Day 69: Sun Room

[rebonding]

[From here]

Korra wandered into the Sun Room while rubbing her hair dry with a small towel. The shower had been nice, at least. She had wanted her nurse to take her outside, but apparently there would be none of that for the moment. The "adults" were out there. What were they doing that they couldn't let her go outside, too?? She wasn't used to this, being cooped up. It reminded her of her time in the sewers.

She flopped down onto one of the couches, keeping an eye out for someone to chat up. Sure, her social skills weren't exactly 'honed,' yet, but that didn't mean she didn't want to talk to people. There wasn't anything else to do here, anyway.

[Barnaby!]

Comments

[knightspirit]

Breakfast had ended up surprisingly light, so by the time breakfast rolled around, Kyousuke was in decent spirits. It seemed that, in the face all of the horrible things that happened since he got here, he was beginning to recover and get his priorities back in check. His air of confidence was returning as well, which was good; that was the way things had to be. He had to assume as much control over his own situation as possible.

A shower did sound appealing at the moment, but since the cuts in chest still ran pretty deep, the nurse seemed to think it was best if he pass this time. Privately, he agreed but not for the same reasons. He could probably avoid the sting if he were careful about it, but in the absence of stalls, he could do without exposing to everyone who happened to glance over how beaten up he was. So instead, he was lead to the Sun Room, and contented himself to skim the bulletin for now, although there was nothing particularly interesting or helpful up at the moment.

[ free ]

[gald_digger]

[from here]

Having just showered, Anise’s pigtails drooped a bit from the dampness. But the girl herself was feeling refreshed and energetic. She bounded over to where the bulletin board stood, and as always, she started reading as much as she could make sense of. Guy had left a note for Claude and Luke, but there was no reply yet… That was kind of worrying. At least it sounded like Ilia was doing well.

Come to think of it, the last time Anise talked to Ilia was when she was really sick and terrified that she wasn’t going to get better. Maybe it would be a good idea to find Ilia soon and let her know she was feeling better. Everyone could use some good news once in a while, especially in a place like this.

[for Ilia!]

[baniichan]

When he woke up to discover he'd slept late and missed breakfast, Barnaby knew he shouldn't have been surprised. His nurse clucked over him, pointing out that he hadn't been quite the same since his "incident" in the sun room two days ago.

Knowing that he'd lost his composure enough to get sedated and sent to bed was humiliating enough. Now he had to deal with the fact that the nurses would likely be keeping an even closer eye on him out some misguided concern that he'd have another panic attack. Not only that, but he'd be shocked if they let Kotetsu within twenty feet of him now that they'd likely deemed him a hindrance to Barnaby's mental stability.

If there was any consolation at all, it was that he hadn't actually been disciplined, unlike Kotetsu. But that meant very little in the grand scheme of things. They weren't any closer to finding a way out of this place. He'd lost everything he'd worked for and apparently didn't even remember the full extent of it. For the first time in his life, he was relentlessly plagued by self-doubt. Nothing made sense anymore, and Kotetsu wasn't doing anything to help that.

In fact, his last several conversations with Kotetsu seemed like they were just a dream. With each passing day, Barnaby felt less connected to reality. Lately he wondered how long it would take before he lost his mind altogether.

His nurse's maternal voice cut into his thoughts. "You look pretty pale, dear. Maybe you should get some fresh air."

To be honest, staring out at the dead grass and the trees, stripped bare by winter, wasn't relaxing to him in the slightest. When Barnaby politely declined her suggestion, she should have been able to leave it at that. But, no -- her eyes immediately scanned the sun room for something else to occupy his time.

Great.

Barnaby didn't even have to guess what she'd do next, and it was with a quiet resignation that he allowed her to lead him over to one of the couches, where a young woman was resting.

"Janet," she said with a sunny smile, "this is Bruce Banks." She turned to Barnaby. "Bruce, Janet just arrived yesterday, so she could probably use some company. Maybe you can even make friends with each other."

His polite smile didn't betray the fact that he simply didn't make friends. Even when she turned and walked away to leave them alone together, Barnaby's pleasant expression didn't falter. Despite how brittle and worn he felt on the inside, he'd spent way too many hours in front of the mirror practicing facial expressions to forget something so basic.

Once the nurse was out of earshot, he corrected her in way of greeting. "My name is actually Barnaby Brooks Jr." He didn't immediately look at "Janet", however, but instead took a moment to get a better idea of how the staff were positioned throughout the room.

[ninelivesonce]

[from here]

The sun room was unusually quiet; during showers, it often filled up with people who preferred conversations only take place when all parties were clothed. Or who wanted to talk to members of a different sex.

Not for the first time, she wondered what the Institute would do if it grabbed someone who didn't fit either of the categories. Well. Without being an android or an alien so different that it wasn't relevant, that was. Change them, like the changes she had undergone? The ones that made her look human. It wasn't like that gave one any material advantage in fighting.

Where was everyone? There was barely anything on the board, too. Had there been more deaths? Her good mood was draining rapidly into worry, and, without quite realizing it, she'd started pacing back and forth near the bulletin.

[Rita]

[overlimit]

[from here]

Rita’s hair was still damp from the shower, and she walked with a limp, but she paid little attention to either of those things as she re-entered the Sun Room, looking around purposefully.

Taura had to be around somewhere. If anyone needed to know about what happened to Goku, it was her. And maybe she’d be able to shed some light on how and why it happened, too. Fortunately, it was easy enough to spot her pacing around by the bulletin. She looked almost nervous. Had something else gone wrong, or had she somehow been tipped off about the bad news Rita had for her?

Rita approached, stopping in front of the woman. “Hey, Taura. We need to talk,” she began, not about to waste any time. “It’s important.”

[rebonding]

"I'm Korra," she replied with a smile shortly after shooting a glare at the nurse.

...What kind of a name was 'Barnaby?'

"They always give that speech? Tell us to make friends?" Korra snorted.

[baniichan]

Barnaby mentally filed away the name for future reference, but made no comment on it. After all, there was little use in stating the obvious fact that the staff refused to use their real names.

"I'm afraid so," he dryly answered. "You'll get used to hearing it soon enough."

Almost every daytime activity seemed to focus on social rehabilitation (whether necessary or not) or some other inane therapeutic treatment, like planting flowers or drawing pictures. The happy environment, however, was marred anytime a "problem patient" lashed out at the staff, only to be quickly sedated and sometimes even confined.

Quack medicine at its finest, but that was hardly surprising.

[avengingfists]

Ilia had actually planned on writing a message herself. Having woken up with booze on the brain she honestly couldn't get the idea out of her head. And a break was definitely in order, considering how tired she had been lately. A little party tonight was probably just what the doctor ordered.

Fully intent on posting a message to invite others to her bar that night, Ilia headed over to the bulletin board and found herself coming up behind a familiar set of pig tails. "Hey, Anise! Long time, no see."

Memories of their last meeting, however brief it might have been, left her with a sense of relief. If Anise was still here, that means she had at least been safe the last couple nights. She found herself smiling easily at her young friend.

[gald_digger]

"Whoa!"

Anise spun around, startled by the familiar voice that called her name. The surprise quickly subsided, and she gave a small sigh as she calmed herself. She was probably going to have to explain that reaction. Really though, the moment she started thinking about Ilia, she just showed up that very second! How weird was that?

"... Eheh, sorry," she began awkwardly, managing a grin. "I just saw your note and was thinking we should catch up soon. Weird timing, huh?" But maybe in a good way, since this was just what Anise wanted. "You can probably tell, but I'm feeling a lot better now." It was kind of embarrassing to think back to what an emotional wreck she was the last time they'd talked. Now that all that fear and danger was behind her, it was hard to remember just how hopeless she had felt.

[avengingfists]

The startled reaction wasn't what Ilia had been going for and she cringed, offering the girl an apologetic look. "Sorry, sorry! I should have come up from the side or something."

She chuckled. "Seriously? Must have been a sixth sense acting up." It wasn't uncommon for teenage girls to be sensitive, after all.

The news caused Ilia's brows to raise and she moved forward to give her young friend a hug. "I'm really glad to hear that, Anise." She held her for a moment, then pulled back, smiling. "How are Guy and Claude holding up?"

[fullmetalheart]

[From here.]

After Ed got out of the shower, Ed wandered over to the bulletin board, scanned it over, and put up his own note.

That done, he headed over to a couch and flopped down on it, arms resting on the back, and headed tilted back, eyes shut. He idly wondered if he could get in a nap before he was herded off elsewhere again.

Ed also mulled over the events of breakfast. Scar's appearance proved that death wasn't necessarily permanent although he had no urge to risk it. It would be just his luck if it turned out to be so for him. He also tried to work out how he felt about seeing the man.

[Free!]

[rebonding]

"Something makes me doubt that," Korra huffed, slouching down in her chair. Maybe everyone else could be fine with this- being told of a false identity, that they're all crazy... She wouldn't put up with it.

The sentiment was obviously an empty one. There was nothing to be done about it, which naturally only made her crankier.

"You been here long?"

[armoredsoul]

[from here]

Al came in a while after Ed, and spotted him on the couch in quick order. He headed over and sat down beside him, indulging himself a little and leaning back against his brother's shoulder. "I think that monster did something to me."

[fullmetalheart]

So much for his sense of calm. Ed opened his eyes to look over at Al, worry in his eyes. "What do you mean?"

He also hoped that Al would somehow not notice his bandaged arm.

[armoredsoul]

"I threw up at breakfast, and there was a mass of hair in it." He looked over, then startled when he saw the bandage on Ed's arm. "Brother, your arm! You weren't hurt last night, what happened?!"

[fullmetalheart]

Dammit. Ed sighed. "I felt something cold grab my arm. Didn't see anything, but it left pretty deep marks. Hearing what you've said, I have the feeling we didn't really get away."

[baniichan]

Well, she would either learn to adapt, or she wouldn't. No one exactly liked having their identity repeatedly invalidated, but no one could afford to fly off the handle every time it happened, either. Besides, Barnaby certainly didn't need the nurses' validation for anything. But as someone who had deliberately revealed his identity to the public, he'd be lying if he said that seeing his hard work wiped off the map didn't add insult to injury.

There was once a time when he would have been shocked to find that Korra apparently didn't recognize him. Now it was par for the course. Of course, these days that was the least of his worries.

"A little over a week now," he answered. Too bad it felt like a year. "From what I understand, not everyone lasts even that long."

There wasn't any point in coddling the girl by trying to make the situation seem less dangerous than it was. Barnaby had no reason to spare her feelings, especially since he was only talking to her in order to get the nurses off of his back. In a place like this, though, he was probably doing her a favor by speaking so candidly.

[armoredsoul]

"I don't think so," Al agreed with a grimace. "It's almost like we're being haunted."

[fullmetalheart]

"The possibility of it being a ghost we fought got brought up over breakfast," Ed agreed.

[armoredsoul]

"With who? Did you see Lloyd?" Al was worried about him, especially with the injuries he'd taken.

[fullmetalheart]

Ed shook his head. "Nope. Right gender though," he said with a sneaky smile. Yes Al, he intends to give you a hard time.

[armoredsoul]

Al gave his brother a look, then elbowed him hard in the ribs.

[fullmetalheart]

Ed yelped. "Hey!"

[armoredsoul]

Al stuck his tongue out. "Quit being an ass, Brother. Who was it?"

[fullmetalheart]

"Turns out that death isn't always permanent here. Scar was glad to see you in your own body instead of as a suit of armor," Ed said with a bratty smile.