damned_institute | Day 46: Sun Room

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Day 46: Sun Room

Peter woke up suddenly, his body twisting in the bed and then forcing him to catch his breath in pain. Pain, which was coming from his middle because of the thing that had scratched him last night, and after that...

After that, Zach had jumped in front of him like some kind of martyr, like the exact opposite of everything Sylar stood for, to take the next hit for him. It got pretty fuzzy after that, so night must have ended right around then.

The man let out a pained grunt as he straightened himself up in bed. For some reason, he got the feeling that he'd slept in. There was no way for him to really tell without a window in the room, but he just knew. The fact that Sam's bed looked long since vacated was another clue.

Sam, but was he Sam again? Had the brainwashing worn off, as he and Roland had hoped, or was he going to have to go through this nightmare for even longer? He didn't know how long he could handle "Zach" and "Harrison" before he started going batty himself.

Pulling himself out of bed, Peter lifted his shirt and saw that he was tightly bandaged. The scratch most likely wasn't nearly as bad as the bite that "Zach" had received, but it still smarted. He let his shirt fall and then had to deal with a nurse chiding him for sleeping through the morning announcements. Not that Peter really cared at the moment. He was too busy thinking about last night and the fact that in a way, he now owed something to Sylar. Except it hadn't been Sylar. That was something he was sure of now.

Lost in his thoughts, Peter reached the Sun Room right as the rest of the patient populace was trickling in from breakfast. Sighing to himself, he headed over to the bulletin board and then saw a note written in familiar yet unpleasant handwriting. Holding his pen in a vice grip, Peter scribbled out a reply and then stalked over to an armchair and fell into it with a huff.

While Sylar was maddeningly frustrating, there was one good thing about the fact that he was himself again. It meant that Nathan was too.

[For Spock!]

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Technically, Sam hadn't answered Teresa's question, but his response was close enough that she would accept it.

"That's alright," she replied. "Yesterday I didn't care what your name was given your protestations. I am Teresa." She then gave a bit of a chuckle. "And I doubt you will find anyone else that will be able to tell."

Her silver eyes met Sam's. "Tell me, Sam, when you look at me and focus specifically on me, do you sense anything you are not accustomed to when around others?"

"I admit, you got tossed an easy problem to start with," said the mathematician with a depreciative shrug. If the little orange ball of convex angles wanted to demean the game, it was no skin off Sho's back substitution. He wasn't the one running the show... though whether knew that or not was another question.

"Maybe tonight you'll get thrown something a little more advanced, like those necropascals we had on Saturday," he said, chuckling. "We'll see how you like that level of Noise if they turn up the decibels. Hope you got a good partner, Player, 'cause I can't see you makin' it on your own."

That had probably been a weird way to greet him, but he'd barely allowed himself to believe that Guy had actually come back until now. Running into him in the light of day like this was not only a huge relief, but a shock in of itself. He wouldn't have thought that Landel would just give someone back right after taking them away. But maybe it was better not to look a gift horse in the mouth, and to just accept this for what it was.

It honestly wasn't any stranger than some of the things he'd seen before coming here.

Softly exhaling, he closed the gap between himself and Guy and settled down close beside him. As he did so, he couldn't help but study his friend's face for a moment, taking note of details like the healthy color in his face, and the vaguely embarrassed smile. Even though he still looked like he was in pain, it was such a far cry from the horrific scene that he'd witnessed in the coliseum. All of that seemed so far away now, as if it had been nothing but a passing nightmare.

Less than a day ago he'd thought he'd never get a chance to even hear Guy's voice again, much less sit next to him like this. He was at a loss of what to say, especially when he felt moisture sting at his eyes. Shaking his head a little, he hastily rubbed at them.

"I'm sorry," he said with a faint smile. "When I saw you last night, I didn't really believe it was you. That's why I didn't give you a warmer greeting. Can you forgive me?"

Abe nearly walked right into Edward before he snapped back to himself and skittered a few steps backward. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said hurriedly. "I didn't see you there, I really didn't mean to do that."

A person, new person, someone who knew nothing about him and was prime territory for Abe to humiliate himself in front of. He'd wrung out his tension last night through combat and exploration, now his newfound social anxiety was coming back like a Right Hand of Doom to the face. Okay. Right, He'd do this the right way without any intrusive psychic activity.

Abe snatched his hands to his chest and stood up straight, failing miserably at not looking nervous. "I'm Abe, hello, and you are?"

Though Neku was pretty sure Sho wasn't the GM for the week, he sure did enjoy sticking around and bothering Players. He wished there was something aside from a slow salsa remix of songs from the 60's to listen to so he could at least make an attempt to zone the Reaper out, but no such luck.

"I think you've got the same odds I do," he said with a shrug, letting Sho's comments roll off his back. Whatever a necropascal was, he didn't want any part of it until he got a hold of some decent pins and a partner, but he wasn't going to admit that to the Grim Heaper.

"You think I can't find a partner? I didn't have any trouble for three weeks in a row back in the other game. It's not like it'll be that much harder here." Okay, so that was a complete bluff. But Sho didn't have to know that.

At that, Peter did smile. If only because there was no such thing as a teenage boy who didn't find communal bathing awkward. (He'd heard it was pretty common in other countries though. Maybe that was just the West being all 'Ew, naked cooties' again.) "Okay, now that is just a freaky coincidence because that was when I first saw Kurt sans the fuzz. In the shower. Does he have his own Bat Signal or something?"

The news about Kurt worrying about having to kill something made his stomach sink even further. He couldn't help but feel just a teensy bit responsible for that, considering how things in Doyleton had went. But Kurt had been virtually barbecued a couple days before, so maybe whatever had done that to him was what set it off.

Regardless, Alex had a point. There were a lot of people here, heroes in their own right, but there were still enough that had no means to defend themselves. He had a hard time picturing someone like Miku beating things to death with a pipe. And that ten year old kid from the other night. Ten freaking years old. It was tempting to hurl at the thought of someone that young getting cornered in the middle of the night.

So while Kurt and Kitty maybe weren't as 'seasoned' as he and Alex were in the art of desperately praying your head wouldn't go kablooey in the next five seconds, they were a lot better off than most people. Give credit where credit was due. Still, he couldn't help but wish Logan was around to keep a closer eye on them. Watch their backs at night. Peter was terrible at the whole leadershippy-teamwork shebang.

"Point taken. I'm not looking forward to offing things any more than he is, to be frank." He moved away from the board and towards a pair of nearby seats, partly to stop blocking the board and partly to go somewhere where they were less likely to be eavesdropped on. "In fact, I'd say that the last thing you'd ever catch me doing is just that. Especially if it's human during the day. I got word from a certified death god that the staff here doesn't have souls, but..."

He trailed off with a shake of the head. "I wish carting people off to jail was still an option. Or calling the Ungodly Monstrosity division of Animal Control. Things would be so much easier."

Belief, it seemed, existed as the only option. One filled to the brim with suspicion, but if a doppelganger of a witch could appear before her--not long after the Witch of Miracles herself declared Ange's ascension to ANGE Beatrice--the young woman supposed she could entertain the notion. Even if a mental hospital housing beings from multiple worlds and times sounded stranger than Hell. Their true nature would eventually reveal itself, as everything did.

And Ange could withhold her final judgment until then.

She was led away from the cafeteria to a place known as the Sun Room, an appropriate name given outpouring of light from overhead. With weary eyes, Ange glanced up and observed the scenery beyond the glass ceiling, before settling in a rather plush couch. Downtime couldn't hurt, especially with the recent 'surprises'; she could certainly take the moment to gather her thoughts. After all, escape was going to require some finesse.

[Kuhn bb]

There was something calming about the fact that Claude was sitting with him like this. Suddenly it was like none of that stuff in the coliseum had even happened. Of course, he still had the pain all over his body to make it very obvious that it had happened, but it felt pretty good to go back to the basics like this.

It occurred to him that he was getting used to this place, that hanging out in the Sun Room with Claude had translated into "normal" in his mind. It was almost frightening, but he also didn't see what was wrong with getting close to someone in dire times.

The thing that was harder to admit was that if they ever did find a way to go home, it was going to be more difficult that it should be due to the fact that it meant possibly not seeing people like Claude ever again.

Geez, his mind had totally wandered. By the time he tuned back in, Claude was busy wiping his eyes; Guy had a guess as to why. A pang of guilt shot through him, but he knew it wasn't his fault that Claude had been put through so much.

He was a little surprised at the younger man's admittance, but he couldn't blame Claude for it. With the way the institute messed around with them so much, it would have been typical to try and trick his friends into thinking he was alive when he really wasn't. And then throw some kind of monster at them for good measure. "Of course," he replied with a smile. "I probably would have felt the same way."

Tobias glanced over, then up, then asked, "What, the sky? Looks normal to me." Looked like it would be cool outside, without any nice thermals for flying, but probably a good breeze. "Is it different where you're from?"

Kagura had been talking to Yuna when the nurse suddenly pulled her away; she didn't even get to finish her breakfast! Poor tummy. I have to last until lunch. She continued to lament her hunger until she made it to the Sun Room and saw Hime. As she walked closer, she could see the blond was playing with an adorable calico kitten.

"How cute," Kagura said, referring to both the kitten and the way Hime was handling the little guy. She sat down on the couch next to Hime, content to just watch the activities, for now. "Morning Hime-san."

Sam frowned. Did she expect him to have the same ability? He could sense demons in another well enough, but a possessed body was completely different. The only connection he'd ever had with any of the other kids had been through the visions and the nightmares. They were linked by blood, but that was about it. Anyway, after Yellow-Eyes died, the connection had been effectively severed. He knew there must've been other generations around—Rosie, for one—but it'd all ended regardless.

Until here.

He peered at her, curious to see if she was somehow right—there was a lot that was beyond his expectations in this place—but he wasn't surprised when he found nothing.

"No. No, I don't. I mean, your eyes are oddly colored," he said. "That's generally a mark of someone...not quite human, but it's a only a physical observation."

A sign of a demon, usually—one that was more than your average black-eyed minion—but if she'd been one, he would've been able to tell. No, she was something else. Something that wasn't like him, but similar.

"What do you see in me? I remember you mentioned hybrids, but I don't know what that exactly means."

"That doesn't surprise me. You were merely indulging my curiosity," Teresa replied. "The other hybrid that was here before was unable to sense youki as well." As usual, the Number One's senses were far superior to the rest.

"And you are quite right about my eyes. They were once as dark as yours when I was still human. I am a half-human/half-youma hybrid - half demon, that is. Just like you. And that is what I sense. I can feel your essence, your energy, as if flows through your body. That energy is what I call youki."

Talk about Kurt being naked in every sense of the word instantly lost it's interest when Peter said two words: Bat Signal. Terry had reasoned early on that Kurt and Kitty couldn't be from his world, just based on what Kurt had said about mutants. He'd kind of lumped Peter in with that, particularly since nothing about his abilities or his costume rang any bells. Terry had spent enough time reading Bruce's files to know that no one would or could be more thorough in terms of keeping track of people. That made the casual remark all the more striking; someone Bruce didn't know about who was a hero, knowing about that? Anyone else, it could've just been an oversight. But it wasn't, and Terry knew it.

"Yeah, they would be." It was easy to tell from Terry's voice that the rest of the conversation was over. He'd wanted to keep his connection to Wayne and Batman secret for as long as possible, but he couldn't risk Peter throwing out the tidbit to the wrong person. So he looked around, then without warning or ceremony Terry caught Peter by the upper arm and headed towards what looked like the most empty spot in the room. It wasn't the first time he'd wished for privacy, but Terry would've given just about anything to make sure he wasn't going to be overheard just then.

"Okay. No games, and no pretending you don't have a clue what I'm talking about." Terry kept his voice purposely low, and his wariness had to be apparent to anyone who looked. Some might have called it careless, but given the hell they were in, Terry couldn't help but think it wouldn't stand out too much. "I need to know everything you know about bats right now, so spill."

Touya's eyes narrowed just a fraction as he listened to Yuki avoid the question. Still, he was glad that Yuki wasn't hurt anymore, even if he was probably tearing himself apart over killing Fai. Touya hadn't personally seen how it had happened, but did that matter? Fai didn't slit his own throat after all, it had to have been something Yue threw at him.

"Good," Touya said, thinking that maybe this wasn't the best time to ask how Yuki was doing emotionally. For now, he could just hold him.

"I'm sorry I pushed so hard to go down there," he said quietly. "I nearly got you killed."

Oh. Apparently he'd misinterpreted. "Not naturally. But... my Earth is conquered territory. They put up a force field to cut us off, and it's this-" his expression crinkled with disgust- "glowing, pulsing red. The first few years, people couldn't stand to look up at all."

He'd have to start keeping track of this kind of thing, Hayes reflected, in case he got back to the Starbase. Confirmed, viable alternate realities would be more than enough to drive the scientists wild even without all these other things it seemed they could do. Maybe someone would even know why the Hierarchy seemed to be such a statistical outlier.

"... Conqured by aliens?" Tobias asked, turning towards Hayes and looking just ever-so-slightly alarmed. Oh, man, please not the Yeerks. That would really, really suck.

Artemis wasn't feeling particularly relieved at suddenly being himself, but he felt better about it at least. Still, the thought of cleaning up 'Sean's' mess wasn't something he was looking forward to.

He was at the very least extremely relieved that Schuldig had posted a reply to his earlier frantic message. He'd been so happy to see it, his knees had nearly given out--not because his life had been on the line, but more that he couldn't take the thought of Schuldig saving his life, and Artemis taking Schuldig's in a moment of panic.

Answering a few posts, he left the board feeling considerably lighter--somehow. Still, there was the question of setting Brainiac 5 straight, and finding some way to heal Haku yet again.

He turned around and saw (thankfully) a friendly face. One he hadn't spoken to in a few days. Putting on a faint smile, Artemis approached Momo.

"Good afternoon, Hinamori-san," he said. "Do you mind if I join you? You seem to be a little tired."

"Still...I don't want anything to happen. I..." Those words didn't need to be said, but they were obvious in Endrance's tone. He did trace a hand over those wavemarks on his face again, though, then let his hand fall just as quickly. That was a habit he needed to break, but...not right away.

"I...I hope you're right, about them not hurting you. If they do, though..." He trailed off, in thought. The idea of actually attacking one of the staff at night briefly came to mind, but he dismissed it as soon as it came up. That was a line that he didn't want to cross, and a line he expected Haseo wouldn't want to cross, either.

"And, no. I didn't. I..." Endrance flushed, the reason why he hadn't sensed anything was clear, but he still needed to say it. "I was too distracted. By you..." There was a question in that statement: 'was that okay with you, or was I too forward, or...?"

Edited 2009-12-17 06:49 (UTC)

It had been a while since Momo had seen Artemis. In fact, she believed the last time she'd spoken to him, she had been a rather pathetic mess. If that was truly the case, the clarity in her eyes and the better condition she was keeping herself would register.

She smiled warmly at the boy and sat up. "No, not at all. I was just contemplating a short nap, but pleasant company is always welcome." She paused a moment. "How are you doing?"

Ugh. Kaku felt like he’d been unconscious for months. What was it about this place that was making him so weak?

He shook his head; the less he thought about it, the better. For now, focus on something else. Like something that might get him out of here sooner.

He checked the bulletin board - nothing that could have been from another CP9 agent. He needed to figure out how he could communicate with the others (if they ever ended up here) without giving himself away to the Strawhats at the same time.

Should he bother trying to write in code, or should he go the direct route and just say he's from Water 7? He'd have to confront the Strawhats eventually, maybe it would be better to get it out of the way through the bulletin board...

He took a piece of paper and then a seat, and started to jot down notes as he tried to figure out a plan.

Somehow, he'd expected a little more from Alex than what was two steps away from a 'Yeah, sure, whatever.' Did he just flip on the jerk switch? Because that's what it sounded like. One minute waxing lyrical about how it was their noble duty to protect the innocent, the next he didn't give a crap. Peter was on the verge of giving him some seriously raised eyebrow when he was gripped by the arm and all but thrown towards the most deserted corner of the room.

And why was this?

Because Alex wanted to know about bats.

Peter blinked up at the taller boy. "...Did you pull me over here to make out with me?"

Edited 2009-12-17 06:18 (UTC)

Damn, she blushed easily. It almost made him feel as if he was doing something inappropriate or whatever, which was frankly pretty impressive all things considered. He had a really high threshold for what he considered "inappropriate."

Not as high as Rude's, though, contrary to popular belief. Rude was just sneakier about it.

Reno glanced over, turning himself around slightly so he could face her without getting his neck stuck at a weird angle.

"What, you mean like I don't look like a walking advertisement for a bandage-making company? What do you know, I'm glad, too," he agreed amiably. His lips curved into an easy grin that just bordered on a smirk. "You're looking good yourself."

Hitsugaya had a lot of experience analyzing other people. There wasn't much else for him to do as a child, having close to no friends. Over the years that talent had proven useful, allowing himself to read his opponents moves and other people's nature. When he looked at Sai's smile, he felt something forced or fake. No, the feeling of something wrong was stronger than that, but he couldn't discern anything further.

"It's nice to meet you as well," Hitsugaya responded politely. He'd withhold his comments for now, since it'd be rude of him to respond with suspicion after having just met someone who was willing to show him a minimal amount of respect.

When some of the other patients greeted him, they acted like they were interacting with a child. Even after revealing his true age to them, they still had trouble believing him. It was irritating. That was the reason he became a captain. With Sai, he could see the young man wasn't treating him like a child, and for that, he was relieved.

"Come on now, Kurt. You can't spend all day in the Cafeteria!"

"But I'm not done!" the mutant protested, his nurse dragging him by his (perfectly round) ear out of the Cafeteria. He'd still managed to hold on to a paper plate with two waffles still on it, though. Apparently some nurse thought he was 'terribly thin' and wanted him to eat more. Not like Kurt was complaining.

"At least here you can talk to someone. I worry about you, Kurt, you're so shy!"

Yeah, he thought. Because I feel like I'm lying by just standing in a room and looking normal.

With a warning not to spill the rest of his breakfast onto the carpet, the nurse left him. Kurt idly tore off a bit of one of the waffles and walked over to the bulletin board, hoping that Peter and Kitty had responded. When he saw Peter talking to Terry, though, he had to blink in surprise. Well, this was even better than a note!

"Hey guys!" Kurt said, inserting himself into the conversation without even pausing to see if they were talking about something serious. He was far too excited to see Peter was alive, after all. "...wait, what's this about making out?"

...maybe he should have stopped to listen first.

"Why would Earthlings do a thing like that to ourselves?" Hayes pointed out. Granted, in other realities they'd apparently done stupid things like blowing up countries in civil war, but he doubted even they would have slave-shielded themselves with no aliens in the picture. On the other hand, though-

"Well, that might not have been the best response," he added, thoughtfully. "We never figured out why the Ur-Quan do it, either."

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Day 46: Sun Room

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