Day 73: Sun Room (3rd shift)

[redcladidealist]

Maybe another day, Lloyd would have taken his lunch outside as soon as his nurse handed him his sack. He hated being cooped up inside, and it had been more than a week now since he'd been brought to this place and given only occasional, well-supervised, and all-too-short opportunities to step foot outside of these walls. Even the trip into town where they'd been given almost the whole day to wander hadn't been quite enough to keep Lloyd from chafing at the constant restriction to his movement. Despite the opportunity, though, the teen planted himself in the Sun Room. Even though he'd gotten the chance to speak to Castiel and had been reassured that the two men were alright, something in Lloyd needed to see his father with his own eyes.

So. The Sun Room. He didn't know which room Kratos would head to, or if he was planning on going outside, but no matter which room he picked, he had to go through here. Lloyd even refrained from checking the bulletin, not wanting to give the man a chance to slip behind his back when he wasn't paying attention. Kratos was already too good at that. Lunch sack in his hands, Lloyd picked a table where he could see almost every door and took a seat.

"Now, Nigel," his nurse admonished him, louder than Lloyd would have liked. "I know you weren't feeling up to eating this morning, but you really do need to eat. I expect you to eat your sandwich, alright?" She laid a motherly hand on his shoulder.

Lloyd tried not to make a face. "Alright." He still wasn't hungry, but he probably should at least make the attempt. Not because his nurse told him to, but because his body would need the food. He'd need all the energy he could get when night fell on the Institute again.

[For Kratos.]

Comments

[fourstonewalls]

There was still no response to her query on the bulletin, though there was a note that would have told her her guess about Zero's state of mind was correct without having needed to ask. It had been a good conversation, though, and she was sure he could say the same.

Strange friendships these were, especially for a woman who'd spent the last few years systematically cutting her emotional ties. Landel had given her that, though the faint gratitude she felt would not hinder her in the slightest from attempting to take down his security system. Provided she ever heard back from her co-conspirators, that was.

She didn't hover, exactly, but she took a seat where she could see the bulletin board and the main doors to the Sun Room, and began to eat her lunch.

[Soushi]

[ever_loyal_dog]

Soushi's spirits hadn't improved much with the day's conversation, but he kept a faint smile as he followed his nurse back to the Sun Room. He wasn't usually interested in eating with so many people around him, but the packed lunches weren't much better. He held his carefully in both hands when it was given him, but made no move to open it or explore the contents. The nurse, at least, gave him other ways to occupy himself. Though it meant bothering other patients into speaking with him. He gave a mental sigh as the nurse cheerily attempted to introduce him to a woman he was pretty sure wasn't named Shirley.

"-and this is Johnathan. He hasn't made many friends yet, but I'm sure it'll come in time. Why don't you sit here Johnny?" she gestured toward the empty seat beside "Shirley." Soushi took it, though not without an apologetic sort of nod toward the young woman.

"Sorry for the intrusion," he began, doing what he could to be friendly, if only to appease the hovering nurse, "I hope it's not a bother."

[fourstonewalls]

"Of course not." She meant it, too, which was a slight surprise. Friends meant more people to worry over when they disappeared, but people still reached out, over and over again. "Lana Skye," she added, holding out a hand for a handshake.

Finely-honed detectives' instincts still had her cataloguing his body language even as she greeted him, though -- he was clutching his lunchbag in a way that didn't seem possessive, but also didn't seem thrilled. Perhaps he wasn't fond of tuna fish. "Do you mind if I eat? I slept through breakfast."

[ever_loyal_dog]

"Much appreciated. Miketsukami Soushi," he smiled a bit more genuinely when her greeting was a friendly one. He returned the offered handshake, firm, but not overbearing. He hadn't spoken with the woman before, though that was hardly saying something since he hadn't spoken with the majority of the patients in the institute.

"Please, don't mind me. Go ahead," he replied, settling his own bag onto his lap. The thought of food still made him queasy, and the idea of eating in front of someone he just met... embarrassing, to say the least.

"How have you fared Skye-san?" he asked experimentally. People seemed to react oddly to his usual honorifics despite speaking perfect Japanese. Perhaps he ought to stick with the more traditional English ones...

[fourstonewalls]

Japanese honorifics didn't translate well -- it was one of the only things in a language other than English that she'd heard since coming to the Institute. Except, of course, for the night it had been clear that there was some science-fiction translation mechanism, when its absence had thrown everyone into confusion. "Miketsukami-san," she murmured, with the syllables all in the correct locations despite a heavy American accent. A little politeness to witnesses could go a long way, and getting their names and honorifics right was an easy way to accomplish that; it was the only word of Japanese she knew beyond the names of several types of sushi, but it was a valuable one.

"I'm about as well as can be expected. Which is better than I can say of most of the people I know; I'm beginning to think they've disappeared." The last few words came out in the same dry tone as the first few, but that was only due to a great deal of practice in self-control; every hour that went past made the worry stronger, and while they hadn't had time to become close, she'd come to rely on Ryuuzaki and his friends.

[ever_loyal_dog]

He nodded appreciatively when she repeated the name correctly. Most seemed to either give up completely or use his first name. Not that he minded much. He set his lunch aside, folding his hands in his lap as he listened. From the sound of it, Skye had been a patient for a while. Long enough to make friends or acquaintances that were now missed.

"I'm sorry to hear that. When did you see them last?" he asked, a cold knot forming low in his stomach. People didn't disappear here, no. Much worse than that. The memory of his first night and the man torn to pieces by some sort of monster or beast was still vivid.

[fourstonewalls]

"Saw? The night before last." Her lips twitched. "I had a conversation with at least one of them on the board yesterday. The nurses declined to play a round of twenty questions, and I don't know the names the Institute uses for them." Besides, they didn't have to have departed for it to be worrisome; excessive sleep and illness often preceded someone leaving, and the messages they were getting at night seemed increasingly urgent. Perhaps the status quo wasn't quite as immutable as it had seemed, but standing in a hallway all evening was certainly not going to accomplish anything.

"As far as I know, they didn't make it out of their rooms last night, which means they're unlikely to have met a violent end." She sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm just frustrated."

[ever_loyal_dog]

Despite the short question, Skye seemed to have thought through every possible implication. The board was obvious, the nurses perhaps a bit less so, but their disappearance as well...

Did people really just disappear? He'd seen plenty of the violent ends, but he found it a bit more difficult to believe that some would simply vanish. Though he had few memories of last night, he knew he was under the institution's control. It was just as likely these friends had been taken care of simply and quietly once the staff had grown weary of them. Who knew?

"Don't be sorry," he assured her, his brow knitting together in concern. "It's normal to feel that way. Things are out of our hands and there's little information to go around."

[fourstonewalls]

She was supposed to be able to put together leaps of logic from the tiniest pieces of information. It's easier when they've been manufactured, a little voice added, sounding a lot like Damon Gant, but she hushed it.

"It doesn't accomplish anything," she said, all emotion back out of her voice. We have enough challenges ahead of us without allowing sentiment to slow us down. Except...was that true? Really? There was more to it than that, and she knew it. So instead, she started down another path. "We need to work together, and anything that disrupts that is a win for Landel." Hmm. "I suppose that means I'll have to hope for the best."

[ever_loyal_dog]

She was interesting to watch, he thought, unable to miss the slight changes in her tone as she pushed emotion away. She was trying so hard. As one who carefully masked his emotions, putting on a friendly, if empty, exterior was something he was quite familiar with. Studying the little nuances in human behavior had been helpful to him in the past, though here the personalities and goals were so varied, it was much harder to know what to expect.

"Perhaps not," he agreed, his own expression revealing nothing more than a gentle, friendly smile. "But one can hardly be expected to maintain their composure at all times in this place. Sometimes holding on to hope is all we can do."

Trivial, empty words. Ririchiyo would have glared at him for such an offense. Hope was so fragile, so easily broken into pieces. Yet the humans here had it in spades, at least, until it eventually shattered.

"If there's anything I can do to help...?"

[fourstonewalls]

He was trying to cheer her up. God, her ability to hide her emotions had crumbled...and for good reason; it wasn't her. Not really. He was right, though. "No, thank you. I agree...hope is critical. Beyond that...trust. Which is harder, I don't know, but I think I have enough of both." She straightened her already-perfect posture, and gave him a real smile.

"And that brings us back to what we might accomplish if we work together." Her tone was no less friendly, but had gone from contemplative to businesslike. "Have you been getting notes in the evening?"

[ever_loyal_dog]

Trust... that was much more difficult for him, at least, than a vague notion like hope. Still, he nodded his approval. Castiel had trusted him, and now he could hardly tell the man the truth of what had happened last night. How many others would there be?

Working together was dodgy, he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't be taken from his room again and forced to fight other patients. However, if he wasn't mistaken, Skye had just given him a rather large clue.

"Notes?" he asked, obviously not something he'd heard of, not in the evenings at least. Notes were exchanged on the bulletin throughout the day, but what notes could they hope to get delivered properly at night?

"I would be happy to be of service in any way I can, Skye-san. There are a great deal of things that must be... put right, once our escape is certain. For that end, I would gladly work together."