damned_institute | Day 60: Music Room (Fourth Shift)

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Day 60: Music Room (Fourth Shift)

It wasn't often that Renji felt less like punching people in general as his day wore on. This was a new experience for him. A not unwelcome one, if he was being honest. And the fact that he felt less like punching Fai? Kind of mind-blowing. The sort of thing Zen masters would probably use as a kouan to reach an all-new level of non-punching enlightenment.

So he was back from the dead, almost everyone he'd known was gone, and yet bizarrely his day felt like it was looking up. Kind of. Renji wasn't sure what to make of this. Maybe his grumpy meter was just nearing empty. That was as good an explanation as the next, considering how this place made him feel.

Whatever the reason, he ended up in the music room. And he remembered oh yeah. He'd always kind of hated this damn shift. He grabbed a little book of music and a drum and retreated quickly to the far end of the room. He put the drum down in front of him just so he looked like he was doing something and opened the book. But he had no idea how to read music, and really, he was more interested in the ongoing puzzle of what the hell had happened in the last four weeks.

And brooding. Of course. There was always brooding to be done.

[Okay Tolten, let me lay it out for you. When there's a mommy and a daddy... or sometimes a daddy and a dadddy. Or, hell, sometimes a mommy and a mommy if you buy the right kind of wood cuts (and a third mommy if you go to just the right shop)... but anyway when they love each other very much, or at least a suitably large amount of money changes hands, there are some things that happen...]

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There existed an aspect nearly unknown to Albedo as the shift changed. The aspect of something being-- too good to be true. Wasn't that the phrase? The impression pushed and leaned on him, until he smiled farewells and blinked promises, and tread a bit away from his baby brother. Moved to a room different, to wander along the methods of music, verse and song. There was nothing of an overwhelm. It was not that Albedo needed the time to himself. It was only just that for the first time, it seemed that Nigredo was wholly believing him. That he was willing to take Albedo at his word and affections.

That for the first time, Albedo had the experience of a returned love, given in full.

It was not something unwanted, and yet, he could not help but draw contrasts where he shouldn't. To pick and pull at memories of Rubedo, and wonder if his twin ever loved him the way that Nigredo was showing. Complete reciprocation of feelings without the aspect of nerves worrying over when attention would shift or slide away. Given as such, Albedo could only wonder if Rubedo....

Given as such, Albedo shouldn't direct his thoughts there. The mind was too loud, and if he cut the connection between them now, little brother would be concerned. That was the reason. (This is what he told himself.) It would be folly to step that way. To ask for a disintegration of the mental state so fully when he was already teetering.

Last night had done wonders. Quaint and quite alike. And had served to point out a few things Albedo wouldn't have otherwise realized.

Like possibly, how delicate his frayed mind was becoming without external force.

[free]

Music. Not her thing, though apparently some people didn't understand that! And by some people she meant the nurse that had returned to ruin her stay by making her be more social than she really wanted to be.

"All I wanted was to check the board, was that really so much to ask?!" she huffed as the nurse fled, hopefully in fear after leaving Donna in the Music Room. Looking around the space, Donna took her time to calm down and at least think a little on how she should word it the next time she wanted to check out the bulletin. "Going to go yell at aliens" is probably what had bunched the nurse's panties.

"Guess I'll have to make nice with someone in here then..." she eventually decided, brushing her hair back and looking for a nurse that she could do just the opposite of that to. Instead of landing on a woman in white though, Donna's attention fell to another form of white that looked distantly familiar. White hair on a young boy... yeah, she'd seen that. Back when her roommate's name had been Meche and she'd almost gotten shot with a gun.

It had been a few weeks since then, but she still remembered the little brat. Albie, or... whatever name it was that she'd gotten the nickname of "Albie" for. It really had been a while, though not long enough for Donna to have forgotten that she owed the little boy a follow up. He'd been completely rude to her and her roommate, brainwashed though she'd been, and she'd never even gotten around to a reprimand. Still, for as long as it had been... well, she could give him a little slack at first. He was pretty young after all, and had been there as long as she had to boot.

"Hey Albie," she called, going over to him somewhat casually, "Hope your attitude's improved since last time. You remember me?"

His musings were interrupted by a voice his mind found familiar. It was not placed immediately--a nickname was annoying but not enough to pull recognition. It was only when he turned partially towards the voice did he recall.

...In vivid awareness, with lucid fluidity. That woman. Three weeks had not nearly been enough to sever the layer of annoyance that settled over that night's memories. In response to her casual greeting, Albedo's eyes narrowed, expression drying. "...Sadly, yes."

Ah, if one worried about a fraying mind, best to give it focus, no? And here, have focus in the form of irritation.

It was possible the boy would have preferred a mental cracking.

"So a 'no' for the attitude, is it?" Donna shook her head and folded her arms over, watching him. Here she'd been attempting to give him a chance and he was already back to being rude. Brat. "You've gotta be kidding me. If you've been stuck here this long, you had to have been at least a little better than before or someone would have killed you already for it..."

If Donna was expecting 'time to heal all wounds,' Albedo was the wrong place to look. The boy held grudges on principle, and kept irritation close at hand. Except the woman seemed to be just as annoyed. There was a resonance in that, and opposite to mentality, Albedo smiled thinly. "That would mean you're under the impression that someone could kill me."

Said charmingly, and lacking the annoyance of before. "It's a bit of the opposite, actually." But one needn't speak of strangling girls or torturing a stupid man to prove a point. In this subject, he was only eternally amused.

Donna wasn't expecting any form of "wound-healing". It was more that she always followed up when she decided she was going to do something. Besides that, the kid did give her some way of remembering Meche; and if she was being completely honest, she had overdone it a bit back then - before she'd understood that there could be anything from aliens to fish in this place that only looked human.

And with that kind of response? She could only guess at what he really was. Hadn't he been glowing that time before as well? Purple eyes...

"Oh I'd love to hear you explain that one," Donna returned, unable to help the smile she also found. She still thought the kid was a brat, but spunk she enjoyed. Even from brats. "Unless you're just being confident, which I guess isn't a bad thing," she shrugged. She took her own method of confidence when it came to the place, but even she knew her way was mostly all talk. She had no problem with running to keep herself breathing and couldn't fault anyone who took the same route.

...He was nearly surprised at the return. No smart remarks or any retorts other than a casual reply. Maybe the woman had shifted since he'd seen her last. It wouldn't be what he expected, but he had been wrong when it came to others before. Albedo would hold his opinion for now. He kept the smile, tilting his head to the side. "Confidence is a virtue, then?" he said, tone nearly teasing. "I'll have to remember that."

The truth, however, was far more simple. "It's more fact than opinion, though. I can't be killed. And harm is but only temporary." He smirked lightly, then gave in that teasing tone. "Do you exist on belief, or would you require proof?" He hadn't done a show like that in a while. Not since that girl or that man, and well. All involved knew well how Klavier and Albedo's relations had progressed from there.

"It can be whatever the hell it wants so long as it keeps you alive," Donna nodded. Confidence, stupidity, running... if it worked, she had no problem at all with it. Neither should anyone else.

So it was a fact that this kid couldn't die? Well, if he said so...

"With the things I've seen before, I'm fine taking your word on that one." Though it was true Donna hadn't actually seen something that couldn't die, even when it came to like... Robots and stuff, but she'd rather take his word for it than get what she could only assume would be a strangely horrific display. Probably bloody too. "I'd be crazy not to believe you anyway. You'd have to have been some kind of immortal to not have gotten offed from your attitude. Do you always play this nice with others, or am I special?"

For one that had no worry about remaining alive (truth and a lie), the sentence was curious. However, it reminded him of Nigredo and a lack, and for that, he didn't argue the statement--only inclined his head to show that he heard. She seemed to accept the same of his own explanation, and he raised his eyebrows somewhat in curiosity. If she was telling the truth, then what had she seen before all of this?

The woman went on, and Albedo made a face, though the general disgust had been wiped from this interaction. "I've been told I'm quite charming, actually," he said, teasing. He thought a moment, and then spoke more truthfully. "With certain people, I'm worse. There's a man I offer my attentions to much more than you. I might have hated anyone I came across that night, however. There's no way of knowing."

He was certainly more different than he had been that first night. Manner of speech, expression--Albedo had evened out, perhaps not in ways deemed as wholly healthy, but he was not the wreck he had been at the start. Murder and its aftermath would have that affect.

((OOC: Doing a timeslip!))

Things were starting to look up, despite having been incapacitated by pain for a good portion of the day. (Shouldn't it have settled now? Why was the pain always during the day? What the hell had that doctor injected into him?)

On top of that, Landel was back in charge and the good food was back. Last night had been successful, too. He had two aluminum bats now, and despite the injuries, they had actually made some progress, even with last night being particularly crazy. That was something.

He let out a sigh as his nurse guided him into the music room. Mike thought briefly of arguing with her--he didn't really feel like playing any instruments--but he didn't. As odd as it sounded, he was happy to have her back. It was a lot better than the soldiers.

This place had felt too much like the camps before. Sure, Landel was a crazy bastard, but at least he served them decent food. He had one thing going for him that the General didn't. Then there was the relaxed dress code. That was two things, he supposed. Three with the lack of soldiers.

He found himself being led over to some kid. A really young kid. Now Mike had seen his fair share of kids in the Resistance--people reproduced eventually, or a kid here or there managed to escape the camps--but this had been the first time he had seen someone so young in the Institute.

His looked the kid over. White hair, purple eyes. He wasn't exactly a normal kid. But who here was normal?

Mike stepped away from his nurse before she could could say anything. He was good with this. Just as long as he didn't scare the kid (who was probably used to scary crap by now, considering where they were), he was good. He just sucked at being social.

"Name's Mike," he spoke quietly, his voice rough as always.

Edited 2011-12-13 03:58 (UTC)

[ =) ]

Given the choice, a near stranger would be preferable. A complete stranger, welcome. And where Albedo might have balked in annoyance at someone being led to him (and to him, really? Of all people. The nurses had gotten lax), now the boy could only be content with the comparisons present.

...And there was actually a point of interest here. The boy's head cocked at the man's missing arm, attention diverted from the introduction. Perhaps it was a common sight, but Albedo was a regenerator, and had blown off his own head with a shotgun last night to prove his abilities were back in full. So the aspect of a missing limb was almost... quaint. The distraction was almost complete, and he moved to blink up at the man. "Albedo," he gave with little thought. There was an aspect more important than names that lay here. The boy inclined his chin. "What happened?"

If the tone was read a bit odd, one wouldn't be wrong. There was a detachment in his voice, that of someone discussing furniture rather than another person.

Great, the first kid he had interacted with in this place, and he ended up being a strange one. Most kids were afraid of him at first, but this one was treating him more as a mere curiosity. Mike knew where his gaze was going, but he refused to move his arm out of sight. He had gone through hell to get back to where he was after losing half his arm. There was no way he was going to be irritated--or intimidated--by a kid.

Except then the kid opened his mouth and asked that question; okay, so maybe he'd let himself be a bit irritated. Most kids asked that, or stared a lot at his arm and scars, or both, usually in terror. The lack of fear from Albedo was different, but not reassuring. Fear was the natural reaction that made the most sense. As much as he hated scaring them, it meant that they weren't too jaded to see it as normal.

Except this kid didn't seem jaded--he was just weird.

"It fell off," Mike replied, more than a little sarcastically; he then let out a sigh, trying to smooth his irritation away. "You shouldn't ask people questions like that. Most don't like answerin' them, me included."

...Ah, a touchy one. How cliche. Though it made it all the more obvious on how to approach this person. There was a thin thread of suggestion, to talk and discuss with another as he would Ritsuka or Nigredo or Yomi, but that fled in the face of patterns seldom lost. Albedo would shift as the scenario did, and for now, he would only play his role.

The boy blinked once, then his expression completely shifted, nonchalance falling into a relaxed amusement. He leaned against the wall nearby, head tilted congenially. His tone had slipped from detached to something closer to melodic, and yet the words given were opposite to the changes mentioned. Nothing of charm was held within. "I shouldn't ask questions like that?~" The boy raised his eyebrows, smiling politely. "Well, then, that clarifies, doesn't it. You lacked the fortitude to maintain your existence as it was, and you lost something because of that weakness of self." He gave a heavy sigh, as if commiserating. However, his eyes shone too much for any sincerity to be placed. "I'm duly sorry for your loss."

Patience. Mike had to remember patience. Even if the kid was obviously a little shit. He was trying to get under his skin, and Mike wasn't going to let him do that so easily. Besides, he had built himself back up after he lost his arm, made himself stronger than before, and he wasn't going to let some kid detract from that.

He pinched the bridge of his nose--the shape was still wrong--taking a few seconds of simple meditation to still any anger inside. Mike wasn't Raph. There was no way he was going to let himself get riled up. Especially not enough to do something stupid.

Mike opened his eyes again and looked down to Albedo before sitting in a chair nearby. "I'm not gonna take that bait, kid. Maybe I wasn't strong enough back then to avoid it, but I am now. Stronger and smarter. So either you can go trying to piss me off for your own amusement, which won't work, or we can have an actual conversation. Makin' enemies here for amusement's sake is stupid, anyways--we're already surrounded by 'em."

If that didn't work, he'd just have to deal. Mike wasn't going to just walk away because the kid irritated him. There was no way he was going to let him win.

Mm, that was nearly a pleasant surprise. Instead of rising in anger, the man only spoke. Perhaps Albedo had judged too quickly.~ This one seemed to have more control over himself than he appeared. The boy shrugged, as if it were meaningless, and dropped the expression, slipping into a mix of apathy and boredom. The man's words had at least given him a little credit--most refused to learn from their own mistakes, and lacked the ability to admit their failures. All right. Albedo could shift his game.

The man sat, and Albedo continued leaning on the wall, watchful. "I can't be blamed for trying. There's so little to do around here most of the time." The boy rolled his eyes, moving a hand idly. "And I don't really view these ones," said with a condescending look at the nurses, "as enemies. There's no challenge there."

He had more control than Albedo had first thought--he just had subjects that were off-limits to total strangers. The same topics were even off-limit to his family. There was no way he was going to open up to some kid that asked for mere curiosity's sake, especially not if the boy was looking for entertainment.

Still, he's had to make nice with worse people. Mike would do so for now. There was no use making waves and getting himself in trouble over a kid.

"Maybe, but they can still call orderlies at the drop of a hat," Mike replied, looking at one of the nurses before looking back at Albedo. "I guess it's a good thing I've forgotten how to be bored, then. If I was still your age, I'd be going out of my skull about now."

The boy tilted his head against the wall. "I've been here almost a month," he said dryly. "Going 'out of my skull' occurred far early on." The mention of orderlies, however, was a viable point. Despite that, he still only glanced at them. "Causing a fuss isn't enough to get drugged. Violence and much of it, is. And if you try to kill people, you get thrown in solitary, it seems."

Speaking from experience only. He was nothing but an angel.~

Albedo gave the man a bland look. "So you're the type to 'play it safe,' then?" He cast an obvious glance at Mike's missing arm. "I'd have thought otherwise."

Mike ignored the glance at his arm. It was interesting to here how long the kid had been there. He wondered just how much of that knowledge was obtained first-hand by the kid.

"I've learned to be a bit more cautious," Michelangelo shrugged. "There's too many guards durin' the day to bother with being a pain. No use tryin' to escape only to end up on their shit list. Night has better cover for an escape attempt, anyways."

His attempt at escaping had failed, however. Mike wondered just how far their ability to knock out patients extended from the Institute. If Donny were there, he could probably find whatever it was and shut it off. The genius had always been good at exposing the weaknesses of technology. Unless, of course, it wasn't technology, in which case it was always a tossup on if he could figure it out or not.

Words said and words spoken. He'd heard it all before, in some method or the other. The only attribute of interest was said at the end, and Albedo suddenly wondered how long this man had been here. The boy looked at him curiously. "Escape attempt," he repeated, and it wasn't clear how he felt on that phrase.

Silence was a beat between them, and he blinked suddenly, looking at Mike more intently. "Are you serious?" asked with no hostility. "You really think that you can escape?"

"I'm said I tried. I didn't say I was gonna try again," Mike corrected, shaking his head slowly. "Many of the people here are fighters. If it was possible to escape, they would've already escaped long ago. People here are competent, for the most part."

There were a few exceptions to the rule, but for the most part, it ran true.

"Last night should've been the time we all made a break for it. Yet, they kept us inside, even when people seemed to get their powers back. A place with that sort of power isn't exactly easy to escape from."

"For the most part," Albedo repeated dryly. There were certain exceptions to the rule that Albedo could likely name by rote. "There's a bit too many civilians who think they know best for my liking." One individual in particular, but my~ Albedo hadn't seen him for a while. Perhaps Klavier went up and got eaten. The boy smiled softly at nothing, charmed by the prospect.

He inclined his head to acknowledge the point. "True, though any escape would likely have just brought us back in the morning, and really--" He went on, giving a shrug and a wave of his hand. "A physical escape is near useless, really. You have people from different times, different realities. Likely this world is no one person's initial place of existence--an escape like that would just shift things to a larger prison in the end."

Mike snorted at that comment; he hadn't run into anyone like that here, but he'd seen the type. "Tell me about it."

"Better out here than in here," Mike replied without hesitation. "I can't go back anyways. This Earth is better off than the one I left. Shell, this place is better than the place I left."

He wasn't going to give specifics out to a stranger, but he'd give enough to give his point across. This place might be a prison, but it was a prison that had decent food once again.

Ah, now here was a welcome comment. Albedo raised his eyebrows, smiled at the other. "Better here than there, is it? I'd have to agree. This place is a nice vacation, really." The things known as monsters here were not anything that was capable of sparking Albedo's fear.

The only things able of that here came in the psychological damage, and that was more on the bonds of blood than anything this institute produced. "It's rare to find that mentality. Most seem to gnash their teeth and wail over the aspects of this place. When it's really not all that bad."

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Day 60: Music Room (Fourth Shift)

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AND FINALLY I REPLY.

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