damned_institute | Day 43: Sun Room, 4th Shift

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Day 43: Sun Room, 4th Shift

The late-afternoon sun filled the large, open Sun Room. It was almost enough to make you sleepy, Euphemia thought, as she walked in, brushing a little glitter off her shirt. She didn't particularly feel like she was up to much - the worrying about everyone had drained her, as much as she'd tried not to think too much about it.

With that thought in the back of her mind, she walked over towards the bulletin board. It looked like it was cleared off at the end of the day, because now it was filled with information. She made a note of the 'primer' post, then began copying the maps onto some paper she'd taken with her from the Arts and Crafts Room.

One more thing struck her, though - the idea of visitors. Was this what all the announcements about graduates were? She thought of the others then, and frowned, hoping that neither of them were going through anything like that today.

[reserved for the tallmore.]

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Alfred had stopped by the kitchen, after speaking with Richard, and picked up a few apples. They wouldn't be too messy and were easy to hide. It couldn't hurt to have food readily available during the night... Although, from what he knew about Wally West, he probably wouldn't have any apples left once he was done talking to the man.

A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he looked around the room for Wally. The man had alluded to the fact that he might know Bruce, in their conversation on the bulletin. Perhaps he would know a little bit more about what seemed to be going on, what with different universes and everything. The thought occurred to Alfred that it was possible this would not be the Flash that existed in his 'universe', but there was little that he could discern without actually talking to him.

He glanced around the room, and it wasn't long before he spotted a man with red hair sitting one of the room's many couches. He made his way over, taking in the man's apparent injuries with some concern as he drew closer.

"Excuse me, sir?" Alfred approached the man, "I believe that I spoke with you earlier, on the bulletin? Would I be correct in assuming that you're Wally West?" He sat down on the couch, a respectful distance from Wally, noticing that the other man appeared to be in pain. It was rather unfortunate that he didn't have any medical supplies readily available to him, or he might be able to make the man a little bit more comfortable... As it was, he offered Wally one of the apples instead. There wasn't much else he could do, and he recalled something about the man having a rather monstrous appetite.

Wally blinked as someone joined him on the couch, and realised that he’d closed his eyes for just a few moments, which probably meant he was more tired than he realised. It was lucky that Alfred had an idea of what he looked like, otherwise they probably would have missed each other.

"Oh, hey Jeeves!" he said, pulling himself up more and grinning happily as he studied the older man. So it really was Alfred after all. He wondered how Bruce was taking that, provided he even knew at all. No doubt he’d find out what was going on there soon enough.

The apple was in his hand and had a bite missing before Wally’d even realised it was being offered. He hadn’t eaten that much this morning with ZEX – understandably – and while he’d made up for that while talking with Tim, that had been a while ago, and his conversation with Grell had been stressful enough that he was back to being starving again.

"So, uh", he said carefully around taking another bite out of the fruit, "how long have you been here?"

Alfred blinked at the nickname, raising an eyebrow slightly, "Jeeves, sir? Although I appreciate the effort you demonstrate in creating a unique new name for me, I can assure you that 'Pennyworth' is quite fine." He already had the feeling that this was going to be a loosing battle - almost as pointless as the one he waged with his nurse - but the rebuttal was more out of habit than anything else. It wasn't that he particularly enjoyed being called "Jeeves", but if the alternative was to discuss that instead of more important things...

It certainly did seem as though the other man was hungry (although that might not be quite strong enough of a word) from the way he went about consuming the apple. Alfred sighed to himself, certain that he would be returning to his room without any of the 3 apples that he'd removed from the kitchen.

"I believe that I have been here for approximately two days, sir. How long have you been here." He paused. "You don't seem to be faring very well, sir. Would you like me to look at your injuries?"

"Hey, I like Jeeves," Wally protested, smile widening. "It sounds butlery." He took another large chunk out of the apple and winked. "But, I guess I can let it drop if you'd prefer." The last thing he wanted was to have Bats'... whatever Alfred was (they seemed closer than just employer and servant at any rate) mad at him. He had a feeling that wouldn't do much for his popularity with anyone connected to Bruce.

"How long have I been here?" Wally repeated. He frowned for a moment, casting his mind back. "Nine days, I think. It's been a while." His smile slipped a little, but he shook his head and it came back on in full force. "Nah, it's fine. They do a pretty good job with the health care here, though I guess we wouldn't need it if we weren't, you know, here."

His eyebrows inched up a little further, "I don't believe that a person's name often reflects upon their position in life. When my parents gave me a name I'm sure that how 'butlery' it sounded didn't factor into their decision." Alfred fixed Wally with an unreadable look, "However, if you do continue to insist on calling me 'Jeeves' for your own personal enjoyment, I may have to take drastic measures." He was joking, of course, although Wally might not realize. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about being called "Jeeves", but other close friends or family members had given him some rather ridiculous nicknames in the past, and it seemed as thought Wally would stop if Alfred found the name to be too bothersome.

"Nine days, sir? That's quite a while. Have the daily routines been mostly similar the entire time, can you recall? I'm aware that the nights are rather dangerous, but the young man that I met on my first night here didn't mention anything about the possibility of zombie attacks, so I presume that those are a fairly recent development?"

So Wally had been here for a decently long time and might have uncovered some of the workings of this place. Of course, Bruce would probably be a better option for this sort of talk, provided he was still around. Still...it did not bode well that somebody of Wally's caliber had been confined to this institute for over a week. There was always the possibility, of course, that a single person would be able to make an escape, while a group of people wouldn't. And given the level of danger that seemed to be present here, Wally or Bruce probably wouldn't have saved themselves over the lives of the other 'patients'.

[aflkjl sorry for slow Dx]

Wally blinked, obviously more than a little taken aback by Alfred's reaction. It wasn't that he was offended or anything, but before Alfred had been more likely to just say 'very good, sir' and ignore him. So this was kinda weird, like being threatened by a puppy you thought you knew really well.

"Uh, sorry," he said meekly. "I was just messing around, honest. And yeah. Nine days. From what I remember things have pretty much run on the same weekly schedule. Minus the zombies. Those are new." He paused and frowned uncertainly. "The I.R.I.S thing is new too, and some of the other stuff last night people have been talking about... I'm kinda wondering what else is going to end up happening around here."

Whatever this place had in store for them, Wally was pretty sure it wasn't going to be a surprise early release with cake and coffee for everyone.

Alfred looked at Wally for a moment longer before giving a small smile. "I was joking, sir. I do that sometimes." He winked. Perhaps the teasing had been a bit much, judging from the look on Wally's face, but there wasn't a lot of extra time to be had for extended apologies, so he hoped that the younger man wouldn't be too traumatized.

"Is that right?" Alfred thought over this new information for a moment before he nodded. "I noticed the notes on the bulletin concerning last night's events and the placement of the new announcement system."

Neither could mean anything very positive.

"If you happen to require anything of me... or know of another friend that might, I can be found in room M98. I understand that Master Bruce seems to be here as well?"

Wally managed an uncertain smile in return, though he was still more than a little thrown off by everything. He had spoken with Alfred a few times, but it was really hard to get to know someone when they were mostly in the background while you bugged their boss. Not to mention the idea of someone living with Bruce having a sense of humour was kinda weird. Still, it was pretty awesome that Alfred wasn't actually that upset about the name, specially since Wally wasn't willing to bet on the chances of him not slipping and calling Alfred that again later.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Seems like a lot of things are changing around here, whatever that means. I figure Ba- uh, Bruce, has some kinda theory about it all. He always does, right?"

He frowned as the question caught up to him. "Wait, you didn't know he was here?"

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Day 43: Sun Room, 4th Shift

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