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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Skuld frowned. "That's science, where the same actions always produce the same result. It's different with magic--harder to prove, since there's kind of no equivalent of lab conditions. Alchemy is a hybrid, which makes for even more variables.

"Why?" she asked, a note of challenge in her voice. "What's it matter, as long as I can make that katana? It doesn't matter what you believe, it just matters that I can do it."

So this girl just wanted her to take it upon faith that magic really existed and she just never came across it before? Beatrix had been one of the world's deadliest and most infamous assassins. She'd traveled all over the world, trained with Pai Mei for years with his penchant for standing on the flat edge of her sword blade to annoy her, learned how to make a man's heart explode within his chest, killed so many different types of people with different types of training. And yet, she'd never come across anything that could have been constituted as magic until last night.

The Bride's eyes locked on Skuld's at the tone of the girl's voice. Her blue eyes were cold as she did not appreciate the way the girl was talking to her. "I am attempting to understand what it is you do and maybe be able to extrapolate what I am learning from you into something else," she said in a calm but cool tone. "Or would you prefer I use your services as if you were nothing more than a vending machine?"

Skuld glared. "That's not what I meant! You can't just trust that I'm not lying to get attention? Fine..." she ripped a piece of paper out of her journal and shoved it at the woman. "See how it's blank on both sides? Fold it so I can show you something." She couldn't demonstrate her alchemy now; it would be a total waste of power, and she had someone polite and respectful to make something for tonight. But her word projection was another story.

When Arlene did as asked, Skuld gestured; it helped to focus the power, and she needed fine control for this. Plus, it showed ~~the idiot~~ her little audience that she was doing something, since obviously she needed to see something to be sure of it. "There. Now open it." If that didn't convince her, she could do it again. Like, under Arlene's clothes.

[[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/326400.html?thread=26555136#t26555136).]]

Hokuto had meant to just curl up with Subaru, maybe even take a nap with him, but... so much for that. She half-ran to the couch and grabbed her twin tight, hugging him as close as she could without hurting him; she didn't ever want to let him go.

And someday, she would have to.

Beatrix opted to humor the girl when she wanted to show her something using the blank paper. She opened it as instructed to find the words TOLD YOU SO written upon the inside of the paper. Now the Bride was well aware of things like disappearing ink (that can be homemade) that activated with the application of heat, say from human body temperature, but she figured if she pointed that out to the girl she may very well lose her commission.

Instead, she simply raised an eyebrow, folded the paper back in half and set it down before her.

She then recalled that post on the bulletin board about the Valkyrie and the boy complaining about something not coming off in the shower. In the showers here, a person is buck-naked, so what wouldn't come off in the shower - perhaps some mysteriously appearing writing? And that made her think about the girl's name - Skuld. Interesting. She was glad she'd picked up that book of mythology from Bill's collection before her first visit to Japan.

"I never said I didn't believe you, Norn," the Bride finally said, not a single note of disrespect in her tone, though she didn't actually believe Skuld was one of the Norns from Norse mythology. She did believe that Skuld believed she was, and there was little use in arguing with someone like that. "I told you I was going against what my education tells me and trying to understand how it is you accomplish what it is you do."

"I'm not a person of faith, Skuld, so forgive me for being skeptical; it's my nature. Where I come from there is no magic, and yet last night I somehow managed to end up being teleported," the Bride stated. "And I'm trying to figure out how that occurred."

It all sounded a lot like what it had been like when Riku had come to visit. Calling him by the wrong name, pretty much going along with everything the nurses and doctors always said.

Sora sighed, not sure what to make of it. If that was what had happened to Nowe when he disappeared, then was the same thing going to happen to all of them? To him, to Renji, to Kairi, to everyone? He didn't want to live that life -- it wasn't his.

"Did it... seem like him?" he asked carefully, glancing at Renji for a second before looking away again, out into the rest of the room. Making eye contact was a little too awkward right now. Riku had acted like himself despite the discrepancies, so he wanted to know if this was the same thing.

That mollified Skuld, at least a little. "You could have said so," she pointed out. Being recognized as a Norn surprised her, but she'd address that later. Maybe.

The lack of faith--annoyed her, especially since it sounded like the woman should know better. But words wouldn't convince her, even magically-written ones. Taking a breath to calm herself (even if it didn't really work), she said, "I'm not asking you to believe in me. But this isn't where you come from, and things might be different. Magic is hard to explain--spells work just because they work. I can tell you about elemental magic, since there's a little bit of crossover with science there, but not much."

She considered; if she could she compare it to anything, that might work. "Do you know how a TV works, besides that it has a power source? Most people don't, but they know it does work." It was... kind of the same thing. All she needed to know was how to avoid hurting herself with it, if she couldn't operate it. That was simple enough, right?

[I hope a Kenshin will be satisfactory?]

The nurses had actually allowed Kenshin to take a quick shower between shifts to get the last of the burrito mess out of his hair. His nurse had muttered something about not wanting Kenshin to smell like a "cheap Mexican buffet for the next week," and while he wasn't entirely sure what that meant, he understood and appreciated the sentiment. He didn't really enjoy smelling like a "cheap Mexican buffet."

He didn't see Sanosuke in the Sun Room, so he flopped down on the nearest chair to take a much-needed nap, close to a man who appeared to be doing the same thing.

Appeared to be.

Opening one eye, Kenshin looked him over. "Who are you watching so intently (if you don't mind the intrusion)?"

"I could argue against this not being where I come from given this prison is in the New England region of the United States of America, which is my country, but that is a moot point," Beatrix replied, raising a warning eyebrow. She wasn't going to take the wanna-be Valkyrie treating her as if this wasn't reality. She was lucky the Bride didn't hit children unless they were trying to kill her.

"I am familiar with cathode ray tubes and the basics if how a tv works, but as for specifics, no I don't," she answered, "but I do get what you mean by that. Yet, if a person wanted to know how a tv worked, they could research it, learn about it and maybe even build their own if they had access to the materials."

"Are you trying to tell me that if I wanted to, I could learn how to teleport someone?" She paused. "I don't want to - just to be clear."

At this rate, it was going to be very difficult for Skuld to make this woman a weapon that didn't break the first time it was swung. It wouldn't be intentional; goddesses just did better when they were doing something for someone they liked.

"It depends," she said. "In your world--or dimension, whatever you want to call it--you might need to have a talent for magic to do it at all; if you think there isn't any, then probably not everyone is capable of it. But if you do, or if anyone can learn it, then yeah."

Couldn't Arlene have asked someone else to explain magic? Yeesh... she wasn't even at the beginner stage of understanding, and she acted like she knew exactly what she was talking about!

Kaoru had been stuck behind Hikaru in the rush to get places after the shift change, but his eyes hadn't left his brother. He quickly caught up, crouching down and wrapping his arms around Hikaru before he saw what had captivated his brother so.

"Gentlemen prefer blonds, eh?" There were so many around here, he was beginning to worry this was more Landels of the Damned than merely a messed up, monster infested mental institution. "She's making nurse costumes? This is perfect!" An excuse to 'bond' with the strange creature, bug Light and get at Tamaki. Besides, this place needed some better outfits. And he was determined to dress Ritsuka up.

Soubi's nurse had decided that her patient needed a new friend. She'd only ever seen him talking to that young boy and, well, it wasn't normal to have only one friend, especially one that young. And even more especially when you considered the patient's past. His own childhood may have been ruined, but he had to be an adult now and talk to people closer to his age.

And that was why she pushed him towards another patient.
"Ah, Mister Itou, how would you like to look after Matsuda? He needs somebody to talk to and it looks like you do to."
She pushed Soubi onto a beat with her battleaxen strength and looked at the two men.
"You two just have a nice little chat about cats and, if you need me, I'll be just over there."
She had a threatening way about her that warned not to disobey.

Soubi waited for her to leave before looking at his new 'friend'.
"Itou? Another Japanese."

Renji nodded. "He did," he said. "He told me... he was writing. And had gotten a job to get back on his feet, and wanted to start going back to school. And had friends that he was going out with some nights. But that he still missed us." For a moment, Renji's head bowed a little lower; he closed his eyes, wishing that he didn't remember any of this. "I think he was kind of sad, in a way. Even though he kept saying he was better now and all."

Armand stood as the stranger spoke to him. Despite his alert need, he'd been too absorbed in his worries to see the man approach. "I am Armand St. Just," he said. "M. Mustang, I hope?"

His bandaged hands made him feel even more awkward than he'd be normally, and he fidgeted slightly before crossing his wrists behind his back, out of sight. Then he plunged right on without waiting for an answer to his question. "I was told days ago that I should speak with you. Certain matters make me unable to participate in the Arts & Crafts Club, but I wanted to learn more of your organization."

In many ways, he feared he was wasting this busy man's time, but he had to enquire or it would nag at him that he hadn't tried hard enough.

[Sure :D]

Considering Albel had been nagged by pathetic maggots all day, it almost seemed predictable it would happen another time. The Elicoorian recognized this particular fool as someone he had met before. Not that it mattered to Albel.

"Suit yourself, worm." Albel scoffed. One maggot more or less on a single day wouldn't make much of a difference. At long as she didn't start whining or something.

"Huh." Beatrix rested her chin upon her hand and thought for a while. As much as she didn't want it to, that made sense. Going by what Skuld was saying, the ability to learn magic was just as rare as her own ability to fight. Granted she spent years training and learning how to become the lethal weapon she had. Was it the same for these supposed magic users?

She picked the piece of paper up again and ran a fingertip over the writing. "Do you think those gifted with magic have to train the ability extensively or do you think they can just get up and go with the fireballs and the like?" Her tone wasn't anywhere near as cool or rigid as before - there was a tone of honest inquiry within.

"Oh, and we're being watched. Green-haired man pretending to be asleep on the couch behind and to the left of you," the Bride told the girl quietly so it wouldn't carry to the man. "I think he's focused on me, but one can never be too cautious."

She refolded the piece of paper and slid it across the table to Skuld, adding just a little more effort to it than necessary, causing the paper to fall of the table and flutter to the ground at Skuld's feet. "Ooops," she said, getting a sheepish look upon her face, though a knowing smile sat in the corner of her lips. "Could you get that for me, please?"

This way, Skuld could get a look at the man without being obvious.

Settling down in a seat, Haku made himself comfortable without invading the man's ~~probably WIDE~~ personal space.

"Worm?" He smiled at that, his tone light and friendly. "That's a new one for me." Glancing over for a moment, he laughed softly. "Forgive me, though, if I don't take it as an insult."

Had anyone said anything about Arts and Crafts on the board? Usopp couldn't remember. Come to think of it, maybe he should talk to them. Well, directly talk to them, the way he'd talked to Roy. Had Roy passed on anything? Probably not--what was there to pass on, then? The Innovative Captain Usopp with a notebook of ideas wasn't really helpful. Besides, he thought the Cooking club was more in charge of weapons, although Arts and Crafts seemed to do a little of everything. And what was that weird History club about?

"Okay. How about I agree, when and if we get some gunpowder, I agree I'll talk to the Arts and Crafts club? And probably the Cooking Club." Although he didn't really want to talk to Roy again, not about this sort of thing, until he had a working flamethrower to show off. He hadn't had any time to work on that lately! "I don't know how much we'll be able to make right now, anyway. We've got the key ingredient, but not a whole lot of it, and we still need other ingredients and to actually mix them."

He didn't have to look up to know that Kurogane was still there. He could almost feel the man's eyes on him. As though he were expecting something. Why did Kurogane have to make this so hard for him? What could he say? Everything was becoming such a mess...

"Where do we go from here...?" he said quietly, more to himself than Kurogane. He wanted to tell him so many things, but that was impossible. They were just words. Anyone could say things and not mean them... Ashura had... He'd done it himself as well... If there was no proof but the words, how could he believe them?

"Hmph, take it however you want." Albel scoffed. To him, a worm was some worthless creature, easy to be crushed by the stronger ones. If this girl wanted to take it differently, fine. Whatever. Why whould he care?

River was in a better mood, dancing with contentedness before the night came but always keeping caution ready to cut in while it waited in the wings. She had missions and dates to keep, and there couldn't be any delay. Not in the whole of it. Though she still favored her right leg, it wasn't much of a challenge to apply just the right amount of pressure and move at nearly 87% of her normal movement range.

"You wanted a dance?" she asked when she approached Farfarello, sporting a curious smile.

"I've heard so much worse, that being compared to a creature that, though small, is actually very helpful to the world at large why..." Haku beamed. "It's really quite the compliment." He shrugged.

"Though I know you didn't mean it that way."

Kurogane sighed again. Like he had all the answers? He didn't know. He couldn't even figure out why he'd said something a few minutes ago! Looking at Fai, he could see that things were going unspoken again. Important things probably. Since he had gotten Fai to stop and at least look like he was thinking maybe... maybe he'd talk if nudged into it.

"I told you on the first night," he growled out, calmly for the most part, "If you have something to say, say it." Once he said that, he thought a moment, then added, "The truth this time."

Well, that hadn;t been quite the reaction she'd expected, but she was sort of used to it by now.

Rangiku snorted in disbelief at his rather weak explanation. "I don't think getting battered a bit tends to leave people looking like you just did," she said sternly. No, there was more to it than that.

Chat... about cats? They were taking the piss, Yohji was sure. He had a moment where the ridiculous image of him and this stranger discussing cat code names and the Koneko no Sumu Iie flashed through his mind. This place seemed to be eroding his sanity in a variety of new and inventive ways.

He waited for the nurse to leave before replying and then nodded. "Yeah. I'm Japanese. Kudoh Yohji. You?"

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Day 31: Sun Room (Fourth Shift)

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