damned_institute | Day 32: Sun Room (2nd shift)

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Day 32: Sun Room (2nd shift)

After the couple glasses of water Leon managed to gulp down during breakfast, the mage felt immensely better. He was still a bit tired, but that was nothing a little lounging on one of the sofas wouldn't cure. Stretching his arms above his head, he couldn't help but wish he'd had the chance to grab one of his new doctor's coats before leaving his room that morning. Maybe they would have let him get away with wearing it. Maybe.

He grabbed an empty sofa, pulling out the journal he tried to keep on him at all times. It was nearly complete now. Just a couple more pages to go. It might not improve his spellcasting that much, but any improvement was better than none. It was getting to where it might be too dangerous for him to use spells at all, if it left him so worn out without even finishing a monster off.

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In all honesty, MOMO wished she could've stayed in her room. She had been surprised when the nurse informed her that she had managed to sleep through breakfast, but she found that she was still tired. That in itself was a little worriesome. This place was bad enough when you were healthy; she could only imagine how it could be if you became sick.

Nevertheless, her nurse assured her that the sunlight and being with other patients would help her feel better in no time. And, though the realian had her doubts, she offered no arguments and instead followed the nurse quietly.

Once left on her own, however, MOMO found an empty chair and curled up, resting her head on her arms and her arms on the armrest. Hopefully a little more rest would do some good.

Well, it was looking like he wasn’t going to be able to catch a word with Abarai Renji, after all. Maybe he’d forgotten, or was just busy. Either way, Ren didn’t consider it a great loss, as there was plenty of time for talking during the long days, and there were other things to look into.

Having not seen Ojou again didn’t phase him, for that matter. She’d come around, or she wouldn’t.

Getting in some more talk with the other prisoners with just as good a way to keep investigating as anything, and the servant took a moment to look around before striking up a conversation. A small girl stood out among a few groups on one side of the room, her head down. Hopefully she wasn’t...?

"Excuse me, hope you don‘t mind," he murmured quietly as he slipped into a nearby seat, loud enough for her to know she was being spoken to, but soft enough so that he didn‘t spook her.. And if she was fast asleep (which wasn’t a bad thing in a place like this), then she might not be disturbed at all.

Despite her initial doubts, maybe this hadn't been such a bad idea. Although she would've preferred to lay down completely, the chair was comfortable and the room felt nice and warm. The murmurings of others' conversations were surprisingly comforting as well. Had someone not spoken to her directly, the Prototype was certain that it would've helped lull her back to sleep.

Lifing her head, MOMO blinked a few times in order to try and keep that sleepiness at bay. And, once she saw the man that had spoke, she put on a polite smile. "Oh, no... I don't mind at all." Some extra rest did sound nice, but she wasn't one to simply ignore someone. And perhaps speaking with someone else would help.

"How are you today?" It was an odd question, considering the place they were in, but it was one of the ways she knew how to start a conversation.

Whether or not centuries of socializing made him feel the question was odd, Ren didn’t show it. "I’m fine, it was a quiet night for me. What about you?" He crossed his legs, sitting back in the chair. On all accounts, he had been getting along well where injuries were concerned, and was relatively well-rested.

From the constant state of the others in the room and the other prisoners scattered throughout, though, this wasn’t the common case.

He smiled kindly. "But if you need some rest, don’t let me stop you."

"That's good," MOMO replied. Quiet nights seemed rare in this place--although the same could be said in regards to her night, considering she hadn't done anything other than heal that man. "My night was rather quiet for me too, I'm just a little tired still."

The realian shook her head. "Oh, but don't worry, it's okay. I'm sure it'll pass after a little while; healing people just tends to wear me out." At least, she hoped it passed before nightfall. She wasn't sure if anyone would need help tonight, but she'd be required to ask Homura for a free night if the fatigue persisted.

"My name's MOMO, by the way," she added after a short pause. "May I ask your name?"

"Oh, you have healing powers?" Somehow, his ability to be surprised by hearing a young girl that appeared human enough could do that seemed to be suspended. Then again, it almost made more sense to assume that most of the prisoners in here weren’t human to begin with.

He looked her over carefully, a little guilty over having ruined her nap. At least he was reassured that she didn’t seem to have any injuries of her own.

"Sorry, I’m Ichimoto Ren, from Japan," he finished. With his earlier thought still fresh in his mind, the irony of keeping to a human alias was ironic. Well, old habits and all. "I don’t suppose we’re from the same place, or… dimension, I guess."

"Uh-huh!" the realian replied, giving a small nod. "It's one of the few things I can do." She knew she wasn't much of a fighter, despite having spent the past year doing just that. As long as she could offer help through healing, though, she'd be happy. Even if this place did make healing more difficult.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you," MOMO continued, although she had to pause slightly after hearing his last statement, "And... I believe you're right about that. Japan was... a part of Lost Jerusa--er, I mean, Earth, right? I'm from Fifth Jerusalem, myself."

"Nice to meet you too, MOMO-san." Granted, from her response, her name was probably nowhere near Japanese in origin, even if it sounded like it was. Momo was a pretty cute name, too.

She seemed like a nice girl, too, all things considered, and the doll was rather interested in all this dimension stuff. Just because he was able to travel between certain planes of existence, it didn’t mean yanking beings from completely different universes was in his area of expertise. It made the little blue planet seem a lot more small, that was for sure. "Yup, Japan’s an island there." And from the sounds of it, that was old hat in her time. "Jerusalem is the capital of another country, and that’s the only one I know. You must be way ahead of my time, or from another planet, or something." Kind of hard to try and think of a way to put it that didn’t seem awkward.

Ren knew he’d glimpsed her face before, but he figured he would ask anyway: "Have you been stuck here long?"

Would it be wrong to tell someone that their home planet was, well, lost in her time period? She wasn't entirely sure, but she opted not to mention it regardless. "Jerusalem was a capital back on Earth? That makes sense, since Fifth Jerusalem served as capital of the Galaxy Federation. And Fifth Jerusalem is a different planet than Earth, yes. I'm not sure what the year was where you're from, but it was T.C. 4768 back home." It suddenly occured to her that this was the first time she had spoken of her home world to anyone. MOMO had mentioned her home planet's name before, but previous conversations never went beyond that. It was somehow comforting, even if it did make her a little homesick.

"I've been here for, um..." The Prototype paused and closed her eyes momentarily, trying to recall the correct number. "Ten days, if I'm remembering correctly. I never really realized it had been that long..." What were Mommy and Ziggy thinking back home? They had to be worried...

Trying to distract herself from that thought, she asked, "What about you, Ren? How long have you been here?"

"Huh, what does T.C. stand for? It‘s only 2007 A.D where I‘m from." Which was easier and more well known than using nengo and saying Heisei 19. Ren rubbed his head, thinking that an entirely new dating system meant she was quite ahead, talk of space federations aside. It was a strange concept for someone like him… immortal and already centuries old. Just the idea of being around long enough to see space being conquered and everything made him a little queasy--so long as part of the human world was already hard to bear sometimes, what with Ojou’s burden.

Talking about current affairs gave him something to talk about, and he laughed slightly, dropping his hand and smiling. "Two days less than you, I think. Time seems to slip by in these sorts of situations." Putting it lightly. "Still hanging in there, I hope?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. T.C. stands for Transcend Christ. I'm not sure when the dating system was changed exactly, but 2007 A.D. seems like quite a ways back--ahh, not that that's a bad thing, of course! It's just a little strange, I think." She had to wonder if the Zohar had even been discovered yet... That was a strange thought. "If you don't mind me asking, what are things like where you're from?"

MOMO tilted her head slightly. Eight days still seemed to be a long time, but it was nice to see that he seemed to be doing fine. "I've been able to make some new friends, and one of my friends from home is here as well, so I'm managing quite well," she said, with a quick nod. "Although... I guess this isn't the best place to have friends wind up, you know?"

"That’s okay; I guess I’m one of a few relics you’d never thought you talk to, huh? It’s pretty amazing so many different people can come together, even if the situation’s awful." The servant thought about her curious inquiry, wondering at MOMO’s perspective and what he could say on the subject. Trying to describe what life was like for a regular person on a regular day--excluding his own hand in the whole not being human thing--was really broad and different than describing Japan to a foreigner, of which he’d had some practice. "Well, let’s see… Earth’s the only planet being occupied, so it’s a little crowded. I’ve never been outside of Japan, myself, so I’m probably a bit biased." Ren shrugged one shoulder, smiling; trying to explain in complicated terms defeated the purpose. "There’ve been plenty of wars and disagreements all over the world, and a lot of people are still unhappy, but life goes on. Japan’s pretty busy: adults rushing to work and kids going to school, and people spending time in the entertainment districts... It’s hard to describe if you’ve never seen it, but people seem to stay the same no matter what time they’re from, right?"

Ren couldn’t say he was always humanity’s biggest fan, so he was sure conflict was still a number one issue with the human race, but there were good qualities too. They were at the heart of all the little details, like one’s country or hobbies.

"Ah, that’s good to hear--it’s more tough if you’re on your own. At least you can stay together and keep an eye on each other while you’re here."

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Day 32: Sun Room (2nd shift)

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