damned_institute | Day 27: Lunch

[Healer Meeting]

Momo finally made it to the third table on the left and sat her tray down. She took a moment to finger-comb through her hair, working out the few tangles, and then wound it up into her customary bun. The shinigami had a coughing fit that wracked her body and she sat heavily in her seat feeling very cold and wishing she'd kept Signum's coat given how cold it was in the cafeteria.

The shinigami took a couple spoonfuls of the soup, greatful for it's soothing warmth as she waited. She was already later for her own meeting. Did everyone else decide to sit somewhere else once they saw the table was empty? She hoped not.

Tamaki had needed to wash his hands and get cleaned up from Arts and Crafts before lunch. That glue was sticky! As it was, he bounded in to lunch on the late side himself. He was too nervous to even eat, and ignored getting food completely. Instead he bounded over to the designated table where he was supposed to be meeting with the other doctors and healers here at the Institute.

"Ah, fair maiden!" he announced, seeing the young woman who was sitting there. "Forgive my sudden intrusion, but is this where the healers are meeting?"

He knew was a bit late, he hoped he hadn't missed it!

Raine decided to assume she'd be able to eat--missing so much of breakfast helped. (Also the thought of how Reinforce would react to learning Raine was probably losing weight at this point.) She barely tasted her food some meals--too bad, really, since the food was actually good.

"Hinamori Momo?" she asked the woman, putting her tray on the table next to the woman's. "I'm Raine Sage." It was good to finally meet her, as well as everyone else; she nodded to Tamaki, at least. He seemed eager to learn, so hopefully she would stop nearly twitching every time he spoke to her. To think, she was actually slightly worried about Zelos, too...

She hoped the turnout would be better than this, but simply talking to Momo was something.

Reinforce tailed Raine and Kratos over to Momo's table. She'd been planning on taking Raine there to begin with, but her roommate had met what seemed to be an old friend, so she had held off... and in the end, Raine had located Momo on her own.

So she arrived just after Raine and seated herself next to her. "My roommate," she appended to Raine's greeting to Momo. But for Kratos they were all familiar faces, and he was the friend of a friend, so for her it was as informal a meeting as she expected to have here. Not that new faces were unwelcome. She did like those quite a bit...

Momo stood when Tamaki arrived, the young boy's exuberance a bit overwhelming in his greeting, and bowed politely to him. She'd seen him speaking with integra a few days ago, so she was aware of whom he was.

"Greetings, Suou-san," she said with a warm smile. "I am Vice Capatain--"

And the rest of her introduction was given when Raine spoke up. She smiled at Raine, remembering the minor information she'd been able to glean about the woman via the bulletin board and confirmed her identity to the woman.

"Yes, as I was telling Suou-san, I am Vice Captain Hinamori Momo of the Gotei 13. Or, as my group is going by here, Arts & Crafts. It is a pleasure to meet you, Sage-sensei," she said with a respectful bow. Her eyes turned to the half-elf's roommate and her smile broadened a bit. "Good to see you again, Reinforce-san."

Momo returned to her seat and took the group in. A part of her was disappointed to not see Hakkai or MOMO there, but given MOMO's previous night, it didn't surprise her that the girl was keeping to herself. As for Hakkai...

"I'm afraid I was a little preoccupied at the beginning of lunch by another matter and arrived late myself, so we may have lost a few people," she said with a weary smile. "I was hoping to see both Cho-san and MOMO-chan, but it seems they had other thoughts."

Turning to Tamaki as Momo assumed being roommates Reinforce had explained a lot to Raine, she said, "Suou-san, I am trying to gather the healers we have here in Landel's into their own group, much like Arts & Crafts and Cooking, to give the non-military oriented prisoners a place to go as well as an organizing of those with healing abilities. You've already begun this, a step ahead of me, with the Saint Francis Aide Club. What I would like to do, if you are amiable to it as well as up to the task, is to continue this process further by incorporating those with mystical healing powers into your group."

Momo paused for a long moment. "Especially tonight. There will be a great need for healers easily available," the shinigami said, her gaze flickering over at Reinforce for a moment.

Tamaki couldn't help but have a small pang of something. This was the only thing he could do. It was his project, and he was very proud of it. And after last night, he couldn't help but worry about having his toes stepped on and being pushed aside. Especially when none of the current club had any magical powers at all. And they were still learning.

And he knew that anyone and everyone who could heal would be needed. Because so many people got hurt, and if they were all organized...

Some of his exuberance went out of him. He sat down and had a far more sober look on his face.

"I'll need a list of all of their abilities, in that case," Tamaki said, finally. He couldn't very well organize them without knowing that. "And...their promise that even though all our members right now are young, that they'll listen to us and respect us and work with us, and not ignore us or dismiss us." Because it wasn't just about him. It was about the twins and Sheska and Kyon....

They weren't fighters. They didn't have very many special talents. And he knew he and the twins had been drifting and feeling lost and useless. But they had this and it was theirs and he wasn't about to let anyone take it away from them.

They'd already had that happen too many times in this place.

Raine softened a little; she could guess some of how Tamaki felt. "I promise," she said. "I've learned that age has little to do with ability or usefulness; we need everyone's help here. If there are things you need to know, we can teach you." All right, she and Reinforce had pushed them aside the night before, but Kyon was bleeding madly enough so magic was the best solution, and all bets were off when someone was that badly hurt.

Considering, she opened her journal and tore out a page, then wrote her name and a brief explanation of what she could do, magically. She couldn't promise Tamaki would stay the leader in any sense, but he would still be charge of something, at least, if she had anything to say about it.

Nobody liked feeling unwanted or useless, and she wasn't lying; here they really did need everyone.

Rein, for her part, felt a small pang of guilt. She'd been so concerned with making a show of strength, taking command to mask her own weakness, that she hadn't thought for a second that the others in the room might need to prove their own ability more than they needed to see hers. Was she that prideful?

Or did she, as she'd become increasingly worried since meeting Amaterasu, simply lack the empathy necessary to be a boon to the spirits of others? The emotions she'd experienced in her lives had been strong, but unnuanced, and she was used to interacting only with people who were deeply connected to her, whose feelings were her feelings. Dedication wasn't enough if she couldn't understand those she was supposed to be supporting...

She closed her eyes. If she was at a disadvantage in that respect, she needed to be more careful. That at least should be easy for her. She had the mind of a Device as well as a human.

But there was business at hand, and her aversion to lingering too long on anything that hinted of doubt, that might paralyze, was strong as ever. She glanced at Raine and Momo in turn.

"Raine is a more efficient healer than I. You can better use me in combat." Up until now she'd stayed with Raine to protect her and make sure her healing was available to whoever needed it... but as much as it pained her to think of leaving the woman's side, if Raine was going to be spending her nights in the safe confines of a room, she was no longer needed in that capacity.

Until then, Kratos had stayed out of the conversation; he had only come for the sake of observing and perhaps learning more about the Institute. However, this healing group did interest him, even if he was not, as he professed, a healer by nature. It seemed that he might have found that something worthwhile he had been wanting to get around to.

"Miss Sage, could I trouble you for something to write with and on?" he asked quietly. "I'm afraid I have nothing on me at the moment."

It was almost like seeing a bright flower wilt in the sudden onset of a storm. Momo felt really bad as she obviously did not communicate properly to Tamaki. She had no intention of taking any of this away from him. He did it first and it wasn't as if she could leave Arts & Crafts and take up this new mantle. Though when Raine and Reinforce both spoke up, the shinigami got a feeling that Tamaki's desires were as a result from something that occurred between the three at the table that weren't death gods.

Momo took a deep breath and focused on Tamaki. "Suou-san, this is your project. I have no intention of taking any control away from you. I am shinigami and I have responsibilities and duty that I cannot forgo. I am nothing more than a source of information and support to the one that takes the mantle of leadership for this collection of healers upon his shoulders. As I said in a previous meeting, I may be the strongest healer of the shinigami, but I am a warrior first and foremost."

"If you want this responsibility, I will support it. Abarai-fukutaichou has great faith in you and thus so do I. I will not 'step on your toes' as many human like to say. As for your conditions, if any healers come through me to you, I cannot make the demands of loyalty upon them as you ask. That is for you to do yourself." It was important that Tamaki make that distinction and step up as a leader. "But I will relay the need to be open with healing abilities."

"As for myself, when I can aide you I am capable of healing anything short of missing limbs and diseases. I may be shinigami, death being my realm, but I am unable to ressurect the dead. Nor would I if I could."

Momo looked to Reinforce. "If you wish to join Arts & Crafts or Cooking, that is your choice, but I personally believe that just as a warrior needs a healer's support, a healer needs a warrior's support. Depending on the situation, someone may need to stand between a monster and the healer as she takes care of the injured. Or if an aide station was set up, say on the second floor, escort protection as well as clearing out a room requires a strong arm."

"I am simply a facilitator here, Suou-san and Sage-sensei," Momo said knowing she was repeating bits of information Reinforce already knew. "This is yours. I am here as needed."

Momo looked toward the paper Raine had written upon curiously and then nodded at it. "May I, Sage-sensei?"

And then the man that had been hovering around spoke up. "May I have your name, sir?"

"Thank you. I've already taken up the position as leader and taken this responsibility," Tamaki said, trying to sound firm. He was asking for adult responsibility, he had to conduct himself as an adult.

"No one else had, and I saw so many of my friends hurt and injured... And I'm not a warrior. Neither are the rest of us that have already joined. We can't fight, and we aren't good at puzzles, so I thought this would be a way for us to help." He felt he should explain his reasonings for this. "And I only mentioned my conditions because I thought it best to be up front with everything. I know I'm not the only one who's been ignored or left behind or pushed out of the way because I'm young and because I come from a place where I haven't seen war or hardships or things like that. And I do need to learn," he went on, turning to Raine. "But I am learning and willing to learn more."

He paused a moment to catch his breath. "But what I do have experience in is organizing and leading. That is what I did back home. And on a much, much larger scale than this. That's why I need to know who can do what - to divide and delegate properly." Which he was sure they probably knew, but he wanted to prove that he really did know what he was doing.

"We're working out of my room right now, but if we have enough...." he paused, thinking. "If we have enough healers - of all types - perhaps we could set up stations in both the men's wing and the women's wing for right now. Evenly divided if possible...."

He really wished he had Kyouya with him, even if only to nod at him in agreement. He'd feel so much better knowing his best friend (and the smartest person he knew) agreed and approved.

Raine passed Kratos a spare pen and piece of paper before she looked at Reinforce. "I'd rather stay together, if we can. It may not be practical every night, but we'll see." She was used to being by Reinforce's side at night... and as the woman had been her first friend here, she wanted to stay there.

She gave Momo the paper she'd written her abilities on and added, "More than one station makes sense." It gave them places to store things, and injured people would know where to go.

It might take a while to arrange much, but they could do this.

Reinforce was torn. If they moved as Momo suggested, setting up forward aid stations, her usefulness to them as a dual-role mage would be obvious. She could continue her current job of protecting the healers, only expanded to a larger, more functional group. And she would remain with Raine...

But that seemed to be Momo's idea, not Tamaki's. If Tamaki continued to run his operation out of his room- which, safe haven that it was, had considerable merits as a care site- she could do more 'in the field.' Remaining in a room that already had a more skilled magical healer and a swarm of eager young EMTs-in-training would be a waste of her considerable destructive potential. And she held no illusions that there was not need for, and good to be done, by her darker gifts...

And that seemed to be what Tamaki planned on doing. She glanced again at Raine. "Raine... I need to do what she would want. Help as many people as I can."

She didn't want to be reminded of how things had ended with Hayate, shouldn't have been... but nonetheless, she was.

"Kratos Aurion." He said as he accepted the pen and paper from Raine. Scribbling down a brief description of the extent of his healing magic, Kratos folded the slip neatly in half.

"Miss Sage is a far more competent healer than I, but I will be willing to act as one in the case of an emergency. It would be impossible, though, for me to be in that role for an entire night. I am not yet sure of the limitations I may have on my magical abilities, but I should at best be able to handle most wounds." Admittedly, the sword was more to his liking, and Kratos could already tell that his body would not be able to tolerate his use of magic after only one or two times, healing or not. The fact that he was still recuperating from injuries made his mana situation all the more dangerous.

"I think, as another has voiced, that I would be best suited for combative purposes, but I will leave that to you to plan how best to make use of my skills." This was aimed at Tamaki; he guessed that Momo was trying to act more as an advisor and not a leader.

The shinigami nodded in response to Kratos' introduction. She then took the paper from Raine and read it over as she listened to Tamaki. She nodded to him. "Even those that have been in leadership positions for decade, centuries even, still have things to learn. I certainly do and I'm much older than I look," she said.

"I like your plans of having multiple stations set up once you have the numbers at your disposal. Everyone needs a place to belong, a way to feel helpful and do what they can to aide all of our causes." She pursed her lips a moment. "Compassion is sometimes hard to come by here."

Momo slid the paper with Raine's outline over to Tamaki. With Kratos' admission to go along with Reinforce's that he was better suited for combat made the shinigami a little less happy with the potential members for Tamaki's organization. If those that could heal but were yet warriors, like herself, yet not bound by duty as she was decided to join the more militaristic organizations, there would be very few with actual healing power to aide Tamaki.

This thought lead her to brainstorm the possibility of setting up patrols, of a sort, with the more combat-oriented healers to traverse the institute as a sort of mobile healing unit. Like the Fourth Division only with less healing ability and more fighting ability. But this was Tamaki's project and she'd made her own skill and knowledge known to him. She wanted to be an adviser to him, but she couldn't force her views upon him; a proper adviser did nothing of the sort.

"Your thoughts, Suou-san? I have a plethora of ideas available given my experience should you wish my advise, but this.." Momo searched for a human phrase to help convey her point. "This is your show."

Eventually she would get to the subject of tonight's experimentation. She could wait a bit longer before confirming the healers' placement for the night.

Oh my. This was quite a great deal of thinking, and he hadn't bothered with food. Tamaki pursed his lips and tapped them with a finger. He really did have to prove himself here and now or no one would ever take him seriously again.

Thank goodness Hikaru wasn't here!

"With our numbers what they are now," he said, carefully, choosing each word with precision, "I don't know if we're ready to start setting up stations where there's a potential to be attacked. Maybe... maybe the people who can both fight and heal could each be assigned to one of those groups that go out at night? Obviously with so few right now priority would have to be made - but some places are more dangerous than others, so I think that's alright. Or even just groups that would be going very far from the patient wings...."

He really hoped he wasn't sounding foolish. It was rare that Tamaki had cause to doubt himself, but right now, he couldn't help it.

Reinforce's statement made Raine realize how little she'd even asked her roommate about friends back home. It seemed unlikely a magical construct would have relatives (at least in the usual sense), but--though they couldn't be related, who was to say Reinforce didn't have people she thought of as her family? She considered, but decided it was best to ask later--they had other things to discuss. "We'll all be doing what we can." The problem was that while she really did want to stay with Reinforce, Raine knew well her that her own combat abilities were slightly lacking. She was best as a healer, so being with any mobile units might not be the most efficient use of her powers. Still...

"Assigned stations, both mobile and stationary, sound like the most practical solution," she added. "Rotated, for the most part, so not everyone's doing the same thing every night." Burnout was bad, and most of them were likely suited for both, although the original members of Tamaki's group might be best off staying put and out of danger.

"It would also be ideal if we had a way for people to call for help if they can't get to it themselves, though I don't know how we could arrange that. Is there any way to make our radios more than one way?" She was reasonably certain they'd have to add a thing or two to them for that to work, which meant searching for some very specific parts, but it might be worth a try.

Reinforce found herself in agreement with Tamaki. "Setting up stations outside patient rooms requires that we take and hold territory." She looked at Momo. "I know the number of prisoners and those of the Arts & Crafts group have grown, but can you really spare the soldiers to keep a single room under heavy guard the whole night?" As she saw things, a heavy guard was necessary. They had a special obligation to healers they placed in potential danger and the wounded they offered succor and would have to protect them at all costs. For their sake there could be no quick retreat in the face of a strong foe as the scouting groups were allowed. They would have to be able to defeat or delay whatever might come for them. "The mobile groups make more sense." At least there would then be the chance of those wounded far from the aid stations receiving quick care, but without the vulnerability that came with trying to establish an actual field hospital.

Raine's idea intrigued her. "Building transmitters would be difficult, but if we could find telepaths or something similar with intact abilities to read surface thoughts and send messages we might be able to communicate with whoever we liked using one or two people."

Yes, the idea of having a rotation of stations from mobile to stationary sounded like a sound idea. However, it would still be an incredible amount of strain upon the healers to keep up night after night.

"Tamaki, correct? You said something about having members who cannot use magic. If any of them could handle minor wounds well, it might be worth thinking about to station some of them with a healer- mobile or not. Having someone handle the minor things would allow for magic to be better spent on major wounds."

Kratos paused. "If possible, the minimum of each unit could then be three: one main healer, one backup who could serve as a fighter, and one member of your group. With such light groups running around, it'd be easier to quote-on-quote 'spread the field'- if we had enough manpower.

"As for transmitters, although they are indeed a good idea, I think it would be be in our best interest to concentrate our efforts into the formation of stations before considering them."

Momo sat back as she let the four talk. She was pleased with the way the meeting was heading and how much input all of them had into it. She felt less needed to facilitate the meeting as the lead and more the need to step back to her position as Arts & Crafts contact and adviser.

She nodded along with the ideas presented to indicate she was fully paying attention and smiled at Kratos' suggest of a team construction. She liked the concept and she liked how it could be applied.

She even more liked how Reinforce seemed to have the uncanny knack of reading her mind just as she had the previous day with regards to Hakkai's doubt about the situation. Healers needed warriors as much as warriors needed healers.

"We have gained enough members that once the reconnaissance of the building is complete, we should have the capability to provide a team if requested," Momo answered in response to Reinforce. "I believe it would be best to keep a handful of skilled warriors in your ranks for defense and only call upon Arts & Crafts to be a strike force when taking new territory to use as a medic bay in more dangerous areas. This would allow my people to move on to other objectives once the location is secure, leaving it's defense in the hands of your own warriors."

She frowned. "On nights such as tonight, when there are experimentations, a highly skilled team from Arts & Crafts will be rescuing all prisoners taken for experimentation. Those rooms are heavily guarded and the hall short and narrow. We expect on such nights there to be extensive injuries to the rescue team, but the well-being of the prisoners taken is paramount."

"It is on these nights that we need those with healing power available to take care of the rescued and then the rescuers should there be a need. Abarai-fukutaichou already gave you, Suou-san, a heads up to this and I personally request he and his team have accessibility to healing arts this night." Momo's eyes moved to Raine and Reinforce before going back to Tamaki. She didn't mean to seem like she was excluding Kratos, but, from his own words, he seemed much less of a healer than Raine.

"When I first thought of this," Tamaki admitted, "It was because of that. The experimentation, I mean. That's a priority." He had done enough explaining, though. And he was feeling accepted right now. People were listening to him. And not just because he was very handsome and showering them with compliments.

He actually felt like an adult for once. It was a strange feeling.

"I think small groups is a good idea," he agreed. "A variety of three person groups on the move, and a small base group in a single location - even moving groups wouldn't be able to get to everyone. And for people who can still move or can be moved, the rooms are still safest. We can rotate who does what, of course, like you said. And yes, we can all handle minor wounds." All this planning was making his head spin. So much to remember! So much to think about!

"I don't know much about electronics, though. And it probably isn't safe to put that on the notice board is it? About two way radios, I mean." He sighed. "I suppose we'll have to ask around in person about that. Oh! Sheska might now! She can remember anything she's ever read! If she's ever read anything about radios...."

He'd ask her tonight.

Raine nodded. "It would be ideal if we could arrange at least most of this before tonight. Do we have enough for a mobile healing unit already?" She thought so--her, Reinforce, and...

...probably Kratos. He didn't have a weapon yet, but they should be able to find at least another broom for him.

"I'm not familiar with many of the telepaths here. River, at least, might be willing to help us, but I'm not sure what the range of her powers are." Asking on the board probably made the most sense, if there was time for many replies. If not, they could manage without for one night.

Day 27: Lunch

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