damned_institute | Day 38: Patients' Library

Entry tags:

Day 38: Patients' Library

The intercom rang out, disrupting what had turned out to be a rather pointless breakfast conversation, at least in Brainiac 5's eyes. He couldn't wait to put more distance between himself and Scar's blather of how logic, of all things, might not work the same way in this dimension. It was almost enough to make him believe that the man may very well have been a lion originally after all, as he'd never heard anything so very... ignorant and uneducated.

He quickly finished up the fruit he'd been nibbling on - he was no longer as hungry as he had been - and looked around automatically to see where Clark was. Unfortunately with the press of people around, some being led off to the library and others to the mentioned 'therapy sessions' - if that was what they really were - he had lost sight of the Kryptonian. Still there wasn't many places he could go, so Brainiac 5 would be able to catch up with him eventually to check on his condition and try and learn more about what had happened last night. That the Chapel had healed him - admittedly by passing his injuries to another - was interesting, but far more important in his eyes was what had happened to Clark and his powers. They hadn't been working correctly and that worried the Coluan boy more than he would normally have admitted. Without Clark's abilities... he wasn't sure what they would have to rely on in order to escape.

Another problem he would have to deal with was Grell... or, if he was to believe the notes on the bulletin board, the person pretending to be Grell. But that was going to require more careful planning before he made a move. Come to think of it, he had agreed to meet another in the library today on that same post that had sparked this whole mess. At least then he would have something of interest to look forward to, as he doubted any of the 21st century books were likely to be worthwhile to someone of his advanced intellect.

Following the nurses led him to what must have been the library; a reasonably large room filled with a range of archaic books on tall shelves, a few tables and chairs interspersed around the room. The Coluan boy couldn't refrain from wrinkling his nose in distaste as he entered the room, not liking the cumbersome books and the dust that he knew would have gathered on them; he much preferred the clean arrangement of his C.O.M.P.U.T.O. systems back in the Legion headquarters. It was much more practical then shelves and shelves of books on fictional worlds and dated information.

Trying to avoid as much of the room as possible, Brainiac 5 settled himself down on a chair to wait, keeping an eye out for a tall, dark-haired man with a red... something on his forehead.

[for Homura]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

"If you say so," Ken muttered, sounding entirely unconvinced. Adult claims tended toward dubious territory, particularly this one. Best to take the words with a grain of salt.

"To continue on," he said, clearer this time, "sex is generally the prelude to having babies, right?" Which brought about another dilemma. "But how can it also be an expression of romantic love?" Putting one's "appendage" in another's...thing (What did a vagina look like anyway?) was the last gesture he had in mind when it came to showing care. Wasn't it simpler to buy the girl flowers?

The senior very nearly smacked his forehead. Hadn't that been enough awkwardness? Besides, other folks are better at explaining that part than I am. That business in Yakushima...

"That's where it all starts getting really complicated," he said, rubbing at his temple again. That headache was starting up full-force now, and for all that the intercom normally grated on his nerves, he would have been glad had it gone off at that moment. "It...well, yes, it's both of those things, but it's difficult to explain. I think it will become a lot clearer to you once you're older." Or I can get someone else to explain that part. Whatever comes first.

'Something like that' could be taken a lot of different ways, but in her experience it usually meant something like 'you saved me the trouble of explaining the obvious bits and you still don't know the inconvenient details, how nice'. That was what happened when you made vague guesses, though, and it wasn't like she had any interest in getting a biography out of him, so she let the matter rest for now.

She would have had to anyway- she couldn't help but laugh at his description of his little personal project. Such an earnest, tidy little description of such a deeply personal endeavor, like it was just a hobby. It spoke volumes about how far he had to go, made him seem pathetic- and he'd never understand that! Rich, rich, rich. And so very human, for all it relied on his lack of humanity. She'd changed her mind; she could like this one.

"If only Chachamaru were here... you two would be great together," she said wistfully, laughter still echoing in her voice.

Sai could only continue to sit and smile as the girl seemed amused by his response. He couldn't tell what she was amused about, exactly, and it probably wasn't as light-hearted as one would hope for, but he could live with it. Apparently he reminded her of someone?

"Mm? A friend of yours?" He feigned embarrassment, rubbing at his neck. "I wouldn't wish for him to show up here, though, even if a meeting would be interesting." He dropped the hand back to the book in his lap. "I'm sorry. I've been rude. My name is Sai."

For all the boy's brave face, he sure seemed to have taken a beating. After the attack from the rats the previous night, Kio couldn't really tell what else was out there. People had written about monsters, but how much could they be trusted?

Nurses. "Like they insist I reply to Akatsuki when I don't. I don't even know anyone by that name." He still argued with them, though for the most part, he supposed he was complacent now. Calm. Quiet.

He'd been here a while, then. Or would two weeks feel like an eternity to him? Would they feel like a second? "Did they tell you if you've made any progress. They announced these therapy sessions, so..." Kio shrugged, as if to point out that he wasn't entirely convinced. "What about your friends, are they here too?" The worst thing would be for this boy to be lonely. That would crush Kio.

"I suppose I've stopped paying them so much attention," Allen looked thoughtful for a second, wondering just when he'd become so complacent. He was still polite to the nurses, but arguing with them about his name just got old after a while.

"I don't know about any therapy," he said quietly, "but I'd imagine you probably wouldn't want it. Nothing the doctors here do is any good at all." His own roommate was proof enough of that. And there had been plenty more, all taken in the night by this place, forced to go through pain and suffering for no good reason that he could see.

"My friends... they used to be here," Allen said after a long pause. Some had died, some had only disappeared quietly from one shift to the next. All because of this place.

"They're gone now." The only person who still existed from his world would probably want to try to kill him come nightfall. Him or some other innocent human. Who could say for sure?

"Hm," was her only reply, giving away nothing of what she thought on the matter. Renamon's human interactions--pleasant ones, at least--were only with children that hadn't even started getting interested in the 'adult situations' Jiraiya was referring to. She was resourceful on the human world at large; she had to protect Rika, after all, and one of the things that she would have to protect a young girl from would be sexual predators.

Dangerous situations with ninja, however, were more interesting to her, a natural born and bred fighter. She still remained quiet though; her silence as teasing as any words she could say.

"Hm," she said again, making it seem like she was considering something. "Perhaps then I should talk to Naruto."

Jiraiya's eyes widened a bit when she said she might talk to Naruto. His student had no idea how to be subtle! If Naruto said the wrong thing, they could both end up dead!

He caught his reaction quickly enough and then tried to laugh it off. "Ah, that's old news and pretty boring, so he might fall asleep on you if you started talking asking about that right away...."

Well, it was true that Naruto found his book boring, at least. The sequence of events that lead to Naruto calling him Ero-Sennin was not exactly one that Renamon should know just yet, if ever. She seemed very proper about certain things, and peeking in on the women's hot springs was anything but that.

Ah, Naruto! He could talk about Naruto!

"I did want to introduce you to him tonight, though, if possible," Jiraiya added almost hastily. "He's a good kid, and he's interested in meeting you, so..."

"You should try to," the Doctor encouraged. "Everyone ought to see beyond their little bit of the world if they can." He knew that travelling wasn't necessarily for everyone, but that was no reason not to give it a shot. If Grell had to get back to work right away, maybe he could find a master who travelled more and go with him.

Talk of Barcelona made the Doctor grin. He really ought to take more people to Barcelona; maybe he and Donna could— No, they couldn't, not anymore, but maybe he would make a trip on his own. It had been a while since he'd been there on his own. "There is! And a rather nice planet it is. I'd recommend it, too, if I thought you could get there."

Her plan had came full circle, and it seemed to have worked. The man wasn't giving off an air of worry and frustration any more, and was simply concerned with not digging himself into a deeper hole. Perfect.

Unable to control it, Renamon laughed, bell-like, bringing a hand to cover her mouth. Flustering the man was so easy. Leaving her hand there, she smiled. "I'd like that. He probably needs a distraction after last night, and running errands is bland enough that he won't get into more trouble while keeping him preoccupied."

Renamon was laughing. Renamon was laughing at him. Jiraiya stared at her in awe, having not heard her laugh like that before, and not quite registering how his heart warmed at the noise.

"He might still end up going with his team, but he could probably use a distraction for a few minutes--" Jiraiya began to reply, then stopped abruptly.

Wait a minute. Wait just one damn minute. His eyes widened for a moment, and then Jiraiya was grinning.

"Speaking of distractions," he almost purred. "That was one just now, wasn't it?"

Jiraiya's now better mood didn't evaporate, though--it only grew. The only purpose for such a distraction would have been to distract him from worrying about Naruto. And it had worked. He had unconsciously let his guard down around her again, and she had been able to take swift advantage of it. Oh, she was a sneaky one--truly part fox.

It also meant that Renamon cared. Which was something, Jiraiya realized, that he surprisingly needed.

He also didn't need to hear her answer--he already knew it.

"You... are a brat," Jiraiya grinned wider. "I think I like you."

"It matters if I don't want to spend the rest of my life fighting inhuman monsters," Roland pointed out with an almost-teasing level of sagacity, but the point did stand. If he was going to be a coward and walk away from his own world, he might as well go for a jackpot instead of just a booby prize. Of course, he hadn't decided what course of action he was going to take, but at the least, he knew that he had those options. Home was where the heart was... and for Roland, that was his comrades and his friends. In other words, in a real sense, this was 'home' far more than the other place had wound up being.

Ah well. It had to be getting close to that time, and he'd spent more than enough of Peter's time as it was. So the pale man stood up, offering his hand to the other guy. "...but that's enough about that for now. Stay safe, all right?"

"Perhaps," she said in response, her voice still holding a smile. "You catch on quick... 'Ero-Sennin'."

With a smirk, Renamon passed the man to walk into the next aisle, half intent on finding something interesting to read, half fully amused by the situation at hand. "That's good. I enjoy your company."

Sliding around the corner, she glanced backwards. "Though... a brat, Jiraiya? Surely you think better of me than that?"

Theories and information were well and good, but sometimes even the stoic Digimon needed to have fun and relax.

"Wouldn't be as old as I am if I didn't," Jiraiya smirked, although part of him silently prayed that she wouldn't start always referring to him by 'Ero-Sennin'--that was Naruto's nickname for him, and having a woman use it always made him worry that he was about ready to get the life beaten out of him for sexual harrassment.

When she moved to the next isle, he followed, enjoying the view. His heart didn't flutter at the words enjoy your company or something equally girly, but his step lightened a bit more. Jiraiya just smiled at her when she looked back at him.

"What, you can tease me, but I can't tease you?" Jiraiya failed to hide his amusemeny, furrowing his eyebrows as he put his hands on his hips, a smile tugging at his frown. "Now that hardly seems fair...."

"Ah, so you admit you are old. What exactly is your real age?" she teased.

This aisle seemed to be classics, and her attention waned. She put a hand out to trail across the spines as she continued walking, a long legged loose stride. "I tease you?" she asked in mock surprise. "Never."

She glanced back again, the smile in her eyes. "But you don't," she continued. "Think better of me?"

"I'm old enough to lie about it," Jiraiya grinned--oh, he'd probably tell her his age eventually, but he was going to have to make her work a little for it. "Oh, you don't? Maybe I'm finally old enough for senility to kick in. I must be seeing things."

He shrugged innocently at her last question, then brought a hand up to his chin as he pretended to ponder the universe very seriously. "Hmm. I was thinking you could have been an kunoichi in another life."

"Maybe you are, old man," she continued before stopping in the aisle and bringing a hand to her chin. "So you admit you're a liar and senile. Maybe you fit the stereotype, and are a pervert like your student says as well."

She paused a moment to make him sweat, before closing her eyes with a smile. Too easy to make him upset. "A female ninja, hmm. I most likely have the movement down. You should see me throw diamond shards. I'm a bit more accurate than with medical scalpels."

Jiraiya actually DID sweat. Massively. Until he realized she was only teasing and still had no idea just how extremely very ultimately close she was to the truth.

"I only said 'maybe'," Jiraiya protested feebily after he realized he was still in the clear, mostly joking in his reaction now. "I can't even get discounts yet!"

"You do have the movement down, and the intrigue," but the diamond comment made him blink, then laugh. "Throwing diamond shards? That sounds both painful and expensive."

Jiraiya figured it was some sort of technique almost immediately, but he joked about it anyways. It was nice to be able to do that with a woman and not get immediately labeled a pervert. He didn't even have to force himself to behave, as Renamon always provided intelligent conversation that prevented his mind from roaming too far.

"You admitted you were a liar. So I can't believe that you're not that old. Unless you'd care to enlighten me otherwise?" she asked innocently.

"Expensive, no. They're made from my energy, to simplify. But painful... yes. Extremely." Her grin had a bit of a bite to it this time, as she remembered good fights she had had. "But I digress. Intrigue? Please go on."

Renamon smiled again, thinking offhand that she hadn't smiled this much in... days. Maybe even more.

Ah, she was getting him closer to a corner with that one--Jiraiya decided to give her a slightly clearer answer. "I'm only a bit more than half a century old, I'll have you know!"

"Remind me to never offer myself up as the target for target practice," Jiraiya actually laughed, almost able to see the poor souls that ended up on the wrong end of her attack.

He continued grinning as he pretended to inspect the spines of the books for something to read. "Well, you're interesting. You don't give out too much information about yourself, and what information you do give only raises more questions." Like the fact that she was a Digimon. There's a lot I don't know about you, but yet I trust you anyways."

The way he stated it wasn't so much as giving her compliments, but more like stating facts. Renamon wanted a truthful answer, after all. The last part... just slipped in, though, and Jiraiya blinked in surprise.

He really did trust her, though.

"Ah," she answered with a smirk. "So you really should be wise." Renamon blinked her eyes lazily at Jiraiya. "Oh, and don't worry. I don't need practice."

Renamon didn't know if she was amused or if she herself was intrigued by his response. Most had mentioned things like that but none had went into details. She'd... have to think about it. "At least I'm interesting," she answered wryly.

But trust was a fully different subject. She bowed her head. "Thank you for trusting me." She straightened. "I... believe I trust you as well." As much as she could anyway. Renamon was never fully comfortable with anyone.

"I'm at least a wise guy," Jiraiya smirked back. "I didn't expect you to need practice, though."

Jiraiya shrugged in response, but was glad he hit the right note in his answer--she didn't seem bored by it, anyways; he could almost see those gears turning in her pretty head, even. "Interesting is always better--dying of boredom is always so anticlimatic. And makes for a horrible ending to a story."

He was surprised when she suddenly bowed her head, but looked pleased and a bit embarrassed. "That's good to hear, but ah--there's no need to bow...."

Normally, Jiraiya liked being acknowledged and respected to that extent. But it seemed weird, to have Renamon doing such. She wasn't his subordinate, and even if he was probably two or three times his age... It was just weird, even if it was just the tiniest bow of her head! And he wasn't sure why it concerned it so much, either. Not that he was overly concerned or anything...!

She smirked again. "I'm glad I kept you... interested, then. I'd rather not bore you."

This situation had a familiar ring to it, like a faded dream or something of the sort. Renamon had no idea why it seemed like she'd danced these steps before, but it remained in her mind... a comfortable deja vu. And a weird memory of snow.

The embarrassment was altogether too endearing. And too tempting to pass up. "It's how I am. Am I not to your liking?"

"I don't think there's any chance of that happening," Jiraiya answered truthfully.

And that's when Renamon decided to tease him again. It had been a long while since any woman managed to get him so easily flustered, but it had also been a long while since he had to walk a tightrope to make sure she didn't find out he had perverted tendencies. Most women could, at most, slap him--Renamon was actually dangerous, especially with them on equal grounds because of Landel's.

Which still didn't explain why his cheeks felt ever so slightly, almost imperceptively warmer, damnit. "Uh, n-n-no! Of course not! I enjoy being around you!"

Great, reduced to stuttering like a teenager, although he was more in fear of his life than about not getting any like he had been back then. It was a good thing Naruto hated books, because if he was in the library, he'd enjoy watching this FAR too much. And he'd never let Jiraiya live it down.

"Guess you'd better figure it out, then," Peter joked in return. Part of him really wanted to know what Roland's home was like after the hints that he had gotten about it, but now obviously wasn't the time for that. He would just have to make sure to track down the man again some other time. They seemed to have a tendency to run into each other.

As Roland stood up, Peter did as well, grasping his hand and nodding. "You too," he said, firmly. After just letting someone's life slip through his fingers, he really couldn't afford to lose someone else who he was starting to get to know.

That taken care of, Peter exited the library out into the Sun Room, fully intending to check that bulletin board.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 21 of 24

Day 38: Patients' Library

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject