damned_institute | Day 28: Germaine Street

Rhode didn't want to have to let go of Allen, not ever. It could be forever before she was able to be with him again! But the nurses were persistent in moving her off the big yellow thing, as was Allen for getting away from her. Even outside of the building, people were just determined to keep her from being with him! It wasn't fair!

Once off the bus and shivering just slightly from the crisp fall air, Rhode was handed a small booklet of what the nurse called "coupons". It took some explaining, but Rhode was eventually able to understand that the thin pieces of paper in the book were supposed to be used like money here. She wasn't at all accustomed to buying things for herself; that was supposed to be the Earl's job. When Rhode expressed this problem, the nurse only gave her a sad smile and patter her in the direction of the buildings.

"Why don't you go find something fun to do? There's a toy store just around the corner there. Don't worry about being alone though, we're all here to keep an eye on you. If anything happens, just come get one of us," the nurse explained, nodding to the staff members that were set to parole the town for any problems their more unruly patents could cause.

So, they were all going to be watched even though they could roam about freely? Rhode took a look back towards the yellow things but was unable to pick out Allen from the mess of patients. In a few moments, she probably wouldn't be able to find him at all or for the rest of the day. Should she just resign herself to that for now and use the small bit of freedom to her advantage? Being with Allen was important, and a lot of fun but...

She glanced down at the coupons again, smiled up at the nurse as best she could, and gave a quick, "Okay!" before running off as suggested.

A small bit of freedom was bound to make her feel better. Maybe she could use it to remind herself of how she was supposed to handle Allen Walker, an exorcist. This town did have a similar air to that of the Rewinding Town, after all.

[went here]

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"It's all right," Light replied, quickly shaking himself out of his stupor. Now was not the time to daydream! He'd just stay in the immediate area for awhile, see if the Head Doctor made an appearance, and if not, continue on his way. It was still early, and besides which, he doubted that the Head Doctor would be the sort to remain inconspicuous for any given length of time.

Turning to offer the man who'd bumped into him a small, friendly smile, he almost immediately did a small double-take. Instead of a name, there was a complicated-looking, glowing... squiggle, for lack of a better word. What was that? The unnaturally long life span was something he'd seen with Yuber, so that wasn't quite as jarring, but that symbol...

Curiosity piqued, he went on to say, "Are you new to the institute? I don't remember seeing you around before." Other than on the bus ride, but he'd had other things on his mind and hadn't really thought about making conversation then-- something he regretted now. Just who or what was this person?

Well, it was a quaint little town, Crowley had to give it that. Someone was really pulling out all the stops with this enterprise. At the least, he'd be able to find a park without that much trouble. (Of course, were there to be hell ducks, he lacked anything to give them. Perhaps a store first? Decisions. If all else failed, he could always throw things at them.)

It took him a moment to realize the man he'd bumped into had asked him a question, and Crowley focused.

"New? Yes, I just arrived last night. Well, in the evening, technically, before the night started," he said. Demon or not, this man might be able to give him some information.

"I'm Crowley. How long have you been here?"

So he'd been right. That made things easier, but then it also meant that any questions about the man himself would need to be delayed until after Light gave him a more thorough briefing of the institute-- unless he'd received one already, that is, which didn't seem likely. Damn it.

To cap it all off, L and Misora were standing nearby-- or sitting, in the detective's case. Light fought valiantly to keep the smile off of his face once he spotted what his "best friend" was wearing, but even with the thought of what his own nurse had forced him into keeping him mostly sober, it was difficult to resist the urge to laugh outright. He looked so patently ridiculous that it was a wonder more people weren't stopping to stare at him.

Refocusing on Crowley and hoping that his moment of distracted was forgiven if not missed entirely, he replied, "It's nice to meet you, Crowley-san. My name is Light. I've been here for four days now-- today is my fifth. There are people around who have been at the institute longer, you'll find, but if you have any questions about it, I'd be glad to tell you what I know on the subject." And there, the offer was made. Crowley would have to be a fool to pass up information when it was offered freely like that, but Light got the feeling that was the last thing he'd do.

It would be good to get some information on this place. He might not be able to entirely trust the source, but most demons weren't that clever. (Well, he tended to be, but that was more of an exception than norm as demons went.)

"Light? A pleasure to meet you. Have the staff insisted on calling you by some other name as well?" The man's name was "Light"? That was curious, and hopefully not short for "Lightbringer," as he had no desire to meet up with the owner of that mistranslation.

"And an explanation of why things are so different during the night as opposed to the day would be fantastic, if you have one."

"Yes, they have. They do that with everyone." If Crowley was asking questions like that, it was a safe bet that he hadn't been told much of anything. Who was his roommate? Light would have at least expected him to give the poor man a rundown of the institute from the second he'd awoken, but apparently that was too much to hope for.

"As for why the institute changes from day to night, your guess is as good as mine." He shrugged. "If I had to guess, though, I'd say it's both to give us time to recover and to keep us off balance. It's obvious from the fact that they bother to feed and house us that they want us alive for something, but I haven't been able to uncover what yet. However, it's unlikely they care what state we're in mentally at the end of it. Controlling every aspect of our lives, constantly monitoring us..."

He trailed off, glancing back in the direction he'd last seen L. The situation was rather familiar, now that he thought about it. "They're trying to make us snap under the pressure." He smiled suddenly and shook his head, chuckling self-consciously. "I sound like a conspiracy nut. Sorry. There are probably a few other possible reasons behind it, but those are the first that spring to mind. Any other questions?"

Crowley was beginning to reevaluate his position here, and this entire bloody institute. At first, it had been easy enough to assume that everyone (more or less, himself included) was a demon here (with the exception of Aziraphale) but this was seeming to be less and less the case.

That this entire thing was set up by hell was still without question. There was no other way his not-quite-but-more-or-less divine powers could be stifled so, and no other source would want to. (Well, technically, Upstairs could manage just as well as Downstairs, but demons and torture and all that hadn't been Their gig for Millenia.)

So. If the patients were all stuck here, inflicted with the same torments, most of them should be safely non-demonic entities. The staff, on the other hand, were something else entirely. (Which meant his roommate did perhaps just have the most unfortunate name in the world.)

Crowley stared at Light for a few seconds after making these conclusions. There was something about him, something he could almost - righteous. Somebody was righteous. He'd seen it enough times to know. Interesting.

"It does make a semblance of sense. There's a considerable amount of effort going into all of this, and if we all die off during nightshift, it kills the fun - and the plans - of whomsoever is in charge. Or maybe it's a test, for all of us here. I'm assuming the unpleasant voice over the intercom was the man responsible for all of this?"

"Yes, that's him. The Head Doctor." Light glanced around the street again, a slight frown marring his otherwise pleasant features. "He was supposed to be accompanying us on this trip, but I haven't seen him around. Either he hasn't left his bus yet or he got here through a different route." It was also entirely possible that he had left already and Light had simply missed him, but he doubted it. With how many patients there were still hanging around the bus stop, it was unlikely that he could have slipped past unnoticed.

But then again, maybe it wasn't. The town was full of distractions after all, and from what he could see of the patients around them, people were far more preoccupied with other matters. Maybe it was time he sought the man out on his own.

As if just thinking of something, Light grimaced suddenly and said, "My apologies, Crowley-san, but I need to get going. I'd arranged to meet with a friend of mine and I'm afraid I've kept him waiting longer than I anticipated." He bowed. "I hope we can continue this conversation later, though. It was nice talking to you." Even better would have been if he'd been able to learn why Crowley's name and lifespan were so peculiar, but he could always do that later.

[Going off to here.] (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/245151.html?thread=17942687#t17942687)

Day 28: Germaine Street

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