damned_institute | Day 55: Courtyard [4th Shift]

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Day 55: Courtyard [4th Shift]

Talking with friends usually put Anise in a better mood, but the subjects that she, Guy, and Tear covered at lunch were so heavy that Anise couldn't help but feel weighed down afterward. It was hard to think and talk about the terrible things that came about from her lies. She wasn't going to cry, not now, but she felt like she needed a little space.

Fortunately, children were going out to the Courtyard today, and that sounded like a good, wide area where she could get a little alone time. The fresh air could help her mood, too.

When Anise reached the door, however, a blast of cold air rushed in at her, and all she could see outside was a blinding veil of whiteness. For a moment, she simply stared at the sight. She never saw much for snow at Landel's, but here it had already covered everything in just one day!

"You might need this," a soldier said, presenting a black jacket to her. The color and style really didn't suit Anise, but it looked expensive. She slipped it on, and while it wasn't as feminine as she liked her clothes to be, the lining actually had a nice feel to it. On the left breast, she noticed a name embroidered over it. It wasn't her name, but it was still kind of impressive that they personalized these things.

Outside, snow had settled onto every surface, like a big fluffy blanket over the ground. Anise walked along the path for a bit, creating a single set of footprints in the otherwise smooth surface. Once she was a fair distance from the doors, she diverged from the path (which was barely visible to begin with) and walked to the edge of the pond, watching the falling snowflakes disappear into the water.

It was a pretty sight, but it wasn't enough to completely take her mind off of Ion. Before long, Anise found herself wondering if it was snowing where Ion was, too. Maybe he was really far away, though...

[waiting for her boyfriends ♥]

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It seemed that Sora's luck with the club had only been increasing as the day had gone by. First shift had been a no, second a maybe, and third a yes! While Rapunzel hadn't agreed to come along for tonight, she was planning to try it out next time, which was more than enough for Sora. The boy knew that there was no guarantee that she would stick with the club for good, but he tended to set his hopes pretty high.

What was more worrisome was the fact that a few of his normal club members were injured. Both Kratos and Neku had hinted at that being the case, which meant that there would probably only be two groups going out tonight. Sora wanted everyone to rest up, though, since he realized he was at least partially responsible for putting them in danger.

All of those heavier thoughts were suddenly forgotten when Sora was given a jacket (it wasn't something he would have picked out to wear personally, especially since it reminded him of the Organization coat, but it was at least comfortable) and then led outside. As he'd suspected from earlier in the day, it really was snowing outside!

Even though he'd grown up on an island for almost his whole life, Sora didn't have a problem with the snow. In fact, it was even more exciting because he'd only been introduced to it recently. Memories of the Land of Dragons and Christmastown quickly cycled through his head as he raced forward, his boots digging into the layer of snow on the ground.

The soldier who had brought him outside didn't seem to take issue with him playing in the snow, and so soon enough he was attempting to make a snowball. Which wasn't very easy without gloves, it turned out, but his escort ended up lending him a pair. They were black and leather, which also wasn't his style, but Sora pulled them on nonetheless. He knew that chucking snowballs at people probably wouldn't be allowed, but that wasn't going to stop him from making them just for the fun of it.

[For Roxas.]

The day had certainly been more eventful than she would have liked. There were things necessary to have happened, and knowledge that certainly needed to be learned, but Ayanami felt as if she had experienced enough in the last twenty-four hours. Her cool resolve was weakened, and her natural stoicism was lacking. She allowed herself to be led outside, and then merely moved to a bench nearby. After lightly brushing off some of the snow, she sat, the placed a hand against her face.

That was it, then. Another nightly happening. Another who had pressed against her mind. She did not know if she liked Byrne Faraday or wanted nothing more to do with him. It was not yet in her to decide. All she knew at the moment was emotional exhaustion; something entirely foreign and completely unwanted.

[Aigis~]

Being one of the very few to actually score a normal meal for lunch, the God-General had been in a good mood since the beginning of the shift.

Yet what could be better than watching others around him suffer? Sync had a feeling the answer was right in front of him from the moment he stepped out into the Courtyard. Casting an idle glance at the snow covered ground, one of the soldiers appeared next to him with a jacket, offering it to the teen with no real finesse. He took it without a word, slipping it around his arms and pulling it close before making his way further from the building.

With no real path in mind Sync continued further, idly following the pond's edge until he saw someone standing nearby. At first he'd planned to walk around them, but it didn't take long for him to realize that it was someone he knew. In fact, it was one of the people he wanted to see in the first place. Not having recognized her at first, Sync soon began to make his way over.

For all he cared he hadn't bothered Anise enough during his stay, and with the girl seemingly alone this was a good opportunity to take advantage of. Not caring if she saw him and tried to walk away, the God-General picked up his pace.

"What? Didn't get anyone to like you enough to keep you company?"

Lunch had been more than uneventful, it had been disgusting. Asuka was not pleased that she was not high enough of rank to get better food. Complying completely with the soldiers wasn't doing her any favors either. Silence was her only reward. Sure, she wasn't being forced to starve or do humiliating exercises, but a little recognition wouldn't kill them.

"Excuse me," Asuka stopped in front of the doors to the courtyard, glancing to her guard for appeal. "May I get a coat?" The idea of freezing her budding figure off didn't sound all that inspiring. Thankfully, the soldier gave her no trouble and dutifully fetched a jacket for her. The man opened the door to let the redhead step out into the chilly weather, leaving her to wrinkle her nose. It wasn't the cold so much as the slush and snow that would dampen her clothing.

There was nowhere dry enough to sit down comfortably, so Asuka stood, arms crossed over her chest as she stared at the motley crew around her with bored eyes. The only thing she cared about was finding Shinji, wonder girl, or that putrid angel to figure out if any of them had rings. She still needed to do something about that "relationship" also. Every day they were together, the more that doofus was getting mentally polluted by Kaworu. Wonder boy had enough of that without an outside influence accelerating damage.

[from here]

By now, Sam had managed to sort out that the soldiers escorting him were...pretty decent. Not friendly, but professional, at least, which was honestly kind of a nice change from the nurses. On the surface, anyway. He had no idea what could actually be going on with the soldiers beneath all of this, if anything. Was there someone the General reported to? A hunch said there was, but he had nothing solid to go on. For all he knew, the General could be the end of the line.

He sighed and stepped outside into the crisp, cold air. The snow crunched beneath his boots. Okay, having actual boots were a nice change, he'd also admit that. It was...ridiculous, he knew, but it made him feel more, he wasn't sure how to put it. Prepared, he guessed. When you grew up learning to look over your shoulder for anything pouncing out of the dark, it was a little hard to shake that lesson.

Locating a bench, Sam brushed off the snow coating it and sat down. Two weeks ago, he'd have considered the snow a sign of where they might be. Narrowing it down, kind of. Not so much anymore. He figured the best it said was that if this was the so-called "altverse" that Landel was so desperate to keep together, it maintained a regular weather system for whatever reason. Four-season climate, in other words. Why was that?

He frowned, thoughtful.

...Which was right about when a clump of snow from the branch above decided to fall right on his head.

Great.

[for Battler]

Edited 2011-03-25 03:58 (UTC)

If he slept, he couldn't recall. Even in the quiet of his room in comparison to the cafeteria, his head still pounded. The anxiety within him had quelled, yet still, the interaction with his sibling had made his headache worse. The limitations here were annoying at best--insufferable at worst. Which... was starting to be what was going on currently, as the black bordering his vision could attest. How entirely obnoxious.

When prompted, going back outside was entirely wanted. The cold air would do good, more than earlier, lacking the connection of an active link. It wasn't as if he resented the communication--highly the opposite, really, but it hadn't helped in the slightest and he understood that. Until something abated, headache or fever or whatnot, Albedo didn't have the mind to think of anything. To that end, he crept to a bench and leaned back on it. His face was too warm, cheeks flushed brightly, and his head throbbed unforgivingly. Albedo rolled his head to the side, eying the light dusting of snow on the ground. He narrowed his eyes at it for a moment, then shifted, reaching down to cup as much as he could. The boy leaned his head back, then pressed the snow against his forehead.

...Strange, to be certain. But a complete relief.

[Ritsuka~♥]

This was a freaking odd day, to be sure. Uniforms, cleaning, fun-awkward conversation, fun-awkward person.... Hell, she didn't know what was going on anymore, and she decided, she would just go with the process. Today could do whatever it wanted to. She wasn't going to argue at all anymore. Stand everybody together and tell 'em to salute the sun? Sure. Like she cared. Hell. She might just sleep tonight and just hope that tomorrow would make a little more sense. Sounded like a good plan, actually. She could use the rest.

The only really sucky thing about today? No sun out to shine and be perky. Nope. Dreary day with snow, even. But seriously? Senna didn't even mind all that much. Snow wasn't something she could say that 'she' had experienced. No, she really had never seen it firsthand. Sure, she knew what it was, could whine about it all people liked, but Senna as Senna had never been able to really....

There was a quiet corner near the building. She stood there, hands clasped behind her back, and stared at the sky with something like quiet joy. After a moment, she closed her eyes and stuck out her tongue. A snowflake touched down and instantly melted. It was just water, but it tasted like cold sunshine. She might... maybe like snow.

[Nigredo]

((From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/1060817.html?thread=76724177#t76724177)))

The snow-blanketed courtyard was a rare sight, though Claude couldn't help but wonder whether they'd see more of that in the coming weeks. (Weeks? Were they still going to be trapped here several weeks from now? There was no way to know for certain.)

It sure was a good thing their uniforms came with warmer clothing, he thought to himself. Actually, these outfits were much nicer in quality that what Landel had them wear, although they definitely weren't as comfortable. It was temping to just undo his shirt or take off his beret, but Claude had a feeling the soldiers would get on his case about it, especially on the first day.

Instead, he focused on finding Anise, and his gaze swept over the area. It didn't take long to find the girl, and only a split second more to realize she was already talking to someone. Claude's instinct was to leave her to it, but one look at the other patient's face made him stiffen for a moment.

Sync.

He wasn't sure what pissed him off more -- the fact that bastard was still hanging around while perfectly good people like his own father had disappeared, or that he had the gall to harass Anise in broad daylight. Did he honestly think no one would see?

Scowling, Claude marched across the snow toward the two of them.

((To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/1060497.html?thread=76699281)))

Edited 2011-03-25 12:28 (UTC)

By the time last shift rolled around, Tsukasa was having a hard time holding back tears. It was horrible! The soldiers had been pushing him around all day, not even acknowledging him. They'd not let him eat at breakfast or lunch and his stomach was growling, and they hadn't let him sit down all day and lunch had been the worst. They'd watching him as he jumped and jumped until he was aching and practically screamed every time he'd tried to stop or speak or ask for just a glass of water.

Suddenly, the hospital set-up didn't seem so bad. At least he'd been able to eat.

Even when he went outside, he needed the fresh air, they warned him that he wasn't allowed to sit down. They were watching him too, following him around at a distance. Eventually he crouched down, not enough to be called sitting, but enough that it was almost a rest. He rubbed at his sore eyes, hating the wetness that he felt there. Damn it, he couldn't be crying. He was... he was Tsukasa. He'd faced Morganna and woken Aura and...

He wasn't crying. Really.

[Free]

Edward only wished he could turn down the coat labeled with a "C. Fontaine" stitched onto the breast just so he could feel more of the air once he walked outside. If it was going to freeze the moisture still in his hair, he couldn't really tell; all he could feel was the wind and the actual texture of the snow when it fell onto his skin but not the temperature itself.

Even if his mood had remained terrible throughout the day, it was impossible for him to walk out into the white flakes and not smile. But today was... relatively okay. Stefan had been fed without him being harmed. Bella was alive. God, am I serious about that? She was wounded, but tonight he was going to be sure nothing happened to her. Nothing but him. He would help her rest and relax and look over her injuries to assess the damage, but either way... it would be nice. Just the two of them together, like the night before last.

Besides that, his - what? Social experiment? - had gone well. Wally didn't distrust him, though that might have only been luck on his end for trying it on someone who was entirely too trusting in general. He was a potential ally, so Edward could not complain of having good luck. That would be absurd.

And now it was snowing, reminding him of Forks - and of Bella, who he couldn't see out here. Not that he blamed her; she was probably huddled up inside, doing anything possible to avoid coming out into this.

Edward spread his one arm out, clenching the one trapped in the sling so the fall backwards into a particular heap of snow wouldn't jostle it. The fluff caught him, falling into his face while refusing to melt against his skin.

[For Venom.]

Edited 2011-03-26 04:06 (UTC)

Lunch with Peter had been frustrating. Okay, no, frustrating hadn't even begun to cover it. Honestly, for the first time, she was glad for the age separation because otherwise she might honestly get to the point of tearing her hair out or punching him when he was already injured. Which, speaking of his injury … she'd probably need to begrudgingly make her way to the bulletin board to ask him if he needed help with that or something.

For now, though, she was just going to stick to fuming and brooding in her bad mood. She had every reason to be mad, though. Even if mostly she was mad because he was right and she was kind of blaming herself. It was a lie to say she was only mad at Peter -- she was mad at herself for not realizing that Peter wasn't Peter at all. But, what else was she supposed to expect? It had his face. It walked like him, it talked like him, it said what she'd expect him to say. It was --

It wasn't fair for her to keep holding it against herself, but she couldn't help it. It hurt to realize that she wasn't as infallible as she thought and that there were weak points in the one safe bond she had in this place. Not that Bella and Pete weren't safe, but … it was different with them. Very different. And with Peter acting like she was either psychotic or somehow missed the doppelganger being stitched up at the joints like some kind of freaky Landel-ian monster, it had only fed her fury.

And now she was supposed to just sit around outside doing nothing. Hang out. Mingle. Was mingling really encouraged by the lifeless soldiers that were ready to slam nightsticks or whatever into their faces at the first sign of dissent? There was a soldier at the doors ready to offer her a jacket -- black, and looking like it was baggy enough that it probably wouldn't be sufficiently warm to her. She reached up to begrudgingly and with no small amount of attitude snatch it from him, anyway.

Walking out into the blustering cold, she reached up to close a hand around the dog tags around her neck. Emma De Luca. D Class. She had memorized what was written on it during her time in the sun room earlier, but now instead of a clue all she could see it as was another brick in the wall of how bad this day sucked. The surprising light-heartedness of her time hanging around Stefan at lunch seemed so far away now.

Moody and determined to get some more time to herself to sort out the previous night and the mess she'd woken up to, she found herself a pillar and leaned against it, stuffing the dog tags into her uniform shirt and then cramming her hands into her jacket pockets. She didn't want to mingle. She wanted to figure out if there had been some sign, some tell that she'd missed last night with Peter's doppelganger that she'd missed, that might have somehow given him away. Self-flagellation until she could figure out a way to convince herself that there was no way she could have known.

Yeah. That might take some time.

[ primed for a catfight with a failbot ]

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