damned_institute | Day 50: Patient Library (3rd Shift)

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Day 50: Patient Library (3rd Shift)

Given a choice, as should have been implied by the whole "Free Choice Day" thing, Scott would have gone straight for the Game Room. Maybe it didn't have the greatest selection of games, but he was raring for another epic Tetris match with Indy or anyone else who cared to challenge him. Unfortunately for him, however, his nurse was already onto his line of thinking.

"Now Bryan, I know how much you love your games, but don't you think some more time away from them would be good for you?" the woman asked him in a soothing tone, gently taking his shoulder when he turned toward the Game Room.

"Uh, why would I think that?" he asked, blinking at her in honest confusion.

"Well, I know your family was worried about more than just your condition before you came here. They're hoping you can start to wean yourself down to a more healthy level of enjoyment with your games, too," the nurse explained with continuing gentleness.

"Yeah. And?" Scott raised an eyebrow. "It's Free Choice Day, isn't it? Don't I get to choose and stuff?"

"Of course, Bryan. But I'm still here to make suggestions, and I think you'd do well with a different activity today." The woman smiled at him, genuine care and concern in her expression. "You can always come here later in the week. It'll probably be more rewarding if you wait, too."

Scott was silent, considering the advice. He raised an index finger. "Well, I suppose... Uh, yeah no. Please to be going to the Game Room now, thanks."

The nurse frowned.

Five minutes of irritatingly gentle coaxing later, and Scott found himself in the patient library. "Stupid guilt tripping never even talked to my real mom and dad I bet I could be playing Tetris right now they don't even have any cool books in here..." he grumbled to himself under his breath as he lazily perused the shelves. He picked a book completely at random, The Oxford Book of English Verse. He was half-hoping that maybe pulling the book out would trigger something more exciting, like a secret item appearing, a bonus stage unlocking, or a new shortcut tunnel opening. But no, Landel's reality was boring as ever. "Maybe there'll be an awesome poem or something in here, at least," he told himself as he headed over to an empty seat with a short sigh.

[Unknowingly waiting for Sam]

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Seriously. Who had he killed in another life to deserve this? Matt was just minding his own business, hidden behind some damn books, and someone walked up and touched him. No, not just touched- smacked him, and whispered in his ear. The contact made him jolt, since he wasn't prepared for it; besides, this was not the time to be touching Matt. Alarmed, he tried not to run smack into the book shelf as he moved away as quickly as he could - which wasn't nearly as quickly as he would have liked, but he just needed to keep people from getting behind him again.

He settled when he saw that it was just another guy- another patient. Another person stuck in a madhouse they probably didn't belong in. Slowly, the meaning behind his words filtered into his head. Glancing at the nurses by the door, Matt stepped back and focused on the books on the shelf, seemingly disinterested in the conversation.

"Th-then what d'you suggest I try next time?"

Niikura backed away just as quickly: he wasn't used to people jumping like that when he didn't have some sort of gun in his hand. Maybe this guy just had really bad nerves or something, in which case he would have to actually respect personal space. How often did that happen?

"Well I don't know," he said with a shrug and a slow, easy smile. "What's the context?" It had to do with the nurse, he knew that much. "Got on her bad side or somethin'?"

He looked carefully at his fellow patient. Had this one been drugged too at some point? Hopefully this wouldn't be a trend; it was difficult having to deal with drugged-up folks one day and then their awkwardly apologetic selves the next.

Matt frowned. This guy had a Mello personality - he could just feel it. Something about the way the guy held himself, about the way he gave Matt that laid-back smile... the smooth way he spoke... Ugh. Not another one. He wasn't too sure how much longer he could handle these prissy socialites.

He watched the guy out of the corner of his eye, very carefully making sure to seem like he was mostly interested in the titles embossed on the spines lining the shelves, and not on the man standing beside him.

The sedation was an all new kind of feeling for Matt; he'd never been under the influence of any drug before, but he was taking this surprisingly well; despite being unnaturally tired, he was less jittery - well. A different kind of jittery, really. He'd never been one for contact of any kind, physical or otherwise, and it just seemed to have been made worse by the drugs. Hopefully the weird, twitchy lack of twitching would run its course before he had to deal with Mello that night? Fat chance, but he could hope.

This one, however, seemed harmless. Matt let a chuckle slip at the thought that his obviously charismatic personality would probably have already fended off Mello's, so he was confident that they wouldn't know each other; this meant that telling him what had gone on earlier that day would stand a good chance of never reaching Mello. "I wanted t'leave; knew she wouldn't let me." His frown deepened. "Tried to make myself seem scarier than I am."

The slurred speech made it pretty obvious just what had happened. It was just that this time, he hadn't caught the poor man immediately after his...injection. Of course, now that he had a broader view of what sedated patients were like, Niikura was finding himself more and more interested in just what the nurses here used. Some sort of barbituate, probably, although those weren't so popular these days. But they had to keep them all somewhere...

"Oh, so she" - Niikura pantomimed getting stabbed with something in the neck and made an appropriate face - "gotcha, then? Figures. Met a guy the other day, he tried to do the same thing, I think." He sighed. A really twisted part of his mind whispered that at least there were suckers around that would show him ahead of time what was coming if he stepped way too far out of line. It saved him a great deal of trouble.

"I mean, I guess this is kinda obvious by now, but I'd just save all the gung-ho spirit for later on. Play the game by day, fight it by night - that sort of thing. Sounds more fun to me at least--oh, and drink a lot of water. Flushes your system out. Logical, right? Maybe you already knew that..."

He visibly grimaced at the stabbing motion, turning to stare at the other man with a slightly disgusted expression. "Uh, no, she didn't get me in th'neck," was all he could think to say. "She, uh. Got me in th'arm."

What was he saying? Like it really mattered where she pricked him; all it boiled down to was that he'd gone in half-cocked, and failed miserably. Least he'd learnt his lesson?

...that one was a maybe. Matt figured he would just need to think things through the next time, that was all.

"It wasn't really being gung-ho, or any shit like that. I just. I 'unno..." He gave an indifferent shrug. "Wanted out.

"Plus, I need some smokes. Think the withdrawal was makin' me a right maniac, t'be honest." He didn't much like admitting that to anyone, but at least it wasn't Mello he was saying it to? Less chance to be laughed at, that was for sure.

"Arm, neck...you get the picture," Niikura said, drawing a rectangle in the air. "Doesn't make much of a difference." But secretly he was slightly embarrassed at being wrong.

He forged on nevertheless. "And eh, makes sense, withdrawal. Although most people would be askin' for a light, not out. You ask about them on the board, though? I'm sure someone 'round here's got one or two to spare, maybe. Don't know if the nurses will approve, but you don't care 'bout that anyway, so it's good."

Niikura paused with a finger to his lips, and then suddenly said, "Ever met a guy named Morgan? Blond, chin-length hair or so, funny scar on this side of his face...he got drugged the other day too, and since you two had about the same train of thought leadin' up to the needle, I thought, well, you might know each other. Or might get along."

"M-Morgan?"

Oh, hell. Matt knew instantly who he was actually referring to - Mello. Dammit all, there was just no escaping the senseless prat, was there? Flushing an unnatural shade of scarlet, Matt moved away a step or two, wanting now to put some real distance between himself and whoever this lackey was. Mello rarely spoke to anyone who wasn't of use to him one way or another; Matt himself wasn't an exception, he knew. He doubted the other man would've looked at him twice at the House, had he not seemed the useful type.

"Oh, I know him," he muttered before he even realized what he was saying. Then it dawned on him: Mello had attempted to stage an escape; attempted being the operative word in his case as well, if this guy was the truthful type. Should he feel bad, for putting his best friend through the ringer? At the moment, Matt couldn't really feel anything, let alone guilt. His weird aversion to Mello had taken a major hit when those words had reached his ears, and now the thought of dealing with him come nightfall wasn't so bad, really.

He snorted to himself, turning back toward the shelves again. Morgan, he felt, was by far Mello's least creative alias. Of course, that was the problem, wasn't it? Mello probably used up a good bit of his creativity blowing himself to hell and back and plotting out the main points of Takada's kidnapping. If anyone enjoyed a plan with a bang, it was Mello.

"So, he..." Matt glanced over at the other guy, holding onto the bookshelf lightly. "He tried t'get out, and he failed?" Oh, boy; that can't have gone over well, he thought, frowning again.

A-ha. Another lazy smile crept across Niikura's face as he watched the other man - whoever he was - back up again, this time blushing furiously. What was the real connection between Morgan and this man? Certainly not friends, not with this sort of reaction. Enemies? Ex-lovers? Perhaps that last one was pushing the envelope a bit, but reality was sometimes stranger than fiction.

"Oh you do? Huh. Small world." Niikura soaked in the sight a little more and then added, "Relax. Don't know why you're all flustered; I barely know the guy. We just met my first night here, and I used him to get my bearings a bit." He'd done some dirty work for Morgan too, but in his opinion, Morgan had been the one to come out the worse for the wear.

He'd started going over the scuffle with Usopp again when he realized that the other patient had asked a question. "I think that's what happened. Couldn't really tell. I accidentally started up a conversation with him right after he'd been hit, and no guy's going to say flat out that he got owned by the nurses and for such and such dumb reasons when he's back to normal, right?"

Matt blinked, both slightly alarmed and skeptical. This guy used Mello? he thought with an unconscious scoff. Sure. Right. It was probably obvious that he didn't believe him, but he had grown up under the impression that Mello just wasn't the type to be utilized like a pawn - that was his job, to make other people into pawns that he himself moved around the board wherever he liked. He didn't feel all too comfortable letting the guy go on, but what could he do to stop him? Nothing, really.

He chuckled at the other male's next words, shaking his head. "Nah, Mello wouldn't own up t'that," he said.

What little of a smile that occupied his face disappeared in the next moment, when he realized what he'd let slip. Eyes slightly widened, he continued to stare at the glossy titles in front of him, the letters all seeming like they were blurring together just a tad. "I mean." He tried to hide his blush, but it was impossible - per usual. "H-He's jus' not th'type, y'know." Blinking a few times, Matt took a deep breath, trying hard to hide his mistake. It was becoming a trend, he could see.

Niikura frowned. Had he used the wrong word? "Okay, took advantage of an opportunity presented by him more like - that better?" He had to admit, 'use' did have certain connotation that certainly hadn't been there.

And then the frown disappeared. 'Mello', had he heard? So 'Morgan'...judging by Drugged Patient No. 2's reaction, that was an alias. (If he had a name like 'Mello', he'd want to go by another name too, personally.) "Aye, I know," Niikura said with a soft chuckle. "Not the type...see what you mean."

But it was okay that Mello had tricked him. Humans were like that - deceitful, suspicious...how could he have expected any less? As long as he wasn't evil, Niikura would let him continue on.

He sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Anyway, know we started off on a bad foot so let's try again." He extended a hand even though the other man was currently trying to make himself become one with the bookshelves. "I'm Niikura."

"I could care less about wording," he shot off before he thought about it. He blinked, flush deepening just a smidge, and stepped back from the bookshelf; it was little more than fidgeting, but being more out in the open, however small, helped him feel like he could breathe.

He hated that he'd outed Mello, however much a prat the guy had been the night before; at least now his attitude made sense. He was somewhat worried about what would happen when Mello found out that he'd let his "real name" slip - hopefully the blond wouldn't be too angry. At least he hadn't let slip his birth name? That seemed like a point in his favor - and he needed all the points he could round up at the moment.

This guy, though... He seemed a great deal conceited, but arrogance was one personality trait Matt was adept at dealing with, after all the time spent working so closely with Mello. Not inherently evil or out to get him, though, which was refreshing to find.

Yet another name exchange, though... The act obviously made him uneasy, but he really had to wonder: what was the harm in giving someone what was ultimately yet another alias? That's all "Matt" is, if he was honest with himself, and what would it hurt in this place to let it get out a bit? It was already apparent that keeping under the radar was no way to find himself on the other side of Landel's front door, and there didn't seem to be much he could do on his own. Allies would prove useful in this sort of scenario, and Niikura seemed like he'd make a good one.

"Um. Matt." He nodded to the other male, his shoulders hunching unconsciously. It was a gut reaction to admitting his most basic and close to home alias. Now, though... to figure out the elusive art of small talk. "Y-You been here long?"

Edited 2010-06-29 20:38 (UTC)

Niikura nodded. "That's good. Some people are really picky." What do you mean by 'evil'?, they'd asked, and it had been frustrating explaining himself over and over again. Well. It hadn't really been him, but someone in his brain had - who was him. Yeah.

He withdrew his hand once he realized that he wasn't going to be getting a customary handshake and stared off into space. "Nah, just three days. I haven't been able to do much, but I guess that's better than nothing." Niikura looked back at Matt. "Hey. What year are you from? I know this sounds weird, but I hafta know."

Matt stretched a little, trying to work out some of the discomfort that was probably more psychological than physical. Was worth a try, though. "'m picky 'bout other shit," he commented in return, a little shortly. "Words don't matter much when you're dealin' with th'sort of shit we are."

He glanced over at Niikura, noting the outstretched hand was gone. His comfort level went up at that, and he visibly relaxed. "Seems like a determined person could get plenty done in that amount'a time," he said, then sighed. He and Mello hadn't gotten too much accomplished the other night - but in their defense, the entire madhouse had gone... well. Mad.

And he still needed to go get those drugs back from Mello. Couldn't let himself forget that.

"From the start of 2010," he answered after barely a second's pause; that wasn't any big deal to release to a stranger. There were all sorts of weird people running about the place, from all sorts of weird times and places. It was slightly off-putting, but whatever. Matt knew how to deal.

"Mmm..." Matt's words stung a bit because it was true: he'd almost destroyed Japan's entire governmental structure in a month, and here he had just wasted two nights on really inconsequential things. "It's a little harder here, I think, to get things done. Less time. But you're right."

And then Niikura's heart skipped a beat. 2010? It was 2006 where he was...that meant that this man might know what happened - if Akumetsu had actually worked! And there was no way that the entire world hadn't heard about it..."I'm assumin' you're from this world, right? Have you ever heard of Akumetsu? Did it work?"

The cool, laid-back persona was fading. Now he just seemed like a hyperactive teenager.

Matt's eyes narrowed, and he just shook his head in response. It wasn't his thing, really, to keep up with current events or watch the news... Hell, after he left Wammy's, he hadn't even paid too much attention to how bad the Kira situation had gotten; the first he'd actually heard of it in years was what Mello'd told him when the prat called him for help.

He stared at Niikura another long moment, unsure of what was going on. He seemed to have become quite excited upon hearing when Matt was from, and his questions... There was something he obviously needed to get back to, and in a right hurry. The question was... what?

"Wh-What is that? I mean, 'm pretty sure 'm from this world - but this madhouse isn't really much t'go on, y'know?" He chuckled awkwardly, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "But, nah, I've not heard anything about Akumetsu." He was somewhat curious now, watching carefully for signs in the other male's expression that might give it away instead.

Niikura's face fell. "Really? Alright..." Then he sprung back up. "Ya sure? Akumetsu was going on in Japan right before I left - which was 2006. There was this group, and they were tryin' to clear out the corruption in Japan in a month. Killin' off all the evil politicians and all. Some people call 'em crazy, but I think that's pretty heroic, what they're doing. Did."

So this was also terrible, over-inflated self-flattery, but Niikura knew - he'd even gotten the damn police to agree with him at one point - that what he was doing was actually right and good.

Matt couldn't help tuning the other man out after just another few seconds; Niikura was starting to sound like a blatant self-promoter, really, and it just plain didn't interest him, whatever he was talking about. Had to do with Japan, and its government, and it all happened in 2006... As disinterested as he was, he tried to think of where he was in 2006. Still in Winchester, if I remember right, he thought, nodding to himself a little.

"Look," he said after another moment; he reached out and grabbed hold of the bookshelf, trying to shake off the sudden bout of dizziness. "I jus'... I don't pay much attention to current events. It's a personal choice, dude, a lifestyle.. Nothin'- Nothin' personal."

He eyed Niikura another moment, as the dizzy passed; taking a deep breath, he let go of the shelf. It was obvious, from the way he spoke about the group, that he was a part of them. Matt didn't completely understand the urgency, really, though several of the other students at Wammy's had discussed the possibility of Kira being located in Japan. Perhaps that was the "corruption" Niikura was talking about, that "this group" was trying to purge from the government. And why was he using so many quotes in his internal monologue? Some good questions, but only one that he could actually voice: "You've heard of Kira, yeah?"

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Day 50: Patient Library (3rd Shift)

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