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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Kurogane was not the evasive one of his group. He was, however, the most mistrusting of them. Evasiveness fell to... and then he remembered that Fai had been missing. Just where had that magician gone off to? His focus shifted a moment in an attempt to look out at the room, but he couldn't manage it for very long. With a grunt, he set his eyes back to the other. Looking for Fai would have to come later; first he needed to get his head clear.

Thinking on it a moment longer, he came to the conclusion that someone here might actually know what had been done to him. With how the man had trailed off, it sounded like he possibly had some idea, and it wasn't as though Kurogane had been locked up after what had happened, just stuck here (wherever that was) along with these other patients. There was the feeling of routine to what had been done.

"'Or' what?" he growled, though his tone wasn't as hard as it might have normally been, "if you know what happened, then say." It should be pretty damn obvious that he hadn't woken up this way!

It wasn't like Peter knew what had happened, but the guy certainly didn't seem to if he was asking. It was strange that he didn't know, but maybe it really had been done with in his sleep. That didn't make much sense, but Peter was doing his best to accept anything, as much as his scientific mind protested.

"Well, I can't say for sure, but you kind of look like you've been drugged. I don't think it's in the food..." Peter glanced down at his muffin, though he had eaten quite a few meals and had never suffered from it. The stranger didn't seem to be eating, anyway.

"If you woke up feeling weird, they may have done it in your sleep." Or it had happened afterward, but then they guy should have been aware of what happened, unless the haze of the drugs was making it difficult to remember.

"Drugged?" What, like the kind on the black market? He knew something about the drugs of his own world, most being illegal, but he knew nearly nothing of those in other worlds. The injuries he took were few and often left unattended save for a simple wrapping. He'd never needed any "real" drugs before, so he naturally wasn't used to the feeling of one. If they were all like this, then he wasn't very fond of drugs at all.

He gave a small shake of his head at the mention of being asleep. "Didn't wake up like this. Some woman wasn't getting my name right... then these guys showed up..." Then haze. He remember feeling a threat and being ready to fight. He must have fought then, but had apparently lost against something they'd done. If he had been "drugged" by them, then he wanted to know how they'd managed that during a fight.

It was all pretty vague, but Peter was willing to guess at what had happened. The "guys" the other patient mentioned were probably orderlies, and Peter figured that they only showed up when a patient was causing a significant ruckus. "Did you start a fight?" he asked. It seemed that if the man had been injected, he didn't remember it happening. It was possible that the needle had been stuck into him without him realizing it, especially if he had been in the middle of attacking someone.

All Peter knew was that he was never going to try and enact any force on the staff of this place, at least not during the day. (He saw what they became at night, and he had even tried to fight one of them.) It wasn't like he had been planning to in the first place, but he wanted to avoid sedation if at all possible. He could at least be thankful that they weren't drugged without provocation.

There wouldn't have even been a fight if that damn women hadn't refused to just listen to him! "Yes", was the proper answer for the man's question, but Kurogane was too irritated over the whole thing to just give one word as a straight answer. Starting fights was a childish way of putting it anyway.

"If someone comes at me, I kill him," he muttered out. That's not exactly how things had worked, but it was how Kurogane usually handled things.

More details were becoming clearer as the other's questions nudged him little by little into remembering. He'd tried to go past the obstinate woman on his own only to be blocked by the men she'd called. If anyone had started a fight, it had been them, or at least the woman who ordered them to restrain him. He hadn't needed restraining really, he'd just been too stubborn to deal with someone who wouldn't listen. Of course, when they did try to restrain him, he definitely turned into the "hostile patient" the woman had been so intent in restraining.

Well, then. Peter couldn't stop his eyes from widening at the answer he got. That was pretty harsh, wasn't it? It was possible that the man's response had been blunted by the fact that he wasn't thinking too straight, but that didn't stop Peter from being pretty taken aback by it.

He was able to collect himself soon enough, though. He pushed the remains of his muffin away now that he was done picking at it and let out a sigh. "I'm pretty sure you must have been injected with some sort of sedative, then. It's difficult to say how long it'll be before it wears off, since I'm not sure how strong of a dose they're using." Considering this guy had potentially been trying to kill one of the orderlies, it had probably been pretty strong.

It would most likely have worn off by the time nightshift came around, though, and that was what mattered, right?

It was a pretty harsh answer, but Kurogane was a harsh man, or Shinobi, rather. What life hadn't hardened him against his profession had, so his way of thinking naturally reflected that colder part of him. He couldn't afford to do anything half-way, especially when it came to fighting. Assassins didn't just give up if they were let go. They would only keep coming back, keep trying to kill his Master, keep fighting so long as they could. Kurogane knew how much Tomoyo hated how he killed, but if he hadn't lived by such a creed, then he'd have died a long time ago and her as well. Killing had been a necessity.

Though, since he'd left her, he hadn't taken any life.

He didn't care what this man thought of him for saying such a thing. He didn't even know his name, but whoever he was, he was being pretty helpful so far as knowing what was going on. That didn't mean Kurogane understood, but he was doing his best with how dazed he was.

"Injected? Like poison?" He still really hadn't had drugged explained, and poison was the closest he could think for a comparison. It likely wasn't a poison though just based on the man saying that it would wear off.

"What? No, like..." How could this guy not know what he was talking about? Peter wasn't sure if he should explain, since there was a possibility he would offend the guy by assuming he was ignorant, but he apparently didn't know what a sedative was, which was odd in and of itself.

There was always the chance that he was having a hard time following because of the drugs, and Peter was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now. He did seem a little strange, but it was hard to judge someone when they were under the influence of what had to be some pretty strong drugs.

"A sedative is a type of drug that's usually used to calm down someone who's having a panic attack or who just can't calm down for some reason, but it looks like the nurses here will use it on anyone who gets violent. It's the reason you're feeling so weird right now, but the effects aren't permanent." He was trying to be as clear as he could, but he got the feeling there were still going to be questions.

He didn't take offense to the explanation. So many things had needed to be explained to him during his travels, especially in the more modern worlds, and the odd foods had always needed an explanation. Finally having someone who didn't make fun of his ignorance when explaining was a nice change.

"Never heard of it," he said once the man had finished.

That wasn't to say he didn't know of something similar, though it hadn't been any drug. Just a little girl and.. He shook his head again to clear the place his thoughts had strayed to. That wasn't like him at all, remembering something from so far back just because it was somewhat similar. Damn sedative or whatever was making him think of things he didn't need to!

Looking for a way to get his attention back to the conversation, he slowly forced his thoughts to the explained sedative. Now that he knew what he was dealing with, he knew to avoid it happening again, but he still wasn't so sure just how they'd managed to use one on him. Asking about that should have been his next question, but he found something else a little more pressing. "Then, who are 'they'?" he asked. That women and the men in white clearly had some authority here though he doubted they were the ones in charge.

It was still hard for Peter to believe that someone hadn't heard of a sedative, but the way the man had responded seemed firm despite the fact that his head was probably swimming. Maybe sedatives didn't exist wherever this guy came from? Or he just wasn't very educated, which Peter couldn't blame him for depending on his situation.

All of those topics were pretty touchy ones, though, so it was probably best to just stay away from them and keep on answering the questions. He wasn't sure if he was the best person for the job, but they were all pretty basic inquiries. "They? You mean the nurses? They're just part of the staff here who watch over us during the day. Hey, just how new are you?" Shouldn't the stranger have figured some of this out by now?

When Peter caught wind of some scuffling from another part of the room, his attention was pulled away from the other patient as he watched a young girl lash out against the nurses. She actually managed to knock down a few of them before she was restrained, though it looked like other patients were going to her rescue, and even joining in with the fight.

Did they really think that was going to work? People got desperate, he figured, and needed to let out their aggression, but there were better ways to do it than this. Having an example of what acting out led to right in front of him, Peter had no intention of joining in -- but he was still interested enough to keep an eye on the fight.

It was good that the other person wasn't asking many return questions. Kurogane might not have been able to answer some correctly had they been posed. His coherency was getting increasingly better, but was not yet to the point where he could latch onto more than one thought at a time. Even the thoughts he had kept sliding off to things he usually did not think on like the past.

He could, however, manage the simpler questions. "Got here last night," he answered. Apparently people arriving at different times was expected. That seems to be what had happened with him and Fai. He had to wonder if the kids really were here anymore, but again, if they weren't, then they'd have some problems.

The mention of staff made Kurogane think along the lines of a store, though he knew that wasn't right. This was a prison, wasn't it? Or something made to resemble one. Then again, anything could be considered a "prison" even if it was lacking the usual bars. All you needed was a place that held people against their will whether they deserved it or not. And Kurogane was certainly being held against his will. He took a moment to translate staff into that context and eventually landed on it being some kind of subordinate setup. There had to be someone (or thing) behind this place, so the nurses were the ones who supported whoever that was. The impression that this place was a trap was still with him and wouldn't be leaving him any time soon. Not until it could be disproved, at least.

Maybe this person could help with that? He seemed inclined to explain whatever questions Kurogane had which made getting answers easier. The only explanations he'd had so far had come from Fai. "Who's in charge?"

He saw the man's attention stray and heard the ruckus but wasn't able to get a bearing on it to watch. Sounded like a fight for what he could hear though. It certainly got the other man's attention. Fights must have been common in a place like this.

That explained some of the man's clueless behavior, at least. Though Peter still figured he should have known what a sedative was. Maybe he wasn't being open-minded enough about where the other patient could have come from, but it was hard to try wrapping his mind around that when he had spent his entire life figuring that there was only one world or dimension or whatever that had sentient life.

He would have done his best to answer that next question (and gotten himself ready to give a more complete explanation of Landel's in general), but as more and more patients got involved in that one fight (and started some of their own), he was finding it increasingly difficult to ignore. One guy was even trying to get more patients to add to the insanity, and Peter was starting to think that it might get bad enough that they could get caught in the crossfire.

For one thing, he didn't want to have to deal with that. Even though the nurses turned into something much more sinister at night, he couldn't shake the feeling that hurting them during the day wouldn't be right. Secondly, if he joined in he'd be crossing the line between Peter Parker and Spider-man - now that he had his outfit, he wanted to keep the two as separate as possible.

The plan was to stay in his seat and try not to get hurt, but he wasn't sure how well that would work. And the other patient definitely didn't need that, considering he was already incapacitated. "Maybe we should try to get out of here," he commented, raising his voice so that he could be heard over the noise.

Kurogane was far more open minded himself thanks to his recent travels. He couldn't ignore things like he'd done when first arriving at that Japan (but not his Japan) of that Witch. Things were always new or otherwise different everywhere he looked now. The closest he'd ever managed to get to his own home had been in the Shara and Shura worlds. Everywhere else though at least something had needed an explanation.

The noise of the growing fight was now impossible to ignore. It felt like it was all around them. Kurogane ignored his own question as well and again tried to get his attention somewhere on the fight. Finding part of it wasn't difficult this time though, the intensity had escalated with the number of combatants. There were many of the men and women in white swarming what he could assume were other patients. Made sense that they would fight. He had. That hadn't gone very well, but it showed resistance to being forcibly locked up. It showed that will to fight.

As much as he would have also loved to return the favor of the men in white, Kurogane was in no condition to join the fray. Keeping his eyes to one part of it was hard enough, and the focus he would have usually had for a fight just wasn't there. Even if it had been, he was more aware of how this placed worked now. Rushing in wasn't going to work anymore with how his power was restrained. They (and just where was that magician in all of this?!) needed to work out a plan before taking any action, otherwise they'd only end up causing another unorganized group effort.

"Ah..." he agreed with the other after taking a moment to process what he meant by "get out of here". Being forced into battle wasn't a good idea.

Before things could get any worse, Peter noticed that most of the aggressive patients were starting to lose energy and slump to the ground, most likely thanks to some heavy sedatives. It looked like trying to slip out before either of them got hurt wasn't really necessary anymore.

The intercom came on soon enough, announcing some sort of lockdown. It looked like they just needed to stay put and they would be taken back to their rooms. Peter felt a little bad about going along with this without any sort of resistance, but the downed patients were proof enough that he had made the right choice.

As his nurse moved over to usher him out, looking relieved that he wasn't one of the "bad" patients, Peter slowly stood as he glanced over to the other patient. His nurse would probably take care of him, too, so it looked like their conversation ended there.

"Good luck," he said with a quick nod. "My name's Peter, by the way." He doubted the stranger would remember that through the drug haze, but it would have been weird to have departed without some sort of introduction.

"Come along now, Peter," the nurse insisted, grabbing him by the arm. Together, they headed out of the cafeteria, weaving through the other staff members who were working on getting the unconscious patients to the medical wing.

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Day 30: Cafeteria, Breakfast

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