damned_institute | Day 53: Sun Room, Morning

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Day 53: Sun Room, Morning

With breakfast finished and a new acquaintance made, the Scarecrow's mind turned to his other friends. The disappearance of Depth Charge's friend had brought back memories of how he'd felt when Kaiji went missing: helpless, useless, as though he should have and could have done something more to find him. If only he had his brain, then maybe he could have thought of something!

As much as he didn't like to admit it, it was unlikely his former roommate was still within the Institute's walls at this point, though the Scarecrow wouldn't know for sure unless Kaiji returned to visit him as Dorothy had, encouraging his supposed recovery. There was still the concern that Landel, despite his vile methods, was actually right and he was suffering from the delusion of having been a scarecrow in Oz. After all, that movie had been a pretty elaborate trick. Would he have planted it in town on purpose, knowing the Scarecrow would be taken there the night of the enchanted doors? And how could he guarantee that once he did find it, he'd take it and actually watch it? There was so much guesswork involved- it seemed the Wizard Landel either liked coincidences or he had more power on his side than any of the patients could have guessed.

The Scarecrow stopped by the bulletin board before heading for a seat, considering writing a note to his friends to check on them. He'd heard from Depth Charge, Remy, and Kibitoshin within a day's time, so he figured they were probably fine (as fine as Depth Charge could have been after last night, anyway). He'd seen Mele and Scar the day before. He put a finger to his head, thinking- he'd not heard from Abe or Sangamon in a day or so, but being professionals, they were probably very busy. Perhaps a note would be best for them.

[Kibby]

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Roxas was pleasantly surprised when she agreed - everyone else he had asked had either not answered (mostly because they had been interrupted) or had just turned him down. The success brought a small smile to his normally expressionless face; he made a mental note of shooting Sora a sentence or two on the bulletin about it. Once he got her name -

By this point, Roxas had realized her references and stuff weren't going to stop, so he just nodded along to her comment about menageries (he thought it was an institute or an asylum. Maybe menagerie was just another word for that?) glad that she was taking to the idea so fast. She seemed pretty well-adjusted to the fact that she'd need a weapon having not even hesitated about getting one, so maybe she was used to fighting. The best weapon he knew to get by his own experience was a pipe from the bathrooms, but maybe Sora had some better ideas. He knew there was a shed outside, so maybe there was something out there. "Oh, um - good! Welcome to the club, then." That was a good enough introduction, right? "Is there something you're good at using?"

That question probably wouldn't have occurred to him if he wasn't a Keyblade wielder and if Jim hadn't given him such a weird look about the thing earlier. He didn't know if he'd be able to provide any requests, but he could try! It was best to get everyone something they were comfortable with in order to keep them more protected. Or at least it seemed like a good idea to him.

Even though he wasn't sure what that last look from her was for, he sure knew what "gusty" meant... just not what she meant by it. "What do you mean?"

It was impossible not to notice how much happier Roxas looked after she agreed to join his little club. It was almost endearing -- almost. Still, she felt a smirkier kind of smile curve her lips because, hell, bringing joy into a child's life was apparently pretty damn validating, and it was hard not to. It was the same proud half-smile mingled with excited puppy-face that Sam made -- used to make. Not so much on the smiling anymore, even with Dean back.

Still.

She was chalking the smile up to how pleased she was that she was getting her hands on a weapon so quick instead of just Tiny Tim over here bringing joy into her life. Definitely more conducive to maintaining her pride. In fact, focusing on the weapon topic made everything a little easier. Having a purpose -- a goal -- was helping her ignore that thrumming in the back of her mind that was a constant reminder that the immeasurable pressure in her head that made her want to scream was her inability to smoke out and find a real solution.

So, instead of letting herself consider that, she considered weapons. Sam had mentioned having his gun and her knife, but something told her that this kid wasn't exactly going to have an arsenal stashed in his mattress. She might have to deal. Rather than give him a specific request, she just shrugged a shoulder some and took a step back to address his question before getting into her own answer.

"You're a kid. Going out every night and fighting monsters ain't exactly trick-or-treating. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm sure you're great at it, but it's not like throwin' yourself out there in the first place is the easiest thing in the world." A pause. "Gutsy's a good thing, relax. But, to answer your question as far as weapons go, I'm a slash and stab kinda girl. I'm guessing we don't go shopping at the local guns and knives store, so I'm up for non-bladed recommendations."

Truth be told, it was mostly because she didn't have the slightest idea of what was around to use as a weapon that she didn't just decide for herself. She'd seen a grand total of three rooms in this institute now and had only a vague idea of the others based on the map she'd traced. Not promising, and not altogether too informative. Ideally, her round tonight with Roxas and his pals would be better.

"Better question," she added suddenly. "You got a name to go with all the hack and slash heroics?"

Since the subject was weapons, his thoughts flashed to the gun he had hidden under his mattress back in his room, snatched from the Sheriff's Office out from under zombified hands. He'd made a kind of unacknowledged promise with Sora about it, though - it definitely needed to go to someone who was trustworthy. She seemed like a really nice girl, but he obviously couldn't be sure yet. Maybe if she helped out a little, he could offer it. Roxas obviously couldn't use it; actually, he really had no idea how to outside of pulling the trigger, which was the gist he'd gleaned from Xigbar's weaponry. The big difference was that Xigbar's guns looked nothing like the ones Sora and he had snatched.

The Nobody's smile lessened measurably at the line he'd been hoping not to hear, the whole kid spiel. "I'm used to it," he said with a shrug that matched her nonchalance, not trying to sound a little smug about it but doing so anyway. "Fighting monsters, I mean. And I know how to, so I'm not afraid."

Slash and stabbing... that was his style, but she obviously wouldn't be able to use the Keyblade. Actually, he wasn't really sure himself where he could find knives or anything like that. Maybe he could find Sora later and ask?

"Oh, sorry!" he said quickly when she asked for his name. He should have already offered it. "I'm Roxas. I don't know much about where to find weapons. The best I have is a pipe, but I know someone who can probably recommend something better."

"Hey, I'm not judging. If you're good, you're good, age be damned. Just surprising, that's all." The response was quick -- the last thing she wanted was to offend the kid. So far, he'd been looking to be pretty damn put together, and as much as it was a slight twist in her gut as far as knocking around her ego went to put faith in somebody who looked like he hadn't been around much more than decade, she knew that if a hunter were that age, they'd be plenty capable and it was just a matter of accepting the fact that they could be handy when they learned how. He was too useful for her to offend that quickly.

"Impressive, but surprising," she added after a beat to make sure he knew she was serious about not putting much stock in his apparent age.

A pipe wasn't exactly glamorous, but it'd do in a pinch. She didn't make a habit of abusing the super strength -- not only did any display of demon signs spook Sam, but it was all dick measuring. There were better ways to get out of a tight situation -- like roping herself an antichrist who'd pull her out of them so she didn't have to.

For now, though, she was less worried about what would spook him and more worried about what would put the monsters down in a pinch. Playing baseball with a pipe and a spirit would get her through until she found a better alternative or got that knife back from Sam.

"Ruby," she returned when he introduced himself. It was weird to know that Dean had popped back to life and Sam was hiding her from him to a certain degree, but acknowledge that she didn't need to swap her name out for something more human-y to accommodate that. Dean wouldn't think twice hearing the name Ruby when he didn't know the demon that was attached to it.

Talk about a relief.

"So, where's the clubhouse? Gotta have some kind of meeting point for when the lights go out, right? I'll show up, we'll play boy scout and you can show me if the lead pipe's in the conservatory." On second thought, considering the stink faces he'd been making at the references, maybe throwing one out about Clue would be in bad taste. He might just start wondering if there was really a conservatory in the institute and, if so, how the hell she knew about it.

Ruby's reassurances worked completely: Roxas immediately perked back up, nodding as if that was completely all right with him. As long as he wasn't treated like some kind of... well, some kind of kid, he wasn't offended. Besides, he knew how he looked. He wasn't really the most intimidating figure around.

As for meeting places... well, it was a good thing she explained herself a little bit after that one quip or else he'd be lost again. "You know that big hallway, the one right outside all of the patients blocks? It's right beside those nurse stations." Which he was still kind of annoyed were locked every night - he'd tried them with a passing hand on the knob every night he walked by to no avail. There had to be something important in there, right? Why else would they go to all the trouble? "I can meet you out there." The Nobody figured that was the best course of action. If she was new, she probably wouldn't know her way around the boy block or anything.

"It's not in the conservatory, though -" whatever that was - "it's in the bathroom. You could actually get one on the way out of your block if you can kick it off the sink hard enough. It's not much, but it's better than nothing until we can find something better."

If she could kick the sink hard enough. Hah. Power limitations or not, she didn't exactly foresee herself having problems with one dinky little bathroom sink. She kept the laugh to herself, though, and instead offered a warmer kind of smile to the kid. For a minute there, she almost felt bad for him; he was useful -- smart -- the kind that had better things to do than get locked in some crappy hellhole. But it was a little late to start feeling empathy for the victims, so it faded as fast as it came. After all the shit she'd done in the past six hundred years, she wasn't sure she even had the right to feel sorry for them anymore.

"Nurse's stations. The ones I passed on the way out here?" She nodded her understanding. "I'll try and grab something handy on my way, meet you outside of 'em." Maybe playing Dora the Explorer with short, blonde and spiky would help her get the lay of the land, figure out how tough it'd be to get to Sam without getting jumped.

"So, what's the deal, I bust open my door with a karate chop or do they just let us wander around?" Sam hadn't exactly covered it, but given the monster sightings, it was pretty easy to assume. Still, it was better to double check. She didn't wanna assume they were gonna get some kind of free reign in a crappy rendition of The Most Dangerous Game only to find it was a war in and of itself to get outta the room.

Right. Her room. Her thoughts flickered back to the empty bed that had been beside hers. She wondered if, come nightfall, that wouldn't be the case. Not that she was looking forward to bunking with some stinkin' human, but it'd be one more bitch to pump for information. At this point, she'd take all of it she could get however she could get it.

"Those're the ones," Roxas nodded. Good, so she had at least a basic lay of the land, at least around where her room was. "They're locked, though, so don't bother trying to get in." That was a project for another day. Besides, there had to be a key for the door lying around somewhere, right? There seemed to be a lot of stuff that just "accidentally" got left behind (if the radio clues were right a mental voice told him. He still couldn't be one-hundred percent sure.)

Huh. He would have expected Ruby to at least know the utter basics if she'd been out a night, but maybe she had woken up when the door was already open... or maybe she had woken up somewhere that wasn't a patient cell. He hadn't thought of that before, It seemed suddenly strange to him that they should all wake up in generally the same area. "Nothing like that, no," the Nobody answered earnestly. "The door should be open whenever the lights shut off. They all kind of happen at the same time; it's when the Head Doctor makes his final message but he's kind of... weird. He's always really weird at night."

Roxas was ready to leave it there for the moment, but he wanted to be on the safe side just in case. "You should be okay getting to the nurse offices. There's monsters around, but I've never seen one get too close to the patient rooms. If you see one, though, you should probably run." No shame about that, in Roxas's eyes. Besides, even if she said she was used to hacking and slashing, he couldn't exactly know for sure until he'd seen it. And he didn't want anyone getting hurt just because they weren't prepared. "It's probably too dangerous to be alone."

Locked? A part of her wanted to give it a swing on her way by, just to see if some good old fashioned telekinesis would make them rethink the lock. But exerting herself prior to her little meet-up with the Justice League didn't sound like the greatest plan, so she'd have to leave that for her hunt for Sam's room at a later date. Priorities and all that.

"Sure thing," she nodded compliantly, appearing for all intents and purposes, pretty easy to get to agree and be a team player. Appearing to trust Roxas' judgment. For the most part, truth be told, she was putting some faith in him. The kid seemed genuine enough and he seemed to know what he was talking about, even if he was lacking in the reciprocation of trusting her abilities.

She just chuckled at the remark about running and filed away that info on Landel. Weird at night wasn't exactly low in terms of possibilities, but it was something. She could start a chart and work on figuring out what the hell the big boss around these parts was that he could turn his institute into a bad joke waiting to happen with angels and demons sharing breakfast time.

He'd also given her a heads up about safe zones from the monsters -- not a bad thing to consider, and definitely something she'd be keeping in mind on the nights she wanted to avoid tussling with them. Turns out she'd hit the jackpot on useful information with this one.

"I'll try and stay in one piece until I find you." It was the closest she was getting to a reassurance, but the half smile that was hidden there made it clear she wasn't entirely worried about what she ran the risk of getting jumped by in the darkness. She was the thing that went bump in the night, and while Sam had been able to share stories that spooked her about spirits around here possessing demons, she hadn't gone through it. It didn't sink quite as well as second-hand info and she was feeling damn prepared.

It was the best they could do, and Roxas figured if she wasn't capable enough to get to that hallway, she would've spoken up about it. Maybe everyone here was a fighter, some kind of fighter. Every patient he'd happened to meet seemed like one.

The intercom jingle echoed through the sun room, making the Nobody instinctively look up before looking back to Ruby. It was already lunch time, and for some reason the word "pizza" was making Roxas's mouth water. Giving a small thumbs-up and a grin, he said, "Sounds good. I'll see you there, okay?" If he didn't have a chance to find Sora before dinner rolled around, he'd have to just write another note to catch his attention. As leader of the club, Sora probably watched the board like a hawk anyway. He had a feeling he'd know somewhere to get a knife, and then they'd have one more relatively safe patient taking on the institute. It was a small gesture, but it was a good start to something bigger.

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Day 53: Sun Room, Morning

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