was... What the heck was this, anyway? She knew it wasn't going to be as big and flashy as a city place, but for crying out loud... They could have tried. No one was even playing any of the slots, and she unfortunately was short on 'Free Booze' coupons. So she found herself bored within minutes of walking into the place.

Heck, there was barely anyone in here. Some girl and a redhead guy talking to some bald-- Hey! She recognized that guy! It was that diary guy from yesterday. Though, she figured he was only wearing shades cause he was outside last time. Weird he still had them on.

She wandered over in time to catch just that last part. Poor guys... They were so bored they were talking about sharks? Yikes. "You're gonna put Red to sleep you keep talkin' like that." It was said more to catch their attention as she walked up. Harley spread a big grin at both, though she was still addressing Shades. "You really stink at choosin' places to kill time. I think the tree was better."

...Huh.

Okay, so Rude wasn't making a huge amount of sense, considering he didn't seem all that sure of himself, but still. Parallels, then. That was new. Not oh shit new, though, because that'd happened back when he found out that Elena was, say, sixteen, or when someone had told him they'd apparently played him in a fucking video game.

He opened his mouth to say something about the sharks, but then a girl began heading over. Blonde, pigtails. Almost like the chick he'd met just earlier, but older and not as much of a flirt.

Reno glanced at Rude, flashing a grin of his own. "You get yourself a girlfriend and didn't say, buddy, or what?"

Rude waited to hear what Reno thought before he'd go on, but then they were joined by a cute little blond he recognised. It was HappySad Sally, the girl with emotions that changed faster than slot machines.

Clueless for words, Reno almost saved him. Well, he distracted Rude, who tried to kick him under the table.

"We...met. Briefly," he explained. "Didn't get a name," he said, looking to her.

Well, since she wasn't being turned away right off the bat, that was as good as an invitation in her book. She pulled one of the chairs from the next table over without actually turning away from them. Of course, she caught that hint of playfulness in Red's question. This was already more fun that staring at the dust on the wall.

"Call me Harley!" she said, plopping into the chair backwards and leaning her arms on the back of it. "Shades was too busy mooning over his diary last time, so we didn't get all that acquainted."

Day 42: Crossroader's Bar and Casino (evening)

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