Day 48: Sun Room [Second Shift]

[lawful_perfect]

Hmph. While this Rude was the proverbial "man of few words," von Karma found more potential use from him than a number of the other patients he had met put together. He would still ask Franziska about the man... as well as the other people he had learned that she had been spending time around. Many of them were utter fools, especially that Kibitoshin.

He ignored the nurse as she insisted that he stay indoors, lest he "catch his death of pneumonia." Already having planned to meet his daughter in the Sun Room, the prosecutor had no intention of spending the cold, gloomy morning in the Courtyard anyway.

It appeared that he was the first to arrive in the spacious room. Gray light from the overcast sky filtered in through the glass windows high above, making it somewhat more difficult for von Karma to peruse the notes on the bulletin board as he awaited Franziska's arrival.

The lines in his forehead furrowed as he saw Kibitoshin's note to her, asking her whether she was "feeling better." What made that blasted oaf think that it was any of his business how she was doing or to worry about her?! She had been raised to take care of herself, damn it! ...Did Franziska say or do something that would lead the clumsy idiot to think otherwise? This, among other things, von Karma would ask her.

After removing his daughter's response to his original note from the board -- and noting that Ms. Taura had yet to reply to his other note -- he sat down at a table in a remote corner of the room, claiming this space that would afford him and his daughter the most privacy.

Mew?

What was that noise? And what was that tugging sensation at the leg of his pants? He peered down in the direction from which the irritating sound had come and was greeted by a tiny orange kitten that had the mistaken notion that his leg was a climbing post. Infernal creature! One glance at his face, and the furry little nuisance was suddenly at the other end of the room, having cleared it within several skittish bounds. Good riddance!

[Waiting for his Dear Daughter]

Comments

[hat_einen_vogel]

Prussia had never met any non-humans aside from his own kind, but between what England had said and what Roy was saying... He had to wonder who the 'guys in charge' really were.

Talking about his own situation (and England's) wasn't high on his list of priorities, however, so he didn't press for any more information about this "becoming human" business. He was near enough to human, anyway, that the only pressing concern for him was getting his land back so he wouldn't feel so incomplete.

Talking about fighting was more interesting, anyway.

"Right," he agreed wholeheartedly. "Don't know about you, but I'd go stir-crazy if I couldn't fight at all." Physical brawls, heated arguments, anything.

He glanced at the nurses again and made an irritated noise in the back of his throat. They weren't just nosy women, but nosy women armed with sedatives? "They sound like a real pain in the ass," he said. "But they're still just chicks. Shouldn't be too hard to shake them off, right?"

[donetakinorders.livejournal.com]

Raphael laughed at that. "Tell me 'bout it," he agreed. "How the hell am I s'pposed to work off some steam without anythin' like that? But the minute you even start arguin' too loud? Then they're all over you. An' it ain't just them."

He nodded his head towards the orderlies. "If you're anythin' like me, you can probably take a few of those guys and the nurses no problem, but if you fight back too much, they just keep bringin' in more an' more of 'em. I can handle a few of those guys, but when there's five of 'em? They only gotta hold you still long enough to get a jab in you. Then it's over.

"Luckily I ain't ever been drugged enough to make nights a problem, 'cause that's when the real fun seems to happen."

[hat_einen_vogel]

Nurses and orderlies and drugs. He really didn't like the way this was sounding, but he mentally brushed it aside. It would take a lot to knock someone like him out, so he didn't think he needed to be too concerned about a little needle, even if there did end up being too many orderlies to handle coming along with it. Still, he felt a little bad that someone like Roy could end up victim to them; he liked the guy's attitude.

As for nights... The only thing that he could describe as "fun" last night had been that taste of freedom in trying to escape, but he wondered if there was more to it. "Last night the door to my room was unlocked; can I assume that's typical?"

It would explain Howl and Keman (as well as all those other people) being out. But with this tight a watch during the day—another glance at the nurses confirmed that they were still watching—who in their right mind would let their prisoners have free reign once the sun went down?

And if that were the case... "If the nurses aren't keeping watch at night, at least you could get in a good fight then."

*sob* Sorry for slow!

[donetakinorders.livejournal.com]

Raphael snorted. "Yeah, that's typical alright. Asshole in charge likes gettin' everyone out to run around an' fight monsters an' stuff. Least that's what I been hearin'. So far I ain't run into much that's a challenge, you know? Had worse mix-ups at home."

He grinned at the guy, an almost feral expression of enjoyment at the idea of excitement and a good brawl. "Heh, I like the way you think alright. Had some kinda sparring matches gettin' set up around the place last night, but I didn't get a chance to check in on 'em. Even if it ain't somethin' like that though, a fight'd be doin' more in this place than a lot of other people are. Wastin' time runnin' around lookin' for stuff. You'd think with how many people there are here, there'd be enough of us to take this place down, right?"

He scowled and folded his arms, glaring at some of the other patients in the room. "Try tellin' them that though..." Raph shrugged. "Guess I'll just do it on my own then."

No problem! /also slow

[hat_einen_vogel]

Roy did have a point, and Prussia glanced around the room again. There weren't as many people in here as there had been in the mess hall, but there were more than a few. They weren't enough for an entire army--hell, they weren't even enough for a regiment--but enough to fill a company, or maybe even a small battalion.

"It takes an exceptional leader to organize an army from chaos," Prussia said. "People always have their own agendas; it takes convincing and motivation to get them to follow someone else's. But if they could be organized into a fighting force... It's a good idea."

From his words, though, it seemed that attempts to organize them had already been less-than-successful. "Not that standing alone is a bad one, either," he added. "Beats trying to stay on good terms with allies."

Between the interrupted fight with England and all the talk of fighting, Prussia was feeling restless, but Roy was proving to be good company, at least. Drugs or not, if the nurse had forced him to sit with someone annoying, he wouldn't have started something just to finish something. And speaking of the nurse... She'd introduced them (sort of), but since it was her, it hardly counted.

"By the way, the name's Gilbert. And what's this about 'monsters'?"

*dies* I thought I had tagged this

[donetakinorders.livejournal.com]

Raph didn't know the first thing about leading an army (it seemed like leading their little group of four brothers would be enough of a handful, in all honesty), so he'd have to take Gilbert's word for that. Maybe if Leo had been around, it might have been something they could have looked into more, since as much as Raph hated to admit it sometimes - okay a lot of the time - Leo was damn good at knowing how to get people to follow him. But when it was just him? Raph was pretty sure he worked a hell of a lot better on his own.

"Yeah, well. If you can manage somethin' like that, I might go along with it. But I ain't much of a follower, alright?"

Having made that much clear, Raph leaned forward and offered his hand. "Name's Raphael, but Raph's easier. An' as for the monsters, I ain't seen many myself. But you hear all kinds a stuff about 'em. Thing I ran into last night mighta been somethin' like one, but it was bein' made by some girl. Weird shadowy sludgy thing. Pretty hard to fight against since it kept healin' an' stuff."

[hat_einen_vogel]

Prussia laughed, grinning madly at the man.

"Neither am I, unless it's someone worth following!" he said. He'd been endlessly loyal to his kings--to some more than to others--but not all of them could have organized a new army, much less maintain the one that already stood. But if there were someone here who could, maybe someone like Old Fritz had been... Prussia could drill the troops into a fighting force, but these weren't his countrymen, no matter how well all of them spoke German. They weren't Prussians as far as his limited senses could now tell, nor were they even Germans; he wouldn't be able to inspire them to fight for their country when they weren't his. "I'll let you know if I find someone who fits the bill, but I'll take my chances on my own until I do--if I do."

Prussia arched an eyebrow at the description of the "monster" Roy--no, Raphael--had run into. After a moment's pause, he reached out and shook his hand. "That's another strike against the nurses if they can't even get people's names right. Damned woman called you 'Roy'."

[donetakinorders.livejournal.com]

"If you ask me, with all the messin' 'round the clubs an' groups do without gettin' nothing done, you're better off on your own anyway. Maybe get a friend or someone to watch your back, but otherwise? I ain't seen any of 'em do much of anythin'. 'Sides, better when you know if everyone can fight an' take care of 'emselves, right?" At least that was easier when he was with his brothers. Sure, Raph kept an eye on his brothers since, well, they were family, but he knew they could all fight and fight well, even if Mikey might do better if he kept his mouth shut for a while. A bunch of strangers? Raph wouldn't know if he could trust them to watch his back as much as he could someone like Leo.

He shook his head, coming back to the conversation at the mention of the fake name the nurses called him, and grinned wryly. "Nah, they do that with everyone, from what I hear. Fake names, fake lives. All that kinda bullshit. I ignore what they introduce people as, since it ain't ever been right."