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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Haku looked up from his work and beamed at Artemis. "Good evening!" He was genuinly happy to see the other boy. "I'm so glad to see you survived your night here."

He wondered just how the night had gone for him.

"Well, I'm a bit banged up," he said, holding up his bandaged left hand and scratched up right hand. "But otherwise I'm all right." Artemis examined his hand. "I'll need this later tonight--I hope it's healed already.

"Oh, how was your night?"

"It was very disappointing," Haku admitted. Tonight would be better, he was certain of it. "Shall I take a look at your hands?" He offered a friendly smile.

"Or are you upset over the whole scalpel thing?" If Artemis wanted to stay far, far away from Haku now, he wouldn't be surprised. It had been a rather mean trick to pull. "If you are, I can just give you some of the supplies I have and won't even touch you. Promise." He held up a hand.

"Oh that?" Artemis laughed, "I apologize for being so tense--I was nervous last night, for obvious reasons." He was still a bit tense, but it seemed like Haku meant well. After all, Artemis had pushed him a bit far.

The boy held out his hand and smiled, "Go ahead. I don't know much on the subject of first aid, that's for certain."

"Then I hope it came in handy," Haku said, pleased that there were no hard feelings. He stood from his seat, setting the journal to one side and then went to the closet where he'd stashed his things earlier. With a thoughtful expression, he pulled out a few bottles of antiseptic, a new, clean shirt of his own, and a few older strips of torn cloth.

He walked back over to the other's bed and gestured towards it with a warm smile. "Sit please."

Artemis complied, "Thank you. I never had to do anything like this back home, so hopefully I can learn now." The boy sighed, "And I wish your gift had come in handy. Unfortunately, what attacked me was too small."

[Be right back!]

"I'd be happy to teach you what I can." Haku smiled and kneeled down on the floor, placing the shirt, cloth and bottles on the bed. He reached out and gently took the other's hand with his own, unwrapping it carefully and setting the old bandages down.

He reached up and fingered the hem of his short sleeve shirt, pulling out a thin needle roughly three inches long. He took the bottle and used it to disinfect the needle, then, grabbing Artemis' wrist in a quick grip, pricked his arm with the needle five times in different spots.

The acupuncture spots would help numb the pain and he set about cleaning the wound, smiling slightly to himself.

Artemis raised his eyebrows, obviously not catching what Haku had just done. But whatever it was, he couldn't feel much pain as Haku swabbed the many rips and tears the little dragonflies had left in Artemis' hand.

"That's amazing... pressure points, I assume?"

"Right. Simple acupuncture," Haku explained as he cleaned up the wounds. He finished and then reached for the clean shirt, quickly and efficiently tearing it up into strips and using them to re-wrap the hand in a way that wouldn't hamper movement. His hands were nearly ice-cold.

"If I'd had any power to put behind it, I could use the same moves to heal," and kill, "But since this place has a way with suppressing us all, I have to use what I've got left."

He looked up and smiled as he wrapped. "And I'm pretty sure it only works on humans, so..." He shrugged. "With luck I won't have to use it on anything else."

Artemis nodded with a small frown, "It's very useful. A shame you can't use it on the things that roam the hallways--it would be very useful, I think.

"Did you do the same to yourself? Your hands are freezing... Almost like you have no blood flow there."

Haku smiled. "I have larger needles," he said, finishing tying off the makeshift bandages. "They are much better to use as weapons."

He looked up and smiled at the question. "No. That's natural. I always feel like that."

"Ah, I see. Poor circulation. I know a few people with the same quality." Artemis smiled, filing away the bit of information.

"So you managed to find some weapons? I'm afraid I wasn't able to look at the Patient Possessions room last night--I was sent to find metal for weapons. How those pipes will serve as weapons, I'm not sure still."

"Oh, no. It's not a circulation problem," Haku said, standing up and gathering up his materials.

"A pipe by itself is a useful tool," he began, putting his things away again in the bag, and turning to look at Artemis. "However, there are a few people here that seem to be accomplished metal-workers."

"Then..." Artemis was still smiling, but proceeding with caution, "Why do you suppose it's like that?"

The boy frowned slightly. "But how do they make the pipe into a weapon with no forge or source of heat?"

Haku held up a hand and wiggled his fingers. It almost looked like he'd tell, then he grinned. "That's a secret."

Haku shrugged and sat down on his own bed. "You are thinking in terms of your own reality here." His smile softened. "Think outside of it."

The boy simply smiled, "One of these days I'll figure you out. Maybe not for a while, but one of these days."

Artemis nodded, "That's very true. I haven't heard about anyone with such an extraordinary power, but I've only been here for two days. I don't know nearly enough about the people here."

Haku just smiled wider. "Wonderful," he said. "I really enjoy a challenge."

Haku tilted his head. "I have not met anyone personally, but I have heard enough." He laughed softly. "Of course, there is the possibility that all I've heard is a lie."

Artemis made a noise of annoyance. "It better not be a lie, considering the hell I went through last night. And the hell I'll most likely go through tonight as well..." He sighed. "What are your plans once the doors unlock?"

Reaching up, Haku untied the ribbon again from the braid he was currently wearing and started to undo his hair. "Considering the fact that none have complained about these reported skills so far, I think it's no unreasonable to suggest that it's truth."

He ran his fingers through his hair, brushing it out. "Tonight will most likely be like most of my night have been," he said, tone slightly absent. "I will meet up with Mr. 'Fortune' and continue to gather information about this facility. Possibly be attacked at some point." He frowned at the state of his hair, then began to gather it all up into a bun once more.

"And your own plans?"

"Always a good plan. If you find anything interesting, I'm always willing to make a trade." He gave Haku a very business-like smile.

"As for my plans, I'm meeting with a man named Abarai-san. He's going to teach me basic defense skills. Although," He snickered, "I must admit, I don't think he'll be too pleased to see me."

Haku gave Artemis a look that clearly said he was no stranger to business transactions and smiled. "I will keep that in mind."

He titled his head curiously. "Oh? And why wouldn't he be pleased to see you? It's been my experience that you want stay on your allies good side."

The boy shrugged, "He wasn't himself. I goaded him until he had something else to think about besides whatever happened to him." Artemis smirked at Haku and tapped his temple once, "Anger redirection. I wrote something on the subject a while ago.

"Abarai-san is my ally, and a good one at that. He can't help me if he's too busy moping and refusing to face whatever is bothering him. So I figured, he doesn't know me very well, I'm very good at making people angry... why not goad him until he sounds like himself again?" Artemis smiled pleasantly.

"Granted he'll probably strike me or make an example of me, or just take out his anger--but that's alright. It's just the way humans work."

Haku laughed, muffling the sound behind his hand in a very feminine gesture. "Oh, yes. I am very familiar with anger redirection." It had been something he'd used on quite a few occasions to stay alive. Artemis, however, had the look of someone who hadn't had much to worry about before now.

His reaction to a mild threat had been... interesting, to say the least.

"It's very kind of you to want to help someone like that Artemis," he offered, still smiling. "May I ask about your other skills? Beyond your abilities at gathering information, and your obvious intelligence?"

Haku hadn't missed the other boy's dropping of facts that brought such things to light. It bordered on boasting...

Artemis blinked. Kind? Was he really being kind? Up until now, Artemis just believed that Renji's psychotic note annoyed him. In fact, Renji's adamant refusal for help annoyed him even more--or so he thought.

"I wasn't doing it to be kind," Artemis said quickly, "He just needed to focus on something else--otherwise what good would it have done me to have a quivering pile of Jello teach me self-defense?" Yeah, that's what it was.

"My other skills?" Artemis said, slightly surprised. "Oh! I found out why they took me. Well, most likely." How would Haku react to this? He didn't know, but it was worth a shot. "I stole fairy magic before I came here, and I still have some left, I believe."

Haku smiled at Artemis' denial. It was cute. And, not for the first time, Haku wondered what he would be like had he grown up with a different life. Would he be like this boy? No matter. If he'd had that life, he would not have met Zabuza-san, and that was all that mattered now.

"Really?" Haku didn't seem shocked or confused by the revelation. He looked thoughtful. "Are you certain that's why they took you?" If he still had some skills here, he might be more useful than Haku had originally guessed. He wondered if he could be convinced into joining up with him...

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