damned_institute | Day 31: Intercom, Evening

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Day 31: Intercom, Evening

The intercom's jingle came on with its usual overly-cheery quality, echoing through the halls and doctors' offices.

"I trust, as always, that you all enjoyed the last shift and that all the staff-patient interaction went smoothly. Of course, we're nearing the end of another day and so we must begin to bring things to a close. Nurses and orderlies, please escort all the patients to their respective rooms and make sure everyone gets their dinner--which is, by the way, chicken teriyaki and assorted tempura, along with rice and miso soup--before they retire for the night. A vegetarian substitute is of course available, and we have our usual assortment of drinks; we also have a special of hot green tea to go along with the meal.

"Thank you, everyone, for an exceedingly pleasant day, and our therapy sessions will continue tomorrow as scheduled. Enjoy your dinner, and I will be on again before bedtime to say goodnight."

The announcement ended.

[ As always, individual dinner threads go in response to this post, and it helps to put your character's room number in the subject line. Thanks! ]

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Well, that was straightforward. How refreshing. Light was so used to people approaching serious matters sideways if not entirely from behind that he'd grown unaccustomed to such bluntness. "I'd never treat Misa badly," he replied, raising an eyebrow at his roommate and frowning faintly. "I'd say I was insulted that you'd think I was capable of that, but since I know you were speaking hypothetically, I'll ignore it. I'm glad you're looking out for her, though. At least now I know that if I end up disappearing from here, there'll still be someone protecting her."

He gave Sanji a small smile but didn't elaborate on that point, instead choosing to allow his expression to grow just a touch more worried. If Misa were to get hurt, he didn't know what he'd do. That was what it said, and after seeing just how taken with Misa Sanji was, he had a pretty good idea how his roommate would react to it.

The comment appeased Sanji somewhat, quite a bit actually - but he wasn't ready to admit that even to himself, and he grumbled something incoherent as he went back to his food. "Glad to hear it," he added more clearly.

The problem was that Light was too nice. The knight in shining armor type, just as Misa had made sure to mention. Sanji didn't have anything against that sort of person in the long run, but it always irked him when they so easily got the girl. He could be that sort if he wanted to! Mostly. Perhaps not around the clock. Always around the woman, at least. That was good enough, wasn't it?

Interpreting that response as a victory on his part, Light also returned to his meal while he let his mind move on to more important matters. He'd hardly devoted any thought at all to what he was going to do tonight, but then when his plans had for last night had been delayed by Misa's entirely too successful attempts to keep him in her room, it was fairly obvious.

The main problem, therefore, was how to get away once he'd finished so that he could finally retrieve the metal that Fowl had requested, what, five days ago? Between the monsters in the halls, his injury, L, Misa, and the man on the radio, Light hadn't been able to get it or the tea, and to be perfectly frank, that simply wasn't good enough.

Meal finished, Sanji set his tray on the floor before leaning back again to stare at the ceiling. How well was he feeling? This was important to know before he went out anywhere. It wasn't like back home, where he could get a couple broken ribs and manage to ignore them until there was no more fighting going on. Thankfully, nothing had been broken. At least not this time.

The fever hadn't completely abated, and there was a dull ache behind his eyes. His wounds had healed up well, but he would probably end up limping some (if he failed to steel himself against it) and the gashes in his shoulder and back might still be pulled back open with enough force. But he was mobile enough. He wasn't going to sit around here.

"So what're you doing tonight?" he asked his roommate, just to make conversation.

Light shrugged. "I was planning on stopping by Misa's room to see if she needed an escort to the clinic-- she said she'd volunteered to help out there-- and if not, I was going to go there anyway talk to Suou-kun before seeing if I could find some metal in the institute that wasn't guarded too heavily."

He smiled wryly for a moment, then amended, "I may need to put off that last one for another night, unfortunately. It doesn't seem worth risking if I don't have anyone else with me. I'll probably end up helping out at the clinic instead."

Glancing over at Sanji, he added, "What about you? Do you and your crew have anything specific in mind, or...?" Considering how many possible variations there were, Light figured it would be better to leave the other option entirely open-ended.

"Na-... Our navigator has been wanting to get to a specific place within the Institute for some time, but we haven't been able to make it there so far. It's heavily guarded." Sanji shifted a bit where he sat, the wounds on his back and all too clear reminder of last night's guardian.

"She was in bed with a fever today," he frowned, "I haven't seen her since last night, so I don't know if she'd be well enough to try again."

A specific place? That could only be the basement, given how much attention it had been getting from both the Head Doctor and the patient population lately. What Sanji said and the way he'd shifted also gave Light a much clearer idea of what he'd need to face if he ever decided to go down there himself, which was yet another reason why he'd need to make more preparations if nothing else.

"Do you know her room number?" he asked, once more wearing a worried frown. "It might be a good idea to check up on her. She probably needs to rest more, though, so it's likely that you'll need to put off trying again for another night." Very likely, in fact.

Sanji's brow furrowed a moment, then he shook his head. "No, she never got around to telling me." He'd given her his, but he didn't know the chances of her making her way to him, especially if she was still sick. "There's only one woman's block, though, right?" Perhaps he could catch her on the way out... or check every room to see which one she was in... But if he missed her...

"Dammit," he got up suddenly, stumbling only a moment when he rose as he got to his feet and started pacing back and forth in the area between the two beds.

If doing so wouldn't have ruined his whole concerned routine, Light might have rolled his eyes at this point, but as things were, he he had to settle for watching Sanji pace and propping up his chin with one hand while he worked on thinking up a solution. "If you happen to know anyone who might know her room number, you could potentially save time by going to him or her first, but as there's no guarantee you'll be able to find one of them either, it may be best to skip that step. Checking each and every room has the same problem, unfortunately, so it would be better to think of a different tactic."

He paused, then asked, "Is your navigator the sort of person who would wander the halls alone while sick? If she is, I'd recommend looking for her regardless, but if she's more cautious than that, you don't need to worry." Sanji might just go after her to make himself look good, come to think of it. Light didn't think he was that stupid, but it was still entirely possible.

Would she? Sanji frowned to himself as he continued pacing, rubbing at his chin with one hand. She'd pushed herself a bit before they reached the Drum Islands, eventually passing out, but she didn't try and get to bed after that. She was a smart woman... she wouldn't push herself to try and get past monsters to the kitchen when she was already sick, would she? Certainly not. She wasn't that rash. She'd at least get help...

"I don't think she would..." the chef finally decided, still pacing. Nami didn't normally get reckless. Not unless she was desperate. As much as she wanted to get to whatever was past the kitchen, he didn't think that would cause acts of desperation. Not yet.

Sanji didn't sound very convinced. Light gave him a look, then pushed the tray in front of him aside and took out his journal and a pen. He might as well make more copies of the map and such now that he had the time, he supposed. Sanji wasn't nearly as distracting as Ryuk, after all, so it wasn't like his work would suffer.

"In that case, it would make more sense to either spend the night doing something else and check up on her in the morning or, if you're determined to see her as soon as possible, try to find her room through whichever method you think will work best." He shrugged. "It doesn't sound there's any cause for immediate concern, however, so she should be fine. I can understand why you would want to see her, though."

The chef made an aggravated noise before sitting back down on the edge of the bed. The brief spurt of activity had caused his head to ache and the wound on his leg to throb, but he did his best to ignore both.

"What if I go with you?" He asked on a whim. Sanji had plans, at least, and if he went towards the clinic he'd be in Usopp's neck of the woods as well. Not to mention that a good many people passed that way. He might run into the other members of his crew.

The pen paused imperceptibly before it continued along its path, and Light gave a mental frown before saying good-naturedly, "That's another option, yes. Would you like to? I have no problem with it, and I'm sure Misa wouldn't either." Not if he told her to, at least. He was sure she'd have plenty to say on the subject once Sanji was safely out of earshot, but otherwise, she would be smart enough to play along. ... Hopefully.

"Was there something you needed to do there?" he asked, tactfully avoiding any mention of just how little Sanji'd had to say on the subject when he'd mentioned the clinic earlier. His roommate had probably had plenty of reasons.

Simply put, Sanji hadn't exactly been thinking about it earlier. But if going after Nami wasn't an option... Usopp would be at his room, if the bulletin was anything to go by. Zoro would most likely get lost somewhere, and it'd be his own damn fault. He may or may not run into him. And then Luffy was... Luffy. He'd be fine.

"Not really," the pirate shook his head. "But it's a hub, you know? Might run into someone, or might find something to do." As long as they didn't ask to look at his injuries. He could do without the prodding.

[... I didn't even notice. XD;;]

"That makes sense." And it did, really. It reminded Light of a point he'd considered earlier, though, but rather than state it now, he focused on his journal once more. It would be better to simply bring it up with Suou the next time he saw him.

Although... ah, it would probably be a good idea to ask for permission in advance, wouldn't it? That might decrease the chances of Sanji agreeing (Light was convinced no one could say no to Tamaki's big blue eyes-- except for him, of course), but at least it would leave him in better stead with his roommate if he asked ahead of time rather than springing it on him at the last second. "I've been thinking-- the clinic is a valuable resource, isn't it? It seems foolish to have it in only one of the patient blocks when others might be closer to where the injured become, well, injured. Therefore, it would make sense if we had one in all the others." He paused, checking to see if Sanji was following him so far before finishing by saying, "With that in mind, if I were to volunteer our room as a secondary clinic location, would you have a problem with it?"

"Our room?" Sanji blinked. Well, it wasn't as though he ever used his room at night. Or kept much there. "You really wanna do that? I guess I don't have a problem with it..." Could be useful if Chopper showed up, after all. He didn't exactly want to wish this place on any of his other crew members, but with things as they were he wouldn't be surprised if the others did come along. "Yeah, sure. Why not."

He wondered how much Light knew about medicine. He hadn't introduced himself as a doctor, so perhaps it was just an interest of his? Misa sure knew how to pick her "knights" in any case.

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Day 31: Intercom, Evening

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