damned_institute | Nightshift 30: M31-M40 Hallway

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Nightshift 30: M31-M40 Hallway

[M39]

Being dragged away from ZEX mid-conversation was something of a mixed blessing. On the upside, it meant that Zelnick would have at least few minutes to regain emotional balance before spending the whole night with the guy....

Well, perhaps it was more of a mixed curse. Normally Zelnick didn't begrudge allies their oddities, but ZEX had this amazing ability to jump straight from normal conversation to oh-god-awkward innuendo-laden flirting, and Zelnick couldn't do much but hope that he'd keep away from the latter.

In any case, he paid closer attention to where they took him, this time, not just his room number, and he realized he was actually really close to Yuber's room. Wasn't that convenient?

Once he was in his room, he started to get ready for the night; skillet, knife, pestle, all loaded into the apple basket that had wound up in his closet, along with a couple pens and the radio (hadn't Yuber said it spilled hints at night?). This meant he couldn't take all the apples with him, so Zelnick wrapped them in one of the extra shirts and left them in the corner of the closet. All that was left was to get the flashlight, which he found under his pillow like he did last night.

Then the intercom clicked on.

So that was their lord and master, in this place? After spending the first night confused and the first day hearing the voice of the Head Nurse, he found that the guy sounded pretty sane, until he admitted to killing someone. "The man on the radio--" did he mean whoever was on the other side of the little antique, sending out hints? And the method of death sounded... frighteningly personal.

He unloaded the skillet from the basket and held on to it as the doors unlocked, and sat at his desk to wait for ZEX.

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"No. Just... the same thing, still." Usopp yawned. "Maybe you're right. If I nap, I can't say stupid things. Unless I talk in my sleep..."

That was a new and really scary thought, actually. What if he did talk in his sleep? People would hear, would hear... well, the odds were a lot better that he'd lie in his sleep, so that wouldn't be too bad. "Sai, wake me up if I start talking, okay?"

Sai didn't believe that Usopp talking in his sleep could be particularly harmful, but he nodded at the pirate's question anyway. He just hoped that if he did start saying something he shouldn't that he would be easy enougn to awaken.

As he thought a good friend should, he began helping Usopp get settled in bed, including pulling the covers right out from under him with one swift tug and then setting them back over him. Resting might not do anything for the pirate at all, but surely it couldn't hurt. Everyone could use any extra rest they could get here anyway.

Sai was tucking him in.

Usopp hadn't had someone tuck him into bed since he'd been five years old. Maybe longer. Sometimes, when he was really hurt, Chopper'd put a blanket on him but it wasn't quite the same. This was weird.

Sai was always weird. He had emotions but he expressed them in weird ways. Like smiling when he thought something was wrong or going all blank when he was upset or not knowing when people normally would touch and when they wouldn't. Sai was just plain weird.

Everyone Usopp knew was weird, except maybe Kaya. Usopp liked weird people. Then when he liked eggs too much or he called himself a great captain or ran into a room full of death slugs, they could just think Usopp was weird back. And he was too.

But he was also warm and comfortable and Sai could take care of things a lot better than Usopp could. For the moment, he tried to let anxiety go, and just fall asleep.

Usopp wasn't complaining, so Sai finished tucking the pirate in with a smile. He even reached up to brush a few strands of hair away from the teen's face as he'd seen others do with the sick and injured. It wasn't a terribly sweet and sentimental gesture coming from him, especially as it was a rather brief movement.

Once finished, he was all business again. He positioned himself near the doorway, back to it with his arms crossed. This allowed him to face Usopp while listening through the door at the same time. The noises from the clinic would make getting a true account of what was going on in the hall difficult, but he'd do the best he could. It was more than likely that he was going overboard.

Edited 2008-03-10 17:38 (UTC)

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/303919.html?thread=25246511#t25246511)]

Although his mind was busy constructing backup plans, Mello didn't have any time to waste. He didn't have time to check every room so he chose at random, moving on whenever he heard voices and moving in when he didn't. Most likely, people took their possessions with them when leaving for the night to avoid something like this. It would be too risky to steal from a person, though. Better to try the supply closets.

He continued checking the numbers as he moved down the first hallway he'd passed. One room was particularly noisy--Tamaki's clinic?--but if he was lucky, the commotion in there would be enough to hide any sounds of his search. He moved close to the door of his next target, carefully trying to sort through the noise and pick out anything coming from the room. It seemed safe. Good.

Mello carefully touched the doorknob and prepared to enter the room.

Footsteps outside the door were one thing. Footsteps that stopped were another. The moment he heard anyone approaching their doorway, Sai paid extra close attention to their movements, and this was the first pair of steps to have slowed. Then, unmistakably, there was a hand on the doorknob...

That was as far as Mello needed to get.

In an instant, Sai had risen to his feet and flung the door open. Reaching out, he grabbed the blond by the front of his shirt and slammed him into the wall just inside the doorway. Eyes narrowed, the ninja gave Mello a quick once-over. Not particularly threatening, it seemed. At least not physically. But the man had been sneaking around outside their door, and Sai wasn't willing to take any chances.

"Hello," he said without smiling. "Were you looking for something?"

Edited 2008-03-10 21:32 (UTC)

Usopp's distracted mind had finally come to a rest when he was jerked awake again by a loud thump. He jumped up in the bed, pulling the covers up to his chin as though protectively, and stared around the room. Whatever dreams he'd been having were forgotten in the momentary panic.

"Sai! What's going on?! Who is it?!" Peering through the darkness, it didn't look like anyone he knew, but... he'd talked too much earlier, had someone else come on rumors of treasure? Despite his initial defensive posture, Usopp started to climb out of the bed, still holding onto the sheets for a moment before the tug of their weight reminded him to let go. It was a small person, but that didn't mean anything. Sai needed backup, in case this became violent.

Where had he left his weapons?! Ah, the closet! But he couldn't open that while this guy was standing here. Torn, he stood in the center of the room, watching and waiting to see what happened next.

"What--"

Mello's reflexes were fast, but this person's were far faster. Before he'd even processed the opening of the door, he hit the wall and heard himself gasp in surprise, and something prevented his instinctive recoil. It took a dizzy second for the disorientation of impact to pass, then he blinked hard to take in his attacker: an unnervingly stoic looking teenager.

Why was everyone in this place so goddamn young and so goddamn good at everything?

He recovered his wits quickly, and although he didn't fight back, he grabbed the boy's wrist to make it clear that he didn't appreciate being held in place. The kid wasn't wearing the same clothes as everyone else here...in fact, if he'd been a little less pinned to the wall, Mello might have actually approved.

"What the hell are you doing in my room?" he demanded as he tried to use his other hand to push the kid away.

"This is M33," Sai replied. "We've been here all night and this room belongs to the man behind me. You're not his roommate." He didn't release his hold on the blond, and in fact drew out a trowel with his free hand as the man began to squirm, holding it under his chin. "Please explain yourself better."

The man was scarred badly along one side of his face - further, it seemed, once he got a better look. Perhaps on the shoulder and/or back as well. It appeared to be burn related. A fire, then, or explosion. As he noted earlier, however, he didn't seem like much of a fighter. So it might have been from an accident.

Sai hadn't seen him before. If he wasn't straight out trying to fool them, he couldn't have been there long to not even properly remember his own room number.

"Yeah, I just saw Sousuke leave at the start of night," Usopp agreed, standing back and out of the way for now. The idea of having a new roommate, despite the relief it would give Usopp from his pretense, was terrible in an odd way. He still felt as though he owed something to Sousuke. Then again, there was no way of knowing when or if Sousuke might just vanish, and no way to prevent it.

But in the middle of the night? How would this guy know this was his new room if he had just shown up? No, no, even in Usopp's confused state it didn't add up.

"Did someone tell you to come here?" Their new allies could generously leave stuff behind if they thought they'd get it back soon, couldn't they? Paranoia rose again. "He's a ninja, he can tell if you're lying!"

Now that there was something metal and most likely sharp against his throat, Mello decided that it might be in his best interest to stop struggling. He remained tense, though, watching the kid through narrowed eyes and trying to size him up. He was creepy. In a bad way. Something about him made Mello inexplicably annoyed, and it wasn't the fact that he was holding a weapon to his neck.

"That's the only explanation I have," he snapped, his voice angry enough to compensate for the lack of emotion in the kid's. "Are you going to kill me?" It sounded like more of a challenge than an inquiry.

His eyes didn't leave the pale boy opponent, but he heard the second voice and raised his eyebrows in disbelief. A ninja? Right. And the other one was probably a pirate.

"No one told me to come here."

"Say nothing else, Usopp," Sai snapped without looking around. The pirate had already given this man his name and occupation. As someone who had carried out one successful mission in the shadows after another, he was well familiar with interrogation. One shouldn't begin with the captive knowing more about his captors than the other way around. He really shouldn't have used Usopp's name either, but he didn't believe the message would have gotten across as quickly if he hadn't.

Sai pulled the trowel away again and stepped back, still holding Mello in place with the other hand. "I'm not going to kill you, but chances are high that you're a thief. What's your name and your room number?" It was possible that this man lived in the same hall and had simply gotten confused. Or perhaps it was the right door in the wrong hall.

And here he smiled the fakest smile. "I apologize for this. We're a little cautious."

Usopp's hands flew to his mouth as soon as Sai snapped, to cover it in Sai's stead since the ninja was a little busy at the moment. He'd said something wrong, again. Worse, this time he really didn't know what it was. As soon as his trail of ingredients had started to run down he'd known he'd screwed up, but this time?

Then again, Sai was a ninja. Ninja probably learned things like torture and interrogation on top of how to stab people really well. Usopp should really stay out of it altogether. Maybe it was possible the man just stumbled in, but Usopp didn't think so. Sai obviously didn't think so either. Was Sai going to torture him?

Usopp really, really didn't want to see that, but kept his hands over his mouth still, staring at Mello with a mixture of curiosity, alarm and chagrin.

Though the anger didn't leave his face, there was a flicker of calculation as Mello cross-referenced the names with the information from the message board. He couldn't recall any details about Sai, but he'd made a point to remember Usopp's claimed access to to gunpowder and saltpeter. Unfortunately, that knowledge wouldn't help him now...he'd already claimed to be lost, and anything except ignorance would look suspicious.

Although Mello would have preferred to keep his room number to himself, this situation overruled his natural suspicion and he didn't want to be caught in more than one lie at a time. "Room M3," he said, but his voice was stubborn and nothing in his face revealed that it had been a compromise. "And my name's Mello. This is my first night here, so you'll understand if I'm a little cautious too."

He wouldn't do anything to worsen the situation, but wasn't going to apologize. Even if he hadn't been too proud for groveling, acting like he'd done something wrong would only lead them to agree.

"Are you seeing double?" Sai asked with no hint of sarcasm in his voice. If this man had been drugged or was in a similar state to Usopp, it could not only explain things but help him get more information on what had happened in that regard. He could understand this place feeling like a maze at night, and at least they were in the same block, but...

"I'm going to release you now. If you run, I'm going to assume that your motives were ill intended." Letting go of Mello's shirt slowly, Sai then slid into a position where he was leaning with his back to the door. If the blond really was dangerous, then it wouldn't be smart to keep him in the same room, but this didn't appear to be the case so far.

He glanced back to Usopp, smiling as he saw the pirate's hands over his mouth. "That's not completely necessary, Usopp. Just be careful."

Usopp slowly lowered his hands, anxiety written obviously on his face still. He didn't know if letting this man go was a good idea. Something about the guy didn't feel right. His attitude was all angry, and Sai had slung him against the wall when the man entered. How had he entered? Usopp wanted to know but was afraid to ask, too worried to speak. And that story. This wasn't someone who'd asked to meet Usopp on the board.

Even seeing double shouldn't be right. It was lots of halls away from here to get to M3. Lots of halls. Usopp was fairly sure he'd know if he went to M33 instead of M3. Maybe he could go to... to... whatever the M33 spot was on another block, but on the same block? He'd go by counting hallways. Maybe this guy went differently, though. Maybe he figured out direction some other way. Usopp clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides, still staring at the newcomer. If he could just think straight...

"I don't trust him," Usopp blurted out, and cut himself off before he could elaborate. He wasn't sure he'd be able to, anyway.

Once he'd been released, Mello allowed himself few glances around the room before returning his attention to Sai. "No," he answered, raising his eyebrows. Despite the the boy's lack of intonation, it was the type of question that could only be sarcastic. "It's dark. I was distracted."

He reached into his pocket, his movements careful to make it clear that he wasn't going for a weapon, but not slow enough to seem suspicious. An instant later he pulled out his pen and the map, which he unfolded and squinted at in false concentration. His memory had been accurate, but he was glad he'd brought a backup. It was more convincing, this way. "Yeah, it looks like I went down the wrong hall," he added as he tapped the end of his pen against the paper. A confused expression would have been going overboard, so he kept his demeanor slightly frustrated as he looked over to Usopp.

"I don't blame you," he said. "I wouldn't trust me either. But that doesn't mean I would do something as stupid as steal from the other prisoners. If you have anything worth stealing, you must have gotten it from the institute. I'd take it from them, not you." He refolded the map and returned it to his pocket, then gave both of them a pointed look. "I was under the impression we were all in this together. It we waste our time robbing each other and fighting like starving rats, we're doing exactly what they want, aren't we?"

He even managed to say it with a straight face.

"That's true." The fact that he calmed so easily after being released, and the way he gave his story, kept Mello suspicious in Sai's eyes. There was, however, no apparent danger physically where he was involved. He also appeared to be alone, which would lay testament to his statement of this being his first night. Usually more experienced patients knew better.

Unless this also made him suspicious. "Are you by yourself? Traveling without company at night is dangerous, even in the hallways around the patient quarters." Certain overgrown leeches came to mind, even if that had been the bathrooms and not the hall itself.

Sai hadn't protested his words. But he still had the feeling he shouldn't talk, a very uncomfortable feeling considering how it interfered with the urge to say things, a variety of thoughts tumbling around with occasionally something surfacing...

"Or patients," he said, more emphatically than he'd intended. "There's patients who'd just stab you in the back and leave you to die. Not even think twice about it. I'm..." He put his hand over his mouth again, obedient, realizing he was about to start babbling. Robbing others or the potential to be robbed wasn't exactly out of the pirate's line of thought, and the man standing before them didn't look naive even if he was new.

"Yeah, I'm alone," Mello said. "And I've been alone. I told you, I just showed up here. I don't know anyone yet."

No one that he'd want to travel with, anyways. His feelings for Artemis were just slightly below the threshold of violence, though Tamaki had seemed useful enough.

"The patients?" he asked incredulously, turning to Usopp. "Why? I thought there were monsters to worry about." He started chewing on the the pen, which he hadn't returned to his pocket with the map. The end was misshapen almost beyond recognition. Mello had never realized that gnawing on something was so conducive to thinking clearly, but now that he considered it, it made perfect sense.

Usopp's tendency to cut himself off by covering his mouth with his hand was odd, and Mello wondered if he might have been sedated. After a couple analytical seconds his expression turned concerned, though he didn't actually ask. Unfortunately, as long as Sai was present, he couldn't use the fact to his advantage.

"Every other night, some of the patients are taken against their will and brainwashed against the rest of us." There was no reason not to tell Mello this. Unsavory character or not, it was something everyone should eventually learn. If they didn't tell him then someone else would. What Sai did leave out was the fact that he himself had gone through this only the night before last. "They can't be convinced not to attack you if you enter the area they guard."

The ninja shrugged lightly. "If you leave here, we won't be responsible for any dangers you run into. We may, however, be able to arm you if we see reason to." He cocked his head to one side, the gesture looking odd with the fake half-smile. "What are your skills in, Mello-san?"

"Not just brainwashed," Usopp said, frowning at Sai, confused and not sure where Sai was going with this. Were they going to be charitable now? Usopp usually was too generous if anything, but this guy had tried to break in. Or tried to sneak in. Or something.

Well, he didn't believe him, that was the important thing, and giving him stuff seemed like a bad idea. But Sai was the one in his right mind, so Usopp should follow his lead. Only something about what Sai said was incomplete, and Usopp was fairly sure he'd started to comment on it. It took a moment of thought to add, "Some patients are just jerks."

Temporary control of a person's behavior would involve a lot of drugs and suggestibility, and Mello imagined that once someone's reasoning was blunted to that point, they wouldn't be much use in a fight. However, it was also impossible to selectively sedate people without contact, so he was open to whatever information these two could provide. He could always sort through it later.

Any suspicion about the situation that had faded from his mind was brought back in force by the last thing Sai said. He'd claimed to be a new arrival, so they couldn't think he had anything worth trading. He'd intended to make himself valuable with knowledge and resourcefulness, but these two had no reason to assume he was brighter than the other patients.

And skills? He didn't even know where to start. "I'm not great at hand to hand combat," Mello admitted. "But we've already established that." In a place without guns, he had only his wits to protect him, but they should be all he needed. "Aside from that, my skills are whatever they have to be." He spoke with confidence, though he knew the statement would be taken as empty arrogance. Fortunately, he knew he could back it up. "What kind of reason are you looking for?"

Sai wasn't the best when it came to reading people. This had a lot to do with his own lack of emotions. He did best when reading those who were nearly as stoic as he was. He simply followed his orders down to the finest detail, that was all. When he lead a mission it was usually with others from ROOT, and they all had their goal as well as he did. Weaknesses weren't tolerated.

But there was always his brother, and Naruto, and others that he'd met outside of ROOT that had certain characteristics about them. Certain ways, and a certain innocence to them. Usopp had this. Mello did not. At least not what he'd seen so far. The way the man acted - he didn't seem frightened by him, even though he'd been pinned to the wall moments before. He wasn't nervous and he was already showing how confident of himself he was. He was ready to do business already. Sai was ready to regard him as he would opposition in a mission, but he shouldn't do that. Not here, where alliances were more important. He couldn't be so quick to judge.

"Usopp here likes to help others," he said, motioning to the pirate with a short gesture. "As his friend and ally, I help him. He is a craftsman. You are alone without allies. Usopp, weren't you looking for others willing to work with us?"

Mello didn't appear entirely trustworthy, no. But he had a hardness that his pirate friend lacked, and that could be useful.

Usopp kept staring at Mello's face. He'd noticed the visible edge of the scar, of course, but after enough time traveling with pirates it took more damage than that to really startle him. Instead he was looking at Mello's eyes, uncertain. He wished Luffy were here, Luffy was usually a good judge of character.

Except for when he was being an idiot. How good a judge of character was Sai? Well, they'd all gone charging into death slugs together, and that had turned out well. But maybe that was just luck. Usopp couldn't judge anything right now, he was... his brain was too weird. And besides...

But Mello was still standing there, and Sai had asked him. Usopp swallowed hard. "I have a lot of friends and allies," Usopp said first, and he realized it was true. It was almost as hard to list in his mind as the materials in the closet, but he cut himself short. "New ones are good too, though. Uh..." Mello was sneaking around and they just let him in and made friends? Was this a good idea?

It seemed like something Luffy'd do, but that really didn't help Usopp with 'good idea or not.' "Um. Most of my allies bring stuff if they want weapons... so I can make better stuff out of it."

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