damned_institute | Day 47: Sun Room [2nd shift]

Cloud knew he should be taking the opportunity to check out the rec field during the day. The fresh air would be a welcome change from the crowded stuffiness the Institute usually provided, and he would have a chance to scope out the area when it wasn't all under the cover of darkness. When offered a choice, however, he remained in the sun room. He told himself it was so that he could watch the bulletin, him still being fairly new and needing all the information he could get, but the thought rang hollow.

The real reason he was here, he knew, was because he would be out there. Maybe it was weak of him, but he needed a chance to breathe. Ever since he'd arrived it had been nothing but one shock after another, and seeing Zack standing in the cafeteria that morning talking to Aerith had been the final card that caused his tower to crumble. He needed to just sit back somewhere out of the way and start rebuilding.

Being able to watch the bulletin from here was just a perk. Cloud made himself comfortable on one of the sofas, watching people come and go but not really paying attention to them. He took the time to try and rate this on a scale of the biggest messes he'd ever gotten thrown into.

(for Sheena)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Most of the female patients were going to the greenhouse this shift, according to the nurse, but she'd suggested that Nunnally could stay in the Sun Room instead if she wished. The option of staying with Lelouch apparently wasn't available, unfortunately, as it seemed that he had to go to "therapy" now, and she'd accepted the nurse's offer with a grateful smile. Using the crutches was difficult enough by itself, but she was already feeling exhausted after just the conversation with her brother and didn't really want to make her way to wherever the greenhouse was.

Nunnally paused to look over the bulletin board that Lelouch had mentioned, but the sheer amount of posts on it was somewhat daunting. She gave up after only reading a handful, then carefully made her way to an empty couch while trying to ignore the orderly shadowing her on the way. It wasn't that difficult to sit down and she managed on her own, but did allow him to take the crutches and set them to one side before she leaned back and closed her eyes.

There was so much to take in now; half of what her brother had said would ordinarily have been entirely possible, and then there was the fact that Lelouch had explained it to her. Perhaps if she could accept that -- and she had to, given that she had no doubts that he was really Lelouch, and really alive and breathing -- then she could accept other worlds and alternate realities and monsters roaming the hallways after dark. And then she had to attempt to sort out her feelings toward him now; she'd been conflicted enough before, and now to have him alive but without the memory of so many events, she...didn't know what to think. Or do, or say.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the feel of something soft bumping her leg, and she opened her eyes again to find a small kitten, dark grey with a rakish black spot over one eye, curiously examining her leg braces. As though sensing her eyes on him, he glanced up and meowed, twitching his raggedy black-tipped tail, and Nunnally couldn't help but smile. At least she'd have company, she thought, settling the kitten in her lap and stroking his soft fur as she closed her eyes once more.

[Euphy~]

Euphemia's stomach twisted as she entered the Sun Room after breakfast. She wanted to see Nunnally - she truly did. But...with the way it was now? With the knowledge that she had died? The uncertainty weighed on her rather heavily, too. What did she know about what had happened?

She stopped to leave a note on the bulletin board regarding starting a new clinic up, then slowly walked over to the couch.

"Awww...he's really cute," she said, deciding to focus on the kitten for a while before getting to the heavy questions. "And I'm really glad to see you, Nunnally."

Although Lelouch had already warned her about Euphemia's presence here, being told about it didn't really compare to actually hearing that familiar voice speaking her name. Nunnally hesitated, her hand hovering over the kitten's back long enough that it glanced up at her, giving a little inquiring 'mrrr?' as it nudged at her hand. The reminder startled her out of her reverie, and she opened her eyes to smile up at Euphemia in honest welcome. "Hello, Sister."

She was older than the last time Nunnally had seen her, of course, but it was still clearly Euphy. And as startling and impossible as it was for her to be here, her presence still didn't evoke the confused and conflicting emotions that Lelouch's did, and Nunnally could be only glad to see her half-sister again. Alive -- she probably remembered even less than Lelouch, if she had been brought here before her death. Realizing who remembered what was clearly going to get confusing.

"Don't be so formal, Nunnally. Just Euphy or Euphemia's fine." She laughed as she took the seat next to her sister, though there was a touch of nervousness in that laugh. It was still so strange to see people after learning what she had.

Euphy started to say something else, then noticed - her eyes were open. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen them open; it had been years, though. Years and that horrible incident later, and the second one. She looked down at her hands, as if they were still bloodstained.

"I'm glad," she said, gesturing to Nunnally's eyes. "I'm really..." Her voice broke for just a moment. She hadn't expected herself to cry, but there were the tears, blurring her vision and making her draw in a ragged breath.

Had it been this surprising when Euphemia had bumped into her at the Ashford Academy festival that day? After all, her half-siblings had been reported as dead in the war years before that, though that was only rumor and speculation. Euphemia, though -- the circumstances had been difficult to believe, but not the fact of her death.

Was she aware of the future herself now? Lelouch or Suzaku would both know of it, so had one of them mentioned it for the same reason Nunnally herself had told her brother? But, no matter what else -- their one conversation together after being reunited had been altogether too short, and Nunnally smiled, welcoming the opportunity they had been given.

It wasn't just her regained ability to see that allowed her to realize that Euphemia was upset, though, and Nunnally reached over to rest a hand on her sister's. "Euphy...it's good to see you again," she said, her own smile wavering just slightly. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you, too," she said, squeezing Nunnally's hand gently. "I really have." She paused, unsure of how to say the rest of this, finally deciding to simply come out and say it. Sugarcoating the truth wouldn't help, though she would be gentle with it.

"I...I know what happens to me. The last thing I remember is what happens right before. But I'm trying my hardest not to let it get to me. I just want to use what time I have here as best I can. That means being here for you, and Suzaku, and Lelouch." Euphy intentionally left Rolo out of this. She had no intention of letting him near her.

"And there are other people here, too - friendly ones. I'll introduce you, okay? They'll help you with anything you need." Keeping it light, like that, was probably for the best - and she could trust Meche and especially Teresa around Nunnally. There were others, too, but...

Day 47: Sun Room [2nd shift]

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