damned_institute | Day 51: Breakfast

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Day 51: Breakfast

Yuffie Kisaragi, indomitable bouncing ball of sunshine and unfathomable ebullience, was tired. It'd been a long night full of gibberish and getting nowhere fast.

"Can't I—"

Plucky, who had been busily loading a plate full of French toast and bacon, tittered. "I'm afraid not, Hanna, darling. A chat over a nice, hearty breakfast would do you a world of good, don't you think?"

"Aaaaactually—"

"Come on, let's find you a seat. Plenty to choose from this morning!"

For a long moment, Yuffie seriously considered doing something—anything—to act out. Punch her nurse, rub jam in an orderly's face, climb a wall and hang off the ceiling, jump on a table and parody Loveless… A ruckus like that would definitely jolt her back into gear, right? Sedation aside. And it'd turn Plucky's good day right on its head, which was always a bonus worth shooting for.

But, by the time she'd reached a decision—and it was an epic decision, a really awesome one; everybody'd appreciate the genius, she was sure—she was already alone. Her breakfast tray had been set down neatly by the nurse, who had left with an infuriatingly winsome smile.

"Wow," Yuffie muttered. Shaking her head, she picked a chair at random and threw herself into it. She kicked back, one arm slung across her eyes, to wait. For what, she wasn't totally sure. Some moron to decide that she looked like good company? That was how it usually went.

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"Can't be because of the caffeine," Sanae said, gesturing with his cup. "They invented decaf for that very reason." The way he said the word 'decaf', though, suggested that he hated the stuff. Which he did. Decaf was for pansies who couldn't handle the buzz.

He took a couple bites of fruit before beginning his small talk routine. "So, ya been here long? Where ya from?" He knew the man was from the West, but Sanae had never developed the ability to pinpoint exact Western origins. After hearing about ten of them, all of the countries' names started to sound the same.

"Maybe they simply don't trust us with hot beverages," the Doctor suggested, a lopsided smile on his face. "We might just be crazy enough to burn ourselves."

He didn't buy into the 'insane' line they tried to sell here one bit, of course, but that didn't mean he couldn't joke about it. Keeping in light spirits was usually good, after all, even in the face of frustration.

The question of how long he'd been there gave the Doctor pause. He counted back the days quickly, and then answered, "This is my eighteenth day, and that's eighteen days too long, if you ask me. I do a lot of travelling, so you could say I'm from all over these days." He took a moment to finish off one piece of toast and then asked, "And yourself?"

"And yet they'll give us soup..." Sanae shook his head. "It's a terrible Game they're running 'round here. I mean, bein' unorthodox is alright if it's got Imagination, but refusin' things like tea and coffee? That's just bein' petty."

As always, he wished he could meet the one who'd taught Landel his Composing technique. If he ever got the chance, he wouldn't pass up the opportunity for a stern lecture on finesse.

"Eighteen, huh? More than me - mine's two weeks today." Only fourteen days, and he was already pining for the office rush that came in at eight in the morning. "I'm from Tokyo - Shibuya, really. I run a cafe there." Sanae paused and added, "Sometimes."

Part of letting people know about Wild Kat was telling them discreetly that he was open sporadically. It was hard keeping consistent hours when one had two other "jobs".

"I'd say we should file a complaint, only I don't think that'll do much good," the Doctor said. He made a mental note of Mr H's mention of a game; it was an odd choice of words, to be sure, but perhaps not inaccurate... It almost was a bit like a game here (albeit a nasty one), what with the vast differences between night and day. "They might end up taking away the soup just to rub it in!"

The Doctor nodded at the confirmation that Mr H was indeed Japanese—he looked it already, and since he was from Toyko, well... "Only sometimes?" he asked with a smile. "Is the cafe a hobby, or do you just keep busy the rest of the time?"

He paused to take a sip of water. "And fourteen days is still a fairly long time, from what I've seen. I've noticed new faces popping up all the time around here." And then there were some familiar faces—like that of Rose—that vanished just as suddenly.

Sharp guy, to have pinned him down that quickly. Most people needed him to clarify what he meant by 'sometimes'.

"Nah, ya got it right." Sanae nodded with a guilty look on his face. "I'm too much of a free spirit to be tied down by somethin' like actual 'hours of operation', so it's more of a hobby. Doesn't mean I don't take it seriously, though. My house blend's the best my side of town and then some," he said with a note of pride. "Good beans. Good coffee."

When the Doctor mentioned new faces popping up suddenly, he looked around. "Yeah, they do seem to come in like clockwork, don't they?" He smiled knowingly. "And a week can be all it takes to change someone dramatically, ya know. Scary stuff."

The Doctor gave a chuckle at that. "Well... if your 'blend' is as good as you say, sporadic hours of operation just makes it more of a treat to find the shop open, the way I see it," he commented. He rather liked the sound of it; it wasn't reliable, but it seemed fun. "A bit like winning the coffee lottery."

He took a moment to look around himself; already there were a few more faces he didn't remember seeing around before. He spotted Donna talking to a man that looked unfamiliar, and then turned back to face Mr H.

"I know what you mean," the Doctor said, a little sadly. He hadn't seen anyone in particular change drastically here, but before... He'd seen people change in even less time than a week; sometimes all it took were a few hours and a desperate situation, though he liked to think that kind of change wasn't permanent. "I just hope that those who—who've left are alright. Unchanged, or at least not changed for the worse."

"Better believe it." Sanae grinned. "So, ya know, if ya find yourself in Japan one of these days - hopefully soon, I'd imagine - see if your ticket's a winner." And hope I can still tune into the RG. He still had no idea what punishment awaited him as a result of his meddling, but was hoping that it would be no worse than what he'd been dealing with here.

He shrugged and settled back in his chair, tilting it onto two legs. "Can never say, huh? But ya can always hope for the best, since that's what humans are good at. And tryin' their damnedest too, I guess."

Sanae followed the Doctor's gaze and noticed that he seemed to stop on a very familiar woman. "Ya know Noble-san?" He'd only talked to Donna around three times now - not nearly often enough for him to address her simply by her first name or, even better, by a nickname.

"I'll be sure to," the Doctor said, grinning at the man again. "What part of Tokyo is it in? And, ah, approximately when? It won't do much good to try to find it if I'm there in the wrong decade." Or century. Or millennium, but he felt reasonably sure his estimates wouldn't be off by that much.

And hoping for the best, well... The Doctor liked hoping for the best. He liked hoping that humans were capable of living up to their best. He might have commented to that effect, but Mr H had dropped Donna's name.

"You know Donna?" he asked in return, only to realize his question didn't exactly answer Mr H's question. Indicate its answer, sure, but not actually answer it. "I—Yes. She travelled with me. Before. —Before here."

Sanae blinked. "Huh? Thought I mentioned it earlier, but what the hell. It's in Shibuya. Right off of Miyashita Park on Cat Street. Place is called WildKat, so if ya forget what street it's on, well, it's in the name as a handy reminder.

"As for the time, uh...well, early twenty-first century, 2008, I think--wait, no, that's when...eh, come about 2006 or so. Don't worry 'bout accidentally spoilin' my past self; all ya have to do is say 'time travel' or like, 'alternate time' at some point and he'll get it, trust me," he finished, waving a hand. "I'm used to that kinda stuff, although I do dimensional, not time. One sometimes includes the other, though." Thumbs up. They were good.

Nice to find another guy who jumped around time and space, really, and how interesting to know that Donna had too. She hadn't mentioned that during any of their conversations, although she had mentioned a 'batty friend' whose identity Sanae was starting to suspect..."Like a Partner, huh? Cool," he said with a nod. "I met her not long after I got here, actually. We played Go Fish. Pretty lively, that one."

"Oh, yes, you said Shibuya but—" The Doctor cut off suddenly; Mr H had obviously understood and given him a more specific area anyway, so the explanation of what he'd meant was unnecessary. "I'll remember it: Cat Street, off Miyashita Park."

More surprising than finding that Mr H knew Donna—which... actually wasn't all that surprising, now that he thought about it; they were apart more than they were together around here, and had barely swapped stories—was that Mr H was familiar with dimensional travel, and familiar enough with time travel not to accept it without a second thought. The Doctor grinned brightly.

"Dimensional travel? Really? Well, that'll makes things easier if I meet you again before we've met," he said cheerily. "Always nice to meet someone who understands without needing an explanation."

Come to think of it, while he'd met some people—like Dean—who were completely skeptical about the idea of time travel (or dimensional travel), he'd met more than a few who were at least familiar with the concept. Maybe there was a connection there...

"And... yeah, she's like a partner," the Doctor agreed. She was a friend, a mate, a companion he could rely on... His smile turned fond, and he gave a brief chuckle. "'Lively' only begins to cover it. Donna is, well... She can be difficult, but she's brilliant."

Edited 2010-08-16 06:02 (UTC)

"Yeah, yeah, it's cool. Sometimes I even pop in on my alternate selves. We make a nice little team." Most of the time. Sometimes his alternate versions were his biggest threats.

"Not as flashy as it seems, though, dimensional travel. I just tune into whatever world I want and" - Sanae snapped his fingers - "off I go. No space ships, portals, stuff like that. Kinda boring. But it's good when ya wanna be covert."

He nodded vaguely as the Doctor described Donna. It was clear to see that he trusted her very much. How well would they do in a Game? Probably quite well, more so if Donna's declaration of the Doctor to be insane was more of an affectionate one. Unfortunately, it was against the rules to kill people for the sake of making them Players. Not that Sanae had those sorts of thoughts on his mind.

Ooh,, 'popping in on' past or future selves was risky, even when the person in question (like, say, a Time Lord, which the Doctor was certain Mr H was not) knew what he was doing... Which, well... Mr H might have. Time travel, transdimensional travel, all without a capsule...

"You're not human, then, are you?" the Doctor asked, though the way he said it made it sound more like a statement and less like a need for confirmation. "Humans don't just visit themselves, especially not in the twenty-first century. And even later on, well..... Certainly not that easily, not without a capsule or vortex manipulator of some kind."

He tilted his head back, his lips parted and tongue pressed against the back of his upper teeth as he considered Mr H a second time. It was the lack of a capsule—lack of anything, if Mr H wasn't oversimplifying—that really cinched it. He sniffed, and then leaned forward in his chair, working through his thoughts out loud, "So that leaves the question of 'what are you?' Some kind of transcendental being, I'd think, but which one; an Eternal or a— a Guardian or.... Well, there are all sorts of possibilities, aren't there? I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me...?"

Sanae smiled vaguely. This was his big secret that the Doctor was piecing through, and he'd never exactly been fond of telling people it. Actually, he'd been forbidden from telling it. Buuuuut, they weren't in a Game, and it wasn't like this man was a Player...or a Reaper. He could bend the rules. "I used to be, sure. Then I died. That'll do it, ya know.

"And you're guessin' close," he admitted. "Real close." He was a Guardian of sorts, but probably not the type that the Doctor was talking about. "Technically I'm what they call a Higher Being. Some people call us Angels, but I wouldn't go that far."

Sanae leaned back in his chair with his hands laced behind his head. "I gotta give it to ya, Doctor-san, ya really figured that out fast. Met someone like me before, have ya? Or is it just that good old intuition?"

"I've met... similar people before, yes," the Doctor answered, giving a nod. "Not exactly the same situation, of course, but when you've met more than one transcendental species, well... I wouldn't say you've met them all, but you know what they have in common, what they can do."

Of course, if Mr H had been a human before he'd died and come back as this 'higher being' (he agreed that 'angel' was probably a bit too far, though being mistaken for one was an entirely different matter), that was definitely different than the usual sort.

After a brief pause, he grinned and added, "What to look for, as it were. And knowing what humans can't—or don't—do, well... That helps, too."

[ack! sorry for taking so long...!]

"Small world," Sanae offered. He'd never heard of any other kind of being that could do the things he could except in manga, but then, he wasn't aware of everything in the wide, wide world even though he did his best to.

"Where'd ya meet 'em?" he asked, unlacing his hands and settling them in his lap as he leaned forward. "Out of curiosity."

One had to be a pret-ty special human to meet a 'transcendental species' (He wasn't sure how much he liked being labeled that, but really, whatever floated one's boat.) or...maybe not even human at all.

"It really is, isn't it?" the Doctor agreed. "Small universe, even."

He glanced down at his breakfast, and took a moment to polish off the last of his sausages before answering Mr H's question. "I've met a lot of them on Earth, actually, but not all of them. They weren't native here, of course, but the ones I ran into were hanging about for some reason or another." Unfortunately, the 'some reason or another' had only rarely been a pleasant one, but he narrowly bit back a comment on that. Mr H seemed like the nicer sort, and as long as he didn't start spouting details of an evil plan...

"Are there many more like you around Shibuya—or Tokyo—or Japan? Or is it just you?"

"I wouldn't know, but I'll take your word for it," Sanae said with a laugh. He'd always thought of the universe as vast, especially given how many dimensions it could fit into itself. But it wasn't as if he'd ever traveled the universe that most people thought of.

He frowned at the Doctor's answer. Many beings like him on Earth...who were alien? How come none of them had ever decided to arrive in Japan--no, Tokyo? That city was probably (if pop culture was to be believed) the likeliest site of alien contact or Armageddon or what have you. "Huh...never knew that."

Sanae shrugged. "There's more 'round the country. We keep to ourselves, ya know, so ya won't meet another one of my type unless ya die and, uh..." How to put this? "...stay dead."

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Day 51: Breakfast

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