damned_institute | Night 62: M61-70 Hallway

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Night 62: M61-70 Hallway

[M63]

Dinner had been quiet, with Okita staying as silent as possible while Guy slept. It was concerning, actually, how long the man had slept this past day. Even as he finished his meal and the lights turned out along with that ominous message, Guy didn't stir. Okita had heard such things happened sometimes - people slept for longer and longer and then... The swordsman shook his head as if he meant to shake the very thought from his mind. Guy was stronger than that, stronger than a lot of them. He wouldn't go out like that. Not at least without a reason, a goodbye, some measure of warning.

The lights grew dim and winked out. The head doctor gave his little speech and Okita watched the speaker box on the wall with gradually waning interest and growing fear. People were going to grow sick, change, become horrific creatures, and those unaffected had a very clear choice at hand: kill their former friends or find a way to help them. Knowing Martin Landel, however, finding a cure would mean risking certain death for at least one person. Dropping his gaze from the wall, he knew he would volunteer if such a mission came.

His eyes fell onto Guy's sleeping form again and Okita finally got up, turning his head away as he coughed a few times. The sound seemed to echo in the room and he frowned, looking down at his hand. The napkin from his dinner tray served him well enough in cleaning up the red dots he saw and he quickly disposed of the offending thing in his desk drawer, locking it. Then, he made his way across to where Guy was, sitting down on the floor next to him. Maybe he shouldn't disturb the man's sleep in case something terrible had happened, but...

Okita reached out and gently shook Guy's shoulder. "...Guy-san? Guy-san, are you alright?"

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Guy's sleep was disturbed by a number of things. The first thing that broke through the haze was a familiar voice, one that he had grown to hate. While his sleep-addled mind only caught a few words, they were worrying ones. Monstrosity... symptoms... infected... hunt...

Though it was the sound of someone's coughing that truly drew Guy from his sleep, stirring slightly as he watched through blurred vision as Okita walked over. While his roommate's face was a welcome sight, it wasn't what he was supposed to be looking at right now. If anything, a nurse should have woken him up, but normally Guy got up on his own in the mornings.

Okita's hand gripping his shoulder and shaking it finally forced Guy's eyes all the way open, and he drew in a breath as the waking world started to register. "Okita..."

Guy gently pushed his roommate's arm away, sitting up as he dragged a hand through his hair. He felt groggy, like he'd slept far too long, and the untouched meal on his desk made it clear that that was exactly what had happened. How could he have slept for so long? This really wasn't like him at all.

Though the last thing he remembered was finding the treasure in that forest. At this point, Guy was fairly certain that the Landel they'd met there had been some sort of decoy, especially since he had just heard the man speaking over the intercom like he was fine.

Trying to sort through so much when he'd just woken up was a bit disorienting, and so Guy decided to focus on one thing at a time. Okita had been coughing, which seemed to be happening more and more lately. It was enough to worry him, but he wouldn't touch on that just yet. "How long have I been asleep?" He hoped it was just a day. Any longer than that, and he could have really worried some people.

He felt a swell of hope when Guy sat up out of bed, looking groggy but very much alive. He'd heard that others, even if shaken, would not wake up and so the moment Guy sat up, Okita felt a weight lift from his shoulders. Perhaps he'd just been tired from his excursions and needed a day of rest. Okita did that sometimes. ...But then again, he had different reasons.

Scooting back, Okita remained on the floor, tucking his legs under him as he looked up at Guy. He seemed well enough, just sleepy, and so Okita smiled, trying to remain as frank as possible. "Just the day. I suppose the night has been very difficult for you?"

He pushed himself from the floor then, reassured that Guy wasn't going to disappear, and went to his friend's desk to pick up his tray. It was likely that Guy, now that he was awake, was going to want to run out the door to meet Claude and his other friend, but before that, Okita had to make sure he ate. Bringing the tray back, he sat on the edge of Guy's bed and held the food out to him. It was unfortunate that it was a little cool now that time had passed, but getting something into his stomach was important. "And you probably have a busy night ahead of you, too. Make sure to take something before you go?"

Thankfully, the time he'd missed wasn't too extensive. While Guy was still troubled by the fact that he'd slept through the entire day, it could have been a lot worse. He wondered if his friends had noticed his absence. Knowing Claude and Anise, at least, they probably had.

At the same time, that probably meant that they would be looking for him tonight, so he would be able to put their worries to rest before long. While it was worrisome that he'd slept so long in the first place, he felt fine now that he was awake, so that was one thing. And it wasn't like he'd been carted off to the medical wing for some strange tests, either.

Okita was quick to bring him his food, and while eating was more or less the last thing on Guy's mind at the moment, he gave that a second thought when he saw that salmon was on the menu tonight. After a pause, he reached out for the plate and set it in his lap. "Thanks. And... my night was kind of busy, I guess, but there's no reason I should have slept so long." He was sure that Okita knew the implications as well as he did, so he didn't say more about it than that.

"How are you feeling?" he asked next, even as he took a bite of the food to appease Okita. He doubted he'd get a direct answer, but it was worth a shot.

Guy took the plate and Okita smiled at him. It was always a bit strange to mother hen someone who could obviously take care of himself, and was possibly the same age or older than him, but Okita had spent most of his life doing the same for Hijikata and it was just second nature to him by now. Make sure the man slept, make sure he ate, make sure he got out of his room, aired it out after spending all night smoking, all the small things that Hijikata would forget if left to his own devices, Okita kept tabs and so he naturally did it for others as well. Guy was going to eat, however, and so Okita stood from the bed, going over to the metal case sitting on his own bed to start the process of changing.

"Perhaps you simply needed the rest. It happens," he replied nonchalantly as he pushed the top of the case open. His uniform lay inside, no traces of the blood on it from last night and he reached for it.

"How are you feeling?"

His fingers stopped, hovering just over the cloth. Had Guy heard him when he was sleeping? It was possible that the sound had bled into the man's subconscious. It was possible, likely, terrifying, and Okita grabbed his uniform, pulling it out as if nothing was wrong. He shook the haori to get the non-existent dust out and smiled at Guy from over its shoulder.

"I'm just fine. Why do you ask?"

In a way, it was nice to have Okita act like it was no big deal, like it was just something to brush off. Guy knew that his roommate was just trying to make him feel better, but he was tempted to just assume that a lack of sleep had finally caught up to him and leave it at that. The problem was that in Landel's, it was hardly ever that simple, and he couldn't stop himself from speculating about the whole thing. What if they'd been testing something on him while he slept? What if this meant he was doomed to be "released" from this place soon?

At the same time, he didn't want to worry his friends for no reason. He'd just explain to everyone that he'd slept through the day and then leave them to make their own conclusions about that. And with any luck, it really was just a case of needing to catch up on some sleep.

Unsurprisingly, Okita tried to brush off his question. Guy frowned as he took another bite of the salmon. While it was a little cold by now, that wasn't stopping him from enjoying it, and he was pretty starved after sleeping the whole day. "I heard you coughing, that's all. Speaking of which, I think I also heard Landel talking. What did he have to say this time?" From the few phrases he remembered, it had sounded pretty ominous.

He wanted to brush the statement off. It would be so easy to tell Guy that it had been his imagination, some vestige of a dream barely remembered. He could lie and lie forever, but Guy wasn't Hijikata and it wasn't likely that he'd want to hear the lie and ignore the truth as they were doing. Still, he couldn't bring himself to let the secret out and instead he smiled and shook his head.

"I had something stuck in my throat."

Silently, he apologized to Guy and turned away, getting dressed. The Western clothes were quickly discarded and replaced with his white kimono, but Okita took his time matching the lapels and folding the material around his body. Lucky for him the kimono filled him in and still fit well despite any weight loss lately. Looking over to Guy as he reached for the blue obi, Okita frowned.

"Ah...Yes, today many people were beginning to get sick apparently. It seems that some of us may become ill and among those..." He paused to tighten the obi as he wrapped it around his middle. "...some may be changed in the coming days into the creatures we fight at night. It may be true and it may be a lie, but it's likely he's watching to see our reactions and whether we help or try to kill one another out of fear."

Something stuck in his throat. Guy might have believed that if he hadn't noticed Okita coughing consistently over the past few days. While a cough was nothing to worry about under most circumstances, the fact that Okita wouldn't say much about it was what caused Guy to worry. He'd spent enough time around people trying to hide serious illnesses that he couldn't help but wonder.

Not that he could spend much time worrying about it. Okita already looked like he was getting ready to head out, and Guy was going to have to follow suit. He got up from his bed, setting his half-eaten food aside, and went over to his closet to grab his shirt, vest, and leggings.

As he changed, he listened to Okita's explanation, frowning as the final point was made. People getting sick and turning into monsters? That wasn't something that could be easily ignored, and Landel didn't often make empty threats. And with Okita coughing, was it possible that...?

Guy himself felt fine, except for oversleeping. That could be a sign on its own, but he was going to wait to see how he felt over the night before he made any assumptions. "We'd better be prepared for the worst, then. Make sure you take care of yourself, Okita," he said with a pointed stare.

Once dressed, Guy gathered his usual items -- his sword, flashlight, and radio -- and gave his roommate a lingering look. "Thanks for waking me up, by the way."

Take care of yourself. The pointed stare that came after those words was enough to seal Okita's determination to conceal his illness from Guy as much as possible. If, in the worst case scenario, it came to moving rooms, he would have to do so. He'd do whatever it took to keep Guy from knowing - and thus from suffering under his knowledge - of what was going to happen. On the inside, he felt himself trying to detach from the feelings of camaraderie created over the past month and a half. On the outside, he tied his obi and smiled as pleasantly as ever.

"Of course," he replied, keeping his voice light as always. "Living here, we always have to prepare for the worst - and you don't think I'd let you sleep the entire night away, do you?"

He laughed a bit, tucking the ends of his obi into itself and tugging it slightly to make sure it wouldn't slip anytime soon. He reached for his sword, despite knowing it wasn't likely to get much use, and pulled it from the box, smiling back at his friend. "Take care, Guy-san. I'll see you in the morning."

Preparing for the worst was definitely something Guy had become used to doing here. Not that he hadn't taken those cautions back home as well, but the potential danger hadn't been quite as constant.

While his concerns about Okita were far from laid to rest, there wasn't much that he could do about them now. It was clear that Okita didn't want him digging any further, but Guy had to admit that he was starting to feel guilty for not trying harder to uncover the truth. It was a thin line to walk, though.

"See you then," he said with a nod as he exited and moved down the hall. Now, to see if his friends were already looking for him. Claude should be just down the corridor...

[To here.]

It was certainly not the end of the discussion. Okita could feel that in the way Guy looked at him, but it was enough of an end for today that he could move on with what he needed to do. As the door closed after Guy left, Okita let out a heavy sigh. How could he keep something a secret from someone who was essentially living with him? Sharing space was one thing when one had their own private quarters, but a complete lack of privacy meant things would eventually come to a head.

He had to find a way to leave before that happened.

With his sword as his side, Okita stared at the box with his uniform still sitting inside. He could put it on, go on patrol, see to it that he knew who was sick and who was not for the next day... Or.

Before he knew it, he'd closed the lid with the uniform haori and hakama left inside and had gone down the hall one door. A familiar scent of smoke came creeping up from under the door and a quick listen told him that someone was still inside. Considering Hijikata's injuries, it wasn't unfathomable that he would stay in today. And that suited Okita just fine.

[to here]

Edited 2012-03-27 06:42 (UTC)

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Night 62: M61-70 Hallway

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