damned_institute | Day 49: Early Afternoon

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Day 49: Early Afternoon - Black Rock Inn

So much for not ending up drowned.

In retrospect, Sam probably should've escaped to a diner or something and stayed dry since it wasn't as if his walking about had yielded anything remotely useful. But he'd wanted to actually do something. He hadn't expected it to go from pouring to dumping buckets, either, but there it was.

At least he'd managed to talk to Dean this morning. Really talk, that was. Yeah, he still had no idea how the hell he was gonna pull any of this off—figuring out this date crap, saving Dean, the list kinda went on—but he'd gotten Dean on board and somehow that was...important, in and of itself. They hadn't been on the same page in awhile. Maybe they still weren't, but it felt that way for now. Sam couldn't ask for more.

Though God knew how long it'd last. Probably not very. You grow up around someone and after awhile, it got easy to predict how things usually went between the two of you.

Shaking rain-soaked bangs out of his eyes, he slipped into the nearest place he could find. Which happened to be—actually, it happened to be a pretty nice place. Nicer than some of the little shops around here and definitely way nicer than the run-down motels he tended to crash in. It made him feel twice as awkward, considering he was already dripping wet on top of everything else, but honestly he didn't even care. They already figured he was crazy so it wasn't like they could think any less of him. Right now, he was more interested in avoiding pneumonia than making friends.

He did keep off the couches, though. No point in leaving them wet for anyone else coming in. He ducked down near the fireplace instead. It was a real fireplace, not one of those fake ones that half of the places had these days. You didn't see those a lot anymore. With any luck, the whole psychiatric patient gig would keep most people away while he made his futile attempt to dry off.

Man. He wondered where Dean was. A part of him kinda hoped Dean was just as soaked as he was. It'd only be fair.

[~~his new best friends~~ Lelouch and Nunnally]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Doubling back had not been anywhere in Lelouch's itinerary for the day, but with the weather behaving the way it was, the decision to lead them back toward Germaine Street and the warm-looking inn he'd seen earlier that day came very quickly. Nunnally's outfit, while very pretty on her, was far from practical in the rain, and seated as she was, she presented a much larger target for the falling droplets to hit. He'd been quick to offer her his coat when they'd left the Tasty Burger, but perhaps just as predictably, she'd declined.

At least their destination had been fairly close. Lelouch didn't even want to think what might have happened if they'd had to make the journey back from the Twin Pines Restaurant instead, and with a small, worried glance down at Nunnally, he shook off his hood and began pushing her chair toward the fireplace. The sooner they could get her out of that damp coat, the better. He would have preferred it if they could head straight back to the institute so that she could get a fresh change of clothes instead, but with the day only halfway over...

Completely ignoring the other person by the fire, he drew to a halt near the warmest, most comfortable-looking couch and stepped around the wheelchair. "Are you all right?" he asked softly, offering her his hand. As he'd expected, she was worse off than him, but since they were inside-- "Here, let me take your coat. I'll dry it off for you." Hang it by the fire and let that do the work, actually, but now wasn't the time to dwell on particulars.

It was the kind of day where it would have been pleasant to sit inside and listen to the rain while enjoying the fact that you were out of it and warm and dry. Unfortunately, though, that wasn't really an option for the patients who'd been sent out on their field trip and had to hurry through the downpour to get from place to place -- and in Nunnally's case, both she and Lelouch were slowed by the necessity of pushing her chair along the street. Though grateful that he'd made the offer of his coat for additional protection from the rain, she couldn't accept it because that would leave him to get even more wet.

Still, though, she was grateful that their goal was only a short distance away, and that it included a warm fire. "I'm fine," Nunnally insisted, hesitating for just an instant before taking his hand and carefully rising from the wheelchair. "It's only water...I won't melt, don't worry." Somehow her tone was both fond, teasing, and wistful at once; she'd missed their easy conversation more than she was able to put into words, and sometimes it still surprised her that he was here to fuss over her as he once did.

As she unbuttoned her coat, though, she noticed the man taking advantage of the fire's warmth and smiled in friendly greeting. It was hardly a surprise to find another patient taking refuge here from the cold and wet outside -- it was more surprising that more of them weren't.

Given the weather, it wasn't all that unexpected that people were starting to drop in by. Sam didn't pay too much attention at first, just sat back on his hands, and that was when he realized that the voice was exceptionally familiar.

Figures.

He glanced over sideways, blinked. Lelouch, he wasn't surprised to see; the girl, not so much. Who was...? Last he remembered, Lelouch had only pointed out Suzaku as the one person he knew, but these two clearly knew each other well. Girlfriend? Maybe. People didn't always filter in all at once so it wouldn't have been out of the ordinary (out of the ordinary for here, anyway) for someone from Lelouch's world to come along.

He hadn't anticipated making more contact than necessary since—honestly, Lelouch, that just wasn't someone he was willing to deal with at the moment, but the girl had acknowledged him and yeah, he couldn't ignore either of them after that.

He flashed a brief smile in return. It was curious, he had to admit, to see Lelouch actually...doing something other than standing there taking advantage of people.

"Are you sure?" Lelouch asked, matching her teasing her tone as he helped her out of her coat. He'd finally realized it was Sam that they were intruding upon, but as little as he wanted the man to realize what Nunnally was to him, he wanted Nunnally to realize what had happened with the Winchesters even less. Better to pretend as though nothing was wrong. "I thought that was the only way to defeat you. Should I be on the lookout for falling houses instead?" That would probably make him the Wicked Witch of the West, by extension, but it was better if he didn't think about that.

He carefully folded the coat, took her hat, and went to drape both over the side of one of the other couches near the fire, his eyes drifting toward Sam. They seemed to have his attention, which was far from being a good thing, but as long as he didn't tried anything overt-- damn, and even if he did, there was no way Lelouch could use Geass on him now, was there? Nunnally was watching, so unless he led him away in order to do so and could find a way to keep his sister from asking too many questions about it-- better to stay with his original plan and behave as naturally as possible.

He removed his own coat next, trying and failing not to feel too self-conscious as that revealed the atrocity that was his T-shirt. Maybe Sam wouldn't notice, or better yet, maybe he would spontaneously go blind, trip, and fall into the fireplace he was currently monopolizing. "Good afternoon," Lelouch greeted sedately, setting his coat down next to Nunnally's and returning to her side to move the wheelchair. He wondered vaguely if the innkeeper would lend him a towel to dry it if he asked, but eventually, he decided that it wasn't worth leaving the pair of them long enough to find out. Sam might try something.

Nunnally gave a quiet laugh as she took the step necessary to reach the couch, resting a hand on the back to make certain of her balance before she carefully lowered herself onto the seat. "I wouldn't make my weaknesses that obvious. Or easily accessible, either. You'll just have to keep trying." For a moment she watched her brother fuss with the coats with a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, then carefully resettled herself on the couch, fussing with the way her (slightly damp) skirt lay across her legs.

"You should sit down, Brother," she said, glancing up at Lelouch again as he shifted the wheelchair. "You were walking through the rain as well, and the fire is nice and warm." She turned a little to include the stranger in her smile and tilted her head to one side slightly. "Not the nicest day for a trip to town, is it?"

Brother?

Sam couldn't help but glance at Lelouch, intrigued now. Yeah, they were siblings, all right. He tipped his head and quirked an eyebrow when his gaze drifted over Lelouch's shirt—seriously, Sam was just glad his nurse didn't hate him the way a few of the others seemed to hate their charge—but he made no remark beyond that.

In truth, he wasn't sure just yet what to make of this new piece of information. He hadn't given Lelouch much thought outside of what the kid could do and what he was. Sure, the awareness was always there, but more than that? Hell, Sam barely had time to concentrate his efforts into the things he did need to take care of. Vitally needed to take care of. Lelouch was on the periphery.

But it seemed Lelouch was playing civil—either for the sake of his sister or for the sake of not creating a scene in general—and Sam had no problems going along with it. This was the one part they were both on the same page about, even if Sam had a feeling Lelouch was more invested than he was in the don't ask, don't tell aspect. It'd be the only thing Lelouch had ever asked about the one time they'd spoken alone.

Which wasn't necessarily to Sam's disadvantage. Nor his sister striking up conversation, in a way. As much as he preferred to sidestep stuff when it came to Lelouch, well. He couldn't deny there was a lot he wanted to know there and more than that, he wondered how much Lelouch's sister even knew. About his nighttime activities, that was. Somehow, he doubted very much. And in any case—either Lelouch was gonna have to keep up his acting skills or Sam was gonna find out the answer to this question pretty soon.

He shifted his attention back to the girl. "I would've liked something a little dryer," he said. He turned around a bit where he sat, facing her. "I'm Sam."

It was hard not to keep smiling at Nunnally with the things she was saying, even with Sam around. Admittedly, Lelouch hadn't been trying very hard to begin with, if at all, but although his sister had effectively let the cat out of the bag as far as their exact relationship was concerned, it would only make matters worse if Sam picked up on how much that relationship meant to him. Lelouch may have had the threat of harming Dean again to fall back upon, but when it would be so much easier for Sam to hurt Nunnally, that couldn't mean much anymore. Sam simply knew too much.

"I've created a monster," he lamented, finally finishing with the chair. It seemed unlikely that anyone else would join their little group, but he felt better knowing it was in a more appropriate location anyway. From there, returning to Nunnally's side and taking his seat was a simple matter, even if he had to restrain himself from automatically taking her hand or something similar. Sam didn't need to see that.

Lelouch fell silent after that, watching the conversation in much the same way he'd observed Mihai and Nunnally earlier instead. She's always been the more open and friendly of the two, and much as he wished to intervene and at least take over the introductions, it would be a little too awkward to do so now. Besides, he was more interested in seeing if he could glean something of Sam's intentions from what verbal and nonverbal cues he could pick up.

Nunnally smiled at Lelouch as he sat down, both amused by the comment and glad that he'd finally stopped fussing and joined her in front of the fire. It really had been raining quite hard outside, and he could catch cold after wandering about in the cold and wet, and now that he didn't have to worry as much about her health, she could worry about his instead. That seemed fair enough to her, after all.

"I'm Nunnally," she replied, pleased that the man seemed polite enough. So many of the people she'd met so far here did, though, despite her brother's warnings about some of the patients being potentially hostile. Maybe it was just a very small percentage of them, and she just hadn't met the wrong ones yet? "And this is my brother, Lelouch." Who seemed more interested in watching the conversation than participating in it, but that wasn't too unusual. He'd done so just a while ago, when she was talking to Mihai.

She lifted a hand to her hair to brush some of the clinging raindrops away and wrinkled her nose a little as her smile quirked into a grin. "I've never visited the town before," she observed, sounding mildly disappointed. "I would have liked to get a better look at it, instead of having to duck under cover to escape the rain." There wasn't much point in even leaving the Institute, really, since they didn't have a chance to get out and enjoy the fresh air anyway.

Sam flicked his gaze toward Lelouch at the introduction. "We've met once or twice, actually." The comment was mild, offhand.

For a teenager, Nunally seemed particularly poised, like if they'd been sitting at a diner instead of a nice hotel, she might actually look a bit out of place. Hard to place a precise finger on what it was, but it was something to file away.

She was certainly far more sociable than Lelouch had ever been, though, even compared to that time they'd met before they'd moved onto the exchange-of-death-threats stage.

He propped an arm on his knee, feeling no less wet, but a little warmer at least. This was slightly awkward, talking to Nunnally when Lelouch was looking on like that because Sam had a feeling Lelouch wasn't just observing for the hell of it, but if anyone was good at pretending everything was just fine, it was Sam. He'd practiced on Dean a lot.

"Yeah, it's too bad the weather decided to put away the sun. You'll get to see it again soon, though, they bring us down every week." He cast another brief look at Lelouch. "I never realized he had a sister," he said, casual enough. "But we didn't get the chance to talk much that time."

He wasn't sure if he could nudge the conversation topic towards Lelouch, but it was worth a try. He wanted to see if he could get something out of Nunnally about her brother. It was one thing to learn about a person through direct interaction, but getting what someone else thought about them was just as useful.

Sam didn't seem to be trying anything overt so far, but all the same, Lelouch wasn't sure he liked where the conversation was heading. This wasn't to say that there was anything wrong about referencing the last few times they'd spoken, at least when Sam was being careful to omit any hints that they had been especially catastrophic, but it was difficult to feel comfortable at all when things seemed to be turning toward... well, something approaching normalcy. What was Sam getting at?

"You never asked," Lelouch said, shrugging a little and glancing at Nunnally again. The temptation to ask for a towel was coming back, this time so that he could help her dry off her hair, but again, there was no way he was leaving the two alone. Another option would be to take off the pink shirt he had on and use that, but given the setting, the fact that Nunnally would probably object, and that it would be far less suspicious to just ask for the damn towel and get it over with... damn it.

"Nunnally? I'm going to see if I can borrow a towel. I'll be right back." He finally sought out her hand then, and after giving it a small squeeze, he let go, rose to his feet, and began walking toward the front desk. This was a stupid, pointless risk, but hopefully he'd be able to keep an eye on the conversation and finish his task in a timely enough manner that it wouldn't impact anything.

Perhaps she'd see the town again in another week, but Nunnally rather hoped that by the time a week had passed she'd be back at home again. Or did she? Home meant leaving Lelouch behind and -- no, she shouldn't allow herself to become distracted like that. This wasn't where she belonged; once the two of them returned to their home Lelouch would certainly find a way to change things, meaning that she would return to a future where they could stay together. She had to expect the best in order to work for that outcome.

"I only just arrived a couple of days ago," she replied, giving a small shrug as she folded her hands in her lap once more. She paused as her brother mentioned getting a towel and nodded in acknowledgement, adding a small smile. "I'll stay right here, don't worry." He didn't need to worry so much, but it wasn't something that was likely to change. Not knowing Lelouch.

After he'd left Nunnally still watched him for a moment longer, then glanced back at Sam as her smile faded slightly. "I'm sure that he hoped I wouldn't join him here," she added, quietly. "I doubt that anyone here would want to see their friends and family become captives as well."

Lelouch's displays of affection weren't so much a curiosity in and of themselves than it was that he was willing to do it around Sam, of all people, but either Lelouch had stopped caring which seemed unlikely, or...But maybe Sam was just too used to pretending to be everything but brothers with Dean. He could count on one hand the number of times they'd willingly decided to lay that fact out on the table.

Not that it made much of a difference in the long run, not when it came to demons. Nor here, either. There were a few who knew, and that was enough, in truth, especially when one of them included Lelouch. But a cover was a cover. It'd feel wrong to start dropping it.

"No, I suppose not," he agreed. That, at least, he could relate to. On an entirely differently level, of course. His reasons for preferring if Dean had never shown up were slightly more complicated. "Sometimes it helps to have a familiar face around, though."

Sometimes.

After explaining what he wanted and why, securing the towel turned out to be a relatively simple matter. Lelouch could have done without the extra waiting around for the man at the front counter to go and get one for him, but once that was over and he'd said his thanks, it was back to the fireplace.

Once there, he noticed that things seemed a little more somber than they'd been when he'd left and, predictably, laid the blame on Sam's shoulders without even thinking about it. What had they been talking about? "I'm back," he announced, smiling warmly at his sister as he returned to his seat. It was even more unnecessary to tell her now that she could see him as well as identify his footsteps, but two and a half days wasn't long enough to break a habit he'd had for eight years.

He hesitated before actually beginning to dry her hair, though, his eyes lingering on Sam. There was little point in holding back when he'd been openly affectionate with her all day and would likely continue during her entire stay at the institute, but it felt rather careless all the same. At worst, it could be interpreted as a taunt, and the last thing he wanted was for Sam to do so with Nunnally in the room. At the same time, however, Lelouch wouldn't be able to avoid answering for long if she noticed he was on edge and decided to ask him about it.

Delicately, he took a section of her hair and began toweling it off, his eyes lowered again. Maybe if he pretended that Sam was nothing more than annoying, disembodied voice, he'd be able to get through this conversation without ordering the man off a cliff.

"I can imagine." If not for the presence of people she knew from home, Nunnally would certainly have felt far more lost and confused after arriving in this place. There were drawbacks, of course, and the confusion that came with seeing people she'd never thought to see ever again, but...it was better than being alone. She regarded the man for a moment longer, her gaze steady and faintly curious. "It can be a comfort, but when it comes at the price of loved one enduring the same, then perhaps the worry outweighs the benefit."

The sound of Lelouch's footsteps was still familiar enough that she recognized his approach well before he spoke up, and Nunnally turned to smile up at him with part of her attention still on her new acquaintance. Something about him had caught her attention; perhaps it was the way that he'd mentioned meeting Lelouch previously and yet the two of them didn't seem particularly friendly. She didn't expect Lelouch to be open and cheerful, but something about it felt just a little bit off, somehow.

Her brother seemed uninterested in anything but fussing with her hair, though, so she just returned her full attention to Sam again. "Do you have family here as well?"

The question of why Nunnally had been brought here in the first place lingered as he watched the two of them. That anyone would get dragged into this mess at all was one thing, but it felt especially disturbing in Nunnally's case. She had no marks on her, not that Sam could see. That wheelchair hadn't been for a recent injury.

But then, whoever—whatever—was orchestrating this seemed just as interested in playing mind games as they were in getting the patients to lose a limb or two every couple nights, if not more so. There was no better way to screw with someone's head than to bring family into the equation. Whatever Lelouch might've been play-acting at or hiding, he was at least genuine around his sister. That much, Sam could tell.

What this said was something he'd have to piece together later.

"Yeah." He gave a nod at the question, shifting so that he was sitting cross-legged. "Yeah, I do, actually. Older brother, as well." No reason to lie about it. Lelouch already knew and Lelouch was the only one Sam was concerned about. "He tends to get into trouble, though."

The last was a wry comment, but innocent enough at the same time. He didn't catch Lelouch's gaze, as much as the thought crossed his mind. While he had no issues flipping Lelouch's playing field right over, the presence of Lelouch's sister changed everything. Sam would rather just leave it. It didn't feel right when she had nothing to do with that night or any of their subsequent run-ins.

Besides, this hadn't started out personal; not on Lelouch's end—he hadn't even known who Dean was, after all—and Sam wanted to avoid making it so on his end, too. Even if it'd be way easy to turn it personal for the both of them under the current circumstances. Not to mention tempting, maybe because Lelouch was so much more readily accessible as an outlet than Lilith—but that was all the more reason to not go down that road. He didn't need the distraction and Dean sure as hell didn't need the risk.

[skipping Lelouch by request]

Nunnally smiled at the mention of Sam's brother and his affinity for getting into trouble, but it wasn't quite as cheerful as before. She doubted that the unnamed brother's level of "trouble" was quite the same as what her older brother had done, but -- even if she'd started to become accustomed to Lelouch's presence here, the memories were still far too recent to easily forget. So many things could remind her of that, startle her out of the calm almost-acceptance into which she'd fallen simply because she had been so glad to see him again.

If she wasn't careful, though, he might notice that something had distressed her, so she calmly directed the subject somewhere else. "You've been here for a while, then?" Nunnally asked, allowing the new topic to excuse her small frown. "You were here in town last week? I've been told that people were stranded in town, come nightfall."

Something had changed, just the slightest, but Sam didn't quite have the chance to put his finger on it at the moment and it didn't seem important enough to contemplate further. He pushed it aside. Lelouch was still quiet, apparently determined to stay out of the conversation as much as possible.

Good to know the desire to ignore was mutual, then. One thing they had in common.

Or maybe more than one thing now, but Sam wasn't that interested in making a T-chart with Lelouch.

He studied her for a second or two, but nodded again. "I was here when everything broke down that night. It got a little crazy. Mind if I ask what you heard about it?"

He could just tell her, obviously, but it was weird launching straight into oh yeah, we were stranded with zombies and stuff, I think a bunch of people even got bit and tried to eat their friends. Wacky, huh. Though honestly, he didn't even know why it still made him hesitate, given where they were and all, but, well. Habit and all.

Anyway, might as well save himself from having to go into some exposition if he could. He'd covered the topic of zombies a few times already, even before arriving here, and he had to admit, as far as supernatural entities went, the walking dead were far from his favorite.

At least the ones raised during that night hadn't walked and talked like a real human being.

Lelouch hadn't quite finished with Nunnally's hair when the subject changed from older brothers to the events of last week, and almost immediately, his hands slowed and then stopped. Sam would have no trouble at all informing Nunnally what the night potentially had in store for them, and while Lelouch knew perfectly well that at this stage, keeping her unaware of it was probably more harmful than not, it was... he still didn't want her to know. Last week had been highly unusual, or so the knowledge he'd gathered about the institute suggested, and if that meant it wasn't going to happen again, what was the point of needlessly scaring or worrying her? If there was anything he could do to preserve what innocence his past actions hadn't already destroyed, then--

He glanced up at Sam, then back down at his sister's head. He could either stay silent and allow the conversation to progress, speak up and attempt to derail it, or speak up and actually contribute. The last option appeared the most attractive, in fact, because if he were to say something that gave him control over what was and wasn't discussed, he could at least insure that the level of exposure Nunnally had to this topic wasn't unnecessarily high while still instructing her about it. It wasn't exactly ideal, but as much as he wished it, he couldn't keep her entirely in the dark about their last visit here.

"That it was dangerous, many people were injured, and to expect this place to transform the same way the institute does," Lelouch answered for her, brow furrowing a little as he resumed his work. "I intend to move her somewhere safe before it becomes an issue, assuming it can at all. You needn't worry." He set the towel down and began, very gently, to comb her hair back into place with his fingers. He was beginning to regret returning the nurse's brush; tending to Nunnally's hair was exactly the sort of calming activity he needed right now.

The day had passed quietly; the town offering little of interest. She had been wandering with no clear want in sight, simply going over the little that was now known about this place. If the other had been speaking truth, this place was... An experimental facility? The question of why the Eva pilots were there remained, but if soldiers were something commonplace, she could look to that for explanation. If there were any.

The fall of rain stopped any further musings in her wanderings, and herded inside a building, she lightly shook her head, drops of water falling from the strands. The plaid dress she was wearing had been mostly saved from wetness, though the jacket differed. She shrugged it off, moving near the fireplace in hopes of drying the material. Close, she stopped, eyes glancing familiarity. Ikari was curled nearby resting. There was a beat of pause, and then she quietly sat down next to his sleeping form; carefully, in the hopes of letting him continue to rest.

[Shinji]

Shinji shifted in his sleep, still curled against the chair. Kaworu had left him some time ago, but he still hadn't noticed. Not yet anyway. He finally began to drift back to wakefulness, blinking as he sat up. What time was it? How long had he been asleep? More importantly, where was Kaworu? For a moment he felt an intense spike of panic and fear as he glanced around - and caught sight of Rei. He relaxed a bit, heart still hammering in his chest.

"A-Ayanami? When did you...? Where did...?"

Minutes had ticked, and she had watched the fire, the embers cracking to fall away in time. There was something in her that didn't like it. Didn't respond to the heat and the sensation. Still she stared, until the other spoke.

She glanced to him, blinked. He had had someone with him then? "A few minutes ago," she said in response to the one directed at her. As for the other, she couldn't say.

"Huh...? Oh..." He rubbed at an eye sleepily. Kaworu must've gone out. Shinji didn't really blame him. It'd probably been kind of boring just watching him sleep. He yawned and mumbled and then finally managed to focus on Rei. He felt closer to her after last night. More like it should have been. Like it was.

Before she'd been killed.

"...how are you?"

She watched him carefully for a moment, then determined that his lag in reactions were only from sleep, and not something else. This decided, she relaxed marginally, blinking once.

"Fine," she answered perfunctorily. A beat, and she rethought it, wondered instead. She glanced at Ikari, gaze slightly unsure. "The place we're staying at. It has something to do with military experiments?" She didn't so much as doubt the words of her seatmate earlier, but would rather confirmation.

"...military experiments? I... I don't think so." Then again, how could he be sure? What had they been doing to Kaworu last night, after all? He frowned and glanced down at his hands, flexing his fingers. He wasn't sure what to do about it - he couldn't do anything.

"Maybe it is the military. I don't know."

Was it not? His hesitance, though, could mean he truly wasn't sure. Ayanami blinked, looking away from Ikari for a moment to watch the fire. In the smallest amount, her mouth thinned.

"Someone I spoke to seemed to believe that," she answered. "They were adamant."

"I don't know. It... sort of seems like something they'd do, but none of the people I've met seem like they're in the military..." For a moment he remembered the silent men in dark suits and sunglasses who had come to collect him, once upon a time. Or Lieutenant Ibuki. Or even Misato. They were all in the military, weren't they? Or at least a paramilitary organization.

He sighed. "I don't know what to think."

His shoulders slumped and he stared down at his hands, trying to think of something to say.

Asking the other's opinion now was futile. If one was unsure, they stayed that way until new facts came in to play. In this town, all they would learn would be more rumors from the others around them. Rei did not know anything in the short time she had been here. Three items of interest had presented themselves--a different name, a strange hall, and an unknown exploitation. Nothing more.

Military experiments, tests. With those items in front of her, she could believe as much. But she did not know. And without that knowledge, it was meaningless. Her eyes slid back to Ikari, watching carefully. "Do you know," she started quietly, "what they did to him?"

To the Fifth Child, she meant. To the one who had introduced himself as Kaworu Nagisa. One similar. If one didn't look too deep to find opposites.

"...no." He tensed, shoulders hunched. He didn't know and it scared him. "I... I wish I did. I just... I don't know."

He had nothing more to say. He couldn't help Kaworu. He could barely help himself. He was pathetic and alone again - he knew nothing and again he'd let a friend suffer while he stood by helplessly. It was just like before. Just like with Toji or Asuka or Rei. He always failed.

A response in the negative was enough--the reactions while speaking gave too much away of Ikari's discomfort. It was a guess at the reason. The conversation. The place they were in. The lack of knowledge. A concern for the Fifth. As it was, she didn't know, and could not move in the correct direction. A memory flashed, of the night prior--a hand holding and then arms wrapped around.

She could not offer that either, but she could understand that touch could be a comfort. Rei leaned to the side slightly, shoulder brushing Ikari's. Strange. It felt. Strange. But not necessarily bad. "He'll tell us. More than likely."

Shiji stiffened slightly as he felt Rei's shoulder brush his own through their clothing. It wasn't an unfamiliar sensation. He'd been leaning against Kaworu an hour or two ago when he fell asleep. He'd never really felt that with Rei. Their relationship had been strange, but appreciated. He wasn't sure what to think of her, now that he knew. The room filled with orange light and staring, crimson eyes. He squeezed his eyes shut, blocked out the images. This Rei cared about him. This Rei was his friend. Wasn't she? He slowly settled again, trying to be content with the slight sigh of physical affection, trying not to be nervous. It was harder than it sounded. He snuck a quick glance at her. "Y-yeah. He probably will."

He hoped so, anyway. Shinji hated worrying. Then again, there were a lot of things Shinji didn't like.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Day 49: Early Afternoon - Black Rock Inn

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Agh, I totally thought I replied to this. Sorry!

no problem.~

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