damned_institute | Dayshift 62: Sun Room [Third Shift]

Last night had been a nightmare. That had to be what it was, but Ilia couldn't deny reality. In her anguish, Ilia had slept through the first half of the day plagued by nightmares. In her dreams she saw Rose's broken body all over again with Gamzee standing over her, his club raised to strike again. Somewhere, she could hear Martin Landel laughing.

Much like the battle last night, Ilia was overcome by her powerlessness. Was she really so useless? Why did it have to be the children who suffered pain and death? Why was she left alive here? She didn't wish for her own death, but if she could have given up her life to save Rose... But nothing could be done now

Ilia had failed to save an ally in need. If only her Captain could have been here, then just maybe his uncanny luck and drive might have saved them. He had a miraculous touch that could solve anything. Ilia now understood why she would never be on equal footing with him.

Miserably, Ilia roused herself at her nurse's insistence that she come eat. She didn't take a moment to brush her hair or wash her face. She just followed along as directed, trying to ignore the hallow feeling in her chest. Ilia wasn't hungry, but she took one of the bags offered to her and trudged to the bulletin. She addressed a few notes then added one herself. It wasn't the prettiest note, but Ilia couldn't produce the level of prose that Rose deserved. Instead, she wrote it quickly, like ripping off a band-aid. Short. To the point.

Her task done, Ilia found seat in the corner and sunk down into the cushion. Burying her face in her hands, she concentrated on breathing. She couldn't face the sun today.

[For ~~her children~~ Claude and Anise]

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Seishin wordlessly took the lunch bag that was offered to him as he entered the Sun room. He spotted several familiar faces -- among them Silvestri-san. A brief look of concern passed his features, but the former priest ended up moving towards a more secluded part of the Sun room. Two people were already with her. Seishin did not quite know what to tell her, or what to tell Gamzee-kun. He did not know a whole lot, did he? He had answered last night with silent resignation, allowing the wave of misery to simply wash over him and his companions until death had claimed one of them.

So it was by himself that Seishin sat down in a secluded chair, folding his hands on his lap. His mind continued to drift to last night's cruel game, and the lunch bag was destined to be abandoned.

[Celty!]

No matter what the announcement said, the Sun did not make it much warmer outside which gave Celty all the more reason to pick an indoor location to have lunch at. She considered looking about a bit more for an area she wasn't so familiar with, but the prospect of a relaxing time in the ever familiar Sun Room comforted her a bit. She headed into the room and followed her usual routine of looking around before picking out a place. Many people were already there, most in small groups, but there was one she somewhat knew off by himself. A man with gray hair, she'd met him at night but not yet during the day.

Maybe she could give a better introduction this time?

She headed over to him, keeping a tight grip on her bag lunch just in case he wasn't in the mood for company and asked her to leave. "Excuse me...?"

Though Seishin could be perceptive when needed, it was for the second time today that he was too lost in thought to take proper heed of his surroundings -- until a voice interrupted his thoughts. He looked up, a look of mild surprise on his features. He recognized the woman as the one he had met on his first night here.

Even though it had only been a matter of days, a lot had happened since then.

"...Ah, my apologies, I was lost in thought," he said quietly, the polite smile coming easily. "We've...met a few nights ago, haven't we?"

"I didn't mean to bother you," she apologized quickly, thinking she might have offended him, but his words kept her from panicking any further. So it was him, and he did remember her. That was good. "Yes, I remember. I'm sorry if I kept you then."

Even though she'd gotten much more used to speaking, she was still as awkward as ever when it came to speaking with others. But she wasn't going to give up trying because of that, and besides, familiar faces weren't that easy to come by here.

Gripping her lunch even tighter, she looked over the area he was sitting at and tried not to seem to awkward as she asked, "Would... it be ok to have lunch with you?"

Even though someone had been caught in the arc of Death's scythe, everything else continued its course. This was no exception. Despite the blood that had been shed on the arena's sandy floor, the world was still an endless wasteland. Death was impartial. All Death was equal -- Sunako's words continued to run through his head like a chant. Perhaps their conversations had influenced the former priest more than he realized.

But it did not make last night's events any less painful; watching as two people were forced to kill one another. Had it been any different from what he had previously been doing, however? Perhaps he was being hypocritical, but the fact remained that there was killing for the sake of someone's amusement. He hadn't known Rose-chan well, nor was he fully aware of her relationship with Gamzee-kun. Yet, it was the troll who would carry that sin, though he couldn't know how stained those hands already were.

He didn't quite know what to make of it.

"That would be fine," Seishin responded to the woman's question, his brooding masked under a more neutral expression. Though he may not have been in a sociable mood, the novelist had no intention to be rude and deny someone a seat.

He threatened to fall silent again, to retreat in his own brooding, before realizing he was being rude. "My apologies...I don't think I ever quite caught your name."

Something seemed off about the man, but since he did not turn her away, Celty smiled softly and took a seat with him. At least there won't be any problems with eating, she reasoned to herself, remembering that these bagged lunches did not have any utensils to speak of. And, she was pretty sure, it would be something she'd had before. Hopefully.

"Oh, yes, I'm... Celty," she said quickly. That she hadn't told him her name yet had asked to sit with him made her feel a little more embarrassed, but thankfully he was being nice about it.

"It's nice to meet you, Celty-san," Seishin offered, a polite smile forming on his lips. At least Sotoba had granted him sufficient practice in mastering the 'art'. "I'm Muroi. Muroi Seishin."

Still, the woman did not seem at ease -- he supposed focusing on the conversation would be best for the time being rather than having his thoughts wander; he had no intention of making Celty-san more uncomfortable than she already seemed to be by being rude and falling silent again.

For how many years she'd spent in Ikebukuro, Celty was familiar enough with Japanese to recognize a Japanese name when she heart it. She'd never heard the name before though, but it definitely sounded to be Japanese.

"Muroi," she repeated for memory before she started fishing into her lunch bag. "Are you from Japan, Muroi?"

Seishin offered a nod in response. "Yes, I am from Japan," he affirmed, though he didn't specify from where in Japan he came from. Considering what had occurred in Sotoba, it was a subject best left unmentioned.

"Where do you come from, Celty-san?" Though she spoke perfect Japanese, for reasons the former priest couldn't begin to fathom that did not necessarily mean anything in a place like this.

Japan wasn't a particularly large country, but it wasn't so small that Celty could assume the man was from any one area. She wasn't curious as to that however, and after pulling a sandwich from her pouch, moved on to his returned question. "I live there now. Japan, I mean, but I was in Ireland before that."

She might have known she was a Dullahan, but even with her awakening in Ireland, that didn't guarantee that was where she was from. Her memories were supposed to have answered that much, but she was still in the dark.

Ireland, was it? "Japan must be rather different from Ireland," he commented with mild curiosity.

Not that he could tell by first-hand experience. Seishin hadn't seen too much of the world -- the city during his college years were as far as he had been allowed to go. With the chains that bound him to an isolated place like Sotoba, there simply hadn't been an opportunity for more.

"I know the cities are."

Well, Ikebukuro was probably different from most cities. She honestly couldn't imagine another like it with the likes of Shizuo, Simon and, most importantly, Izaya running about within it's walls. And that wasn't even counting the gangs, though other cities probably had versions of those.

Dayshift 62: Sun Room [Third Shift]

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Sorry for the lateness! ;A;

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