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]

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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.

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Day 49: Early Afternoon - Black Rock Inn

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