damned_institute | Day 36: Intercom, Evening

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Day 36: Intercom, Evening

The intercom's jingle rang out and the somewhat uninhibited movement that was going on between the main activity rooms halted as the Head Doctor made one of his usual announcements.

"Good evening everyone, and I'm very pleased to see so many of you in such high spirits after meeting with your loved ones! However, like with all good things, it can't last forever, so I ask now for nurses to escort our patients in the waiting rooms and in the main areas back to their rooms, where they will be treated with a special Sunday... steak! That's right: today, we'll be serving juicy, delicious steak with fries and cooked vegetables on the side – simple enough for everyone to like and good enough for everyone to thoroughly enjoy! (Our patients with specialized diets will receive their alternate meals, of course.) Our usual beverages are available, and for dessert, we'll be serving warm slices of apple pie.

"After all, patients, t's always wonderful to see all of you cooperating with the staff even when given so much freedom, so I'd like to personally thank and congratulate all of you for helping us, your family, and more importantly, yourselves. Hopefully, we can help you to a speedy recovery so that you can see your loved ones more often, but first... dinner! I hope to speak with you all again soon."

The intercom clicked off.

[ All room threads go in response to this post; please post your character's room number as the subject line of the initial post. Thank you!

On an added note, just wanted to clarify to players of characters who are canonly vegetarians and the like that you get to decide (within reasonable and realistic limits) what kind of diet your character gets from the staff. :3 ]

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Haku smiled, slightly sad. "I may not. I was given this life, and I don't know if it will be just as simple to take it back."

He gently squeezed Artemis' hand. "I'm sorry. But, I swear I won't give up."

Artemis squeezed Haku's hand back, trying to hold back tears. It would be so easy to just cry right now and let Haku comfort him and tell him everything was going to be okay. But that wasn't how he operated, and he wasn't going to start leaning on Haku for everything.

"I know you won't. I'll make sure you don't," Artemis said with a shaky laugh. A rogue tear ended up on his shirt.

Haku set the fork down, and then reached up and gently wiped the tear track. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you about it. I wasn't thinking."

"I'm not made of glass, Haku. I know these questions, these unknowns are present every time we sit together. I've just never had such a painful unknown in one of my equations."

Artemis tightened his grip on Haku's hand until his knuckles turned white. "You shouldn't have to watch what you say around me. I should be fine with whatever you say."

"I know that," he said, smiling. "I simply meant that you have enough to worry about without adding something like that too it."

He rubbed his thumb along Artemis's fingers, trying to get him to calm down. Of course he had to watch what he said. There were some things that Artemis wasn't quite ready to hear from his friend and roommate.

Artemis gave a short laugh, still trying to convince himself and Haku that he wasn't crying. It wasn't working, he suspected, but damned if he wasn't going to try. He loosened his grip at the small touch.

"If it's you, whatever it is, other things can wait."

Haku lifted the plate of half-eaten food and set it aside so that he could sit closer to his friend.

"It's not important in the larger sense of things. Don't worry about it."

Artemis gave Haku a dark and petulant look. "It's everything to me. Right now, it's everything. Haku I nearly died last night and I didn't even wish you a good night. I slipped out of the room trying to go unnoticed. Who knows what tonight will bring? I have to find a way as soon as possible. It's everything."

Haku frowned. "You're planning on going out tonight?" His tone made it clear that he didn't think that was a terribly good idea.

Artemis gave a frustrated, ironic sort of laugh. "Haku, I'm leading a team tonight. There's something wrong with the Captain, and I don't know our third member. And yet I'm running a rescue mission. The boy with the hole in his heart is running a rescue mission."

He looked over at his oxygen tank, glowering at it. "I have to construct a method of carrying it with me tonight."

"Can I do anything to help?" Haku tilted his head, wondering if Zabuza-san would be willing to go along with Artemis tonight...

"Yes, you can," Artemis said, taking Haku's shoulders. "Promise me that you'll be here when I wake up. Swear that you'll be here, that you won't disappear and come back to tell me I'm crazy. Calling yourself Chris and me Sean... don't ever do that...!"

Artemis wouldn't lie, the situation with Schuldig and Crawford scared him. Crawford had disappeared mere days ago, and he'd already come back to 'visit' Schuldig. Haku couldn't disappear, he just couldn't.

"Don't disappear... please don't disappear. You're keeping me sane."

Haku's eyes widened and he reached up to lightly touch Artemis's face,smiling.

"I promise I will be here when you wake up. I swear I won't disappear on you, only to return to hurt you."

His fingers gently stroked his skin. "I will always be here when you wake up." He could not leave. Not while Zabuza-san was here. Not while Artemis was here.

Apparently despite the fact that Artemis hadn't had a visitor, the visiting day alone had shaken him. The boy held Haku's hand to his cheek fiercely.

"I know... I know, why did I have to ask, I know this already," he said, sounding a little dazed and confused. "...it's because it's our anniversary, I suppose. Our blanket anniversary."

Haku blinked. He was aware of how much timehadpassed, but it hadn't occured to him to think of it as an 'anniversary'. Smiling, he nodded.

"Then should we be in a happier mood?"

Artemis nodded slightly "We should... We seem to have the most serious conversations. I wonder if we could go one night without my taking things in a dark direction," the boy mused.

Haku smiled warmly. "I don't know," he said. "I'm rather good at leading you down that path myself."

Artemis gave a short laugh. "It takes two to tango. ...that's a dance, by the way."

Laughing, Haku nodded. "An interesting name for a dance," he said. "Do you 'Tango'?"

An attempt at moving the conversation to lighter topics.

"A bit, yes. But I'm better with the waltz. Speaking of which," Artemis gladly followed Haku into the land of lighter topics. "There's something in the pocket of my coat. Will you bring it to me?"

Haku stood, moving over to the aforementioned coat and removed ... a bit of plastic. "This," he asked, holding it up.

"Yes," Artemis said. "It's a compact disc player--CD player for short. Schuldig bought it for me in town." The boy scooted over and patted the bed next to him. "I'd like you to listen with me."

Haku brought it over and sat down beside Artemis. "Here you are." He was curious about the 'see dee player'.

"All right," Artemis delicately slipped one of the headphones onto Haku's ear and put the other one on himself. Opening the lid, he began to peruse the track list. Ah, Berlioz. That was a good piece to start with. He flipped through the track numbers, finding the one he wanted, and he hit the play button.

"This is what I listen to in my world."

Haku blinked, leaning closer to listen. "Oh," he breathed, watching the player closely. "Wow."

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