Day 40: Recreational Field

[stalksperverts.livejournal.com]

Kio's breakfast ended on a much happier note than it had started. However, for once the announcement truly surprised him. He blinked as his nurse came to pick him up. Recreational Field? But.. but if they had a greenhouse, he wanted to go there. The prospect of gardening was a truly liberating one, an island of joy in this hellhole. He thought about going to the Sun Room and lying down, but it occurred to him that he hadn't had proper fresh air since being here. With a cheery goodbye wave to Honey, he followed his torturer outside.

It was much better than he had expected. The sun wasn't too hot (what time of the year were they in, anyway?), so he walked slowly along the walls, fascinated by the size of the field. He wondered if Sou-chan was alright. He hadn't even checked the board. Well, if Soubi wanted to apologize, Kio would be willing to listen. The place was so crisp and clean. He had to think if anyone had ever gone over the walls. What was out there? Freedom? Or a different sort of monster?

Leaning against one of the walls, Kio took as much advantage of the sun as he could. He desperately wanted a lollipop. One was quietly nestled in his pocket, but he would need to wait until the nurses were busy with other patients before he tried anything. Soubi had gone to some trouble to get them, the least he could do was make sure they didn't get confiscated. So with bated breath, Kio waited for a shift in the mood. He was, for once, content. Not happy, but not going crazy either.

[Sou-chan! Team Loveless deploy!]

Comments

[beloved-less.livejournal.com]

Soubi had wanted to be near Ritsuka longer. What if he'd said the wrong thing? What if he'd said the right thing? This wasn't fair! But his nurse forced him out and told him to enjoy a bit of sunshine.

He didn't need sunshine to enjoy himself.

He turned on his heel and started walking, unsure what he was going to spend this shift doing. Well, other than trying to get back inside. Unless Ritsuka came out here....

Ah.

Kio. Soubi never got round to asking Ritsuka how one was supposed to make up with a friend. He assumed lovers made up with a kiss, so... was a handshake appropriate? He smirked at the thought and walked towards Kio.

When he got there. He said nothing.

[stalksperverts.livejournal.com]

There were games starting up. Well, that might be nice to watch. Kio would have loved to introduce everyone to a rousing game of Fruits Basket, but they seemed more interested in other things. He sighed loudly and looked up, trying to find something to entertain himself with. Would Honey come back out? Maybe then they could play something together.

Sou-chan. He loomed over him like a great big tower of stubborn and stupid. Kio looked at his friend and found his heart hurting. They'd argued like never before and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't just forgive Soubi. Lies were lies and he'd been as honest as possible, but his friend hadn't.

Kio dug his hands in his pockets, his fingers curling around the lollipop for support. It reminded him of older, happier times. He hated this place even more, for destroying whatever had been between him and Sou-chan. Still, what could he say? The man stood quiet, his fingers sweating around the plastic stick that reminded him of their better times together.

[no-barbarian.livejournal.com]

Second shift. There wasn't really any place to hide in an area as open as the recreation field, so even if Van chickened out Teisel could be sure to find him. It wouldn't be the first time the other man had run away...

He looked longingly at the track. A run would have been nice. Stretches would have to do for now, though. When Van decided to show himself, he'd be waiting patiently right here.

[thyapocalypse.livejournal.com]

Van knew that Teisel considered him to be a coward. Not that it was too difficult to understand. After all, Van had run from the situation and explaining that he and Asch's lives were worth more too much to fight an invisible opponent for the sake of someone he considered expendable would not improve matters any.

The only thing that would fix the situation would be to meet Teisel on his terms and prove that he was no coward. He couldn't risk letting Teisel spread rumors and have the patients here know him as someone they can't trust. Not yet at least.

Once second shift began, Van didn't waste any time to begin searching for Teisel. The other man was tall enough to be easily seen, even from a distance and, thankfully, was a fair distance from anyone that might try to interfere if things escalated to violence. Immediately, Van went to him.

"You wished to talk?" He asked in the way that men do when they already know the answer.

[its-the-mileage.livejournal.com]

Indy had been disappointed--but not all that surprised--to find himself back at the Institute again when he opened his eyes. What, did they have people combing the woods every night looking for escapees? Some kind of tracking technology?

Obviously they were going to have to do better than half a night's walk to get out of here.

He'd eaten breakfast alone to give himself time to turn his thoughts over, and now Indy found himself on the recreational field, which turned out to be exactly what it sounded like. He made a point of checking the shed--not much useful besides baseball bats--then picked up a soccer ball and began kicking it around idly. The area itself didn't look particularly interesting, so he'd have to bank on enlightening company.

[free!]

[youlackmascara.livejournal.com]

This day was looking to be as pointless as every other day spent here. Being dragged from place to place for no discernible purpose, encouraged to take part in some sort of "activity" that made no sense -- Itachi was sure he was being mocked. And if he noticed that someone was mocking him, they were not being subtle at all.

He inwardly scowled as his nurse nearly pulled him onto the field, telling him he should get some exercise and play a game or two with the other patients. Of course he should get some exercise, and he would be, if he weren't being trapped in this bizarre prison. But he didn't think the nurses would be comfortable with him training on the field; it was far too violent. As for playing a game, he wasn't too clear on what that entailed.

He approached one of the other patients, who was kicking one of the balls that seemed so common on the field. As far as Itachi could tell, nothing could be gained from such an activity, but he could be wrong. And if it had to do with playing a game, he was a bit curious as to what that was, even if he was sure it was something stupid. "Excuse me," he said politely. "What is the purpose of kicking one of those balls?"

[full-score.livejournal.com]

Well, breakfast had been interesting, to say the least. But now it was time to go outside, and Claude had to admit the idea of getting some fresh air was pretty nice. He checked the bulletin again as he made his way through the sun room. Once that was finished, it wasn't long before he was standing outside in the rec field.

It was true there were a lot of horrible things about Landel's, but but being able to take a deep, clean breath was at least something Claude could appreciate.

For a moment, he considered grabbing a ball from the shed and bouncing it against the wall that surrounded the courtyard, but he didn't particularly feel like asking permission from the nurse, nor was he in the mood to get scolded by her for not asking permission. On the other hand, there was some sort of soccer game that was supposed to go on today, wasn't there? While that sounded like it'd be fun, maybe he ought to just do some basic stretches instead. That man from breakfast probably hadn't been far from the truth when he'd said his skills were going to get rusty.

Actually, he thought to himself as he sat himself down onto the grass, it'd be ideal if he could spar with someone, like Dias maybe. But who had the time for that during nightshift? And doing it during dayshift was practically impossible...

He'd just have to do what he could, he guessed. Sighing to himself, Claude leaned forward and touched the tip of his foot in a good, solid stretch.

One...Two...Three...Four...

[Gonna get harassed by Sync.]

[godforsaken]

Given how sporadic this hellhole was Sync was still surprised when he woke up in his bed, looking about the small room confusedly. Yet it didn't take long for him to realize what happened, and with that the God-General hissed out before punching the wall next to him. He hoped, for Landel's sake, that the trio was met with the same ill fate, or else he'd have to make a detour one of these days and repay the man personally.

But for now all that Sync could do was follow through the same daily routine, glancing over at the door when he heard it swing open before revealing his nurse. Of course, he didn't need her telling him to get out of bed, already hopping off the edge and toeing on his slippers before following her out.

It looked as if he'd missed breakfast, which was a shame, but the teen figured that he could make up for that when lunch arrived. And so he followed his nurse while she lead him outside, squinting his eyes the moment he stepped onto the grass. Despite everything Sync had to say that this all felt rather pleasant; after all, it'd been a while since he got a real workout, and he could spend this shift stretching out his muscles.

Or at least, that was what he'd planned before he saw Claude.

It hadn't been too hard to spot the aforementioned blond sitting on his grass while doing, what appeared to be, some simple stretches. Sync knew he could never waste an opportunity to make the latter miserable, and so it didn't take much contemplation for him to quietly make his way over to where Claude was sitting. He carefully settled himself onto the grass right behind the blond, reaching forward to cover Claude's eyes with his hands. Sync didn’t even give the latter the satisfaction of hinting whom it was, quietly waiting for him to make a move.

[whos-da-man.livejournal.com]

Junpei made a beeline right for the shed and found himself a baseball mitt and a ball. After a moment of leaving the shed, he turned back and grabbed another mitt. They had separated the guys from the girls, so this meant he could find this Kaito guy and find out what he planned on doing with Yukari. As he scanned the field looking for the person Yuffie had drawn and described, Junpei couldn't help but laugh a little. Half a year ago and he'd have been jealous that Yukari seemed interested in someone (other than himself) and want to sabotage that potential relationship. Now, he just needed to make sure she was going to be alright and that this guy was going to treat her well.

Despite all their bickering, he and Yukari really were friends. Funny how nights climbing a tower of hell fighting Shadows will bring people closer together.

[looking for Kaito]

[flashyaudacity]

Kaito had spent his lunch quietly, which was just fine by him this morning. After last night's stunning failure to get anywhere, he hadn't really been in the mood to talk to anyone.

A few quick checks of the bulletin board to check in with Yukari and bicker with Yuffie later, and he was feeling much better. He considering sticking to the sun room to give the bulletin a thorough perusal, but the outdoors were beckoning to him. At least he could scout out the walls a bit during the day, try to figure out a good way to get over them without breaking his neck due to shoddy slippers.

He let his nurse guide him to the field, and promptly hurried away from her as soon as they arrived. He had his own itinerary in mind, and didn't want her to get any ideas that he needed to be given something else to do. He headed across the southern edge of the field, bound for the far wall.

[littlestrawdoll.livejournal.com]

Pretty anticlimactic, in a way, getting sent back to bed before he’d even taken another step down the hall. Just a little frustrating… but most things in Landel’s were. Nothing wanted to work out for a sort-of-human-but-mostly-not.

Getting the chance for some fresh air beat any chill in the air, the servant folded his arms over his head in a stretch as he walked onto the grass, the sweater he’d thrown over his shirt riding up his torso. Ahhh, maybe he should’ve signed up for that game of soccer he’d read about. He was starting to feel like an old man with all of this lazing around day in and day out; each ache and tired muscle seemed extra obvious when he had so much free time in order to feel every one of them.

A break was nice now and then, but this “vacation” had gotten old a long time ago. But there really was no rest for the wicked, was there?

He supposed it was because he hadn’t yet flipped out and gotten into a skirmish with anybody that he was allowed to take a baseball bat and a ball away with him to a secluded spot. No doubt the staff would be keeping a close eye on him, anyway. Well, whatever. He didn’t have any extravagant plans. With the aluminum bat resting against his shoulder, he tossed and caught the ball a few times to warm up, then set himself up to take a swing. In his mind, the sports fans were swarming the stadium, crying, “Homerun!” Oh, the loud clink of ball against bat was nice.

[kindalikedit]

It wasn't the first time Dean had wanted to just...quit, go screw it to this damn job and take Sammy and just go on a real roadtrip that didn't involve things trying to kill them, actually succeeding in Sammy's case or making certain little brothers cough up freaky human-hair balls.

But Dean knew he wouldn't. Instead he mentally ran over the ways they could deal with his brother's ghost run-in and defend themselves long enough to find out more about this place. Digging up the ghost's grave wasn't much of an option, unless it was miraculously somewhere on the Landel's ground, and they still didn't have any supplies to go burning the corpse, either.

Wasn't really looking good.

The next stop was the recreational field. It looked a lot more different in the day, especially without witches going Winter Wonderland on the place, and he would've almost thought he was on high school grounds if it wasn't for the fact he was aware of the roving eyes of the nurses and orderlies standing guard. Dean knew he was probably on thin ice after slugging Slappy in the face yesterday, but, provided the demon didn't show his face around him anytime soon, there shouldn't be any more temptation to rearrange the furniture. Dean headed out into the field, the patient slippers whispering over the grass as he ran over what they needed for the arsenal even as he scoped out the field without looking like he was scoping it out. The wall off to the sides looked climbable, what with the thick vines, and that shed might have some tools. What they needed for sure was more salt and some iron.

Somehow he doubted they'd just let him take a looksee in the shed during the day. Waving around a bat or something probably wasn't a good idea when he was already on some of the staff's shit list. Might have to wait until the night.

The hunter wandered a little, seemingly deep in thought but keeping an eye about him for anyone else he might recognize, as well as an eye out for Sam. Much as he didn't want to leave his brother, hanging out with him 24 hours a day was suspicious and might draw attention to him. Considering their situation, that wasn't a good thing. At least it looked like he was start to heal up: the bruises on his face from his first night here were starting to fade, and the deep cuts from the other night felt less painful under the bandages.

[Waiting for Ron to check up on him]

[timeleaper.livejournal.com]

The nurses certainly were pushy, weren't they? Ronixis had to admit that he was getting slightly irritated by them treating him as though he couldn't manage to walk outside on his own. Did they think that he was going to somehow stab himself with a wall? Or someone else for that matter. The fact that he could probably do that with a little heraldry was beside the point.

Still, it was good to be outside during the daylight this time. He could still remember the baffling sight of unfamiliar stars above him on a planet that was supposedly Earth. But it looked so Earth-like now. The grass and the trees and even the weather. Then again, he supposed that Roak was fairly Earth-like in many ways, if you went back to Earth several hundred years ago.

He stretched. Losing the freedom of moving wherever he willed was strange after so many months of traveling freely. He had no idea how he was going to adjust to being on the Calnus again for months at a time. It was a moot point for now at least though.

He looked around at the assembled people and spotted a familiar face. With a small smile on his lips, Ronixis headed over in Dean's direction. "Hello," he said when he got close enough to be heard without shouting. "You're looking better today."

[host-club-honey.livejournal.com]

Honey enjoyed bringing cheer to others and he could only hope that he'd been able to help at breakfast. Lots of people here were sad and it was his duty as a host to make them happy again! Or at least try his hardest. He still needed to track down Hikaru or Kaoru about their assignment, but the nurse ushered him and Usa-chan outside before he had time to go visit with either of them. It was a pity, but it would have to wait.

There were lots of games to play or things to do outside and it was really nice to get a breath of fresh air. Outside was way better than cramped up inside, he always thought. He started wandering toward the far end of the field, where it looked like they were bringing out some toys to play with.

[Waiting for Okita! :D]

[notachick.livejournal.com]

After speaking with Yuffie and seeing the bulletin board, Okita wondered if he'd managed to recruit someone or just...well, he wasn't sure what. The conversation had been interesting - that was for certain. There was no guarantee that she would work with them, but there was no reason for her to go against them either. Their goals aligned, Himura was still with them, and they could help her get metal for a price, of course. Okita would have to discuss the details of the exchange with Homura later, but for now he could relax. The demi-god was off with Allelujah and Kaito was apparently making his meeting with destiny.

Giggling a little to himself, the swordsman took the opportunity to walk about the field. The beginnings of that 'soccer' game caught his eye, but before he had a chance to go over, someone else grabbed his attention. A young boy, blond, with a pink bunny - a child. Okita had seen children around in his days here, but he rarely had a chance to get near them since the adults and the youngsters were separated so often.

Clapping his hands together in front of him, he hummed to himself as he wandered after the boy, putting a little more speed into his step to catch up to him. It took a bit, but once he'd drawn closer, Okita leaned over and smiled at him. "Hello there. Are you going to go play?"

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

Yuuhi was fairly relieved when breakfast conversation had been nothing but light and simple. Ururu was alright, if a little upset, but Yuki had seen to that, and Kurogane was doing well enough to be up and about and whether or not the ninja was happy about it, Yuuhi couldn't help but feel a bit of relief that the man hadn't lost his arm completely. Whatever had been done, it'd been to help, not hurt the man.

He followed his nurse obediently outside, and even if it was chilly, he still wore the hat Ururu had made for him, to keep the sun off. He didn't mind the chill, it was much better than being too hot. It looked like a couple of games might be starting soon and he took a seat in the grass, making himself comfortable.

[free~]

[dualistic]

The last thing Harvey wanted to do was go out onto the recreational field and have to deal with a bunch of rowdy kids goofing off, but his nurse insisted that being outside in the fresh mountain air would help him both mentally and physically. She wasn't about to listen to any requests that he stay inside, either, and so before long Harvey was out in the cold.

Luckily, he had decided to wear the coat that was provided, and with his hands shoved into his pockets, he started moving to find somewhere to sit or lean against the wall.

"Excuse me, Mr. Eckhart!"

With a grit of his teeth, Harvey slowly turned around to face the woman who had something shoved way too far up one orifice or another.

"You can't just go off and sulk on your own, Mr. Eckhart. Please try to act your age!" The woman waved a finger at him.

Harvey didn't even know how to react to that. He was almost too shocked to be angry.

"If you don't pick another patient to talk to for once, then I'll just choose for you," she continued.

"It's fine," he cut in, waving her off. Letting out a breath, the bandaged man glanced around and found someone sitting in the vicinity. The grass looked dry enough here, so it would do. Harvey purposefully moved over to the blond man, making sure his nurse saw him sit down.

Once she left, Harvey sent the stranger a glance and shrugged. "Hope you aren't the anti-social type."

[loyal-despair.livejournal.com]

If there was one good thing about this place, it was that what little sleep he imagined he got was completely devoid of dreams of any kind.

The nights themselves served as the nightmares, especially after what they'd run into. Kira woke up in his bed rather suddenly, fingers still clutching hard to his sword. It was morning, and he'd only accomplished half of what he'd intended and been ordered to do. Still, it was a partial success, and that alone he could live with. Tonight he would accomplish exactly what had been asked of him.

He stored his weapon under the bed just in time - the nurse came in shortly afterward and told him that he'd missed breakfast. Fine by him. He wasn't hungry, anyway. The encounter from the night previous was still weighing heavily in his mind. That woman's terrifying, bloodshot gaze was seared into his memory, as were her hands slowly crawling up his body. The stuff of nightmares. Unsent spirits, bound to the living world by a desire for revenge ... and yet not a Hollow. Had she died here, or ... ?

The recreation field was large and fairly empty when he arrived, and without any real desire to do ... whatever it was they were given (sports?), Kira found himself quietly near one of the institute's walls, just watching and trying to enjoy the pleasant outside world for the time being. It was cool and at the very least not raining. Try to focus on this, he told himself, eyes closing for a moment as he struggled to think about nothing.

... it didn't really work, but at least he wasn't remembering that icy grip and those dead -- oh.

[human-sponge.livejournal.com]

While it was good to see so many people who were being active during their time outside, Peter didn't feel too compelled to join in. He got more than enough of a work-out after dark, so he was more partial to just finding a place to sit and enjoy the fresh air. The air was amazingly clear here, which he wasn't used to considering his hometown. In some of his family's vacation spots it had been like this, but that was so long ago now.

Speaking of family, it was mainly due to his parents that he had never been part of a team sport as a kid. He had wanted to try it, but his father in particular had always insisted that he focus on his studies. It had gotten him into a good school in the end, but not the right school in his father's eyes.

Either way, he felt like he'd missed out in some ways. As he watched the younger patients run laps or play games together, he came across another patient who looked like he'd seen a ghost.

It occurred to Peter that maybe he had.

He paused and cleared his throat. "Hey, you all right?"

[sasuke-of-sound.livejournal.com]

Breakfast had done relatively little to relieve Sasuke's frustration. The announcement that all male patients were to go to the Recreational Field didn't help, either -- Sasuke had been planning it to begin with, but to be forced there was another matter.

It was possible that he was acting like a child. Sasuke didn't actually care, snapping at his nurse when she suggested he join in a nice ball game with some of the other nice boys who were in the Institute. He had to wonder whether the woman ever got tired of saying the word 'nice' in rapid succession.

After more glaring and terse answers, she finally left, and Sasuke found a spot on the field that was as far from the sounds of other patients as he could manage.

It did occur to him that all male patients meant that Itachi was going to be here as well, but ... they'd already established that Sasuke would get nowhere attacking him in the day. The staff would end the fight and sedate at least Sasuke, as aggressor, before he could even get in more than a few satisfying blows. And that knowledge, knowing that Itachi could very likely be in the same damn field, might actually be able to see (and ignore, as always) Sasuke, only made Sasuke's mood worse.

Control. He needed more control. Taking a deep breath, Sasuke slid into kata, just violent enough to semi-satisfy his building anger and innocuous enough to satisfy the staff.

Though the aura of irritation that rolled off of him in waves was probably enough to ruin his nurse's hopes that he would make friends.

[[for Jiraiya]]

[toadally4boobs.livejournal.com]

Others other than Itachi could see Sasuke as well, and so Jiraiya did. He watched Sasuke go through his kata. Interesting.

What surprised Jiraiya about it was that after Sasuke had tried so hard to seem in control, here he was demonstrating that he wasn't in control of himself as much as he'd like. Such as the time he stabbed Jiraiya in outrage after they had saved him from that thing the other night.

Now probably wasn't the best time to approach Sasuke, but Jiraiya didn't know the next time he'd have a chance. It was now or never. Anyways, he wasn't trying to hide his presence from Sasuke, and the kid could've already noticed him, so he might as well actually announce himself.

"Sasuke," Jiraiya said the boy's name in a neutral tone, wanting to gage how Sasuke would react to just his presence.

[chocomancer.livejournal.com]

And speak of the trouble. They were just talking about the monstrous birds that infested the Recreational Field when the Head Doctor chimed in that he was sending them all there. Not that Wonka expected the ruhks to be let loose on the populace during the day, but it was an odd coincidence all the same. Anyway, it'd be good to get some fresh air without having to worry about the fauna (which, by the way, was a technical term, and not the name of a crush as that confused person on the bulletin board had kept assuming). Having been led out to the grassy area by the usual nurse, Wonka leaned against the side of the Institute building, enjoying the fresh air and watching a game of soccer form on the field.

[bored-todeath.livejournal.com]

Ryuk was shoved out the door by his nurse, telling him he ought to leave the bulletin board alone for a while. She was no fun. He tried telling her HER fortune if she wasn't careful, but she muttered something about the Orderlies.

Ryuk shuffled about for a while before he spotted an interesting name.

"Wonka, huh? What's this thing you mentioned about apples?" He quickly looked over his shoulder to make sure a nurse didn't hear.

[ruthless-hunter.livejournal.com]

Well, this was different. For once, the patients were being lead outside.

Lockdown observed these new surroundings. There was mostly grass here, in the way of vegetation. He had never cared much for vegetation anyway, it just got in the way of driving. He had no clue what the two big nets were suppossed to be used for.

Some of the humans were holding spheres of various sizes. Lockdown didn't particularly care what they were for. The bounty hunter found himself a nice little patch of grass where no humans were messing around and laid down on his back. He watched the clouds and sky, wondering when, if ever, he would get back in his real body and travel the galaxy again.

[for Lugnut]

[clockmongler.livejournal.com]

...that was one of the worst conversations Luxord had ever had, which was saying something considering the friends he had. It seemed Nursey could sense his distress at having to sit next to Badou and quickly nabbed him, leading him outside once the shift changed. Ugh, he needed to purify his brain, perhaps with bleach, at the thought of Xemnas wearing... ugh.

At least it was nice outside. The Gambler took to sitting quietly on the grass once Nursey left him to himself, smiling upward at the sky and feeling the sun's rays on his skin. He couldn't do with losing his exquisite tan now, could he?

[Waiting for Oldfag and MulletMan~]

[sitard3d.livejournal.com]

Man, breakfast had been boring. Demyx had been too preoccupied worrying about what had happened to Kvothe - it seemed wrong that a bandmate of his had been in trouble and he hadn't been able to do anything about it - to really socialize with anybody at breakfast, although he'd thought he'd caught a glimpse of him before being ushered out of the cafeteria to the rec field, so...maybe it was okay, after all.

Anyway, it was hard to even fake being depressed while he was outside. It sucked being indoors all the time, and the sun felt good in a way even a Nobody could appreciate. And spotting Luxord made things surprisingly better - Demyx had talked to him on the bulletin board but he hadn't actually seen him in what seemed like ages. As much as the other members of the Organization annoyed him at times - Luxord and Xigbar in particular - he didn't want anything to happen to them, either, and actually laying eyes on him was more reassuring than just some notes on a board.

"Hey, Luxord," he offered, sitting down next to the other Nobody. "What's up?"

[whirlingwinds.livejournal.com]

After breakfast Naruto kept the little notebook in which he'd started practicing his Kanji. He was supposed to head to the recreational field, so he followed his nurse. He didn't mind so much as he'd never been before. He grinned when they got outside, pleased. He hadn't been outside in what felt like too long, and was dying to run around and practice rasengan and -- remembering he couldn't do anything chakra related, Naruto stomped to a corner somewhere and plopped down on the ground, opening up the journal with the kanji in it.

Jiraiya was right, it was pretty much the only thing he could practice here.

He sighed, looked up from his book briefly to see if anyone he knew was around, but saw no one, so simply returned to it laying it flat on his lap and frowning down at it.

[For Kunzite~]

[vessavana.livejournal.com]

Ultimately, Kunzite had screwed up his courage and taken a few bites of the 'breakfast sandwich'. While the individual parts were not too bad on their own...as a whole, he thought ill of the combination of foods that comprised it. The excessive greasiness of the sausage combined with that of the 'muffin' to produce a rather unsavory experience. Luckily for him, however, the shift was not wasted, and he was able to sate his hunger to satisfaction with the rest of his meal.

The swordsman had noticed some of the patients remaining in the Sun Room, but after the darker-than-normal night from the day before, he could not help but be drawn to the sunshine of the recreational field. As he stepped onto the grass, however, his mind quickly flashed to that one night where he, Mercury, and that other Princess encountered that poisonous youma. Gripping his arm instinctively, the memories of the battle slowly attempted to trickle in. With a quiet snarl he walked away from the center of the field, and soon found himself in front of a golden-haired youth staring at his notebook.

"Shouldn't someone so young be out on the field, enjoying some of the games the others are playing?" he laughed, stepping beside the boy and looking out toward the rest of the patients.

[toobothersome.livejournal.com]

His conversation with Sokka hadn't revealed anything that Shikamaru didn't already know about the institute, but since it also didn't reveal anything that he didn't already know about his future, it was far superior to yesterday's breakfast. Even better was the promise of being let outdoors, and when Landel followed through with it, Shikamaru's opinion of the place improved dramatically. Yes, there was work to be done, and yes, he'd do it, but keeping himself sane was important too. After this shift, he'd work extra hard to make up for it.

Pushing himself like this was still an unfamiliar and awkward feeling, something like a clumsy first attempt at a new jutsu. He was used to doing what was asked of him, and after his miserable first mission, he'd always held himself to high standards, but this was something else: a level of focus and dedication that he would need to maintain for the rest of his life. It was more like a change of nature than a jutsu, really. Growing up fast to make up for the time he'd spent slacking before. As determined as Shikamaru was to meet that goal, even the thought of it made him exhausted. He was annoyed at himself for needing to make this compromise, but not annoyed enough to overrule self-awareness. Better small compromises than big mistakes. In a situation like this, he wished he was a straightforward fighter so he could spend the days relaxing to make up for what he was sure would be troublesome nights. Of course, the straightforward fighters seemed eager to waste the opportunity.

The safest place for cloud-watching was behind the far goal, where he wouldn't have to watch out for wayward soccer balls. The air was cool and so was the grass, something like early spring, and as he folded his arms behind his head and looked skyward with a distant focus, he tried not to think about the fact that this wasn't the same sky that arched over Konoha.

[free]

[lighthearted]

While Sora was apprehensive about everything that had happened with Nigredo, he did his best to push it to the back of his mind for now. There wasn't much he could do about it right now, after all. He made the effort to look out for Junior when he got onto the field, but the boy was already talking to someone. Since he needed to talk to the redhead about something pretty private, now wouldn't be the best time.

Besides, Sora had a soccer game that he wanted to watch! He tried not to be too upset about the fact that he couldn't participate, but he needed to go easy on himself today if he was going to be worth his weight tonight. His arm and leg were bandaged tightly, which made him feel secure, but too much exertion would start the bleeding all over again.

So when Sora spotted someone around his age taking a rest with a decent view of the soccer field, he smiled and slowly walked over with a slight limp. The stranger was watching the sky pretty intently, but he also looked at ease. It was nice to see that some people could manage to relax here.

"Do you mind some company?" he asked, stopping a few feet away from where the other boy was lying.

[winged_moon]

Though he still didn't quite understand why Ururu had been so upset, Yukito was glad that he'd managed to get her calmed down a little. She at least seemed to be feeling better, but he couldn't help but worry a bit about her as he headed off toward the soccer field. Maybe she'd find Fai later and talk to him - from what he could tell something had happened the night before, so perhaps Fai would know how to help.

Going outside, though, couldn't help but cheer him up. Fresh air was always welcome after being cooped up inside for so long; being outside at night wasn't at all the same thing, and not only because of the additional dangers. But still, there was supposed to be a soccer game going this shift, and he welcomed the chance to get some exercise, especially now that he was feeling better himself.

Neither Ken nor Touya seemed to be outside yet, though, so Yukito found a ball and an empty part of the field, then started carefully stretching. It was almost like being back in high school again, with afternoon soccer practice, and he found himself looking forward to a bit of a game - as much as was possible, at least, given that most if not all of the participants were wounded to varying degrees at the moment.

[for Ken and Touya?]

[gentiana-clusii.livejournal.com]

Despite the promise of soccer, Ken's face was set in a dark scowl as he left the cafeteria and Crawford's smug face behind, heading toward the recreational field like a man on a bloody mission.

He couldn't keep the temper up for long once he saw Yukito, already in possession of a ball, doing warm-ups to one side of the field. Ken jogged over to his roommate's side and flopped down on the grass. "Dunno how successful I was in convincing other people to play, but hey. I tried."

[broken-exorcist.livejournal.com]

Albedo had been an interesting person and Allen could only hope he'd managed to help the boy out since he was still relatively new. That could be really tought, but it sounded like he'd do alright if his brothers were both here as well.

When given the option to go outdoors, Allen enthusiastically took it. It'd been what felt like forever since he'd been out in the daytime and he wanted to take full advantage of it. There were games they could play or sports, but Allen was alright with just wandering the perimeter for a bit first.

[Endrance I think? :D]

[oftemptation.livejournal.com]

[indeed! :D]

There was a distinct look of 'do I have to?' on Endrance's face the minute his nurse said that he was going to be going out to the rec field whether he liked it or not. He immediately started to say that he just wanted to stay inside, but the woman cut him off before he could protest too much. She insisted that he looked far too pale and needed sunshine, exercise, and fresh air, in that order, and to that end, grabbed him by the wrist and didn't let go until he was outdoors.

He positively pouted those first few minutes outside, absentmindedly wandering the perimeter of the area until noticing a patch of grass that looked oddly familiar. He didn't notice the white-haired gentleman standing near it until he'd just about bumped into him. He stepped back apologetically. "I'm sorry..."

[oober-tracker.livejournal.com]

Again with the booming voice from the walls, and again with the white female humans herding everyone out of the food room. Diego reluctantly abandoned his food without a fight; as inedible as it was, he was still hungry, and he was sure there had to be proper meat somewhere. He could try finding it later, though.

The saber's mood brightened as he realized they were being herded outside. The same smell from the night was still there as they approached the door, and before he knew it, Diego was outside on actual grass with nothing but an empty sky above him.

Finally. He should have just come here the night before instead of following Porky, right as soon as he smelled it. He definitely would tonight.

Night... The thought reminded him of exactly what had gone on in the dark. Diego had been meaning to ask someone about it, but the female humans ignored anything he said most of the time, and Alita had just annoyed him.

Diego made his slow, painstaking way over to the edge of the grass and sat down next to the wall, kicking off the strange pieces of cloth on his feet. This felt better, if a bit warmer than what he was used to.

[waiting for a kindred spirit!~]

[longlivetheking]

Another shift outside. Scar happened to prefer those over the ones inside, even if this particular area meant 'misc objects flying around'. And the possibility of getting hit by one, but he supposed it was a case picking the right location.

He eventually sat down to a fellow patient, figuring that walking over to a random patient by himself would be a better course of action than getting a random patient dragged over to him.

"Good morning." he said for the sake of being polite. Never let it be said that Scar couldn't be proper."And how are you on this fine morning, hmm?" Such claims in Landels were almost always sarcastic. Unless spoken by the nurses, of course.

[scarletspeedstr.livejournal.com]

Wally looked around as he followed the stream of others outside and felt a huge grin spread across his face. Now that he was actually outside in the sun, he realised it had been a few days since he'd been anywhere but inside the Institute, and even longer since he'd managed to have a decent run. Admittedly he couldn't really get anything like his normal speeds during the day, but that didn't mean he couldn't try and enjoy the opportunity anyway.

He took a moment to stand in the sunlight, stretching out his muscles and bouncing on his feet to get the blood flowing and wake himself up a bit more. Now all he needed was someone to race...

[31st-of-china.livejournal.com]

Either the Sun Room or the outside. Knowing the monkey, he'd choose outside any day. He hated being cooped up, even if the room had plenty of light and space. Sanzo couldn't blame him. He had a greater tolerance for the boredom and bullshit here... but it didn't make Landels any less oppressive, slowly grating on his nerves.

Sanzo paused. There wasn't any sign of the chimp out here. Not yet, at least. There was that thread of doubt though. Either he was in the Sun Room, or he was off somewhere sulking still. There was a third possibility...

He found himself scanning the field for that gold diadem one more time. Sanzo forced himself to stop, and move out into the sunlight. This was stupid. He was more and more convinced that Gojyo and Goku's stupidity was infecting him; when the hell did he care exactly where the chimpw ent?

Sanzo was left standing near a young man, who for some reason, was bouncing on his feet and stretching. Morbid curiosity finally got the best of him.

"...What the hell're you doing?"

[mitase.livejournal.com]

The nurse led Hanatarou out to the field and left him there with the observation that he looked like he could use some fresh air, as well as an admonition to "get some sun." The healer only stared after her for a moment, mildly puzzled, then glanced out over the field. What exactly was he supposed to do out here?

Not that he minded the chance to get outside when there weren't giant birds or something that wanted to eat him, but he wasn't exactly the most athletic shinigami in existence. After a rather dubious look around for someone he thought wouldn't mind his company, he finally sighed and trotted over to a nice empty corner of field and dropped to sit on the grass.

As he did, though, he thought he felt a little tickle in his throat and gave a quiet cough, wondering if maybe his faulty gigai was getting sick now or something. That wouldn't be good at all.

[free]

[wildunderstress.livejournal.com]

Jamie was in a vaguely disgruntled mood this morning. Had he really slept the entire night away instead of doing anything productive? Gah. It was both frustrating and embarrassing; he wondered if Tokito would be upset with him over it.

Once led outside, he wasn't entirely sure what to do with himself; sports that didn't involve giant animal-shaped robots weren't really his forte. Still, he supposed that being outside was nice, though as always he resented the fact that he could only go anywhere when someone else's schedule dictated it.

Eventually he wandered over to a reasonably secluded spot, intent on quietly observing everyone else, as always. He probably would have entirely overlooked the other person sitting nearby if they hadn't coughed suddenly, drawing a startled gaze. Guy kinda blended into the scenery, didn't he?

Jamie fidgeted a bit. "Er. Sorry, didn't see you there. Okay if I, uh...hang out here?"

[tightsofmight]

Breakfast was over sooner than he expected, and five minutes later Peter found himself standing alone on a grassy field, squinting in the hard sunlight. Trust the skies to be crystal blue and sunny as a Hallmark card when he felt like total garbage.

Still no sign of Grell. No Harry either, or Brainy, or Logan, or anyone else he actually wanted to see.

And now Ben was being attacked too, by some stinking coward who sneaked up in the dark and stabbed people from behind. Fuck.

It was a crap situation. It deserved some good, old fashioned cussing.

He was in no mood for sports, much less kicking a stupid ball around by himself. Peter ambled off to the sidelines, sinking into the grass and staring aimlessly ahead. What the hell was he supposed to do now?

[Daredevil :D]

[paper-murdock.livejournal.com]

Okay, so the sleeping thing Matt might buy, but he was still worried about the missing time. His nurse scolded him for sleeping in, and he apologized as was apparently expected. The woman accepted the apology and started to lead Daredevil down the hall again, but he asked to be taken outside. It took some wheedling, and a slightly hopeful tone, but soon enough, Matt could smell fresh air and feel warm sun on his skin. He was left alone with promises of being 'watched carefully, just in case.'

Walking slowly, and carefully along the outer perimeter, he listened to the surroundings before taking a seat near an unknown person and relaxed.

[piggy-king.livejournal.com]

So breakfast hadn't been a waste of Porky's time after all. And look at that! The nurse was leading him right to where Gin had said the baseball bats were! Wait a minute...Porky was actually excited about knowing where the baseball bats were? He had gotten so caught up in the excitement when Gin had told Porky where the bats were kept that Porky had completely forgotten that they were talking about...baseball bats.

Well, that was just great. Porky's great mood soured almost instantly. At least Porky now had another source of weapons to loot. Now, what was Porky doing this shift? ...Ah! That's right! Porky was supposed to meet with that "Lelouch Lamperouge" guy.

Heh. That little bastard was going to get what he deserved...trying to pick away at Porky's good reputation? There wasn't a chance of "Lelouch" outsmarting Porky.

[kingside]

Lelouch honestly would have preferred to spend the shift napping in the Sun Room, but after already delaying the meeting with Porky once and for a much better reason, doing so again in the interests of getting more sleep was... well, still a highly compelling idea but not one he was going to entertain right now. Porky was a threat, and while all the evidence so far indicated that he was a negligible threat at best, there was no way to be certain of that until he'd had a word with him.

That was why, considerably later than the other patients, Lelouch arrived at the recreational field, leaned heavily on his crutches, and tried not to look too worn out as he searched for Porky's distinct figure in the crowd. He was unfortunately doomed with the former (why couldn't they have put a gate in the courtyard to shorten the trip?), but the latter was accomplished easily enough. It did bring up the somewhat uncomfortable question of just where Suzaku had gotten to, but Lelouch was confident that he'd turn up soon.

He made his way over to the fat man slowly both out of necessity and to simply annoy him, taking the time to examine him and to finally settle on an order to give. His Geass should be working properly now, if for a limited amount of time in the same way it had with Emmett, but with how much could be done during that time, he wasn't too worried. The only possible issue would have been explaining away the lapses in memory, but with what Lelouch had learned about the way time behaved in the institute, it would be easy to allay any suspicions that might arise. The conditions had been cleared. Now all he had to do was put everything in motion.

"Hello, Mr. Minch," he greeted, stopping a short distance away. "I'm Lelouch. I believe you were expecting me?"

[tender-cruelty.livejournal.com]

Breakfast had been interesting, albeit a little uncomfortable for him. He wasn't sure how people could ever be comfortable with so much casual touching. It made him want to curl up somewhere far away from them. It was stupid, he knew, but he doubted that he'd ever get over his discomfort with it. He was glad to finally get outside and onto the rec field where there was space and thankfully, only other men so no chance of meeting with her. Part of him wanted to see her so badly, to talk to her and make her remember who she had been, who she should be. Another part of him wanted to curl up and hide.

He felt Hallelujah wrap around him as he went to find a place to sit alone near the edge of the field. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked finally. Hallelujah had known, hadn't he? Known who she was even as they fought her.

You wouldn't have been able to fight, Hallelujah replied. We would have been killed if you'd known.

He supposed that was true, although the thought of having fought her made him feel sick. She'd named him, given him a reason to survive.

[For Homura]

[screwthegods]

Homura walked out onto the recreational field, and for a minute simply stared into the sun. The brightness made his eyes hurt, but certainly not enough to turn away. How long had it been since he'd seen it like this, felt the direct warmth of it contrasting with the air? He could almost fool himself into feeling freedom, for a moment.

But the denial was short-lived, and Homura ignored the nurse's chiding as he blinked away the spots from his eyes. He'd made no arrangements this shift, so he was free to wander as he pleased. Simply walking around the field would be satisfying for him, even if there were no flowers in this particular yard to enjoy in his solitude.

Yet it wasn't long after he started his walk that he saw a familiar face with familiar eyes sitting along the edge. Part of him almost continued to walk on, knowing well the desire to be alone in his thoughts. But Homura considered Allelujah a friend, or at least as much of one as he had ever had, and so he approached the man. If he truly wanted to be alone, Allelujah could ask Homura to leave.

"You look like something's happened to you." Homura crouched down in front of the other man, enough to look at him face to face, but still able to leave with little trouble. "I'll leave you to your thoughts, however. If that's what you prefer."

[scarefaux]

It seemed the Scarecrow had missed breakfast, though he wasn't sure he would've had the appetite for it anyway, what with the previous night's events. He wasn't really sure how he'd gotten back into his bed in the first place- one moment, he was ready to pound the something that had been attacking that girl and Kaiji with his flashlights, and the next, he was waking again. He was reminded of the enchanted poppy field- maybe these random bouts of lost time were due to his human body falling under some sort of a sleeping spell. It certainly would explain why he would fall asleep at the worst possible moment.

Then again, maybe this is how regular human folks actually worked, and sleeping was something you had to watch for. He certainly hoped that wasn't the case, since being in danger did not seem like a good time to lose consciousness.

And speaking of danger, he'd not seen Kaiji that morning, nor the anonymous girl who they'd tried to rescue in the hallway. I hope he's doing better than I am, thought the Scarecrow, looking down at his legs. They had been bandaged at some point during the time he couldn't remember, and had been the reason he woke up. The left one didn't feel too badly, but whatever was under the bandage on his right calf was making sure he knew he'd gotten injured. Humans are so frail, his thoughts continued. I hope that girl is okay, too. I wonder if her flashlight made it back to her...

His thoughts were interrupted as he followed his nurse outside. The sight of grass and the sky and the outdoors in general really made him feel at home for the first time since he'd arrived. He took a deep breath. Now that felt great. He found himself a quiet spot and reclined on his back. Maybe a while off his feet would make them feel better, and the atmosphere would certainly help.

[Free]

[toxicspiderman]

[is a grouchy eco-activist okay?]

S.T. didn't feel any better for having done the tell-all thing. So much for a burden shared. And then the nurses descended and whisked them all towards the Sun Room.

He still wasn't moving very fast -- his body was flinging out one last goal-line stand against whatever vector they'd shot him up with, and it was effectively resulting in arthritis. He was walking like an old man, and he stopped in front of the bulletin board mostly to give his knees a chance to warm up. The usual deluge of personal ads and Shorty playing spider in the web had been replaced by a series of questions and then a series of fucking questionnaires-cum-manifestos. Something had kicked over the power structure and the ants were running around trying to pick up their dead comrades for tomorrow's lunch. And the Head Bastard had gone back to sounding competent at the supervillain gig. Peachy fucking keen.

He ignored the messages that sounded like power grabs, scrawled a couple of replies, and decided to get the hell out of the way. His nurse was trying to coax him towards a couch, which made his mind up for him. He was going outside, fever or no fever. Fresh air was a godsend -- wherever the fuck this place was, the air smelled cleaner than up in the Whites. He took the first deep breath he'd managed all day.

It was cold enough out that he was shivering as soon as he stepped through the doors. The sun was warm, but not warm enough. And there wasn't a badminton net to be seen. He'd meant to ask yesterday. Today, he wasn't sure he could hit the damn birdie even if they gave him a tennis racket. So he found a quiet patch of grass and sat down before his knees did something embarrassing like giving out beneath him.

The ground was damp, and there was still a residue of dew on the grass. Which was not helping with the plan where he avoided exposure on top of infection. Being cold didn't cause colds, whatever folk wisdom and a legion of overprotective mothers might swear by. But it did add another layer of stress, and he'd come out here to relax. He gave up on the idea of lying back in the grass and hugged his knees to his chest instead, resting his chin on them. Which was when he finally noticed that he'd sat down near another man. "Hi," he said, voice flat. "Nice day, isn't it?" Shit, now he was making small talk about the weather. Voluntarily. They really had fucked him up.