damned_institute | Day 29: Game Room

Shana slipped into the room with a curious glance around her. She wasn't sure where Shadow and Valyn had wandered off to, and had yet to see Keman today, but she was sure she'd run into them soon enough. The males she'd met at lunch had seemed very nice and she hoped she could meet up with them again sometime. At least they hadn't laughed at her outright when she'd explained where she was from.

The room her nurse let her to was unfamiliar and nearly empty, and Shana felt awkward as she stepped further inside, her gaze taking in the unfamiliar objects within and wondered how they all worked?

Breakfast came and went. Nothing more than fluffed up bits of art, trying to disguise the bodily nourishment as something prettier then it was. Painted up and dressed up like a pretty thing, like a pretty, plastic flower. It served its purpose, like everything did. Meant to pretend. Meant to be just like it wasn't deep down inside.

River stepped into the Game Room slowly, craning her neck to see over the heads and take in everything here. Play bits and puzzles everywhere. Bright colors and sounds and laughter. Mildly entertaining at best. Sad attempt to dress up the prison as a playground and appease the children. The girl frowned, making a face at the simplistic puzzles and primitive electronics that lay scattered about the field. Too easy, too slow, so she decided instead to play another game, an invisible one that came from so many years of a fractured mind playing games with itself alone.

After making a quick stop to pick up one of the Gameboys, River pranced over to where the elven lord's companion, to label her simply anyhow, remained. Without a word of introduction, she held out the archaic device as though handing over a peace offering.

"Simplistic technological advancement. Archaic electronics meant to entertain the masses."

Shana blinked in surprise as the unfamiliar girl danced up to her with an easy grace, her own green eyes wide in uncomprehending bewilderment as she glanced from the object the young woman held and back up to her face again.

"What?" she asked, confusion evident in her voice. She wasn't entirely certain the other girl had been speaking all of any language Shana had ever heard before.

River almost sighed, but the sigh got lost somewhere in the fields of genuine amusement. Electronics and technology, no matter how primitive, seemed as lost on this one as "magic" was on her.

"Flip the switch on the side. Colors and blocks. It's like a puzzle," she explained, pointing to "on" switch in question as she shook the handheld system lightly in front of the other girl.

Shana stared at it a moment longer, feeling like an idiot. This place had such strange things. Half of them she didn't even understand their purpose. And she was trying to find a polite way to refuse, just to keep from looking like an even bigger idiot then she felt.

Then she smiled, glancing up with curious green eyes to eye the girl who seemed to know what she was talking about. "Will you show me?" she asked hesitantly instead, wondering if she'd be able to understand better by watching that trying and failing on her own.

Grinning and quite obviously pleased to be able to excercise her basic understanding of ancient, entertainment modules from an Earth That Was she'd never even heard of before, River held the device out so that Shana could watch exactly what she was doing. Flipping the switch on, she watched the lights and letters, spelling out the word "Gameboy", flashed across the screen. Music gave it life as the limited color spectrum danced with the game set firmly in its place.

"A complex-for-its-time device used mainly to entertain children and a select group of adults by prompting them to fit blocks of various shapes - but always composed of four segments, never more, never less - together to make the puzzle disappear. An increase in speed for the falling blocks is used to quicken reactionary skills." River looked away from the screen as the blocks fell, still tapping the buttons to arrange them just right even as her eyes weren't focused on the puzzle. She flashed a charming smile at the other girl.

"There's something hidden in the blocks. They're trying to teach you something, if you listen."

Shana was watching the screen in fascination as the little blocks moved and River effortlessly manipulated them to fit in the puzzle, and she understood what the girl meant about reflexes. She couldn't imagine something doing this. Other worlds were so strange. This was what they did for entertainment??

When River flashed her a smile and spoke again, she glanced up to meet the other girl's gaze curiously. "There's something hidden? What do you mean?"

"That would be cheating~" River chirped in a teasingly authoratative tone, laughing as she spoke. "You have to read them for yourself. Colors spell out words you never knew were real to you." There was always a meaning that couldn't be seen with eyes, a meaning you had to hear and trust with senses that weren't so blatant.

"How are the Elven Lord and his Shadow?" River asked, suddenly changing the subject without warning. The smile she bore clearly revealed that she wasn't phased by the quick switch, however; she danced the line between sanity and understanding, and she danced it well. "Can't forget the dragon either. It must be difficult for him here."

Shana blinked at this unexpected turn of conversation, flicking a sideways glance at the girl in surprise.

"You know Valyn and Shadow and Keman?" she asked, green eyes curious. She tried to think back, wondering if Valyn or Keman might have mentioned her.

"Only one and long ago," River replied, manipulating the blocks into another line that disappeared in what she supposed was meant to be a flash. Ancient devices weren't typically good and depicting such effects. She shot Shana a knowing look. "The lord. I was rude." Without warning, River thrust the Gameboy in Shana's direction, after pressing the pause button to halt the progress of the falling shapes.

"Your turn," she chirped happily.

'Game Room?' It sounded kind of fun, and Luke was always up for a good distraction. He really needed it, especially after what he was talking about during lunch. Resurrecting the dead and such. It was something he would have wanted to bother Jade about, but considering how the man reacted the last time Luke asked about something impossible... well, maybe that wasn't a good idea.

So Luke wanted to get his mind off the subject. After all, last time he tried to do something impossible and life-threatening, he ended up here.

Fortunately for Luke, the distraction came rather easily when he walked into the room and heard some strange music coming from the boy who was sitting on the couch. It was kind of catchy, actually, and Luke wandered over to him. From behind the couch, he could see that the boy was playing some kind of game...

"Oh, that's so cool!" he grinned, forgetting himself. "It's like a portable version of that awesome fontech on Namco Island!" That would have been such a neat idea! Maybe Guy would be interested in making one of those!

"What are you playing anyway?" It didn't look like Dragon Buster...

It just figured that it wasn't long before someone was attracted to the game system. The volume was up high enough that it was easy to hear, and why wouldn't someone want to come check out what was going on? He knew if he had been in the other patient's shoes, he would have wandered over just the same.

Luckily for Sora, he hadn't been too into the game, so he had been ready for the redhead to make some sort of comment. He couldn't exactly look over at the patient since he needed to pay attention to the falling colored blocks, but he could at least multi-task enough to respond.

"It's this game called Tetris. You can come look if you want!" he offered, scooting over on the couch. "It's really fun, but I don't know what all that stuff you mentioned is," he admitted with a quick laugh. He could always learn, if the other boy was willing to explain. And then he could show him how to play Tetris in return!

Oh, right, the whole other world thing. The boy didn't seem too upset by being interrupted (unlike Luke, who probably would have yelled out something to the effect of "I HAVE TO CONCENTRATE!"), so Luke went right on to explaining himself.

"Oh, um... where I come from, there's a box sort of like what you're holding, but bigger and you can't carry it around. There was a fun game I used to play called Dragon Buster," He looked back rather fondly on those memories...

"Tetris?" Luke peered at the game. It looked like... He didn't know, it seemed like the point was to fit the blocks together or something. Like a puzzle.

Luke made a face. Puzzles.

Hearing about Dragon Buster just made Sora excited to try it out, even though he knew that he would most likely never get to. He'd had fun with all of the games in Tron's world, though that had been a little more interactive compared to the Gameboy. There was a certain charm to Tetris, too, though - not having to worry about being in danger, for one thing.

"That sounds like it'd be fun. This game is kind of simple, but it's a good way to pass the time." He probably could have been doing more productive things, but it wouldn't be easy to find his friends when there were so many places they could be, so he figured it was all right to relax for once.

"But yeah, you have to move the blocks around to make lines, so if you keep screwing up, the blocks will keep stacking up to the top. If they get all the way up, then you die," he explained.

"Oh, so you have to do it fast then, huh?" Luke frowned, watching Sora play the game. It sounded like something Jade would like, and it didn't look boring, but at the same time... well, he had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to keep playing for more than 5 minutes without dying a million times.

"I'm really bad at puzzles, but it sounds like something my friend would like," He smiled, watching Sora play some more. It was no Dragon Buster, but maybe there was something like it... Maybe there were more of those machines lying around.

"Hey, is that the only one? I don't wanna take yours from you, so there must be another one lying around somewhere..."

"Yeah, kinda. As you get to the next levels, it gets faster and harder." Sora was frowning at the screen now - he was starting to lose, but he didn't really mind. He had been distracted by talking to the other boy, but if he had to choose between playing a game and making a new friend, the choice was simple.

At the redhead's question, Sora paused the game and looked around the room. "Yeah, there probably are. I found this one over there," he said, pointing. He wondered if there were any other games he could try out, come to think of it. It sounded like the other boy was going to go investigate. If he found something, hopefully he would show him, too.

Now he just hoped he could maneuver the blocks in the game well enough that he could get himself out of danger of getting a game over.

Yes, getting one of those fontech things was exactly what Luke was planning to do, but he stole a glance at the kid's screen again. The blocks looked like they were moving faster, like he said...

Five minutes later, Luke was still standing there watching the boy rearrange of all the blocks. He was actually doing really good, and just by watching him Luke was starting to get the idea of the game.

That little theme song was kinda catchy too...

"Oh yeah! I was supposed to go looking for one!" Luke remembered. What the hell was he doing just standing around here?

And then he returned his attention back to the screen.

In all honesty, Sora hadn't even realized that the other boy had been standing there and just watching him. He had figured he'd gone off to another part of the room to look for a game system of his own, so when the other patient suddenly spoke up, he ended up jerking in his seat.

He tried to make a quick recovery, but it had probably been pretty obvious. "Right!" he said in response, though it didn't look like the redhead was going anywhere.

Meanwhile, he had gotten himself into danger again, which meant he was forced to glue his eyes back to the screen to try and fix it. He wasn't really good at the game or anything, but he was determined, and that counted for something.

"You can just watch if you want," he said, distracted. "There's space on the couch..."

Luke took a look at the couch for a moment, as if debating what he wanted to do. Sure, he could play one of those fontech, but it was kind of cool watching the kid play the game too! Maybe he could just watch and if he was allowed back in here, he would grab the little piece of fontech. Maybe he could drag Guy here and show him.

"Actually, I think I'll watch you," Luke nodded, thinking that the kid didn't mind if he offered to let Luke sit next to him. Of course, instead of circling around and sitting like most normal people, Luke jumped up and climbed over the couch, plopping down on the couch and earning a warning shout from one of the nurses.

"Mr. Spencer! Please sit on the couch like a normal person!"

"Mmmrgh..." In retrospect, that wasn't a good idea. "Sorry about that," Luke apologized, though he realized that he still... didn't know this kid's name!

"Oh yeah, my name is Luke! Sorry, I didn't introduce myself, did I?"

Sora didn't see what the big deal was when the redhead just climbed over the couch instead of walking around (it was faster that way, right?), but the nurses didn't seem to approve. When the other boy got scolded, Sora couldn't help laughing a little.

"It's fine," he said with a shake of his head. It seemed like something he easily could have done and gotten reprimanded for, too, after all.

Though when he was reminded that they hadn't even introduced themselves, Sora saw that as good enough reason to pause the game and put it aside so that he could extend his hand to the other patient. "Nice to meet you, Luke! I'm Sora." It was kind of nice how they had barely talked about any of the normal how-long-have-you-been-here, where-do-you-come-from stuff. Being able to just spend some time with someone without worrying about all of that was pretty fun!

Within two minutes of entering the Game Room, Hokuto found herself very disappointed in the selection. Monopoly would probably take too long, she had bad memories of Sorry from a friend's eleventh birthday party, and Life... well, she wasn't sure what would be more depressing, doing badly or doing well. They had card games, though! She sorted through and found Go Fish; when she saw it she had to smile. The game had been a favorite pastime in her group of friends during elementary school, and she hadn't played it in a long time. There's probably not much strategy to it, but that's okay; we all need to relax. Playing as young adults probably wouldn't be much different than playing it had been when they were kids.

Well, in theory they could make it different, but if Momo happened to hear her even jokingly suggest strip Go Fish... well, her superior seemed a bit annoyed with her as it was! Besides, they didn't have enough to take off. Even if being a girl meant she'd be wearing one more piece of underclothing than any of the boys would be...

"Hokuto-chan." Subaru managed a faint smile as he found his sister, and took a seat beside her. "I wasn't sure you meant this shift, or the next one. I'm not used to the days here yet."

He never did manage to get very much food down, during the meal, but hopefully the rice and salad he did eat would be enough to keep him going until dinner. His back was still aching, too, but as long as the stitches held he would be fine.

Hokuto smiled in reply, as sincerely as she always had. Maybe with him here, she honestly could be happy. "Either one is good. I just want to keep an eye on you while I can," she said cheerfully.

"And this is my first weekend, so I'm not really sure how things work now either. I just know we have a little more freedom than usual--I can almost pretend we're just at summer camp. If indoor camps are this sterile," she admitted dryly.

"There's five day shifts--usually, breakfast, free time in one of two or three places, lunch, the second free shift, and dinner. I think Saturday's different than Sunday, but I haven't asked what a normal one is usually like. Sunday's... a little random. I don't know how far in advance we're told about visitors." She looked a little sad at that; two of the most important people in her world were from here, but that didn't mean she didn't miss the others. Even if it was a lie, a bad dream, she wanted to see her other friends and family. Even if it wasn't really them, she wanted to say... she was sorry.

"Oh! And have you seen the showers yet? We can ask to go whenever we want, the nurses just don't always like taking us. The shower rooms... aren't divided up into stalls." She didn't care. He just might, especially considering the nurses didn't leave...

Subaru did blush a little, at the mention of open showers. He'd been to public bath houses, of course, but that was different, everyone was typically submerged to the neck in water, it wasn't like standing under a showerhead for everyone to see. Still, Subaru would need to keep clean as much as possible, or risk impurities weakening his magic.

"Well. What are we going to play?" Changing the subject seemed like a good idea. "Oh... I've seen a few more 'clubs' mentioned on the board, today. What are they all? Cooking, History... I think you said Arts & Crafts was the one you're in. Are there any others?"

She held up the deck for Go Fish. "I don't know much about the other groups, but you're right, Arts & Crafts is the one I'm in. There's a healers' group, too, called the Saint Francis Aid Society. I think Hinamori-fukutaichou helped organize it, but I don't know much besides that. It's in M35." She gave him a look implying that he'd better go there the next time he was anywhere near as hurt as last night; she could be overprotective too.

"Cooking is the weapon-crafters--it turns out alchemy's for real in some worlds. They have a LOT of people asking for stuff, so it's better to get something on your own. Right now I've got a big, heavy shovel; it's a lot better than the frying pan I actually had to use in one battle." She managed not to shudder at the memory. "Being a black belt doesn't mean much here, but it's something. The shovel's a better weapon than I figured; it works pretty well as a bladed staff. If I can I want to sharpen it, but I'm better with a bo than a sword anyway, so it works out."

Put that way, it didn't sound as reassuring as she would have liked, but it was honest, and she didn't exactly think Momo would lie to him, even to make him feel better.

"I think you mentioned M35 last night, but I didn't want to bring Seishirou-san there." Exposing injured innocents to a wounded assassin was not something Subaru would ever choose to do.

Knowing about the weapon-crafters was interesting, but not terribly useful to Subaru if the waiting list was as long as Hokuto said. "I could use a ritual dagger and a mirror, but I can deal without them. I doubt I'd have time to set up to use them properly, anyway. I'll make some ofuda this evening before I go out, so I should be set for weapons." He'd never been one for any kind of physical weapon anyway.

As before, he frowned when Hokuto talked about her situation, and shook his head a little. "I still don't like the idea of you going into battle. There was a mention of someone who could sharpen existing weapons though, I think, on the board. It was early today, it might be a bit buried by now."

"There's nothing else for me to do, Subaru," Hokuto said gently. "I'm not strong in magic, I can't heal, and I can't stand the thought of not doing anything. Sooner or later I'll probably end up helping organize some kind of 'face it, we need a break' midnight party, but except for that, I will fight." She flashed a quick smile. "I'll have to ask Tamaki if he knows anywhere that would work for the Nightshift bash; the Sun Room's nice, but it's never safe at night. Maybe we could just stake out a hallway; those are easy to defend, and there would be a whole row of rooms right there if something still took us by surprise."

She'd heard rumors of plans for a dance, once. The one thing everyone in Landels needed, besides a portal home (if they could just create an Anywhere Door, they were set), was a chance to honestly forget their troubles and just enjoy themselves. Even here, there had to be something they could do.

Subaru was relieved to hear Hokuto speak of safer things, like dances and parties, silly as they were, but he wasn't going to let it distract him from more important issues. "Are you going to seek out that board message about sharpening weapons?" If she was going to have to use a pathetic shovel as a weapon, it should at least have an edge on it.

"When I can," Hokuto agreed, and not just to calm him. "I don't know if my fukutaichou's heard about it; I'll ask when I see her. She's got a real sword, but she'll want me as well-armed as possible, too."

Yes, her group had allowed a mostly inexperienced 17-year-old into their ranks, but while she was just about as low-ranking as it got, they didn't believe in cannon fodder. Any time she got injured beyond a scratch, she'd probably get sidelined until she healed. Their goal was to get everybody out.

As usual, Seishirou felt brightened by having been fed. There had yet to been two meals alike, and he felt all but pampered by the kitchen staff. Now, if only there would have been coffee and cigarettes that wouldn't require him to bend over backwards for them, and this place wouldn't have been that bad.

The only reason he felt compelled to leave the cafeteria after his company for the brunch had slipped away, was because he had spied Subaru heading towards the game room. The fact that Hokuto was also in his presence slowed Seishirou's steps a little, but hardly kept him away.

"Hello," he greeted them with a friendly smile as he paused beside them, ignoring the prospect of being received very negatively and quite possibly with violence. Or at least it would be strategically wise, considering the heavy injury Seishirou had collected the night before.

"Mind if I join you for a game?" There had been times when he had sounded more like an airhead, but they weren't that many.

And here Subaru had thought last night's run-in had been the most awkward thing imaginable. But no, as always, Seishirou managed to prove him wrong; this moment was definitely more awkward. Did he mind? What kind of question was that? He'd have to be completely nuts to want to sit around and have a game of Go Fish with the man who killed his sister.

But... there were nurses absolutely everywhere, and there was Hokuto to think about, as well. And while Seishirou was injured and weakened, unfortunately so was Subaru. A fight wouldn't be a very good idea, just that moment. So Subaru just glared a little at Seishirou and said nothing, leaving it to Hokuto to make the decision.

Based on her behaviour last night, though, Subaru had the sinking feeling that she was going to invite him to join.

For a moment, even Hokuto didn't know what to do; she just sat there and looked up at him, Sei-chan, face somewhat blank. Was he asking to join to be friendly, or for old times' sake, or to find out something?

Well, if it was the last part... she could do that, too. She still wanted to trust him, and if she talked to him, she might find out how much she could. Being killed by him had changed a few things; she knew very well that just because he hadn't hurt Subaru last night didn't mean anything.

But... she'd missed him. If he'd changed, she was willing to forgive him for what he'd done. She didn't think Subaru would, but maybe--maybe they could start over. If nothing else, it was worth a try.

"Of course," she said, voice just a little soft.

The lack of daggers glared at his direction was mildly surprising, Seishirou mused as he smiled warmly and pulled a chair for himself. Perhaps this wouldn't be so difficult after all. Or maybe he still failed in judging the limit of true altruism. It might have been the case, that he was making it extra difficult to himself as well. As it seemed, sitting to a table with both Subaru and Hokuto, was perhaps the hardest thing he had done since arriving at Landel's.

However, he wouldn't have been Seishirou if he had given away any hints of that. His demeanor was as calm as ever; chuckle soft as he arranged himself carefully to the chair, mindful of his newly acquired injuries.

"What are we playing?" he asked, turning slightly towards Hokuto to regard her perhaps a little curiously. Which meant leaving Subaru to sulk on his own for a moment; something Seishirou wasn't opposed to doing for now.

At least Hokuto had hesitated--Subaru considered that a good sign. He would have had to worry, seriously worry, if Hokuto had welcomed Seishirou to their game with open arms. Still, he was tense now, and wary. It was not going to be a relaxing little game, with Seishirou there.

Subaru wanted to snap at Seishirou, for ignoring him and directing the question only to Hokuto, but there was really no valid reason for him to do so, so he just kept quiet. It was rude to push into the conversation if Seishirou wanted to talk to Hokuto, anyway.

She held up the cards. "Go Fish--I used to love this game." It held up well for something she'd played in elementary school, but nostalgia still added to her enjoyment. She knew well she looked a little wistful; she managed not to dwell on it, but she missed her old life.

Hokuto's own mix of emotions didn't show much, but just talking to Sei-chan again about something casual, seeing him when lives weren't hanging in the balance, was hard for her, too. He had killed her for reasons she still didn't understand, and didn't think she would even if he honestly tried to explain. He'd broken her brother's heart all to pieces, as well as the hearts of everyone else who loved her. Her girlfriend and most of her friends would be fine, but she worried about Kakyou, about her grandmother. Until the very moment before she closed her eyes for the last time in that life, as gentle as his voice sounded he had been almost casual about the fact that someone he had called friend was dying in his arms, by his own hand. She had cursed him in return, and in the month she spent preparing for it she'd had more than a few moments of hating him.

And yet she'd still missed him. She had no idea if the cheerful man she'd known really existed, or if he was merely a facade Seishirou used. But... she'd taken a chance on him before. As strange as it might seem, there was little risk in taking one again; it wasn't as if shunning him would make her heart hurt any less. A lot of things had changed--but she was sure a lot of other things had stayed the same. For once she didn't want to get her hopes up, but maybe--just maybe--they could get back even some of what they'd had.

Brows arching, smile curving deeper, Seishirou nodded. "Sounds like fun." And weirdly enough, he actually meant it. They had always had fun like this, the three of them. Or rather, Seishirou and Hokuto had had fun, Subaru had most often been the reason for their fun, not only because it was easy to tease him but also because Subaru worried too much and was in need of some light fun quite often.

It was hard to find anything that had not changed, however. This included.

He could tell both of them were wary of his presence; he would have been surprised if it had been any other way. And yet there was something they didn't know. And Seishirou was not inclined to tell them any time soon. He glanced at Subaru from the corner of his eye before turning to regard him fully, mismatching eyes searching for Subaru's green ones.

"Hello, Subaru-kun. You seem to fairing relatively well," Seishirou said softly, a bit amused by the expression he labeled as sulky. "How's your injury?"

"Do you want me to deal the cards, Hokuto-chan?" Sometimes the only way to get Subaru's full attention on a game was to make him take the active role of dealer or banker. Today, though, it wasn't like there were work concerns to distract him--no jobs he could be doing, nor people he could be helping, not really. Even if he had his full powers, the nurses would no doubt intervene. Still, it was habit to ask.

Subaru stiffened just a little more at Seishirou's question. "It's fine. They seem to have stitched it up neatly." It still hurt, of course, but it wasn't the worst injury Subaru had ever had; as long as he was careful not to pull the stitches he should be fine. Seishirou's injury had been much worse, but Subaru was determined not to be concerned today.

"Sure." She passed him the deck, wondering how long it had been since he played. They got... five cards each, if she was right. Her memory for game rules wasn't quite as good as it was for some of her other hobbies.

Not wanting them to just play in silence, she asked Seishirou, "How long have you been here? I... thought I saw you a few times, but I figured I was just homesick." That, and when she asked herself if she really wanted to see him, she hadn't been sure. When she thought she saw her girlfriend a few times, she'd always checked; Kakyou, too, the one time she thought she spotted him. She'd never once mistaken someone else for Subaru, though; she knew him too well. Maybe it was the fabled twin connection, but seeing someone near her height with short black hair had only reminded her of him, not made her wonder.

Now, though, she knew two of the most important people in her life really were here. What that meant for any of them would have to be seen.

"I must confess," Seishirou said, managing a bit of a sheepish grin. "I've never played this game." Not like his childhood had been full of friendly game nights. The thought brought a hint of malice into the curve upon his lips, imagining his mentors participating in a children's card game. That would have been a good joke.

He hummed softly at Hokuto's question, wondering if he had seen her around earlier but just not paid attention. Subaru was a different case - Seishirou was quite sure he couldn't have missed his presence. "I suppose it's been almost a week now. It seems longer somehow." He smiled at her, drumming his long fingers against the table softly. "How about you?"

Trying to ignore the ominous feeling he was getting from Seishirou's smile, Subaru concentrated on shuffling the cards. "It's a really simple game. The object is to get pairs or sets of four of the same rank of card. Like two threes, or four nines. On your turn, you ask the other players if they have any of the rank you want. If no one does, you have to 'go fish,' which is drawing a card from the pile in the centre."

Subaru wasn't entirely sure it was the best game to be playing with someone like Seishirou, though--it was based almost entirely on the honour system, and there was really no way to prevent someone from lying about what cards they did or did not have. Well, it was what they decided to play, so no sense changing it now just because Seishirou was an habitual liar. Dealing five cards to each of them, face down, Subaru then put the rest of the cards in a neat face-down pile in the centre of the table.

Hokuto had realized much the same thing, but decided that it didn't matter. If nothing else, Seishirou could be trusted not to cheat at a children's card game... it wasn't important enough to be worth deceiving them over, and she didn't think he valued his ego so much he couldn't stand losing a round or two of cards.

She could be wrong, of course, but if she was--this time, before long, they would know. And while she couldn't begin to guess Sei-chan's motives, whatever his goal was likely had a better chance at succeeding if they trusted him. This was nowhere near important enough to alienate them both over.

...How often did he analyze people, just like this? If he spent every conversation, every interaction, simply analyzing, hypothesizing, and testing... that had to be lonely.

"I start," she said, glad for something to say. As usual, she planned on aiming most of her questions at Subaru--his attempts at a poker face never fooled her. She couldn't read his mind for real... but during most games, close enough!

For all the evil things that Seishirou had done, he did not feel the need to cheat in a children's card game. Sure, he had no qualms about lying and cheating in general but he detected no gain from winning the game and no harm from losing it. And in fact, he liked to stick to the truth whenever he could. It made more convincing case when he constructed his web of lies, it was easier and more effective to throw around suggestions and let people assume than flat out lie to them.

He picked up his cards and took a peek at them. "Thank you, Subaru-kun. Sounds simple enough. Maybe I'll learn eventually. Please, be gentle." There was a hint of teasing amusement in his smile as he nodded at Hokuto. She had either forgotten to answer his question or refused to. And just as Hokuto assumed, he did analyze the fact rather than bring the question up again, filing away the facts and assumptions, theorizing her behavior pattern.

Subaru glanced at his cards as soon as he was done dealing them to everyone else. His hand wasn't particularly good--he had no sets to put down right away--but that was pretty typical for the start of the game so it couldn't be considered a bad hand, either. His instinct was to organise his cards by rank but he resisted, knowing that after a while that would give away more information than was wise. "Whenever you're ready, Hokuto-chan."

Robin had almost ventured outdoors, but noise from a room had distracted him. He wandered in and was welcomed to the 'game room'. How games were played in such a small and cluttered room, he wasn't sure at first. Upon inspection he found it was a great deal of small games. He'd never been one for small games, but these were different. And so brightly coloured some of them!

He settled into a small space surrounded by boxes and began to root through them, looking at the interesting things within and wondering if any of it was worth pocketing.

When in doubt, go with the amusement- that was one of Xigbar's rules of life. Outside was good and all, but when there were too many people around, it was a bigger downer than anything else he knew. He liked being outside when it was outside- the walls managed to ruin any good vibes that might have come from getting out in the sunlight.

Ignoring the Keyblade Master- he didn't want to push his luck after the night before- and the group of three others- didn't look like they were interested in anyone but their own doings- he parked himself right behind Robin Hood, taking no real care in making himself stealthy or anything, just curious as to what the man was doing. Which he verbalized, naturally. "Whatcha doin'?"

Sometimes you just knew when the person looking behind you meant harm, and so Robin was not alarmed to hear a voice speak up.

"Perusing. Looking for anything that might be of use or value. So far I have found....nothing. Although I've always enjoyed rolling a dice... It's all about chance in the end, isn't it?"

He looked over his shoulder smiling. "I trust you had an interesting time yesterday?"

"Yeah, not much of anything good you're gonna find around here," Xigbar companionably agreed. While Luxord had said there was something, the Freeshooter was pretty sure that just referred to the cards which were offered. Everything else was too flimsy to be of any real use. Ah well, it wasn't like Xigbar felt bad about that.

As for that latter question? That was a lot more interesting, and Xigbar soon walked over to Robin's side, leaning against the wall so he was at least a little comfortable. He did tend to ramble (as if!) or at least talk a little, so why keep the guy from searching as he pleased? Though if he kept on with the gambler lingo, Xigbar would be legally and morally obligated to follow suit and ante up with his own hand of jokes.

~~...damn it, Luxord.~~

"Yesterday? Yeah, real swell. Got a burger and some booze, so what could go wrong?" He grinned as he said that, playing coy for now. As for the night... well, that was a different matter entirely.

"Seems that way. But then not everything is as it seems," he said, the hope audibly fading from his voice despite a brave effort. These boxes were useless. The pieces weren't even strong enough to break glass or crack skulls.

Robin snuck a dice into his pocket and put the lid on another game.

"Sounds like a day spent well," he chuckled. "I don't suppose the evening was quite so kind to you? But still, it looks like we're going back to our old routine here."

Mion was tired, and if you didn't believe her, the loud yawn she let out as she went into the Game Room was proof enough. It didn't look like there were a lot of people in here... Which was a little disapointing. In the game room she could be in her element. No monsters, no worries, just games and winning them. That was what she did and anyone who knew her in Hinamizawa could vouch for that.

"If only there were some maid's dresses or a swimsuit I could get my hands on..." Mion mused to herself. She had decided, after having woken up with little memory of the night before, that some changes in her attitude needed to be made. She knew what was going on now, no more scaredy-old-man. She just had to expect the unextpected and... Well, she'd see when the next Nightshift came. In the meantime... "Or any kind of cosplay... Maybe I could sew something...?"

... It then occured to her what every non-patient wore.

"There are nurse outfits all over the place, aren't there?!" Mion and stood from the chair she had only sat in moments ago. "If I could get one... The day shift could be made into a very different thing! But it'd have to be without anyone noticing, and what are the odds of that happening in this kind of place..."

Deflated a little, Mion sat back down and grabbed a chess set and began setting up the board. With any luck, maybe someone would come in, see, and give her something to do.

Day 29: Game Room

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

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

no subject