damned_institute | Day 36: Music Room

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Day 36: Music Room

The nurses came and took Takaya away. For a visitor? Tony heard that as the other boy was led away, but he didn't react. Usually, when he heard something, he wasn't supposed to hear it, and it was just a good idea to pretend he hadn't. Though he wondered if he should check on Takaya later if he found a way to do it.

He returned his attention back to the recorder in his hands. Now with no "student" to teach, he could play the melodies from his head again. This one was a bit more exuberant, a bit more expressive of the hope he felt that life was more than this, more than the city where he'd grown up. Tony had dreams that weren't crushed. His music said all this.

(for Frey!)

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Frey had only come back inside in order to check the message board, in case the Star Dragon Sword had left him a note. But as he was about to return to the outdoors, he heard the faint strains of music from one of the rooms off the Sun Room. Deciding to investigate, he discovered that the source was none other than his and Takaya's mutual acquaintance, Tony. "Ah, good afternoon Tony."

Tony lowered the recorder and smiled. "Hey! Frey, right? I didn't think I'd see you today. Are you doing okay?" He waved as well and gestured for Frey to come sit if he wanted.

"As well as can be expected in this place. No recent injuries. Did you manage to reach this room at night as you wished to?" Frey felt bad, now that he thought about it, for not following up on that--he'd spoken to Takaya since then, of course, and noted Takaya's injuries, but he hadn't actually checked in with Tony again.

"Oh, we made it," Tony admitted, looking aside a bit ashamed. "There was this guy with huge claws out in the Sun Room who wanted to shred us or something, but we made it, thanks to Takaya." Of course, now he wasn't certain it was worth it for the reason he'd hoped. No magic swelled inside of him with the music.

"Music is important to me." That was still true. It still comforted him and let him speak to the world in ways that words would never do.

Frey smiled a little, inclining his head in agreement. "I feel much the same about the outdoors." Despite the negative memories he had of the Sun Rune, sunlight itself was still immensely pleasing to Frey, simply because he had been surrounded by it so often in Falena--until he'd spent time with the Cave Dwarves it had really never occurred to him that anyone lived without sunlight pouring into their homes at every possible hour of daylight. "Especially around water... my homeland has a great river that runs through it, and I spent much of my time sailing on it."

"I love the outdoors, too, but I needed this today." Tony gestured with the recorder. "Did you really live right on a river with a sailboat?" His eagerness lit up his whole thin face. "I grew up in a city. We hardly even saw the sky."

Frey smiled, quite liking the way Tony's face lit right up. It was nice to be able to talk about pleasant things, even if it did make him miss home all the more. "Ah, well. I did grow up in a city, but I don't think cities where I come from are much like cities here. Sol-Falena wasn't much bigger than the town we visited the other day, except for the palace, and it's the capital of Falena. But Sol-Falena is actually built straddling the river, so it's surrounded by water."

"Granny Malone's apartment was on South Water Street, but what they called a river in that city was disgusting." Tony wrinkled his nose. "Even when we went to Heron Lake, which was a little ways away, it didn't feel like a real lake, even though we could see the mountains above the trees."

Even though he'd been very unhappy in those places, Tony was incapable of putting the complete and utter contempt he felt for those places. He didn't understand why he hated them so much, but he knew he did. That feeling warred with the optimism and hope that had kept him and Tia alive all those desolate years. Besides, Granny had always warned them that if you didn't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all.

"Can you tell me more?" He could almost see the places Freyjadour was describing.

"The Feitas is... immense. It winds throughout the entire country. So even though we only have one ocean port, travel by ship is very common. There's even a community, Raftfleet, that lives entirely on boats and travels from one anchor point to another within the country." Ever since he'd become responsible for inspections, Frey suspected he'd spent more time on the river than anywhere else.

"It sounds lovely. I'd like to see your country. You wouldn't like to see where I lived." It wasn't much different from here, locked in these walls. Even Doyleton was nicer. "I'm almost jealous," Tony said, but his tone was cheerfully teasing.

"I hope it's beautiful again by now. The war did a lot of damage. But it's good to remember the nice things as well as the difficulties of the war." That was something Frey had had great difficulty doing while he was in the middle of it, but now that he was able to look back...

"I've read that land recovers fast." He smiled, trying to sound encouraging. "It can, I mean. If the people love it. Nature is important to take care of, don't you think?"

Frey blinked, a little confused by Tony's question. "Take care of in what sense...?" Nature did quite well on its own, where he came from. If anything, the True Runes that embodied the forces of nature tended to be things that people needed protection from.

Frey's confusion was reflected by Tony's own confusion. In his experience, people tried to kill living things at every chance they got. "Well, not abuse it or tear it up, I guess."

The dancing lesson with Orihime had gone rather well he thought. Orihime made an entertaining and interesting partner, and he'd thoroughly enjoyed spending the last shift with her, teaching her how to dance. She hadn't been terrible even, as she seemed to think that she would be. She just needed a little practice and then she'd be just fine.

And suddenly, far too soon, the nurses were back, ushering people away, bringing new people in, but Rainier declined the offer to be moved elsewhere. He liked being surrounded by music and perhaps he could find another partner.

[For Daemon!]

The bleeding stopped. Brock tested it again, touching his fingers gingerly to his split lip. Nope, no blood. He'd been surprised, actually, when he'd bled and bled pure red. The very few times he'd bled as Venom, when they were truly one, he'd noticed some flecks of green mixed in with the red - probably parts of his Other there - and it was jarring to see himself bleed like a normal man. It was almost insulting.

But hell, he was probably gonna get laid tonight and that made things better.

Almost as good as watching Harry take the fall like that like the chump he really was. Brock knew he'd treasure that memory for a long time because it really was something special when you got to dick around with an enemy and get his ass pumped full of drugs and you got away (mostly) scot-free. He was probably on notice though as a possible-troublemaker by the nurse, but it was worth it. Since they knew they couldn't escape now, that really did narrow down things: first, getting down to business with Elle (so long as she kept that electricity to herself). Next, killing Harry.

We can do it, the symbiote comforted him, a hissing non-voice in his head, alive with colors and images and feelings that he somehow understood. Just not yet.

That was the hardest part, the waiting.

Might as well chill out until night came. Brock lounged back in a chair, a CD player ("really? This isn't the 90's") in his lap. The blond turned it on and listened to the music he didn't even much like, keeping an eye on the door in case anyone he knew came in.

Ginji was now very worried about their friend. Matsuda had a visitor. It made him remember his visitor.

He grew quiet after Matsuda left, thinking about it.

After a moment he considered Demyx seriously. "Do you ever miss anyone?" he asked right out of the blue. He was wondering what Demyx's lack of a heart meant about that kind of loss.

[for Demyx, of course]

Demyx had never heard of receiving visitors before, so he was also unaware of the less desirable qualities of receiving them. He smiled at Matsuda's back as his friend was ushered away with nothing other than vague thoughts about how nice it was that he had someone to visit him.

However, he shifted his attention back to Ginji when the blond asked him something, and his expression took a more wistful note. "Not really," he admitted. "I remember people - my family and friends and everything - but I don't really feel anything about them. I mean, I wish I was back with them, but that's mostly because I know I should rather than because I miss being with them. I wish I did - I know it's not normal that I don't." He shook his head slightly. "Anyway, they're all gone. The Heartless - the creatures that steal hearts, like they did with me? They took over my world; there's nothing left of it. As far as I know, I'm the only person from my world who came back from losing their heart - it's pretty abnormal, you know, becoming a Nobody. Your will has to be really strong to bring back your body when your heart is gone. Usually people who lose their hearts just turn into Heartless themselves."

The subject matter had distracted Demyx from his usual acting; if he'd been paying more attention, he might have sounded more emotional and less matter-of-fact about talking about everyone he'd ever known dying.

Ginji listened to him, thankful for the truthful matter-of-fact tone that Demyx was using even if it was a little unsettling. He didn't want Demyx to think he had to pretend to be anything but what he was around him.

"I miss someone I never even met," he said, holding his own emotions in for the time being, but not quite pulling off the matter-of-fact tone that Demyx had used. "My mother. I became a Getbacker because I thought I might be able to find her and..." he frowned. "This place brought her right to me, like she had been in my life all along." A slight pause. "I hope Matsuda-kun will be okay."

Demyx's face fell. To search for somebody for so long, and then have them brought to you as though all that time without them had never existed...it didn't seem fair. It sounded like a nasty trick, if it really were something the institute had done. "Well," he said slowly, trying to think of a way to make his new friend feel better, "if they brought her here...that means she was close, right? Maybe once we get out of here, you'll find her."

He looked worriedly towards the door that Matsuda had been escorted out through. "What do you think might happen?" he asked anxiously. Matsuda had been his first real friend.

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Day 36: Music Room

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