damned_institute | Day 25: Intercom, Evening

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Day 25: Intercom, Evening

The intercom clicked on with its usual jingle, the Head Doctor's voice carrying with a bit more authoritative ease than it had earlier.

"Good evening, patients, and I'm pleased to announce that we've finally finished organizing when our new batch of patients will be introduced, and unfortunately, it'll have to be tonight while you're all in bed. Truly sad, that, as I'm sure all of you are eager to see our new faces as soon as possible!

"In any case, the dinner that will be brought to you tonight will be herb-marinated pork roast with buttery corn-on-the-cob and fluffy mashed potatoes. Of course, we have our usual vegetarian salad available to those who request it, along with our regular assortment of drinks."

He paused and sighed. After all, it had been a long day.

"Oh, of course--Some of you may be unhappy to hear that Dr. Crane and Dr. Jiyani will no longer be serving us here at Landel's Institute. For those of you who were scheduled to have sessions with them, we'll be providing a substitute group therapy session in upcoming days. More details on that tomorrow.

"I believe that's all for now. Enjoy your dinner!"

The intercom clicked off.

[ As always, post to this entry with separate threads for each set of roommates. Thanks! ]

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So it wasn't peas this time, but corn. Score! Ashton loved corn on the cob! He wasn't a big fan of getting it stuck in his teeth, but he loved the buttery corny taste.

Sometimes this place wasn't so bad after all, he remembered, as he saw his roommate chilling over there on his bed. It was good to see friends again, and by his fourth day here it seemed like he'd known Axel for a lot longer. That was one of the bonuses of being with someone through hard times - it made for stronger bonds and truer smiles.

"You noticed that the place is filling up too?" he said as his nurse let him away, making his way over to his own bed ~~for once~~ and collapsing over onto it, pulling the tray over to nosh. The tiredness in his eyes showed... seeing the doctor today really took it out of him.

While Axel's mun was busy dying of laughter at Ashton mun's misfortune, the redhead shook his head at the latter's words after the Intercom finally died into silence.

"This isn't normal, even for this place. They were never so keen on introducing this many people, and certainly not in the middle of the night." And when something strange happened in a strange place, then that was never a good sign to begin with. Taking the moment to savor the mashed potatoes in his mouth, Axel began to work on his roast pork, cutting the meat into smaller pieces so he wouldn't have to work on it later.

"So how was your day?"

Ashton's mun, however, was ready to smack Axel's mun in the face - it wasn't funny. Even if it was. Unfortunately, out-of-character relations weren't allowed to spill into in-character relations, so Ashton smiled gently at Axel and then took a big bite of that tasty, tasty corn on the cob while he considered that comment.

"It's kinda like they're preparing for something," he said. With the sheer amount of scary-looking guys around.. Well, he guessed his friend Dias was kind of a scary guy too, but he was at least pretty, and really quite gentle once one got to know him..

He sighed. "It was kinda bad. I spilled some stuff on this guy for, like, the second time in three days. Then Luxord bit my ear. And I had a doctor appointment just now.." He turned his head down to stare at his pork. The appointment had worked him from nervous to utterly depressed to blindly optimistic, and now he just felt tired..

"Bit you in the ear...?" Axel's voice was deadpan as he looked up at his roommate like he'd grown a fish on top of his head. He vaguely wondered if it was safe to leave Ashton on his own in broad daylight, but figured the nurses wouldn't allow anything more anyway. Still, how oblivious did someone have to be to talk about it so casually?

Refusing to relieve the latter of his blatant staring for at least another minute, the redhead attempted to blindly jab at his plate only to curse out when his fork stabbed his hand instead.

"Who'd you have for a doctor?" He finally asked while nursing his arm. "I got some old guy with a cane who's apparently some kind of cynic."

Ashton met Axel's stare with an embarrassed blush, then dropped his gaze and shook his head. It had bothered him at the time, but Ashton was learning to take this sort of thing as it happened, to not get too worked up over it. He was sure that with someone he liked it would be all right, but he wasn't gonna hold his breath on that prospect. The last time he saw Dias, it was .. well, it was more awkward than it could have been. "Yeah.. I .. um, I dunno. He- he, um, kind of pinned me so I couldn't move. I didn't wanna kick his ass cause he's my friend, but -" That was when Axel stabbed himself and cursed, and Ashton looked up. "Are you hurt?"

When he was sure his friend was all right, he answered the question. "Uh.. a pink-haired woman, very short. She told me some pretty terrible stuff, but I felt all right by the end of it. It turns out that in the life they created for me I was some kind of crazy guy who killed kitties and puppies."

He looked back down at his pork, sniffing snobbishly as if he didn't approve. He didn't. "Rena would never have let me do stuff like that once I met her, so I figured it was a load of bologna.

"Why, what was your doctor like?"

"Yeah, my stomach hurts just thinking about it." Axel rolled his eyes before letting a hint of a grin sneak out from the corner of his mouth. Feeling famished, he figured he could cut up the pork as he went along, and so took no time in stuffing two pieces down his throat. Of course it was no surprise that he'd start coughing violently, punching his chest and groaned when he felt the food slide into his stomach.

"I can't say I know too much, seeing as I was forced out just as I was ushered in." He grumbled. "It's a shame too, he looked like a pretty interesting guy."

He flicked a stray kernel off his plate.

"But really, the most interesting people always tend to be the worst out of the bunch, but I say that out of experience."

The sudden throes of coughing made Ashton pop up and half-run over to Axel. After a confused pause, he went and got the tray from his own bed and went over to his roommate's bed to sit next to him. That way he could dislodge any stray food that might get stuck in his windpipe! A dead roommate would be no good to him or anyone else, after all!

"I know how that is. It's like that in the group where I come from, anyway. If you don't consider a guy who's part monster the worst out of the bunch." This seemed kind of funny to him, and he giggled.

"It stinks about your doctor, though. Mine was.. well, an experience, at least! I was afraid she was going to cut me open at first.. she had a big masheen that looked like a weapon, and I heard this scream.." That reminded him that he'd been seeing things and hearing things now. Probably not so good to talk about it anymore.. maybe to Dias, but no one else.

"So.. um." Change the subject. "Whatcha going to do tonight? You look like you're feeling a lot better!"

Axel saw no other choice than to let his roommate sit with him, scooting back to give Ashton some room before he went back to working on his plate. The pork was actually a little too dry for his taste, but as long as it kept him from going hungry then there wasn't any room for complaints.

"I met up with another acquaintance earlier today," Axel started after snickering quietly at the brunet's poor explanation of his doctor, knowing when a subject should be dropped for the sake of the other person. "Me and Xigbar both are going to give him a grand tour of this place, so hopefully we can get something done tonight."

The redhead wasn't counting on it though, especially knowing how his luck had been running ever since he got here.

"But what about you? Going to go with that Dias fellow again?"

"A new acquaintance.. huh? I'm sorry about that."

Ashton paused for a moment, mid-bite. Yes, that was what had bugged him during lunch.. that he knew something or someone was coming. He'd always had a little bit of a sixth sense when it came to this kinda thing.. like something was arriving in his life, or something was going to change. Heck, his entire Landel's lifestyle could be drastically altered after tonight.

He swallowed the big chunk of pork, downing it with some juice. It was odd - he hadn't eaten this voraciously at dinner since he'd come to Landel's. "Yeah.. I'm going to go with him. I wanna inspect the other dormitory blocks for new people. I've got this weird feeling.. that's all."

He remembered what had been on the bulletin earlier, how Fuu hadn't had anyone to stay with tonight. "Uh, sorry for dumping the girl off on you last night. Did it work out with her?"

"Sorry?" Axel laughed. "Nah, if there's someone I wanted here to keep my sanity it's him, so don't worry about it." He waved it off as he reached for his glass to wash down all the food he inhaled. Maybe it was a good idea to inspect the new block just incase any more members decided to pop up without warning. Though considering his luck so far maybe it was best to stay away from them for now.

"And don't worry about it, I volunteered myself last night. And the girl was a lot more entertaining than I thought." Too bad he couldn't play with her hair, but maybe he'll get to see her again sometime later on tonight.

"Is she coming with you guys tonight?"

"She's cute, but she'd only slow us down." He took a triumphant last bite of potatoes, and having cleaned his plate, he hopped off the bed and began his evening stretches. "I kind of feel bad leaving her on her own, but.. ah.. like you said the first day.. traveling with more than three can be a pain. Two's faster, and if we end up picking up someone else accidentally..." He shrugged and straightened out, touching his toes then slipping his hands under them to hold on to his feet. Ashton was more flexible than he looked, apparently - but it was partially because of all the stretching he did. "You know."

That was when the intercom spoke up. "Well, sounds like the first batch's here. I better go check it out. Be careful, okay?" And there was the familiar click of the door. Ashton grabbed his shiny new twin swords and spun them in his hands, then traipsed off into the hallway. He didn't take his coat.. or his flashlight. He didn't even know where his flashlight was.

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Day 25: Intercom, Evening

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