As much as Nia didn't want to leave her new friend alone she didn't have much choice in the matter when her nurse coerced her out of her room. She'd always been the type that wore her emotions on her sleeve, so it was easy to spot the look of dismay written on her face. Try as she might, Nia couldn't bring herself to smile, feeling like she let someone very dear to her down, and to her that was the worse feeling she could have ever felt.

But oh, did she try! It wasn't until they reached the Sun Room did she manage to smile for her nurse, trying to look for the silver lining in the clouds. At least no one was killed, or even seriously hurt for that matter, but she hoped no one would be punished too severely for his or her actions. Everyone must have had good reasons to fight, and until she was convinced otherwise she would only hope for their safety.

When her nurse offered her a choice of rooms to go to, the girl pursed her lips and thought hard, but it didn't take long for her gaze to land on a big board with several notes pinned on the surface. Her curiosity piqued immensely, and with her nurse's question long forgotten, Nia raised her arm and pointed over at the aforementioned object.

"If I may ask, what is that?" The woman followed her patient's gaze before laughing lightly, letting her hand rest on the child's head.

"Why, that's the bulletin board. It's an awfully popular place for patients to go to, especially if they want to talk to someone they can't seem to find. But the things they write there..." The nurse shook her head, but that was enough for Nia. She was already walking over to it, but she caught herself and offered the latter a cheerful smile.

"May I stay here?"

"Of course you can, Rachel. Just don't get in the wrong crowd, okay?" Nia hadn't the slightest clue of what the nurse was talking about, but she nodded nonetheless and sat herself on one of the chairs and began to read. However, not even a minute into it she found herself tilting her head out of habit.

What was a club?

And thus the intercom jingle sounded once again, marking an end to the easy socializing for the day.

"Sorry to break into your leisurely activities, patients, but it's time for you to all be escorted back to your rooms. We do, however, have a scrumptious meal planned for all of you: Salmon fillets stuffed with garlic, chives, and other spices, along with sides of mashed potatoes, green beans, and carrots. Feel free to liberally apply butter, ha ha... ha. You of course may ask your nurse for whatever drink you choose from our stock.

"I do hope that our new patients had a good time meeting new faces and exploring the Landel's environment today! Unfortunately, the rest of you won't be meeting the new members of our population that we'll be bringing in tonight, but... ah, well, you'll see them in the morning, right?

"But it isn't lights out quite yet, is it? Oh, no... In any case, nurses, please escort our patients back to their rooms, and escort those who don't yet have assigned rooms to the empty rooms marked on the lists that were given to you this shift.

"Also, I'd like to say that I look forward to reading all of the notes that I have heard were put in the Suggestion Box! In any case, ta-ta for now and have a wonderful dinner."

The intercom clicked off.

[ As per usual, all dinner shift posts should be in response to this post. Please put your character's room number in your subject line unless you don't know it yet. Thanks! ]

She was still picking pancake pieces from her hair as her nurse lead her towards another room. The stickiness was all right, but only Jasdero wandered around with old foodstuffs in his hair like an idiot, and Rhode had enough etiquette not to fall to his level even without the Earl around to scold her. Picking at her hair was a helpful action regardless of that. She needed something to help drown out the nurse's scolding. The nurse's voice was still heard, but Rhode couldn't agree with anything that was said. Just how was it "all her fault" she'd gotten decked by pancakes at breakfast?! It wasn't as though she had done it to herself! She didn't see Renji or Allen Walker getting scolded either, and they had been the ones who'd started it!

Everything about today was being so unfair!

"... and I'd hope for no more attempts at food fights from you, Miss Grace," the nurse finished as she seated Rhode in a chair, "Just be thankful that you have a visitor today. Maybe they can get you to behave, hm?"

Rhode had just finished with cleaning her hair when the nurse set her down. Her eyes left her hair and turned up at the nurse, showing a small amount of confusion. "Visitor?" she asked, blinking. She had still been angry over Renji and Allen when the announcement had blared, so she hadn't caught the Head Doctor's words concerning the next shift.

The nurse sighed. She had a feeling the girl hadn't heard a thing she'd said, but she was not about to re-explain herself for the time she had. "You'll see shortly," she nodded, then added, "Don't cause any trouble," before turning to leave.

As she had nothing to hurl the nurse's way, Rhode only stuck out her tongue after the leaving woman. Normally she wouldn't have cared for being unanswered, but breakfast had her more irritated than was usual. It wasn't fun being threatened while unable to retaliate, and now there was something about visitors she didn't understand. Unless the Earl was finally coming to get her, then no visitor would be welcome. The only thing that could make her feel better right now was burning this place and everything in it, and that required the Earl.

Hitsugaya left the chapel no less frustrated than before. The head doctor once again had chosen not to hide his face, yet promised he would be making an appearance at some time in the near future. He didn't like being patient, but there wasn't much choice. Either the head doctor would show his face, or he wouldn't. Renji had already seen him, and knew how to find him. That was enough.

The thought of eating made him slightly nauseous as usual, but he knew he needed to get his strength up. He could either be weak and try to force his way through brunch without eating anything, or he could be smart and actually give himself something to eat. And there was rice. Rice and fruit. He took a heaping pile of rice, and grabbed as much watermelon as he could fit on his plate, then proceeded to an empty table. He scanned the room, watching for Momo. He wasn't exactly looking forward to their conversation, knowing how she'd acted yesterday; however, he knew he had to speak to her, and there was a good chance that she would show more restraint now that the drugs were out of her system.

Thoughtfully he consumed his rice and waited.

[free at the moment, pester if you wish]

Rhode didn't want to have to let go of Allen, not ever. It could be forever before she was able to be with him again! But the nurses were persistent in moving her off the big yellow thing, as was Allen for getting away from her. Even outside of the building, people were just determined to keep her from being with him! It wasn't fair!

Once off the bus and shivering just slightly from the crisp fall air, Rhode was handed a small booklet of what the nurse called "coupons". It took some explaining, but Rhode was eventually able to understand that the thin pieces of paper in the book were supposed to be used like money here. She wasn't at all accustomed to buying things for herself; that was supposed to be the Earl's job. When Rhode expressed this problem, the nurse only gave her a sad smile and patter her in the direction of the buildings.

"Why don't you go find something fun to do? There's a toy store just around the corner there. Don't worry about being alone though, we're all here to keep an eye on you. If anything happens, just come get one of us," the nurse explained, nodding to the staff members that were set to parole the town for any problems their more unruly patents could cause.

So, they were all going to be watched even though they could roam about freely? Rhode took a look back towards the yellow things but was unable to pick out Allen from the mess of patients. In a few moments, she probably wouldn't be able to find him at all or for the rest of the day. Should she just resign herself to that for now and use the small bit of freedom to her advantage? Being with Allen was important, and a lot of fun but...

She glanced down at the coupons again, smiled up at the nurse as best she could, and gave a quick, "Okay!" before running off as suggested.

A small bit of freedom was bound to make her feel better. Maybe she could use it to remind herself of how she was supposed to handle Allen Walker, an exorcist. This town did have a similar air to that of the Rewinding Town, after all.

[went here]

[from here]

Momo headed down what she suspected was the center street for the town. She noted the various businesses as she walked, as well as the increased staff presence, and kept to herself. If she was going to be wandering around lost in her own thoughts, she might as well get a feel for the town.

Maybe she'd make a map once she had a better idea.

[to Kelley Street]

[ Dragging himself in from here ]


With strained breath, Malik staggered in to the next hall, keeping his hand to the wall for support while wiping the blood from his lip with his other hand.

That goddamn bastard.

Retreating might not be the mostly manly thing to do, but he did what he had to. Malik was not much of a fighter, having spent most of his life training for other things. And for the time spent on the outside, he had always had his Item to protect him. Or to use to delegate tasks to others. Rarely had he engaged in any combat himself. Perhaps it was time to learn a thing or two about it.. certainly if he wanted to get the hell out of here, it would be necessary.

He spotted his flashlight that had slid across the floor into this corridor, and stumbled toward it. He picked it up and turned it off, plunging himself in darkness while he leaned heavily against the wall for a moment to rest.

Only his raspy breath and the mind numbing pain to keep him company.

((From here. ))

Claude had only been on the second floor one other time, but he hadn't run into anything nasty that time. Maybe they'd be lucky tonight, too. Then again, if they were keeping prisoners up there, it'd make sense for it to be heavily guarded.

Fortunately, there didn't seem to be anything lurking around in the stairwell (yet), but Claude kept their path well-lit just in case. He didn't intend to hang around here for very long anyway.

The sooner they found Ashton, the better.

[from here]

Once they were safely at the top of the stairs, Ritsuka flicked on his flashlight and swept the area. It was probably unwise to announce their position, but he needed to know where he was. For all the times Ritsuka had been up here, he had never really gotten very far and his memory was fuzzy. Somewhere to his right was the pharmacy, near the railing, where he needed to stop for supplies for Tamaki.

Whether he should stop there first or after their explorations, however, was the problem. Turning to the right, he started forward and tried not to show any fear. He wanted to get things done tonight, even if it meant facing the worst that Landel's had to offer. He just hoped he wouldn't have to do that just yet.

[ Coming from here ]

This night wasn't quite shaping up the way Malik was expecting it to. Arguing with a little kid about which way to go in their little exploration adventure was not high on his list of things he needed to do right now. Maybe deep down inside, he was slightly grateful for the company (even if he were a little irritating), though he rather wondered whether the boy would follow him now.

He was beginning to miss Rishid more than ever. Where was he to be his stabilizing force? He even thought about Bakura, that infuriating bastard who spelled nothing but trouble...and yet could be oddly reliable sometimes.

With a sigh, he moved his flashlight around the hall, realizing that he was at a cross roads of sorts. Should he proceed down further or turn toward the left? This felt like a strange nightmarish video game.

[From here]

Scar stumbled into yet another empty hallway. The nurse had taken him into the right direction this morning, which had led to the sun room and all the other connecting rooms. He wondered what happened to be located in the opposite direction.

Continuing, the king eventually noticed the door at the end of the hall. Fiddling around with the handle, he managed to push it open and felt the cold breeze from outside on his skin.

[To here]

[From here]

622 methodically swept the light from his glowstick across the hall, carefully watching for hostiles. After having to act 'normal' during the daytime, this was almost a relief. Even though he had no armor, no real weapons, and no back-up, at least he didn't have to pretend to like it anymore.

[to here]

[from here]

And there they were: the doors to the Sun Room!

But where was Allen?! Rhode stood at the doors, tapping her foot and looking around. There had been such a gathering here last time, so why wasn't anyone here now? Not that she cared for anyone past her favorite white haired exorcist, but she had still expected to at least find someone there!

She peered inside the open doors, not finding Allen through the darkness and rather doubting that he was in there (his glowing eye would have given away enough light for her to spot easily. Allen Walker out of sight, and no reason yet to go in search of the area above her, Rhode turned her back to the doors, folded her arms, and took to tapping her foot impatiently, waiting for him to show up. She'd give him... at least a few minutes before deciding to yell at him the next day for making her wait.

[from here]

Good, everything still looked familiar. Or as familiar as was possible in the darkness. Rhode still had yet to discover the joys that belonged to the flashlight nestled beneath her pillow, but her eyes were so accustomed to the darkness of her own dimensions that the hallways did not bother her. A little light would have been welcome, if only to flash against her golden eyes and scare away whomever had the misfortune to stumble onto her. She smiled at the thought of someone screaming as they ran away.

Only a little farther now.

[to here]

[from here]

The hallway was empty here as well. Just how much earlier had she headed out tonight? Probably not by much. The absence of others in the hallway barely bothered Rhode as did the presence of others. Her mind was usually so dead focused on getting somewhere or finding someone that she had never really paid attention to what other things happened around her.

A left at the next hallway and down a bit for the doors on the left. That should be right. She hoped the ghost woman's influence on her wasn't messing with her memory.

[to here]

As exciting as talking to his roommate was, Fai was anxious to meet up with his new friends for the night.  As he listened to the static crackle over the radio system, everything seemed to fall into place.  It really wasn't a madhouse, but it seemed more like one large puzzle game. 

He took the flashlight from the drawer as instructed, but didn't see much else worth bringing.  He waved a pleasant goodbye to his roommate before he slipped out the door and toward the bathrooms.

The intercom gave its cheery jingle just before the Head Doctor's equally buoyant voice rang through the halls.

"Ah, and finally, our day is coming to a close! Rooms and roommates have been reassigned with care, though what great partnership can start without a good meal? Ah, yes, after the nurses escort all of our patients, new and old, back to their proper rooms, everyone will have the chance to enjoy a savory chicken pot pie, full of peas, carrots, potatoes, and of course, chicken. On the side, we'll have buttery corn on the cob and green beans, and to drink, you may choose from the regular slew of water, milk, or assorted juices, which your nurse will bring to you.

"I believe that's all for now! Phew, long day, huh? I know I'll be happy to get some sleep, and thank you to all our vigilant doctors and nurses, although Dr. House seems to have gone AWOL... Hmm... Well, in any case, have a good dinner, everyone!"

The intercom clicked off again as the nurses began organizing the patients for the small trek back to their rooms.

[ OOC: Remember, room threads go in response to THIS post, and please put your respective room number in the subject line of your first post. Thanks! ]

Libraries, he'd found, were rarely as dull as people made them out to be.  Though he felt no magic in these tomes, they were still full of useful information.  Maybe some of them could tell him a little bit more about this world he'd landed himself in. 

For that matter, why hadn't he run into any of the others yet?  They'd all been fairly close together when they'd left Rekord, but he hadn't seen a trace of any of them.  He was able to communicate easily with the people here though, which led him to believe Mokona was within a mile or so.  Unless the ones running this little game had some other way to let all these other-worldly people communicate amongst themselves.  In which case, the others could be very far away indeed.

The library had that wonderful smell of old books, and Fai traced his fingers along the shelves, skimming titles and pulling books that struck his fancy.  Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, The War of the Worlds, and with a smile, he found Bram Stoker's Dracula as well.  Raven had been telling the truth then, in spite of his own lies.  Ought to be a good start.  He sat leisurely at one of the tables and began flipping through his selections.

[waiting for Tamaki~]

Renji wasn't so certain what this grilled cheese thing was all about, but he liked the sound of some soup. Even if it was strange western soup, well... there wasn't anything bad people could do to soup, in his experience. His good mood was starting to fray at the edges, a little, from the strain of dealing with the Ichimaru issue, and even more from what had been on the bulletin board earlier.

He'd never had difficulty simply writing something before. But...

He shook his head as he entered the line. He didn't want to think about it. He wanted to hold on to the tenuous equilibrium he'd managed to find.

Renji got himself a large bowl of soup, water, and even one of those sandwiches, just to try it. Old habit, recently awakened, had him over to one side of the cafeteria, where the fewest people possible would have the chance to pass behind him. He sat there with his back toward the wall and started eating.