damned_institute | Day 43: Courtyard, Third Shift

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Day 43: Courtyard, Third Shift

Once again, Endrance's nurse interfered with his plans. He had been planning to look around the Game Room, but the moment he began to move towards the Sun Room, she had taken him by the arm. "Your family has asked that we make sure you get as much fresh air and sunshine has possible, and you won't get that by staying inside playing video games all day."

He had thought for a moment about protesting, but decided against it. After all, if what had happened to Haseo was punishment for having spoken too strongly the day before, he didn't want to make that worse somehow. So, when given the choice of going out to the recreational field or the courtyard, he chose the latter.

There were a few reasons behind the decision, the most salient being that he wanted to see what the area looked like for a second time - this time without the threat of a brainwashed patient surprising him. The second reason was just as strong as the first, and it had to do with the presence of a second former Demon Palace Emperor. As energetic as she was normally in The World, he couldn't imagine Alkaid not wanting to spend some time outside.

Just as before, he sat down under a tree by the side of the pond, keeping one eye on the door.

[closed to Alkaid]

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[And with only two words, people know EXACTLY whom you're talking about! XD]

Jiraiya groaned, rubbing his neck as he was led into the courtyard. For most of the day, he had kept to himself, working on his latest masterpiece. After many failed attempts and discarded pages, he hadn't made much progress. While maybe he was just in a bit of a rut, or maybe it was because what happened last night was a source of distraction.

His nurse finally had enough of this and declared he was not only going to get some fresh air, but was also going to be social. Jiraiya actually didn't complain--too much--about her decision, knowing he wouldn't get anywhere if he just forced himself to continue trying to write. It had to come naturally or not at all.

So, in the end, he found himself out in the courtyard in front of a man whose head was bald, unlike his own. Jiraiya was secretly grateful that he hadn't of gone prematurely bald like this man. Poor guy.

"Now Randy, I want to spend some time with another person instead of working on just your... stories. Please behave!" The nurse smiled at them both, then walked off.

Jiraiya sighed and watched her leave. Mostly, he watched her ass, but he was still glad to see her go all the same. Having her around only made his feeling of being constantly watched all the worse, even if she was pretty. Just because the packaging was nice...

"Sorry about that--you know how the nurses are when they get some idea stuck in their head," Jiraiya sat opposite of Rude on a nearby bench. "Name's Jiraiya, not Randy."

[Yes, yes they do XD Also. Holy shit, it's Landel's new double act, Randy&Rude....]

Something blocked the light and didn't unblock it. And then there were voices. Rude didn't move, simply opened one hidden eye and then the other.

Great. The nurses were playing matchmakers again.

He waited for the nurse to leave before he made any movement that proved he was actually alive. He simply turned his head a little to inspect his fellow patient. Lucky sod, Randy wasn't his real name. It'd take a real cruel mother to name her kid that.

"Rude," he nodded. "Stories, huh?" It was a risk asking about that. Might be some sorta annoyingly boring writer or a creepy journalist or something. But then it might be code for something useful.

[OOC: ARGH, I forgot to add the 'Mr.' part to Randy, as it's 'surname'. Ah well. XD But his first name is Phil. So pretend he just heard the full name...? Yes, I am a horrible person.]

"Stories," Jiraiya answered with a shrug. "Seems like that much is the same. But writing is my hobby, not my career."

This guy was a trained fighter of some sort--whether in martial arts or some other sort of weaponry, Jiraiya couldn't tell yet. He didn't waste movements, though, Jiraiya had to hand it to him.

"And I write better than that, anyways," Jiraiya added with a slight bit of annoyance, crossing his arms.

Writing for a hobby, huh? The guy looked pretty well built for a writer, let alone an old geezer.

"Right. So what's your career?" Had the staff changed it because it didn't fit into the normal scheme of things? Rude hadn't even seen his files yet, but he was kinda curious now as to what his career might be. Given the way he looked, it was still going to be something that involved muscle, no doubt about it. Bodyguard, basketball player, whatever. But it had to be physical, right?

"I'm a ninja," Jiraiya replied, leaning back a bit on his bench; he felt fine with telling Rude without giving specifics. "And I'm not the only one they took from my village. There's quite a few of us."

Jiraiya didn't do anything like flex his muscles to prove to Rude that what he was telling him was true. He didn't need to. The man was obviously already sizing him up.

"And you? You don't look like the type to be a librarian or a scholar. You seem to be at the very least, I trained fighter of some sort."

So long as it ain't Wutai, he figured. He just gave the man a nod in acceptance. Apparently some people here weren't even used to Ninja in their world.

He still wasn't sure how to handle the question of jobs here. 'Turk' was no longer enough on answer, and after the guys comment, it was pretty tempting to say he worked in Admin for an Electric Company.

"Work for a private company," he shrugged. It was as good an answer as any and could involve anything.

"Private company, huh?" Jiraiya asked with a raised eyebrow, then grinned. "Your company must have one hell of a gym."

So he was either security or a body guard, then. He wasn't the hoodlum type, or at least, was the honorable sort of one. Wasn't much of a talker, either.

"So what did you think about last night?" Jiraiya grinned a bit more, as almost as if he said something funny.

He could use the opinion of someone completely unrelated to his world or someone that he didn't know. Different prospective and all that.

"Used to," he muttered, under his breath. Still it was quite nice to be complimented like this. Usually people just backed away a little or wanted to start a fight depending on if they were a coward or not.

"Which bit?" he asked. It was always good to know the tone of the person you were talking to. Did he get off on bapping zombies, did he think it was fucked up or did he just like running riot and waking up with his loot?

'Used to', huh? Jiraiya didn't ask for details, even if he found it interesting. He considered it rude to ask exactly how it was destroyed--he assumed it was destroyed anyways--or maybe they simply got rid of it. But if Rude was muttering about it, it probably wasn't a good topic of conversation.

Jiraiya had no intention of starting a fight with Rude, however. It was enough to observe that Rude was strong. There was no use in trying to prove his strength over Rude's. That was something that hot-headed young men did, and he certainly wasn't as young as he used to be. Or hot-headed, although Tsunade would probably argue otherwise...

"The sudden horror movie popping out of the ground bit," Jiraiya stated, making a bit of a face--obviously, it wasn't the best experience. "Wondered if that was influenced by someone else's world. We sure as hell don't have many zombies where I live, and I've never fought them until now, myself. Guess it's a good thing I read a few horror novels in my lifetime, or I might've been completely unprepared."

Ah hah, the guy wasn't just muscle and....you know, writing shit. He'd brought up something Rude was interested in. Finding links between worlds. Last night had seemed kind of like standard horror show shit to him. Not stuff that actually happened, but stuff people had wondered about.

"Many?" he asked. He wanted better numbers than that. "Think there was a film or two, years ago. Probably around the time monsters started growing in numbers. Nothing like that#s ever happened as far as I'm aware." That little town at the foot of Mount Nibel always gave him the creeps though, during the rebuild. He could picture that sort of thing sparking off some weird zombie invasion.

"It takes too much to bring dead people back in my world so, no, not many," Jiraiya stated with a shrug. "And it's a forbidden technique, anyways. And those that are brought back with that technique do become mindless killing machines, but they also don't have any sort of decay in their final form."

It's not like giving Rude more information would hurt. Rude wouldn't be able to use it for anything, as it wasn't detailing the technique, just the result. Something interesting for Rude to consider, anyways.

"We have some horror films, but I've never gone to see one," Jiraiya went on, addressing what else Rude had said. "I'm curious to find out where the Institute got that idea... or if it's just a side effect of what they're doing."

Rude wasn't entirely sure about the zombies back home. Hojo had a knack for that stuff, but they seemed to occur 'naturally' near the old plants. Something the the MAKO and all that. But this guy knew about 'techniques'.

"Do you know the technique?" he asked. Luckily for Rude he was always so...stoney and there wasn't a hint of perverse interest in his voice or expression. There wasn't a hint of anything, really.

In fact, when he inspected the arrival of a pair of boobs not far from the benches, only a fellow and professional boob watcher would have spotted the signs and subtle changes in him. Even Tseng had trouble telling when Rude's mind wandered.

"Looks like we don't have to bother," he shrugged. Why see a movie when you lived it? He was intrigued by the guy's reasons for wondering. Rude just assumed the place was freaky and full of zombies so the town ought to be to. But inspiration? That brought in the idea that the worlds were connected but translated as other things. Comics, games and films.

"You know anything about Gaia?"

"No, I don't," Jiraiya replied honestly. "I'd rather not know, anyways. Leave the dead to rest in peace."

Jiraiya also noticed the pair of boobs that sat down nearby, barely shifting his head to get a better view. His distraction was such that it took him a long moment before realizing that Rude was also looking. He smiled softly, noticing how subtle the other man was. If that man was his student, his skill would definitely bring proud tears to his eyes...!

"It's not my type of movie, anyways," Jiraiya stated, and after Rude's next question, he blinked once, looking at Rude more clearly. "Gaia? No, I don't know what you're referring to."

[Was swamped yesterday, sorry!]

Shame. Rude agreed about letting dead bodies stay dead and all, but if there was a way of finding out how this shit was going on....

"Any friends here that might know?"

If anybody tried to take Rude on as a student he'd be offended and would open a rival school to theirs. Although, in all fairness, he appreciated the man's talent. He looked without shades. That took PRACTICE.

"It's a world. The one I'm from."

"If you know any ninjas, you might know some of who I've met. There's others," Jiraiya began to list them, ending with. ".. And Elena. Smart girl. Pretty too."

He paused for a moment, thinking. There.. really wasn't a name for his world, was there? It was just the planet they lived on, really. Although it'd be rather nice to have a name for it. It's at least make things easier.

"Ours doesn't have a name, unfortunately. At least, not that I know of. We just call it home."

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Day 43: Courtyard, Third Shift

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