damned_institute | Day 45: Breakfast

Mori woke with a start. He lay on the bed for a moment, staring up at the ceiling and sighed quietly. Another day, another round of shifts and people and-- Wait a minute. Breathing in carefully, Mori's brow knit together as he realized that his ribs were no longer broken. After testing his collarbone, he found that it, too, was healing faster than it should have. Not that he was complaining, but there was something odd about broken bones setting so quickly. Pushing himself up out of bed, the teen shook his head, knowing that he'd have another day or two of the sling and then he'd be free from it.

But more important than that was finding out how Mitsukuni was doing. The last thing he remembered was the bathroom and gathering metal. Since they were together at the end of the night, Mori was certain that Mitsukuni would be fine, but...well, he still liked to confirm such things with his own eyes. With the twins gone and Tamaki still missing, Mori didn't want to take any chances anymore. Especially not with the strange announcements this morning.

As usual, his nurse came to collect him and helped him into his sling. Then he followed her quietly into the cafeteria, taking notice of the unusually empty bulletin board. They really were cracking down on it already. Weird. Even weirder? For once, he was the first into the room. Picking up a tray, he pointed out what he wanted, making sure to take double of the pancakes (asking to keep them away from the sausages for now), double of the strawberry jam and biscuits, and an extra helping of fruit. To top it off? Milk. It'd help his bones mend. Hopefully.

Going to a nearby seat, Mori took a look around the empty room and shivered. Kind of eerie in here without anyone else but the nurses. Someone was certain to come sooner or later though, right? He hoped so at least.

[for Chihaya]

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Maria--the fake name this place had given her. And yet she now wanted to be called by it? It was strange, but if that was the case, Rey wasn't going to argue. She could be called by whatever she liked.

"Yes," he said, returning the small smile, even if not entirely sincerely. "Same to you."

Though that wasn't quite how he'd describe his current state of mind, regardless of whether or not he chose to ignore the events of last night. Then again, he didn't he'd given her much of an indication that he was anything less than okay when they met, which had been his intent--which was still his intent.

"How have you been?"

There was something a little odd about Rey's smile, as if he weren't being entirely honest about how he was doing. Soma wouldn't have noticed it, but Maria did with surprising clarity. It was odd, noticing things you would never have noticed before. Almost as if she'd awoken from a dream.

"All right," she replied truthfully, one hand drifting across to rub at her elbow. There was no sign of the bite she could have sworn had been there a few days ago, and that was a relief; it meant that, at least, had been fake, and hopefully all the mistakes associated with it. "I think I'm feeling a lot better now.

"And you?" she added after a moment. "I mean, you look okay, aside from that--" she indicated the sling--"but how have you been feeling?"
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"That's good to hear," Rey replied, his expression not changing. Inwardly, again, he didn't completely mean it--Soma/Maria was nothing more than a stranger to him, after all. He wondered, though, what exactly she meant by 'feeling a lot better.' As far as he knew, there'd been nothing wrong with her a few days ago. However, he chose not to ask.

And then, of course, she directed the topic towards him. He'd been hoping she wouldn't, but it was to be expected, given that it was common courtesy.

"I've been fine," he answered. He knew it was a lie, but she didn't need to know that.

Maria didn't believe Rey for a moment, but she also knew it was best not to pry. It was true she'd only met him once before, but that didn't mean she didn't want him to get better, too. It was a little silly of her, but she'd always been like that (and it was also a little sobering that it was so much of a relief to know something like that, that she'd always liked people).

It was disappointing that she wouldn't have the chance to speak to a doctor today, but surely the nurses would notice how much better she was already. Maybe it wouldn't be too long before she could go home.

She nodded, still smiling a little as she started in on her breakfast. "You should eat something," she told Rey firmly. "The sooner the nurses see you improving, the sooner you'll be out of here."

With those words, it finally clicked in Rey's mind. Wanting to be called by her 'real' name, feeling 'better,' talking about being released--it seemed that Soma had fallen to the institute's lies or was desperate enough to pretend to. That fact brought up the question of what, during the past few days, brought her to that level. Or perhaps she'd always been heading there and Rey simply hadn't noticed. He could hardly claim to know everything about her.

Still, he nodded and did what she said, even though he didn't want to 'improve.' At least, not the way that meant here. The idea of casting his life away as a story he'd spun was something he couldn't accept for himself. 'Rey Za Burrel' was who he was and the only person he'd ever be, despite all the hardships that came with it (and he wasn't just a test subject, no matter what the doctor said).

He needed to confirm his suspicions, though: "So you've come to believe what the staff is telling you here?"

Maria's fork paused halfway to her mouth before she set it down, her eyes troubled. There was no real accusation in Rey's voice, but there was something in the question that made her sound like a traitor nonetheless. Why was that? Couldn't he see that there was nothing to believe, that this was what was real?

No, she reminded herself, he couldn't. And Soma would have asked Rey the same thing if he had been the one to come to his senses. She couldn't blame him for thinking she'd 'caved.' He probably thought he was being strong by not giving in. It wasn't his fault.

"No," she said simply. "I remembered."

"I see," was all Rey said in reply, taking that as a yes. To be honest, even if there had ever been any doubt that he was sane, the experimentation would've erased it. The doctor had done all but explicitly admitted that what Rey decided as the truth was that--the truth. After all, what ordinary person, insane or not, was "the remnants of an experiment that's past its time"?

There was no point in mentioning any of this to 'Maria,' though. Not that Rey even would've, to anyone, but she'd likely just dismiss it as a delusion. True, there always was that possibility, but he believed it to be his reality, and that was good enough for him.

"I don't think you're stupid for not believing what they say is true," Maria said quietly. "I really don't."

She'd been afraid that might happen, especially if she happened to meet any of the girls during the day. She probably still might, and it would be awkward enough speaking to them without the possibility that they thought she thought they were idiotic and hopelessly insane. After all, they had made friends with Soma, and she...well, she wasn't Soma. Not anymore.

Soma had been strong in a way she couldn't be, had known how to hide her emotions when she thought she might break, had abilities and weapons that could prevent people she loved from getting hurt. And that had helped in some ways, but it had hurt her family and her friends more than she could have imagined, and the last thing she wanted to do was slip away again. She had to push Soma aside for all of their sakes.

"It isn't as if I've given in," she added, but that sounded like needless justification to her own ears, and she fell silent.

Rey wasn't all that concerned with what she thought of him, especially since she'd be a hypocrite if she called him stupid for something like that, but he supposed the sentiment was still appreciated. Though it wasn't as if he were judging her especially either. Even with what she'd told him before, he didn't know what the circumstances of her life were like or, again, what might've led her to this.

"As much as it is mine, what to believe in is your right to decide," he said. She wasn't Shinn or Lunamaria. He didn't know exactly what to say to help her.

It sounded as if he were pretty dead set on believing he was Rey. Maria couldn't blame him, especially if his reasons for doing so were anything like her own. But she let the subject drop; as much as she wanted to help, she was fully aware that she wasn't qualified to do so, and anything she tried might only make things worse. Besides, she didn't even know him all that well.

She hid her disappointment poorly (that was another thing Soma could do that she couldn't), but she nodded silently and resumed her breakfast. She understood well enough why someone would want to cling to that belief so strongly.

Day 45: Breakfast

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