Day 64: Intercom, Evening

[damned_intercom]

When the cheery jingle sounded over the speakers, the Head Doctor could be heard humming a song that suspiciously sounded like pieces of "Superstar" from today's movie. Then, as if realizing people were listening, he abruptly cleared his throat.

"Good evening, patients!" he greeted after a quick recovery. "I do hope everyone had a pleasant day. And what better way to end things than with a scrumptious steak dinner? We'll be including fries on the side, as well as offering our usual assortment of water, milk, and juices. Of course, we also carry vegetarian options for those of you who don't eat meat. Enjoy!"

The intercom turned off, leaving the nurses to escort patients to their rooms.

((Please make all dinner threads under this post with your character's room number in the subject line. For updated roommate assignments, refer to the latest Lounge Post. Thanks!))

Comments

M27

[corvus_veritas]

Hope everyone had a pleasant day, Landel? Yeah, we've sure had a pleasant day, no thanks to you. No thanks to Landel's threats, or learning about what happened last night, or Badd being his usual self, or these persistent sick feelings - or just about everything, really.

But at least the day was finally almost over. Now Byrne could stop worrying about what might happen during daylight hours and could now worry about what would happen tonight. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't ignore the possibility that something related to the Institute-wide infection would happen. But what? What would Landel do to screw with them this time? Would he--would he transform them just like the nurses had changed last night? The thought was unbearable, especially when applied to people Byrne cared about (or - dare he think it - himself).

W-well. At least this time they were here with their supplies. They wouldn't be stranded out in the road with a bunch of demonic nurses and magical virgin-eating...never mind.

No matter what happened, it would probably be better (for his health, mainly) if he tackled the night's unknown circumstances on a full stomach. Unfortunately, though, steak looked better than it sounded right now. Byrne sat down at his desk ready to eat, but his stomach suddenly decided it had other ideas. Come on. He was done with not having an appetite thanks to this stupid sickness. Whether his body liked it or not, he was going to have steak, damnit. It could just deal with it.

And so Byrne ended up forcing himself to eat, although anyone with eyes could tell he wasn't enjoying it in the slightest.

Re: M27

[timedork]

While he'd been relieved to see that Brainiac 5 was alright, the Doctor was far less so to realize that Brainiac 5 wasn't... Brainiac 5. A shift later, and he still wasn't entirely sure what to make of it.

He did, however, know that he didn't like it. At all.

There had to be something he could do—there just had to be—but first came dinner. After lights out, he could see again about trying to fix things. Fix everything. (Or maybe even before. He could always try his sonic screwdriver on the lock.)

Byrne was already in the room when the Doctor was let in by a nurse. "Hello," the Doctor greeted, pushing the matter of Brainaic 5 from his mind temporarily. He headed for his desk, pausing before he sat to inspect his roommate briefly. He didn't exactly look like he was enjoying dinner, but at least he looked like he was in one (complete) piece. "Did alright last night?"

M73

[ryuuzaki]

After brunch, L had spent most of the day dozing on a sofa in the sun room, turned in a way that would keep pressure off of his injured shoulder. He supposed that the drowsiness had come from the medication that the nurse had given him; when he woke up, hours later, he felt refreshed and alert in a way that he hadn't that morning. The movie had been irritating, but it had seemed distant... he had only been roused by the jangle of tambourines once or twice.

Weird that they'd show a movie about Jesus in a place where the supposed chapel lacked all religious elements. The ruined church, further afield, was more believable, but the place set aside for worship and contemplation within the Institute itself appeared to be not so much multi-faith as irreligious. It made him wonder... was it just this place? Or out in the world, whatever the conditions were like, had all religion gone out the window? The line of thought was similar to the one about the gorillas, except that religion was a more powerful motivator than the preservation of large primates.

The nurse who escorted him back to his room was a different one than usual. When they reached the door to his block of rooms, off the main corridor, he made to turn into it. "Oh, no, Daniel." Her correction was gentle, but the nurses always were, when the offense was minor. He remembered how they had changed on the bus the night before; had this one been—? "You've been moved. This way."

He was too perturbed by the move to continue to focus on the events of the previous night. He continued to follow her down the hall, then through the door to the next set of rooms. This was where Lunge had been, and it would be ironic if he was to be given Lunge's old place... but no, she went down the first hall. The room wasn't much further down than the one he'd shared with Orihara had been. Had Orihara been released too?

L's belongings and acquisitions seemed to already be set in the room--a relief--and whoever his new roommate was, they hadn't returned yet. The nurse looked at him, clucked, cut his steak into small pieces, and left.

He quickly shoved the brush axe and the bat into the closet, out of sight, then sat at the desk, then made a quick scan of the interior of the desk drawer--no obvious absences. Once those preliminaries were covered, he shot a skeptical look at the steak, then picked up his fork with the hand that wasn't hidden and immobilized by the sling.

Re: M73

[complicatedliar]

Loki didn't so much return to his room but was returned in a rather boneless state, firmly held between two orderlies. They didn't say anything as they deposited him on the and left, though the nurse who came in behind them did mention something about dinner.

Dinner didn't sound terribly interesting at the moment. What sounded interesting was laying still and waiting for everything to return to normal while he considered what he would do to these humans eventually, as punishment for putting him in such a state. Among the other outrages they'd committed upon his person. Yet somehow, this also struck Loki as rather funny, and he couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation.

F22

[sarcasmfordummies]

Uneventful wasn't so much the word for the day so much as boring. Donna hadn't spoken to hardly anyone and even through that much had all but forgotten to get a good look at the bulletin board. She supposed she was still tired from the last night of running around everywhere to get away from undead vultures, but even after stuff like that she generally didn't feel so tired.

Lacking beauty sleep aside.

"At least I'm not so tired as to not eat," she sighed, digging in to her meal and wondering if it would be best to stay the night in. After the last, she already knew she'd earned it!

[selfnighted]

Well. That was a refreshing nap. Of course it was a bit of an annoyance to realize upon waking that she'd been sulking all day, but waking didn't give her any clarity of thought regarding anything else, so Maya would just put it firmly out of her mind....

Though it had been interesting to discover that the nurse didn't, for whatever reason, like to wake her. Unlikely that Maya could out this discovery to any use, however. And on top of that, the nurse didn't know who Threepwood was, and Maya didn't know who else to ask. There was no list of patients anywhere the patients could access that she knew of.

"Good evening," she said distractedly as she entered the room. "No injuries, I hope?"

M79

[dividedby]

'Time heals all wounds'. It was a cliche, but it had some truth to it. Zero certainly felt a little more alive and a little less like a walking zombie than he had earlier, and it was only because he'd had some time to ponder recent events. Night was approaching; he would eventually have something he could do that didn't involve sitting around uselessly with his thoughts.

But time wouldn't change what he'd seen, nor would it change what that sight might mean. He couldn't just sit around passively when there was a possibility that someone he cared about was here. In danger. ...Assuming that was the truth.

And so, despite the amount of time that had passed since his 'visiting time', Zero was still lost in thought and full of uncertainties when he was escorted back to his room for dinner. By some small miracle, the nurse actually noticed his sudden change in behavior, although she seemed to treat it as a positive change. Maybe that visit had opened his eyes a little, or at least persuaded him to stop being an ass to the Institute staff.

If only she knew.

She left him in his room to eat, but Zero only gave his dinner a passing glance. Surprising that his body wasn't craving energy when he'd only eaten once today... But if he wasn't hungry, then he wouldn't force himself to eat. Simple as that. He ignored his food and chose to recline on his bed for the evening instead, folding his arms behind his head and staring off into space as he continued to wonder about just what had happened merely hours ago...

...

Ciel...was that really you...?

F14

[gald_digger]

The movie had been as fun and energetic as she'd been told, though Anise hadn't quite expected those themes to come up in it. While Anise had mostly come to terms with what happened between her and Ion, it still wasn't easy to watch a similar scenario acted out in front of her.

She ended up keeping to herself for the fourth shift, though she was able to take a minute to put on a smile and deliver some maps to Barnaby. She didn't linger around for long, though - coming on too strongly the day they met would just make her look desperate. She had to pace herself.

When the girl returned to her room after killing time for the rest of the shift, she slumped down into her chair, feeling suddenly tired. She'd been able to put on a smile and even forget about her worries for a while during the day, but the moment she was alone, all those worries came flooding back. She was sick, and it wasn't going away. It was going to get worse. She had to tell Claude, do what she could to help herself, and... try to prepare herself for the worst.

With thoughts of her illness weighing on her mind, Anise started to eat the steak before her. At least they'd served one of her favorite foods. She just hoped it wouldn't turn out to be her last meal.

M50

[stop_the_rain]

So that was a day in this place.

Murphy found himself wondering over the simple difference of being taken back to his room without his hands cuffed. This place gave the illusion of freedom and he hadn't decided yet if that was better or worse than prison.

The answer of 'much much better' immediately presented itself in Murphy's mind when he saw the steak. Real steak. Not a slab of stale, thick roast beef covered in mystery sauce. And he was reminded again that the cells were more like little motel rooms than prison cells. His bed wasn't chained hanging to the wall. Hell, he had peed three times today and no one had even watched him.

And during the day he wasn't running for his life. Which brought him to the coming night. What was he going to do? He'd made a promise to Nina, but on the board...well, it had sounded like she didn't really have that much need for someone to look out for her. Or had found someone else instead. Maybe he should have just asked 'anyone need some help?' on the notice board. But he was still trying to figure all he little codes and groups and everything else that made up that form of communication.

The set up of the room, however, told Murphy something very important. He wasn't alone. He'd never had a cellie in Ryall, and he was a little curious as to what kind of person they'd put in with him. Maybe it'd be someone who could use a hand....

But whatever. If not, Murphy had gotten used to being on his own. He settled down at his desk and dug heartily into the steak dinner before him, idly wondering what the rest of the evening would bring.

[dualistic]

Ending the day by speaking with Barnaby had been a decent way to finish things off, and Harvey had to admit that there hadn't been much that had annoyed him or grated at his nerves this time around. Either he was getting more tolerant or he was getting more lucky with who he spoke to during the day. He wasn't about to complain.

The one problem he had was that he hadn't quite worked out what he would be doing tonight, but he'd winged it enough times that he wasn't too worried about it. His first move would always be trying to find Sangamon or Scott, but if that didn't work out then he would figure out another option.

There were two other things he needed to deal with before any of that, though. First would be taking stock of his new roommate. He'd already been prepped for Lunge being replaced, at least. Second was searching his belongings to find out if that box of ammunition had made it back with him after last night, but that was something he might have to put off depending on who his roommate was.

Honestly, Harvey hadn't expected to see a familiar face when he walked in the door, but there was the new guy from this morning -- Murphy, wasn't it? While it would be frustrating to have a newcomer asking him questions at dinner all the time, Murphy hadn't been so bad based on the short conversation they'd had.

"Huh. So it's you," he said after a pause. He moved over to his desk and saw the steak sitting on the plate there. There was no way he'd be able to eat that in his condition, but he could probably get the fries down at least. "Welcome to M50, I guess," he said as he took a seat.

While Murphy seemed harmless enough so far, Harvey wasn't comfortable enough with the man to start going through his stuff while he was watching. He'd wait until Murphy left once night came to do that, if at all possible.

M20

[age_of_kings]

The day had been spent in relative solitude and never before had Tolten been so glad that Kratos was a quiet and private man. He had no desire at all for conversation, nor was he terribly interested in his steak. His nurse had given him something for his 'bug', but it had hardly helped.

It was strange, really. The young king thought he had surely reached his lowest and worst point somewhere between Gohtza and the Tower of Mirrors. But now, lying on his bed stripped down to his shorts due to a sweltering fever and trying to understand how to mourn, Tolten realized he hadn't even begun to sink to the depths of misery a man could.

What was going to become of them?

M7

[lighthearted]

Getting the chance to unwind by playing a game with someone he'd never met before had been a good idea. Sora still didn't feel any better than he had when he'd woken up in the morning -- the nausea seemed to be coming and going in waves -- but at least backgammon had taken his mind off of it for a little while. And he'd gotten to know Rose on top of that.

On the way out of the Game Room, he paused in the Sun Room and finally put up a notice for the Arts and Crafts club. After thinking over it all day, he'd decided that he was going to have to make the safest choice for everyone and stay in his room. He trusted in his club members -- those who were well enough to keep working, anyway -- to take care of things for him until he was better.

And he would get better. He had to.

As he made it back to his room, Sora realized that he had no clue who he would be sharing his room with at this point. That was depressing in its own way, but when he made it back he had his question answered. Well, kind of, anyway. There was another boy sleeping in the other bed, but he appeared to be out cold for the moment. Sora didn't recognize him, but his pointed ears certainly stood out.

"Well, guess I'll let him sleep," he mumbled to himself. The smell of food coming from their desks sent a new wave of nausea through him, and so Sora went to lay on his own bed, resting his arms behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. The idea that he'd been staying here all night seemed so wrong, but he didn't know what else he could do.

Re: M7

[his_legacy]

Link grunted quietly, stirring in his sleep. Images of the Princess and Ganondorf and Midna shuffled through his foggy head. Midna... She was gone. That much he knew. And Hyrule was safe. And the Princess was okay...

The young hero came to slowly, shaking the sleep out of his head as he sat up. He couldn't remember going to sleep-

Link's train of thought was broken as he looked about the strange room frantically. Everything was so perfectly clean. Too clean. There was a strange device attached to the wall, and everything looked so unnaturally refined. Brow furrowed and eyes wide, he grasped the smooth metal beams that held the bed together. What was this? Where was his equipment? What was this strange attire he was dressed in? Where was Zelda? She had been with him mere seconds ago!

There was another boy laying in the bed next to Links. He looked to be trying to sleep, and normally Link would not have disturbed him, as he appeared slightly pale and probably needed the rest. But Link needed answers. Now. Unable to keep a slight edge of shock from his tone, the Hylian spoke.

"Excuse me? Where am I?"

Link wanted to pepper his current company with questions, but he resisted. He did not want to come across as too much of a fool

M63

[nobleman]

In the end, Guy had been left to his own devices when it came to playing one of those electronic games on the larger screen. He hadn't minded that much, since it had allowed him to get an idea of how to use the controller without having to embarrass himself in front of something else when he kept leading the on-screen character to an early death.

Eventually, he'd gotten the plumber in the red overalls all the way through a few levels, but before he could reach the castle that the character was aiming for, the shift had ended.

Of course, what would have been more fun was taking apart the gray-colored machine and the cartridge that had been put in it to see how it all worked, but that was something he could only do if he had a free night. Such a thing hadn't existed for him in a long time, but he'd had fun either way.

When Guy reached his room and saw the steak that was laid out on plates for him and Okita, he couldn't help but think about how Claude was going to be pleased. He smiled to himself and took a seat, but his good mood only lasted for a short while. As the distraction of the video game wore off and he was left to sit in silence, he had to consider what he was going to do about Anise. They would all be meeting up tonight, at least, so they could work things out then.

[kings_thief]

Locke's meeting with his 'doctor' had put the treasure hunter in a sour mood for the rest of the day. He'd pretty much kept to himself the entire time and he was looking forward to resting before the night started. He really hadn't even been paying much attention to his nurse until she led him past the door that they usually took to get to his room. When questioned, all he got in response was a cheerful announcement that he'd been moved to a new room with a new roommate.

Just great.

He was sick, his shoulder still ached, he'd been harassed by an asshole that reminded him far too much of Kefka, he hadn't seen Edgar all day long, and he wasn't even in his same room. Hopefully his journal would be there waiting for him, at least. If he had lost all those notes and maps he'd written down...well, it would probably be the perfect ending to the type of day he'd been having.

Locke didn't bother trying to argue with the nurse over the news and let her lead him to his new room. Maybe he'd gotten there before his new roommate had. Of course, that hope died as soon as he opened the door and noticed the blond already in the room. Well, so much for that. He pushed down his annoyance and moved further into the room; might as well try and be sociable. "Um..hi, I'm Locke."

M39

[freewill]

Of course, saying goodbye to them hadn't been simple. Even though both Sam and Dean were nothing like themselves at the moment, Castiel knew the truth. It was their minds rather than their essences that had been tampered with, and the true Sam and Dean were hidden beneath layers of mental conditioning. One conversation clearly hadn't been enough to knock any sense into them, and having to watch them leave meant he may have just lost his only chance.

While he was upset, his anger at what had been done to them outweighed that. Of course, he also felt guilt that he'd been unable to prevent it, but seeing the two of them had given him purpose. The Apocalypse was still weighing on his mind as unfinished business, but the threat of Sam and Dean being lost forever was more immediate.

He tried to imagine how Dean would react if he ever found himself again and realized that his leg was gone. Would he blame him? Castiel would take that blame, but he got the feeling that Dean wouldn't end up pointing any fingers. Still, the thought of him trying to hunt when he was down one leg was...

No, he was getting ahead of himself. First he had to deal with reversing what had been done to them -- and in fact, before even that he had to rid his body of this infection it had been ruined by. His hope was that he would be able to meet up with Kratos and do some manner of investigation tonight, but for now he needed to fuel his body and get a small amount of rest.

Kobayashi wasn't here yet, so Castiel was able to seat himself at his desk and start to work on eating his dinner with the efficiency of an angel. It was even red meat, Jimmy Novak's favorite. Once he'd cut the slab of meat into pieces, he started chewing each morsel into a state he could swallow more easily before moving onto the next.

F9

[survives]

Strange as it was, reaching her room that evening was almost a relief. It wasn't just that they'd never even reached them the night before, though that definitely played a part in it. Not having to end her day running for her life could lift anyone's mood, after all. But the fatigue that had taken hold of her had only worsened during the day, to the point where Leanne could think of nothing more appealing than crawling between the sheets for a good night's sleep.

Which was exactly what she couldn't let herself do. No matter how tired she found herself, their daily freedom was something she couldn't let herself miss, not for anything else. Throwing away an opportunity just because she was tired? No, she wouldn't, couldn't, let herself to that. She'd taken a short nap after the movie and that would have to do for now. She refused to let this sickness, whatever it was, take her out.

Settling herself on the desk, Leanne found herself staring at her plate more than eating from it. Food didn't look very appealing either...

Re: F9

[madeinthehrl]

Soma didn't usually speak to her nurse at all, but tonight she didn't even favor the woman with a nod as she left. The day had been mentally and emotionally exhausting, and both had only served to make her feel worse. It wasn't even a matter of pride anymore; she knew she wasn't fit to fight tonight, and she'd only be a liability to any team she joined.

Dropping into her chair, she glanced across the room at Leanne, who didn't look much better.

"You too," she said, more of a statement than a question. "They have to be doing this on purpose."

M2

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar ignored his food as he walked into his room. He still felt miserable. The Ishbalan had rested throughout the day, which had helped both his exhaustion and his lingering sickness. But bed still seemed like the most inviting option right now. He ignored his food, climbing into bed and closing his weary eyes.

Perhaps tonight he could actually get something done. What, he wasn't sure. But the small knives from the other night should be in his closet. They would have to be good enough, as he didn't have anyone to venture out with. He frowned, rolling over onto his side and hoping to God that Johnny didn't walk in anytime soon. He didn't feel like dealing with the man.

[unpriest]

The nurse had told him that Seishin's previous roommate had been released, but the information only sank in once he stepped into the room. Come to think of it, the route towards his room had been different, but the former priest had been too caught up in his own thoughts to notice. He had been assigned a different room without notice, then. He guessed it didn't matter.

The other man appeared to be asleep, so he left him alone. Seishin had no intention to interrupt the man's rest, even if he had been in a better mood. As it was, he supposed it was for the best; the former priest wasn't in the mood for pleasantries.

He sank down on the seat on his side of the room, staring blankly at the food before him.

F21

[overlimit]

The time came for Rita to return to her room, but when she turned to enter the usual hallway, her nurse stopped her. "Actually, Paige, you've been moved to this hall," the woman explained, gesturing to the next hall over. Eventually, Rita was led to F21.

"What about my roommate?" Rita asked before making any move to enter.

"I'm afraid she's been released. You didn't get a chance to say goodbye, did you? Poor dear." Of course, Rita should have expected that answer. But somehow, even seeing it coming, it didn't sit well with her.

When the nurse left her, the mage quickly confirmed that her belongings had been moved into the room with her, then sat down to eat. If Kairi was gone, she supposed that meant she had a new roommate. She hoped it wouldn't be anyone too obnoxious.

M42

[scarefaux]

The Scarecrow scratched nervously at the bandages on his forearm again as he followed his nurse to his room, walking the hallway without looking up even once. He knew the way by now, every turn and step memorized from days upon days of walking the path. He looked down the corridor as they neared his room, hoping for a glimpse of Depth Charge. No such luck.

She handed him his tray of food, checking his arm idly for a moment. She wanted to say something, but ended up stifling it with a sigh. "Well, you have a good night now, Mr. Howard. Your roommate should be along shortly."

The former strawman's face brightened instantly. "Really? Oh, that's just great to hear. I haven't had the chance to speak to Depth- er, Mr. Price in some time. I suppose we've just missed each other somehow these last few days. And he was asleep before that." And before that, he'd been taken for the Special Counseling and the two of them had been forced into a mission for the General. There was so much to talk about, so many things they needed to say. They'd never resolved that argument, the fake one that had become alarmingly real the more it went on. The Scarecrow, having had a lot of time to think, finally knew what needed to be said.

The nurse looked at him, pity in her eyes; he failed to recognize it. "You get some rest. You're going to need it if you're to recover from your illness." With that, she put a hand to his back and gently guided him through the door.

She paused as he headed for his desk and set his tray atop it, watching him from the doorway. He looked to thrilled with the prospect of seeing his roommate again, and she hadn't the heart to tell him the bad news. Well, she supposed he'd find out for himself. His friendship with Price, while good for him, wasn't perfect: it seemed from her observation that Howard often let the taller, more imposing man make the decisions for him, and part of his recovery required that he break through the delusion that he was a strawman without a brain, incapable of human reasoning.

Another sigh and she was gone, closing the door. His new roommate would be along soon enough. She could only hope the bad news wouldn't set back his recovery.

[skeletonenigma]

It turned out that the 'scrumptious steak dinners' were an individual affair, rather than in that large cafeteria. Skulduggery saw no reason to complain. In fact, he was even chatting amicably with his nurse as she led him back to the small dormitory rooms. The two had struck up a sort of uneasy friendship over the course of the day, albeit one that was based on very little knowledge of each other. Once Skulduggery accepted that he wouldn't get answers to all of his questions (the morgue, apparently, was "Nothing you need to worry about, Mr. MacAuley!"), and she accepted that Skulduggery would remain patiently obtuse to his real life but was perfectly friendly nonetheless, a lot of the friction that made her seem so annoying simply dissipated.

"You enjoyed your first day, then?" she asked with a smile.

"About as much as could be expected." Skulduggery had already decided that this nurse, at least, truly believed the mental hospital story, which made her just as much of a victim as everyone else here.

"Good! Here's your dinner-" she handed him the tray of food, "-and this is going to be your room from now on." She gestured to a door marked M42 with another smile. "And I'll see you in the morning. Sleep well, Mr. MacAuley."

"Indeed," Skulduggery murmured as the nurse hurried away. If it were up to him, his dinner would sit untouched while he meditated, or thought about tonight. But unfortunately, that irritating feeling in the pit of his stomach was having other ideas. As frustrating as the concept was, the nurse was right. Skulduggery was going to have to eat something to keep his strength up.

Sleep, however, did not feature in any of his plans. Not now, and hopefully not for a while, if ever. He could sleep when he was dead. Actually, he hadn't slept even when he was dead. Skulduggery pushed open the door to M42, and only barely noticed that it wasn't the room from last night or this morning before he froze.

Someone was sitting at one of the desks.

Of course, the fact that each room had two beds should have warned him, but the discovery still caught Skulduggery slightly off-guard. He recovered very quickly and placed his dinner on the other desk, his new roommate now a fact that mixed up with every other thought currently running through his head. "Hello," Skulduggery greeted him, his tone friendly if a bit absent-minded. "I believe we're supposed to be roommates. Would you mind telling me what language I'm speaking?"

M16

[stellarregions]

Gren had spent the day keeping his head down, so to speak. After the previous night's events, he'd wanted to do his best just to forget. The situation at the institute kept getting worse, and as the days wore on, he found himself less and less able to summon up the desperate sort of optimism that usually kept him going.

He could tell he was slipping back into a place he did not want to be, but it was becoming harder to care. After all, hadn't things been better that way? A part of him certainly thought so.

But tonight, at least, he had a plan. He needed to get back down into that basement room and set the ring he'd smashed for that location. It would mean one last trek through the Sun Room at night, but after that, he'd gave a short cut. With that in mind, he settled in with his dinner, hoping there would be no nasty surprises this evening.

[girlsandgadgets]

Edgar was surprisingly short with his nurse as she stopped him before the door to his room, checking the bandage on his head one more time. "I assure you that I am fine," he insisted, "and I'd be better if you'd leave me to collect my thoughts for the evening."

"Now don't you get fussy with me, Mr. March," she chided, turning him to check the back of his head. "I'm simply concerned for your health. It's my job, you know, and I'll not have you—"

"Passing out on your watch," Edgar finished, having heard that exact phrase several times that day already. "I appreciate your concern, milady, but I simply need a good night's rest, and I'll be the picture of perfect health." Though she didn't look as though she believed him, the nurse gave him a nod and left him to his own devices. The smile he wore disappeared the moment he entered the room- he had far too much on his mind to be worried about a bad knock to his head.

He set his tray on his desk, giving a nod to Gren. His roommate looked a little worse for wear, but not as sickly as some of the other patients, Locke included. That was one thing that worried him. "Glad to see you're in one piece after what happened last night."

F1

[she_is_ruin]

Dinner shift was merely another of saying "forced solitude," which was just as well. More time to herself--or at least more time away from others.

Again, Yomi avoided the food, opting merely to sit at her desk with a glass of water. Her katana sat across her lap, balanced with a hand on the tsuba. It was the only weapon she would really need when the lights lowered. Living and dying with a sword in hand, that was what she’d been trained for.

The sesshouseki hadn’t been part of her original plan, but it was there as well, sending tingles over her flesh as it worked to heal her. If she was going to die again, she supposed it wouldn’t be because she was carrying the sesshouseki with her. So long as it remained unwarded, it would do everything it could to keep her alive.

F15

[thecamellia]

After her visitation with Masamune--no, Michio, that was his name now--the rest of the day seemed to pass in a whirlwind rush. She couldn’t have said what she’d really done to occupy herself during fourth shift, only that it had seemed too short. The sole moment that stood out in her mind had been mail call: there, she’d had another letter pressed into her hands, with the sender address blacked out once more.

The name, though. The name in the top corner had rung bells. It was Black☆Star’s letter.

Opening it so soon after her brother’s visit was just… too saddening. When it was time for dinner, Tsubaki still had the unopened letter held against her chest, arms folded across as if protecting its contents. In one hand, she also held a beautifully bloomed camellia. Two reminders from home that hurt too much to think about.

In the room she shared with Rapunzel, Tsubaki didn’t know where to put either of them. Her nurse had brought her a little cup with some water in it, but simply leaving the flower to sit on her desk seemed so… trite. But there wasn’t much she could do with it. So she left it there, her gaze drifting back to trace the petals every once in a while. Soon the flower would wilt, and there would be nothing left. It made her feel sad to imagine looking away and missing it blooming, but it was equally sad to watch it slowly die until it was nothing but trash to sweep out.

Her eyes fell on her meal, the sight of which made her stomach twist weakly.

Swallowing, she turned instead to the letter in her lap. She closed her fingers slightly, crinkling the envelope’s corners. With the letter, she had another decision to make. Before she heard Rapunzel’s footsteps in the hall, she would either have to open it or put it away. Or do nothing. It was amazing how many of her decisions made her feel as if she were doing nothing.

[hairraising]

How Rapunzel could go from being half-wrecked over having to snap a giant bird's neck one night and then be practically skipping down the hall the next day, she had no idea. Maybe love was just that powerful. Her bet was on that, considering it had been all she could think about that afternoon. She had actually said it — she had actually said it!! And she hadn't even meant to! How could a day in Landel's be so fantastic, she thought, twirling as she came up to her door (the nurse behind her amused, but also hurrying forward to make sure her charge didn't get dizzy and fall).

"Hmm hm hmmm hmmm hmmmmm hmm hmmmm..." The tune reached the door of F15 before Rapunzel herself did. She entered with a warm glow on her face, not immediately seeing the look on Tsubaki's. "Hmmm, dinner smells good tonight," she said, half-floating over to the plate at her nightstand.

F8

[ninelivesonce]

Taura woke up for the second time, tucked into a couch in the Sun Room. She didn't remember falling asleep; that wasn't one of the symptoms, was it? The backs of her hands were clean, as were the fronts, and her stomach was loudly pointing out that it was in fine working order and empty, so she shrugged and followed the medics back to her quarters.

Something was different -- she'd arrived first, and nothing except two dinner trays was sitting out, but she had a feeling Wichita wasn't coming back. She'd had that for a while, but until they actually took her stuff away, Taura could hope. She could also wait for her new roommate to get back to start eating -- politeness mattered. It made them human.

Sorry this took so long!

[mirrorimage]

Nina was guided back to a different room than the one she woke up in. She wasn't sure why she was going to a different place this time until she found herself inside.

There was another girl there, and two dinner trays. But the other young woman hadn't eaten, which meant... she had been waiting for Nina? Nina felt both gratified and slightly guilty. Hopefully, the poor woman wasn't starving on her account.

The size of the other girl intimidated her slightly, but Nina still found a warm smile for her roommate. "Hello," she said, softly, with a kind of meaningful gentility too melancholy to be called sweetness. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting long."

M30

[ham_fisted]

The first thing Gumshoe did when he woke up was flinch and look around. Once he knew he was safe and in a bed, something else got his attention. What was that smell? I-It almost smelled like...

A smile flashed across his face when he looked over at his desk and confirmed that it was steak. The nose knows. But then he blinked in confusion. So that meant-- "Ah!" His hand suddenly shot up to his forehead to check if he was running a fever. ...How did you know if you had a fever when you didn't have a thermometer?

His hand fell back to his side. He felt kinda groggy (it was a familiar feeling these days), but the smell of that juicy steak was doing a good job of bringing him back to his senses. At least he wasn't nauseous. Hopefully that meant he was in the clear. For a second there, he was worried the sickness from the other night might have come back. It was the first thing he'd thought of when he'd realized he had slept through the day.

...He hoped Ms. Skye was alright. He'd seen her running off with someone last night. It didn't matter if she had stayed on the road or gone off into the woods. Anywhere would have been safer than near the buses.

The detective sat at his desk and rubbed the sleep from his eyes with one hand while his other hand brought the cup of water to his mouth. He had work to do tonight, he thought as he set the cup down again and began cutting his steak up with his plastic knife and fork. He briefly got up from his chair to get his notebook and placed it beside his plate, proceeding to flick through it to find the notes he'd written yesterday:

Med wing. Antibiotics. Pencilicillin, amoxicillin, tetr anything ending in -cillin or -mycin. Read instructions.

M4

[propheteer]

With dinner came an unexpected surprise: "You're changing rooms today, Joshua!"

It wasn't the first time he'd changed rooms, but unlike Muraki (whom he'd never seen again afterwards) Izaya was sure he'd seen Ryuuzaki even after waking this morning—so the reassignment couldn't have been due to his former roommate's removal (unless, of course, it had happened just this afternoon). Or, perhaps, Ryuuzaki wasn't to be a "former" roommate at all; there was also the possibility that they'd simply been moved as a pair to a different room.

His arrival at the new room proved that false. There, lying on one of the two beds, was the hulking form of one Snow Villiers.

How interesting.

Izaya barely acknowledged the departure of the nurse, so fixated on his new roommate was he. Was there a reason for this change? Not for losing Ryuuzaki's daily company, but for gaining Snow's. True, he'd taken an especial interest in observing Snow, but had that in turn been taken note of by the staff? Had this been arranged because of it? Did it have anything to do with Snow's little escapade yesterday?

After a moment, Izaya took a seat at his desk, eyes fixed still on Villiers. Really, he couldn't help but feel this was a peculiar turn of events—and one he could remark upon later, if the man awoke. For now, he had no intention of rousing the man.