damned_institute | Day 27: Lunch

Entry tags:

Day 27: Lunch

Renji wasn't so certain what this grilled cheese thing was all about, but he liked the sound of some soup. Even if it was strange western soup, well... there wasn't anything bad people could do to soup, in his experience. His good mood was starting to fray at the edges, a little, from the strain of dealing with the Ichimaru issue, and even more from what had been on the bulletin board earlier.

He'd never had difficulty simply writing something before. But...

He shook his head as he entered the line. He didn't want to think about it. He wanted to hold on to the tenuous equilibrium he'd managed to find.

Renji got himself a large bowl of soup, water, and even one of those sandwiches, just to try it. Old habit, recently awakened, had him over to one side of the cafeteria, where the fewest people possible would have the chance to pass behind him. He sat there with his back toward the wall and started eating.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

(Daemon! Nope, it's perfectly alright.)

Kain glanced from the rest of the room to the man standing not too far away. The assessing gaze was quick, but he hesitated a moment when he met Daemon's eyes. Gold. Sort of the same color as his own. And there was something else, a sort of familiarity, but he slid that reaction to the back of his mind.

"No. Go ahead," he replied after looking back down, shuffling to the side a bit to allow Daemon more room.

"Thank you," he replied with a small hint of a smile, sliding into the seat next to the young man.

"My name is Daemon," he added, introducing himself with a sideways glance. "Have you been here long?"

Distracted by the small, not yet a fight a few tables over, Kain frowned slightly. The young woman had managed quite the tackle, and the atmosphere around them looked pretty tense. Past history, or had someone said the wrong thing?

"Ah..." He dragged himself back to the conversation at hand. "No? Just after breakfast, I guess." He hesitated, taking a few sips from his soup. He had given Jack the name the nurse called him for no reason other than not caring what people called him, but with the full story he wasn't sure if he should keep using it. Did it matter? Or would people think he was being sneaky?

"The nurse called me Aaron Hamilton. You can call me Kain, though. It doesn't matter."

"Kain would be your real name, then, I take it?" Daemon spoke, taking a bite of his sandwich and casting a brief curious glance at the tiff. Had Surreal been here, he was sure she would have been smack in the middle of it. The thought brought a smile to his lips and the faintest pang of homesickness.

"You've not been here long, then," Daemon spoke again, turning his attention back to the boy. "Has someone spoken to you about this place, and what happens after nightfall?"

He nodded, propping his head up to give Daemon another look. "As real as it can be. It could be that I am Aaron Hamilton here. Like I said, it doesn't really matter." It would matter to a lot of people, he thought, being called something different. But in the end, a name was just a name.

"Mostly. We're supposed to be insane," he started, smiling slightly, "and during the day everything's pretty normal. But during the night, things get dangerous." That was mostly like home.

"That seems to be the basic gist of it," Daemon replied with a chuckle, meeting the boy's gaze. "I've only been here a few days myself, but dayshifts are rather dull and quiet, while nightshifts are... not so much."

"If you've no skill in fighting, I'd advise you to find someone who is. The things we've encountered after dark an things best not underestimated. And they can take the form of friends and allies at times, so be careful who you trust."

He glanced over at the fight in the making again, thoughtful. "Not dull and quiet all the time." Eating seemed to be taking a back seat to talking and trying to watch everyone, and he took the brief break in conversation to spoon up more soup. "I think I can take care of myself," he said absently. "And trusting anyone, even during the day -- " Kain cut himself off, letting that speak enough for him. This place really wasn't all that different from home, and trust was a rare thing to find in the Night Society.

"What's your home like?" he asked, following the path his mind was taking.

"Nothing like this," Daemon answered, accepting the boy's comment about being careful. "Nothing like where most come from, from what I've heard. There are things - technology and food, among other things - that I have never heard of. It was recently torn apart by war, but when I left it, it was beginning to heal again."

"What about yours?" he countered, directing the question back at the young man.

"It's a little disappointing, but nothing so far has stood out as being different." He yawned, covering his mouth with his hand. "Ah, hmm, it's hard to describe without knowing what your home's like," he said, tousling his hair as he stared off into space, thinking.

"We live on an island called Japan," he started. "There are trains and automobiles for getting around. Trains are basically like more traditional carriages, except there's a lot of them lined up and attached together. Trains run on tracks and stop at certain places. Automobiles are like metal carriages, only they run on different kinds of fuel." He hoped that made sense.

"I have heard them spoken of," Daemon replied with a nod. "We have nothing of that sort in my realms. Carriages, yes, drawn by horse. Or those with magic ride the webs. I've a friend I've met here who also comes from Japan, although it could be a different one. From the tales I've heard, just because people know of similar places doesn't mean they are the same, or even the same time, for that matter."

"Magic? Webs?" Looking nothing but interested (if a little sleepy), Kain continued to watch Daemon, forgetting about the remains of his soup entirely. "Mm, that's what Captain Harkness said. Different dimensions, different time-lines. He also said that it could cause problems, though, bringing so many people from different worlds together, or the same people from different times. Rifts. I wonder why they're risking it."

"Maybe they think they can control it, like they believe they can control everyone they've gathered here," Daemon answered. "They are either extremely powerful or extremely stupid, to underestimate so many."

He smiled as he answered the question regarding travel in his own world, knowing most might find it outdated, if they had such things as carriages that could move on their own. "The webs are what connect the realms where I come from, and the regions within each realm. Only those of the Blood - those with magic - can ride them."

"They might be stupid and powerful," he pointed out, grinning briefly. "Especially if they're underestimating anyone."

Kain couldn't quite hide the look of surprise at the explanation. "So those of the Blood hold the most power?" he asked slowly. "How fast can one go on the webs?" He paused, then smiled faintly. "I'm asking a lot of questions. I'm sorry. It's just that this is sort of fascinating for me."

"It's alright, I don't mind explaining," Daemon replied with a chuckle. "The Blood, where I come from, are divided into power levels. The darker a power, the more powerful the Witch or Warlord is, and the faster webs they can ride. We can ride a web with an equal or lesser shade of power than our own, or we can ride in a carriage directed by someone of a darker power linked to the web."

"And I think that is more likely the case," he added in response to the intelligence of those in charge. "It often is."

It really was interesting, the way similarities could be drawn between worlds. Aside from traveling by webs, what Daemon described was a lot like the Night Society. No wonder the man felt oddly familiar and yet not at all. "Are there fewer people the darker the power?"

"Ah, yeah. Unfortunately power usually attracts stupid people," he said, and then shook his head, "or powerful people are stupid. All it takes is one to ruin or break the system."

"Yes," Daemon nodded, lips quirking slightly at the boy's quickness. He didn't mistake it for luck. "There's only a handful of truly dark powers left compared to the rest of the Blood."

"The man who runs this place is clever. If he is even a man. From what I've heard, no one's ever seen him. He merely taunts us vocally at night. But he will have to slip up somewhere eventually. He's gathered too many powerful and volatile people here to keep things running smoothly for long."

He hadn't been very subtle with that last question, and as he thought back on it he knew he had given something away. Still, they were both talking in general terms, and Kain thought it was vague enough to not be too concerned.

He hoped. Finding out information like this wasn't his strong suit. That was Hanabusa's job.

"Mystery is power, too." His brows furrowed. "Speculation, rumors -- those can build and make someone out to be more than they are. But if there's taunting, then he is underestimating us in general, and that means he is just a person." Powerful, but just a person.

"It's more like he's taunting the man on the radio," Daemon mused thoughtfully, then realized that might be confusing to someone who hadn't been here overnight yet.

"There's two of them, you see. The man in charge, and another, who speaks through these things called radios. He gives hints on how to find things and where to go and where to avoid. The doctor and he taunt each other, it seems, though perhaps the head doctor merely likes to taunt any who will listen."

Of all the things Kain had heard that day, two men taunting each other over radios was at the top of the "strange" list. "Ah," he started, then frowned slightly. "I'm not sure what to say to that. I guess I'll have to wait until I hear it for myself."

Kain rubbed his cheek with the heel of his hand, turning thoughtful. "How big is this place?"

"I'm not entirely certain," Daemon replied, shaking his head. "We're kept mostly to the downstairs here, during the day. There's another wing on the other side of the lounge that I'm assuming mirrors our room layouts. Then there's upstairs, which is just as large and spread out. The grounds I've only seen brief glimpses of, and the doctor and radio last night also mentioned a basement below us, which sounds rather dangerous. Although most things are dangerous here after dark, so that's not surprising."

That was troubling. He had only caught a glimpse of the rooms, but if there really was that many patients...

Kain's eyes swept the lunch room, frowning in thought. Too many unknowns. And just from two conversations he already knew things could be vastly different from one world to the next. "Hn," he muttered after a while. "Does everyone have their own assigned room? I'm guessing most get roommates since I saw two beds."

"Yes, from what I've seen there are three men's wings and one female. I'm not sure how many rooms each section holds, but each room holds two patients."

"If you want to know more about the layout, there is a young man by the name of Hitsugaya here. He is very short with white hair and green eyes. He puts notes on the bulleting board for what the patients call the arts and crafts group, though it's really a safe name for the groups set up for fighting and exploring. He has maps and more detailed information on the place, although they are not perfect yet."

Now that Daemon mentioned it, he did notice that a lot of the patients were men or boys. "I wonder why they haven't taken more females," he mused out loud. Less necessary? Easier to predict? He pushed the thought to the back of his mind after a moment, figuring it wasn't too important.

"Thanks for the information. I don't know if I'd join a group like that, though -- I work better on my own." Or with his own kind. Humans were just too loud when it came to traveling through the dark.

"I don't know. I am relieved they haven't. However, the females here are as unique as many of the males in their abilities, so maybe there is some reason behind it," Daemon mused thoughtfully.

"Just be careful about being on your own after dark. Even finding one other person to travel with is better than nothing. The monsters at night are considerably hard to evade and kill, even if one is extremely skilled at such things." Daemon's golden eyes glittered as he met the young man's gaze, hoping Kain wasn't underestimating this place or what it was about to throw at him.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Day 27: Lunch

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject