damned_institute | Day 32: Sun Room (4th Shift)

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Day 32: Sun Room (4th Shift)

It was rare that Homura's nurse try to persuade him to a scheduled activity, but then, it was rare that Homura didn't go. But the demi-god had plans, and the poor woman had little other choice but to leave in a huff as he once again settled himself near the bulletin board in the Sun Room.

His conversation with Kenren the previous shift had left the demi-god with a lingering sense of anxiety. Perhaps it was something only those from his own world could do, but none the less, he was all the more ready for night to begin now. Goals and memories, the truth of his past and the possibility of the future: all thoughts lingering on the forefront of his mind, more than enough motivation to move forward.

Impatience was something of a rush for an immortal, he'd discovered. Homura liked the feeling, the excitement even before he had arrived in this prison. And now while he waited, he savored it again, a yearning that shone so much brighter than the boredom of Heaven.

[Waiting for History Club Q&A time.]

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Wolfram landed on the carpet with a thud, unhurt except for his pride and face almost as red as the man's hair. How could he have let himself get that distracted? Apparently this place was bothering him more than he thought.

Instead of trying to get back up, he shifted onto his knees, avoiding the man's eyes while he brushed back a lock of hair from his face. Even if it was his fault, he had no plans on making himself look any stupider than he already felt.

"Hmph... Perhaps with a foul mouth like that, you deserved it."

Reno let out a short laugh and cast a look down at the boy with a raise of an eyebrow: You're shitting me, right?

"I just knocked you on your ass, and that's your major complaint? Got some fucking misplaced priorities there, kid." The cursing was deliberate this time rather than a natural pattern of his speech. What, wasn't like he ever claimed to be mature.

He tilted his head a little to the left, seeming to consider something before he glanced away with a shrug, going back to scanning the patients coming through the doorway instead. He hoped the boy wasn't going to sit there on the floor all day.

He would have rolled his eyes at what he assumed to be intentional cursing, but now the other man wasn't paying attention. Wolfram took the opportunity to get up, this time taking the empty spot next to him and insuring a safe few inches in-between. Part of him wanted to just leave, but then this guy would forever see him as nothing more than an airheaded blond or something, and he intended to redeem himself at least as much as he could.

"...Not that I particularly care whether you swear or not, but I believe I've seen a few children around here. And for the record, I'm not a "kid" as you so elegantly put it."

He crossed his arms across his chest, watching him while trying not to look like he was.

Well, okay, so he'd gotten up, but he was still here. Why was he still here? Maybe normally Reno would've found this mildly entertaining in a way, but there was too much on his mind right now, and oh hell, he'd gone back to just not giving a shit anymore, hadn't he? This sucked.

He chewed at a hangnail on the corner of his thumb. "Uh-huh. Unfortunately, I misplaced my damn this morning. Can't give it."

Okay... that didn't really make any sense. Except for the fact that he was partially getting blown off now, and Wolfram hated being ignored. About the only thing worse than that was saying goodbye to Yuuri. Now he really wasn't going anywhere.

He frowned slightly in confusion. "Wait... what does water have anything to do with it?"

"What?" Oh. Because—oh.

What. A response like that would've only been excusable with someone completely wasted.

He snorted softly. "Maybe when you're old enough, you'll understand," he replied, deadpan.

"I'm probably older than you," he retorted before he could stop himself, even more embarrassed now, if that was even possible.

"Forgive me if I'm not fully accustomed to such commoner talk," Wolfram added, voice full of sarcasm, "Although perhaps you'd be so kind as to enlighten me some time."

Then he sighed, staring at the floor as he tone quickly shifted into something more serious, although barely loud enough for anyone else to hear but its intended audience. "....I'm sorry for not paying attention. It's been a lousy day."

"Yeah, well, there's some thirteen year old kid hopping around who's apparently older than that, too. Don't feel so special." The apathetic boredom was more evident than anything.

And commoner talk? Man, he was a brat, wasn't he? Even Rufus hadn't ever sounded that spoiled. Usually.

Reno glanced at him, then raised his eyes to the ceiling. "Yeah, whatever. You just get dropped here or what? Don't remember seeing your face around."

Wolfram raised an eyebrow at the first comment. Perhaps there were other Mazoku here as well? Although Shana told him that elves lived fairly long as well, so the age might not mean anything. He wouldn't get his hopes up of rescue just yet.

"I just woke up here this morning. Although it's not very assuring to see so many acting as though they're used to being prisoners. What about you? You seemed... like you were looking for someone."

He leaned back into the cushions, trying to force himself to un-tighten muscles that he hadn't realized were tensed up.

"Couple have been around for awhile. Seems like the closest thing to leaving anyone ever gets is to go MIA."

Frankly, people visibly getting killed would be preferable. All these goddamned disappearances were just getting on his nerves. Not that he wasn't used to people disappearing, even back home.

He glanced at the doorway again briefly before turning back to Wolfram. "I'm lookin' for my date," he replied dryly. "He's got a head like a cue ball. Lemme know if you see him, yeah?"

Wolfram frowned at the mention of disappearances, one piece of information that hadn't really been mentioned so far today. He filed it into his head as information to look into later as soon as he had the chance.

"...Oh." He had no clue what a "Q ball" was, but considering the last question he'd asked, he decided to ignore the term and act like he understood rather than get teased for it. Perhaps he could guess its meaning by looking around at the other patients.

"Is dating men common where you're from?" He'd love to have a new example to prove to Yuuri that other guy couples were not the weirdest thing in existance... that is, if he ever saw him again.

Reno could've responded a number of different ways including something along the lines of this kid being unable to understand sarcasm, but what would've been the fun in that?

He nodded, appearing absolutely serious now, although it might've still been evident from his words alone that he was making fun. "Completely. Not just where I'm from, either. S'all across the board, trust me. Feel free to hit on any guy here, they usually don't mind."

He wasn't completely sure, but Wolfram had a very strong feeling that this guy was making fun of him. Or at the very least mocking him. And after dealing with Yuber this morning, he wasn't exactly sure he could handle too much more of such treatment. Well, he supposed he could leave, but now the couch felt comfortable and he didn't want to take the time trying to find a new one.

"Hmph. No thanks, I'm already engaged..." The words were almost more for himself than his company's benefit.

"What should I call you, anyways?"

After a bad start to his stay at Landels, Rude was finally taken out of his room. The nurse sat him down on a seat and informed him that he was now in the Sun Room. She wasn't lying. The place was far too bright as it was with all the white, but the addition of extra sunlight just hurt his eyes. Where were his damn shades, anyway?

Covering his eyes with one hand, he rested his head back and hoped the effects of sedation would soon wear off. He'd find Reno before he tried to make anymore escapes.

Engaged? Oo-kay. Reno might've prodded further on that, but the second he spotted Rude's figure hovering by the doorway, everything else dropped about ten notches on his priority list, including giving the kid his name.

He pushed off the couch and weaved his way through the patients sitting about the room, heading in a very obviously specific direction. He'd seen enough sedation to tell even before he came closer that Rude had gotten drugged up himself. Jeez. Already? Wasn't he supposed to be the hot-tempered one?

Reno slid into a seat across from his partner, far more casual on the surface than he felt. It was probably a good thing he'd caught sight of Rude earlier; otherwise, he never would've had time to mask his initial holy fuck expression.

"Well, shit," he drawled, planting his elbows heavily on the table as he leaned in to look at Rude. "Fancy this. Took you long enough."

....Oh. Wolfram sat there for a moment or two, feeling rather put off. Guess the guy found his date. He wasn't sure if he should get up to follow or not, but it rather hurt that yet another person couldn't be bothered to introduce themselves.

He watched the red hair for a moment and sighed dejectedly, his mood dropped another notch while he debated on what to do.

Rude didn't move at the sound of company, until he heard it's voice. Even then the smile was so small that many would have missed it.

Now, why was the smug bastard so perky today? If Rude got in this much trouble, Reno would have found it tenfold, surely?

He finally moved his hand up, still using it as a shield against the light, and squinted towards Reno. "Where the hell are we?"
The nurse had told him it was some sort of psychiatric hospital. Like hell it was. The nut jobs went to the slums if they were lucky. Unless they ended up on that little island, but whatever. That had been destroyed.

His eyes wandered around the room, looking out for signs of crazy people, escape routes or even just a hint of where they were. He was pretty sure this wasn't Midgar. On their wander, however, his eyes caught sight of some kid staring at Reno sadly. So he looked at Reno too, a slight questioning twitch of the eyebrow hidden under his hand.

"You want what they tell us or you want the truth? 'Cause the truth is, it's been two damn weeks, and I still don't have a fucking clue. No one does."

Even distracted as he was by Rude, Reno could feel a pair of eyes on his back. Reno glanced over to the side. Oh. That kid. And now Rude was givin' him a look, too. Christ.

With an exasperated roll of his eyes, Reno waved him over. Only because he didn't want to hear the kid bursting into tears or some shit like that over being left behind. It would be annoying. That was all. Wasn't like he felt a little bad or anything.

He turned back to Rude. "People from all different worlds, apparently. No one knows jack about Gaia unless they're people we already know. Speaking of which, wanna guess who else got their ass dragged here? One of them belongs in a nut house, if that's hint enough for you."

Wolfram blinked in surprise at the wave, not really expecting to get any more attention from this man now that he'd found the person he'd been looking for. But he'd already been made to look stupid enough since arriving, and ignoring the wave wouldn't help in the matter.

After one last moment of debate, he got up, wandering over with a cautious approach, giving the redhead wary eyes and a polite nod to the bald man he was talking to. He bit back his words for the time being.

Well, there it was. They HAD gotten to Reno after all. But whatever they gave him just made him delusional. But, hell, Rude had heard weirder things come from that mouth after a little chemical indulgence.

"You ok?"

The hand finally withdrew itself from Rude's brow and fell softly to his lap.
There was no introduction to the blond kid, but Rude gave him a curt little nod anyway, ignoring the horrible sensation it gave him in effect with the drugs.

That was it? That was all Rude had to say to his explanation? Jeez, the poor bastard must really be out of it right now.

"Am I okay?" Reno asked, disbelieving eyebrow raised slightly. "Hey man, I'm not the one who got tranq'd within less than twenty-four hours by some ugly ass chick who can't even make a nurse uniform look even sorta kinky. When'd you get here, anyway?"

Oh, so the boy had joined them after all. He waved a hand at Rude lazily before gesturing at himself in a half-assed introduction. Which was the usual way, considering he pretty much did everything half-assed.

"Rude. Reno. Rude, meet...blondie." he finished, the nickname not so much meant as an insult as just filler for when he realized he hadn't ever gotten a name. "Or something. Yo." He snapped his fingers at the guy. "What's your name, kid?"

"...Wolfram. And feel free to stop calling me a kid any time now."

He shook his head slightly, sitting down and intending on listening now that... Reno, right? Now that Reno was more occupied, and Rude didn't seem to be all there. What kind of name was Rude, anyways? Maybe he could learn some more about the place since Reno seemed to have been here a while.

Even through the sedation he knew Reno wasn't making sense. Why was he asking about goddamn arrival times like this was some weird piss up? Reno knew when he'd arrived. They'd been taken at the same time, right? Although some strange time delay would explain his lack of a hangover (until the tranq).

Rude would have been more reluctant than he already was to talk in the presence of some kid, but drugs and Reno making no sense brought him out of his quiet shell a little.

"When did you get here?"

"Two weeks ago. Didn't I already mention that?"

Like talking to a goddamned brick wall. Never mind. He'd wait until the drugs wore off and Rude regained his functioning brain cells again. Besides, the nurses were already eyeing them in preparation to pull everyone apart. Dammit.

"It's actually all pretty screwy. I'll explain it tonight. You're not gonna be too fucked up to find a room number, are you?"

Not waiting for an answer, he pulled out the pen he always had on him to chew on and grabbed Rude's hand, scribbling his room number onto the palm. The nurse was approaching fast and he suspected Rude would need more than fifteen seconds to recall his own room number in his current state.

He capped the pen with his teeth. "It's in the southeastern block. Meet me there, yeah?

Well, at least he'd heard names now. And considering that he was about to be dragged away again to who knew where this time, Wolfram figured that at least with that much information he could find them again if he really wanted to.

One last glance between the two of them, and he turned around, intending to leave them be. So what if it felt like everyone in this place had at least one person that they recognized here and he didn't? It wasn't like that thought bothered him. Right?

"...Let me know if you happen upon any more clues," he glanced mostly in Reno's direction before walking away again.

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silent-shades.livejournal.com - 2008-05-28 22:04 (UTC) - Expand

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