damned_institute | Day 36: Waiting Room, Lobby 2

Entry tags:

Day 36: Waiting Room, Lobby 2

Celes had actually relaxed enough, speaking to Naminé during lunch, to allow herself a small smile. It thinned into a line, of course when her nurse materialized from nowhere and swept her off, giggling over her 'surprise.'

"Oh won't it be nice?" she chirped as they walked into the waiting room. "You'll be so happy, I am absolutely sure of it." Celes's small smile thinned itself into a line and she was plunked into a chair to await her visitor. Perhaps I shall be lucky, she thought, looking at some ridiculous motivational poster. It won't be anyone I know, not really. Her nurse wandered away and Celes folded her hands on the table, the picture of impatient waiting.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Why the hell should I smile?" Myra snapped, glaring. "Do you have any idea what it's like, to have a brother in the loony bin?"

"Myra, that is enough!" Alana's eyes narrowed and her shoulders twitched, and she pointed to a chair. "Now sit down!"

Myra did as she was told, sullen and scowling the whole time.

Alana took out a plastic photo holder, and began flipping through it. Pictures of her and her two children who were in the room. Pictures of Calvin when he was young. And a photograph of Calvin and a girl his age, who looked suspiciously like him....

The pictures were...definitely informative. "Calvin" was always smiling, even though that smile was often a little strained. Apparently he'd had blond hair as a very young child, which had darkened to brown when he was about...five or so. He had odd metal bands put on his teeth when he hit early adolescence, but they disappeared a year or two later. Some of the photos were carefully posed, taken in front of a mottled, grayish-blue background, and some were just casual snapshots, detailing everyday life. Friends. Family. A party.

And the girl. There was a girl with him, one who had the same smile, the same face, the same metal bands on her teeth. Calvin, apparently, had a twin. A little girl with red hair and green eyes.

"She's..." Shana.

Shana was supposed to be his twin? It made...a weird sort of sense, he supposed. Even though he was much older than she, they'd always been raised together, and she'd aged so much faster than he had. Keman stared at the last photo longest. It looked to be fairly recent. Calvin's hair was as long as Keman's was now, and his twin was wearing a little bit of rouge on her lips and eyes. It was a very odd thing, to see Shana made up like that.

But it wasn't Shana, was it? Not really.

Even Myra was quiet for the moment, looking down at her hands with an unreadable expression.

"Are you alright?" Alanna asked, reaching out to lay a hand on her son's shoulder. The words were asked quietly, almost hesitantly.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Keman blinked, his finger still hovering over "Shana's" face. Mother and Myre had gotten a little too quiet, and it was making him uncomfortable. It was this one, specific picture that they had reacted to. "She's my sister. By the way, why did you just ask to see me, and not both of us? I know she had a visitor last week too, but...she's your daughter too."

This time there was a reaction from Myra, one that was most likely unexpected. The girl's hands balled into fists and her face screwed up and she gaped at her brother. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she demanded, and a wave of Alanna's hand quieted her down some.

"Your brother is sick," she said, sternly, though there was a funny note to her voice. "He doesn't remember things right, Myra. He...doesn't remember things."

...Apparently, that had been the wrong thing to say.

"What is it?" Keman demanded, confused and more than a little disturbed at the way his mother and sister were acting. Whatever it was, it was about "Shana," and it wasn't good. Even the normally (and proudly) disaffected Myre had reacted, and she hated the girl. Something was very wrong. Even wronger than this place turning his dragon family into normal, happy humans. A growing sense of dread weighed heavily in the pit of his stomach, like he'd eaten rocks at brunch instead of food.

"What is it that you aren't telling me? Don't go easy on me just because I'm 'sick.'"

"You're not supposed to tell him anything that could make him snap again!" Myra was quick to hiss, staring at her mother. Alanna ignored the girl and patted Calvin's shoulder.

"Nevermind, Calvin. You need to focus on getting better. Now tell me about how you're doing. Really tell me. Have you made any friends?"

Keman wouldn't be swayed that easily. "Mother, please. Tell me." What was she hiding? Had this world's version of Shana been banished as well, or something? Why wasn't anyone telling him anything? "I won't 'snap,' I swear. I've just been...confused." It was almost painful to say that, to bow to what the Institute wanted him to believe. "I don't know what's real or what's my imagination anymore. If--if something happened to my sister and I don't remember it, I want to know. I need to know. She's my sister, for crying out loud."

Alanna wet her lips.

"Calvin, please. Your mental state is delicate. These things...are better left to the professionals." She squeezed his shoulder gently and folded her hands in her lap, the pictures now hidden within them.

"This is supposed to be a happy time for us, Calvin. We haven't seen you in so long."

"...Fine." Keman sighed, shaking his head. He wasn't going to fight this right now. Human and wrong or not, this woman was his mother. He was convinced of that now. They'd done something to her, yes, but there was no way that this tired, tiny person was Alara. It wasn't a trick. It was...actually her.

"I...I'm doing better, I think. I've made friends, and I saw a doctor a few days ago. And there's this girl, who's..."

No, wait. Not in front of Myre.

"How is your doctor?" Alanna asked, ignoring Myra's suddenly narrowed gaze and faintly smug turn of lip. "Is he nice? Or she, I'm afraid it's impossible to tell just from last names."

His doctor? "Stegman?" That had been the name, right? Keman shrugged, also pointedly ignoring the look that Myre had just given him. Oh dear. She wasn't going to let him forget this. In fact, Keman wondered if he should warn Orihime, just in case his sister were to find out who, exactly, the girl was. Of course, that meant admitting his feelings for her to her in the first place, and he wasn't sure if he could do that. "Honestly, I've only seen the man once. Haven't really had time to form much of an opinion of him. We spoke briefly about...anger management, I think, and about my hobbies. Haven't even seen him since. I guess he's busy with all of the other...crazies."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Day 36: Waiting Room, Lobby 2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject