Day 68: Intercom, Dinner

[damned_intercom]

As it turned out, all of the female patients were wise enough to remain indoors, so the nurses didn't have as much work to do as the intercom came on and the end of the day officially hit.

"Hello, patients! This storm put a wrench into some of our planned activities, but I hope that all of you stayed dry and safe, especially those of you who are sick!" The Head Doctor did a spectacular job of sounding like he was truly worried for the patients' well-being.

"For dinner, we'll be serving some gourmet spaghetti with marinara sauce. There'll be parmesen cheese and some crushed red peppers on the side to add if you wish, not to mention a salad! I hope that you all eat well before lights out, and those of you who've been paired up with some of our new arrivals, make sure to make them feel welcome."

The announcement echoed through the halls as the patients were led back to their assigned rooms, and Landel finished it all off as most of them arrived to their doors.

"That's all for now. Sleep well, everyone, and we'll be talking again come tomorrow."

The intercom turned off, leaving patients with only their roommates as company.

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Comments

[trollverine]

By the time his nurse led him back to the room, Daken was burning with anticipation: night. Night, the third floor, and the fascinating question of whether he'd be able to use his claws. If not, he'd just have to get creative. He was starting to think he wouldn't mind the challenge.

Seeing someone else in the room halted his train of thought. They'd put him with a teenager, it looked like. That was unexpected.

The door locked behind him before he finally moved toward his own desk.

Logically, he knew that this person could have useful information; that showing him a little courtesy would be unquestionably worthwhile - but his patience for bullshit was running low.

He sank into his chair, one arm thrown lazily over the back, and gave his roommate a condescending once-over. There were a number of disparaging variations of delicate that could have been used to describe him, but none of them would have changed the strong probability that teenage girls fought to monopolize his time.

"Don't worry," Daken grinned, tipping his chair backwards. "I'm easy to deal with."

[idolism]

Kaname-sama... my luck's finally run out...

The moment Aidou sensed someone outside the door, he shifted his attention away from his dinner and to the nurse who entered not a moment later. Who she had in tow--or what, rather--instantly confirmed his suspicions about Mikado.

He also fervently wished Mikado had never left, if this was to be the alternative.

The vampire stared, blank-faced, until the man dared to give him an appraisal as if Aidou were the questionable presence in the room. Then he lowered his eyelids to half-mast, giving the stranger an equally unimpressed look that contained decades of aristocratic distaste. His haircut alone deserved a slap in the face.

"I pray not for long," he replied. "There's only one rule while caged together, and that's stay out of my way. Otherwise, you don't exist. Fair?"

[trollverine]

Daken had involuntarily raised his eyebrows. People who felt that way - including he himself - usually said it with much more subtlety. Obviously, his thus-far nameless roommate was used to getting his way.

He was going to be disappointed.

"A little direct," Daken said, as pleasantly as if he hadn't just been completely dismissed, "but I like that. You get to the point. Here's the thing: what you're proposing benefits you, as in you and not me. 'Fair' would be if you had something to trade. So." He lowered his chair to the floor and turned toward the kid, propping his elbows on his knees. "I have a rule for you: if you have a map, it's now my map. Fair?"

[idolism]

A little direct? How much more direct would Aidou have to be, exactly?

"Well, yes, what benefits me is generally the ideal solution," he countered without the least bit of self-consciousness. That was the rule of thumb when sharing space with humans, even superhuman humans. He was, after all, older, smarter, more powerful, and more dangerous--at least the majority of the time, anyway.

If this man deserved more acknowledgement than one might usually give to a human, Aidou had yet to see evidence of it. His physical appearance alone spoke of a brutish sort of nature, not at all appealing for a type of creature like Aidou.

"That's why I find your idea of a trade quite flawed. I have little interest in helping new prisoners with the intricacies of the situation unless it serves my own efforts. What good does providing you with a map do? You'll find your way in a night or two if you're paying attention."

[trollverine]

"You might be the world's worst negotiator," Daken replied, still outwardly casual. An angry chord had been struck in him: this idiot thought he was no one; everyone thought he was no one. The nurses thought they could control him. His own father evidently believed that it was beyond his ability to get out. He didn't think of it in those terms - not consciously - but he was twice as determined to hurt the place.

To hurt something, anyway.

"But that's fine," he added, turning back to his desk, "you're not wrong. I'll ignore your rule and you'll ignore mine. Good. What should I call you, by the way?"

He had suggestions, in case the answer was as superior as he expected it to be.

[idolism]

Aidou lifted his eyebrows. "Pardon me, I wasn't aware we'd entered into negotiations."

Trying to negotiate while within the hospital's grasp was merely a waste of valuable time, in Aidou's opinion, and cellmates were even more of an annoyance than the typical prisoner. Frankly, he considered it a miracle if he didn't kill a person he was involuntarily sharing space with. Fortunately enough for the both of them, though, the other male had no appealing qualities that made Aidou want to approach with more bloodthirsty intentions in mind. That was a plus.

On the downside, the man seemed to have a severe case of selective hearing. Aidou had too much on his mind to bother correcting him so early on--later, maybe, if that pig-headed attitude started to negatively impact Aidou's business.

He picked up his fork. "My name is Aidou Hanabusa. Aidou is fine."

[trollverine]

That was pleasantly straightforward. "Daken," he said, repaying the courtesy. He half anticipated some smartass answer -I didn't ask, for example - but he'd been wrong a second ago, his annoyance at the attitude was fast fading. He himself had never really mastered humility, after all.

On the other hand, there were good reasons for that.

"Every interaction's a form of negotiation, Aidou." It was an unusual name. Daken pushed his own food around his tray, unimpressed. (He had kind of expected some bomb-shelter level glorified rations, but low expectations never really meant much, in practical terms.) "Especially here, where you're essentially a captive."

[idolism]

With the introductions over, Aidou nodded, but his expression quickly turned dry and amused at Daken's answer. Captivity. Aidou was undoubtedly an expert on that after all of the time he'd sacrificed to Landel's ambition.

"Oh, you hardly need to school me on such things, dear boy, I of all people understand about chains, invisible or no," he answered, a small smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. He kept his eyes on his tray of food. "And for the record, there's no "essentially" about it. I can see you're still fairly unaccustomed to the Institute, but soon you'll see that's very little difference between this and captivity composed of physical chains."