damned_institute | Day 30: Cafeteria, Breakfast

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Day 30: Cafeteria, Breakfast

Hitsugaya woke with a start.

His entire body ached, but the pain was nowhere near as bad as it had been the night before. His injuries had been tended two with clean gauze and bandages, and he found every movement wasn't agony. He wasn't in the best of shape, but thanks to the miracle of landel's strange time distortion, he had mostly recovered from the vile poison without having to waste anyone else's talents.

And in his hand, still...there was the key.

He dressed quickly, sliding the key onto the key ring from his desk drawer and stuck it into his pocket. Whether the key stood to gain them anything or not, it stood as a vital reminder that they could succeed in this place. There was hope, as insignificant as it often seemed. They could beat this place.

That small shred of hope made getting up worth it.

The nurse who escorted him to breakfast was cheerful, and commented idly about how wonderful it was to see young Tommy Winters up and about again after his unfortunate run-in with a bad case of food poisoning. He smirked slightly, knowing that any lies the institute forced into their heads were only that: lies. He wouldn't buy it for a second. And on top of that, the concept of muffins sounded almost appetizing. While he still preferred his authentic Japanese cuisine, the food here was slowly becoming more and more bearable. He would have preferred a warm bowl of sweet nattou over rice over the mufffins, but they would do. The plain yogurt and fruit, on the other hand, was excellent. He piled his plate high with fruit as usual, and got several small bowls of yogurt as well.

Finding the most convenient table to the end of the food line, he took a seat and scanned for the new arrivals. New arrivals meant people who would be lost and confused. Renji did a good job of making a bulliten post last time...he should recommend abarai-fukutaicho do the same again this time.

[Waiting for Angel]

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This was the first time he'd heard of in-killing directly, although he'd read about it a bit on the boards and it matched his theories. The idea that this Aidou had killed more than once wasn't particularly palatable, but Mark could only be a moral critic to a certain degree when he'd spent the first part of the last night trying to pick a fight in order to work out some misplaced aggression. Lucky he hadn't, considering John didn't have the key on his body.

"Yes, Doyle spoke in his own circular fashion. But he did deliver some solid information along with some small objects, as you say." The urge to mention the pornography just to see the way Aidou would react was strong, but resisted. "Most notably, he mentioned some things about his own ability to travel within these walls... cryptic, but interesting... and gave me a map." There were plenty of maps floating around, full maps of downstairs and nearly-full maps of upstairs. Perhaps a few 'full' ones with the exception of locked doors. But the downstairs was easy to navigate and the upstairs was filled with locked doors.

Mark folded his hands, since he'd finished eating, and looked between Aidou and Sasuke.

"It wasn't a patient," said the noble, voice even but iron-hard. He flicked crumbs away. "I suppose I should elaborate: it did look like me, but it was merely one of those creatures that mimics appearance. So I killed it and disposed of the body. End of story."

Aidou didn't refute the idea that he'd been killing the real, true prisoners, because although he hadn't yet, he was certainly inclined. It all came down to how badly his dignity was slighted. As for Alec Doyle or whatever his alias was, Aidou didn't believe in accepting help from melodramatic, annoying outside sources--as far as he was concerned, the man on the radio only just barely differentiated himself from Landel, and certainly didn't warrant any kind feelings from the vampire.

The enemy of their enemy was just another person who deserved to die.

The cafeteria was, at best, turning into a circus already--people screaming, brawling, and as Aidou noted sourly, the little ex-human scum seemingly reuniting with someone from his own home. New prisoners were easy to spot. Putting a pause on his own breakfast, Aidou turned on Mark again, a sigh caught in his throat. And to think of the sight the three of them made, sitting together. It was almost laughable. "What kind of map did he give you? If you're interested in comparing, I have the most updated versions from the Arts and Crafts people."

A creature that mimicked appearance -- huh, that was news to Sasuke. And Aidou spoke as if there had been quite a few reports of these things, so it seemed as if they were common enough monsters. As far as disposing of it off a balcony went, that was a little less common, but probably something that could be expected from Aidou.

The terse way Aidou ended the story was fine with Sasuke; he'd gotten what he needed to know.

"So if Doyle can travel freely and knows the layout of the place, he presumably knows what is contained in each room or area," Sasuke commented, forgetting the second half of his breakfast in favour of one of the most successful conversations he'd had in a while. "And he's handing out keys, we can probably assume that the locked doors he's not letting us into contain things he might not want us to see."

As for what those were, though ... more experiments? Monsters? Whatever they'd used to capture all of the patients? (What they'd taken from the patients?)

And if there was information Doyle was withholding for some reason, there was a possibility that the his rivalry with the Head Doctor could be useful to the patients.

Ah, one of the mimics. That was rather different, assuming the story was true. Mark had to wonder how he would handle walking down a dark hallway and meeting himself--either he'd reaffirm his mental stability and give himself a firm pat on the back, or have some sort of breakdown, but either way he'd certainly wind up with a Mark-shaped corpse as a remnant of the fight. Whether it was his corpse or the mimics'. Although, didn't they usually appear as persons one cared for..?

He smiled at Aidou's suggestion of map comparisons, although he didn't bother trying to appear friendly in that smile. "That's all right, thank you, I believe I'll pass. I'm satisfied with what I have at the moment." Sasuke's questions were more to the point. Though, "Keys have been found on the bodies of killed nurses as well. That would indicate to me that both sides are playing us towards opening doors if we can. The doors which he does not want us to open may be less obvious than simple locks. For example, the basement which everyone is so enthused over was apparently an unnoticed entrance until he began pointing it out. There may be other examples of doors hidden away for some reason, until they've prepared a set of games for us to play there as well."

Keys for the locked doors, eh. How ludicrous the thought still was to Aidou, someone who'd hardly ever come across something he couldn't overpower, out manoeuvre, or simply scare away with a glance.

Aidou was definitely zoning out at this point; nothing either of them said was terribly surprising to him, not even the pigmy's reluctance to part with knowledge. For a creature with a genius IQ, none of the points hadn't been thought of at one time or another, and verbal hypothesizing was normally something only done with other intelligent members of his race. The fact that keys came from the nurses (allegedly) was about the only thing that tugged at his attention. A vampire's ego was a magnificent thing to behold.

Reaching out for Sasuke's tray without preamble, the noble silently stole a helping of the boy's breakfast, bright blue eyes almost absently gauging Sasuke's face for a reaction. Had he gotten any better?

"On a different note, have either of you been to the 'kennel'?"

"The monsters behind the doors I've broken down have so far mostly been defeatable," Sasuke noted. "With the exception of the humanoid ones, I mean. By handing us more doors and, potentially, opponents, it's basically as if they're training us. That only supports the theory that they're preparing to use us for something."

The humanoid ones had all -- with the exception of the girl he'd met the first night -- been defending something as well, Sasuke recalled. Even that girl had been blocking the way to something. Still, all of it was uncomfortably reminiscent of a particularly nasty training exercise.

There was a whisper of air on Sasuke's other side that was closer than it should have been and Sasuke glanced sharply in Aidou's direction, tensing. He wouldn't put it past Aidou to do something dumb -- the first time they'd met, the vampire had attacked someone -- but Sasuke hadn't provoked him much ...

"I haven't," he said, still a little suspicious despite the fact that he hadn't felt anything land. "What sort of place is it?"

Mark watched Aidou take from Sasuke's plate and Sasuke's glance without comment. It wasn't his place to defend Sasuke's food, and it seemed Sasuke's senses were still sharp enough. Sharper than one might expect. It was good to know.

Training, perhaps. Weeding down, perhaps. Mark hadn't bothered asking the radio man about any of those questions; he knew they wouldn't be answered, or would be answered in riddles. Without more information, it was still guessing.

Even the door he wanted to enter was a gift from one of those two men who ruled their fates here. Something important to keep in mind.

"I don't know what you mean," Mark answered honestly to Aidou's question.

Eating the spoils made the most logical sense, and that's exactly what Aidou did. Then, flicking his fingers clean once again, he pointed his index finger and began to slowly move right back into Sasuke's personal space, aiming for his cheek.

He shot a glance at Mark, one that clearly said 'watch, but don't interfere.'

"If you have a map, why don't you know about it?" Aidou questioned, bringing his other hand up to cup his cheek. "There are a multitude of cages that all reek of abomination, let's put it that way." Literally, with a sense of smell like his, though they could take that how they wanted. "Doubles as an experimental lab, too." Leaving it vague seemed best.

A lifetime of training to know everything he could about how to use his body as a weapon meant that Sasuke had to know its status and location at any given time, and that coupled with his natural disinclination for touch meant that he was finely tuned to the presence of other people. Mostly because he hated it.

Just a few days of being blind had only made the irritating prickle of someone in Sasuke's space even more annoying -- Aidou's first move had made already Sasuke suspicious. The second faint movement of air came even closer and Sasuke reacted before he could think about it, left arm snapping up to defend against even the potential of an attack.

So maybe a blind Sasuke was also a paranoid Sasuke, but the defence collided with what was definitely Aidou's arm, and Sasuke directed a vehement glare in Aidou's direction. Whether it was an intended attack or not, there had been a deliberate movement towards Sasuke's face, and that was not something necessary outside of combat. (Unless it was River, but Aidou was weird, not completely unbalanced.)

"The hell?" He demanded, voice flatly annoyed. Kakashi testing Sasuke was one thing -- the man had a right and likely moved more subtly than Aidou any day -- but Aidou being a brat and interrupting a useful conversation was another.

Mark had rolled his eyes at Aidou's look. Had he interfered before? When it became clear that the young man meant the animal testing area by the kennels, Mark decided not to bother commenting, because watching Sasuke's reaction to Aidou's invasion of privacy was more entertaining.

Would serve the little prick right if Sasuke at least bruised him a little. Even Mark knew there were limits to insufferability. "Hmm." He couldn't help the amused noise, even though it wasn't quite a laugh.

As soon Sasuke touched his arm, the vampire dropped it and promptly went back to eating. "Don't tell me you're that surprised, Sasuke-kun--naturally I'd be curious to see if you'd improved any from the last time I saw you. Do you think you could stop that if I, or a creature like me, were moving three times as fast and aiming for your throat?" Idly, the vampire watched Sasuke's face. "After all, it'd be no good spending a night with you if you hadn't taken any of my advice to heart."

And Aidou didn't know anything about Sasuke's prior training, but the reaction time hadn't been that great. What, did people think he did these things just to waste time? Please.

"Anyway..." drolled the vampire. "Back on point."

Sasuke's annoyed expression shifted several notches over to a sort of outraged confusion when Aidou justified what he'd done -- not least because Sasuke could see his point, that there was a necessity to test an ally, and that meant that Sasuke was a weak link now. Which he'd never been and didn't plan to be, and he hadn't been the weak one in the excursion last night, but then again, Sai was an unknown quantity even if he was professional, and Usopp didn't seem terribly combat-experienced ...

But if Aidou thought Sasuke was just going to accept a test like some chastened genin and move right along, he had another thing coming entirely.

"Do you want to fight me?" Sasuke demanded, eyes narrowed and arm still raised, for defence or attack no longer clear. If there was one thing he'd always been able to do as a ninja, it was judging distance by sound, and if there was one thing Aidou hadn't stopped doing, it was talking. "If you continue to present this sort of irritation, I will take it as a sign that you do."

Although Mark could understand Sasuke's feelings (hell, he'd had a bit of murderous rage last night when John condescendingly patted him on the head, and that had been intended as an entirely friendly gesture) this was going too far, the arm still raised threateningly. Don't you know they're more dangerous when they're aware of their vulnerability?

"I'm sure I don't need to point it out, but unless one of you is seeking to pass the day in sedated oblivion you should tone it down." For a moment he had the odd sensation of being a babysitter. Okay, kids, play nice. Don't make me get the shock-stick.

Aidou was, for all intents and purposes, wearing the untouchable frost of nobility on his face--a useful mask to have, if ever he remembered to stop throwing the latest tantrum. The urge to snort was strong, but he refrained, chin still nonchalantly resting in his palm. Sasuke's reaction had shot wide of Aidou's own temper.

"If you want to have an episode, go right ahead, but don't expect me to oblige you," Aidou responded calmly. "I suggest taking your aggression out on something that can be helped, rather than refusing to accept the fact that you now do, indeed, have deficiencies that need to be worked around. I can't apologize for the obvious, you understand."

Deciding he really didn't like the cheap banana nut muffins offered here, he reached for a blueberry one instead and swept the rest aside. It was hard to get blueberry wrong, even for an idiot commoner in a grocery store. "Mark, you seem to have a competent mind at the very least--I'm sure I've seen you around, but do you mind if I ask how long you've really been here?"

Mark's voice snapped Sasuke back to a slightly less attack-ready reality, although memory recalled an amused sort of sound a few seconds ago and by nature was half-convinced that it was at Sasuke's expense. As for Aidou -- the vampire telling someone else to handle their aggression was more than a little rich.

"I'll oblige you to remember that I'm not a child, much less yours," Sasuke snapped, but he dropped his arm nonetheless. "Offering advice does not give you status as my superior or any right to test me."

And yet as pissed off at Aidou as Sasuke was, he was almost equally angry with himself: this was nearing the sort of jumpiness that had gotten him in trouble the first day here, in 'therapy' with Muraki. If it was this easy to unsettle him, there was no way to concentrate efficiently on the more important business.

There was no mistaking it, that attitude, so much like his mostly painful social excursions back on Barrayar among the high Vor. If Aidou wasn't royalty of some sort (through finance, military power or bloodlines) he was at least aiming at it. Mark smiled at him and answered as though proudly, "Three days. And how long have you been here?"

For Sasuke's part, at least his temper seemed to be under control. The sedatives might wear off by tonight, but it would be a waste of a day even so and if they were still in the boy's system, there wouldn't be any excursions for him that evening.

"So you're blind now, big deal," quipped the vampire. "You still don't get a free pass to act like an invalid in denial if you want to remain useful." He leaned back in his chair, now rather weary of the topic at hand. "So quit acting like I slapped you, as I'm sure many people would like to. And for your information, any children of mine would be holding their own much better."

Really, what was with everyone in the mornings. These people were diurnal by simple biology--if anyone had a right to fly off the handle at all, it was Aidou. His dignity was worth far more, and not even taking into account everything weighing on his mind, his behaviour was phenomenally better than it could be. The fact that he could even sit here and act calm was an amazing force of will.

Continuing on, he said, "Longer than that." For once, he didn't balk at the answer, though he did glance at Sasuke for a moment. Not as long as the boy himself, though. Wasn't much of a consolation.

Sasuke had fought the man with the metal helmet that everyone in the Institute seemed to agree to be terrified of, and he'd landed a hit; he'd passed Kakashi's assessment and he'd fully satisfied his end of any team effort he'd been on since the blinding; all in all, he'd adapted to blindness. Still, Kakashi was Konoha and soft, Sasuke had been forced to rely on Sharingan for the monster in the Sun Room, and he'd been injured in what should have been a simple fight with the spider ...

You are my son. Sasuke's hands twitched once on the table, as if tempted to clench into fists and hit the closest thing at hand (unfortunately for Mark, who'd admittedly tried to defuse the situation), before relaxing again.

"Don't assume that I'm helpless," he said, voice tense, and didn't bother contributing the length of his stay. Both of them already knew. That it was longer, and that he'd survived.

(By leaning pathetically on others.)

"Of course," Mark answered to Aidou's vague statement about the time he'd been here. That was exactly what was expected.

Sasuke was being prodded again, twitching, and frankly bearing the insults with far more grace than Mark could imagine himself having in the same situation. He'd met rulers of worlds with less presumption... but then again, the more power one had, the less one felt the need to compensate in self-defense. Not that he knew Aidou well enough to surmise that was the young man's problem, of course. For all he knew, Aidou was worse when in his native surroundings, whatever those might be.

"I'm not the most polite or the most diplomatic person in the galaxy," far from it, "but barring anyone's requests for special testing, I don't think Sasuke's skills need to be vouched for before he can continue this breakfast. And since Sasuke's already agreed to travel with me tonight, we're both blindly, if you'll excuse the phrase, trusting each other to be competent enough to do what we say we'll do. If we're wrong, we'll suffer for it, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. And it's Sasuke's decision whether or not to take that risk as well. Maybe this is your way of saying you care, but it's really not any of your business at the moment whether Sasuke is at full capacity or going to fall over his own feet just trying to walk. Helping people who don't ask for it isn't generally a good idea. Just in my experience."

It didn't happen often, but there were times when Aidou's considerable thought process was unexpectedly forced to a halt. And this? Was one of those times.

The phrase 'misplaced maternal instinct' clicked into place in his mind.

And then he just started laughing.

If Aidou was thrown for a loop, Sasuke was outright dumbstruck when Mark spoke -- what the hell was the man -- was he actually defending Sasuke? Once that definition had actually clicked, Sasuke blinked hard, turned to stare blindly and blankly in Mark's direction as if trying to figure out why he'd said all those words, and wracked his brains for the last time sometime like this had happened.

... huh, probably never.

Aidou's abrupt laughter made Sasuke almost glance back around, startled and still confused.

He really wasn't sure how to respond to a situation like this -- thank Mark? what was he supposed to do about Aidou's hysterics? -- and for once, his mind was completely blank as to a reaction. When he finally did come up with one, his voice was still more perplexed than anything else.

"I will maintain my end of the mission," he said. Well, if Mark's goal had been to diffuse the tension, it seemed to have worked, if by sheer confusion; Sasuke had slipped back into shinobi terminology. "And though it's good to hear that you have confidence, I don't need anyone to defend me, much less against Aidou."

Never let it be said that Sasuke was particularly gracious about accepting help in any form whatsoever.

"I wasn't defending you, I was criticizing him," Mark corrected mildly, watching the blond laughing. "I can't defend you, I barely know you."

The laughter, on the whole, slid off his back. Some insults could hit, but a pompous ass laughing at his words was like being congratulated on a job well done. Though it wasn't entirely true that he didn't feel a need to defend Sasuke, or rather Sasuke's ability to decide what he could or couldn't do. He might appear young, but appearances were deceiving, and Mark was sure from his movement that Sasuke knew how to fight and how to kill. As did Aidou, although that meant little to Mark at the moment.

"Then do overlook my blatant and insidious personal attack on a fragile psyche." It was as much as Aidou could get out before the smooth laughter overtook him for a few moments. It set Aidou off like nothing else could: Mark actually admitting he knew nothing about the boy's capabilities, and yet insinuating one was, somehow, stepping out of line for objectively analyzing a fellow prisoner's ability to adapt under pressure while under long-term detainment.

But oh, not at the breakfast table! That was just too crude under the circumstances!

The vampire touched the back of one pale hand to his eyes, trying to suppress the shudders of mirth. The rampant idiocy in this place was so sad. Sasuke had lost visual stimulus--and as his little experiment had proven, he hadn't returned to full offensive capacity yet--and Mark would be a splat on the wall if he crossed Aidou the wrong way. The vampire, at least, had experience with physical handicaps that could certainly be applicable to Sasuke's quickened recovery, getting him back into the best form he could be in.

Somehow, though, Aidou was mistaken. It all made perfect sense.

"Yes, you're right, it's none of my business, since I simply don't care. To add my own tasteless idiom, are you both done beating the dead horse? I think it's suffered enough."

There was enough commotion in the cafeteria that Sasuke could seriously consider getting in at least two or three solid punches before the staff would be able to get an orderly in to sedate him. The idea of the disappointed tone of his nurse's voice almost inspired him to actually do it, but the fact of the matter was that Aidou was clearly a brat with delusions of superiority, and Mark had ... weird priorities.

And that Sasuke still failed completely to live up even to his name. (Whose son was he supposed to be?)

"I doubt you'd know anything about suffering, Aidou," he said, voice perfectly bland again, and pointedly picked up the cup of juice his nurse had put on his tray. The vampire had a point, though -- this had gone on long enough. Mark was also right insofar as the sedation went; Sasuke hadn't had to deal with the drugs yet, and he didn't want the experience. "Mark, you've been out at night, but have you had a chance to arm yourself?"

Duly changing the subject, but if Aidou thought all was forgotten already, he was a fool.

"You were the one last talking about it," Mark pointed out mildly to Aidou's idiom, still bearing the laughter without concern. He might not be the most stable individual, but someone here was making an ass of himself, and it wasn't Mark. Then again, with all that laughter, maybe he also wasn't the most unstable person sitting here. At any rate, let the kid get the last word, Sasuke's mild comment aside. Either he knows about suffering enough to be trying to make up for one hell of a lot of it, or he's an idiot.

"I can fight bare-handed, but I was planning on picking something up tonight. My first few evenings were primarily spent networking." That was true enough. Not always by intention, but... well, he'd made some interesting allies and acquaintances.

Day 30: Cafeteria, Breakfast

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