Ichigo was only too eager to leave the cafeteria and its fresh memories behind when the softened chime of the intercome rang clear. What had begun as another ordinary meal, a rather agreeable one despite the lack of the proper utensils, quickly became somewhat unnerving. His conversation with...what was his name again?...took so many sharp turns, he should've felt dizzy. It was easy to feel a little sorry for the guy, though; surrounded by stangers in a very strange place, it was hard to blame him for being so alarmed.

The Sun Room occurred as a more enjoyable choice to spend the time; he had nothing against music, but something about being surrounded by some of the most unruly characters he'd ever met, each of them armed with cacophonous weaponry, didn't sound smart. Once his nurse departed, the young man picked out a cozy little spot near a flood of sunshine and settled in, cradling his head in the palms of his hands. There, he stared up almost bitterly at the ceiling with sharply focused eyes, still exuding the same unapproachable sense of being as ever.

The room was warm, even a little comforting, for any of the tired, weary masses found in Landel's halls, or even those who just craved a little peace and quiet. All he could hear, from end of the room, were soft footfalls and hushed voices. That sounded just fine to the 'berry head.

All in all, Stegman was rather pleased with his first batch of patients. Other than Mr. Cooper, they had been cooperative and willing to help. He could only hope that the trend would continue. He had no desire to leave with a headache.

His office hadn't changed any. His degrees hung between two bookshelves stocked with medical journals and texts, his desk was empty save for files, executive toys and a pack of cigarettes. He noted that a percentage of his patients smoked - a little something familiar would help them be at ease. Give them a way to connect with him and all of that rubbish.

He really was looking forward to the end of the day.


(For: Roy, Han, Vincent, Havoc, Luxord, Jayne, Simon and Yohji)

Time for lunch.

Nothing new there. It was at the same time, in the same place, but it was far from ordinary today. Sure, it was the Halloween celebration, or whatever the man announcing the daily activities had gone on about, but that was the least of Zexion's concerns. Rather, his attire was his new source of distress.

After showering, he had discovered the plain grey uniform he had become somewhat accustomed to was gone, for the most part. One of the nurses explained his wardrobe change was a gift from his.. family?

That was an astounding lie. He had to wonder, was there really an outside source responsible for all of this, or was it all an excuse to humiliate them?

While grudgingly attempting to puzzle out the costume, he asked every question he could think of concerning his 'family'-- what were their names, where did they live, what did they look like, etc. Sadly, all of his inquiries were cheerily brushed off, and he was led away to the cafeteria once he had dressed himself.

Naturally, he was not pleased once he arrived, looking like.. some.. humanoid penguin-dolphin thing in a beige coat.

Ugh. The shame.

It was in complete silence that Zack was moved from the cafeteria to the showers. Usually one would have expected him to be chatting with the nurse despite the fact that she happened to think he was a certain Parker Johnson, but... No, not today.

As he entered the showers, he stripped without having to be told (being in the military had accustomed him to this sort of thing) and paced over to a random shower head. Considering he had first pick, he chose one that happened to be slightly removed from most of the others. Once again, not his usual behavior, but...

Cloud was dead. He felt like he was going to vomit, but he didn't exactly want to--he'd just eaten and he'd like to keep that food in his stomach to keep his strength up. Still, he'd broken them both out of there and dragged Cloud across two continents with the intent of making sure he was safe...

He wondered if this was how it had felt for Cloud, when he'd been shot down, killed right in front of him.

...At least he hadn't had to witness it.

Turning the water on hotter than was probably healthy, Zack began to scrub himself down. Hopefully one of the people he'd contacted - Vincent or Kadaj, since they would have to be male - would find him and he could actually talk to someone about the whole situation. Because internalizing wasn't doing him much good.