Even with the nasty weather, Zack still felt refreshed after going outside. Humidity would have reminded him of Gongaga, but he wasn't sure he needed that. Not now, not when he wasn't even sure if he'd be able to get back home and see his parents again. Not that he should have the chance at all, but it was hard to think about nonetheless. Seeing how Gaia hadn't even gotten a rocket into space yet, the idea of figuring out how to get home was one huge question mark in Zack's head.

He already felt hungry again, but after his talk with Aidou the soldier knew that he needed to get that bulletin note up as soon as possible. For that reason, he gave the nurse who was currently herding him his best pleading eyes as he asked to be taken into the Sun Room for a quick second. Once there, he scribbled out a note as fast as he could (he hoped his friends would be able to read his writing) and then tacked it up.

Also, what was with the guy on the intercom all of a sudden? Had he gotten a spontaneous cold? It seemed ridiculous considering he was their captor, but it also meant he was at least somewhat human. He could get a stuffy nose. That meant he was probably weak in other ways.

But there he was, resorting to violence again. It was difficult not to, when that was what he was used to. Besides, Zack was getting the feeling that this Landel guy deserved it.

Shrugging to himself, he entered the cafeteria again and got in line for his lunch. He had to admit he was glad that the food didn't seem to be drugged, seeing how it was downright delicious. Zack got a whiff of the fried poultry as it was put onto his tray and let out a happy sigh. Chow time!

Seeing how the cafeteria was still pretty empty, the young man found the closest empty spot and then sat down. Hopefully one of his friends would spot him and head on over. For now, though, Zack picked up one of the pieces of meat, bit into it, and leaned back into his chair with a content look on his face. So much better than the slop Shin-Ra had called food...

[For Tobias! Let us know if you want to join.]

The world seemed to move more slowly in the showers. Kaworu believed it was the strange half-realized familiarity. He could remember the feeling from before. His mind reached for similarities, of which there were many, but each one was slightly inaccurate. The size was different, the tiles were not the same colors as either the facilities at SEELE, or those at NERV. The only two places he had bathed during his life.

He had spent years in the rooms SEELE had set aside for him, and so it would have been reasonable if that was what he remembered first. A small, practical room with very clean faucets, attached to the room where he slept. Beyond that, the laboratories. One of the spaces had been cleared out, and a piano had been moved in. That was years ago, but Kaworu wasn't precisely sure of the numbers. Ten years ago, possibly? But it was rare that he thought of these places now. Even when they had been the extent of his life, the very limits of his world, he had rarely looked at them. Now they only served as a comparison. Those memories seemed lifeless, and brought him no happiness, except in their passing.

NERV's showers had shown signs of rusting, hidden around the edges of the metal pipes. He had noticed it for a second, but he couldn't bring up any other specific images that didn't include Shinji. And when Shinji was present, he absorbed all of Kaworu's attention. Kaworu would only be passively aware of the setting then.

Kaworu shed his clothing when asked, stopping to fold them haphazardly in an imitation of what Lilim had often done for him in the past. The folds were lumpy, but he left them as they were and walked across the cool tiles. They were still dry, and the bare skin of his feet felt almost sticky on them, having been too warm in his slippers earlier. Soon the room would be heavy and damp with steam.

He reached to the first available faucet, and bowing his head and closing his eyes, he let the stream of cold water hit him. The same ritual as before. Kaworu felt awake for a second, and shuddered in the cold until it slowly climbed to higher temperatures.

[For Shinji, strict reserve.]

Luckily for Mele, the night had ended before Tenzen had changed his mind and deemed Mele appropriate for target practice. Even if the situation of who was mocking who had seemed to change into the Iga ninja's favor. Despite her behavior, perhaps the insolent woman could serve some sort of use nonetheless. He had been trapped in this place for a week by now, he would not accomplish anything on his own.

A week was a long time, a lot could have happened. Of course, he was thinking of the war, the bloody clash of two rivaling ninja clans, whose hatred had gone back for four hundred years. After that infuriating peace treaty had been broken, he, too, could finally release the hatred. And despite their losses, Tenzen had been certain that the Iga clan - no, that he would be the one to remain standing.

Four had remained on both sides a week ago...had the remaining Kouga already been killed? Or had they somehow succeeded in disposing of the remaining three Iga (excluding himself) during his absence? Of those three, two were blind. The situation was not a favorable one, and with himself trapped here before he could return from death, he had to wonder if the Kouga had removed the name 'Yakushiji Tenzen' from the scroll and would believe they had eliminated all of Iga's chosen ten.

The thought - along with no manner of telling this - was enough to make his jaw tighten. The longer he would remain here...

But as unfuriating as it was, it would not help him return. After confirming the presence of the scalpels he had retrieved, a nurse entered his room to escort him to the cafeteria for ridiculous Western breakfast. Unfortunately, the same ridiculous food was the only source of nutrition.

Upon entering, the ninja noticed he was the first to arrive to the area. After deciding on a salad rather than these so-called 'pancakes', he moved to one of the many vacant seats.

[Free to a good home. No limits!]

Yet another intercom jingle sounded, and the nurses, anticipating the Head Doctor's orders, already began grouping around the patients as he began to speak.

"Good evening, everyone and I trust you all enjoyed your fun day of physical activity! I sure wish I had! Aha! Anyway, our dinner tonight is some spaghetti with our ol' homemade Landel's marinara sauce, served with garlic bread and a Caesar salad. Our usual assortment of drinks and vegetarian alternatives is available, and our dessert for tonight is vanilla gelato ice cream with chocolate sauce.

"I do hope that sounds palatable to everyone! I will be speaking with you again shortly!"

The intercom clicked off.

[ All room threads go in response to this post; please post your character's room number as the subject line of the initial post. Find new room assignments here. This shift's intro group is here. ]

Entering the greenhouse was almost like coming home, and Hanatarou had been looking forward to this shift for that reason. Everywhere else in the building was strange and confusing (and often dangerous) but in here was the familiar scent of soil and sun-warmed plants with the musty sort of enclosed-space smell overlaying it. His expression turned into something approaching a smile as he glanced around, moving ahead of his nurse for once.

She seemed encouraged by his enthusiasm, and stopped him long enough to offer him a tray of seedlings, with the suggestion that he go ahead and transplant them into an empty space in the herb bed. He bobbed his head in a vague sort of nod and settled down, almost cheerfully digging a small hole in the indicated spot and reaching inside to test how dry the soil was. Maybe if he didn't look around, he could pretend he was back at work in the 4th Division headquarters....

[free]

Heat was able to ignore the still faintly throbbing spot on his head as he was led back into the cafeteria for another meal he had no intention of eating. He kept himself from rubbing at what he knew would be a small bump because dammit it didn't hurt that much. It was embarrassing, was what it was.

At the fishy odor filling the room when he entered, the demon wrinkled his nose. How that was supposed to be the slightest bit appealing he had no idea. Then again, it wasn't always the taste that mattered. Whatever this cod was, it could very well taste better than the rotting flesh he'd gotten down the night before.

His nurse made some comment about his lack of appetite, but he wasn't paying attention. She could eat his damn lunch if she was worried about it going to waste. It wasn't his fault they didn't inform their staff properly of their patients' eating habits. The room was fairly empty too, so Heat wasn't picky with where he sat. He just hoped one of his tribemates found him before he was stuck with some other pest for the duration of the meal.

[Sasuke?]

Cloud knew he should be taking the opportunity to check out the rec field during the day. The fresh air would be a welcome change from the crowded stuffiness the Institute usually provided, and he would have a chance to scope out the area when it wasn't all under the cover of darkness. When offered a choice, however, he remained in the sun room. He told himself it was so that he could watch the bulletin, him still being fairly new and needing all the information he could get, but the thought rang hollow.

The real reason he was here, he knew, was because he would be out there. Maybe it was weak of him, but he needed a chance to breathe. Ever since he'd arrived it had been nothing but one shock after another, and seeing Zack standing in the cafeteria that morning talking to Aerith had been the final card that caused his tower to crumble. He needed to just sit back somewhere out of the way and start rebuilding.

Being able to watch the bulletin from here was just a perk. Cloud made himself comfortable on one of the sofas, watching people come and go but not really paying attention to them. He took the time to try and rate this on a scale of the biggest messes he'd ever gotten thrown into.

(for Sheena)

It had all been going so well!

Seeing Cloud and Aerith(!) again had brought a now unfamiliar lightness to her shoulders. Work would be harder from here on out, but she wasn't on her own anymore. She was getting a second chance she'd never thought was possible. And then, then they'd trekked outside, totally ready to face the fog and the unknown (privately, the ninja had been a little worried; it couldn't happen again, it just couldn't, but what if it did?)—only to wake up. In their beds. As usual. Gaaaaaawd—!

"I just want you to know," Yuffie informed her nurse, grabbing her journal from the desk on her way out, "that your hair looks spectacularly god-awful today. What did you do, stick your tongue in a socket? I'm not exactly hip on fashion, too busy badass for that fluffy stuff, but—"

Plucky looked ready to plant her face in her hands. Or to plant her hands somewhere else. To her credit, and much to Yuffie's eternal disappointment, she did—tried to do—neither. "One of those days, is it?" the nurse sighed, disapproval incarnate. "Well. You're just going to have to behave; the new batches of patients are due today. We don't want to make a bad impression."

"I am feeling so completely convinced of my wrongdoing," Yuffie confided. They stepped into the cafeteria, practically empty as of yet. The chocolate cake last night had worked a treat, whetting her appetite. Honestly, she was getting sick of pecking at scraps like a runt Chocobo in the snow plains—but not literally, of course. Ew. She got more than enough of that on those damn buses once a week. Now that AVALANCHE really was dropping onto her lap—and remind her to get the hell out of dodge if Barret ever took his turn—she couldn't afford not to keep her strength up. For one, she'd be a liability. For two, she'd get her spine chewed out.

"Fruit," said Plucky, hovering as her charge picked out her choices for the day. Rolling her eyes, Yuffie grabbed an apple, slinging it onto the tray alongside an 'English' sandwich. "That'll do. I'll leave you to your breakfast, now." Somehow, that sounded about as comforting as 'My name is Don Corneo and I am raiding through your panty draw', and Yuffie was stopping that thought right there. Oh, god. Eurk. Bad, bad, bad! Bad, brain. Bad. That—yeah, no. Just, no. 'Sides, the guy was as dead as a doornail, splatted across Da Chao's feet. Dirtying them, really, but somehow Yuffie couldn't bring herself to be sorry about that.

(And it wasn't like the creep'd ever end up here, right? Right!)

She took to a seat, dropping her tray and her journal both onto the table. The book fell pages-down; Yuffie flipped it over, thumbing through to the middle as she worked through her apple. An almost finished map of Gaia stared back at her, neat as she could ever manage. Dots for major locations, squiggles for mountains. Stars for the materia caves, Chocobos for the tracks. All labelled in Wutaian. It was just a little piece of the home she absolutely had to get back to, 'cuz Leviathan knew what kind of trouble they'd be up to their necks in without her.

[For Donna]

Sam wasn't gonna run off. Dean wasn't giving him the chance to get that far.

Dean threw on his real clothes, tugging them on impatiently as he tried to ignore all the scenarios he could easily come up with - Sam might try to find a way out tonight, maybe look for a car and just say screw the people here and then follow up that winner with I'm gonna kill myself breaking your deal. Not if Dean was gonna have a say about it and man, he had plenty to say about it, even if he was gonna have to slug some common sense back into his brother until he said uncle over the deal. Sam was gonna live, dammit. He wasn't gonna take a dump all over it 'cause he couldn't accept this was just how things needed to go down.

It felt like it took too long to lace up his shoes and make sure everything was squared away in the duffel bag. Dean made sure anyway. He wasn't gonna get his ass kicked just 'cause he couldn't tie his shoes right or he forgot to bring some salt along. There was doing things in a hurry and getting sloppy - maybe he hadn't been exactly at the top of his game since he got here but if he got ganked 'cause he tripped on his own shoelaces, then y'know what, he would've had that coming in a big way.

As soon as he was ready, Dean took off for Sam's room, shutting M2's door behind him and jogging down the hall, the duffel bag slung over his shoulder. Hopefully he'd get to the room and the kid would still be there.

Pissed, maybe, but he'd take pissed over doing something real stupid.

[To here]

The intercom jingle went off, mirroring the cheery voice that came out of the speakers soon after it.

"Hello, everyone, and I hope you found productive endeavors in both your music-making and your therapy sessions! Now, our nurses will be escorting all of you to your rooms and to your delicious dinners. Tonight, we're serving moist slices of turkey breast covered in gravy and served with mashed potatoes and grilled artichoke. Also available are our usual salad and drink choices, as well as a to-die-for devil chocolate cake dessert!

"...Mm, yes, I do think I'll have to partake in some of that myself! I trust you'll all enjoy it as much as I do, and I'll speak with you again shortly!"

The intercom clicked off.

[ All room threads go in response to this post; please post your character's room number as the subject line of the initial post. ]

Okay, this place wasn't all bad so far. The women were easy on the eyes, the office was cozy and messy, and the rumors about awful hospital food were greatly exaggerated. Even his first patient hadn't been that bad. A bit cocky. Definitely cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. However, he was smarter and a lot more lucid than Venkman had been expecting. Had the kid been a student of his back at Columbia and not, you know, crazy, he could see himself actually giving a rat's ass about him. Not a big ass, of course. Maybe a little one.

That he could hold such high hopes for the next patient. Looking over the file, not only did the next kid's insanity stew have a big old heaping of neurosis mixed into it, but according to the scattered notes of the previous doctor, it was also flavored with a dash of Cotard's syndrome. Oho. I see your logic there, Landel. He thinks he's a ghost. You want me to "bust" that delusion. Aha. Ahahaha. Oh, it is to laugh, thought Venkman, rolling his eyes as he plopped down into his chair. He almost wished he had brought that PKE meter he had swiped borrowed from Egon before leaving for Doyleton. He really wanted to see what kind of reaction he could have gotten by waving it in this kid's face and raving on about how the needle was going off the scale.

The mere fact that she'd been susceptible to whatever hold the Institute had had on her yesterday was sufficient to leave Ayumu both upset and angry - no, not angry, downright furious, both at herself and whoever was responsible for that. But there was also the fact that because of it, she'd lost out on an entire day of work, and in several ways had ruined some of what she'd done already. That little conversation with Himura the day before, for instance, was something she'd sincerely prefer not to remember if she'd had any choice in the matter.

Unless the man was a complete moron, which, unfortunately, was one thing she couldn't believe of him, he had to have realized just who her brother was. After all the effort to keep that fact quiet (not exactly a secret, but certainly not advertised; half the Shinsengumi probably never even realized it because there was no reason to) she'd gone and chatted about it with him. Told him all about it, practically painted a bright target around a weakness that shouldn't have existed in the first place.

She'd spent the shift in the Sun Room pretending to sleep, while in truth forcing herself into calm. After years of practice she could shunt away the useless and distracting emotions, focusing only on what was important and needed to be at the forefront of her mind, and by the time the intercom signaled the lunch period she was feeling considerably calmer. The time to silently observe others had, as well, alerted her to something she probably should have noticed earlier: Mello was back. Would her previous objective be reinstated now? He seemed to have far less of a bulletin presence this time, so perhaps not. Still, though, it bore investigating.

None of her thoughts were visible, of course, as she moved through the line, examining the lunch selection somewhat dubiously. Now with the benefit of Yuuko's memories she might recognize the food, but she certainly didn't share the enthusiasm for it that her imaginary self apparently had. Ayumu skipped past that part and settled for the salad bar and some bread, then positioned herself in a place where she could watch both the door and the rest of the room, setting her journal open in front of herself as though planning to write something. There was far too much that she'd missed, too much work to do now.

[for Okita]

For the second time, Rika found herself waking with a start. She blinked at the grey light streaming through the windows, and looked across the room. Anise was still asleep. So. I'm still here. Let me just check...

Rika put on her slippers and walked over to the desk, checking the drawer and breathing a light sigh of relief. Good, the knife was still there. She wasn't sure why it would be there - shouldn't they have confiscated the weapon? Either way, though, as much as she was reluctant to use it, she was glad to have it still there.

Just then, she heard the creak of the open door, and quickly closed the drawer. Her nurse peeked in, whispering, "Rachel? Time for breakfast. You should put on a sweatshirt, it's a bit chilly." Rika nodded, quickly adding the extra layer and following the nurse out into the hall and to the cafeteria.

She was used to a Japanese-style breakfast, so the idea of something sweet - which the nurse was avidly describing, with the waffles and fruit and syrup - was a bit odd. Once she walked in, though, she had to admit it smelled good. She filled her plate with waffles topped with blueberries, some sausage, and eggs, took a glass of orange juice, and took a seat. It seemed she was early, so she took a seat close to one of the windows and waited.

[For Ange.]

[M76]

Demyx settled himself on his bed with his sitar, forcing himself to ignore the still vaguely uncomfortable feeling (or sensation, or whatever it was; it kind of made his skin crawl a little, whatever it was) of sitting right where Abe had inexplicably died the night before. It wasn't really squeamishness, or sympathy for the guy; mostly he didn't like the thought that something invisible had killed someone right where he was sitting, and could theoretically do the same to him at any given moment.

But he'd been around awhile, and until Abe, nothing invisible had attacked him regardless of what Xigbar had said, and never in his room, so he was just going to have to take it on faith that whatever it was wasn't going to bother with him any more than it ever had. Besides, he'd promised to meet Hanatarou -

...oh. Um. And he'd promised to meet Kvothe. He'd kind of forgotten they were both going to be coming at the same time...well, Kvothe was a musician, too, wasn't he? He probably wouldn't mind listening to Hanatarou's song before they went to patient possessions. And - hey, maybe Hanatarou could help with Kvothe's hand! He'd said he was a healer or something, right?

Cheered up significantly despite his double-booking mistake, Demyx set to work on Hanatarou's song. Something soft and low-key, definitely, understated but nice and upbeat despite that...

[From here]

Tyki headed through the double doors into the next hallway, still not seeing anything or anyone around this place. The area was still as empty and boring as ever. He'd almost wish for the head doctor to switch around the lay-out of the place a bit, if only it weren't for the fact that figuring out what was where would be a real pain. Especially on the rare occasion he would need to be somewhere, and considering the guy's excellent sense of timing...

[To here]

[From here]

He supposed this marked how far he had gotten last night. A sad amount of progress if he had wanted to get something done, really. But then again, if he had wanted to get something done he wouldn't have stood around talking all night in the first place.

Tyki headed right, simply because he didn't feel like heading outside tonight. Nah, climbing over the wall and seeing what the head doctor had in store for them out there would need to wait. Climbing with burns would be pretty bothersome, after all. He wasn't even going to get started about having to climb in the first place.

[To here]

[From here]

Place was pretty quiet, Tyki noticed. He casually swept the beam of his flashlight around the hallway, but there really was noone in sight. No monster, no patients, nothing. Huh. At this rate, he was going to think he was breaking his personal record of being early or something.

Even though the amount of his cigarettes declined, the Noah only paused to light one. He took a grateful drag from it before moving on.

[To here]

...apparently being vampired made the zombie go away. Junpei wasn't sure what to make of this development. yes, he was quite happy that he no longer wanted to go gnaw on someone's arm, but... vampire. He'd seriously swallowed vampire flesh (complete with vampire blood) and then that same vampire drank his blood. That was a bad combination, according to movies, books and other folklore. Not that Junpei could really remember a whole ton of vampire lore that would be useful in determining if he'd been properly vampirized. As it was, Evangeline didn't exactly come across as a typical vampire, so anything he he knew may very well be useless. That didn't make him feel any better. He supposed he'd find out if he started wanting to suck on people's necks in a non-sexual manner.

As it was, the teen was terrified he'd feel some kind of mystical pull dragging him to Evangeline to do her menial work, like carrying her shit and laying down over a puddle of mud so she could walk across him or something equally as lame and humiliating for a servant to do. Seriously, he did not want to find himself calling her Master and holding her purse at the mall while she tried on a bunch of dresses and shit.

...what if she made him do, like, evil things? Now he really wished he hadn't told her about Persona and let her see him burninate that unholy drain clog. She could do all sorts of things, make him do them, and he might be vampirically driven to do them. Evangeline would be a cruel master. Gods, she terrified him.

It was a good thing he was giving Yukari the Evoker that night. He set out to meet her once he decided that he wasn't getting called to be Evangeline's bitch that night. His armor, baseball bat, jersey and the closet rod were all in the mesh bag slung over his shoulder.

...his arm itched. Stupid vampire.

[to here]

The intercom's jingle signaled yet another announcement.

"And our excellent behavior continues! Well, I am extremely impressed indeed!

"In any case, it's time to stop our socializing, unfortunately, and for the patients to return to their quarters for dinner. Be aware that new roommates have been assigned due to our influx of new patients and discharged old ones, so please be hospitable should you find yourself with someone new!

"As for dinner itself: tonight, we'll be serving shrimp and vegetable tempura along with delicious chicken teriyaki. Yum, yum, yum! As sides, we will also be serving boiled, salted soybeans, rice, and of course the appropriate soy and tempura sauces. Our regular assorted drinks and vegetarian substitutes are also available.

"I hope you enjoy your meal!"

The intercom clicked off.

[ All room threads go in response to this post; please post your character's room number as the subject line of the initial post. Find new room assignments here. ]

The game room made Heath feel more like he was being treated as a child than any other place in the Institute. It might have just been the selection they had to choose from. A deck of cards was a safe choice and would hopefully keep him from attracting much more energetic company. Yet as he sat down and began shuffling them between his hands he was surprised to find that he couldn't remember how to play a single game. At a loss, he blamed it on his current state of mind.

The red-head sat back in his chair and began looking through the deck one card at a time, if only to have something to do with his hands. The kings, queens, and jacks blurred together despite suits as this did nothing to distract him from the pangs of his still somehow empty stomach.

The deck was eventually tossed to the floor in front of him, free for anyone who felt like a game of 52-card pick-up.

Heath swore under his breath and slouched where he sat. This whole ridiculous matter was more than wearing thin. He'd have to get the involvement of a nurse before dinner. There was nothing else for it. Still, more than one came close enough to stop and he did nothing. Something deep within him knew there wasn't anything any of them could do.

[for Argilla]