Day 62: Sun Room (Second Shift)

[complicatedliar]

The line of questioning that Rita had begun at breakfast still plagued Loki, as did his own uncomfortable feelings about the entire concept of people being transformed into monsters. It wasn't a useful line of thought, and he needed a better direction to consider.

Hopefully, conversation with Soma would provide that. While she seemed quite stern at times, Loki found her presence oddly relaxing.

Though he had to wonder if perhaps he wouldn't end up seeing her this shift after all, since she might be included in the group that was being herded to the showers. (As much as the statement also was one he greeted with relief, since he was wondering when he'd get an opportunity to bathe. The thought of being trapped in a building with a great many mortals and no bathing facilities had been too horrifying to contemplate.) He'd always been a bit bad at guessing the ages of mortals, mostly because they were so ridiculously short-lived.

Having already established a neurotic fear of the cold with his nurse, there was no difficulty convincing her that he'd be much better off in the Sun Room. Loki settled into his habitual seat, taking a moment to coax one of the cats into his lap. All settled in, he propped his notebook on the arm of the chair and went back to writing.

[Soma?]

Comments

[notachick]

When he sat down, Okita was struck by just how thin the man was. It couldn't be healthy and yet his skin tone and his jovial nature seemed to suggest this was normal for him. The samurai tilted his head, watching as the lanky man managed to fit himself somewhat awkwardly into the seat like it was the most natural thing in the world. His legs reminded Okita of a spider, the way they arched up through the air - or maybe not a spider, but the rafters of a roof. All right angles and sharpness.

He smiled and bowed his head. "It's an honor to meet you, too, Brook-san." Brook - familiar. He knew that name from seeing it on the bulletin before, didn't he? So this was an old hand - confirmed in his speech - and somehow they had simply missed actually talking all this time. Okita laughed lightly and nodded his head. A slight distraction from his thoughts was never a bad thing. "Yes, it does seem that way, doesn't it? People are always moving about so much, it seems it's hard to track everyone down in a single day. If I may ask, how long have you been here?"

*didn't see this, I'm sorry!*

[somesoulsearching]

While the man hadn't given his name, Brook didn't push to hear it. Some people just didn't like giving their names. He knew that much from not only being a pirate, but from the bulletin board. Such strange names were written down that they had to have been made up ones!

"I know! I've had a time even trying to figure out if friends were still around at times!" There was the true insanity of this place; so many friends to meet, and yet no time to keep up with all of them! Well, at least there was always someone to share a conversation with. "Hm... I believe it's almost been a month for me," he thought a moment, which only made his head hurt. The amount of time didn't matter all that much though. "A while, in any event. You?"

no problem!

[notachick]

"And the nurses aren't very helpful, now are they?" Souji replied, keeping his tone light as if he were simply complaining to complain. He laughed at the sound of himself whining and wondered if Hijikata would frown at him for it. He'd always disliked hearing people go on about things that couldn't be changed.

Or maybe he just hated hearing people whine. Souji wasn't sure.

"Far over a month, but it seems longer, doesn't it?" 38 days. He could count back and recall everything - almost everything - that had happened since he'd arrived. Bad memories and good ones mixing together until it became a jumble of strange technology, strange faces, and strange experiences all with one terrible blank in the middle where he wasn't sure about anything. Souji grew quiet for a moment, as he considered that, then perked back up, forcing the happy mask back into place. "Not that is really matters. Where are my manners! I forgot to say my own name. I'm Okita Souji. You're very tall. How did that happen? I always wanted to be tall, but I never much grew past this."

Re: no problem!

[somesoulsearching]

"They are good for conversing with?" Brook suggested in a bit of defense. His nurse didn't say much, but he spoke with the woman quite often. "I don't think they're entirely useless, in any event."

Brook was probably the only patient there who would defend any one of the staff members, but he wouldn't have minded being called on it. Everyone had their own outlook, and his was a bit brighter than most.

"That is a long time!" he exclaimed at hearing the amount. Brook wasn't so used to meeting those who had been there longer than himself, but it was nice nonetheless. "I don't suppose you'd remember anyone calling themselves pirates from some time ago, would you?"

There were not many around still from the time that his crew had been present after all, but that didn't mean there wasn't the hope of hearing that someone remembered them. Brook liked to keep his memories, good and bad, and wanted to know that he wasn't alone in that much.

As for the matter of his height, that he could only smile at. "Well... I don't supposed I can say I started out this way, but perhaps I'm just big-boned?"

[notachick]

Okita would have protested the 'good for conversation' approach, but he had a feeling Brook was the sort of person to see good in anyone. He was a cheerful sort of fellow and arguing with him over whether the nurses were actually good for meaningful conversation beyond "wake up," "take your medicine," or "stop falling down the stairs" wasn't the sort of discussion Okita felt inclined to have. It was simply interesting to see that some would be in defense of those who became monsters and tried to kill them at night.

"A pirate...?" he asked, confused enough by the question that he had to stop and think for a moment. For his part, he had been here long enough to know most of those who had come and gone from the halls, but he hadn't personally had any dealings with anyone who had called themselves a pirate. A space and time traveler, yes. Demi-gods? Yes. Detectives, most certainly. But pirates....?

"Ah." His mind ran back to the early days when a certain teenager, bright like the sun used to run about with his crew. Okita didn't remember them much, but he did recall them being in the Insitute. "Yes, I believe I've heard of someone like that, but it was back when I first arrived." And a few times after that, scattered here and there. "Were they friends of yours?"