damned_institute | Day 36: Waiting Room/Lobby 2

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Day 36: Waiting Room/Lobby 2

Okita hadn't been expecting it when his nurse suddenly appeared in the Game Room. He'd expected to be left alone like last week, but instead she gently took him by the arm and told him he needed to say goodbye to Kaden for now. Okita assumed it was time for his visitor and waved goodbye to him, only to be led off himself. The swordsman had followed obediently into the Sun Room, but when he tried to go off to another room, she stopped him. "Not today, Julian."

Not today? Something about his nurse's demeanor seemed off, almost as if she were worried about something. It wasn't until she led him out of the Sun Room that he understood what was going on. He had a visitor. There were only so many people that would come to visit him in a place like this. His sisters, Tetsu, Kondou or... Okita didn't want to think about the last option.

Taking a step into the waiting room, he stopped at the door and turned to look at his nurse. "Are you sure you're not mistaken?" he asked, feeling actual fear for the first time in a long while. If this wasn't some strange punishment/joke for behaving poorly in the chapel, he didn't know what to do. Badou's graffiti was still on his hand and he quickly slipped that hand into his pocket. He could feel the pen there, clipped to the inside of his waistband. The nurse shook her head and moved to the side of the room, keeping a close watch on him as he stayed by the door, trying to hide his anxiety by feigning interest in the strange magazines on a table nearby.

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Eric's visitor was waiting impatiently outside of the waiting room. Those nurses sure made her wait long! Isabella - Izzy for friends - pouted a bit as she put her hands on her hips, as if that was going to work. It apparently did, because the nurse soon came to get her. "You can go in now, dear. Eric is waiting for you."

The lady didn't have to say that twice.

Izzy immediately headed passed the nurse into the waiting room, easily spotting the one she was looking for before moving over.

"Hello, Eriiiic!" Izzy exclaimed, stopping a small distance away from where he was sitting. She did one of those small bows characteristic to her.

"Are you surprised to see me?"

Archer expected... well... someone taller. Unfortunately his eyes seemed to be working fine. Watching her seemingly flutter into the room like an angel, following up with one of her trademark bows, something she'd say was characteristic of a lady, made that cold rock, which he fondly called his heart, lurch for a moment. Ilya...

His first impulse was to reach out and pull her into his arms, to make sure this was real and not an illusion. As he rose out of his chair and took a step towards her, reality kicked in like the pain in the ass it was. This wasn't his Ilya. He'd seen her die, wasting away and helpless to do anything about it. Archer, no, Emiya Shirou had never felt so helpless as that time. If only he had known better, he would've traded his services to Gaia for Ilya's life instead of wasting it on strangers, one of whom betrayed him.

"Hey there," he replied somewhat awkwardly, standing just out of arms reach of the little, snow fairy. Archer would leave it up to her to close the distance, since he didn't know if he had the strength to do it on his own. "You could say that."

He really needed to get his emotions under control. At this rate, he'd end up a mess, a liability, just like Celes said. He had to remember that his Ilya, his "little" sister, was gone, even if he wished otherwise. "So how have you been?"

Izzy giggled in response before indeed closing the distance between her and her and Eric. The girl never really considered anyone's 'personal space', which proved to be a given as she climbed onto the man's lap and flung her arms around his neck.

It had been a really long time she had last seen him. "I missed you!" Izzy told him, both like an answer to his question as a statement.

Even that attitude of hers was the same. The Institute really did their homework, didn't they? Archer knew he shouldn't be giving into this delusion, but he unconsciously found his arms coming up behind the little girl, wrapping her in a warm, gentle hug, securing her against his chest. He nestled his face in the crook of her neck, allowing her hair to tickle his nose, taking in her scent. It was all too familiar, and too easy just to give in. I'm just playing along for now. Trying to make her lower her guard, so that I can milk some information out of her. That's all this is... Heh... Yeah right... Who am I kidding?

"I missed you too." A brutally honest statement that hit a little too close to home.

This was dangerous ground. Seeing her here, without any job to distract him, and his full consciousness just made him realize how much he missed the little fairy. He could already feel his defenses lowering.

Archer didn't know what to say, so he just stood there holding her in his arms. She was pretty light, and he was pretty strong, so it wasn't really a burden at all. He didn't even know anything about this "Ilya", or if her name was even the same. The safest thing he could do was be passive, reacting to her statements, for now.

"Then don't take so long to get home!" Izzy said, still hugging Eric as if her life depended on it. She leaned her head against his chest for now.

After her parents had died, Eric had been the one who had taken her in. Even if a few others took care of her right now, she didn't care much more for them than the servants she had back in the castle.

"It's rude for a man to make a lady wait." she continued, turning her head to look at him with her red eyes.

"Haha, sorry. You're absolutely right," he replied with a warm chuckle, returning the hug, sharing his little sister's sentiment. Although getting home was a completely separate issue, he'd indulge her for a little while. And in the end, perhaps, he really did need this.

His hand strayed to the back of her head to gently stroke her long, snow white hair, like he had done so many times in the past. Ilya was an affectionate little girl. "But I know you'll forgive me. After all, isn't that the lady-like thing to do?"

"Only if you come back first." Izzy giggled again, letting her brother stroke her long, snow white hair like he had always done. Her dad always used to say it was the color of snow, so she was really proud of it. She liked snow, just not the cold that came with it.

After some time she finally broke the embrace and grabbed Eric by her hand, leading him towards the first chair she could find. She wanted to talk with him like they had a few times on the playground near their home. But he needed to think of the subject, because he was the man.

"I'm working on it. If I could, I'd leave this place in a heartbeat," Archer honestly replied, comfortably settling into his seat. He allowed her to drag him along, since there didn't seem to be any harm to it. Although, after a few moments of silence, it was clear she wanted him to take the lead. That was fine, but he'd need to gather his thoughts. He needed to play it safe, since he didn't have much info on his "real" life. "So what mayhem have you been up to while I was gone?"

Izzy claimed Eric's lap as soon as he had sat down. She didn't feel like standing, and this was much more comfortable than a chair.

"Hmm? I've been a good girl." The girl answered, even though that might have been up for debate knowing her.

Archer smiled at her actions, allowing her to do as she pleased. He wrapped his hands around her waist to hold her still. He doubted she'd fall off his lap but wanted to make sure. It was all so familiar, and too easy to get lost in his memories. When he heard her response, he was sorely tempted to smirk. "I'm sure you were a complete angel. So, did anything interesting happen, like at home?"

"Well, I'm going to school now." Izzy said after thinking for a moment. After she had moved in with Eric, she hadn't gone to school for a good while. But a certain woman had insisted that she did, because it was 'better' for her. She never had to do much when she had lived in her castle in Germany, and now she suddenly had to make homework and do tests!

She swayed her legs while she remained firmly seated on her brother's lap. Other than her going to school, nothing much had changed. Susan - a friend of Eric's - still came by everyday to make breakfast and dinner, something that Izzy wasn't going to complain about. Susan did make delicious food.

"But everything else is still the same." she continued. "Susan still makes really nice desserts!" Izzy liked the desserts, even despite the fact most of them were cold.

"I see," Archer said, rolling one of her soft, snowy tresses between his fingers. "Have you made any friends yet?"

He was glad she was going to school. Ilya never really had that chance, raised under the iron clad rule of the Einzbern family, and when she eventually did get a chance, it was too short. He was glad to see, even if it was an illusion, her enjoying a somewhat fuller life.

"I'm glad someone's looking after you. It's been a while since I cooked for you," he replied with a slight chuckle. A melancholy look passed marred his joy for a moment before passing. Meanwhile, he tried to wrack his mind figuring out who Susan was. It couldn't be Fuji-nee or Saber. Neither could cook, and they devoured everything in sight. It had to be Sakura or Rin, at least this world's equivalent to them.

"Although, I hope you aren't eating too many sweets," he said, teasingly poking her in the side. "How is Susan by the way?"

"My classmates are annoying." Izzy whined, which was true. "And so are the teachers, they give me homework!" No one needed to mention that she didn't like school.

"That's because you're stuck in this hospital." the girl answered to Eric's statement about cooking, pointing a finger at him almost accusingly. Eric definitely had to cook for her when he came home. Though she liked Susan's desserts, Eric could cook really well too. Much better than the servants she had while in her castle in Germany.

"Susan's fine." she answered. "But I don't wanna talk about Susan." Izzy had been the one who had visited after all, not Susan.

[FYI; Susan = Sakura XD;]

"Annoying? Did they do anything in particular or just the usual ignorance?" he asked, sarcasm and humor mixed into his tone. "Yeah, those teacher's are just plain mean, giving you homework like that. What are they thinking?"

The offending finger and accusing tone brought a smile to his face. She seemed to be doing fine since she had energy to scold him. "Sorry about that."

Sensing she didn't want to talk about other girls right now, he acquiesced. "Alright, what do you want to talk about then?"

"They're just annoying." Izzy pouted, both referring to the students and the teachers.

At the question of what she wanted to talk about, the girl looked thoughtful for a moment. She had never been all that good at deciding conversation topics. It was pretty ood; looking forward to seeing Eric again only not to know what to talk about when she finally did see him.

"Why are you still in this hospital?" Izzy eventually asked. She might as well find out why he was staying her, she figured. No one had ever told her the details, only that Eric was 'ill'.

Wow. He certainly walked straight into that question. Archer was reluctant to tell her the "real" reason he was here, and since she didn't know the "truth" he assumed the adults around her had shielded her from it.

"It might be because my memories are still a little fuzzy." That was true. He couldn't remember committing all those psychotic acts that Dr. House had accused him of. The cripple had a really "friendly" demeanor when he delivered the news. More than that, he couldn't remember how he even got to Landel's, so it technically wasn't a lie.

"Don't worry, I'll be home in no time," he said, trying to comfort her. Although that was his intent, whether or not the Institute would let him go was another story. It was more likely he'd escape on his own before they let him go. Killing Landel would probably solve a lot of problems, but it was easier said than done.

Simply holding her like that allowed him to slip further into his memories to the point where he didn't even realize he had accidentally used her true name, but it was said so quietly that she hopefully didn't hear his slip. "Ilya..."

Unfortunately, the girl had heard. Even though Eric had said it quietly, Izzy was sitting close enough to hear it.

She immediately turned her head at the mention of that name, looking her brother straight in the eye. She wasn't too happy with this, and the look she gave him was only proof of that. Why did he call her like that?!

"Don't you remember my name anymore?" she accused, not taking anything what Eric had said about his memory into consideration. "It's Izzy! From Isabella! How could you forget about that?!"

"Sorry, it was just a slip of the tongue," Archer calmly replied, trying to placate... Izzy. His right palm gently touched her cheek.

"I could never forget my little sister. It's just... my memory isn't what it used to be. That's why I'm here, in the Institute." He was playing the sympathy card against a little girl. Man, this was low, even for him.

Possibly because everyone had shielded her from the truth, Izzy wasn't taking this very well even after Eric's explanation. After all, it was rude to offend a lady like that.

Especially because they were like a brother and sister. And though she knew Eric wasn't well and he was supposed to hear voices in his head, she didn't knew that there was something wrong with the man's memory.

"You'll be sorry you forgot Izzy's name."

Damn. How was he supposed to fix this? Give him a horde of unspeakable monstrosities, and he'd choose them any day of the week over an angry child. It was just simpler to hack away at his enemies than actually face any of his own problems.

"I know. I'm sorry," he said, thinking of ways to appease her anger. Would a hug work or... Sigh. He might as well; it would probably be more effective. Reaching down to brush some hair free from her face, he gave her a gentle, brotherly kiss on the forehead. "Forgive me?"

"You'll be even more sorry." Izzy argued. The girl would have stomped her foot if she wasn't sitting on Eric's lap right now, so instead crossed her arms. She wanted Eric to pay for that mistake. He should work if he wanted to make it up to her!

The kiss that followed managed to calm her a little, however. Though she wanted to scold him some more considering she was still angry, it all came down to the fact that she had missed Eric, and she wanted him home soon.

It seemed like the only thing he could do now was just hold her, and wait for the storm to pass. Although there was one last card he had left that he hadn't played yet.

"Well, I didn't forget that I loved my little sister," he said with a warm smile. This wasn't a lie. He did love his sister, but whether she was the same one was debatable. No, if he was perfectly honest his little sister died a long time ago, but here, right now, he didn't want to think about that. He only wanted to think about the things he wanted to say or do for her before she passed away. Perhaps this was a chance for him to fulfill that wish.

The storm had seemingly passed for now, as Izzy remained silent for a moment at Eric's statement. She once again began swaying her legs before quietly admitting:

"Izzy loves her brother too."

It seemed like the battle raging within Izzy's small frame had passed, ending in Archer's favor. That was good news. It didn't escape his notice that she was quite adorable when she childishly swayed her legs, reluctantly admitting her true feelings. In order to celebrate his victory, he slowly hugged the little girl closer to his chest, gently resting his chin on top of her head.

Izzy leaned her head against the man's chest for now. She didn't have anything else to say, anyway.

It wasn't before long that the nurses began rounding up the patients, which wasn't something that escaped the girl's notice. She glared at them from her position on her brother's lap, not eager to be separated from Eric. After all, it'd be a whole week before she could see him again! She didn't like giving away what was hers.

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Day 36: Waiting Room/Lobby 2

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