damned_institute | Day 30: Staff, Morning

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Day 30: Staff, Morning

Burly orderlies and agile Calm Effect nurses flooded the cafeteria from the Courtyard while regular hall nurses filed in from the Sun Room and ushered out those not involved in the rebellion. It indeed seemed as if Landel was sending out all the cavalry, and an effective cavalry they were: The riot didn't continue for much longer after the alarm sounded, though it seemed strange just how quickly all of the mutinous patients fell, even the ones who hadn't been injected with anything.

The hall nurses were quick to escort their well-behaved charges back to their rooms, praising those who hadn't joined in and chiding those who muttered under their breath in response. There were some exceptions, of course: One nice young man had even defended one of the nurses from the violent patients! Now, wasn't that exemplary behavior? Dr. Landel would be so proud to hear about it...

Within half an hour, all of the so-called "loyal" patients had been safely deposited in their rooms, and it was then that the alarm finally stopped and the true difficulty of the situation was tackled. There certainly weren't enough rooms in solitary to accommodate such rampant disobedience, and yet measures would have to be taken to ensure proper consequences for each and every patient involved. After all, something like this couldn't be allowed to happen again!

Different options were considered. Perhaps they should make an example out of the girl who had sparked the riot, but then again, perhaps not. This certainly wasn't the first case of patients attacking nurses or their peers in a crowded area, but what had been different this time was the sheer support that the other patients had shown for her. Should the staff then make examples of all those who had tried to "protect" her from the well-meaning nurses? No, there were too many for that...

In the end, it was decided that the best immediate solution would be to treat the rebellious patients in the Medical Wing while they were unconscious and then move them back to their rooms to await punishment. To ensure the safety of both their roommates and the patients themselves, however, the staff decided to securely fasten their limbs to their beds and keep them heavily drugged. Such a sad sight they were to see, but... it was necessary.

Finally, when each and every patient had been escorted back to their respective rooms, the staff hurried off to an emergency meeting upstairs. Strangely, Head Nurse Lydia was the one taking care of the proceedings in the Head Doctor's stead. She calmly told them that he was preoccupied with more urgent matters, and as she began to speak to the crowd, the staff could only wonder what could possibly be more important than an unprecedented patient riot...

[ Comment to this post with separate threads for each patient room, and please put your character's room number in the subject line. Thank you! ]

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Haku's smile softened and he shook his head. "Don't worry about Zabuza-san," he said. "He wasn't mad at you, and he won't hurt you without a good reason." Haku pulled back slightly and then moved to sit on the edge of Artemis' bed. He was small enough and light enough (he had probably lost some weight since coming here in fact) that he wouldn't really shift the other boy too much and make him uncomfortable.

"It would seem though, that your night was much more interesting than mine."

Artemis looked uncomfortable, not because Haku was sitting on the edge of the bed, but because he couldn't cover the obvious bandage on his face and shoulder. Haku had told him to look out for himself before he left for the night, and while he'd done his best, it hadn't been enough.

"My group was attacked by three nurses. At once."

He'd leave out the part concerning the copious amounts of poison he'd managed to accumulate during the fight.

Haku nodded in understanding, and frowned. "Are you in any pain?" His voice was genuinely concerned as he reached up to push the hair away from the unscarred side of his own face.

Artemis laughed a little, "Well, I can't exactly feel much right now, but yes. I was in pain this morning. Nothing extreme, I assure you. Just scratches at this point."

He dearly wished he could get out of the bandages right now. It was uncomfortable to have one's arms above one's head and have bandages wound tightly around the arms and torso. The wounds had been light anyway, so why he was sitting in bandages was beyond him.

"It must have been bad enough if the ones that treat our wounds decided to wrap you up so well," Haku pointed out. "Of course, you can remove them at anytime, but you might be leaving a scar or two if you do." He smiled and laughed lightly.

"After all, I took mine off without permission."

He nodded, looking at Haku's scars. They were hard to miss, after all. When Artemis first saw them he had been terrified out of his mind, thinking that was the fate of any experienced fighter. He never asked how it happened. He didn't think he wanted to know, anyway.

"Well, considering I'm not exactly equipped to remove my own bandages at the moment--" He pulled on his arm restraints for effect. "--and I'm also doomed to enter the realm of public bathing today, perhaps it would be best to leave them as is for now."

He also had no idea what lay under those bandages...

Haku shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe you'll be getting some help from one of the lovly nurses here." He smiled a little, unable to resist teasing slightly. "If you get one of the ladies, they might even be able to set you up with a private bathing session."

"Agh, spare me," Artemis groaned and started laughing. "If I had to bathe near a woman, I might be reduced to a puddle of teenaged hormones. And isn't that sort of thing frowned upon in society?" He grinned. "Grown women setting up private bathing sessions with underaged boys? Especially when the underaged boy is a patient of hers?

"No," He sighed and looked up at the ceiling, "I'd rather stand in the showers and bathe with my fellow underaged boys staring at me than have a woman watch."

Haku laughed and shrugged. "I wouldn't know," he said. "Where I'm from, there are a lot of public and private mixed bathing houses." His smile changed from teasing to simply amused again.

"Since we bathe together though, if you need help, I would be more than happy to assist you."

Artemis made a noise that sounded like someone had ripped out his vocal-cords mid-syllable. He hadn't considered that. Haku... and he... would be in the same group at the showers. Naked.

Ohgod.

He could feel the blood rushing to his face. What to say, what to say? What could he say to that?

"Momochi-san would kill me in my sleep."

Haku blinked. "What? Why in the world would he do that?" Haku shifted slightly to get a better look at Artemis' face. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine! Haku..." Artemis began, licking his lips in thought. How to put this? "He obviously didn't like me when he saw how... close we were last night." He really had no idea why. All Artemis knew was that Zabuza's expression was Not Happy (TM) when he saw Haku hugging him. Well, even more angry-looking than usual.

"In... my experience, parents often worry that other children will be a poor influence or get their child into trouble somehow. Perhaps Momochi-san feels very protective over you in that sense, which would cause him to see me as a threat."

Though what Artemis could do to get Haku into the kind of trouble his roommate couldn't get out of, he didn't know.

Haku blinked, taking this new idea in... then doubled over, laughing hard. His shoulders shook, but he kept the actual sound muted and muffled behind his hand. After a moment, his still healing ribs throbbed and he tried to get control over himself.

"Artemis, there is absolutly no way that Zabuza-san sees you as a threat to me." He took a shaking breath and looked at the other with a bright smile. "Nor could you possibly be a negative influence on me. Not with the types of people I've been around in the past." Or they kind of person he was in the past.

"Zabuza-san is ... How can I put this?" Haku paused and chewed his lower lip in thought. "He's never the type of person to show emotions other than the ones that will make him appear scary. You don't have to worry about him."

Artemis blinked, "Oh... I suppose I was mistaken. He just seemed... overly hostile towards me. Moreso than when we first met." The boy sighed and shrugged as best he could with his arms over his head.

"Perhaps I was just nervous after..." He cleared his throat, "What happened previously."

"Zabuza-san is very possesive of his items," Haku pointed out. "I doubt you'll have the same problem with him again." He smiled and reached up, lightly touching Artemis' arm.

"That can't be terribly comfortable," he said.

Artemis was about to ask Haku what he meant by 'items', considering Haku was, in fact, a person, but the question was driven from his mind. Much like everything else he wanted to talk to Haku about... everything he asked kept getting swept under the rug.

"I-- I'm not used to having my arms over my head for long periods of time, so no, it isn't," he looked up at Haku, silently wishing he wasn't strapped to a bed and immobile. Part of him wanted to return to the blanket they'd shared last night. But with his wrists and ankles bound, sitting up wasn't even a possibility.

He sighed slightly, "Your hand feels nice, though. On sore muscles."

Haku smiled and shifted again on the bed so that he could place the palms of his hands against Artemis' shoulders. This positioned him at something of a lean, directly over the other boy, but he didn't mind. Very lightly, mindful of any injuries, Haku carefully rubbed the muscles there, honestly wanting to help alleviate any discomfort Artemis was feeling.

Artemis was extremely stiff in his shoulders--probably from all of the fighting and stress he'd been put under. He hadn't had the time to stretch or decompress since last night.

The boy groaned softly. Probably more erotically than was appropriate, but it just felt so good to have someone work the knots out of his back.

"Thank you..." He murmured, his eyelids dropping to half-mast. Inhaling deeply, he tried to remember what he was going to ask Haku.

"I lied for you more than once last night, so can you tell me one truth?" He peered up through his eyelashes at Haku. "You aren't honestly starving yourself, are you?"

"You're welcome and," Haku smiled, though it was slightly sad. "You're right," he said. "I do owe you the truth." He shifted his hands slightly and continued the light touches. "The truth is that I am not intentionally starving myself anymore." He sighed. "When I first woke here I was extremely depressed and simply did not eat. I didn't even notice until a few days went by and I was confronted about it."

He laughed softly. "Ironically, I missed breakfast this morning as well, and I can honestly say I am rather hungry at the moment."

Artemis nodded, "Understandable. We all have our ways of displaying our displeasure." For Artemis, it was throwing a fit. "But you need something to eat," he frowned up at Haku. "Perhaps one of the nurses will bring you something if you knock on the door? If you're hungry, you need food."

Unfortunately, Artemis didn't have anything that Haku could eat. If he'd known, he would have taken a muffin for Haku. Of course, at the time he didn't know he would be involved in a riot and sedated and subsequently chained to his bed.

Haku shook his head. "I'll be fine. Besides, I don't think that this 'Lock Down' mess will be put on hold just so I can eat something. I will ask a nurse when they return." He smiled at Artemis and moved to lightly rub the other boys arms.

"May I ask you something?"

Well, Artemis didn't exactly agree with this whole no food until lunch or maybe even dinner prospect, but he knew Haku was probably right. If he asked for something to eat, the nurse might get skittish and chain Haku to the bed too. And then what would they do?

"Hm?" Artemis looked up at Haku, taken slightly aback. "Of course. You can ask me anything."

"Why did you lie for me? To someone who, it appears, actually frightened you?" It was something Haku simply couldn't wrap his mind around and it had been bothering him all night long. Well, the night that he could recall anyway.

Artemis blinked, "Because he would have been angry with you, if you hadn't eaten. And we all have to wrestle with our own personal injuries--physical and psychological. How we deal with these problems is completely up to the individual--not those who surround the individual. If you wanted to go out that night, you were perfectly within your rights to. Far be it from me to deny you that by tattling on you to Momochi-san.

"Besides," Artemis looked embarrassed, "I thought he would take it out on me if I said you hadn't eaten. Or he would at least start asking uncomfortable questions."

Haku laughed softly. That made a bit more sense to him at least and he nodded. "Then thank you Artemis," he said, leaning down a bit to press a light, cool kiss to the other boy's cheek. "I didn't thank you properly last night."

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