damned_institute | Day 32: Intercom, Dawn

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Day 32: Intercom, Dawn

The sky was slightly cloudly as the sun began to rise into the sky, but not enough to put a damper on the Head Doctor's daytime mood. The sound of him humming the intercom jingle came on just as the jingle itself ended, and he paused as he realized his silly antics had been caught on the microphone.

"Ah..hem. Good morning, Landel's Institute! Patients, staff, and everyone else... I am sad to say that the ruckus last night was about a certain something being stolen from our upper levels. While some of our guards received minor wounds during the attack, no one was seriously injured and none of our patients or doctors were involved.

"To get our minds off this horrible event, however, let me announce something very happy, and that is... you guessed it: the arrival of new patients! We have a very large batch coming in this morning, so I hope that all the nurses will be patient--but firm!--with their new charges while our patients will, as always, welcome their new friends with open arms.

"In any case, today's breakfast will be delicious Belgian waffles with your choice of toppings--syrup, butter, whipped cream, and assorted fresh fruits are all available. As sides, we have bacon, sausage, tater tots, and scrambled eggs, and as always, we have assorted juices and milk.

"We hope that you all enjoy breakfast and the new members of the patient body. I will speak to you all after breakfast!"

The intercom clicked off.

[ All introduction posts for this shift's group of new characters should be made in response to this post. (Have your new character wake up in a random empty room, as we aren't yet able to officially assign rooms.) Thanks! ]

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Artemis awoke slowly, realizing that he felt like he was on a rather large dose of painkillers. The fact that his arm didn't hurt was evidence enough to prove his suspicion. He looked down and moaned in frustration. There it was: a bright red cast on his left arm. As if it wasn't obvious enough, it was wrapped in red.

His free hand reached up to his neck. A piece of gauze was taped over the burn mark. How his nurse was going to explain an upside-down cross burned into his skin, Artemis didn't even want to begin to fathom.

He slowly turned his head towards Haku's bed, expecting to see that his roommate had already left for breakfast. At first glance, he was surprised and pleased to see that Haku was in his bed.

Until he looked closer.

"Oh God," he breathed, throwing off his sheets and weaving over to Haku's bed. "Oh no. No, no, no...!"

Haku was covered in bandages. Artemis felt his knees give way and he knelt down on the ground in front of Haku's bed, resting his head on the mattress. "I should have gone with you... why did I leave you alone?" His throat felt tight, like he was choking.

".... alone."

Day was always a shock, but this time there was something different. His roommate's voice nearby. Opening his eyes, he moved to sit up and winced, breathing for a moment before shifting further and looking down at his friend with a worried frown.

"Artemis," he started, wincing again as the act of speaking tore at his abused throat. He sighed and tried again. "What ... You're hurt."

Artemis was startled when Haku awoke so suddenly. He was certain that he'd be crying over his friend's motionless body for at least a few more minutes.

"Compared to you, I could run the next triathlon," Artemis countered, his eyes brimming with tears.

Haku offered a small smile and reached out to place a cool hand on his friend's free hand. "I'm seem to lack the red casing." His voice was rougher than normal, his throat raw and painful thanks to the deep bruises circled around his throat.

"You're upset..."

"Of course I'm upset!" Artemis took Haku's hand with his right. "You... you look like you've been put through a shredder, and all I came back with was a cast? I should have gone with you... I shouldn't have let you wander off alone!"

Haku started to tilt his head, but stopped the motion when it cause pain. Instead he smiled. "You couldn't have gone Artemis," he said softly. "You had your own obligations to follow."

His throat still hurt, but he could manage a bit of speach. He didn't sound quite as .... well as he normally did, but it was enough he figured.

"No," He said firmly, a note of petulant child creeping into his voice. "If I had known this was going to happen, I would have told Farfarello to go deal with his own team and gone with you. I should have done that in the first place. Something was wrong, I knew something was wrong. I felt it, even when I was standing in Schuldig's room."

Artemis buried his face in their joined hands, shaking slightly. "If it had been any worse... if I had lost you...!"

Haku tightened his grip when Artemis bowed his head, frowning. Why was this hurting his friend so much?

"You couldn't know," he said. "I didn't know." He smiled again. "Would you have prefered that I had joined you where you were?"

Artemis was determined not to show how much the last question had dug into his mind and lodged there like a small bomb--just waiting to go off and destroy him.

He failed miserably, despite his determination. He began shaking with the effort of holding his tongue, and he let out a quiet sob.

"I-It would have been worse if you had..."

Haku frowned and then shifted away from his roommate for a moment. Before the other boy could take that to mean he didn't want the contact, he tugged on their linked hands. "Sit up here," he suggested quietly. "We don't have much time before we're collected."

Artemis nodded and climbed up onto Haku's bed, his shoulders still shaking. He sat on the edge of the bed, still firmly clasping Haku's hand.

"I could have lost you. I didn't realize, I didn't even think that something could have happened."

Haku smiled and brought his other hand up slowly to rest on over his friend's. "I'm here," he said. "And you're here. We're both fine." He wished that had come out a bit less raspy, but ... there really wasn't anything he could do about that.

"You're not psychic," he added softly. "Nobody knows what will happen."

He nodded, not exactly sure how to respond. He kept thinking the same things over and over again, and repeating them wasn't going to do any good. The fact of the matter was that a few hours previous, he and Haku had been completely fine--and now both of them looked like they had been pushed rather forcefully into a garbage compactor. Well, that was how Artemis felt emotionally, at least. His arm and the bandage on his neck were rather superfluous compared to the abuse Caleb had put him through. Although having his arm snapped like a twig hadn't exactly been a pleasant experience at all.

So, of course, he returned to the next thought he had:

"When Zabuza-san sees you like this, he's going to murder me."

[Be right back, heading home! ♥]

Haku's smile faltered slightly. "I ... didn't find him last night," he said, raw voice growing even softer. "At the rate the people from my world seem to be vanishing, I wonder if ..."

He shook his head, ignoring the tug from the brusies. "I won't know for certain though for a while." He looked up, smile a bit wider. "But you won't have to worry about him."

"I'm sure he's still around," Artemis offered. "He wouldn't leave you alone--" --like I did. "He cares about you, to some extent or other. ...like I do."

He ran his fingers lightly over the injury on Haku's wrist. Haku's hands were so perfect, why were they marred now?

"I... haven't been very clear lately, and... in light of recent events I think it's important to let you know, euh, Haku... Let you know something important. Very important. And I need to state it very clearly."

He stopped, unable to find words.

"You're right." Zabuza-san wouldn't leave him. Not willingly at least.

As Atremis struggled to find words, Haku smiled and watched him speak, curious as to what was so terribly important and wondering if he would be able to say it before they were inturrupted by a nurse. When his friend paused he shifted slightly and gently squeezed the hand in his. "Whatever it is, you don't have to tell me right now," he offered. "I won't be going anywhere today after all. You can think about it and tell me later."

That was a very tempting offer--to put off what he was struggling with. But he knew that if he allowed himself the luxury of putting this off, he wouldn't say it come dinner. He would be too afraid. No, he had to deal with this while the desire to change was in him.

"You're not hot nor cold, son. You're lukewarm. And until you realize which team you're playin' for, or able at least to put up a good show of certainty instead of all this angstin' about feelins, you're nothin' but a dirty little slut-whore to me."

"Haku," Artemis said suddenly, as though burned by remembering the words. He fixed his gaze on their joined hands. "I'm... very wary of leaving myself vulnerable to any situation, which is why I haven't said anything direct and to the point but..." Here it came, he screwed up his courage. "I care very, very deeply about you--possibly beyond the bonds of friendship. No, definitely. Strangely enough I care about you more than my own well-being, which is a very different experience for me."

Artemis looked back at Haku's face. "And... I hope that you can accept how I feel, and that you don't take issue with this..."

He ... Oh. Haku blinked, trying to process what Artemis had said. Beyond the bounds of friendship could mean quite a lot, but for the sake of the conversation, there were really only two that were most likely. It was either a familial affection or a romantic affection. Which did he mean? Well, Haku knew where he stood at the moment.

Smiling, he again squeezed Artemis' hand. "Why wouldn't I accept your feelings or have any sort of problems with it?" He laughed softly, pausing when the sound tore new pain through his throat. He paused for a moment to get past it. "I care about you just as much," he went on when he felt better. "It wouldn't be fair of my to find fault in something that mirrors my own."

Artemis didn't have an answer to Haku's question. He was too busy being blindsided by the fact that Haku returned his feelings. He felt elated, relieved, even a little surprised. The mix of emotions built up in his chest and swirled comfortably there. He was... happy. Maybe even happier than he'd ever been before.

The threatening tears suddenly spilled over, and Artemis brought Haku's hand to his cheek and held it there, crying softly.

"I'm so glad... I'm so glad..."

Haku ran his thumb over Artemis' cheek lightly, concerned now. "But you're crying." Artemis should be crying if he was glad. It didn't seem right. He smiled warmly, trying to coax a smile from his friend.

"Because I'm relieved, and happy--no, happy doesn't cover how I feel right now!" Artemis blinked through his few tears and smiled down at Haku. "You've made me happier than I could ever hope to be in this place, Haku. I can spare a few tears to rejoice this fact."

He held Haku's hand and gently stroked his friend's injured wrist with his cheek. "I have nothing to offer besides my own feelings and companionship, thought I wish I could offer more. These marks, for instance, I would erase in a heartbeat were I able."

Haku smiled and glanced down at the brusies. "No. They are a reminder," he said. "I will tell you about what caused them tonight." He lifed his eyes back to his friend's face and reached up with the hand not held in Artemis' own to lightly touch the gauze on his roommate's neck.

"And you will tell me about this."

Artemis was about to ask why on earth Haku would want to keep such horrible injuries on his person when they were obviously causing him pain, but the attention placed on the lesser of his injuries made him stop. His expression was pained, almost apologetic.

"You don't want to hear about my arm...? That seems to be the more serious one, after all..."

"I want to know about all your injuries," Haku pointed out. "A broken arm though does not worry me as much as an injury taken so close to such a vital place." He smiled.

"Broken bones are not a sign of a fight or an attack, but something that needs such care is. Someone attacked you." And that someone would have to be taken care of.

Artemis looked lost for a moment. On the one hand, he did want to tell Haku what had happened--just so he could warn his friend of what might happen sometime in the future; what he might come up against.

On the other, Haku would certainly seek Caleb out if Artemis made it known that it was (probably) a man that attacked him and set the brand on his skin. And after that, who knew what horrible things Caleb would use to torture Haku? Caleb no doubt knew everything about how Artemis thought, including his own insecurities and personal history. Such a monster could hardly be defeated easily.

"No, not someone. Something. It... wasn't human, I don't think. This," He touched the gauze, "Is just a scratch. But it did manage to break my arm when I tried to retaliate. It was very strong, and very fast."

Technically truths.

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