damned_institute | Day 42, Afternoon: T&M Electronics

After what he'd read on the board, Lelouch didn't have much hope for the town's electronics store. He'd been born in 1999, and if the store's products dated as far back as 1998-- it was entirely likely that the computers in the store were outdated even by this world's standards, but that didn't make it any less discouraging. And if none of them had internet access...

He clicked his tongue but went inside the store anyway, all but ignoring the others in the shop as he began to slowly explore the shelves. Most of what he'd seen in the window had looked like something he might have dug up while cleaning out the storehouse at the Kururugi Shrine, but maybe if he kept searching, he would come across something closer to what he was familiar with. If not, well, maybe someone better acquainted with this time period could find some way to make use of the materials available.

[For ~~Matt~~ Robin and ~~Ayu~~ Sen.]

Leading Sen around all day had been an adventure in itself. The whole place was pretty much new to her, even the style of the buildings. It was really... incredibly cute. Of course, half their attention had been secretly diverted to their quarry. The young man had been meeting with others for the first half of the day and therefore hadn't been entirely approachable.

But now it looked as though he'd gone and wandered off on his own - and to an electronics store, no less. Wasn't that just fortunate for them? Matt had hoped to see if there were any hand-held gaming devices worth trying to steal, but the nearby nurses gave him a disapproving glance whenever he so much as looked at one. This whole not being allowed to play video games thing was going to cause him to punch in one of their faces someday.

So it was time to say hello to the ponce. "Hey!" He waved, grinning. "Lelouch, wasn't it? I ran into you last night."

There were so many things that were different and strange here that even Ayumu almost felt overwhelmed for a while. Information gathering could be difficult when there was so very much and she had little frame of reference with which to determine what might be useful and what wouldn't. It was fortunate that she had Robin along to answer questions, though she'd had to be careful with what she asked and how, seeming innocently confused and fascinated by the strange town.

Still, Lelouch was a constant, and hadn't been too difficult to at least keep an eye on for most of the morning. Robin had apparently managed to remember his assignment, and had been doing the same, and this way both of them provided each other some cover under which to pretend to not be watching the young man. It was working out rather well, really.

The latest stop on the tour of the town claimed to be an "electronics" store, and inside was...well, nothing familiar. At all. Ayumu blinked around at the merchandise with eyes wide, staying close beside Robin as he entered and then diverted toward their quarry, who was conveniently alone and unoccupied.

She offered a shy smile as Robin greeted Lelouch, hanging back just slightly behind him as though using him as a shield from the supposed stranger. Under the bashful exterior she watched him closely, though, taking advantage of the opportunity to get a good look at him. Not a fighter, that was for certain, confirming what she'd already gleaned from the bulletin. Though if he could get people to follow him, being able to fight himself might not be that much of a hindrance.

Lelouch looked up from stereo he'd been examining dubiously (was there any point in even looking at this stuff?), tense for all of a second at the sound of his name but relaxing once he recognized the voice and, once he saw him, the face. Robin, the idiot from the hall last night who'd not only forgotten what he'd come for but hadn't had the sense to reply to any of Lelouch's bulletin posts about those shadow creatures. Wonderful. The woman standing behind him wasn't so easy to identify, but she seemed shy enough that Lelouch only glanced at her before returning his attention to her companion.

"Yes, I remember you," he said, not grinning and not waving at him so much as continuing to observe him coolly. He hadn't expected anyone to approach him like this, not when he hadn't made a habit of being friendly (unless it suited his purposes, of course) or, much more importantly, giving away a physical description. Robin was therefore entirely unexpected, but then after last night... "Thank you for explaining the situation to Suzaku, by the way," he continued, smiling just the faintest bit. "I don't think he would have been able to figure it out even with me blinking at him."

"No problem." Lelouch didn't seem embarrassed about the situation at all, which said a little about his character. "I'm just glad to see you're okay. The effects have always been temporary, from what I've seen. The dangerous part comes when you're by yourself when it happens and something nastier comes along." Like what had happened with Mello. If he and whatever samurai he'd run into hadn't been there, the spider that showed up later probably would have made a meal of his friend.

...Not that this mattered now, since the damn bastard had disappeared on him.

He wrapped an arm around Sen's shoulder, easing the woman a little closer so that he could introduce her. Not that he wanted to show her off in an I-bet-my-girlfriend-is-hotter-than-yours sort of way. Of course not. (It was looking more and more like Lelouch swung the other way anyway.) "This is Sen. I was just showing her around."

So apparently Lelouch actually had been the injured member of the group the night before. Ayumu hadn't stopped long enough to figure out exactly what had happened, though she hadn't noticed any signs of fresh blood. He could have been wounded, judging from some things she'd seen earlier in the day, but it was difficult to be certain (especially when he wasn't moving much at the moment).

He didn't seem terribly interested in her, though, which was all the better in her mind; the less he paid attention to her then the more she could keep an eye on him while he was occupied with Robin. She had to make her own reports back to Okita and Homura, after all.

But, of course, then Robin had to go calling attention to her instead. It was polite, she supposed, to introduce the third member of the group, especially since the other two had met already, but she would've preferred to remain somewhat invisible. Ayumu just bowed her head slightly in polite greeting, though, and offered a quiet, "Nice to meet you."

And why was Robin telling him this, exactly? Did he assume that Lelouch couldn't figure that out on his own? Apart from raising one eyebrow slightly, though, he didn't give any indication of his thoughts, saying instead, "I'll be sure to keep that in mind in the future." Assuming he ran into another one of the things, of course, and he sincerely hoped he didn't. Nights here were unsettling enough without being drained like that, and then with everything else that had happened after that...

Sen's introduction was a welcome distraction then, and easily brushing aside the small frown that had begun to creep onto his face in response to his thoughts, Lelouch replied, "It's nice to meet you, too. Both of you." He seemed to have skipped that part before. Oh well. "Have you been on one of these trips before?" he asked next, again looking to Robin. He wasn't particularly fond of small talk, but since it seemed like Robin didn't want to do much more than check up on him and was already busy doing something else, he didn't think he'd have to put up with it much longer.

"Just once." Robin shrugged. "Wasn't all that eventful." The hand that wasn't on his shoulder was placed on his hip as he gave the shop another look-over. "Would you look at this place?" he muttered. "It's like an antique shop in here."

Perhaps 10 year old appliances didn't count as antique in most people's worlds, but Matt was the sort of person who'd keep up with the latest - devices that were already ahead of the current norm. This was as good a time as any to learn a bit more about their new acquaintance. It didn't seem as though he was from a time as far back as Sen's.

Ayumu would've liked to know more about exactly what had happened the night before, but if the boys weren't planning to talk about it she'd just have to talk to Robin later. At least now that it had been brought up in conversation, she'd have a reason to do so, rather than trying to come up with an excuse to ask about his night. After all, she'd really rather not say anything to indicate that she'd seen both of them in the hallway the night before.

She glanced over at Robin with eyes wide at his comment about the antique shop, though, then looked around once before lowering her attention to the floor. If these were considered "antiques," things that she'd never even imagined existed, well. Being from a time as far before Robin's as she was (a concept she was still working to grasp fully, though that was helped by the tour of this town) then she should qualify as an antique as well.

"I haven't been here before," she offered, in a shy-sounding murmur, still watching the floor.

The lack of detail in Robin's response annoyed Lelouch, but then he hadn't been expecting much besides the possible mention of a particular store he should visit. It gave him a pretty good idea of how long Robin had been at the institute too, though, as well as a slightly more definite idea of when he'd encountered those shadow creatures-- unless it was just the one? Damn it, he needed more information. Now was neither the time nor place to start questioning Robin about his nighttime activities, though, so Lelouch (reluctantly) dismissed the matter. He could ask later.

"Something like that," he agreed, looking back to the stereo on display and experimentally reaching out to turn one of its knobs. "I doubt many antique shops can boast that everything they sell is still in its original packaging, though." Or that any antique shop would bother selling what was essentially junk-- more so than their usual stock, that is. Was that even possible? "And it's my first time here, too."

Matt knew what he'd said about the items there being antiques might make Sen feel a little awkward. He'd apologize to her later. What time period she'd come from really wasn't any of Lelouch's business either, so he hoped to avoid the subject. At least he knew that the other young man was from a time period as late as, if not later, than his own. That was something. Barely. "Well, yeah. I think whatever world we're stuck in is at least a decade behind, if you know what I mean. They probably think this junk is current."

That television still had a VCR, for Christ's sake.

"So, did you come looking for anything in particular? We're just looking." Man, he was prattling on like an idiot, but whatever got the job done... "It's kind of annoying, really. Sending us out into town without any cash. I mean, it's not like they'd allow us to decorate our rooms or anything. The whole 'look but don't touch' aspect of this trip sucks ass."

The conversation so far wasn't really telling Ayumu very much except that Robin wasn't all that good at making small talk. That part wasn't terribly surprising, though, nor was it what she was trying to find out. But Lelouch didn't seem like the friendly and open type, so it had to be difficult to get him to talk.

It was too bad she was here with Robin and not alone, otherwise she might have been able to attempt other methods to get him to talk. Although...she did have to wonder if that would even work, given that he'd barely even looked at her at all, even in the rather tight clothing she'd been given to wear. No matter, though; it wasn't an option so she wouldn't consider it.

"I think it's kind of interesting." This time a hint of petulance entered her tone, as though she were growing bored or irritated with the conversation. "I haven't seen anything like it."

An obvious enough statement, even if Lelouch did have to wonder why Robin seemed to be assuming that the two of them were from the same time period or, more generally, that everyone was from approximately the same time period as them. It wasn't necessarily an unreasonable assumption to make, but it was, again, a little annoying. "It probably is to them. That's good enough, isn't it?"

He withdrew his hand and moved down to the next stereo in line, which was, coincidentally, just a little bit further away from the pair than the previous one. "I'm also 'just looking.' There's not much else to do." He glanced back at Sen, catching her tone but not quite knowing what to make of it. "At the very least, it's educational."

Edited 2009-07-09 04:49 (UTC)

This guy was something of a bastard, wasn't he? Matt held back a smirk. Sen's tone caused him to pause for a moment, though. Had she been bothered by something he said? Or was it because she felt out of the loop due to the time period she was from. She would be finding their tour interesting, he supposed. And he'd wanted her to, so he should be pleased with that.

"Well, I mean... the trip would have been a complete bust if I hadn't had you around." He gave the woman a light peck on the cheek. "But it's been fun walking around with you. I'd do it again any time you wanted."

A slight blush touched Ayumu's cheeks at the affectionate gesture, and she glanced briefly at Lelouch before lowering her eyes to the floor. It clearly said that she was a little embarrassed that a near-strange was there to see it, though the tiniest hint of a smile would also let Robin know that she still wasn't displeased with him.

"It is educational," she agreed, though ostensibly still focused on the flooring at her feet rather than either of the two men. "Though quite confusing. This place seems like another time and place entirely than what Robin is accustomed to, and very far removed from my home in Kyoto. Is it the same for you...Lelouch-han?"

She paused just a moment before the name, as though uncertain quite how to address him. People had such odd names around here, it was hard to know which were given names and which were family names and just what it was polite to call them. Still, he should correct her if she was wrong.

Lelouch focused on the stereo again, entirely without interest for the thing by this point but not wanting to embarrass Sen or encourage Robin any further. He was beginning to wonder at the latter's persistence, but then after recalling what had happened last night-- was he hoping to ingratiate himself with Lelouch in order to gain Suzaku's protection? It wasn't a terribly good explanation, so it was probably just that Robin was that annoying and too stupid to realize it. There were a dozen or so other reasons Lelouch could think of, but he had yet to see any evidence to support them. That didn't mean he would dismiss them, of course, but until he knew more, it would be foolish to act upon his suspicions.

"Yes, it is," he said, finally turning to face the pair fully. There didn't seem to be much point in pretending to examine the stereos anymore, useless things that they were. "It's disorienting, but there are enough similarities that I can navigate without any trouble." Theoretically, at least, but he wasn't about to admit to that aloud even if he ran into something he didn't understand.

Sen was so damn cute when she was embarrassed. ...She was cute all of the time, though. Except for when she was gorgeous.

Matt nodded at Lelouch's comment. There wasn't a whole lot they'd be able to get out of him at this point without getting threatening, which was definitely something they didn't want to do. He was risking enough just looking him in the eyes every now and then, given what Homura had said, and he made sure to keep his gaze focused elsewhere as much as possible without making it too obvious. At least if something happened to him, he had Sen there to tell him Lelouch's exact words.

"You have to wonder what the point of bringing us out here really is - aside from a show of power or something." Then again, did Landel really need any other reason?

The fact that they were all there and not where they were supposed to be seemed like more than adequate a show of power to Ayumu. She had no idea just how one could pull people from different worlds and times, especially not people who supposedly had special powers of some kind. The trip had done little to change her opinion, though she had to wonder if there was some kind of clue to a way home in this place.

If there was, would she even recognize it, in such a baffling array of unfamiliar devices? It wasn't as though she could tell Robin what she was looking for, either.

"Maybe they're doing something back at the building," she suggested, sounding hesitant to venture a comment. "Something that they need to get us away from, while they do it?"

"Or it's merely another way to disorient us, give us a false sense of hope, observe us in a different environment, or any number of other possible explanations," he added, sighing softly. Robin's behavior was definitely putting him on guard now, but when the likeliest reason was still that he was just that annoyingly friendly (he wouldn't be the first Lelouch had encountered), it didn't bear looking into yet.

"We could spend all day trying to figure out the reason why and not grow any closer to uncovering it," he continued, idly glancing around the store. "It would be best to devote our attentions to more productive pursuits instead." Like mentally categorizing everything on the shelves, which is what he'd hoped to spend this time doing, but apparently he hadn't been blunt enough about wanting Robin and Sen to leave him alone. It would have been easy to be much, much blunter, but he'd been rude enough already and he still needed Robin to provide information about those monster encounters. Damn it. Well, maybe that last statement of his would suffice.

"Hey, there's an idea!" Matt nodded at Sen, though he purposefully overdid the reaction a bit. It was a good theory, and he wanted to add 'just ignore this guy, he's a douche' but hopefully he managed to get the idea across all the same. That was something he should have thought about himself. What was a good reason got the head doctor to remove all the patients from the Institute for a day?

Lelouch clearly didn't want them around anymore, and Matt knew that they, or at least he, weren't doing the best of jobs when it came to ingratiating themselves with him. "Did you have something in mind?" He asked with a little conspiratory wink.

Ayumu had started to visibly droop a little at Lelouch's reaction to her suggestion, but at Robin's enthusiasm she straightened again and gave him a small, grateful smile. To all outward appearances, she was only there because Robin was, and only barely brave enough to speak up at all with a stranger there, much less try to contribute to the conversation.

As such she didn't speak up again now, only glancing from Robin to Lelouch curiously, as though all she wanted to know was what he might suggest to be more productive. Ayumu could guess, of course, that whatever it was likely involved the two of them leaving; he didn't seem to relish the idea of company at the moment, much less theirs.

Getting into his good graces was clearly going to be somewhat difficult, if this was how he normally acted (and she didn't doubt it). Right now the best course of action might just be to leave, lest they annoy him too much.

[Allow me to run you out of the store, Adachi? ♥]

Callisto's day had been incredibly uneventful so far. While the town itself was interesting in its own way, being far ahead of her own time in terms of technology, the former warlord only found so much of it interesting.

She'd at last wandered into this "electronics" place. She'd heard the word while she'd been here, and these devices still remained the most curious of those she'd seen since she'd arrived. They reminded her of those droids. Just... in pieces.

There was a group already inside, as well as one man off by himself. Well, perhaps he would be a good source of answers. She hadn't pestered anyone enough yet. "Villager or patient?" she asked with a smirk.

He wandered around a bit first, but eventually Adachi stopped in front of a small TV (http://www.guenthoer.de/doku/werbung-casiotv6100.jpg) sitting on a shelf, one of those tiny portable models that you could find anywhere what, 10 or 20 years ago? It was too small to shove anyone through, but maybe it was inconspicuous enough that he could test his own ability out; he could worry about the rest later, after all.

He'd been reaching out to touch it when a voice startled him, and his hand landed on top of the box instead. "Oh, uh..." Shit. He really didn't want anyone peering over his shoulder, in the event the screen started rippling. He wanted to be a dick, just to get her to go away, but better to be safe than have his cover blown. "I'm not the clerk, sorry," he finally replied, turning to glance at her, but leaving his hand on top of the TV. "You a patient, too?"

Not that he really needed to ask. Adachi was almost certain of the answer before he finished the sentence. Small town like this, the people tended to know each other pretty well and be able to tell who was out of place, not to mention all the nurses lurking all over. If she'd had to ask him which group he belonged to, it was probably a safe guess that she wasn't from around here. Maybe he could get her away by just saying he was new and didn't know much. Yeah, that could work.

"Of course I am." Callisto smirked again, giving him a thorough look-over. Not a fighter, that much was obvious, though not a complete weakling. He was acting innocent, but he wasn't nervous. ...She supposed this outfit didn't exactly lend to much of an imposing presence. They had to be mocking her with the flowers.

She moved closer. Who needed personal space? "What are all of these, anyway?" She gestured toward the various televisions, though she only seemed partially interested in the answer. "Some kind of display boxes? The glass is all fogged up." She gave one an experimental tap.

Adachi backed up slightly when she moved closer. He got a bit of a fierce vibe from her, but that wasn't it (really). He just liked his personal space, thank you very much, especially when she was invading it just to ask what a TV was. He considered just pawning her off on the clerk -- and wondered just where the hell she came from to have lived under a rock like that -- but then again, maybe it was better that it she'd come up instead of someone else. He'd definitely prefer having to explain a rippling screen to someone who didn't know that they weren't supposed to be there.

Okay, he could do this. Just had to play it smoothly.

"Yeah, you could say that. You don't have them where you're from?" Without really waiting for an answer, he continued. "They show moving pictures, and people sit at home glued to them for entertainment." He tapped the screen for show. No ripples. So he was normal again. Ordinary, and currently in a small, dull town. With the plus of being stuck in a mental institution.

Adachi felt a rising mix of rage and despair at that thought, and the facade fell momentarily. No one even knew about the murders, here, past the brats, so he couldn't even just sit back and watch in satisfaction as people talked about it; he didn't have anything. Fuck. Those brats better not be able to use those Personas, or whatever they called them. There was no way that could possibly be any semblance of 'fair'.

Oh...? What was that? She'd seen that change of expression, the spark in the eyes, the change in body movement. The smirk on Callisto's face became positively predatory, and she took another step closer. There was more to this one than she thought, and while it wasn't much, she was just bored enough with this place to try and press a bit deeper.

"Moving pictures? Fascinating." Though she could honestly care less. So they were some magical means of viewing stories. Items used for entertainment value. She could see how those would sell. "Perhaps I'll have to look into one if I ever get out of here."

She tilted her head. "But... what about you? Is something wrong?"

"Huh?" She just had to butt into his business and ask if something was wrong, which would inevitably get onto the topic of feelings. Just like a woman. Couldn't she just be quiet or ignore it? Of course, hearing her question reminded Adachi of just where he was, and that this was not a good time to be thinking about it. The mask snapped back into place with a sheepish smile, though grudgingly, and he took a step away from the shelf. It was a real pain sometimes to play at being perfectly innocent and stupid.

"Oh, yeah, I...just-- my mind wandered for a bit, see. Sorry. You definitely should look into one when you can. TVs can be pretty entertaining. I might even go so far as to say liberating..." He tried to keep himself from stumbling over that last phrase; that was it, there was too much TV talk for his current state of mind. Adachi ground his teeth together in silence for a moment as he thought. He had to get out of there, had to get his mind off of what happened, so that he could ignore it. Pretend it had never happened, even.

"Uh...but that can't be the only thing that you've never seen before, if you haven't seen a TV," Adachi spoke up again after a moment. "There's a bunch of different stores. You want to go take a look around?"

"Are you offering?" Oh, she was leering now, but it was the leer of a fox who'd just trapped a rabbit in the corner of its den - a predatory sort of leer. Not the look of someone hoping for that sort of something else, either.

"You're right. I know what very few of the items in all these stores are. I'm from far enough back in Greece that everyone's calling it ancient Greece. I may just need a full tour." This man looked like he'd be fun to push. She wanted to see what she could get out of him. "It would be so helpful of you."

What the leer meant definitely wasn't how Adachi took it, but he could care less right now about being helpful to her, or whatever she really wanted. He just wanted out, and he wanted out now. "Okay, great," he replied, fidgeting before making a beeline for the door. "Let's go, then."

[after Adachi leaves and waiting for Naoto]

Yousuke knew it was only a matter of time before he ended up wandering towards the nearest electronics store. He was actually surprised that he'd let it get this late in the day before he'd done it, especially given that there wasn't a whole lot to see around this place. It probably wasn't even a big enough town to be worth bringing a Junes into (though that could certainly cause the town to expand if they wanted it to). That would end up being the Junes from Hell, though. He could just imagine the giant monstrous cockroaches that would come out at night...

Ick.

Not surprisingly, the items in the electronics store seemed pretty dated. It helped that technology advanced pretty fast, so TVs between the decades changed quite a bit. This was stuff he could probably get cheap nowadays. In fact, he'd only recently replaced his old TV, which looked a lot like the one on display over there...

But onto important matters. He wasn't alone in the store, which was a bit of an annoyance, but it wasn't as if the electronics department at Junes was ever totally empty either, and they got a whole group of people through the TV there on a regular basis. All he needed to do was poke the screen right now, anyway.

Day 42, Afternoon: T&M Electronics

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