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damned_institute2010-06-17 01:58 pm
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Entry tags:
- aidou,
- aigis,
- amaterasu,
- america,
- anise,
- asuka,
- bella,
- brainiac 5,
- claude,
- dean winchester,
- depth charge,
- donna,
- edgar,
- edward cullen,
- elaine,
- franziska,
- guy,
- guybrush,
- hanatarou,
- hanekoma,
- haseo,
- homura,
- indiana jones,
- kairi,
- kaito,
- kirk,
- klavier,
- kratos,
- l,
- leela,
- leonard,
- matt,
- mccoy,
- meche,
- mele,
- mello,
- mihai,
- minako,
- morgan,
- mori,
- muraki,
- nigredo,
- niikura,
- okita,
- peter petrelli,
- ranulf,
- raphael,
- ratchet,
- remy,
- riku,
- rita,
- ritsu,
- roxas,
- sam winchester,
- scott pilgrim,
- sechs,
- senna,
- sora,
- spock,
- sylar,
- the flash,
- the scarecrow,
- tifa,
- tk-622,
- tsukasa,
- two-face,
- utena,
- venom,
- von karma,
- wolverine,
- xigbar,
- yue,
- yuffie,
- yukari,
- zack,
- zex
Day 50: Cafeteria (Brunch)
Somehow, after their talk in the chapel, Elaine felt simultaneously more accepting of and more irritated by her future husband. On the one hand, seven years had clearly been good to him. He seemed more sincere and thoughtful than he had been before his disappearance, and he had a more mature (dare she say, handsome?) look to him. On the other hand, there were clearly some things that made even time throw up its hands in vain and say, "To hell with this!" Guybrush was still inexorably prone to disastrous accidents if the story about the Pox of LeChuck was anything to go by, and he was so obviously keeping something important from her that any passing dolt in the Institute would have been able to tell. In the end, that eternal underlying sweetness of his that won out, keeping her from punching him again, at least. That was only by a hairs width, though. Her snugglecakes was going to have to stay on his best behaviour if he knew what was good for him.
She left the Mighty Pirate™ alone for the time being when the announcement of the next shift went off. He would want some time to catch up with Morgan next, presumably. As much as the woman's attitude bothered her, she was a friend of Guybrush's, as she had claimed. Elaine could be strict, but she wasn't the kind of shrewish future wife/past fiancé who would keep her man from seeing his friends. Besides, she needed some more time to catch up on the goings-on of the Institute. Patients filled the building to the brim, now, it seemed; there would be a lot to investigate.
After a few quick trips back and forth to the bulletin and a few new leads to follow up on, the governor gave in to her nurse's persistent nagging and headed to the cafeteria for brunch. After the relatively light fare of the day before, Elaine took advantage of the Institute's admittedly scrumptious offerings and loaded up a full, balanced brunchfast of eggs, sausage links, waffles, and vegetable soup. As expected, the selection of drinks did not offer either root beer or grog. Grog she could live without, at least, she thought while making a face. Eugh. For now, she settled for a tall glass of water.
Elaine settled into a seat in the cafeteria and tucked into her meal. Her eyes didn't stay on her food, though, instead gazing around restlessly; she hadn't seen LeChuck so far this morning, and god forbid he wanted to invite himself to brunch with her if he chose now to show up. A certain horribly unpleasant dinner on Mêlée Island came to mind. She was prepared to either move at the first sign of the dread pirate or signal a random stranger to sit with her before he could.
[For Dean]
She left the Mighty Pirate™ alone for the time being when the announcement of the next shift went off. He would want some time to catch up with Morgan next, presumably. As much as the woman's attitude bothered her, she was a friend of Guybrush's, as she had claimed. Elaine could be strict, but she wasn't the kind of shrewish future wife/past fiancé who would keep her man from seeing his friends. Besides, she needed some more time to catch up on the goings-on of the Institute. Patients filled the building to the brim, now, it seemed; there would be a lot to investigate.
After a few quick trips back and forth to the bulletin and a few new leads to follow up on, the governor gave in to her nurse's persistent nagging and headed to the cafeteria for brunch. After the relatively light fare of the day before, Elaine took advantage of the Institute's admittedly scrumptious offerings and loaded up a full, balanced brunchfast of eggs, sausage links, waffles, and vegetable soup. As expected, the selection of drinks did not offer either root beer or grog. Grog she could live without, at least, she thought while making a face. Eugh. For now, she settled for a tall glass of water.
Elaine settled into a seat in the cafeteria and tucked into her meal. Her eyes didn't stay on her food, though, instead gazing around restlessly; she hadn't seen LeChuck so far this morning, and god forbid he wanted to invite himself to brunch with her if he chose now to show up. A certain horribly unpleasant dinner on Mêlée Island came to mind. She was prepared to either move at the first sign of the dread pirate or signal a random stranger to sit with her before he could.
[For Dean]
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Waiting for the nurse to leave them be, Zack had been ready to ask the obvious question, but the teen beat him to the punch.
And what a punch it was. Hearing the company's name was almost as bad as getting smacked across the face. Years ago, he had been able to handle needling from anti-Shin-Ra activists without a problem, having been solid in his decision to work for the organization. Nowadays, after he'd been tortured and then discarded by the company himself -- and more than that, had been forced to watch friend after friend get ground under Shin-Ra's heel -- it felt like an embarrassment.
"No," he said, shaking his head vehemently, "I work for myself now. Uhh, have we met?" This stranger clearly recognized him, and it seemed most likely that it was the person from the bulletin with the messy writing. Zack had honestly been expecting someone a little younger, but he wasn't going to judge too harshly.
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"I'm Nakani," he said, slowly. He'd done exactly as Zack had asked, and it seemed people here were not from the same world, they wouldn't know about Shin-Ra. Oh well.
"I suppose I can afford to trust you a little more if you don't like Shin-Ra." They weren't a problem anymore, but if people were from the past, it could be troublesome should they find out what Nanaki was.
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"Well, Nanaki, I'm Zack. You already knew that, I'm guessing, but now it's official." He grinned, holding back the urge to offer his hand for a shake. He didn't need to make the kid any more nervous than he already was. Keeping his hands to himself would probably help Nanaki feel more at ease, or so he hoped.
At the comment about Shin-Ra, Zack managed a small laugh and nodded. "It seems like everyone's got a grudge against them these days," he agreed. He was curious to know if Nanaki had a specific reason for his, but didn't think now was an appropriate time to ask.
"So, you heard about me through Cloud?" he questioned with a tilt of his head. "How did you two meet?"
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Although Zack seemed the sort that might smile too much. All the time, about everything. Nanaki would have to see if it ever lacked sincerity.
"Not without reason," he pointed out. Humans could be foolish, but not when it came to a dislike of Shin-Ra. Whatever their reason, they were right to hate the Company. What it was.
"I did," he said, quickly remembering to nod and doing so almost enthusiastically, though his expression remained neutral. "We met..." Through Aerith? In the Shin-Ra building? "...by chance. I know how you met him, so I won't ask. What was Sephiroth like when you first met him?" he asked, suddenly struck by the curiosity bug.
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He did have to wonder why Cloud would decide to befriend someone like this by chance, but that just made him even more certain that there was more to Nanaki than met the eye. In fact, it sounded like he may have gone along on that big journey with Cloud and Tifa and Yuffie and Aerith to defeat Sephiroth.
His suspicions were practically confirmed when the redhead asked him a question about the general himself. Zack's expression faltered for just a split second; he didn't want to have to think back to a time when he had admired Sephiroth and seen him as a role model, but it would seem odd if he refused.
"He was... well, he was pretty serious about his job, but that didn't mean that he didn't know how to have fun sometimes. He just had a weird concept of what fun was." He clearly recalled when the man had told him about how he'd snuck into the simulation area to mess around with Genesis and Angeal. "I was able to kind of befriend him, if you could call it that." It was painfully clear that much had gone wrong since then, but he doubted that Nanaki needed to hear that part.
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"It's very strange to think of him as...." He was never really a normal person, "anything but the Sephiroth we fought. Does it bother you if I ask questions? I'd be interested to know what Cloud was like too."
He looked at his plate and managed to separate the meat from everything else. He probably shouldn't eat in front of Zack. Or at least wait until he wasn't watching.
"....Please don't let me stop you from eating."
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He wasn't going to like the answer, and yet he asked anyway. "What was he like as far as you know? When you fought him?" Zack didn't know if Nanaki had much of a concept of Sephiroth beyond being an enemy, but there was really only one way to find out.
The question about Cloud did make him smile briefly, though. When Nanaki urged him, Zack nodded to himself and moved on from the tater tots to a waffle he'd grabbed, cutting off a piece and then plopping it into his mouth. "You should eat too," he said, speaking around the food.
Now, for Cloud. Zack swallowed his bite of waffle and leaned back in his seat. "He was... well, really nervous. He was trying his best to do what he could on every mission, but a lot of his own insecurities held him back. We were buds. I did my best to help him build up his confidence, and I guess it's done some good." Not that he was going to take all the credit, but he would never stop being impressed by how much his friend had grown after his death, and perhaps partly because of it.
no subject
"Yes," he said, quietly, "I should..." He looked at the knife and fork, then slid his gaze to Zack. He spoke with his mouth open and many other humans had bad manners, so Nanaki decided he should be allowed to pick the first sausage up in his hand and began to nibble and chew the end, trying to swallow without throwing his head back.
"He sounds very different to the Cloud I know." He would have liked to have met Cloud like that. But the thought of how much people changed made him think of how short their lives were. And here was Zack, who ought to be dead. It was horribly confusing. Even Gilligan wasn't certain about his feelings.
Nanaki gave a miserable huff and tried to slurp some of his juice, wiping the mess from his face. He was in a miserable human body now too. What if he died too soon?!
He quickly scanned the room for a familiar face and saw Yuffie. That was a little better, for now.
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Continuing with his own meal, Zack also couldn't help noticing the way that Nanaki handled his food. Once again, it fit that sense of awkwardness that he had noted from the start, but Zack had to admit that he'd never seen someone who acted quite like this. Wouldn't it be rude to ask, though?
At the comment about Cloud, Zack smiled and nodded. "You're right about that. I mean, he's still Cloud, but a lot has changed from when I knew him." To go from a half-aware, mako-poisoned kid who couldn't even walk on his own to someone who could call the shots and pilot an airship on top of it all? Well, it was pretty amazing, if he was going to be honest.
When Zack was again distracted by the way that Nanaki was continuing to struggle with eating his meal, he found himself unable to stop a question from leaving his mouth. "Uhh, are you... okay?" That seemed like the most polite way to question someone about why they were having issues with basic motor skills.
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"You were an inspiration to him," he said, politely.
He felt his cheeks heat up when Zack asked if he was alright, his mind racing to place what might seem wrong. His mood, his habits? Whatever it was that gave him away, it was frustrating.
"Yes... I am," he said, unconvincingly and entirely aware of the fact. "I am....adjusting."
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Granted, here he was again, alive and kicking. Zack still wasn't sure if there was a time limit on all of this, but he was going to just take things as they came. Even if it involved seeing Gaia as it was years after his own death.
When Nanaki explained that he was adjusting, Zack frowned down at his food as he tried to figure out what that even meant. Suddenly, he realized that this whole situation was strangely familiar. The odd movements from his conversation partner, the difficulty with eating... It all reminded him of his talk with ZEX.
Did that mean -- was Nanaki not in his normal body? Zack tried to eye the other patient subtly, searching for clues, but there was no way of really knowing. He could just ask, but if it turned out he was wrong, that would be both awkward and really rude of him. Instead, he decided to go with a more discreet line of questioning. "Adjusting in what way?" he asked as he took another bite of his brunch.
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"In many ways. Aren't you? This is a very peculiar situation after all."
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"Yeah, I guess you're right," he agreed with a nod as he chewed on a piece of sausage and glanced off in thought. "I have some experience with this kind of thing, though. I'm still not sure if Landel is quite as bad as Hojo." Though he was reminded of the situation Yuffie had painted for them last night, and had to suppress a shudder.
Chances were that Nanaki had heard of Hojo at one point or another, through Cloud or just as a matter of course, and so Zack didn't bother to explain. He didn't want to make the teen feel like he was being patronizing, after all. As much as he teased Yuffie, he didn't really see age as a sign of inexperience or ignorance.
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"I've been told he's not responsible. It makes sense. The day time would be much worse if he was."
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Nanaki had to have dealt with the scientist personally. That was the only reason to react so strongly to just a name, even if Zack could relate completely. If anything, that made him more convinced.
"Tell me about it. At least here they let us walk around a little bit." They were still forced to go to the rooms that the nurses told them to go to, but they could stretch their legs and even get some fresh air. Zack wasn't saying it was paradise, but it was way better than the Shin-Ra mansion's basement.
"So, what did he put you through?" he asked with a tilt of his head as he popped another piece of sausage into his mouth. "If you don't mind me asking." Some people were okay with talking about it and some weren't. Zack wasn't exactly the sharing and caring type -- he'd give the facts, but he wasn't going to turn on the waterworks.
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"I don't mind direct questions. It was captivity mostly," he grumbled. There'd been some prodding and poking, but he was mostly being saved for Aerith. "I would ask you the same.... but I suppose I know." So did Zack know he was dead? It wasn't that long after the Mansion that he was killed. Or perhaps he was unhappy long before that ordeal?
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It sounded like Cloud had shared enough details of what they'd been put through that his friends didn't even need to ask. Zack felt a little bit uncomfortable about it, but it wasn't the sort of thing that could be kept secret for long. "Yeah," he responded as he shook a hand through his hair, "four years of being cooped up with some experimentation on the side."
Not to mention the mako. Lots and lots of mako. It was no surprise that seeing the Lifestream had made him feel a little queasy.
At that moment, the intercom went off and the nurses started to hustle around the room claiming patients. The time never seemed long enough, but Zack also knew that he was playing catch-up with everything that had taken place after his death. It was going to take a while. "Well, it was nice to meet you," he said with a small smile. "I'll see you around, all right? I wouldn't be surprised if we end up working together sometime."
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"Work?" he asked, head tilted. "I...suppose." What did he mean by that? Was he coming back alive, or...perhaps he meant here. "I would like that."
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Nanaki seemed a little confused, but in the end he responded in the affirmative, and that was the important thing. "Sounds good," Zack responded with a nod as he stood from his chair, abandoning the rest of his meal. He'd eaten enough. Giving the kid a parting wave, the soldier moved away to meet up with a nurse.