damned_institute | Day 68: Breakfast

When Link awoke, he wasn't certain if he had simply been pulled into another room or if the night truly was over. It was disorienting, to say the least.

But the fact that their plans had been ruined by the magic of this place was overshadowed by the fact that another patient had died, last night. Link had not known him, but as far as he was concerned, he was partially responsible. He had sworn to himself, after Sora's death, that nobody else was going to die. That he would find a way to get the cure to everyone. He had briefly considered the idea that it had been another patient to finish off that man. Monsters didn't come into the halls, did they? But the horrid display of gore splashed across the hallway... another patient couldn't be capable of such an act.

Could they?

Link swallowed, suddenly on edge as he entered the cafeteria. He briefly thought of posting an inquiry about the matter on the bulletin board, but... that was for another time and another person. Such news wasn't broken via letter. Especially not by a stranger.

He got his breakfast, a tasty-smelling combination of some sort of strange bread and eggs, and settled at a table with a yawn. Tonight, nothing was stopping him from getting another flower. And if the rooms decided to shift as they had once again, he would figure out the puzzle. Too many lives depended on it.

[X]

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_[free.]

There it was again. The Head Doctor's subtle warning that something bad had happened to other prisoners over the course of the night.

Tsubaki woke up with his threat still resounding in her ears and felt the weight of it settle in her stomach like a lead ball. The night hadn't gone well for her and Leanne, but it sounds like things had gone even worse for others--hearing the Head Doctor make light of that fact before blacking out wasn't a good way to start a new day.

What was the worst case scenario? That someone else she knew had changed? Had... died?

Tight-lipped, Tsubaki went about getting ready for breakfast in the silence of her now empty room, then proceeded down to the Sun Room to check the bulletin. She was worried about what she might find, but at the moment there didn't seem to be any grave news regarding her friends... She tried to keep the worried frown off of her face as she entered the cafeteria, but it was a difficult task; everything seemed to be going wrong and she didn't even know where to start to try and fix things.

Although breakfast wasn't particularly appetizing, Tsubaki took her food and sat, eyes on the growing crowd.

Taura's eyes flew open as the intercom came on, staring up into total darkness as the Head Doctor brought night to a close. A night she'd missed, entirely. Then they shut again, only to fly open what seemed like a moment later.

She sat up; muscles ached in ways they shouldn't have, and she was on top of the blankets. Like a puppet with its strings cut. She'd collapsed mostly on her bed, with one leg not so much dangling as firmly planted on the floor.

It was an odd expression, Taura thought, as she tugged her hair back into place; it was the only part of her which seemed to have had any sort of adventures in the night, and even after a few minutes of yanking it was only mostly tidied. Strings were usually something to be avoided. They weren't part of a good Deal, and while Taura had never had anything worth negotiating with, it didn't mean she didn't know the world worked. Universe, really, even if entire planets had cut themselves a group option on kindness rather than efficiency.

Strings held you back. Occasionally, that could be a good thing. Rarely, preciously, occasionally. There were always exceptions. But here, the strings belonged to Landel, and no one wanted to -- what did puppets do, anyways? Dance? Taura wasn't sure she'd actually ever seen any. Dance, then. Go through doors, if that was what Landel had meant, and she wasn't sure if she was disappointed or not to have missed the chance to see home again, even if only for a moment.

Something other than stacking the too predictable one-of-each type of breakfast sandwich on a plate, and then one of everything else in a bowl, and finding an empty seat across from a woman whose contemplative look matched her own mood.

While Tsubaki ruminated over her untouched food, she couldn't help rubbing her arm where her needle mark was. She didn't feel any differently from when she'd confessed to Leanne what the nurse had done. Should she be relieved that a whole night had passed (even if it felt like a blink of an eye) with nothing bad happening to her, or... more worried?

She didn't have too long to tie her brain in knots about it. Before she realized it, someone pulled out a chair in front of her and she found herself looking up into the face of a very tall woman. The woman looked familiar, though Tsubaki could remember having ever met her in person before.

Well... yesterday was yesterday, and today was today. She had to keep on smiling, which she did. It was the polite thing to do when someone sat down beside you at breakfast.

"Oh... good morning." Her voice was as quiet as ever, in case it was one of those situations where the other person wanted to be left to their own thoughts.

Taura smiled back, hesitantly. She wasn't sure the other woman's smile was genuine, but hers was; most of the people she'd met here were genuinely nice, and there were worse things than meeting someone new over breakfast. Especially when the breakfast was delicious.

She was never sure what to say in these situations. They'd gotten less difficult as she'd done it more, but never straightforward. "Taura," she said, as introduction. "Uh, that's my name." She popped a grape into her mouth to avoid the need to add insult to awkwardness, and waited to see if the other woman would introduce herself.

Ah, that was probably as good an invitation as anything, wasn't it? Tsubaki smiled a little wider, glad to have not found herself interrupting where she should stayed silent. She imagined after the week they'd been having, everyone had more than their fair share of heavy thoughts on their mind.

Good to see there was at least one person who hadn't completely lost their appetite, either, whether due to sickness or not.

When the woman offered her name, Tsubaki was ready to say something... but then she realized she knew that name and hesitated, lips parted. She knew that name from reading it, didn't she? Her brain clicked a moment later, and she gave Taura a look that was both perplexed and surprised. "Taura... san? Might you be the same person who was talking about St. John's Wort on the bulletin board yesterday?"

"Tsubaki...san?" She sounded the name out, syllable by syllable, tacking the honorific she still wasn't quite sure how to use on the end. "I was. I've still got it; I fell asleep before I could even eat dinner."

That wasn't a good sign, and Taura knew it, but she was awake now, and all she could do was as much as she could before something irrevocable happened. Something else irrevocable. There wasn't a good way to ask if Tsubaki was ill herself, was there? She looked all right -- no rashes, and being distracted wasn't a symptom of any disease Taura had run across, but it was still a bit of a personal question.

"Did you, uh, have a friend who needed some?"

Tsubaki was too astounded by the coincidence to pay much attention to the way the other woman ventured her name. It was the same Taura! The one Tsubaki had been looking for!

And "it" must have been... the flower?

She dared not be too hopeful, though she could feel it rising in her chest, pinching at her almost painfully. "Yes! I--" She caught herself before her surprise got the best of her and lowered her voice some, leaning over the table. "I do know some people who are ill! Four, if not more. I tried to reach the Greenhouse last night, but time ran out before I could..."

She wanted to believe so badly that this flower everybody was talking about could do what it was rumored to do and heal the infection, but what were the chances it could be that easy?

"It ran out on me before I could even get out the door," Taura admitted, a faint pink staining her cheeks. "So I've still got it. We found it in the Greenhouse two nights ago." Goku had, and then they hadn't had a chance to figure out what to do with it. She was getting worried; she hadn't seen him. Or heard him, which was a little more reliable when it came to Goku. But she hadn't seen anyone mentioning a rampaging giant monkey, either.

"Just one, though. But every little bit helps, hey?" She bit her lip, blunted teeth pressing against the skin. "I'm in F2. If I'm asleep again, take it. Doesn't do anyone any good on my desk."

_{[Aaaand this is what happens when dw doesn't give you a notif. My bad! V___V]}

Tsubaki's night hadn't gone much better, so she could only sympathize with the woman. But Taura had one of the flowers. That was far more than Tsubaki had achieved.

"And you've seen it work?" The question was in parts hopeful and uncertain. "I... I was hoping to look for it when we went to the Greenhouse..."

Taura's offer was unexpected when it came, and for a moment Tsubaki wasn't sure she had heard correctly. Just walk in and... take it? But... "Oh no! I couldn't do that! You should give it to someone you know! It seems like so many people are ill lately..."

Day 68: Breakfast

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