DAY 45: LIBRARY

[byname-bynature.livejournal.com]

Even before he got sick, Sean had enjoyed reading. His teachers had always said that he read 'ahead of his age group', but he figured that was just because he read more than most kids his age did. He liked everything: fantasy, science fiction, biographies, journal articles... There was just something satisfying about holding a book--something someone poured a lot of effort into producing--to Sean.

Today, though, he didn't want to get into anything particularly heavy or involved. No psychology textbooks for him today--he was going to read something fictional. Pulling what looked like an interesting science fiction novel off the shelves, he cracked it open and began to read happily. Oliver would find him soon enough and no doubt interrupt him, so he'd just read as much as he could for now.

[For Badou]

Comments

[faithful-frost.livejournal.com]

The library sounded like a great place to hide for a bit and just read. Chris hadn't enjoyed a book in a while, certainly not since ... not since then anyway. He spotted his friend and waved, but the nurse made sure to usher him along. It wouldn't do for him to only speak with Sean and not make any other friends.

Taking down an old book, one he wasn't familiar with, he settled into a chair that was far enough away from Sean to appease his nurse, but still within his line of sight.

[Free!!]

[moral-liberty.livejournal.com]

Addison followed his nurse as readily as ever. He noticed that she had begun to smile when she spotted another patient, not far from his age, by themselves. She ushered Addison over to where they were sitting, looking through a book. They had exceptionally long, dark hair, and what seemed like a quiet demeanor. Addison wasn't able to say with any certainty whether it was a boy or a girl he had been shown to.

"Why don't you go keep Chris company today?" she advised, though she scarcely needed to voice her request. There was a routine to Addison's days, and being guided towards other patients to provide or gain company was a part of that pattern. Addison didn't mind it; everyone he had met had been kind or interesting, though now that he thought back on some of the things they had said, some of the things he had said...

Regardless, talking to someone he didn't know, and who expected nothing of him would help to distract from breakfast. He could still remember the older man's expression too clearly. The distress in his eyes, that Addison could still make out from behind the glasses.

"Can I sit with you?" he asked Chris, smiling down amiably.

[tightsofmight]

After being deposited between two long rows of well loved books with wrinkled covers all Peter could think was, Finally! If they weren't going to let him at a computer or give him a shot with the lab equipment upstairs, he could always drown himself in books.

Yeah yeah, nerd alert. He really couldn't care. He was going to have his own little Reading Rainbow, right in this here corner. Knowledge is power!

Of course, he was going to have find something better than Susanna's Surrender to stick his nose into. Blech. Why was he in the romance section? Nearly everything around him was written by the unholiness that is Nora Roberts. And on the other side of the shelf it were the fairy tales, which was just like the medieval Nora Roberts with dragons and witches and stuff tossed in. No thank you. He was bringing his nerdiness elsewhere.

Peter sifted through the aisles, passing over a lot of Stephen King (a good bet if he couldn't find anything else) and ancient stuff like The Picture of Dorian Gray and Paradise Lost and...Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Where was all the non-fiction?

[Come to me Grell. Come and face your scrawny, teenaged doom.]

[deadlyjuliet.livejournal.com]

[ :| sorry, peter, Grell's not interested in your death peen]

Linda was such a lovely girl. Geoffrey just wished she could be happier. In a place like this, he could understand being...well, not happy, but still! She had such a pretty smile and she seemed so nice that it was a shame for her to be so upset. If only there had been something he could have done to help her...

But instead, he was here in the library after his nurse decided that his good behavior warranted a reward. Geoffrey liked books. He'd always enjoyed literature and research and just spending hours upon hours in the stacks. Of course, that had also gotten him in trouble after taking to reading up on-- Don't think about him. He'll come back. You don't want that.

"...oh look, fiction," he murmured absently to himself as he let the lure of harmless fantasy worlds drag him away from his thoughts. Going up to the first row of books, Geoffrey smiled faintly as he traced his fingers along the spines. Literature was such a lovely escape. He could pretend he was someone else for awhile. Someone normal. Someone who didn't have to worry about cracking and killing the only person who'd ever-- "Oh, Shakespeare..."

Right. Books. The Complete Works of Shakespeare was a rather hefty book, but Grell pulled it down from the shelf, cradling it like a baby as he opened to the table of contents. Plays, sonnets, everything he'd ever need was right here. Speaking quietly to himself as he dragged a finger down the page, he read off the titles of the ones he hadn't read in recent memory. "Merchant of Venice... Julius Caesar... Ah, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Maybe that one..."

[tsunagari.livejournal.com]

It was not uncommon to find Sai in a library even back in the village, and he fit into the scenery somewhat naturally. The selection of books wasn't any better than any of his previous visits, unfortunately, with its general lack of nonfiction. He pried a romance novel from the shelf instead and stared expressionless at the cover, mind very much elsewhere.

Sakura's words during breakfast had been confusing and, after reading some of the bulletin in between shifts, more than a little troubling. He'd wanted to believe that she'd been acting, but now it looked like that wasn't the case. It was unfortunate, then, that he'd played along with her rather than trying to talk sense (as poorly as that probably would have gone over).

He took the book and sat down to read it, but his interest wasn't there at all. It took him four tries to comprehend the first line because his thoughts kept drifting. Shikamaru had spoken with "Courtney" on the board, but Kakashi might still need to be informed, as would Naruto and... possibly Sasuke. Granted they all weren't the same way.

[for the scarecrow and the deer]

[toobothersome.livejournal.com]

It was rare to find Shikamaru in a library. It wasn't unthinkable--just because something came naturally didn't mean it couldn't be honed--but even if he did need to read something, it was a matter of signing his name on some ledger and finding somewhere less stuffy. Everything was stuffy here, though, and it was an almost malicious stuffiness, as if the room was packed with too much air and none of it had moved in years. He didn't bother to grab a book, or even look at the titles. As much as he wanted to find a place between the shelves where no one could bother him, that wasn't an option. Even if there was no immediate danger, something was wrong with Sakura. Wrong with a large part of the patient population, sure, but he didn't care about them. He needed to talk to the others, and find out if anyone else was affected.

He'd been subtle with Sakura, because he was afraid to alienate her (women were so unpredictable...you never knew what would set them off), but normally he wouldn't waste energy thinking about what to say to Sai, who'd probably give the same flat reply either way. Unfortunately, from what he'd seen on the bulletin, the deluded people seemed to have returned to their imagined former lives. He knew too much about the other boy's false life to tread heavily...if Sai wasn't affected, Shikamaru was almost certain that something inside him wished he was.

So, he'd be the crazy one himself. Shikamaru sat down across from Sai, giving the other ninja only the briefest instant to adjust to the intrusion. "What's my full name and what's the name of my village?" he asked, voice blunt but words carefully chosen. If he believed in the outside world, Sai could view it as a symptom of Shikamaru's insanity rather than a question of Sai's own. If he was actually sane, though, it wouldn't matter either way. A ninja more used to reading people might pick up on the choice of the word 'village' instead of 'town' and save Shikamaru the effort of confirming his own sanity, but whatever. It'd only take a second.

[otnemememento.livejournal.com]

Library, Leonard thought as he was led into the room. Not many people here. Then again, I wouldn't be here myself if I didn't have to be.

He picked a book from the shelf, flipping through it idly before returning it to its place. No point in reading, anyway. I'd never be able to follow the plot. He found an empty spot near one of the shelves, taking a seat on the floor and leaning backward, his head and back against the books. He closed his eyes, enjoying the quiet of the room. He thought better without the distractions caused by the other patients.

[Utena]

[revolutionise]

A little while later, after most of the other patients had already been ushered in, Yomi entered the Library. She had spent the second half of breakfast and a bit of the first part of second shift in the Sun Room thus far. With no chance of scheduled therapy for the day, Yomi had decided to initiate some minor therapy for herself over the board instead. She ended up immensely glad that she did. Even though the people responding to her anonymous posts didn't know what exactly they were advising her about, the effect of their collective support had helped to ease her mind some. She knew that nothing would completely erase the unease until she could visit with Antony again face-to-face, of course. However, she was comforted and encouraged by the idea that maybe - just maybe - she could face the rest of this day without Utena's help.

As she passed through the aisles, a patient caught Yomi's eye: the man from two nights' previous. Or rather, from what she had dreamt about two nights' previous. No doubt at some point during that day, Yomi had been daydreaming and focused on this other patient from a distance, incorporating him seamlessly into her nighttime fantasies without thinking about it. That was exactly how the creation of stories had always worked for her and Julia - characters were drawn from real life models whenever possible, making the fantastic seem that much more attainable.

Now that she had woken up from her week-long daze, she looked at the man - Leonard, was it? - and felt ashamed. She had entwined someone she didn't even know into her delusions without their permission. Even given what she could remember hearing about his memory problem, the principle of the thing still bothered her. I really ought to actually talk to him, even if it's just once.

She chewed her lip for a moment before swallowing a nervous lump and making her approach. "Um, excuse me? Sir?" Yomi asked tentatively.

[meitantei.livejournal.com]

Shinichi had been more than happy to leave The Ninja Previously Known as Yuffie (though he would now forever know her as "that psycho chick who likes to throw her breakfast at unsuspecting detectives") when the intercom signaled the end of the meal. That girl was nuts, and what she said about being 'cured' was really unsettling. Did she really think that walking around claiming to go along with this place's lies would really get her out of this place any sooner? Seemed like a pretty naive plan to him.

The detective was glad to be guided to the library this morning. After his rather unsettling (and greasy, ugh) encounter at breakfast, he just wanted to curl up with a book and relax.

Moving along the stacks, it didn't take him long to find what he was looking for. The Hound of the Baskervilles was his favorite book about his favorite detective by his favorite author. He'd read it so many times that he didn't even need to look at the page to know what it said.

Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night, was seated at the breakfast table. I stood upon the hearth-rug and picked up the stick which our visitor had left behind him the night before. It was a fine, thick piece of wood, bulbous-headed, of the sort which is known as a "Penang lawyer." Just under the head was a broad silver band nearly an inch across. "To James Mortimer, M.R.C.S., from his friends of the C.C.H.," was engraved upon it, with the date "1884." It was just such a stick as the old-fashioned family practitioner used to carry -- dignified, solid, and reassuring.

[The detective who worships Holmes pages the thief who normally worships Lupin.]

[flashyaudacity]

[Worshiping Lupin was half the problem! It gave Kyle terrible ideas... :(]

Breakfast could have gone better. Kyle hadn't gotten to apologize for what he'd really needed to apologize for ("Sorry, Hartwell; I've been lying to you a lot because I thought I was a famous thief, but now it doesn't matter because I realize that I just made the whole thing up; please forgive me?"), and... Well, it just could have gone better.

When his nurse escorted him to the library, Kyle nearly groaned. Of course, the very first person he spotted just had to be the other person he'd lied to repeatedly: Kudou. Or... whatever his name really was. He wasn't actually sure he'd heard it.

His nurse had turned to go, but Kyle stopped her, pointing towards 'Kudou'. "That guy, the one who looks kind of like me... What's his name?" he asked her.

The nurse smiled warmly, obviously taking his interest in the name as a some kind of signal, and shuffled him over towards the other teen before Kyle could protest that no, he didn't particularly want to go over there. "Kyle, you remember Jimmy," she said before picking a book off the shelf and pressing it into Kyle's hands. "You two get along, alright?"

With that, she was gone.

"Uh... hi," Kyle said, turning the book over in his hands. It was something by Dickens, and he was pretty sure he'd read it for school before. At least it wasn't a Lupin story; that would have probably counted as regression.

[mitase.livejournal.com]

By the time he was finished with his conversation at breakfast, the only thing Hanatarou really wanted to do was hide somewhere. Therefore, the option of the library seemed like a perfect one: bookshelves would give him some cover, at the least, and a book might be a distraction. Maybe. He could hope.

There were a couple of other people already present, including Artemis and Haku, and Hanatarou paused for half a second as he wondered if he should stop and say hello to them. But...they both looked like they were busy reading, so he instead went farther back into the shelves. It was quiet back there, and he could pretend he was the only one around as he looked over the rows of books with vague curiosity. He didn't recognize these titles, but maybe there'd still be something he would want to read.

[for the bandmate]

[sitard3d.livejournal.com]

Demyx normally wouldn't have gone to the library; he really wasn't a big reader of anything that wasn't written in the form of sheet music(and, even then, he tended to play his own songs, to which there was no sheet music unless he wrote it himself). However, while he was being guided through the hall, he spotted Hanatarou going in and he'd immediately veered in that direction. It'd been awhile since he'd had the chance to talk to the kid, and since he hadn't seen Matsuda or Ginji in a long time - he was beginning to worry that maybe they weren't around anymore - it was all the more important to touch base with the one bandmate he could keep track of, right?

He had to do a little bit of searching to track Hanatarou down; he was pretty small, and even if the stacks hadn't been in the way, just being surrounded by taller people would've hidden him pretty well. But eventually Demyx spotted him towards the back and trotted down. "Hey!" he said cheerfully, just before the oppressively quiet atmosphere of the library cut in on his blissful obliviousness. Wincing a bit, he modulated his voice down to a loud whisper. "I mean, uh, hey."

[lawful_perfect]

The library?! How in blazes did he arrive here? Though Dr. Fuchs was anything but displeased at this location, he was supposed to have returned to the cafeteria table, just as he had promised Ms. Jackson after excusing himself to use the men's room towards the end of breakfast. He had used the facilities, and then... he couldn't remember exactly what had happened after that.

This was much too disturbing for his liking. If the professor was truly close to release from this wretched asylum, as his nurse had insisted, then why was this happening to him?

Best not to draw attention to it. Should Ms. Jackson question him about this lapse, he would merely tell her that his damned nurse had intercepted him and steered him directly into the library. It was plausible enough as an explanation, anyway.

At any rate, he could not have wound up in a better place to reflect upon everything and to hopefully find something suitable to read. At least it would be the perfect excuse to avoid needless conversation. He pored through the stacks. Hmph. A conspicuous dearth of non-fiction. So much for self-directed study of his condition... or of what legal recourse he had upon his upcoming release from this hospital. But at least there was a wealth of classics. The Socratic Dialogues seemed especially inviting right now. He took the volume from the shelf and sat down at a nearby table to start reading it.

[Kibby~ Also, vK's canonmates are welcome to threadcrash, but otherwise closed]

[bitpartgod.livejournal.com]

Geeze... just when he'd been in a good mood about fixing Sechs up, Franziska had to come along and burst his bubble. The worst part was Kibitoshin knew she was probably right, and on top of it all still wanted to make sure she was okay every day. Was that Stockholm Syndrome? Hmm. Maybe he'd look it up, he decided, trailing his fingers along the self-help section of the library bookshelf...

... and promptly managing a double-take. Th-that man, sitting at the table by himself! Kibitoshin had never been the most observant person in the galaxy, but he'd have to have been struck momentarily blind to miss it. The hair, the eyes, the vaguely superior look of distaste on the man's face... all of which he'd been staring at only a few minutes before across the table in the Cafeteria.

So struck was he that it took the Kaioshin a few moments to remember that staring glassy-eyed at someone probably wasn't such a good idea. Stealth and cunning would be required in this situation; as such, he dived behind a bookshelf. A moment later and with enough stealth and cunning to make a ninja cry (from joy, of course), he peeped out from behind it. Yes! There was no mistaking it now! The man was older, it was true, and, well, male, but the resemblance between him and Franziska was utterly unmissable. Maybe they were related, somehow?

But no. He needed to get a better look first. Slowly, slowly, Kibitoshin eased himself away from the bookcase in a manner that was not at all conspicuous and began to creep towards the man's table.

It was just a shame that someone had managed to leave a far less obvious pile of books on the floor within perfect creeping distance.

Kibitoshin tumbled to the floor with a cry, sliding a little way along the floor before skidding to a halt; if falling over had been an Olympic sport, he'd have earned a perfect ten. Oh, ouch. Opening his eyes, it took a moment for the spinning in his head to let them to refocus- and another moment before the guardian realised he was looking up at none other than the man himself- or, more accurately, his leg. Oops.

In the end, he said the only thing he could think to say: "Hi."

[poolcuemurder.livejournal.com]

Needless to say, breakfast hadn't cheered Venom up.

An introduction had almost left his lips until Nurse appeared to scold him for refusing to eat. He wasn't a child, damn it, he'd be fine... But for that stubbornness, she warned as she dragged him from the unusual company, she wouldn't let him go back to his room and retrieve his journal like he had been planning. Constantly writing down those little ideas of his all day was bad for him, she said.

He hated this woman.

His fingers were twitching at his side by the time he had gotten to the library and sat down. He felt useless. If he wasn't working, what was he doing? Nothing. He was doing nothing and he could have never imagined before how much that could wear him out. He wanted to be working. He wanted to have this figured out already and he wanted to be home. Yes, a home that felt empty, oppressive, and cold, but it was still home, still his only purpose. If he wasn't working, wasn't finding a way to destroy this establishment, he couldn't get closer to that and he would never see the Guild again. It... it hurt.

'I thought you were stronger than that,' He could hear Master Zato's voice in his head (at least, he thought it was his. It felt like it had been years since he'd last heard it, the tones of that thing having infected and tarnished the memory, and now he couldn't be sure if that had been how he actually sounded or not. It was becoming static, generic, the more time went on), calm and soothing and forgiving. 'You can keep your chin up a little while longer for my sake, can't you?'

He could. He had to. Even if there were nothing useful on these shelves (as he was quickly finding to be the case as soon as he got up and started to look through them), he was doing something. It was better than the alternative.

[This is Brotha. Come in, Boobies and Brows. Come in, Boobies and Brows, Brotha is waiting for you.]

[constellates.livejournal.com]

Well, unlike her dark-skinned brother in bookitude, breakfast had cheered Alkaid up. She hadn't seen Badou in a day or so, and so seeing him again had lightened her mood enough. The possibility of going to the library psyched her way out. She could spend all day in here if she had the chance! And the other day she hadn't gotten to be in here enough, so... yes! Even though Badou had called her a kid - jailbait, even (ugh, she still hated that stupid term, even if it was technically some kind of twisted compliment) - she could be happy with how things had turned out.

She started picking books at seeming random, eventually holding a tall stack of them in her arms, which she found herself carrying with surprising ease. That was when she spotted Venom. He'd checked up on her on the bulletin board earlier. That had kind of reassured her for some weird reason. Venom was a lot of fun in a weird, stilted, black-guy-with-white-hair-in-front-of-his-face way.

"Oh, hey, Venom!" Alkaid's voice was sunny. "The library's the best place to-"

And then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a small child - a painfully familiar little boy. In fact, the one that'd been standing right behind her last night, the one with the cat - the one that had been so connected, somehow, with that strange tightening in her chest last night, and what could have been a major Bad End if Haseo and Endrance hadn't come to get her...

...anyway, all the books came tumbling out of her arms and onto the floor. She looked back up, clearly quite spooked, and the child had disappeared.

[godforsaken]

By the time his nurse escorted him away the intercom came to life, signaling the end of breakfast and the beginning of their next shift. Stephen didn't mind that he wasn't able to eat his food; he doubted that he would've been able to keep it down anyway. The teen knew he had to eat eventually, however, so lunch was as good of an option as any. For now his nurse offered to take him to the library, something he consented to quite happily.

Holding an icepack gingerly against his black eye, Stephen absentmindedly wandered through the rows of books, carefully scanning each title in hopes of finding something interesting. Should he broaden his horizons and try something new? Or would it be better to enjoy an old favorite? However, none of that mattered the moment caught sight of a rather worn out looking copy of the Bible. Before he knew he'd already pulled the book off the shelf, carefully examining the cover before smiling.

When was the last time he'd even opened one of these? It'd certainly been a while, that was for sure. Stephen was overcome with a flood of warm memories, holding the book close while he looked for a spot to sit. Fortunately, it hadn't taken long to find an empty table, quickly situating himself into one of the seats before flipping open the book.

[For Lindahlia. 8|b]

[dahliahasthorns.livejournal.com]

That was... interesting. So she didn't eat any breakfast and, because of that, didn't take any of the aspirin Geffy got for her, which in turn made her feel horrible. In both a "I feel like I just used someone for nothing again" way and a "wow, I really do have a headache" kind of way.

The first day she feels like herself in years and she already hates it. At least when she thought she was Dahlia she didn't constantly feel like a bag of smashed ass.

"Linda, you should have eaten something..." Nurse S. was pouting at her something fierce as they walked, but Linda didn't listen. She had to say some of that fuzz from when she woke up was clearing. She still felt... not okay. Kinda gross and, again, headachey, but she didn't feel too insane.

...at least, she thought she didn't. Apparently she wasn't all there enough to notice she got led to the library. Or was that just from the headache taking her attention? ...Whatever. Books were good. Reading was nice. Unless her subconscious decided her life sucked and stole ideas from them and claimed they were her own. So maybe she shouldn't read. But sitting down was still good! Yes. Seats. There were other crazy people sitting around, ones she could potentially sit by, but one in particular caught her attention.

"Sy- ...um." Shit, she didn't know his name. His real name, anyway. Not that it mattered. Looking at him made her want to run away until she knew those dreams were... just dreams. But she had to face him. She had to face the facts. "...Hi."

If he were crazy, then she could run. But at least she tried.

[piggy-king.livejournal.com]

Before Porky had even realized what had happened, his nurse had already escorted him from the cafeteria straight to the library. Porky had no idea why she would have dumped him here. Was it because he was old? Did "old" equal "likes books" or something to her? What's more, she positioned herself right in front of the exit, sealing off any possibility of escape. Had Porky been a bit...uh, a lot younger, he might have been able to make a break for it, but there was no chance in his current condition.

Grumbling, Porky walked off to find something that wouldn't be completely mind-numbing to read. It wasn't likely that he would find anything remotely entertaining, but hey, what else was he gonna do? At the very least, he could get a really thick book and look like a brainiac in front of the other patients. Plus, there was the chance that the book Porky chose would be interesting. In the end, it was actually a win-win situation, wasn't it?

After a few minutes of searching, Porky finally settled on a book called The Divine Comedy by some guy who had a name that Porky wasn't even going to try to pronounce. He found a nice, comfy chair and sat down to read. Within moments, Porky was giggling madly. Divine Comedy had been a huge understatement. This book was a riot!

[For Scott Pilgrim]

[vstheworld]

The Library hadn't been Scott's first choice, but it was better than staying in the boring old Sun Room. And who knew? Maybe he would find a useful book or something. He'd heard good things about How to Dig Out of a Mental Hospital With Your Teeth.

Sadly, the selection at Landel's seemed to be lacking. No comic books, no useful-looking non-fiction, and no switches for secret passageways. Bummer. With nothing better to do, Scott grabbed the first small-ish book he could find - The Jungle Book - and headed over to the tables.

To his chagrin, the only spot available was across from a very, very fat man with an annoying laugh and skin that looked like it had seen better days. Here's hoping for no old man smell, thought Scott as he sat down. Before he could get started reading, however, he noticed something about the man's face that looked incredibly familiar. Probably another character he knew, he thought with some excitement. Maybe this didn't have to be a painful place to sit after all! Now who did he know that was this fat, with hair over his eyes and a maniacal grin . . .

A rockingly familiar 16-bit tune started playing in his head. Waaaaait a minute.

"POKEY?" Scott suddenly exclaimed without thinking, eyes wide with disbelief.

[dasgift.livejournal.com]

Majority of Kristoph Gavin's time the night before had been spent in careful and perfectly precise deliberation. Of course, much of that was done in the comforting throes of sleep, but the man had managed to sort out a few problematic areas of his life. One for his brother, two for his foes, and three... Three for that sudden pique in interest over bulletin censorship.

'Trolling' had suddenly risen to the level of artful dodging. Kristoph was unsure on how to feel regarding being more cryptic with his audience. Perhaps he could throw in a few Tennessee Williams quotes. No one found him delightful.

With those thoughts in mind, Kristoph settled into a corner of the library, a book open on his lap. He seemed hardly attentive to the words, however, and instead kept watch on the entering patrons.

[Closed to a stalker.]

[rocksthecourt]

[ 8) ]

It was amazing to think he'd ever thought the head doctor guy was creepy or anything. The guy was so obviously sincere in his dedication to making everyone better. He'd said he was 'proud' of everyone and their progress, a phrase David was all too happy to eat up immediately. Even his nurse seemed to reiterate similar sentiments as she escorted him from the cafeteria. David had to admit it really did make him feel proud despite feeling like he was rediscovering himself all over again. It kind of made the transition easier, which he guessed was the point.

Needless to say, he was in high spirits as he entered the library. For the first time, he really felt like he was on the right track. His attention, however, slipped away from thoughts of good behavior and quiet time in the library when he noticed Kri- er, Bruno looking his way. Had he been... waiting for him? The thought made him feel extremely happy. Here he figured since Bruno usually went along with his delusions, he might be a little sour or something. How wrong he was!

David beamed a bright smile in Bruno's direction, raising a hand in brief greeting, before walking straight over. "Hey! How're you feeling this morning?"

[its-the-mileage.livejournal.com]

A look at the bulletin board confirmed Indy's suspicions: sounded like Calvin's "recovery" owed a lot more to Landel's brainwashing than any sudden therapeutic breakthroughs. Not that Indy was convinced that Keman really was a magical dragon or any of the rest of that hokum--the kid still seemed at least a little cracked, any way you looked at it. But even if the whole thing was hokum, it obviously made Keman happy (not to mention infinitely more tolerable), and Indy found he didn't like the thought of those beliefs being ripped away by force. It struck a nerve somehow. As an archaeologist, he ran across plenty of people who believed in things that didn't even begin to fit with his worldview, everything from ancient gods to aliens to psychic powers. As long as they weren't hurting anyone, you left them alone, tried to respect what they had to say with a straight face. Studied them--maybe; educated them--maybe. But not this. Even if Landel (the bastard) genuinely thought he was right, conversion didn't mean anything at sword-point.

Besides, a small voice at the back of Indy's mind told him, there was always a tiny chance that dragon stuff might be real.

Maybe he should go to Richter's little party tonight. Indy found a chair in the library and picked up a book to thumb through while he thought--the Odyssey. He'd never seen this translation before, but it wasn't bad.

[closed to Heiji]

[osakapwnzu.livejournal.com]

Fuck. Holy just... fuck.

Heiji was led, dazed, into the Library after posting frantically on the board. They'd got Kaito. The bastards had got Kaito somehow. Heiji couldn't even form a complete, rational thought he was so angry. And now Nursey McBitchkins was expecting him to read? No no no, he was ready to commit murder no jury would convict him for. He was practically blind he was so angry.

He calmed down a little when he saw Dr. Jones sitting and reading. Damn, he and Shinichi had really let Ryuuzaki have it in the morgue--must've been awkward for Jones to listen to that... And it was something to do while he was thinking about what they could do about Kaito.

"Hey," he said, approaching the man and waving awkwardly. "Erm... sorry you had to see that last night. Kudou and I are kinda proud of what we do and don't particularly like it when people tell us we're doing it wrong."

[no-ones-son.livejournal.com]

Talking with Two-Face had gone better than he'd expected. And when his nurse came for him after breakfast she commented on how pleased she was that he'd resolved his problem with 'Aaron' without a fight. Jason forced himself to smile at her and spout off some bullshit about realising he needed to try talking through his problems with others before quickly ditching her at the door to the library.

He'd never been the type to sit and read much, even more since he came back - no time for sitting around reading when he could be out living. But the Sun Room got old fast and he had a better chance of finding Bruce or Alfred here.

Jason wandered over to the shelves, idly looking over the titles of the books. This place couldn't compare to the library in the manor, filled with books on every topic he'd ever heard of as well as all of Bruce's collection of old, expensive first editions. He smiled faintly, remembering afternoons spent there talking about school or a case; watching Bruce get a new book for his collection or just sitting reading while Jason did his homework....

Fists clenching Jason sharply turned away from the shelves to scan the other people entering the room. He didn't feel like reading.

[Free]

[no-barbarian.livejournal.com]

Breakfast had been...stressful. He knew he'd met that guy before, but he didn't remember him being that spooky. Todd had been genuinely worried for his safety for a moment. Of course, he'd probably confused the poor guy without meaning to, but there was no excuse for violence.

Todd's enthusiasm for the library fizzled out and died about the time he realized that it was all fiction. Not that he had anything against novels, but most of it looked to be stuff he'd either already read or had no interest in. And here he'd been hoping to find something on archaeology, even if it was only some fluffy pop-science thing.

Oh well.

Seeing another man in a similar situation, Todd took a moment to muster up his courage and say something. "You can't find anything good either?" There. Tamara would have been so proud.

[quickdrawbkiddo.livejournal.com]

[closed to Schuldig]

Beatrix browsed the shelves in the library, waiting for a certain redheaded man to show up. She hadn't actually made any plans with Schuldig, but she was in a very good mood thanks to Ophelia's demise and she was in the mood to celebrate. Or, at the very least, enjoy her company.

As it was, she'd spent her breakfast alone, casually letting thoughts of Schuldig rest on the surface of her mind, mainly the wish to see him again. She figured that would get him to show.

[k4t4str0ph4l.livejournal.com]

"You were right."

There weren't many people who wanted to see Schuldig at any given time; besides his employers, who only half-trusted him at any rate, and Schwarz, who went without saying, there had been hardly anyone who'd ever want to look up to see Schuldig smirking at them...until he'd found himself in the institute, actually. Strange how that worked, but common enemies were a marvelous thing. That, and compared to Martin Landel, even someone like him could look - well, if not good, then at least tolerable in comparison.

"So," he said, running fingers idly across the spines of books as he closed the distance between them, "I know you wanted to see me, but you didn't really elaborate on why. Care to enlighten me?"

[mugenreppa.livejournal.com]

Mele threw the book the nurse had insisted on pressing into her hand onto the table. Lightly; she didn't want the nurse hearing and coming back.

It was Paradise Lost. Mele had only glanced at the title, and decided that the nurse was just plain evil. A book about the devil, how appropriate when Yomi had forced Mele into thinking about Long just a few minutes ago—

...Wait. Mele shouldn't know what Paradise Lost was about.

Airi stared at the book for two minutes before reaching out, turning it over so only its back was visible, and then reclining back onto her seat.

[thatdamnedninja.livejournal.com]

Hanna shot a look of pure teenage derision at her nurse, before reluctantly selecting a book and wandering off. There wasn't a whole lot that she was interested in. Books about real crime were her kind of thing, or old Japanese folk tales, or, hell, even a really well written mystery novel; all these old classics were boring. Stuffy. Way uncool. Not that being 'cool' was her priority, either. It was just — why couldn’t she have gone to the sun room?!

What a bummer. She looked around for someplace to sit, half tempted to find a nice corner to build a fort in. That'd teach Plucky to force her into a library! Except, just as she was about to turn a corner, something—somebody—caught her eye. A chick. Why did she look so familiar? It was kinda disconcerting, like that déjà vu thing that people talked about; she stared at the woman hard, trying to make it click.

It didn't. Weird.

Shaking her head, the girl squared her shoulders and bounced right on over. "Don’t I know you from somewhere?" she questioned, nervous for some reason she couldn't quite fathom. Lingering tension from her argument with Kenshin, maybe? Could be...

[kingside]

Brendan had never been to the patient library, and since that was on the schedule anyway, he decided to head there instead of the more general option of the Sun Room. Books were a far more intriguing option than the bulletin anyway, and it had been awhile since he'd picked one up. Besides, Spike knew him well enough to know to search here instead of there, so where didn't seem to be any harm in it.

He spent some time browsing the shelves before making his selection, lingering for a moment over The Complete Works of William Shakespeare before settling on Paradise Lost. He was a little tempted to reread The Lord of the Rings, but since this library didn't seem to have it-- damn. Maybe there was some place he could put in a suggestion for new books they could buy...?

Selection made, he went to find a seat at one of the tables, casting a brief glance over the rest of the room to see if Spike had arrived yet before turning his attention to his book.

"Of Man's first disobedience and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree whose first taste
Brought death into the world and all of our woe..."

[For Spike. ♥♥♥]

[timeseal.livejournal.com]

Getting a second round of breakfast was actually a bad idea - Spike waited a little too long and was still halfway through his plate by the time breakfast shift ended. The nurse was nice and waited for him to get a few mouthfuls down, but she scolded his efforts to shove the food down his mouth in record time.

Granted, he was regretting it now as nausea overtook him from both eating like a pig (he couldn't help it, he was hungry... And he was a damn stick! Was he always this skinny?) and wondering what Brendan wanted. Oh, Spike was happy, delighted even, that Brendan wanted to talk to him, but he was still nervous from yesterday. Brendan said he wasn't mad, but...

No, he had to trust his friend. So Spike couldn't help but smile when he saw Brendan sitting at a table in the library. He had a feeling Brendan would be here.

"Hey," Spike called out to him, taking a seat across from Brendan. He ... he didn't look as bad as he did yesterday, which was good. No, he shouldn't worry about that. Brendan said it was fine, they were confused, and today was gonna be much, much better.

"What're you reading?" There were actually a million things that Spike wanted to ask Brendan, but he settled on something normal. They haven't had a normal talk in awhile.

[windstwilight.livejournal.com]

Talking with Hokuto had just increased Sarah's anxiety. Why had she even tried that? Why wasn't she just continuing the game? She could just pretend to be Senna all day, and even something weird was noticed, she could just say that she didn't feel good or something. She hadn't needed to say anything! But she had wanted to. Some kind of weird and fierce hope wanted Senna's friends to like Sarah as well, even though she knew... That things didn't work like that. Give it some time, and she'd wake up as Senna again like this had never happened, and the more she spoke as Sarah during this, the more problems she would cause. Senna had a decent existence, despite her backstory, and Sarah...

--Envied her entirely. Senna was even killed off, and still she had it good. How fair was that? And she didn't even know what she had! All these people that cared about her... Sure! She cared, too, and understood that, but Senna didn't know how lucky she was to have people that cared about her, accepted her, and Sarah wanted that. And didn't want that. She felt like she wasn't good enough like this, to tread where Senna had.

Senna kept to the sun room usually, Sarah remembered. So instead, she followed the nurse to the library. She needed some time to sort her head, and the less people she had to deal with, the better.

[for Momo.]

[hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com]

[Short conversation between Momo and Hokuto prior to this will be done in Sun Room as soon as Clover gets online. Hope this is ok since we already know what that thread will consist of.]

When Senna wasn't found in the Sun Room, Momo headed into the library. Spotting the girl wasn't hard, as the room wasn't very full yet, but Momo did not immediately approach. She observed the girl from a distance, appearing to be looking at the books on the shelf next to her. Hokuto had given her the heads up, of which she was grateful. It was clear to the shinigami that Hokuto hadn't known how to handle this unique situation and, to be honest, Momo wasn't too sure either.

Just to be sure, before she delved into the mystery of Sarah, Momo carefully pulled the girl's spirit threads into focus. If there had been any manipulation done on a spiritual level, she should be able to tell. A moment later and she let them drift back out of focus, mildly irritated by the headache it gave her. At least she was content in her knowledge that, despite what the girl said, Senna was still Senna. The other shinigami's threads were just as red as her own or any other shinigami's, for that matter. It was just the texture that was different, as it had been before, which Momo attributed to the shinenju.

Pulling Alice in Wonderland off the shelf, Momo opened the book and leafed through it. As she did, she drew up alongside Senna, having decided on her approach to the matter at hand. When she spoke, her words were soft and quiet, and her attention seemed to be on the book even though she was paying far more attention to the younger shinigami than the book.

"Books are amazing things, aren't they?"

[winged_moon]

The selection of books in this library was, quite simply, appalling. Apparently whoever had chosen them went for some of the most tedious or unpleasant options available, and Yue dismissed the shelves of tawdry romance trash with a disdainful sniff before moving on down the row. At least they had Shakespeare, though. Some of the books were respectable, but they were far outnumbered.

One of the books in this area had opened the door the other night, and the guardian hesitated, brushing his fingertips along the spines. Which one was it? He still wasn't certain, and was halfway tempted to start pulling them from the shelf - but likely they would do nothing during the day. Nothing here was the same at night; why would they make things easy and allow their "patients" to investigate something in the daylight that would be helpful at night?

He folded his arms across his chest and considered, absently tapping his fingers as he frowned at the unoffending books. Perhaps he ought to just pick one out and take advantage of the chance to sit and read.

[for a linguistics discussion]

[tartaros-avatar.livejournal.com]

Recluse had no objections to being led to a quieter, less blinding area of the institute than the Sun Room. On the way, he checked the various notices he had posted. There were now seventeen confirmed individuals who were reporting 'sanity'. He'd have to post another message tomorrow. If this was permanent, or more responded, then it would be enough of a worrying trend to abandon his act of civility and caring for others around Marcus in favor of advocating a more direct approach.

He was led to the library, ignoring the selection of books they had and looking for the person he was supposed to meet. He found someone who fit the description fairly quickly, approaching with a neutral, mostly benevolent expression on his face. Gods, he was getting so tired of acting helpful.

"Are you Yue?"

[adorkabledragon.livejournal.com]

Calvin had always loved to read. It was relaxing. He read practically anything he could get his hands on back home (even, embarrassingly enough, his little sister's Babysitter's Club books), and here it was no exception.

He vaguely remembered having been working his way through The Complete Works of William Shakespeare earlier this week, and the thought of continuing the project was actually an appealing one. Apparently even crazy people could appreciate the wit and wisdom of the Bard of Avon. Or...whatever.

[for Howl!]

[slipperymagic.livejournal.com]

Someone collapsed into the chair nearest to where the teenage boy was. The man sighed heavily, and though he would have liked to have waited for Keman to independently notice the obvious stress and strain he was under, he simply wasn't feeling patient enough for that. Howl didn't even know what to call Ryuuzaki anymore, and the conversation they had was still weighing him down. His frustration over his imprisonment came in waves, and he could feel the tide coming in once more. It was reassuring at least to see Keman, and he looked forward to being able to complain thoroughly about Ryuuzaki's incomprehensible (and, yes, worrying) behavior.

"Keman," he began, both inquisitive and exceptionally, dramatically tired. He paused for a meaningful second to fix his hair. "You spoke to Ryuuzaki the other day, didn't you? Was he behaving... differently?"

[sir-savien.livejournal.com]

Kvothe picked a book almost at random as he was ushered into the library and took a seat. He glanced around at the few people who were already in the room, but didn't see any sign of Alvin, who he'd met at breakfast the day before. If he was still himself, and not somehow brainwashed into thinking he really was whoever the nurses claimed. The few moments he'd spent looking over the bulletin board had been deeply concerning, he was just glad that he was still in his right mind. He opened the book as he waited, and was soon absorbed in Faust.

[For Tim?]

[thirdboywonder.livejournal.com]

Tim allowed the nurse to lead him to the library, figuring he'd yet to go in there. Something weird was apparently going on, though he hadn't been personally exposed to it. According to the Supervillain guy on the board, people were convinced that this bull that the staff here was shoving down their throats was true, and that they were delusional.

The supervillain guy had also inadvertently answered his question about why the nurses all called him Tim instead of whatever made up name. The fact that they were aware of the secret identity had him wound tighter than he had been before, however. He wondered if they referred to Bruce as Bruce.

Batman hadn't replied to what he'd written on the board. Someone else had, but it was probably just that Bruce hadn't used the Matches Malone alias in his world. It was hard to get his head around that, but he figured he had to get used to it. Even if Bruce had seemed the same, he wasn't.

As the nurse wandered off, Tim shook himself out of that funk enough to remember he was supposed to talk with Kvothe again. He wasn't on his game; whatever he'd been going to ask the other boy now eluded him. Oh well. Conversation would be welcome.

As luck would have it, he found the familiar face in the library. Well, that was creepy. Convenient, but creepy, like the nurse somehow knew. Ignoring what that implied, he forced his face into something close to a smile and walked up to the other boy.

"Faust, huh? That's some deep reading there," he said, checking the cover of the book Kvothe was reading.

[chainsaw-royal.livejournal.com]

Hime's head hurt.

Last night had been... troublesome. There had been no quantifiable gains made from that expedition, though there had been some modicum of information gained. Hardly worth that... experience she'd gone through.

So it was that only had the flattest of expression to present her nurse with when the woman came to get her. And it seemed she had missed breakfast. The way her head was aching, she could have stood waiting until lunch. Reluctantly, though, the Royal left her bed and bedroom and headed out to the rest of the restless population.

Eventually she found herself in the Library, curious as to what was available. It seemed most of it was fiction, but towards the bottom of a shelf she found something of interest: the Lesser Key of Solomon. It had been a while since she'd seen the book. Picking it up, she headed over to a chair and sat down to begin reading.

[Free[

[dualistic]

Up until now, it seemed that Harvey had avoided the library, but at the moment it didn't seem like a terrible idea to sit down with a book. Then again, he could already guess that there wouldn't be much of interest around. While the man had always been an avid reader, that was always with non-fiction. He was practical enough that he preferred to read things that were going to give him real life knowledge.

As expected, anything like that was nowhere to be found in the room. It would have been nice to let himself get caught up in a bunch of technical details so that he could forget about the institute and its patients and the failure of last night, if only for a half hour or so, and yet he wasn't even allowed that.

Scoffing to himself, he pulled The Divine Comedy off of a shelf and then found a place to sit. Another patient was seated there - a young woman - and yet he imagined that she would leave him alone, seeing how she was preoccupied.

That was how libraries were supposed to work, at least.

[darwinism]

If Zachary had thought that being honest with someone would make him feel a little less terrible about his past deeds, he'd been wrong. Matthew hadn't been a bad guy, and at least he'd been aware enough of his own delusions that "Sylar" wouldn't have had any effect on him if he'd started in on his mind games, but Zachary found it hard to overlook the sudden, painful coincidence of Ethan Campbell being his roommate.

Or, as Matthew had called him, Peter Petrelli. Zachary shuddered at the thought about that – about how even if he himself regained a tentative hold on his sanity, Ethan might not be so lucky. For a split second, he wondered if it'd be better to let himself stay stuck in his delusions rather than survive it all while his victim continued to suffer the consequences, but then he realized... that was just his cowardice talking. The same inability to face his fears that had gotten him here in the first place.

He briefly stopped at the bulletin board, leaving a note that he wasn't sure if he'd regret later. He needed time to think, and maybe he'd find a solution for that in the library.

Trying to escape again, a part of him said, but he pushed it away in a moment of indulgence. He started to browse the spines of the books on the shelves, though he wasn't sure what he was looking for.

[ For Wally; limit: 2. ]

[scarletspeedstr.livejournal.com]

[time warping after thread with Rorschach. Let's do the time warp agaaaaiiin~]

Nope, Wally hadn't been wrong; it really had been Zack he'd glimpsed ducking through the door into the library. Which was good, since it would have been really awkward to go chasing off after a complete stranger.

"Zack!" he yelled as he started to get closer, only to be shushed pointedly by a nurse. Geez, so even the patient library had to be more quiet like a public one now?

"Sorry," he said sheepishly, then dodged past her into the room. There were a surprising amount of other patients there, so it took him a bit longer than he liked to find the other man, but at least he did find him.

"Zack," he said again now that he was closer. "Hey, I was hoping to see you again. Feeling better after yesterday?"

[oldestremnant.livejournal.com]

A library? Loz had never been in a library before. Come to think of it, Loz had also never really sat down and seriously read anything before. Searching for Mother had been a full-time duty, after all. But maybe reading would be fun.

The Remnant walked along the shelves curiously, looking at the selection of books available. Still curious, he picked up a book called The Stand and opened it. Loz read a page and a half before deciding the book was too much for him. He picked out another thick one and tried to read it, but ended up putting it back. He then decided to avoid the thick books. They were too difficult to read. Still, Loz didn't give up that easily. He wanted something to do before lunch, and sitting around the sun room was boring.

Loz skimmed the shelf for a while longer, grabbing whatever he thought sounded neat and not too difficult to read.

Once he felt that he had enough books, Loz found a seat and opened a book labeled Fairy Tales. Ah, now this was what he was talking about. Short and easy to read. Loz's only regret was that the book didn't have any pictures.

[Free]

[heraldric.livejournal.com]

Leon was disappointed that he'd slept through breakfast, even if he had needed the extra rest. It meant he'd have to wait until lunch to get food, and thus more quickly regain his energy. He was still exhausted and rubbing at his eyes when he was led into the library. From previous visits he already knew most of the literature here wasn't worth his time, so his perusal of the shelves was short lived. He simply grabbed the thickest book he saw at first glance and went about finding a spot to sit down. As long as he appeared to be occupied, the nurses shouldn't bother him.

The young mage caught sight of Loz and his pile of books and raised an eyebrow. It was an interesting selection for someone who should have been at least twice his age, but he knew not everyone had been gifted with the same level of intelligence. If just for the contrast, he flopped down on the floor next to the man's chair.

There was something familiar about him as well, now that he got closer, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

[madeinthehrl]

Maria left breakfast feeling a little worried. It was good to hear that a lot of people were all beginning to recover at last, but it didn't seem like Rey was one of those people. He'd sounded skeptical about her, about the nurses--about everything, really, and that bothered her. It was true that it wasn't his fault--Soma wouldn't have believed her either--but she still wanted to help somehow. If only she didn't feel like that would have been intruding.

She followed her nurse out of the cafeteria, checking the bulletin board on her way out. At least Mr. Davids was willing to meet with her. To tell the truth, she'd been a little scared that he might not want to talk to her ever again after what had happened. She hoped he'd understand.

But, she told herself firmly, there was no use in worrying about it. That could wait until later. Picking up Anne of Green Gables--it had always been a particular favorite of hers--Maria seated herself in a chair and began to read.

[Free!]

[liveforthispart.livejournal.com]

The library? Kanji almost never went into these things. In fact, the only time he could recall going into one were the one or two times Senpai took him there to help him study for exams (ie. help teach him everything). He wasn't much of a reader, really, and he didn't feel like there was any time to be sitting around doing nothing. His nurse, on the other hand, didn't seem to agree. In fact it wasn't enough that she had to drag him all the way over here, but she had to go and whine the whole time, too. Something about him needing to talk to more people or some crap. He wasn't really paying attention. Damn, could she freaking nag. Even Ma had never been this bad back home. He was actually happy when they got there since it meant she'd finally shut that yap of hers.

That only lasted maybe a minute tops. Kanji soon found himself blankly staring at the shelves of books, looking absolutely lost. What exactly was he supposed to be doing in here anyway? This was such bullshit. Still, he figured he should at least look like he was busy so the nurses would leave him alone long enough to figure something out. He wandered around the room slowly, acting like he was browsing.

Apparently he wasn't paying very close attention and ended up bumping into a chair (see also: practically walking into it). He jerked back reflexively and turned to face the person sitting in it almost accusingly. Then he froze. A girl. Who'd just been sitting there with a book. Son of a-- "Crap. Uh, sorry."

He didn't seem too happy about the apology.

[human-sponge.livejournal.com]

It wasn't exactly rare for Peter to make his way from one shift to another in something of a daze, and that was definitely the case this time. It had been like running into a brick wall whenever he'd tried to get much information out of Depth Charge, and yet it had at least been made painfully obvious that the man wasn't faking or playing some sort of practical joke.

Come to think of it, hadn't the Head Doctor made it sound like there were going to be leaps and bounds made in the patients' "progress" today? Maybe that was that this was all about...

Or maybe Depth Charge just hadn't been sane to start with. Peter was willing to bet on the former, though. He brushed his hair back as he wandered through the aisles of books. He didn't really think he had the amount of focus needed to read much of anything at the moment, and so it wasn't long before he gave up and found a quiet, empty table where he could sit.

If his theory was right and this was yet another institute plot, then why was it only affecting certain people? He still felt like Peter Petrelli, so...

Suddenly, he felt out of place as he wondered how many of the patients around him still had any proper idea of who they were.

[aleaderwillrise.livejournal.com]

Breakfast had been uneventful, really. Harrison had eaten and moved on with his nurse to the new shift with no complaints. She chattered on as usual about this and that and how pleasant he was today, and he offered his usual small responses - enough that he couldn't be accused of ignoring her, but not exactly enough to be really contributing to the conversation she was making. Still, she didn't seem to mind. Maybe she was used to it.

The nurse led him towards the library, and he moved in, considering briefly if he wanted to read, and if so, what. His thoughts were shaken when he saw Ethan sitting alone at a small table across the room, though. He idly fiddled with the ring on his finger, moving it back and forth on his finger as he crossed the room. He'd been told that Ethan was bad for him, but Harrison had to take care of him. That was just how it went.

Seating himself at the table, he nodded to his younger brother, resting arms on the table top.

"Hey," he said. "Did you sleep well?" He was fishing for topics, he knew, but it was better than saying nothing. He was a politician - or at least, he'd been trying to be. Conversation was supposed to come naturally to him, wasn't it? And yet, somehow, with Ethan, things were always different.