damned_institute | Day 60: Intercom, Evening

The intercom jingled at its standard time, with the Head Doctor still in his over-the-top, jovial mood. It seemed not even the evening light could keep down the love he held for his job.

"Good evening, everyone! I hope your soul is filled with music from last shift; I know mine is."

There again was a stretch of silence. When the Head Doctor continued, he sounded marginally disappointed.

"But now it's time to wind down the day with a bit of dinner. Tonight, we'll be serving turkey breasts and quality gravy, with sides of garlic mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, grilled asparagus, and a small salad. For dessert, we will be having pumpkin pie with optional whipped creme. As per usual, we will have our vegetarian alternatives and a wide selection of drinks available. Turkey lovers, be sure to take advantage of the food; it'll be an entire week before you can have this delectable meat again."

He chuckled at the statement. One might have labeled it as dark.

"Anyway, enjoy! I will wish you all a good night momentarily!"

The intercom clicked off.

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"Oh yes, that." Loki laughed. "It's not so much madness as blatantly idiotic, but people will squabble over imaginary lines and labels. I'm uncertain about the concept behind it all, but stranger things have happened. Either way, it's an amusing enough diversion." He twirled his fork in his fingers idly. "Though I would disagree that it's not doing harm. That remains to be seen. Lines and labels, after all. Many people get quite cranky about that sort of thing, I've observed. While others believe those are bits of civilization that apply only to others."

Whether he was wearing his 'viking' persona or not, he certainly did believe that.

He chuckled softly. "It's quite an interesting place we've found ourselves in, all things told."

He managed to keep his expression neutral when the man explained how ridiculous it was, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from commenting more sharply than he intended. "People always need imaginary lines and labels," he said. "It makes them feel safe." It was what kept their kind alive.

"Interesting is one way of putting it," he said with a small smile. "Better than interminable meetings. Good to feel a sword in my hands again."

Loki was a master of watching closely without appearing to do so, though for the time being his attention to his roommate hadn't yielded any particularly interesting reactions yet. Which perhaps meant he needed to do a bit more searching to find buttons to push.

Which was always the fun part anyway.

"Generally speaking, that may well be the case," he said with an almost indecent amount of cheer. "But generally speaking, people are also utterly shallow fools." He took another careful bite of his dinner. "Who are content with such things as feeling safe, when the very concept is contrary to reality." He shook his head. "No sense of adventure."

He raised an eyebrow. "I should imagine anything is better than constantly being in meetings. And if I may ask, what sort of sword? I'd been given the impression that weapons were quite scarce." He snorted with precisely the right amount of self-deprecation. "Not that it would do me any good, should scarcity not be the rule."

"I wouldn't argue with that," England murmured. Safety was a fleeting thing, ephemeral and strange and something that he wasn't entirely comfortable with, even in these more peaceable times. Sometimes he worried about the idea of a world government, and a world of peace and unity. What place did a nation have in the utopias spoken of? "But it's only natural. Being at war constantly is tiring and feeling safe for a while might be the only rest that you get. Besides, humans live such short lives." And perhaps were less resilient than creatures meant to live for centuries.

England snorted softly, meeting his roommate's gaze. "A rapier," he admitted. "It turned up one night and I'd suggest learning to be good quickly if you truly do have trouble with using whatever weapons come to hand."

"I've known quite a few gentlemen - and one rather remarkable lady - who would beg to differ with you on that point," Loki said. "I suppose it just depends on if the people in question are warriors or not. Because there really is nothing more sad and tiresome than a warrior during a time of peace and safety. They do tend to mess with your glassware and disorder your books." He felt an odd stab of fondness as that memory, which he quickly strangled. It was no doubt just a symptom of being in such a strange environment and feeling a little off-balance. He certainly didn't miss his thrice-damned brother, considering how badly he wanted to insert pointy objects into various soft portions of Thor's anatomy.

He shook his head at his dinner, a wry smile twisting his lips. "I suppose in the grand scale of things, humans are quite ephemeral. If given to grandiose ideas about our own importance within the cosmos." He looked at his roommate, eyebrow going up. "Though I'm given to understand that there are quite a few non-humans wandering about. Might you be one of them?"

"A rapier," Loki said, putting just the right twist on his expression to indicate that he wasn't entirely certain what one of those was. Since they certainly hadn't been in existence on Midgard when he'd been there, though obviously he was familiar with the sort of weapons that Fandral preferred. "It just... turned up? How odd." He shrugged, propping his chin in one hand for a moment as he toyed with his dinner. "While I appreciate the advice, if years of getting screamed at by some very frightening, smelly men didn't transform me into a creditable warrior, I doubt that being here will have much better luck for me. We'll see if I manage to survive, I suppose."

Day 60: Intercom, Evening

Re: M73

Sorry for the delay. Had a sucky week

No worries. I MISSED YOOOOOU!

Re: No worries. I MISSED YOOOOOU!

Re: No worries. I MISSED YOOOOOU!