damned_institute | Nightshift 49: 2nd Floor Staff Lounge

For once, the words didn't sting, as though the younger understood the misstep and simply worked to correct it. The stare and the hand were ignored as well as the last statement. They could not be processed at this time. "I know," he said instead. "I just didn't want to keep them in my room." For someone to shuffle through and scatter-- The thought was enough to cause a muscle in his arm to twitch.

He tilted to the armrest on his left, his head nudging against the fabric. Eyelids dropped halfway without conscious knowledge. "You don't have to," continued Nigredo, voice shifting to a mumble. To trail to incoherency as the boy closed his eyes.

Then, silence.

The acceptance was as unexpected as anything else. His mind quickened, shifted to catch the change involving, and pressed at comprehension. Nigredo didn't want to keep the things in his room. Surely, he could understand this. See bandages on a hand to know the reasons. His mouth thinned in a quiet anger of a subject unvoiced. "I will, if you want," he answered, voice casually strained.

Silence was noted, body leaning more, and Albedo slowly reached out to touch the cheek facing him. Soft. Familiar. In this, it seemed his brother had turned the other cheek entirely. And now? Was it his move to play?

There was a murmur that sounded not quite like gratitude, a detachment that felt far from sleep. Nigredo stayed stationary at the touch, but some part of him prompted a content sigh. He was tired, touching unconscious. Shying away was not going to happen for the moment.

Eventually, he dredge up some attention long enough to readdress his brother. "Can I sleep for five minutes?"

The reactions were taken more than anything else. From this brother, such unconscious open admissions were few, if at all. Albedo retracted his hand hesitantly, something absolutely foreign in the scenario. (And what had changed so fiercely?)

Nigredo spoke, words a murmur, and Albedo opened his mouth to remind him of his own wanting, to leave this place where they were, and then rethought. His hand moved to a brother's arm, the gesture habitual with any prior aspects. "...If you want. I'll watch over you."

A week ago, this statement wouldn't have been reassuring. A week prior, it would have been said as a threat; a wide grin and lilting words. Albedo understood this, saw the shifts in details, and still... Still, it held, despite everything. The fact that things had changed so deeply. His waveform moved forward, traced the edges of Nigredo's own. {Rest for now.}

Not exactly wanted, but the statement still held. He might have wondered why he would even sleep in Albedo's presence, but the answers were already there. At the end of all reasons, his welfare did not matter. What happened to him would steadily lose its significance; it would be best to never hold to things in the first place.

Like shifting of motives while one slept.

The thought was potent enough to seep into his waveform, and when Nigredo "spoke" again, he sounded sad. Defeated. The meaning unconsciously revealed. {Good night.} With that, he fell asleep.

The emotions themselves would have been perfectly clear by themselves, a change in mentality enough to make him question. But the reason behind the sensations, flitting as they were, mirrored his own train of thought, but in the opposite way. Despite the weight behind it, Albedo was hurt. He swallowed in it, half-angry and embarrassed. What did it matter?

It did, though. Nigredo needed to understand. Albedo pulled his legs up, curling into a ball next to his sibling, head pressed against Nigredo's arm. He was awake. As if he would ever sleep. The fact that Nigredo could--Though true, he was ill. Of some sort. Still. Albedo wanted to wake him, press at him certain facts that were true at least for now--ignoring emotions, shifting as they were, facts along the link could be... some kind of reassurance.

But he had promised hadn't he? Five minutes. He bit his lip, staring out into the room.

Five minutes passed. As promised, Nigredo stirred and opened an eye, before managing the other. A weight on one side brought his attention to the time, and he reached out with a good hand to touch a sibling's side. He did not know if Albedo had forgotten; probably not if he'd slept for the appointed time. Granted, there was a chance hours might have went by without a single warning, but he didn't think his brother would have stood for that.

"We can go now," he said.

A touch came like a shock, and his head stretched to consider his brother. Despite Nigredo's words, Albedo didn't move, other than to reach awkwardly to the hand touching and hold it. "Nigredo..."

Would he touch here, press for confirmation? If Albedo could take that Nigredo wouldn't hurt him... Though it didn't matter, did it? That's what made it unfair. Physical harm had never mattered to this Variant. The things that needed trust were emotional in nature, and Albedo, despite leanings, had not yet allowed himself to even consider that. He was a hypocrite, and he knew this, but he would still move forward.

Of the two things touched on, one would not be spoken of. He had already decided that tonight. It left only an issue of trust, not altogether wrong. Albedo had tried to attack him multiple times, two nights ago even, and Nigredo wasn't wrong. To be wary. Except that now....

He pressed in to his brother's side more, the move unconscious. "Unless something changes... Unless something...." Words failed where explanation wanted. {I wouldn't hurt you. I won't hurt you. Understand.}

Please understand. Don't shut me out.

Sense was lost, comprehension becoming an increasingly challenging effort. Here was a brother who claimed no harm to Nigredo's person. Who, days before, had shown contradicting tendencies. Who held an influence with what was their anti-existence, who was something of a time bomb when it came to moods and shifts. This same individual was promising the sort of kindness one would expect from a beloved.

It wasn't a lie. You could not create falsity with waveforms like you could with words. Albedo truly harbored no hidden nor dubious intentions; in this moment, he would never hurt Nigredo. Like he actually cared.

Therein was the crux. Moments such as these rarely lasted, and the child knew that something would change. They would fall back on inhibitions, duties, and habits, and the promise held now would no longer apply. This was why everything was useless.

He could believe him, but what would be the point?

Nigredo said nothing for a long moment, his conclusions churning uncomfortably within him. Logic knew that keeping silence or lying would do nothing between them. Complete truth, however, would only hurt, and one or more might react negatively. Simplicity, it seemed, was the only option available. The words formed before he could properly think.

{I understand.}

Albedo pushed himself up, hands tracing the edge of Nigredo's leg. Did he really? Understand? The link didn't lie, but there was no way to tell if-- He swallowed again, contemplating the shifts to this place. The start of the evening the night before, and everything... Up to that point. Things had become complicated, confusing his mind and heart with the actions of both siblings, but in all of this--Albedo didn't want to see Nigredo cry again--motivations had begun to center around a simple truth.

"You're lonely," he said softly. "And I don't want to be alone. So don't be sad. I'm not--" Not. "...Going anywhere." A petty promise that. Their elder had left without a trace, beating heart tearing from a place it once-- Breathing had become difficult, and Albedo took in careful, shaky breaths.

It was such a childish sentiment, asking someone not to be sad, to take comfort in another's presence. Though Nigredo was young in body and in certain parts of life, there existed an ancient component that refused the attempts at optimism, the straightforward solution to loneliness. Albedo was being kind but also naive. Proclamations and promises only served to worsen when they were broken. Because they would be broken, whether by will or not.

His gaze drifted to the side, before the child wiggled away from his brother to rise. Not to abandon but to continue forward. "I know," Nigredo said. He knew, despite the fact. "Are your feet okay?"

There remained silence in turn; left untreated it would fester and worsen, but it is was, he was prompted by action, by responsibility. He had agreed. Promised movement and a half-hearted escape, and now stagnancy wasn't an option. Tomorrow, maybe. If they were still here, he would just... Rot.

He straightened further, pressed hands to the couch to rise in turn. "Yes," he answered clearly. A look, too complicated to detail, chanced a gaze to Nigredo. "All better now."

A shadowed cheek was offered to Albedo as Nigredo stepped to retrieve the bottle left behind. The can was placed in its stead. "That's good," he stated gently. No lie. He was glad that Albedo was no longer treading on glass.

The child made to move toward the door but stopped a few steps before the threshold to allow his brother to catch up. Then, he touched the knob.

[To here.]

Edited 2010-05-31 04:31 (UTC)

[[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/909167.html?view=69744239#t69744239).]]

"Well... there might be something here," Raine said, looking around. Even if they found any secret passages, they clearly couldn't use them tonight. Still, the long row of cabinets was worth investigating.

And for many reasons, not just potential weapons. She hadn't even reached for the nearest cabinet before she got distracted by the coffee maker on the counter. She hadn't had any in a long time, and getting this little sleep, she could use it. The scent of the coffee was different than she was used to, but it might be worth taking the little appliance with them for a multitude of reasons. If it had a heating element, they could use it to boil water...

Raine opened the cabinet immediately above the coffee maker and started searching for actual coffee. If they were going to be stuck here, they should at least have some of the comforts from home.

At least nothing tried to eat their faces when they ended up in... some room that smelled like a tavern in the early morning, minus the bacon. That didn't mean something was going to jump out of the cabinet and latch onto Raine's face in the midst of her search. In a way, it'd be kind of fitting, but then Sheena felt bad for thinking about it.

Sullen, the ninja leaned against a nearby wall and crossed her arms. She was irritated, she was annoyed and she really just wanted to curl up in bed with her youkai and not go playing portal jump. It was as bad as that one ranch...

"Hey, Raine... Do you think there's some kind of key to these portals like the Sorcerer's Ring?"

Another room, this one more inviting and full of interesting things than the last one. Pictures, a TV, soft carpets and most importantly, couches that looked invitingly comfy. But first of interest was the lootable items of interest. Much as Raine gravitated to the coffee maker, Yukari headed towards the mini-fridge, opening it up (and hopefully not getting sucked inside to another wondrous dimension).

"Like a switch or something to turn them off?" Yukari mused as she rummaged about. "Maybe in Landel's office, but I don't think he'd let patients wander in there."

There really wasn't much worth keeping, but the youkai did come out of the fridge with three cans of soda, setting two on the counter next to Raine. One stayed there while the other sunk into the counter, eaten by a gap. It reappeared in front of the ninja, falling up in a momentary defiance of physics before gravity took hold again and pulled it back down, causing it to disappear in the gap floating before the girl and pop back out of the counter, only for the process to repeat again.

"If you need caffeine, have one of those - coffee'll take a while to brew. Plus they probably only have instant." Yukari generally preferred tea to coffee, and when she did have coffee, she liked it to be something of quality.

"I know, but I was thinking of just taking it." Raine studied the appliance for a moment longer, then asked, "Would this fit in your gap?" It looked heavy, and she wasn't about to try to carry it to parts unknown. She could take the coffee itself, though.

Either way, the cups themselves would definitely be good to have; she crammed as many as she could fit into her bag, glad they were so light even in stacks. Tonight was probably not going to involve finding anything they really needed, but luxuries were nice too.

"I was thinking more to control where they go," the ninja muttered as she watched the others loot the room.

She was, oddly, unphased by the mystically floating cans, having resigned herself to whatever antics the youkai was up to in a way of amusing herself. At least this was tame and kinda neat. She had this instinctive acceptance of the gap and what it was doing, probably from the pact.

Sheena sighed and rolled her eyes. "Stop trying to use my youkai like a beast of burden, Raine. If you want that damn pointless thing, carry it yourself."

The third can, Yukari cracked open with a fizz and a hiss of carbonation, taking a gulp of the sugary drink as she leaned back against the counter.

"Maybe; Landel's put some kind of space restriction on how many things I can leave in limbo though," she replied dubiously to Raine's question. "I'm down a couple flashlights, but..." Trying to calculate the volume of what should normally be a limitless dimension of space between spaces was something of a novelty.

"Would you even have anywhere to plug it in? I don't recall any outlets in our rooms," the youkai pointed out. It was probably for the patient's safety - as if monsters roaming the corridor were fine, but open outlets were not. Shrugging, the youkai took another sip and set her can down next to Raine's, while Sheena's gradually came to a state of equilibrium, bobbing up and down in place as if floating in water.

"...dammit." Raine had managed to forget about that little thing called electricity; she was used to things that had their own power source. Finally remembering Sheena's question, she said, "It's possible, but I agree that anything of the sort would probably be in Landel's office. And it's unlikely that any portals would lead us there."

Giving up on the idea of taking the coffee maker with them, she checked the rest of the cabinets but found nothing worth taking. Not bothering to take her can of soda, she said "Let's go," and turned the doorknob.

Only to find the door wouldn't open. "What?" She tried again, with more force, and still nothing happened. The door wasn't locked, but it wasn't budging either. What was happening?

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/903284.html?thread=69885556#t69885556)]

Leela stepped toward the rainy, creepy street, but her boot landed on dry ground, indoors, and on something that cracked under it. Once the room decided it was going to stay put, instead of being an unsoothing blur of soothing colors, she looked down. "Ew!" Broken glass, with what seemed to be blood on it. Elaine's commandeering of the bar from the closet was looking smarter and smarter by the minute.

"Look out!" she said, sure that anything remotely dangerous that could be crashed into or stepped on by Chise would be.

Sheena stared blandly at the can floating before her. The longer it was there, though, the more curious she got and with a sigh, she poked it to see if it drifted away from her. She was quite happy that Raine was putting the coffee maker back, but the the door didn't open.

The ninja just assumed it was locked and raised an eyebrow. "Need me to break the lock?"

Chise instantly crouched down to the floor when she heard Leela's warning. Once the room finally stopped swirling, she noticed the scattered pieces on the floor. "It looks like somebody was here before us. The amount of blood doesn't point to a serious injury, but I could be wrong. I hope they're alright."

While exploring the room, Chise was surprised at the huge difference the room was compared to the rest of the institute. Several big differences were the reclining chairs, a mini-fridge, a TV, a coffee tab--oh look! Cigarettes! Something that a certain red-headed-nicotine-addict she met on a bus a week ago needed. After taking the package of cigarettes, she discovered that there was only 8 sticks left, enough to last a week if whoever smoked them was smart.

The can before Sheena merely turned end over end, drifting towards the side f the gap and rebounding off it with a clunk as it hit the counter top - at least on Yukari's end. From the ninja's end, it simply seemed to go clunk off the somewhat immaterial edge of the hole it was floating in.

"It shouldn't be locked. That's the door we just came in from, isn't it?" mused Yukari. On the other hand, they hadn't exactly come in through that door, so maybe it had been overlaid when they came in and hadn't noticed.

"Me too," Leela said. She'd thought before that nervous, scared humans running around was a recipe for disaster. Make that humans with weapons and no idea where they were landing next, and you had the olive in the disaster double diet martini.

For her part, Leela couldn't believe her eye--er, eyes. A coffee maker! "What do you say we take a little rest?" It would give Leela a chance to get some much-needed caffeine, and Chise a chance to get her legs back under her, and... smoke? Leela gave the girl a curious look.

Nightshift 49: 2nd Floor Staff Lounge

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

[time-skip alternative]

no subject

no subject