damned_institute | Day 48: Courtyard [Fourth Shift]

So much for a relaxing shower. Anise couldn't possibly relax around someone with a voice like that! This was beyond weird. How could a girl who didn't have any relation to Sync have the exact same voice as him?

And what made it even weirder was that this wasn't even the first time Anise had encountered something like that. There was a boy, who also had tattoos like hers, who sounded just like Luke. What was his name? It was so long ago, Anise couldn't remember. Maybe she'd know it if she heard it again, but...

That gave her an idea. She wasn't using her journal for much besides cooking notes, recipes, and a few room numbers, right? Maybe from now on, whenever she saw or heard something really strange or suspicious, she'd write it down. Then, if it happened again or she learned more about it, she could look back to the entry and add the details. She'd call it... 'Anise's Mystery Diary.' That sounded kind of cool!

During the lunch shift, Anise worked on putting as many memories as possible to paper. The radio man, the rumored third floor, the ruins she found last night, things like that. By the time fourth shift rolled around, she wasn't quite done yet. It was getting harder to think of more things to write about, even though she was sure there were hundreds of mysteries in the institute. Maybe she'd feel more inspired if she took her writing outside.

"Oh, Dolores!" A nurse came to stop her as she was walking out the door. "If you're going outside, you should put on a coat! We wouldn't want you catching a cold." Even though Anise disliked being assisted by the nurses, she cooperated as the woman helped her into the coat, quickly putting Tokunaga back in its place on her back when they were finished. It did look kind of cold out, so there was no point in arguing.

Outside, Anise found herself a bench to sit on while she wrote some more in her journal. Occasionally she'd pause and fidget with the pen for a bit, or doodle some stars and other shapes into the corner of the page she was on, unsure of what to write next.

[free!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was so nice to see a familiar face around her age. Even if Nigredo was a bit shorter than her, Sakura felt happy whenever she ran into someone around her age. Most people were several years older than she was, including her roommate Utena, so she couldn't always completely relate.

"I've been okay," Sakura replied. She put on a more serious expression and leaned in a bit closer before she continued. "And I think that's good considering what happens at night, right?" Sakura pulled back after finishing and smiled once more. "Do you want to go for a walk? It's a little muddy, but I think it'll still be fun!"

Nigredo, too, thought it was pleasant seeing a fellow child, one who lacked familial or preconceived relational bonds. Even as the headache continued to pound into his skull and her name rang strangely in his ear, he allowed the smile to linger. This Sakura only knew the existence of his brothers. She also had a brother! Commonalities were a plus.

"Right," answered Nigredo in turn. He fortunately managed to keep from trailing off, as often happened in this case. "And sure. It's better than standing out in the mud." It also served as a better distraction, which the boy was more than willing to take for multitude of reasons.

He stepped forward a few steps, narrowly avoiding a rain puddle in the process. "About last week," he began quietly, "I'm sorry for the awkwardness." The reference was to his unfortunate injury, of course.

"What?" Sakura stopped a moment before it clicked. "Oh!" Following Nigredo's lead, the young girl hopped over the rain puddle and caught up with him. "That's not really your fault though, right? Things just happen here. Besides..." she trailed off, looking at the ground warmly. "We probably wouldn't have met if it weren't for that."

Despite avoiding the rain puddles, Sakura's shoes sloshed around in the mud and gave a rather awkward feeling as she walked. It looked like it would still be muddy tonight.

It appeared as though she had forgotten the circumstances of their last meeting. As a result, Nigredo felt foolish for bringing up the event at all. She was also correct in that they wouldn't have been acquainted if not for his previous state. That somehow made up for its actual reception. Somehow.

"That's true," he answered as the boy attempted to sound reasonable. "At least now we don't have a nurse hanging over our shoulders." And thus, they were free to discuss most things.

For instance, the basics: "So where are you from, Sakura?"

"Uh huh!" Sakura verified while smiling. Even though the nurses were generally nice, it was difficult to talk about what happened at night in their presence without being chastised as imagining things again.

"I'm from Tomoeda," the young girl chirped. "It's a small city in Japan, but it's really nice." She cast a glance at the horizon for a moment before returning to face Nigredo. He probably missed his family and friends just as much as she did. "Where are you from, Nigredo-kun?"

Japan. He had heard of the place mentioned in passing, usually on the bulletin. It was apparently a country in Lost Jerusalem; however, given parallel worlds and whatnot, Nigredo couldn't be certain if she was from his past or another. Strange how the novelty of such a concept had worn off enough for the question to even be considered.

"I'm from Zavarov," he answered in turn, "in a hospital very similar to here." Minus several significant details.

The young girl cast an confused expression toward Nigredo. Za-va-rov? She had never heard of any place like that, but then again, she had never heard of half of the other places the other patients came from either. This was probably something she should have expected.

What was more confusing though was that he was from a hospital. "You lived in a hospital?" she asked in disbelief. What did that mean? Did he actually live and sleep there? Was he terminally ill? She had never met anyone who actually lived in a hospital before. From what she thought, not even doctors lived there.

Er-- The expression was enough for Nigredo to wince internally. He certainly knew children coming from such an environment was far from routine, but it seemed the variant had not understood the full emotional impact. The constant shock proved to be a bit disconcerting.

"Yes," he answered, nodding once. "For research purposes." Nigredo could divulge on their very nature, but the conversations with Klavier still held fresh. Not to mention... In any case, it might be best if the child kept his account vague or distract his peer with other subjects. "You said you were from a city, correct?" He tilted a head, eyes discretely shifting to curiosity. "What is that like?"

Research purposes? What did that mean? Was he some sort of guinea pig or something? What kind of life did he have to live if his entire life was subject to research? It was almost too sad to imagine that Nigredo was stuck in such a life.

Luckily for Nigredo though, his diversion worked. "Oh, yes," Sakura replied. It took her a moment to reshift back toward remembering Tomoeda, but once Sakura had shifted, she momentarily forgot about Nigredo's seemingly troubled life. "Well... Tomoeda isn't very big and isn't very small. We have a lot of houses in one area where most people live. Downtown, there's a lot of stuff to do. You can visit the radio tower or even just go shopping."

Good. Nigredo could sigh in relief. That might have gone rather sour rather quickly.

To his surprise, however, her words proved more curious than deliberation would allow. Nigredo found himself no longer feigning the emotion, his eyes widening a fraction to show the interest. "I'm sorry, but..." The child hesitated, as if sensing the oddity in his own question. "What is a radio tower?"

Day 48: Courtyard [Fourth Shift]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject