damned_institute | Day 22: Brunch

Cid usually liked sleeping in, especially in a place as messed up and uninviting as this, but this happened to be one situation where he really wished he hadn't.

Right there, on the bulletin board. The Head Doctor and he'd fucking missed it? Some part of him wished he'd been there to take his eye out and another part of him knew he wouldn't have been able to. No man that powerful who hid for so long went to dangerous places without some kind of entourage.

Brunch sounded like it'd be filling, at least, though he nearly stopped in his tracks when the bastard announced TEA. TEA. It'd been a damn long while since he'd had some fucking tea, though with all the stress this place had found fit to rain down on his fucking head, it hadn't really been the first priority on his mind. Kinda nice, even if Cid was sure this was just some game the mother fucker was playing to get them all stuck neck-deep in Stockholm Syndrome.

He scanned the mostly-empty room for any sign of a familiar face once he'd piled waffles and sausages and syrup on his plate, though the person he really wanted to talk to was that Reynolds guy. "Spaceship" was the last word he remembered clearly before waking up in his bed, and dammit if he wasn't going to keep it stuck like glue in his mind.

He found a table where he could watch people come into the cafeteria and grabbed for his mug. The steam rising from his drink and the bag of herbs in it was nearly enough to make him grin despite it all, and it was with marked leisure and a little relief that he drank his goddamn tea.

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Hisoka's face turned thoughtful at that comment.

"I want to see what lies they've created and how far they've stretched the truth of my life. I want to know because I already know who my doctor will be..." The word 'doctor' was spat like poison, the boy's face darkening with this knowledge. "...and I don't want to be caught unprepared."

"I wouldn't recommend doing that on your own," Kurama warned. "Normally, the monsters prowl the halls, but if you try breaking into an office to get your file, you can bet they'll send someone after you. Like I said, I was trying to pick a lock when that woman attacked me. The second time, we were on the second floor and she told us to return to our rooms. Almost as if they're deployed to keep us in line at night..."

Hisoka shrugged, face serious.

"But they'll come after me just the same even if I follow your advice, right?"

If that was so, why jeopardize another-- especially if this other person was unable to deal with said monster as well-- when he could deal with it himself?

Kurama gave Hisoka a long look. He was being serious, wasn't he? "I don't think you understand the situation you'd be putting yourself in. Our powers are repressed here, but theirs aren't. You could be seriously injured. Especially tonight. If I'm right, they'll be brainwashing patients tonight. This isn't the time to be wandering off on your own."

Hisoka shrugged again.

"How does getting into groups make it better?"

If anything, that would cause more casualties... Being alone would allow him to run much quicker.

"Because there's strength in numbers," Kurama replied with a sigh. Was this really a difficult concept to understand? "Sticking with others keeps you from being ambushed. If you're cornered in a hallway, what do you expect to do? Like I said, you can be seriously injured tonight. People have been killed here before, only a few days ago. By another patient. I don't want that happening to anyone I know."

"There's also weakness in numbers," Hisoka replied stubbornly. "There's no chance of anyone but yourself being hurt if there is no one but you and as you said, someone was killed by another patient. Isn't that something that could be prevented by remaining alone?"

"No, it can't be prevented by remaining alone," Kurama replied. "You don't seem to understand. These patients are taken from their rooms and brainwashed to work for this building. They don't understand what they're doing anymore. Being alone only makes it easier for them to overpower you. And where does that leave the rest of us who worry about you? In a place like this, wandering off alone is quite possibly the most foolish thing you can do. It's pretty much up there with running through the halls and calling out the monsters. If you have any interest in surviving, you can not be a one-man-show here."

Hisoka frowned, resting his elbows on the table and threading his fingers together as Kurama's word sunk in. This was going to be much more difficult than the shinigami was expecting things to be...

"So what am I supposed to do then? Finding another, trustworthy individual during Nightshift is like trying to find a needle in a haystack..."

Near impossible.

Kurama sighed, seeming to relax when he realized he'd gotten through to the boy. He would have hated to know that Hisoka had wandered off by himself and gotten hurt... But there was that problem of not knowing anyone to travel with.

"True..." Kurama agreed. "What's your room number?"

"It's M87," Hisoka replied truthfully, unaware that he had been moved to a new room the previous night. "What about--?"

Just before the boy could utter his question, the intercom went on and his nurse suddenly appeared looking pleased-- she was most likely overexcited because he had been talking to someone for once. Before the boy could become annoyed at this thought though, Hisoka just barely managed to recognize Kurama's "name" spoken on the intercom. Frowning slightly, the shinigami glanced at the other boy with a serious expression on his face, silently warning the other boy to be on his guard. Who knew what these "visitations" could mean...

"Come now, Alex! Your new has a visitor, you don't want to keep them waiting because you want to chat!"

Hisoka scowled as the woman prodded him to his feet. Damn woman, first she wanted him to make friends then the moment he did anything remotely like it she was jabbing at him to leave.

Kurama didn't need Hisoka's warning to put him on guard. As soon as his name was announced, the redhead tensed, a cold feeling passing through his body. He had a visitor... And he couldn't help but remember what the Head Doctor had said... About the visitors having gone through the 'very same treatment'.

"M34," Kurama said as Hisoka stood, realizing what Hisoka might have been trying to ask. "I'll talk to you later."

Day 22: Brunch

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