screwthegods: (is this a crime?)
screwthegods ([personal profile] screwthegods) wrote in [community profile] damned_institute2008-07-30 09:03 am

Day 34: Breakfast

[starting off in M13]

The last part of the night was little more than a blur in Homura's mind. The men had rushed in, but not joined them, instead staying off to themselves. Before any of them had a chance to react, however, a voice sounded through the air, mocking some other person Homura had never heard of, and the patients themselves.

To Homura, whoever that man was, he sounded a great deal like a god.

But before he could ask questions, the demi-god found himself no longer in the chapel, but some strange room on a bed. Is that what Kenren had meant from his earlier warning? Homura sat up, glad at least that the world didn't spin when he did so. Then the same man from before began to speak again, with a completely different tone. It was confusing to hear him talk that way, calling them patients instead of prisoners as he had before. Homura listened quietly as the announcement was made, then got out of bed.

Maybe he wouldn't have to go anywhere yet. It wasn't like Homura knew where to go anyway, and that meant he had time. If this was his room, and if he had been here as long as Kenren had said, there was a chance he could find something with answers. The Taisho had even told him that Homura had seen Rinrei. Certainly he would've written something down, made a map, something that could let him find her again! He started with the desk at the end of his bed, first finding a small stack of notebooks. Picking up the first, he flipped through, turning the pages with quickening desperation as he found each one to be blank.

[identity profile] the-clown-king.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 02:12 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh, Kaoru, no...." Tamaki shook his head, though he smiled a bit at the teasing. "I'm not... I don't think I'm ready for one of your 'projects' yet." He glanced down at his fruit and then back up at his friend, almost afraid to ask.

"Hiakru...talked to you, didn't he?"

Kaoru hadn't asked if anything was wrong, hadn't seemed surprised. Of course Hikaru had talked to him.

[identity profile] hangenki.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 02:17 am (UTC)(link)
"Spoil sport. But maybe it's for the best." They could surprise Tamamki with the finished products. Besides, Tamaki might take pity on the pawns and stop half the game.

"He's my brother, of course he talks to me," Kaoru shrugged, keeping it open. His heart, meanwhile, clenched tight. Was Tamaki going to open up? He wanted him to, really he did, but he was scared there was nothing he could do. It was his duty to try, however. And he would.

[identity profile] the-clown-king.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 02:24 am (UTC)(link)
Tamaki sighed. "You know what I mean, Kaoru." No one could even talk to him about it! They avoided or just got angry. Was it really such a...difference? Did it really make him that different now?

[identity profile] hangenki.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 02:27 am (UTC)(link)
Kaoru poked his banana, not really wanting to look at Tamaki for fear of seeing more of that vulnerability. "Yeah, I know. Well.... I know someone tried to hurt you. And that they managed. But I don't know any more details. Other than a name." He finally looked up, almost expectant. Whatever Tamaki wanted from him, he just had to ask. He was Kaoru's lord, fake dad, upperclassman... he was his...you know...friend.

[identity profile] the-clown-king.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 02:30 am (UTC)(link)
Tamaki gave a small noise, almost a snort. He poked some more at his food. "Someone 'hurt me'," he repeated. "That's all we'll say. Nobody...nobody can say what really happened. I can't, even. I just want..." He sighed, and flopped down on the table, breakfast ignored again.

"I just want things to be normal again."

[identity profile] hangenki.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 02:34 am (UTC)(link)
"Well then...tell me what happened. I've only heard second hand," Kaoru pointed out, unable to keep back that little hint of bitterness at not being told first hand. Not that he wanted to hear about his friends getting hurt, but if it was going to happen...he wanted to be trusted. Only...he hadn't been around. And he wasn't even 'fessing up about that, despite how silly it all was.

Kaoru folded his arms on the table and rested his head atop them. "Come on, sport, let's talk about it, ok? Nothing's normal here, so you might as well give up on that and we'll make do with what we've got," he said, offering a smile.

[identity profile] the-clown-king.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
Talk about. tell what happened. Tamaki sat up and wrapped his arms around himself, remembering. How it felt, how it had.... he could remember so clearly being pinned down, the way that thing had whispered in his ear. How he'd sounded so much like Ed....

His voice was flat and blunt when he finally spoke, and he looked Kaoru in the eyes, his own gaze as flat as his tone.

"He almost raped me."

[identity profile] hangenki.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 02:44 am (UTC)(link)
Kaoru managed to keep that gaze while he turned a whiter shade of pale and then gave in and looked down at the table. He knew he was getting angry and he knew Tamaki didn't need that right now. At least there'd been an 'almost'. Thank god there'd been. It didn't make things ok, but....it just mean they... screw it, the situation still sucked majorly.
He looked back up and stretched his arms out in front, not daring to touch Tamaki after what he'd been through, but leaving them near enough as an offering should Tamaki wish to take it.
"What a prick," he finally said. What else could he say? Ask if he wanted the guy beaten up? Tell a nurse? "What are we going to do? How are you...holding up...?" God damn, what the hell was he supposed to do?! Where was that bastard Kyouya and all his damn answers, huh?

[identity profile] the-clown-king.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 02:50 am (UTC)(link)
"We're not going to do anything," Tamaki said, simply. "There isn't anything... there's nothing we can do. It's over and done with." And retaliating...that would only make things worse.

"How am I holding up? I don't know. I keep crying. I jerked away the last time my boyfriend tried to touch me. I'm afraid to be alone with people..."

[identity profile] hangenki.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 02:55 am (UTC)(link)
"At least let me know what this guy looks like so I can keep an eye on him?" Kaoru suggest, clueless as to who the hell Envy even was. "I won't so anything, just...make sure he stays the hell away from you and my brother. And Ritsuka." He was getting quite a soft spot for the kid and owed it to him after last night. He'd been such a dick. EVen if he felt the remarks towards 'Soubi' were only truthful.

Kaoru automatically pulled his arms back up, away from Tamaki. "Well, no change in you crying all the time, huh?" he tried to joke. "I know it must be...well, fucked up, but you know we wont hurt you. Me. Hikaru. Mori. So....we should all hang out for a while maybe. It's not like you'll be 'alone' with us. You'll just be basking in our glorious presence!"

[identity profile] the-clown-king.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 03:03 am (UTC)(link)
"He's not going to try to hurt any of you," Tamaki said. "He...doesn't have any reason to." They weren't close to Ed. What sort of horrible person tried to hurt people just because...they didn't like someone? What was wrong with him?

"Oh, no, I meant people I don't know. I'm...I'm scared of strangers. How can I help people if I'm scared, Kaoru?"

[identity profile] hangenki.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 03:08 am (UTC)(link)
"He might not try to hurt us, no, but it won't do any harm to watch out anyway." He didn;t want to freak Tamaki out talking about the possibility of Envy coming back for him...

"You still have us around. Ritsuka's stuck with you, I'm only round the corner and during the dayshift you have the lot of us." Kaoru knew all about disliking and fearing strangers. Maybe not in the same way as Tamaki, but still. It wasn;t easy trusting people and when they hurt you...it made it even harder to trust the next person.
"We'll help each other, that's what the Host Club's about. Nobody's left on their own."

He wished he had a better answer for Tamaki's questions. A foolproof way of making Tamaki happy again...

[identity profile] the-clown-king.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 03:20 am (UTC)(link)
"It'll be okay." Tamaki sighed and finally tried to eat a little. "I'll be okay. I just don't know how to handle this. It's...not supposed to happen. And I don't know why I can't just...forget about it."

Or at least stop thinking about it.

[identity profile] hangenki.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
These things weren't supposed to happen, no, but they did.
"What are you doing today? Maybe we could check out the Library. I mean...this is a hospital, of sorts, maybe they've got some literature about it? Or...or maybe there's someone here who's been through it? Or maybe you should just talk, or write, about everything you're feeling and...it'll...go away?" Jees, Kaoru didn't know a whole lot about sharing and caring beyond his brother. Would a good friend know what to do? Screw it, he'd work it out....

Kaoru's body was beginning to catch up with his head and all it could do was complain. He slumped his head back onto folded arms and smiled tiredly at Tamaki. "We'll work something out. We always do."

[identity profile] the-clown-king.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 03:35 am (UTC)(link)
"I don't want anyone else to know!" Tamaki shook his head. "All of you know, and Ed knows, and Ritsuka knows, and I think Raine knows...she's very smart, and she saw me last night before things got busy and..." He couldn't talk to anyone. Not about this. Not anyone else.

"I can hardly even talk about it to my friends," he added. "Maybe there's something in the library. I don't know."

[identity profile] hangenki.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 03:39 am (UTC)(link)
Kaoru watched Tamaki have a small freak out and almost smiled. Had it been about anything else, he;d be glad to see his friend acting more like himself.
"We'll try the library then. And just keep it in our little family."
He wanted to reach out and take Tamaki's hand, but the thought of frightening the boy was too much to deal with.
As for Ed... what did Ed think of this? Stupid idiot should have been protecting Tamaki! And, yes, should the twins. And Mori. And every stupid idiot Tamaki had ever helped.

[identity profile] the-clown-king.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 03:50 am (UTC)(link)
"Alright." Tamaki nodded. And...Hikaru and Mori would come too, right? Only he didn't think Mori knew the details. But...he was smart. He had to have figured it out. Or maybe Tamaki was being too paranoid.

Either way, it was alright. Because it was Mori, and the twins, and if anyone could get him through this - besides Ed, of course, how Tamaki just wasn't comfortable talking about this with - it was them.

"We can handle anything, can't we? Together?"

[identity profile] hangenki.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
"Of course," Kaoru smiled. If there was anything Tamaki had taught him, it was just that. Of course, he was keeping his own little problem on the backburner for a while. One paranoid club member was more than enough. When he knew more about Landel's devious scheme...then he'd let the others in on it.

"Now, eat up." He shoved the discarded juggling fruit towards Tamaki. "We can't get through this if you've got no fuel."

[identity profile] the-clown-king.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 07:25 pm (UTC)(link)
"I know. I need to eat." Tamaki nibbled at his toast. "I didn't yesterday. And last night...."

Had been another awful night. But they'd gotten through it. And they'd get through it again, and again, and again. And the sad thing was, he didn't see any end in sight.

[identity profile] hangenki.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 10:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Kaoru almost panicked and asked if |Tamaki was being poisoned too. But he hadn't said anything like that...just that he hadn't eaten. Which was stupid. Stupid Tamaki.
"How are you going to help people if you're starved half to death, idiot? Want me to go get you more breakfast?" He could pretend it was for himself and score points with the nurses.

[identity profile] the-clown-king.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 10:13 pm (UTC)(link)
"I just didn't feel well yesterday. I'm eating now!" He gestured at his fruit and toast. "I just don't want to have too much all of a sudden. What would people think if I was sick in the middle of...whatever it is we're doing today?!?"

He still had a reputation to preserve, after all! And Prince's didn't vomit on their nurse's shoes!

[identity profile] hangenki.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 10:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Kaoru's hand shot out, blocking Tamaki from his breakfast. "What do you mean you didn't feel well? What was wrong?" Maybe iut wasn't just twins they were experimenting on!

[identity profile] the-clown-king.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 10:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Tamaki blinked, confused. What did Kaoru think had been the matter? How could he eat when he was dealing with...

What had happened?

"I... just didn't feel well. I kept thinking about...what happened, and I felt sick. I...that's normal, isn't it?"

[identity profile] hangenki.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 10:44 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh. Oh! Yeah, I think so. I mean...it's understandable. I just got worried you were ill," he laughed, relieved. Damn but he was worried. He thought back to Hikaru guiltily. "Carry on." He removed his hand and sat back in his seat. "We don't get nearly enough showers in this place."

[identity profile] the-clown-king.livejournal.com 2008-07-31 10:48 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh, no, I don't think I caught a bug or anything." Tamaki shook his head. When Kaoru mentioned showers, Tamaki nodded.

"I really would like to be able to take one." He'd wanted one yesterday. He still felt...dirty. If he could maybe just get clean, he'd stop feeling so weird and miserable.

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