damned_institute | Day 43: Game Room, Third Shift

Peh. "Graduates." Who were they trying to fool? It's not like anyone here believed them, and no one ever visited the institute. What was the point in keeping up this sad little charade? To add to the realism of it? Well, whatever. If they wanted to continue this exercise in futility, that was fine with Porky. All it meant was that they spent more time focusing on the day instead of the night, which was definitely a good thing. Now, who was Porky supposed to meet in the Game Room again? Ah, that's right. Porky didn't know...

No matter. It's not like they would be able to hurt Porky or something in broad daylight. Then again, there were some more...savage patients here. Well, Porky was sure that none of them would be interested in meeting with Porky anyway.

While he waited for his mysterious contact, Porky grabbed a gameboy and started looking for a game to pop in.

...No Zelda, no Mario, no Kirby...What was wrong with Landel? Did he have no taste whatsoever? Porky kept looking for something he had actually heard of before, and eventually settled on...Tetris. How dreadfully boring. Well, no matter. As long as he didn't have to play a board game or something, Porky was content. After turning on the gameboy, Porky merely sat down and played, eagerly anticipating whoever had asked to meet with him.

[For Eva, I think~]

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It was a bit weird that Souji seemed to understand the significance of the cards, but Jun didn't comment on it. He didn't think prying into his business would be pleasant for either party, and it wasn't really the type of thing he'd do. He was nosy to a point, yes, but that had more to do with having been out of the loop for a very long time. Information was one of his loves, after all; for a little period of time, there, he'd considered becoming a teacher. Partially, yes, because he wanted to make it up to his late father, but mostly because that hunger for all kinds of knowledge had been with him since he was little.

Jun took his turn, a bit pleased that he'd finally met someone more like himself: comfortable with silence. There was so much that could be said, in body language and facial expressions. He himself was quite relaxed, a very rare position for him to be seen in. The smile had disappeared from his face, replaced with a thoughtful look.

Unfortunately, the game was interrupted in the middle by the intercom going off, I.R.I.S. going on about the latest bit of nonsense- a tradition that Souji was already getting tired of. It was especially bad because of the game, which Souji had been enjoying a great deal; it was a little odd to have someone as quiet as himself around, but it was a refreshing change of pace as well. His headache was practically gone, though it still remained for some reason- a quiet twinge in the back of his mind, that never went away no matter how much he tried. It was odd, tremendously so- it should have gone away by now!- but there wasn't much for it.

So, the boy started gathering up the cards, smiling at Jun as he did so. "I'd like to see you again tomorrow."

Jun was taken slightly aback when Souji said that he wanted to meet again, but not really averse to the idea. There was something about him that Jun was interested in, though what is was, he couldn't put his finger on. He couldn't have been part of the Masquerade: Jun remembered everyone whose dreams he granted. Instead of dwelling on that, however, he turned and picked up a card, handing it to Souji.

"...I'd like that too." He replied, giving the other boy a small, careful smile.

That was a promise, then; at some point in the following day, he'd make sure to bother Jun and see how the quiet kid was doing. Really, it was just like back in Inaba- quite a few people responded well just by having someone around who could listen to them and seemed to care, let alone planned on helping out in some way.

Still, he flipped the card over, rather curious as to what it was. He was going to ask 'why,' but at the moment, he figured that it would probably speak for itself.

Jun had picked up a card at random; it almost alarmed him when Souji turned it over and he saw that it was the joker. His mouth dropped open for a second, his eyes only slightly wider than usual, both expressions almost undetectable without a keen eye. He pulled himself together after a second, realizing that the nurse from earlier was coming over to collect him.

"...It was nice meeting you..." He trailed off, hoping that that statement conveyed his attempt at saying goodbye. He didn't like that word, or any of its synonyms, after all. The nurse pulled him away with a smile, saying something about meeting other new people.

As the nurse pulled him away, it was entirely possible that Jun would miss what happened next. The 'joker' in the regular deck was based on the 'Fool' of the Tarot... and having the card flip over and be presented in such a way was like a punch to the gut. It was almost exactly like what happened in his own mind.

And here? That was a bad thing. His headache returned like an explosion in his head, the world going white and his eyes going blank for a moment, not even hearing what Jun said. For a moment, a brief moment, that odd pain returned with a vengeance, nearly bringing Souji to his knees. But then? Then it was gone, as was Jun, leaving him alone with the joker silently laughing at his plight.

Day 43: Game Room, Third Shift

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