Day 62: Breakfast

[baniichan]

A misplaced sense of familiarity met Barnaby the moment he opened his eyes, and the sight of the blank, white ceiling from yesterday morning greeted him. After rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands, Barnaby sat up and felt around for his glasses. Had he blacked out again and wasted an entire night? Where was Kotetsu? And what had become of the man who had seemingly vanished before his very eyes at the end of dinner?

Once Barnaby slipped his frames onto his face, the world came into clearer focus, even if he didn’t get any answers out of it. He was in his room, and someone had apparently stripped him out of his street clothes in favor of the hideous hospital pajamas. Barnaby wasn't sure what he found more offensive -- that someone here had once again touched his things without his permission, or that he’d been undressed while unconscious for the second time since his arrival.

The thought made his skin crawl.

Just as he looked over to find a lump in the bed next to him, though, his assigned nurse came to retrieve him. He would have to confirm Klavier Gavin's whereabouts later. For now, he had no choice but to allow the nurse to escort him into the cafeteria. Strangely, she seemed to be under the impression that he and the other patients had slept soundly the whole night. While he might have assumed it was an act, Barnaby got the feeling that she genuinely believed what she was saying.

Regardless of her intentions, he knew she wasn't going to be any help. Instead of trying to ask her anymore questions, Barnaby left a note on the bulletin board concerning his roommate. If his observations from yesterday were any indication, he'd get some responses, at least. While he could have taken the time to leave something for Kotetsu, Barnaby didn't feel inclined to do so, especially when he knew he probably wouldn't check the board anyway.

He had no appetite this morning, but his nurse wouldn't leave him alone until she'd assembled a tray of fresh, fluffy pancakes for him. Honestly, Barnaby didn't see why some people felt the need to butt into his personal choices like this. At least there wasn't anyone forcing him to eat -- for now, at any rate. He sat down at an empty table close to the wall after setting his food down, privately hoping that she wouldn't try to find a "friend" for him to eat with this morning. He was tucked out of the way, so maybe she would forget about him for a few minutes as long as he didn't draw any unnecessary attention to himself.

Hands neatly clasped on the table, Barnaby didn't look at anyone in particular as patients filtered into the cafeteria for their morning meal. There were too many questions buzzing in his mind for him to focus on the names and faces of people he didn't care about. If Kotetsu wanted to find him, he could. It wasn't like Barnaby was going anywhere.

[For Kotetsu.]

Comments

SPOILERS!! Srsly if you wanna watch T&B don't read this

[oyaji]

The sensation of suffocation startled Kotetsu awake and it was then he realized he was lying face first into a pillow. His sleep-addled brain took a moment to process this strange turn of events and then he realized how well he recognized this room. It was his room, except he was no longer in his civilian threads. Looking down, he pulled on the neckline of his cotton grey shirt and finally his dilated amber eyes sobered.

Did--?

Had--?

Was he so tired last night that he couldn't even remember redressing himself and getting back into bed? That wasn't very heart-warming. Had Barnaby--No, that didn't seem too likely. He would have probably crashed in his room than gone all the way back, unless he thought it was so imperative that they keep up appearances and not tip off the nurses that they had gotten out last night. That man could be so anal-retentive. Smiling to himself, the older man stretched with a mighty groan and rolled over to get a bit of fresh air away from his pillow.

Eventually, a light knock came and one of the nurses came in to escort him to breakfast. He couldn't deny that he was hungry after running around most of the night. Waiting in line like everyone else, Kotetsu was happy to see today was pancake day. He couldn't remember the last time he had a good pancake since they usually required someone to make them and that someone wasn't going to be him. Bacon and eggs were faster.

With his tray, the former Hero tapped his fingers anxiously against the plastic and looked for one young man in particular. It took some searching, but eventually he set eyes on that stylishly curled blond hair he knew all too well.

"Hey, Bunny!" he announced cheerfully, his foolish smile right where it always was as if they weren't being held against their will in a mental institute and it was another beautiful day in Stern Bild. They both knew better, but old habits never really faded away. Placing his tray down on the table, Kotetsu took the seat in front of Barnaby.

[baniichan]

Well, Kotetsu didn't take as long to show himself as he would have expected, given the circumstances. Then again, Barnaby didn’t know what to expect anymore. He never could have anticipated that life as he knew it would begin to unravel over such a condensed period of time. He never could have predicted those horrifying inconsistencies and holes in his memory, much less what he accidentally learned about Kotetsu shortly before waking up here.

And just when he thought he’d have to shoulder all of this alone, the man shows up during the least likely moment. Not that Barnaby was certain of what that even meant, of course. The wounds from their last encounter were still fresh. They had both said and done some things they undoubtedly regretted, but there wasn’t much use in wishing they’d approached things differently now.

Upon hearing the offensively cheerful greeting, Barnaby shifted his gaze onto the other hero’s face. In the end, he wasn’t sure how to address Kotetsu. He’d worn his mask last night, but there was no telling whether he ought to be open about his identity here if he wanted to keep it a secret to the general public. To make matters more complicated, he wasn’t sure whether Kotetsu was trying to ignore what they’d done to each other, or if he was just that much of an idiot.

Instead of returning the sentiment, Barnaby turned away, surveying the crowd of patients as the harsh fluorescent lighting glinted against his lenses and hid his eyes.

“How long have you been here?” he asked, his words distant and chilly. Barnaby just wanted to find out the basic facts before he could even think about how he wanted to deal with all of this.

[oyaji]

Kotetsu was rather taken aback by Barnaby's curt response, but he didn't let it affect him. The soft frown that formed didn't speak volumes. "Business already, I see," he threw in as he began to arrange his plate of food the way he wanted it. One piece of bacon was broken in half and place on the bottom of the pancake while the scrambled eggs were arranged up top. Once he was satisfied, he took his surplus of bacon and munched on a crunchy end piece before finally answering the young man.

"I got here yesterday morning. Were you here before that?" Kotetsu knew the answer, but his friend could better enlighten him this way, hopefully with a less clipped reply. He could only assume the man was unhappy that they hadn't escaped and were still stuck in his bizarre world where no one knew them and no one really cared. It would make anyone a bit peeved.

Did we mention SPOILERS? Because there are spoilers here.

[baniichan]

“No,” Barnaby answered as he turned his cold gaze onto the man sitting in front of him. “It sounds like we arrived at the same time.” He wondered why they hadn’t found each other sooner, but he doubted either of them were actively looking for the other. What were the odds that both of them would get kidnapped and whisked away to a place like this right after what happened on that awful day at the skating rink? Barnaby had thought it was more likely that Kotetsu had already submitted his resignation papers and gone back home to his family, although maybe that wasn't entirely accurate. After all, Barnaby’s disappearance would have made it harder for him to quit. Kotetsu dropping everything to search for him so it would be more convenient for him to leave later sounded like a stronger possibility.

One of his hands slowly curled into a loose fist when he thought about it like that. Just picturing such a scenario felt like sprinkling fresh salt onto his wounds. Worst of all, it hurt so much precisely because he still cared about the man sitting in front of him. What was bothering him so much that he would give up his lifelong dream of working as a Hero? Was he ill? Was a family member dying? Whatever it was, Kotetsu had made it apparent that he didn’t trust him enough with those sorts of personal details. Barnaby had initially suspected things would come to this, but he’d blinded himself to most of his misgivings after the Jake incident. Barnaby had allowed his partner to see him at his most vulnerable, but Kotetsu apparently still saw him as a junior co-worker he had to cooperate with until he resigned: nothing more, nothing less. He understood that now.

The thought made him feel hollow inside, like he’d been fooled into investing a piece of himself for nothing. But in hindsight, Barnaby supposed he’d been asking for as much the moment he let Kotetsu into his private world. Even as miserable as it seemed to make his partner, Kotetsu apparently didn’t know how to live any other way. He would never acknowledge Barnaby the way he wanted him to, and nothing Barnaby did would change that.

Still, as hard as that was for him to accept, Barnaby knew some of his own scathing comments had been out of line. He’d been so sleep-deprived, scared, and angry that the cruel words had just tumbled out of his mouth. In an effort to shield himself, he'd instinctively lashed out to hurt Kotetsu as much as possible, touching on a nerve so raw that the man had actually slapped him across the face.

It had been grossly unprofessional of the both of them, and Barnaby inwardly cringed when he wondered just how many people managed to snag photographs of that whole embarrassing spectacle.

“We have a lot to talk about, don’t we,” Barnaby quietly said after a small stretch of silence. He’d left at least two ways for Kotetsu to interpret that remark, which might wind up confusing him, but Barnaby didn’t care right then. He’d try to create one or two indirect openings for Kotetsu to bring up the elephant in the room, and then he could think of what to do from there.

[oyaji]

The very tips of Kotetsu's fork flaked away the edges of his scrambled eggs as he watched his friend in the corner of his eyes. It didn't go unseen when Barnaby balled up his hand. His smile faltered for a moment and he ate a forkful of eggs to make up for it. This was certainly a strange situation they both found themselves in and he couldn't hold his friend's cold attitude against him, especially after all the things he had been through. There was very little here that made sense in the grand scheme of things and that drained a man. Cheerful obliviousness just happened to be his defense mechanism against the weird, wild, and depressing.

It was all the more reason to remain just as cheery for the young man because even after their contractual obligations and termination, they were still partners. That would never change and it was his duty to be there whenever the blond needed him.

"I'll say..." Placing his fork down on his plate, the older man folded his arms on top of the table. His eyes stayed glued to his meal as he considered his next words. "I tried to call Kaede, but, of course, they wouldn't let me! They won't tell us anything!" He made a disgruntled snort and stabbed at his pancake with a vengeance. "The patients aren't much help either. They're way too involved in their own little worlds. And whose idea was it to let mentally deranged NEXT run around at night?" He almost got killed by a cat lady! This place was just so unprofessional!

"Food's good, at least." With that, he ripped off a chunk of pancake and stuffed it in his mouth.

[baniichan]

“They obviously don’t feel like they need to tell us anything.” Barnaby folded his arms over his chest and silently counted the staff supervising the cafeteria. The nurse-to-patient ratio was quite high. Under normal circumstances, it would have been seen as a sign of quality care. But in this case, their numbers served as an indisputable display of the power they held over them, especially during the day.

Either way, once he saw Kotetsu tear into his food, Barnaby realized this was the kind of game the man wanted to play. He could understand the need to focus on their current predicament, but the flippant way he went about it just irritated him all the more. How Kotetsu could even have an appetite after what had happened was beyond him.

To be honest, it was all he could do to keep himself from pushing his tray to the side and walking away right then. The only things stopping him were 1) the fact Kotetsu was the only one who knew who he was, 2) potential clues surrounding their simultaneous arrivals, 3) his nurse’s keen stare due to her unhealthy fascination with his social life here, and 4) her ability to find a stranger to sit with the moment he left Kotetsu.

“You, on the other hand, could stand to take all of this a little more seriously,” he remarked with a thorny stare.

[oyaji]

"What? I am being serious! Look--!" Grabbing his plate, he turned it around so Barnaby could see. "I put a frowny face on my pancake, see?" Of course, it now had a chunk taken out of it, but it gave the bacon frowny face all the more reason to be there. Kotetsu knew he'd frown if someone ate a bit of his face. Barnaby, however, was not amused in the least. In fact, he had just made his friend's overly sensitive mood worse as he stared at him with a flat look that made the older man swallow. So much for trying to make the guy relax.

There was no point in continuing his little charade since Barnaby was in no mood to entertain it. Pushing his meal away, Kotetsu leaned closer across the table so they wouldn't be overheard by others. "Hey, I know this isn't really a great situation we're in here. I get that, but we don't even know who put us in here..." Kotetsu had a bit more wiggle room in that regard, but Barnaby had none. Everyone who knew him personally was gone and he was no longer contractually obligated to Apollon so they couldn't throw him in here. Who did that leave? Or should he have been thinking in terms of what? If it were Ouroboros, he was pretty confident that Barnaby would have already said as much.

Kotetsu had no answers and he didn't want to fill his days with fear and suspicion clouding his mind. He didn't work well under that; better to feign ignorance and foolishness than stew in uncertainty and frustration.

[baniichan]

See, that was exactly what Barnaby was talking about. Kotetsu knew how much trouble they were in. He knew about what happened between them before their kidnapping. And yet he still found it appropriate to draw faces on his food. It was one thing to goof around during a dance rehearsal, but another thing entirely when their lives and partnership were on the line.

Thankfully, Kotetsu dropped the act when he realized his pancake art had failed to help improve morale. Even then, though, he only acknowledged just a portion of Barnaby’s anxieties. He should have expected as much, but it still frustrated him.

Lapsing into another bout of silence, Barnaby stared down at his untouched plate of food. “Perhaps this would be easier if I just went ahead and apologized for some of the things I said before,” he admitted. His tone was carefully controlled and polite, as though a set of cameras were watching him. (When he thought of their captors’ careful supervision, though, that wasn’t so far from the truth.) It was the only way he could bring himself to get through this while keeping his dignity in tact. Barnaby was still angry about what Kotetsu had done, yes, but he could at least admit to what he'd done wrong at the skating rink. “I’ve had some time to think over what happened that day, and I realize that I let my emotions get the better of me.”

No matter what happened, or if they ever even spoke to each other again once they escaped, Barnaby wasn’t so arrogant as to fool himself into believing that Kotetsu had been holding him back in his career. If anything, he wouldn’t have been as successful without his help. It didn’t excuse Kotetsu’s behavior in the slightest, but Barnaby didn’t want to have his own childish reactions hanging over his head every time he saw the man in this awful place. Maybe Kotetsu would use the opportunity to finally come clean to him. Maybe he wouldn't. Ultimately, that was his choice.

[oyaji]

When Barnaby hit the word apologize, Kotetsu was immediately lost in this conversation and moved a little closer just to make sure he was hearing everything correctly. At the end of it all, the former Hero burst out in a confused sputter of laughter that immediately dried up when he saw Barnaby's brows furrow together.

"Bunny, what... What are you even--What d--?" Then it hit him and he almost started laughing again at how absurd this whole situation was. Kotetsu's confusion finally faded and his sobered amber eyes looked at the blond for a moment to gauge his emotions. Finally his serious expression melted into an easy smile as he said, "Bunny... You have nothing to apologize for. If I had told--Well... Too late now, but... After all we went through, it's okay..." That personal smile eventually morphed into something cheeky and not so wholesome as he leaned back into his chair with a deep sigh.

"Too bad you're taking it all back, though! I was really looking forward to that fried rice you were gonna make me..."

It was such a strange thing to be so torn up over. He could tell it wasn't all that was eating at Barnaby, but they had to tackle these things one at a time.

[baniichan]

He hadn’t expected Kotetsu to laugh, of all things. With every word that came out of his mouth, and with every easy smile he gave, Barnaby felt like they were having two separate conversations. As partners who were practically extensions of one another on the job, this was rare for them, and the obvious misunderstanding only intensified the frustration welling up inside of him.

Before Barnaby even had time to make any sense out of Kotetsu’s response, though, something he said froze him in place. “I was really looking forward to that fried rice you were gonna make me...” The cheeky remark, delivered so casually, felt like someone had unearthed his most private thoughts and exposed them for the world to see.

“Excuse me?” Barnaby couldn’t quite hide how incredulous he sounded, but that was the least of his concerns right then. The frustration raging inside of him just a moment ago was quickly giving way to utter humiliation. “Who told you that?”

That project had been Barnaby’s closely-guarded secret, and his alone. Not even Mr. Maverick or Aunt Samantha knew.

So why did Kotetsu?

it's fun when the gay icons are canon screenshots lol

[oyaji]

Kotetsu felt like he had somehow missed a really crucial day in his life because no matter what he said, Barnaby was talking about something totally different and that was disturbing. As a pair, they had never been out of sync, even when they had first met. It was the fact that they had been on the same page from the start that had given them problems in the beginning. Verbal communication had been the key once they realized how similar their thoughts in battle melded together.

But now, the older man was flabbergasted by this strange turn of events.

"Bu--Bunny!" This was all crumbling so fast, Kotetsu didn't know what to do, but he reacted nonetheless and immediately grabbed Barnaby's hand with his left and pulled it closer so he couldn't think of leaving. The beat of his heart was beginning to ratchet up a notch when he watched his friend's expression, so exasperated and hurt, twist. He wasn't sure how to help him since everything he had said so far had only made him angrier. Still, he wasn't giving up that easily. Whatever this disturbance between them was needed to be fixed.

"You told me, Bunny... Your own words! When you held me, you told me..." His words grew softer, realizing how personally offended Barnaby seemed after he had said it initially, so no one would overhear them.

so true

[baniichan]

His hand twitched beneath the warmth of Kotetsu’s callous palm. For the moment, it was enough to keep Barnaby anchored, but the apparent discrepancy between them was enough to make his stomach turn and trigger alarm bells. “I told you,” he echoed, his eyebrows uncharacteristically shooting up toward his bangs. While holding him, even! Considering the circumstances surrounding their last parting, Barnaby couldn’t imagine why. In fact, he might have even told Kotetsu he was crazy, but his quiet insistence shook Barnaby to his core, rattling his already fragile self-confidence.

But there was no other way Kotetsu could have learned about his plans to cook him fried rice. Barnaby hadn’t told a soul, and somehow the man knew. What was more, he understood Kotetsu well enough to realize he wouldn’t just say something like this unless he meant it.

And in doing so, he’d seemingly stolen Barnaby’s voice from him. His lips parted as he searched for the right words. After a tense moment, he tried to speak. “You must be mistaken. I can't--” Shaking his head, he took a trembling breath and tried to control the swelling wave of panic washing over him. “I don't...remember saying anything like that.”

That’s not possible, he wanted to say again, but his memory was already a mess before arriving here. Barnaby knew that better than anyone else. Was he just going crazy now? Was that it?

He turned his wide green eyes away from Kotetsu, staring at nothing in particular.

[oyaji]

Kotetsu’s heartbeat continued to climb even in the sudden silence that came between them. When Barnaby’s green eyes fell away from him, he too looked away and concentrated on his hand on top of his friend’s. He didn’t have an answer for the young man’s confusion and that irritated him greatly. After everything they both had gone through, Kotetsu had assumed their heavy penance had been finished, but clearly fate didn’t want to let go of either of them, especially Barnaby.

If only he had some magical fixing wand he could just bop Barnaby with and make everything go away. It would be nice, but Kotetsu wasn’t afraid of the hardship exactly. He would fight tooth and nail for the man’s happiness, that wasn’t the issue. What was frustrating was that Barnaby had to suffer through until he could fix it. Gripping his pale hand tighter, Kotetsu looked back up at his friend and said, “What’s the last thing you remember before waking up here?”

[baniichan]

Barnaby’s eyebrows furrowed. What made him ask such a question? Shouldn’t it have been obvious?

“It was December 8th,” he responded, mustering enough confidence to sound completely sure of himself. “I had just left the skating rink.” After you hit me, was the unspoken implication, but the way his mouth tightened at the memory said as much. “The next thing I remember is waking up here yesterday morning.” He’d been on his way to talk to Mr. Maverick when he must have blacked out, but Barnaby didn’t see a reason to share that information with Kotetsu. If he couldn’t even bring himself to explain why he was retiring, then Barnaby wasn’t obligated to trust him with anything like that.

Come to think of it, he wasn’t obligated to trust him with anything at all. Although he was genuinely sorry for some of the things he’d said during their argument before, and he realized it would be difficult to ignore each other as long as they were trapped in a place like this, Barnaby couldn’t give Kotetsu a free pass for what he’d done. He couldn’t trust a partrner who didn’t trust him. The thought of that sort of one-sided relationship disgusted him. For all of Kotetsu’s talk about relying on others, he had no intention of letting other people into his life. A hypocrite who only threw himself into other people’s problems to make himself feel better -- even with all of his good points, that was what he was.

Had Barnaby really told him about the fried rice, though? There was no other way Kotetsu would have known, and yet he had no recollection of saying anything about it. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t find an easy way to explain away that kind of contradiction. Anxiety gripped him, like someone reaching through his chest and squeezing his heart. The large hand covering his own didn’t help matters, and Barnaby tried to pull it away from Kotetsu’s grasp.

BIG SPOILERS HERE! DUN LOOK Dx

[oyaji]

Barnaby’s recollection still made him flinch with all that was implied in his expression. He felt him pull his pale hand out from under his and it seemed to express, too, the great divide that was between them suddenly, but at least Kotetsu had a better picture of what was wrong. It didn’t make him feel anymore relieved. In fact, he was furious. His friend was missing three months of his life and a particularly important month that almost destroyed them both. All of that was lost and there was only one person to blame.

“Maverick,” Kotetsu gritted through clenched teeth, forgetting to censure himself in his anger. He may be "missing" as the papers suggested or dead, yet the damage he had done to Barnaby was still continuing. It was possible that from continuous molestation that his friend’s mind could have collapsed from long-term strain. There were so many possibilities here, but they all revolved around one man.

Dark amber eyes, narrowed, began to survey the institute in a new light. Checking for security cameras or even hidden cameras, checking the expressions on the nurses or anyone who seemed too interested in them, he eventually looked back at Barnaby and shifted his weight on his knees so he could lean closer across the table.

"Nothing after that? At all? C’mon, Bunny, you hafta think!" It was hard to know what to say and what to omit. Licking his lips anxiously, Kotetsu continued. "What about seeing Maverick or, or..." No, he didn’t want to bring up Samantha yet. "... finding me at the docks?" Fighting was a better word for it, but again he didn’t want to jar Barnaby too badly. If the day of their fight was truly the last thing he remembered, the older man was going to have to be careful with how he approached this, and that was bad news for everyone involved.

[mirthful]

Gamzee was in more of a stupor than usual on his way to breakfast that morning, so much so that his nurse just filled his tray for him. He didn't so much as watch her do it. Before he knew it, he was sitting at a table with a tray in front of him and no memory of how he'd gotten there.

The usual dopey smile wasn't on his face, though his eyes remained heavy-lidded. He didn't really seem upset either, just confused. Something had happened the night before, but he'd be damned if he could remember what it was. All he knew was that it was important, and that it had something to do with the night before last. Unfortunately, the usual drug dosage had been upped that morning, and he was soon distracted by the dishes in front of him.

Soon enough, the smile returned, and he got to thinking that perhaps he should ask about Rose and the others on the bulletin when he got the chance. She always knew what was up.

Their fight went completely forgotten.

[Free]

[complicatedliar]

Loki was in a much better mood for this breakfast than he had been the previous one, though all things considered, that wasn't such an achievement. Still, the acquisition of books - even if they were rather primitive books and not precisely in his area of interest - was enough to put an extra little spring in his step. Not having something to read had started to prey upon his mind rather badly.

Notebook tucked under his arm, he followed the nurse to breakfast after bidding her a polite good morning that wasn't even too forced.

The pancakes looked interesting enough, though not on par with the waffles that had greeted him his first morning. He avoided the appallingly sticky syrup and covered the bready things with fruit, since that seemed reasonable enough. That and a cup of tea were enough to have him feeling downright cheerful.

Or as cheerful as Loki got when he wasn't yanking on the strings of some innocent puppet. But all in good time. Foundations, foundations, foundations.

He settled in at a table and started picking away at his pancakes while working on a new set of figures in his notebook. It would pass the time reasonably until Rita arrived. Hopefully the conversation with her would be like yet another well-deserved treat.

[Rita]

[corvus_veritas]

Byrne awoke feeling completely miserable.

Again. Just when things were looking up for him, some random shit had to happen again to pull his mood down. This repetitive cycle of feeling a little up, like he was actually accomplishing something, and then having his spirits trampled upon again. And again. How long was this madness going to go on? And how many more cryptic messages was he going to be forced to listen to every night and day by the head asshole here? Just the sound of that man's voice was enough to induce headaches...and speaking of headaches, the one from last night was still around, with no sign of going away anytime soon, and...

Sigh. Right now, Byrne didn't feel like eating anything or even dragging himself out of bed. He considered pretending to be sick and trying to get away with sleeping in a shift or two - hey, Landel did say there was a bug going around - but in the end, he decided it would be better to get something in his stomach. Even if he wasn't hungry, it wouldn't do him any good to starve himself until lunchtime.

On the way to the cafeteria, though, he stopped at the bulletin board to leave an important note. That hallucination - what had caused it? The prosecutor still refused to believe it was only a 'black magic', or a trick of the Institute. There had to be some other, more physical explanation. Drugs or his own mind dying away, or something. Had anyone else experienced such a thing here? He hoped the note would help him find that out.

For now, breakfast. ...If the small plate of fruit Byrne got for himself could be considered a meal, anyway. He chose a seat by himself and sat there staring at the fruit, lost in thought. This...didn't feel like it'd be a very good day.

[Free!]

[norainu]

Well, they'd kind of gotten something done, in that they'd made it down to the basement and killed some things. Rats. Whatever. Maybe he could argue with himself that the night wasn't a total loss, but it was pretty frustrating to get to yet another place where none of the doors would open.

And of course, the head doctor bitching like a drunk, bitchy plumber about how unappreciated he was. Yeah, fuck that guy.

Renji wasn't in really any worse mood than normal when he got up. Just annoyed and... pensive. Pensive was definitely the word. If he got worried every time Landel sounded like he was up to something, he'd never have time for anything else. But his instincts prickled that maybe there was something special about the raving this time around.

Well, who knew. Hello, paranoia, my old friend.

Sausages and eggs and more sausages made everything better anyway.

Renji found himself a quiet table - easy, this early in the meal - and started plowing through his overflowing plate.

[Brook]

[fai_d_flourite]

Last night was only a quick blur, though that was somewhat better than the night before where he'd managed to sleep the entire night through. He wasn't sure what was making him so tired; unlike the sedatives he'd taken before when he'd been healing, this sleep wasn't part of any medication. At least not any he could remember taking.

Days were beginning to become more of a reality, where the nights were becoming less and less dark and frightening. Was that a result of his treatments? Did it mean he was getting better? Or just that they wanted him to?

He made the usual trip from his room to the cafeteria with minimal fuss, keeping up the same friendly conversation he always did with the nurses and staff he came across. After picking up a tray of food, mostly the sticky-sweet stuff, and a glass of juice, he found an empty seat.

[Kuro-papa!]

[overlimit]

Rita awakened with a heavy mind, weighed down by all the new information received right at the end of the night. First was the Sphinx, warning them about a Coliseum of some kind, which hinted at what sort of trial awaited them at the end of the basement.

The second was the Head Doctor's ominous announcement. Putting together the pieces of what he said, Rita had a feeling she knew what he was getting at. And she didn't like it.

Fortunately, she was meeting Lingormr this morning, which would hopefully lead to a positive exchange of information. Rita entered the Cafeteria, acquired some pancakes, and was quick to find the man she was looking for. Pleased to see how punctual he was, she walked over and slipped into the chair across from him. Her tray and notebook were set down in front of her.

"Hey," was all she said at first, looking a bit tired. "You hear those announcements last night?"

[notachick]

The ceiling this morning seemed unnecessarily bright. It was white like always, a pure clean color, but the candles that burned without fire seemed to sear him as he gazed up. The cold, harsh light washed over the room along with the falsely cheerful voice coming from the speaker box and Okita let out a small breath. A sickness going around the Institute that had several of the staff missing? He closed his eyes again and rolled to the side, pushing himself out of bed to get dressed as quietly as possible while Guy still slept.

His roommate had come back safely again and for the first time since arriving here, Okita wondered if he shouldn't change rooms. It would seem strange, of course, to suddenly disappear like that, but Souji knew what he had would cause problems later - not only for him, but for Guy if the blond were susceptible to it. Even without being a doctor, Okita knew what last night meant and he also knew that it would become increasingly hard to keep a smile on his face as others began to notice. Another deep breath in. A slow release accompanied by a light huff as his lungs protested.

Okita Souji smiled as bright as always and turned to face the door as a new nurse came in to take him to the cafeteria.

The pancakes were welcome, even if the meat was passed over in favor of eggs, fruit and the curious thing called cereal that he was becoming more and more accustomed to with each passing day. He piled on the syrup and carefully moved the fruit out of the way, then moved to his usual seat. The cafeteria was still rather thin on guests this morning which meant it would be easy to catch Hijikata this morning if he were to come in. Of all people here, Souji wanted to smile the most for him - especially considering the decision that was soon to weigh on both their shoulders.

[Hijikata]

[osoreirimasu]

"...AH!"

He woke with a start, throwing himself up and out of the sheets, as his slumber was brought to an abrupt and terrifying end. Japan wasn't sure what dream he had been seeing, but it left him in a cold sweat, his hands still shaking from the haze enshrouded phantom fragments of old pain and confusion. He could feel something was missing. Something important, but besides the eternal silence that hung around him to remind him of his lost connection, there was nothing tangible for him to grasp. No clues to find that would lead to the right conclusion. He was simply terrified, sitting in bed, staring at his hands as they trembled.

Perhaps he'd been dreaming of the end of Vocaloids or the loss of the Gundam franchise.

Yes, that had to be it. It couldn't be about the taste of blood in the back of his throat - imaginary of course - or about some long-forgotten memory of someone no longer in this world. He shook his head, running his hands through his short hair as he tried to clear it. What time was it even? He'd heard the chime of the intercom, but none of the words. None but the last. Some sort of illness? A bug? Was that a literal bug or just...?

The door opened and Japan turned his gaze that direction. His nurse was here, smiling and wearing no mask which was a bit disturbing. If a sickness was going about then all patients should be equipped with masks. Again, the unpreparedness of foreign nations caught him off guard. Still, other than a few questions regarding the possibility of getting a mask himself, Japan followed her into the cafeteria with no complaints. After taking a serving of fruit, eggs, sausage and pancakes (all within a reasonable amount, of course), he shuffled his way to a nearby seat and sank into it. The strange tremors from his dream weren't going away and although he tried his best to seem normal, Japan wasn't so certain how well he was doing.

[Doctor, Doctor, save me, Doctor.]

[complicatedliar]

Loki turned his notebook to a fresh page as Rita sat down, setting the pen on top of it. "Good morning," he said. He wasn't sure how he felt about the abbreviated greetings the mortals seemed to be using these days. But Rita seemed to be more to the point than most, which had its bonuses. "I did. Landel is sounding a bit dire, isn't he. Though I had hoped that someone with a bit more experience here might be able to tell me if that level of dire is at all unusual or not."

He began eating his breakfast in earnest since for the moment he wasn't trying to write at the same time. "But either way, he's making some clear and rather nasty implications, don't you think?"

[not_heavens_adam]

Well, this was....different. More different than anything he could dream, certainly. The clothes, the nurses, the voice over the intercom, and the fact the poor girl who'd woken him up had called him 'Adam' (and hadn't meant it in the way Johnny was used to) hearing all pointed to something more than a dream or a simple kidnapping.

He was being treated like a patient of an asylum, accurate or inaccurate diagnosis aside, he didn't like it. He'd tried to flirt with the nurse for more information, but she seemed pretty immune to his advances. He supposed the thought of 'insane' would turn anyone away...that and the fact he'd already freaked her out when he'd nearly gone for her throat at calling him Adam. That had probably dampened her opinion of him.

So, with little other choice, he'd switched on his best, dashing, smile and played along; following her to wherever she wanted to take him.

Beyond the confusion he felt at what was going on was the fact they must have drugged him. Their steps were muffled, he couldn't hear her breath or her heartbeat and the usual whispers of far-off voices were gone. His sense of smell was dampened as well. He couldn't use the scents on the air to tell him where he was or where anyone else had been...he couldn't even tell if this woman was human...he could only assume.

He felt weak...fragile...almost...human. But that was impossible. What sort of drug was this?

When she lead him to a large room where he was led to get human food and sit he glanced around at the humans in the room. This wasn't an asylum...there was more going on here than the nurse was letting on; he'd seen asylums in his time, these people didn't seem crazy to him. Of course...it would be easier if that drug wasn't messing with his ability to smell.

Maybe it was more demons.

[Lust~]