damned_institute | Day 31: Sun Room (Fourth Shift)

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Day 31: Sun Room (Fourth Shift)

Though perhaps not entirely as successful as he wanted it to be, Homura walked away from lunch feeling satisfied with his efforts. Roland and Fai both had shown interest in the goal, and that was enough for the moment. Homura could be patient, had already been for five hundred years, and felt no harm in waiting another five hundred if he had to. He would have his goals realized, no matter what obstacles he faced, be they from the prison or those trapped within.

But now was time for business of a different sort, and the demi-god made his way to the Sun Room, near the common board. He made sure he could be seen from the entrance to the cafeteria, knowing that one stranger and one member of his own group both wanted to meet with him. It worked out well enough, especially given that the stated purpose of the History Club was simple.

Revenge and escape.

For now, Homura had no intention of revealing that it'd grown more complicated than that.

[Waiting for L and Junior]

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"Yeah, mostly." Skuld wasn't sure where Arlene was going with this anymore, but at least she was really listening. "With martial arts, you can see what the person's doing, but with magic you need explanation. Some arrays and stuff will work no matter who draws them, but usually you have to feed power into them. And they can get really intricate, so you have to know what you're doing--if it's off at all, you'll be lucky if it doesn't work.

"The same goes for spells with verbal components, and with those you really need a teacher; a book can't tell you if you're saying something wrong. Since chants are used as another way to guide power, a misspoken word can turn the whole spell into a disaster, especially if the caster doesn't know how to correct for that. With some spells, you can't."

Since she was sure the woman was leading up to it, she added, "It's different for me, though. I'm closer to my power source than most magic users; I don't memorize anything, I just call the power to me and tell it what I want it to do. I've got more limits here than I'm supposed to, so arrays help, but there's no worries about things going out of control."

...even if that was because even normally, she barely had the power to magically cause damage when she was trying to. If she had anything to say about it, that was one thing nobody here was getting told about. As protector of the people here, she was supposed to be strong.

"Nirvana... used to be like this." Roland offered a weak smile to Argilla, feeling guilty. It was because of men like him that the world had been destroyed, that God had gone mad and blighted the world with Cuvier Syndrome. She'd never gotten to see the beach or the sun as it used to be. And while this world was okay, the Institute was not his home. They'd have to get free, somehow.

But it was still gratifying to know that Argilla cared about him. He'd have to make sure that nothing went wrong; he didn't want her to die for him again, not when she'd gotten her life back so soon. "My request... well, it's possible that the Institute might force me to transform. If that happens, I'd like for you to take my place with Hitsugaya, if possible. Better than him thinking that I stood him up, perhaps."

"That you don't view this as another aspect of watching your teammates' backs is exactly why Schwarz functions and Weiss doesn't," Schuldig countered flatly. "I'm the telepath, so believe me when I say this, Abyssinian - Weiss' issues look about as shallow as a teen's sobbing about not being able to go to the prom compared to what Schwarz has been through. The difference is that we actually acknowledge that we're fucked up, and we support each other when we can't stand alone. Weiss denies that its foundations are weak to begin with and then collapses like a house of cards every few days or so, and then you're idiotic enough to rebuild exactly the way you were before and expect something different to happen. Not one of you can stand on your own but nothing on earth will stop you all from trying, and no amount of failure seems able to induce you to do things more intelligently."

He waved a hand in an aggravated gesture. "All right, so you've given up on him. Fine. It's less effort for me to keep looking after him than it is for me to try and change your mind just to shift off some of my workload. But don't think you can say 'well, he lives or he dies, it's not my problem' and think you can dictate who sees him - you've already waived your involvement in anything that concerns Kudoh. But when the rest of your team disintegrates around you, will you still be so blasé? Or would you make a little more of an effort if it were Siberian destroying himself before your eyes?" He snorted. "It won't matter; you won't be able to help Bombay or Siberian any more than you've helped Balinese, so you'll tell yourself it's inevitable so you can keep living with your impotence. And then, when they're gone, it'll be your turn to be the abandoned one, suffering alone with no one to support him...and, then, maybe, I'll rescue you as I did Kudoh, if you're lucky. You two always were my favorites."

Rangiku chuckled softly, raising a hand to her motuh to cover her smile. He seemed like a sweet kid and a little harmless flirting never hurt. "Mmmm, shame my captain doesn't agree on the importance of regular naps," she said. Not that Hitsugaya ever did anything to stop her. He didn't mind really, most of the time.

She nodded. "If you're sure. And taking worse damage in your own world is one thing, but even minor injuries here can be seen as much more serious."

"Oh! Well... he has a pirate nickname too?" Misa cocked her head to the side. "Sanji the Black Leg! And he said he was a chef..." Maybe that meant he wasn't all bad? He'd been pretty nice to her, after all.

"So how was your day?" She gripped at Light's shirt with a bold hand and flushed slightly. Their bodies were so close together... and on a couch! Alone!

Misa looked up at Light and wondered if he was possibly thinking the same thing. How romantic~

Schuldig seemed to also know a lot about things he had no recollection about. Weiss obviously had a different set of rules. First of them being that personal tragedy was personal, and not shared property of the support group. Weiss wasn't as dysfunctional as Schuldig would think, but Aya didn't see any reason for him to go into details why that was. Obviously the Schwarz telepath thought otherwise. Aya couldn't have cared less.

It was a bit ridiculous to suggest Aya would have jumped any less for Yohji than Ken. The truth was that Aya never had had to 'babysit' Ken. He had been there for Ken to fall back on if he would need it, and would continue to do so. Unlike Omi, Yohji had put the team to risk. He was a liability in more ways than one. And still Aya had stood up for him. It hardly was because he didn't care. And so...

"I never said anything about giving up on Kudoh, either. The thought had never crossed my mind." And as far as Schuldig seemed to be only eager to point out his invented weaknesses of Weiss, they had very little to say to each other. "If that was your message, I think this conversation is over."

"I get you there," Brock said, thinking of River. He hadn't seen her around much recently, but she had a special brand of crazy that you could see even on that damned bulletin board. He was of the private opinion that Landels had something to do with it. "Good luck staying sane," he said and meant it.

While he didn't consider himself the nicest guy on the block - not by a long shot - Brock did think that he could reign in his dickish tendencies every now and then. Some people just seemed like decent guys, like Peter (the other one) and Mark here, and while in the end, it wouldn't matter who was sane or not nor who survived, he could at least wish Mark luck, at least.

"Hm, it seems like there are a lot people around here with unique characteristics," Archer replied.

The kid seemed like he was in a pissy mood or something, so Archer decided to leave him alone. Maybe the kid had taken his greeting the wrong way? It wasn't unusual for Archer to come off like an asshole. Either that or the kid was just overly sensitive.

Archer had only glanced at the kid for a moment, but his image was already embedded in his memories. He could have sworn the kid had metal prosthetics. Now that was probably something that attracted more attention than white hair.

"I always imagined it would be like this," Argilla admitted. "It was..." she paused, searching for the right word. Disappointing seemed so woefully inadequate. "It was painful when we woke up in the city and saw what it was like." Just as full of demons and death as the Junkyard had been.

She frowned slightly at his request. She didn't like the thought of Roland being manipulated like that. "I guess I have the most chance if we have to fight Indra, but how do you expect me to know if you've been taken? And you'll have to point this Hitsugaya out to me."

"I don't know," Renji said, voice barely audible. He cleared his throat and tried again. "I don't know. I don't think he's forgotten everything. And the more I said about it... he got sadder, I guess. But any way it goes, we've got to try. And I even told him... I promised him we'd come for him, when we get out. And he didn't say not to."

Hitsugaya pondered her words, then jotted down a few more notes. Nothing terribly useful, but still worth considering. "Thank you. Is there anything else of note you have for me? Any detail, no matter how slight, could assist me in my investigation." He glanced up at her from his notebook as he waited for a response.

For the moment, she just hugged him; she didn't explain, but then, she usually didn't.

"I saw Kakyou in a dream recently," she finally murmured. "A regular dream, but it was nice to feel like he was checking up on me." Maybe he would find her for real, sometime; it meant reaching across time and space, but the seemingly impossible coming to life was nothing all that new.

Even if forging a note from her brother to ask a favor of someone she remembered from a manga series she loved was a new one even for her. Well, one of her new friends here remembered them from a manga, so... ah, Landels.

Yuuhi gave the other man a faint smile, still content to hide behind his facade. He had too many things he had to sort out in his mind before he could trust himself to think logically again. Now there was emotion and... and... he couldn't let that get the better of him or he was sure it would haunt him later.

Talking about the file would surely open up many new questions that would easily cross the line. "Eheh," he gave a short, nervous laugh. "It's way too long a story... boooring... let's talk about something else now Kuro-pon~ We should plan some fun games to play for the girls tonight. They won't want to sit still if there's nothing to do you know..."

"Well," Rinali said thoughtfully. "You say it's important to be able to act out of one's habits when necessary in order to be able to adapt. Is it necessary to display bad manners here? I don't think it will solve anything, do you?" She didn't take offense to the boy's seemingly innocent challenge.

His questions regarding the Akuma was interesting, and threw her back a little. "Well," she said after some thought. "Their first form isn't sentient. It hides inside a human skin and comes out when triggered, a large ball with guns. Each gun fires poisonous bullets that kill you no matter where they strike. Later forms appear sentient, and are progressively more powerful as they evolve. They would destroy the world by killing all of humanity. They've already taken out Japan." This last bit of information she said somberly. "And I don't know what governments are involved. The church is self-supporting."

Maybe a little late to wish that, but it wasn't the fault of this place, and Mark took the wish in the way it had clearly been intended, nodding back. "Thanks. Same to you." Or may you go insane in a manner to your own liking.

Well, it was a manly conversation, at least. Short and to the point. Mark looked over the board, wrote down a few more meetings. Out of idle curiosity as much as a desire to know (he was fairly sure of the answer already) he asked, "You work with any of the groups at night?"

Kurogane hardened his eyes again. Fai was cowering now, which meant he was taking things, or at least those things dealing with issues beyond this place, more seriously than he was letting on.

It was probably a good idea to keep from forcing Fai to speak about his past. Kurogane did not care for it anyway, so that was not a problem. Still, he knew it related to what was going on here. Somehow. If he kept pressing about the things going on in this world, then something was sure to come up eventually. Fai was not able to conceal everything.

Questions he ran from, but the facts he was not able to stand against for long. Since Kurogane had already pinned him with the file issue, he could not use that again, but there were still many points in relation to it. Fai bringing up the meeting tonight only reminded him of one he'd intended to address as well. "You told that orange-haired girl to call you Robin."

"Not regularly," Brock said. Whatever he did with Parker was more of an impulse and the urge to look after their property than any real planning. Groups weren't usually how they rolled. "You?"

From what he'd seen, most people didn't run solo. Maybe with a partner, maybe with a group, but you'd have to be either lucky or just that much of a survivalist badass to truck through it night after night by yourself.

"A couple. Sometimes big ones, and sometimes just with people I've met." That was actually a long list, considering he'd been here less than a week, he thought. But even when he'd wandered off on his own, somehow he'd found company. Maybe it was just luck--or a sign of how crowded this place was.

What are you talking about? Even if you go alone you're still part of a group! It was a humorous observation, though one he couldn't deny. "It's easier that way." He was sure the other man would think of Mark's height and weight as part of that equation, even if he already kind of liked Eddie for not paying much attention to the physical differences between the two of them. Then again, compared to some people around here, Mark wasn't really that strange looking at all.

While he didn't appreciate the way Aidou challenged every little thing asked of him, Rinali knew how to stand her ground and didn't even seem bothered by his behaviour. He wasn't sure exactly what to make of the boy, but at least he wasn't provoking anything further. Though he was suspicious of Aidou's curiosity about the Order. Just why did he want to know all of that? Was it really wise to share it in the first place?

He consented, however, that Rinali was wiser than he in many aspects, and had been with the Order for much longer. She knew what was appropriate to share and what wasn't. Though, with her thorough explanations and Aidou's questions, it left him feeling left out of the conversation. And while it might be fine if she were conversing with just about anyone else, for some reason it really got under his skin to think of this boy having any kind of private conversation with Rinali.

"That's plenty about us," Allen said warmly to his friend. "We've hardly let Aidou say much about where he's from. I'd be very interested to hear what kind of world that might be." Though he couldn't trust much of what came out of Aidou's mouth to be true, at least it got the focus away from them and anything Rinali might reveal.

Beatrix had the mental image of a bunch of kids playing Dungeons & Dragons together and one of them reading a spell description from out of the book, pretending to cast the spell and then suddenly setting his parent's curtains on fire. It made her wonder if there was any ludicrous connection between magic spells and bat guano as so many geeks across the nation say that's what one uses to cast magic missile.

"I've heard many other talk about themselves being limited here," the Bride replied. "I suppose there is something positive of not being a person dependent upon magic to achieve goals. This place doesn't effect my combat capabilities."

And now another man had joined the green-haired one and he also was looking at the two females. At least this one seemed to be unacquainted with the surly man, but the Bride made note of him anyways. She returned as much of her attention as she could allot to Skuld.

"So I don;t have to worry about you accidentally blowing up the women's block?" She asked with a lighter, almost teasing tone. She just had to worry about someone deciding to teleport her again.

"How interestin'," he smiled. He did know that much on his own, but since people usually assumed he was just another country bumpkin, playing the fool could be helpful at times. "Anyone y'know who might be able t'help me out? I didn' wanna be writin' that kinda thing up on the boards since I ain't sure if the staff would like it, ne? But if you could point me in the right direction, it'd sure help."

Whether or not there was a practical amount of the ingredients in the building or not didn't much matter to him, he was a patient man if nothing else. As long as it was coming in at a steady pace, a reliable pace, it didn't matter. He could wait.

"Um..." Kagura said a little nervously. It was hard to concentrate when that other girl kept looking over here, but she tried. "Not... not really. It's kind of a blur. I think that's everything though. I'll... I'll let you know if I can remember anything else."

She hesitated a moment, not wanting to appear rude, "Ah- if... if that's everything, I should probably get... get going. My friend is waiting for me. Good... good luck with it! Let me know if you find out who it was, I'll be really happy to help punish them!" The last was said in an almost eerily cheerful tone.

He raised a forefinger teasingly, drawing out his words in order to convey his point, just like how his stuffy teacher used to do it. "It's definitely important to uphold etiquette in someone else's house, because not only does it reflect on me, but on my family name. But only if I'm trying to be respectful." He shrugged lightly, shaking his head. The vampire hoped this was registering with the dolt Allen, and even Rinali, because he just couldn't stand the idea of someone harping on small modes of decorum when there were more important things to consider. It was stupid and short-sighted, and comparable to acting like a collared pet. And he really hoped Rinali wasn't either, because those traits weren't worth any respect, and she was cute. Then he'd have to start disliking her.

And that wouldn't be any fun.

"I don't want to be that person who acts like a sheep, being in a prison and surrounded by people who mean me harm. There should be a limit to that, just like there's a limit to how unruly some of these people should get. But that's just my opinion." He waved one of his feet. "If I have to run around with monsters all night, the least they can do is let me prop my feet up."

He shot a glance at Allen, wondering just what the hell the kid expected him to confess, even if Aidou normally enjoyed talking about his life. Surprisingly, he found himself rather curious about what Rinali was saying. It was an interesting set-up, with a few similarities... "No, no, I like talking like this!" Aidou exclaimed brightly. "Tell me more. Like how you can tell who's an Akuma and who's not. And why co-existence isn't possible. The entire species is really just dead-set on removing the humans?"

"Help you with what?" Usopp frowned a little. "Figuring out how to make gunpowder? Or getting gunpowder? I'm pretty sure, if anybody else has been working on it, they haven't been the kind who share." Though the possibility was there. Increased, since the loud commentary about the ingredients in public. Maybe he should ask Captain Zelnick... no, he hadn't posted anything about where, and unless someone was really dedicated to gunpowder it wasn't likely to inspire wild searching for just ingredients.

The finished product, on the other hand... That'd need quiet, as much as quiet could be managed in such a large group. How many? He could think of seven people directly involved, not counting his own crew who wasn't precisely involved but who would have to be kept in the loop.

They were getting near the size of the Cooking Club. Usopp looked momentarily stunned by his own thoughts, imagining. It was probably a little late to declare them all workers of Usopp Factory. But maybe he should start putting the sign up again anyway. "I don't know if I should talk about it too much. No offense! I just don't know if they'd like having other people come up to them asking about it. You remember who else was posting in the original conversation back on the bulletin board?" Because Usopp sure didn't. "That's probably a start, anyway." And not Usopp's responsibility to keep under his hat, er, bandanna.

So Kurogane had managed to have a talk with not just Ururu, but Orihime too? He might've guessed from the message board notes, but he couldn't be sure just how much the girls might have said while he wasn't there.

"It doesn't really matter which one it is, does it?" he asked, trying to sound playful. There were any number of reasons he could use to cover for it... a nurse had been around, he was trying to blend in with this world, he simply liked the name... And really, it wasn't just Orihime he'd given the name to either. There had been several others, might be more in the future. He wasn't sure yet.

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Day 31: Sun Room (Fourth Shift)

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