damned_institute | Night 46: Main Hallway, 1-West

Sora hadn't missed the way the girl seemed to be trying to get someone else's attention, and he glanced in the direction she was waving. He didn't know what that was about, but she hadn't said anything, so maybe it wasn't important. She could just be waving to a friend of hers, for all he knew.

While Soma seemed kind of serious, she was willing enough to make conversation, and that was all that mattered. He would have worked on pulling her out of her shell even if she'd been completely taciturn, but this at least made it easier.

"Ahh, I don't know," he admitted with a quick laugh as he pulled his arms up behind his head. "A long time. Probably over two weeks by now, actually." He'd been here long before the current leader of the club, even. Probably before Momo, too. It made Sora wonder why he wasn't running a club of his own, but he realized he liked it better this way. It was less work, and he didn't think he'd be that good at organizing lots of people.

Two weeks. It seemed about as long as her friends had been here--probably longer. Soma nodded slightly. It was no wonder Hitsugaya had entrusted him with a task like this. Most likely he knew his way around.

"Have you been in the basement before, Sora?" she asked after a moment. At the very least, she felt she ought to know what to expect. In any case, she was running out of other things to talk about.

It was an understandable question to ask, and Sora got the feeling the girl was going to be surprised by his answer, especially when he'd just been saying that he'd been around for so long. Somehow, basement duties had always fallen to someone else. He was glad that he'd finally been nominated for it, although he had to admit that it seemed to be mainly due to the fact that the club members were dwindling.

"Nope! This'll be my first time, but I've got a pretty good idea of how to get there." Having been around the institute so long, he'd heard about the path to the basement a number of times. He was pretty sure some people even described it as a gauntlet, seeing how it required getting past at least one brainwashed patient most of the time.

Which was probably something he should mention. "It's gonna be dangerous, though. They usually have Special Counseling patients guarding the way there." Sora wondered who it would be this time. Hopefully not one of his friends...

Mild surprise showed on Soma's face. "Not even once?" She hadn't expected that; she would have thought he would have been in the basement at least once. Surely someone who'd never been there wouldn't be expected to lead a team, especially if they didn't know what they would be facing?

But, she reminded herself, Hitsugaya had assigned these teams. She had never been in the habit of questioning orders, and she wouldn't start doubting her superiors now.

"I expected as much." The news that there would be something standing in their way came as no surprise to her. It sounded like something Landel would do. And now that she thought about it, she could do with a fight. Anything to keep herself from dwelling over recent events. "Are you used to combat?" Sora didn't look like much of a fighter, but she knew as much as anyone that looks could be deceiving.

"Not even once," Sora replied right after her question, though he didn't sound particularly ashamed about it. How could he? He might have checked the basement out before now if he hadn't been working for a club, but he wouldn't have felt right going off and exploring when he could be doing something more helpful. Now those two things just happened to coincide, and it was as simple as that.

There was a chance Soma was doubting him, but after all the times Sora had butted heads with Donald, he knew there was really only one way to dispel that. He would just have to show her that he was a capable leader, and hopefully tonight would give him the opportunity to do so.

It made sense that she'd go straight from that to asking if he could fight, and this was something Sora could answer with confidence. "Sure! It was my job to fight these creatures called Heartless back where I come from" -- he wasn't going to get into the multiple worlds thing now -- "so this isn't too different." It was true that he'd run into some monsters here that were nothing like the Heartless, but he was at least familiar with the overall concept of fighting unfamiliar creatures.

Sora smiled amiably at the girl. "How about you?" He might as well get an idea of what his teammates were capable of before they got going. But where was Mercedes...? He hoped she was all right.

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/779336.html?thread=64013384)]

Meche tightened her grip on her spear and hurried down the hall toward them, heels clicking rapidly on the floor. It really did feel good to be back in her own clothes again. "I'm so sorry I'm late," she apologized as soon as she got close. "I ran into someone I hadn't seen in a while. I hope I didn't keep you waiting long."

This must be Sora, of course. She hadn't expected their team leader to be so young--it looked like even the other LDGC members had a few years on him. His name had come up in pretty much all of Hitsugaya's messages, so he must be experienced with this sort of thing, but.... Anyway, Meche was careful not to betray any of her surprise as she smiled at him. "I'm Mercedes Colomar. I'd offer to shake hands, but--" She rolled her eyes at her spear and flashlight. As serious as this was, she still felt like a little girl playing pretend with weapons like these.

Soma nodded. At the very least, he knew how to fight; that put her mind a little more at ease.

"I'm a pilot back on my world, but I've received training in hand-to-hand combat." She decided to keep it at that for simplicity's sake; it was rapidly becoming clear to her that not everyone here had heard of supersoldiers or mobile suits.

That was when Meche turned up, and Soma finally smiled slightly at the sight of the older woman approaching them. Meche was wearing clothes she hadn't seen her in before, and briefly she wondered where she'd gotten them. Hadn't someone said something about patient possessions? She would have to try looking one night, though she was almost certain that anything she would find in there would probably have belonged to Maria and not Soma.

Meche was speaking to Sora, so she settled for a slight widening of the smile and a small nod to her friend.

A pilot? Well, that was impressive! Sora only half-knew how to work the gummi ship, though that was mainly due to the fact that Donald always wanted to be at the controls. Still, he'd learned enough to get by, and yet he got the feeling that the things people flew in other worlds were a lot more complicated. It was a good thing that Soma could fight in an up-close-and-personal way, too, though.

He might have asked the girl more questions, but that was when someone else raced over to them, looking somewhat frazzled. Sora straightened into a leader-like stance and sent the stranger a smile. She had found her own clothes, too, it seemed. At this rate there would come a time where everyone had them. Or maybe not, since there were always so many new people coming in.

"Don't worry about it," he said, shaking his head at her apology. Things happened, and he was just glad that she hadn't been kidnapped by the institute. "I'm Sora! It's nice to meet you, Mercedes." Handshakes were the normal thing to do, but he didn't mind bypassing it, especially since they needed to get going.

"Are you guys ready to go, then? We have to head through the Sun Room," he said, mainly as a warning for Mercedes. He'd already told Soma about it.

Soma looked better tonight, Meche thought. She couldn't quite put her finger on why--more at ease, maybe. It had sounded from the board like Soma had been feeling under the weather earlier. Hopefully it had just been something simple, but either way, it was good to see the girl smiling. Meche gave her an answering smile and a nod, feeling a little more at ease herself. What the kids might lack in experience, it seemed as though they might more than make up for in youthful exuberance. It was bracing, somehow.

Sora's comment didn't do much to reassure her, though. From the way he'd said it, obviously the Sun Room was a pretty dangerous route to take, and obviously she was supposed to know why, too. She didn't. Great, Meche thought glumly, they hadn't even shaken hands and she was already at the bottom of the class here.

"Why, what's wrong with the Sun Room?" she asked. "Does something else usually get there first?"

"There's usually a brainwashed patient guarding it, from what I've heard," said Soma, glancing at Sora. She wasn't sure if that was what he meant, as she'd never had cause to go into the Sun Room at night herself. Most of LDGC's missions had involved leaving the building entirely. "I'd imagine it would be dangerous if the patient in question had all of their powers back."

That made her think about Mele for a moment. She'd been taken last night, if what she'd said at dinner was to be believed and the two of them weren't both hallucinating it all. She was glad Maria hadn't had the chance to run into her--and it was just as well, she would probably have tried to talk Mele out of it and gotten herself killed in the process--but she couldn't help but feel a tiny stab of disappointment. Soma would have liked to see Mele at full power, with all the abilities she'd spoken about.

It was helpful when Soma went ahead and took the initiative to answer Mercedes' question for him. While Sora was surprised that some people still didn't realize that the Sun Room was dangerous, he could see how it wouldn't matter to people who hadn't made an effort to go to the basement before. Sora had just found out through his own wanderings and word-of-mouth over the long time he'd been in this place, and he was more than happy to pass the information on to his teammates.

"Just be ready for it," he said once more for good measure. "If we're lucky, whoever it is will already be knocked out and we can get by." It was bad to hope for something like that, but in a way it was a good thing for a brainwashed patient to get knocked unconscious early on. It meant they would attack less people and probably not feel as bad the next day.

With that, he nodded to the two and headed down the hall toward said room. They needed to pick up the pace, seeing how they were getting off to a slow start.

[To here.]

Night 46: Main Hallway, 1-West

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