Day 69: Intercom, Evening

[damned_intercom]

Patients might hear the wind blowing outside as the intercom turned on and they were gradually moved from the courtyard or somewhere surrounding the Sun Room and back to their rooms. The wind made a howling noise, something that almost seemed to hint at what was to come when darkness hit and night began.

But for now, everything was as pleasant as it always was during the day, with the Head Doctor chiming in to explain what was on the menu this evening.

"I'm sure you all had a nice, relaxing day as you continue on your journey toward good health, but now it's time to head back to your rooms and have dinner with your roommate before lights out. Tonight we're serving some seasoned salmon with rice pilaf on the side, and for those of you who are vegetarians we have a black eyed pea soup along with a dinner roll.

"Whatever you're having tonight, eat up and get some rest! We'll be seeing you again tomorrow!"

The nurses didn't say much about the fact that some patients had roommates who had been missing for a few days now. Normally there would be someone to take their place, but that didn't seem to be the case for a few people. The mystery behind that was clearly one that was going to remain unanswered, but at least the patients had a hot plate of food waiting for them on their desks.

[ Respond with your character's room number in the subject line. Check here if you don't know which room your character is in. ]

Comments

Re: M44

[earthling]

Although Claude had a lot on his mind by the time dinner rolled around, he admit to admit that he was glad to get a chance to eat before nightfall. Why he wasn't feeling weak after sleeping a whole day and missing out on basic necessities such as food was beyond him. But he figured there was no reason not to take extra care to get proper nutrition over the next couple of days.

When his nurse brought him to his room, he was glad to find Lloyd was still around. With how often roommates seemed to come and go, Claude knew better than to take his presence for granted.

He sure seemed awfully happy. As soon as the nurse closed the door behind her, Claude regarded Lloyd with a curious expression while he moved toward his desk.

"Hey," he greeted. "What's up?"

Re: M44

[redcladidealist]

"Hey, Claude," Lloyd greeted his roommate, still feeling relatively pleased. He grinned and held up a forkful of food by way of explanation. Claude already knew about Lloyd's preference, but in case he'd forgotten... "No tomatoes in it!" And with that, he happily stuffed the fork in his mouth, chewed for a moment, and...

...and stopped, a funny look crossing his face. Without swallowing, he stuck a finger inside his mouth, fishing around until he pulled out... a hair? A long strand of black hair that was most definitely not his. "Ugh, how'd that get in there?" And why did he feel like he was forgetting something very important? With a frown, he tried to pin down why he was suddenly feeling uneasy.

Wait. Wait a minute. He blinked and focused back on Claude, momentarily distracted. "Hey, you okay? You were asleep for a pretty long time." Asleep before Lloyd even got to his room last night, and still asleep when Lloyd's nurse came to take him to breakfast this morning.

Re: M44

[earthling]

Claude blinked. No tomatoes. Right. He had almost forgotten that Lloyd had a pretty strong reaction to those things. Come to think of it, lunch must have been a special kind of hell for him if he hated them so much. No wonder he was beaming.

Of course, that wasn't nearly as surprising as the long strand of hair that Lloyd pulled out of his mouth. His eyebrows shot up toward his bangs, betraying his shock. Oh, ew, he nearly said, but he thankfully held his tongue. That was still really gross, though. In fact, that little discovery very well may have killed his appetite.

The real kicker, however, was the way Lloyd could move so easily from that, to asking after Claude. Tomatoes in his food? Call the police, it's poison! A long, dark hair in his mouth, though? Eh, no biggie.

And some people thought Claude was a weirdo.

"Um, yeah, I feel okay," he managed to assure him after a brief pause. "More than okay, actually! Thanks for asking. And, uh, sorry if I worried you..."

Seemed like he was saying that a lot today.

[redcladidealist]

Hey, hair sometimes fell in food while it was being prepared. It wouldn't even be the weirdest thing that had wound up in his food before, not even counting Dwarven Pot-Luck Surprise. Normally, a strand of hair wouldn't have even fazed him that much. It was just this time it felt like there was something...

"Do you normally sleep in that much if they let you?" Lloyd asked, curious, as he scooped up another forkful of food. Almost absentmindedly, he glanced at it - and stopped, brow furrowing with frustration. Dammit, not another hair. He picked this one out, too, and at least he'd spotted this one before it ended up in his mouth.

Wait a minute. Hair...? Long, black hair like-?

A chill raced down his spine, and he turned, searching the room. The hair was like that monster's. Dammit, did it follow me into here, too?