There. He wasn't the only one at whom last night's notes had been eating away. L had been here twice, just the same as he had; had he noticed these things on their first trip, or only now that they had reason to see things through more cynical eyes? At a glance the town was little more than an unnervingly clean-cut throwback, but now that the sheen had worn off it would be interesting to see where the cracks lay- or rather, did not lie.

No town hall or government- and no schools either, in spite of the handful of adolescent part-timers he'd seen around. It was conceivable that the students in the town were ferried out to the surrounding areas, but the place seemed so lonely and distant that it seemed strange to imagine other settlements nearby.

As he entered the store after L, however, he was soon distracted by the presence of another patient- Doctor Jones. Lunge's gaze dipped briefly to the man's hand, which was bandaged, before tilting his head and giving a flat smile. "Unfortunately, I don't have much time for recreation here." He nodded down. "I trust that isn't too serious?"