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damned_institute2009-08-22 12:29 pm
contentincloset.livejournal.com) wrote in damned_institute2009-08-22 12:29 pm
Dayshift 43: Waiting Room / Lobby 2 [4th Shift]
"Now you just have a seat and wait for your visitor like everyone else."
As the nurse went away from him, Kurogane huffed out some agitation but refused to have a seat. Hearing that he had a visitor had been one of the last things he'd expected. It was always the magician who got one, not him. And who the hell would want to visit him anyway?
During his first protests, the nurse had been telling him to behave since it wasn't nice to be sour to girls, so he knew it had to be a girl that was visiting. There were a few of those Kurogane knew could show up as a "visitor" for him, all of which were annoying. Some were worse than others too. He could probably handle if Sohma showed up, and maybe Amaterasu, but when it came to Tomoyo-hime... she was already hard to handle normally, no matter what world she came from. The Piffle version had been pretty much the same, just raised differently. If he saw her, even a fake her, she would probably be just the same and he'd have to at put up with it no matter what.
Eventually he chose to take a seat, knowing that he would not be leaving any time soon. Of course, he picked the one that was furthest into the corner to avoid unwanted conversations. He would already have to deal with a visitor; he shouldn't have to deal with anything more.
As the nurse went away from him, Kurogane huffed out some agitation but refused to have a seat. Hearing that he had a visitor had been one of the last things he'd expected. It was always the magician who got one, not him. And who the hell would want to visit him anyway?
During his first protests, the nurse had been telling him to behave since it wasn't nice to be sour to girls, so he knew it had to be a girl that was visiting. There were a few of those Kurogane knew could show up as a "visitor" for him, all of which were annoying. Some were worse than others too. He could probably handle if Sohma showed up, and maybe Amaterasu, but when it came to Tomoyo-hime... she was already hard to handle normally, no matter what world she came from. The Piffle version had been pretty much the same, just raised differently. If he saw her, even a fake her, she would probably be just the same and he'd have to at put up with it no matter what.
Eventually he chose to take a seat, knowing that he would not be leaving any time soon. Of course, he picked the one that was furthest into the corner to avoid unwanted conversations. He would already have to deal with a visitor; he shouldn't have to deal with anything more.
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Conner shrugged. "I've had a few too many near misses when I'm out making deliveries to not wear it any more." Despite how ridiculous it made his hair look. "Plus, she worries. The kids too." He wasn't even twenty-four yet, and he already had so many people relying on him. He couldn't let them down.
"I think that might already be in the works," Conner said with another half-smile.
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It was almost amazing how she could make the simple act of sitting look completely insolent. If she weren't focusing so hard on not doing something stupid--like grabbing Cloud by the collar and shaking him until either his brain fell out or he started making sense--she might've taken in more pleasure in it. "Near misses are what makes it fun," was her protest. "I am incredibly disappointed in you; borderline betrayed, even. Witness my heartbreak."
Her tongue was getting stuck in her throat; she felt like she could only talk if she let her mouth run away, and if she did, she might never catch it again. Yuffie was, as she spoke, in the process of drawing her legs up neatly to her chest; she cut a surprisingly small figure in that stupid, uncomfortable chair. "Don't tell me. Air ducts, sleeping pills, and smoke pellets."
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He just stared impassively as Hanna made something that was undoubtedly quite complicated look easy and ended up sitting like a normal human being (for once). Conner was far too used to stunts like that for it to surprise him. "Tiffany made it clear that she didn't want to be engaged to an organ donor." And after that near run-in with an eighteen wheeler a couple months back, he agreed.
"Barbies, army men, and a jump rope, more like."
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So she stared back.
His eyes were wrong, Yuffie noticed with a start. She leaned forward a little, arms braced on the edge of her chair. She studied him. Blinked, looked away. When she looked back it was the same sight that greeted her. She leaned back again abruptly and with a cocky smile, saying, "Sorry, thought there was something weird about your nose. Has anybody punched you lately?"
No sign of mako, or of Jenova. Like none of it had ever happened.
None of it.
Yuffie knew--gods, how she knew--that life back home had been a mess. She knew how hard it was, and how much it could hurt. But she'd never, ever walk away from it. "Geez, I thought I'd taught 'em better than that," she told the paper on her lap, sharp like a sheathed blade. "Looks like its up to me to save my own ass, huh? I'll be in here 'til I'm ninety if I leave it up to you old coots and the Brat Brigade."
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He cleared his throat and straightened a little, trying to hide how awkward he felt. "Well...if and when that happens, there will be a place for you on that old couch again. Whether you're ninety or nineteen." Conner ducked his head and rubbed the back of his neck like he tended to do when he was embarrassed.
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… OUCH. Cloud's next words sent the smile slipping, spiralling, crashing into oblivion. If? "T-There's no if about it!" She snapped. Her cheeks -- gawd, she knew she was blushing. Trust him to say something like that, and then follow up with something like that! "I'm going to get out of here. Nothin'll stop me!"
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At least she didn't really seem worse for wear here. Bored, definitely, and probably pretty homesick, but this place hadn't managed to crush her spirit. He was glad. He'd never admit it, of course, but Hanna felt like the little sister he'd never had a lot of the time, and he was pretty protective of her. One of his biggest worries about sending her to this place was that, somehow, it would change the person she was.
He knew that Tiffany felt the same way.
"That I don't doubt," he said with a smile. "You're a force of nature sometimes."
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Of course, fighting talk like that had her sitting up, punching the air once to make her point. All too soon, the little ninja wilted back down, slumping into her seat and kicking her legs out. A faint dusting of pink remained, stubbornly staining her cheeks. She was biting her tongue now, fingers curled and clenched carefully -- she wanted to jump over there, wanted to make him understand, to make him see what was really going on right in front of him.
By all the rivers of Wutai, she despised feeling so helpless.
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He dropped his voice so that the nurses wouldn't hear. "Hanna. Listen to me. Are they hurting you here?" Even if she wasn't cured, even if they had to transfer her to another hospital, he would check her out himself, right now, if he had to.
"If something's wrong, tell me."
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That was unexpected. Yuffie stared at Cloud warily, sizing him up. He wasn't joking anymore, that much was clear; there was an edge in his voice, a glint of steel in his eyes. The familiarity of it, a throb of unexpected hope, almost distracted her. "They try," she replied quietly. Maybe she could use this; Maybe there was enough of him left in him. "On a night, y'know? A few nights ago, they… I don't really remember it all, they had me drugged up so bad. All I know is that it hurt like a bitch and I still…" Her laugh was nervous, "I still have nightmares."
She shook her head. "People disappear all the time, without a trace or a word. People get hurt, really hurt, and they try to pin it on stupid stuff - freak accidents, clumsiness, self-harm. People die. You might think I'm crazy, Spiky m'boy, but I've got nothing on this hell."
Worst thing about it, she didn't even have to work to make it sound bad. The words left a bitter taste in her mouth, gross and lingering like blood. He probably wouldn't believe her—what could he do, even if he did?—but if there was even the slightest chance that he might, she had to take it.
If he laughed at her, though, she was going to punch him. For real.
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But he couldn't ignore what she'd said.
He was griping his chair so hard his knuckles had turned white. "Hanna," he finally said, voice soft and dangerous. "If what you're saying is true--"
A loud, cheerful voice cut him off. "I'm sorry Mr. Gale," a nurse called out, bustling over to them, "but I'm afraid that's all the time we can give you today. It's almost time for Hanna's dinner!"
Conner gave the woman a look that said very much about how little he wanted to be interrupted by now, but there was really no stopping her. She was already trying to--politely--push him out the door.
"I'll come back next week," he promised Hanna, "and I'll talk with Tiffany in the mean time. We'll figure out a way to get you out of here, I promise."