damned_institute | 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]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

So you did. Last night was...thought-provoking. I admit to spending most of it with your friend hiding on a rooftop, but there was a brief skirmish in one of the restaurants beforehand that turned rather ugly at one point." Kratos smiled thinly. "Thankfully we both escaped without injury or infection."

He did not mention the great deal of gore that had ended up splattering them both as they alternately hacked, punched, and kicked their way through their enemy. The less details he included about their rendezvous with zombies, the better probably for Leon.

That Kratos had managed to keep Stahn mostly out of trouble was a bit of a surprise--maybe Stahn was more capable of listeing to common sense now than he had been when Leon knew him. That Kratos had managed to put up with Stahn all night... well, but he'd said he'd known some pretty idealistic people in his time, too, so he probably had practice.

But thought-provoking? The phrasing made Leon suspicious. And they were together all night. It was too much to hope that Stahn had chosen to babble at length about his family, instead of talking about things he had no business talking about, wasn't it? "... He told you."

"Some things, yes," Kratos conceded. "Mostly about how you met, I admit to being curious about that: Stahn seems hardly the type of person for you to associate with." Although at this point Anna would have gleefully elbowed him and declared that opposites sometimes attracted. But this was not about happenstance; this was about logic.

"As for the zombies..." Kratos in the end decided that being evasive and lying would not help anything. "He made some passing comment about it and I made the mistake of asking for clarification."

Leon snorted, not surprised Stahn had glossed over the details of their first meeting. "He'd fallen into the company of a pair of female thieves. They were caught after trying to steal crown property, and I arrested them. The King, at Hugo's behest, chose to use them instead of executing them or throwing them in prison. I was assigned to keep them under control."

Zombies. Leon wondered if these zombies, this whole town full of them, were like he had been--still aware, still capable of understanding their helplessness as another will forced their limbs into motion. "Hn."

Kratos tilted his head to the side. "That sounds in line with what Stahn told me. He also mentioned something about shock tiaras and a general lack of trust in the beginning - but given the circumstances, neither I think would be out of the ordinary."

And Leon seemed to be taking his admission about zombies remarkably well. So far so good. "In actuality, what he told me wasn't very organized, but I was capable of putting everything together." Hopefully the boy wouldn't bore into Stahn later; Kratos did not want to be a source of discord between the two.

Stahn would mention the shock tiaras. "Though I'd managed to bring them in by myself the first time around, it was felt that it would be easier for me to keep them in line if I didn't have to go engaging them in battle every time they decided they didn't want to listen to my orders." ... It had been awfully convenient for those times he just wanted Stahn or Rutee to shut up, too.

Leon was mostly just determined not to shame himself in front of... well, anyone. Ever. If he was actually face to face with a zombie it would be a different matter--he'd barely been able to hold himself together around that mirror creature, and it hadn't quite been a zombie. But talking about it? He could pretend to be okay. He was very good at pretending. "That sounds like Stahn. He's a country boy, not very bright. I don't entirely understand what my sister sees in him, but then she's not much of a prize herself."

"It sounds reasonable," Kratos agreed. "Especially since in the eyes of the crown they were criminals." For most people just having the tiara on would probably be enough to prevent them from crossing the line; however, he got the distinct feeling that Stahn was one of those rare free spirits who had no control over his brain-mouth fixture and thus would merit a shock once in a while - or more, if necessary.

He raised an eyebrow. "Well, I wouldn't say that his lack of coherence was due to his country roots. No, it seemed more so to me that a deep regret held him back."

It was such a relief to talk to someone who understood that law and order were paramount. Never mind that Leon had been forced to betray the King and commit crimes himself, at least for a time he'd been able to do some good with his miserable life. "One of Stahn's compatriots, Mary, was a very well-behaved girl. I don't recall that I ever needed to shock her."

"Hmph." And that was the end of the topic of zombies. Leon was not going to discuss it further, and if Kratos even hinted that Stahn had mentioned his pathetic pleas for death, at the end... oh, there would be words exchanged.

[backthread?]

"There are such things as intelligent criminals," Kratos said with a faint smile. "They're typically the ones who know when not to talk." He had met his fair share of those, although their silence was due to the fact that most of them committed suicide upon being caught. It complicated things, but that was what spies did in the first place.

He honored Leon's silent termination of their zombie discussion and changed the subject. "Ah, anyway, have you spoken to Stahn yet?"

"I'm not sure that was exactly the case with Mary. She was a woman of fairly uncomplicated needs, and travelling on the King's business fulfilled them as well as anything else." Well, uncomplicated until their encounter with Dalis brought her forgotten past back to her.

Leon shook his head, sighing a little. "No, this is the first I've been out and about today, I haven't seen him yet." And just as well. Leon didn't mind a little time to settle his mind before talking to Stahn again.

"I see." It was about midday, and Leon had just gotten out? If there was anything Kratos was sure about, it was that the Institute wreaked havoc on its patients' internal clocks. He was always amazed himself at how he lasted an entire day on perhaps a few hours of sleep.

"I'm sure he'll end up finding you regardless. As I mentioned, he was quite concerned about you last night. No doubt he is running around searching for you as we speak; his persistence astounds me." In a way, Kratos reasoned, Stahn was comparable to a very loyal dog. He certainly had the hair for it.

It was probably for the best that Leon had gotten some real sleep for a change--and apparently a lot of it--but he still felt a bit put out that he'd lost so much time that he could have spent doing at least marginally useful things.

"I'm sure. He's quite determined to believe we're friends." Leon tried to sound properly disgusted with Stahn, but he suspected that a tiny hint of fondness had crept into his tone somehow.

Day 43: Courtyard, Third Shift

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