Day 54: Sun Room

[tightsofmight]

[From here. All your top posts shall be mine.]

Peter entered the Sun Room with a dour expression. Goody, he was the first one here. Fancy that. Pick of the couches was his then. Eeeny meeny miney...moe. Peter stalked over to what he knew from experience was the fluffiest couch in the room and eased himself into its downy soft embrace. Ordinarily he would have just pounced on that sucker, but yeah. His arm was in a sling for a reason. He sighed and wormed his way into a full body sprawl. He didn't care if it was irresponsible of him. This shift's only mission was to remain as still as possible.

Of course, being the first one in here had some stipulations. With great opportunity came great responsibility. Which today, came in the form of a soft meow from below. Then the sound of puncturing fabric, advancing upwards towards him. More meows, independent of one another and even more tiny punctures.

Peter Parker was now officially the cat sitter.

"...Oh hi... lonely kittens," he said uneasily as the first scrambled over the edge of the cushion. It padded towards his face. "No no, kittens don't belong near faces." He gently picked it up and put it on his chest. Two more crawled over the edge.

He had never really had a pet growing up. And he didn't hang out with a lot of people with cats or dogs, either. So of course, he didn't have a good idea of how to properly handle most animals without ticking them off. It looked like he was going to have to make up for lost time now, as the cats' numbers swelled to four. Two were exploring his legs, another batted at a fraying string on his sling, and the first stumbled back towards his face and mewed plaintively. Peter frowned and gave it a ginger pat on the head. That seemed to to the trick. He put it back on his chest again and scratched behind its ears.

"You guys had better not start doing that claw thing on my leg. I can't reach right now, but revenge will be mine if you do."

"Meeeeew!"

"I'm still petting you! Geez."

[For Elle Bishop.]

Comments

mmkay

[lookitmemama.livejournal.com]

"Oh, well, I--wh--!" Whatever poise Asuka seemed to possess despite the sedative sleuthing through her system vanished once she rounded the couch. Her foot caught the side, leaving her windmilling for her lost balance. Thankfully her hand caught the arm of the couch before she could embarrass herself further and Asuka righter herself with a sheepish smile that didn't reach her blue eyes.

Come on, Asuka! Get it together!

The smile inevitably faded once she had sat down beside Mr. Gant, but the second child fixed that. It fell back in place, bright as always, but it was rather hard to keep, actually. All she wanted to do was lay back into the couch and veg like she had never vegged before. But that was just what they wanted, so Asuka refused to play into their hand, of course! She would be upbeat and chipper. She would show the dregs of the institute that shuffled like slugs through the Sun Room how to be defiant.

"Sounds like Landel isn't playing around anymore..." But as to why the sudden change, Asuka had no clue. He had seemed happy enough to pretend, and, for all she knew, the patients had been behaving as they always had. What could have triggered such a change in mood? Her only hypothesis was that Marc may have been getting too close for comfort. However, his influence and resources paled in comparison to Landel's, so what would the head doctor have to be afraid of?

It was just too unclear right now. The sedative didn't help either.

"Unfortunately--" Asuka began slowly, having difficulty being able to articulate every syllable. "--I was sedated too." She looked up at the older man and shrugged, more irritated by the fact her nurse had the gall to think she could corral her than the side effects of the tranquilizer. "I have to say, though, it's a refreshing change of scenery." Even if the new additions threw tear gas, but Asuka hadn't gotten caught in that so she had no reason to really fear them. She wasn't stupid enough to attack staff, and they weren't going to punish her for sitting on the sidelines.

[propheteer]

[From here]

The nurse had insisted on escorting him the entire way to the Sun Room in silence. It was a slow walk, but at least he started to feel a little better on the way. His throat and nose hadn't stopped burning and his eyes still stung badly, but it didn't feel so hard to breath now.

When they finally arrived at the Sun Room, the nurse didn't go away. She seemed content to hover nearby as Izaya stopped at the bulletin board—a wasted effort, really; he'd only glanced over two or three notes before resolving that reading would have to wait. She followed as he headed away from the board, too, and only scurried off once he'd finally sunk into the first chair that looked promising, across from an old man with a young girl next to him.

The thought that maybe he was interrupting something occurred to him, but he brushed it off. The pair could keep talking just as easily with added company as without. For good measure, however, Izaya gave a half-hearted smile; he could at least try to look friendly instead of like the mess that he felt.

[gargantuanlaugh.livejournal.com]

Seemed she was a little off, so he had been right in asking! Only she didn't seem willing to let her weakness show. What a brave kid! Reckless but brave, and smart to boot. Definitely useful, but to what end? He stopped himself before he thought too much further. Isn't that the kind of thinking that got him in trouble back home to begin with? And was still getting him in trouble here? How irritating to have to worry about watching his back after again after thinking he was finally getting over his past.

No no! Can't let himself seem too down either! "I wouldn't say refreshing, but I like to see this had even Landel on his toes." The military officers here were certainly an odd accessory to add to a mental hospital. It started to make him wonder if Landel really was the person he wanted to meet up with, or if there was someone else higher up. Hmm...

"Anyway, been busy lately Miss Asuka? Found out anything--" And then a stranger sat at a chair in rather close proximity of them, killing the tail end of Gant's question. Dammit, there wasn't any privacy anywhere. Well, maybe he couldn't blame the man. He looked pretty wrecked and probably just needed to find an empty seat.

Gant cleared his throat and offered a small wave. "Ehe, hey there." He really wasn't in the mood to be social. If little Asuka wasn't here, he wouldn't have even tried.

[lookitmemama.livejournal.com]

And just when they were getting somewhere, someone had to interrupt! Men these days just didn't have manners at all. If it wasn't for the buffering effect of her sedative, Asuka would have surely glared at the Japanese boy instead of giving him bored blue eyes.

The redhead stood up a little straighter, smoothing a few wrinkles out of her pants. She looked at Mr. Gant from the corner of her eyes, who was giving in to the man's sudden appearance. Asuka supposed she would to since nothing of a serious nature would be discussed further.

"And you are?" The eva pilot asked with a bit more frost than necessary. It was hard enough smiling for the older man, Asuka didn't have it in her to pretend for a total stranger who would probably give her nothing useful in the long run.

[propheteer]

The man he'd sat down near made an attempt to be sociable, but from the tone of her voice, the girl seemed to be barely even trying. ...Well, that just made it interesting, right? Two different reactions, two different views of the facets of humanity, both in response to the same small event. That alone raised his spirits, even if he was still physically uncomfortable.

Izaya opened his mouth to answer the girl's question, but didn't get any further than "Oriha" before he had to cough. He cleared his throat and tried again, "Orihara Izaya. I hope I wasn't interrupting anything."

Despite his words, he actually hoped the opposite, just to find out whether they would be accommodating or confrontational or something in between since he'd brought it up. To add another variable, he continued, "I just needed to sit for a while..."

[gargantuanlaugh.livejournal.com]

As much as it pained him to be making new friends when he didn't care to, Gant was never one to let an opportunity pass him by. He gave Asuka a look that told her to 'be nice' then returned his attention to the man before them.

"Chief of Police, Damon Gant. L.A.P.D." He responded cheerfully as possible in his condition. "Nice to meet you there, Mister Izaya." Yeah, that wouldn't do. He'd have to have a nickname. Izzy didn't seem to suit him, so maybe something from the other half of his name. Orihara. Harry? Nah. Ori? Too obvious.

Oreo. Yes. Oreo would do nicely for this one.

But seriously, Gant didn't think sharing a little information would be too much to ask. Who knew? Maybe this man would be more helpful than Asuka in the long run, but first he just had to test the waters. "We were actually just about to swap some information about this place. Would you like to contribute?"

He couldn't imagine why the man would refuse, unless he happened to be the mistrusting type like Baddo. But if this man was smart, and Asuka didn't plan to drive him away, then he would join them. The key to survival in this place was information. Keeping one secret may give one a monopoly over one area here, but without trading that information for something else one risked walking blindly into danger. It might have made a fun mystery game if it didn't involve actual danger and potential death.

[lookitmemama.livejournal.com]

Asuka humphed, but she was in no position to be contrary. Her stock of information was rather small, so she would benefit just as well from an exchange. And she had enough to contribute without being seen as a leech. Yes, fine, this would work out as long as Japanese boy didn't start wiggling too deep.

So, as promised, Asuka lightened up and untucked her arms from around her chest. She was too tired to attempt a smile, but she doubted either of them expected one. Scooting forward on the couch to get closer to the little pow wow they had going on, the second child introduced herself as well. "I'm Asuka Langley Soryu!" She was about to ask where and when this man came from in Japan, but she would wait. She didn't want to be the one who looked insane. Asuka would bide her time and hope that the information revealed itself naturally.

[propheteer]

Information.

Izaya's mind instantly latched onto the word, though he didn't give any outward sign of his interest. Information was something he unfortunately lacked since he'd found himself here, but it was something he needed to work on. He wasn't going to turn down an offer to participate in an exchange, even if he had very little to bring to the table.

"I can try to contribute," Izaya said, looking at the girl—Asuka, she said?—and then at the Chief of Police. He gave the man another small smile, fighting past how terrible he felt. Appearances were important. "Unfortunately I'm rather... new, but I've picked up on a few things so far. Information seems pretty vital for survival around here, after all."

He hoped that would be enough promise to keep him in the game, but he could always keep these two in mind for later on if it wasn't. It really all depended on how much their information was worth.