damned_institute | Day 29: Sun Room

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Day 29: Sun Room

It was with some relief that Yuuhi awoke the next morning, in his own bed, sore and tired and achy. He would've slept more had they let him, his face down in the pillow, away from all the others and their questions and their concern. He didn't want to see them, but he managed a little smile when the nurse came in and didn't object when she lead him out into the open hallway that had been splattered with blood, plenty of it his, just last night.

The Chapel or the Sun Room? He felt he had good reason not to be terribly religious and had a feeling he wouldn't be very welcome there anyway. The Sun Room would be nice though. It was bright and cheery and he could always doodle or write notes on the community board if he'd nothing better to do. Besides, the nurse was kind enough to let him take a book with him.

He found a seat on one of the couches, far from the entrance and seated himself in the far corner, legs scrunched up against his chest so he only took up one of the cushions. He opened up where he'd left off, fingers carefully turning the worn pages of Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz.

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"What a compliment," Shana replied, giving a snort of derision as she shot Mero a rueful look. "Well. I don't know what I'd have in common with Tamaki. We've got to be opposites in almost everything. He's human, I'm halfblood, he's male, I'm female, he's blond, I'm a redhead..."

"No. There has to be some common factor. Every predator who targets a single group is targeting them for a reason." Naomi shook her head. "Everyone who was attacked last night has some common connection between them. And it's not something obvious...."

What the hell could it be? What did Shana, L, that girl with Arlene, and this Tamaki person all have in common?

What was the difference between himself and Shana? Because ultimately that was much easier then trying to figure out the similarities between Shana and Lord Tamaki whom Shadow knew very little about. They were both halfbloods so it couldn't have anything to do with being of elven decent or human since either way Shadow would have been attacked. Shana had never been a slave but he sincerely doubted that a flying bird could have detected that. In all manner of speaking he wasn't all that different from Shana, except he was male. But there was something besides his gender that made them different. An idea was tugging at the back of his mind but he couldn't put his finger on it. "Who was attacked? Would you say mostly young people?"

Shana hadn't seen who else was attacked, besides her and Tamaki, so she turned to Maki with a curious expression. "Do you know? I didn't see..."

"Let me think." Naomi closed her eyes, calling back the night. It had been hectic and she had focused mostly on L, but....

There had been others. A woman with white hair and a stocky man who'd looked to be in his forties. A few who had looked to be young adults. She could identify them if she saw them again, most likely. Probably others, but she hadn't seen everyone. Just those that had been nearby.

"I'd guess the ages of the victims ranged from young teenagers to the middle aged," she finally said. No, age certainly wasn't a factor in it.

Middle aged? Well that certainly threw that theory out the window. "Never mind then," Shadow shrugged. "I thought I had an idea but if middle aged men and women were being attacked then I'm wrong."

"What idea?" Shana asked curiously, turning an intent, narrowed gaze on the other halfblood male. Even if he hadn't had the right answer, maybe it could lead to one?

Shadow had the courtesy to look a bit flustered before he spoke. "Well, I was trying to think of the differences between you and me. Something that an animal could use to find prey. Besides being male, there's only one other thing I've done that you, well, haven't that could possibly change some sort of scent. But, it's not as if a middle aged person would never have done this particular thing so my theory has to be wrong."

"There's probably a lot of differences between the two of you," Naomi pointed out. "You were probably born in different months. Or during different weather. Or the last thing you ate was different. Or the colors you were wearing. Or your current emotional states. Or the material of the clothes you were wearing." She ticked off whatever just jumped to mind. "We aren't dealing with normal animals. We can't begin to guess what it is that attracts them, with only the two of you for comparison."

Naomi had always been rather good at victimology, but here and now, she may as well have been back in college.

Shana gave a frustrated sigh and flopped back against the sofa, looking exasperated. "Well. At least we know if we ever encounter the things again, I can act as bait while you beat them off, how about that?" she replied, half-jokingly.

Shadow laughed and rolled his sleeves up, adopting what he thought was a heroic pose. "Yes, that's me," he grinned, winking at her. "Risking life and limb for the beautiful damsel in distress. Of course, I could always use you as a distraction and sneak away as the beast is too preoccupied."

He glanced down at her leg and grew a bit more sober, dropping the teasing jokes. "How is your leg?" he asked. "Did the Lord patch you up alright?"

And this was the sort of thing that made Naomi uncomfortable. That friendly, intimate banter between two people. She always felt like she was listening to something private.

And there was a twinge of jealousy, of course. She didn't have any 'friends' here. She had L and she had a suspect, and that was all. And while L certainly bantered, there was little affection in it.

Clearing her throat, the older woman stood and bowed once more.

"Thank you for your time," she said, sincerely. "I think I'm going to the chapel now. I'm sure we'll speak again."

Shana blinked as the woman stood up and bowed, wondering if they'd said something to offend her. "I'm sorry we couldn't be more help," she spoke apologetically, smiling at her. "I look forward to speaking again."

"Yes, it was very nice to meet you," Shadow said, giving her a nod. "If we discover anything about the birds we'll let you know."

Her leaving was a bit abrupt but perhaps she had someone to meet, Shadow reasoned as he took his seat next to Shana once more, lifting her injured leg onto his lap as he inspected the dressing. The Lord did a fairly good job. Shadow made a mental note to thank him.

"I'm glad to see that you survived the night," Shadow smiled at her. "I was a bit worried that you and Valyn would have done something foolish."

Shana snorted, rolling her eyes. "Valyn? Do something foolish? I can only wish," she retorted as she shifted to a more comfortable position on the sofa, curled up comfortably with him.

Shadow snickered. "Don't we all wish he'd be foolish when it came to that," he agreed with a roguish wink. "But I was speaking more about leaving the room when you both were injured. I'm happy that you both stayed put."

"We did. I fell asleep on him," she admitted, her cheeks flushing slightly at the memory. That had been nice. more than nice. She wished it would happen again...

"Did you?" Shadow said, a little surprised that his plan had worked. Shana falling asleep on Valyn was a good step in the right direction. "Then I can count my plan a success. I knew that if you were left alone long enough something was bound to happen."

Shana shot him a wry look. "Don't get your hopes up. It was just a one-time thing. Nothing else is going to happen. Besides, why are you being all encouraging about this? If anything, I'd think you'd not want anything happening, since Valyn mentioned you two are... well, you know."

"Ah, yes, we are," Shadow shrugged. "But we have a strange understanding. Valyn is... well, he's difficult to explain. I love him and I know he returns the sentiment even if he can't say it out loud. But I also know that he will love another just as deeply and I'm sure he expects that I will as well."

He looked away from Shana for a moment, trying to find the correct words that would explain their relationship. "I knew from the beginning I couldn't have him the way the silly romance novels that the harem girls would read described. So, I'll have him the only way I can have him. I'll be his Shadow. Why would I want to be anything more? And why should I stop him from caring about you, even loving you? I can't change what's already there anymore then I can change what I feel about him. Besides, I like to see him happy and even though you two frustrate each other endlessly, I know he'd be happy with you. Exasperated, but happy."

"I think you're imagining things," Shana sighed, leaning back against the cushions and staring up at the ceiling. "I think I just plain exasperate him most of the time."

"Perhaps some of the time you do, but, I don't think I can say that I've never exasperated him or that he's never done anything to irritate me. Take our handfasting for example. I was irritated at how well he was able to persuade us. No matter how many times Valyn has used magic to win an argument, that one time will always stick out for me."

Shana gave a dry laugh at that. "See? I even inadvertently annoy you, too," she joked self-depreciatingly.

"That isn't what I meant," Shadow said quickly. "It wasn't you. It was... Well, it was the fact that I was sick and he used it against me to manipulate me into making a decision that I typically wouldn't have made in that short amount of time. Handfasting isn't as forgettable as Valyn would have you think. While it's not a true marriage, it certainly gave the impression that I felt more for you then just a friend and acquaintance had there been other people around to witness it who knew what a handfasting meant."

It also made him rather uncomfortable to know how easily Valyn had used him to solve a problem. True, he was sure Valyn had never intended any harm to either Shana or himself nor had he really thought his plan through. If Shana had fallen head over heels for him, Valyn probably wouldn't have been as elated as he fooled himself into thinking he would be. At least, Shadow would hope he wouldn't.

"I don't think he would have done it if he hadn't been desperate," Shana replied, glancing over at Shadow. Actually, she didn't know that, but she hoped not. "None of us really knew each other back then, and for all he knew, Keman and I could have left you there to fend for yourselves. Not that we really would have, but I can understand his worry. Not that that excuses him for doing what he did..." she conceded, sighing and shaking her head.

Valyn often made the least amount of logic out of anyone she knew.

Day 29: Sun Room

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