envy_the_sinners: (Sad)
Scar ([personal profile] envy_the_sinners) wrote in [community profile] damned_institute2012-07-19 01:40 am

DAY 65: Breakfast

Scar came to slowly, vision blurred and head throbbing. His memory of the previous night was vague and somewhat scattered. What he was most aware of was his renewed and increased hatred for the man called Lingormr. The Ishbalan didn't give a damn if he had been a special counseling patient. That bastard had enjoyed every second of tearing Scar to shreds. What he may or may not have realized was how much it had affected Scar emotionally. He had felt a renewed sense of drive at the start of the night; the disruption on the intercom and the news of the 'cure' had rekindled a fire that fueled Scar to drive forward. To have a little hope.

Lingormr had promptly crushed that.

He was in pain. So much pain. The cut on his hand was only fading scab at this point, but stitches now pulled at the deep gashes in his legs and back. Not only had the nausea not settled, but his stomach was beginning to cramp. The rash on his arm was impossible to hide without the old bandages covering it. It had nearly reached his elbow.

Scar's hazy eyes could make out the nurse, now pushing a wheelchair up to his bedside. This was humiliating. And he was too exhausted and hurting to lash out or become angry. He was just broken. He still tried to take some sort of grudging control, insisting that he didn't need to be pushed around, that he could at least turn the wheels of the damned chair himself. But he didn't make it down the hallway before the pulling and sharp pain in his back became so obvious on his face that the nurse took over.

He entered breakfast with a frustrated, tired, but overall defeated look to him. Scar felt too sick to eat. He sat at the table and brooded, wishing more than anything to simply be left alone.

[For Goku!]
thecamellia: (you and i; our heartbeat)

[personal profile] thecamellia 2012-07-20 05:12 am (UTC)(link)
[BOOM, NINJA SNEAK ATTACK.]

Tsubaki came awake with a tight feeling in her stomach--the feeling she always got when frustration and worry were taking their tolls. Things wouldn’t be so bad if she actually knew how to fix the situation, but she didn’t.

Last night had been a prime example of how badly her hands were tied. As far as she was concerned, she’d had two options once Lingormr’s situation had been brought to light: help Scar, one of his victims, or try to help Lingormr himself snap out of the brainwashing. Much to her chagrin, she hadn’t been able to accomplish both, nor had she gotten to see what the hint in the X-Ray Room had been about. Even though she had found Scar had just the right time, she’d only been able to do the bare mininum for him.

It was frustrating! Where was Black☆Star to encourage her when she really needed it?

Black☆Star… Tsubaki blinked, struck by a thought. Oh yeah! That was right! With everything that’d been going on, Tsubaki had completely forgotten about her partner’s letter--such a small thing in an otherwise hectic avalanche of news and events.

In the quiet of the early morning, Tsubaki looked over at the still-sleeping Rapunzel and then to her desk, the last place she’d put the letter. Thoughtfulness warred with guilt, which then warred with hesitation. Prioritizing personal affairs was the last thing she wanted to do, but if she could grab just one private moment… one tiny trace of Black☆Star and his infectious ways… So what if it was out of homesickness or a mean comfort herself in the face of defeat? Couldn’t she have just a little taste of home before she was led down to the cafeteria to start the day?

I need you to tell me what to do, she thought, sliding out of bed in order to dig the letter out of her possessions box. I need you to be you, Black☆Star.

But before anything, there was something she had to do, something she’d promised Scar…

By the time her nurse arrived to start her on her morning routine, Tsubaki had left a note for Rapunzel on the girl‘s desk and was back to sitting on her bed, cross-legged with an empty envelope in her lap. The smile on her face was far removed from the sick feeling she’d woken up with--it hurt, that smile, but in a good way, a way she hadn’t felt in a while. Even so far away, there was someone out there supporting her. Waiting for her. It was enough. More than enough.

The nurse must have noticed something was up. "Miyu? What’s going on?"

Looking up from the paper in her hand, she only smiled wider before giving her head a shake. "Nothing. Nothing at all. I’m fine!" Carefully, she folded the letter up again and discreetly tucked it away in her shirt. She wanted to keep the words close to her, even if they only amounted to a single line in the middle of the page.

Oi, you’d better get your ass better and come home already! I’m waiting!


"I’m ready to go when you are," she added.

Thank you, Black☆Star. I owe you.

Once Tsubaki had stopped by the bulletin board, there was only one place left to go: the cafeteria, where she was guaranteed to find some of the people she very much wanted to talk to. Kurogane hadn't been a part of last night's disaster, but he definitely counted amongst the people she wanted to see. "Kurogane-san! Are you all right?"
seekingmystrength: (Washed Away)

[personal profile] seekingmystrength 2012-07-21 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
[What, no, he's a ninja YOU CAN'T SEE HIM!]

When he'd noticed the familiar presence coming his way, he dropped his marked hand from sight and left it hiding beneath the table to deal with the girl. Tsubaki had been one of those he hadn't intended to seek out, but she seemed to have other thoughts, wanting to know if he was all right again. He didn't answer, because admitting it would have been worse than he felt, so he let his annoyed gaze and a weak grunt say everything.
thecamellia: (where are all the gods?)

[personal profile] thecamellia 2012-07-21 06:08 pm (UTC)(link)
[Ninjas cancel each other out, it’s like a fact of nature!]

Despite herself, the letter from this world’s version of Black☆Star had given her something to focus her hopes on; she held tight to it like armor, keeping her more dismal thoughts at bay. Kurogane’s gruff attitude could be difficult at times, but it was another thing she wasn’t going to let get under her skin.

It wasn’t anything she couldn’t deal with, right?

For a moment, she looked him over, hands behind her back, before sliding into a nearby seat and leaning close so that her voice didn’t carry. “You didn’t answer my bulletin note yesterday, so I was getting worried,” Tsubaki said. “Nothing… nothing happened to you last night like the Head Doctor said might happen, did it?”
seekingmystrength: (Default)

[personal profile] seekingmystrength 2012-07-25 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
He remembered checking the bulletin yesterday, but only once and apparently not after her message, whatever it had been, had gone up. After the night on the buses he hadn't been able to do too much about keeping up with everyone. It had been some time since he'd even seen the magician, though he had seen Chise at one point. Either way, it didn't matter.

"Nothing happened," he told her.
thecamellia: (the reason behind taking life)

[personal profile] thecamellia 2012-07-28 07:08 pm (UTC)(link)
It remained to be seen if Kurogane would even tell her if something had happened, like a horrible, spontaneous transformation. But although he looked far from all right, she couldn’t see any evidence of something that severe on his body. Surely that sort of thing would… leave a mark, right?

She paused for a moment, taking in a deep breath. “I’m worried,” she said again, “about everyone’s symptoms getting worse. But it sounds like there’s a way to cure it--I don’t know if you heard about the clue in the Medical Wing last night. So with luck you’ll be back to normal soon. For now, though… for now is someone looking after you? At night?”