damned_institute | Day 26: Cafeteria, Lunch

Scar felt cold and sick, though more the latter than the former. As he rose from his bed, he didn't quite know which way was up, and the artificial light coming from overhead seemed as hot and as blinding as the Ishbal sun.

His head hurt, but that was nothing new. After all, the last thing he remembered from the night before was fighting a homunculus off of Lust and then having a conversation about events best left forgotten. The man hadn't been his brother. He just hadn't. And if what Lust had said they'd done to her was true...

Scar stood with shakiness that he wanted to attribute more to a bizarrely weakened physical state than a mental one. Had he been knocked out by some kind of lurking monster before the morning had come? He felt as if he had been out for days, being a veteran of such circumstances, though as he took the practiced role of being an obedient follower behind the nurse and orderlies that came for him, it didn't seem as if much had changed.

This place was probably just playing tricks on him again, and he was tired of being the man left out of the loop. He grabbed some food he didn't really care for and sat down, not seeing anyone he knew already seated. On one hand, he wished he had someone to talk to, and on the other, it scared him that he was no longer used to being alone.

He dug his fork into his food and tried to block out any related thought.

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Soubi had read the bulletin board. Soubi had watched it. And Soubi had taken in details and descriptions. But even if he hadn't, the sight of someone handling a cigarette would have been more than enough to catch his attention, no matter how discrete they tried to be. You got an extra sense when it came to these things.

It wasn't that he was a constant smoker. It was a ritual, not an addiction. only...now that he was unable to smoke as he pleased, it became unbearable. And, after this morning, he could really do with it.

He approached the table and sat down, offering a smile.
"Forgive me if I'm not wanted but..." he eyed the lit cigarette and could have sworn he felt some sort of gravitational pull towards it... "Is there any chance I could steal one?"

Naoe smiled good-naturedly, though honestly he felt tired and worn out. "Oh no," he said, still sure to keep his polite tone. "I wouldn't want anything except for perhaps an open sharing of information about this place, an alliance I suppose. Think of this as my good will offering." He looked up when the blond approached them.

He frowned slightly at the newcomer's question, concerned over his dwindling supply. "I have only one pack left. I'm willing to give you a couple, but I can also point you both towards the boy that traded with me for the ones that I have." His smile returned. "He likes to do business so I'm sure he'll find something that you can offer him in return. He took simple information from me."

Fair enough.

"I've only found a few things out about this place, so I don't know how useful they would be. But fine, if that's what you're looking for." Sanzo didn't have too much of a problem regarding passing information liket his along - he just usually couldn't be bothered with the other patients.

But since he was asking for something relatively harmless compared to the sutra or the monkey, it didn't seem too steep a price to pay for the cigarettes.

Sanzo glanced at the newcomer. The patient had to have sharp eyes, catching the exchange.

So some kid's passing these out?

The monk took a test bite of the food. "Somehow I'm not surprised that some people are profiting off this."

"A couple, just one, the guys name. Anything," Soubi said, sounding tired but with a strained for of amusement. He'd already looked for Ritsuka, seen nothing and then spotted these guys. The lack of his little Master was going to drive him up the wall. If Ritsu had touched a single hair on the boys head, Soubi was going to destroy him. Slowly. And Painfully.

"What you two know about this place? Have you been here long?" he asked.

"The boy's name is Haku. He has a feminine appearance and scars on his eyes that he gained while being at this place. He is over there." Naoe politely pointed out Haku to the two of them. He reached into his pocket and pulled out two cigarettes and handed them to Soubi carefully. "We are not allowed to smoke them inside, so I suggest you wait until the next time you are outside."

He looked to Sanzo, allowing the other monk to respond to the question before he continued.

Haku. The one that the monk couldn't be sure was a girl or boy, but it looked like the question had just been answered. Sanzo had only spoken with him once, but the encounter had been one of the least painful ones here.

Sanzo wouldn't have pegged Haku for the enterprising sort. But the kid seemed intelligent enough, and it was the smart thing to do.

Tachibana was looking at him for an answer.

"I've been here for nearly two weeks." Two weeks that he could've been making progress west. "I know well enough that any attempts to escape during the day will fail: I tried shooting the orderlies with a gun earlier and the bullet swerved to avoid them."

"He's cute," Soubi said with a surprised smile. he was no Ritsuka but he was a perfect example of androgyny, even with the scars.

"Thank you," he said, nodding to the man and taking them. He rolled his fingers over them as he put them into his pocket, unable to stop himself from lifting his hand to his face and inhaling the scent.
It had only been last night since his last. As far as he knew.

"So there's some sort of spell system here? Does it mess with time?"

"That is the theory," Naoe offered to Soubi's questions. "It must be something. A man that I knew from before seems to think that he is from a different time than me, and I tend to believe him." Of course it was only a few months difference, but it was still enough to cause Naoe concern. "There also seems to be some kind of spell in place to stop our varied abilities." He seemed slightly unconcerned about all these things. His tone was conversational, as if they were talking about the weather.

So the time lapse was more wide-spread than he thought. Sanzo had just thought it had affected Hakkai and Goku somehow.

"A spell is possible. Or a barrier that dampens them while we're within the boundaries." That one seemed the most efficient... if the Head Doctor had anything to directly do with it. It was also possible that this area already had those qualities and he'd swooped in to capitilize on them.

Still, it bothered him now that he'd had it confirmed. Had they really been pulled from different times, or just had memories erased? Because tampering with the memories and wiping them didn't explain Hakkai and his memories of Hazel.

Then there was that visitor he'd gotten earlier, the one who looked and acted and felt exactly like his dead master. And if they were able to pull people from different time periods, that very well could have been the real Koumyou.

Sanzo's mouth tightened.

Had they really found a way to bring back people from the dead?

Well then. People were willing to speak of strange things in his presence. It was strange enough that these men reacted so easily to the idea of spells and magic, despite having no striking energy. Neither of them were fighters.

But they also believed there was a separation in time.
"Do you believe there are other worlds then?" he asked.

Day 26: Cafeteria, Lunch

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