damned_institute | Day 48: Intercom, Evening

"AACHOO! Ahem!" The Head Doctor's slightly-better-but-still-congested voice came on clearly over the intercom. The sound of Nurse Lydia sighing and pulling out a tissue from somewhere in the background was also audible.

"Ah! Yes, thank you..." the Head Doctor muttered before continuing: "Well, it seems like today, like all days, must come to an end, even if it wasn't quite as bright and cheerful as we would like, hmmm? In any case, everyone will now be escorted to their quarters.... mmaahh... AAACHOO! Ah! Erb– yes, to their quarters, where they'll be served some Atlantic wild-caught salmon seasoned with garlic and herbs, along with mashed potatoes and a small garden salad. Our usual vegetarian alternatives and drinks are also available, along with a chocolate mousse dessert.

"And that's all... all ...aaaachoo!"

The intercom clicked off.

[ All room threads go in response to this post; please post your character's room number as the subject line of the initial post. I think Court said something about the new roomies not being completely sorted out yet? :O She'll probably post about that later, so hang tight! ]

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Arguing with Sora about what they were going to do at night reminded him of when they were younger, living together on the Islands, and never agreeing over how they were going to do things. It was nice, having the chance to talk to his friend like that, but it wasn't the time or the place. Riku found himself frustrated with Sora's tendency to stick by people, even if he knew it was in his friend's nature (and something that he couldn't judge).

It didn't make things that much better, though. Riku returned to his room a little tense, frustrated that he and Sora weren't seeing eye to eye. But once he got there, he ignored his food—even if the smell of the salmon reminded him of home, the taste of fish maybe being the one thing that could help him right now—to look and see if he still had his baseball bat. The fact that he even had one was frustrating. Calling it stupid was unfair, but it was his kneejerk reaction, and he admitted that was how he felt about it. It was stupid, and though he was told it was meant to be a fetch quest, it didn't seem like it had any purpose.

And it wasn't like there were any moogles here that could synthesize it into anything better.

He abandoned the bat again, choosing then to move toward his desk for his food. It was strange that they bothered to give such nice dinners here, but he figured it was part of the illusion. In one quick move, he lifted up the tray and moved to his bed, dropping down and stretching his legs out. Riku knew Battler would be coming soon. Maybe they'd talk more today.

If there was anything that could ease away a strange sense of tension, it was a good shower. There was something relaxing about a continuous spray of warm water, and while Battler had started off reflecting on the day, his thoughts slowly began to drift elsewhere, to the mundane sort of topics he probably wouldn't be able to remember even if asked out. He ended up taking a longer amount of time than usual, and by the time he was finished he was one of only a good handful staggering behind. It had hardly been the most productive use of his time, but at the very least, he was left refreshed and in better spirits. That sort of thing was good every once in a while, wasn't it?

When he got back to his room for the night, Riku was already there. Battler wasn't entirely unsure how he felt about the other room's occupant just yet, but their first conversation had gone well enough, and he did get the sense that they might be able to get along. That was the feeling, at least. First impressions weren't always accurate, but in this case, he hoped he was right.

"Hey, how's it going?" Battler greeted casually. He took the food with him onto his bed, leaning back against the wall and rested the tray on his lap.

"All right. Could be worse." The real answer was that he didn't get much done today, that he and his best friend weren't seeing eye to eye on something important, and hey, did Battler have any friends there? After processing all of that, Riku decided he might ask the last question. It could be a good thing to know if his roommate's friends were there. Who knew what could be done in this place? And if it was done, it would be good to try and stop it.

"What about you?" he asked, deciding not to pry about personal information just yet. This small talk was probably necessary, and maybe something had gone wrong during the day. Riku considered for a moment, and then added, "Not too rough of a night, was it?" He realized he didn't have any intention of talking about his night—about the new discoveries with his friends—but it might not hurt to see what this other guy had to say. If it was turned back onto him, he could gloss it over, say they met a monster. It wasn't honesty, but he wasn't exactly okay with someone knowing his friends' business.

Edited 2010-03-22 02:10 (UTC)

[aaaaa I'm sorry for my horrible slow l;df.]

"I'm about the same," Battler decided. "Today was a little uncomfortable, but I've definitely had much worse." The truth was that there had been a strange of tension in every conversation, but it was unclear whether he should be blaming himself or the atmosphere. He'd managed to get it out of his system for now, but probably the only reason he could be calm in face of what he'd learned at breakfast was because of the inappropriate timing. There were a lot of questions and uncomfortable assumptions, but it seemed clear that only Erika knew what was going on back in the world of the gameboard while they were here. ... Well, it wasn't like he didn't care. He could feel a knot of dread slowly returning at even the thought of their uninterrupted conversation, but he tried to ignore it. It wasn't easy, since he was used to being more forthcoming, but the fact remained this wasn't the time or place to try dealing with it, especially when there was no certainty his fears were justified. There was no choice but to sort things out with the people involved.

He shook his head a little before continuing. "Well, nothing too bad. There was someone in the Sun Room, but I didn't get injured. The woman I with got banged up a little, but she should be fine." It was the second time he'd had to talk about it, and it still felt distinctly odd coming out of his mouth. It was by far not his most bizarre experience, but it certainly wasn't something he'd expect to see, either. "...I wonder what that was about," he thought aloud. "I thought I had an idea at the time, but I don't think it holds up anymore."

"What about you?"

That was something different. He focused in on the circumstance of the Sun Room and decided it was worth taking note of. If anything, he could take a look into matters himself and report back to Battler later. Trying to come up with conclusions out of nothing wasn't a good idea. Sora and Kairi, when he thought about it, probably had an idea, too. But they would be focused on other things tonight. On each other. On their problems.

It was funny, in some part of his head, he believed everything would be all right as long as they were together. But now that they were, it seemed that they needed a lot of adjusting. Or maybe he just felt like he was coming in late again, unable to help them because it was too late. He was frustrated, and he knew it wasn't helping.

"Someone I know got attacked by a monster," he replied, trying to sound as detached as possible. "And this was after I wasted my time doing a dumb task for a club." He poked a little at his food absently, but the conversation stole his attention well enough. "I get that we should work together here. But whoever's running that thing—they don't have the right idea." Riku conveniently left out the stinging pain in his shoulder. It's not like it mattered that he was hurt.

"Attacked, huh...? Hope They're okay." It was a bit of a generic sentiment on Battler's part, but it was genuine enough, and without knowing the entire story, it was about all that he could offer. Riku didn't sound too concerned, at least, so maybe it wasn't a big deal.

He remained silent for the rest, making his way through part of his dinner, before responding. "Sounds pretty frustrating. Having allies is never bad, but everyone has their own way of dealing with things, and it can be hard to deal with when those don't line up. ... Well, that's not always a bad thing. Sometimes disagreeing can get you to think in directions you wouldn't have considered before." Grinning, he added, "Doesn't make it any less irritating, though."

Day 48: Intercom, Evening

M37

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