Scar possibly couldn't have been more thrilled at the prospect of being escorted to the library. He had visited this particular room plenty of times to know that it was entirely useless and uninteresting - like most daytime activities, for that matter. Still, the nurse seemed rather convinced he'd like one of those silly books filled with papers and papers of those silly symbols he could suddenly understand for reasons that still puzzled him. These symbols didn't quite tell him anything interesting either; if he'd wanted a silly story he'd listen to that senile baboon back home. Instead, he felt like he was particularly mocked with this activity. He had been blinded last night, only to be dragged over to something that required his eyesight as soon as it had returned.

Not caring whether he was taking the situation way too personal, the former lion opted for glaring to the spine of a book - with words reading 'Lolita' (whatever that may have meant) along with a name he didn't care the slightest bit about - as if everything had been its fault. The truth was that Scar was this close to snapping, and though breakfast had been a welcome distraction it hardly did anything to defuse his frustration and anger.

Especially because he had no idea when something like that would happen again. Or what else they had been doing to his head...

[For Naraku!]

How convenient, placing him just a couple of doors from Stefan. Cutting down on travel time was always a plus—especially now that speed was something he actually had to consider, which was far more trouble than it was worth. He'd been human once and his memory of those days functioned just fine; he didn't need a reminder.

Oh well. What could you do.

And right now, he had more important things to take care of. Or maybe important wasn't the right word. More immediate things to take care of, rather. In truth, he hadn't had any real intentions of finding Stefan this very night, but it occurred to him as he walked out of the room that they were kind of in this together. As much as he hated to admit it, he was stuck in a position where he...had to keep an eye on them. Elena and Stefan, that was. He still wasn't sure what had happened to Stefan, but he was no longer as confident about his brother's undead factor being a natural fail safe.

Granted, it had always been a bit of a shaky fail safe from the start. He just had less of a reason to care at the time. Unlike now. And he was a little pissed off that these people, whoever the hell they were, had made it necessary for him to be concerned in the first place.

So here he was, leaning against the wall across and a few feet up from Stefan's door. Unless Stefan had dashed out of there like the Road Runner, he had a feeling he hadn't missed his brother's exit. Besides, if he had, then it didn't matter. This was...only one of many potential side trips. He had other things to occupy him, obviously.

But a possible threesome date...thing...for the night—no, he couldn't pass up the opportunity to at least try to make that happen. His venues of fun were unfortunately limited at the moment.

[From here.]

After two consecutive nights of traveling with his roommate, Edgar found it strange to have left him behind; however, they could cover more ground apart, and Gren would probably be concerned if he knew he had his heart set on returning to the courtyard shed. While it was true he'd recover faster if he didn't spend his nights trekking the grounds, it seemed like a waste of time. It was apparent that those taken for torture sessions couldn't wait.

Now, deciding which path to take to the courtyard was the tricky part. The shortest route was to cross the wall as they had the night before, but a night wandering the hills with torn stitches had taught him a lesson he wasn't keen to repeat; the other option was to travel through the Sun Room and cafeteria- both large areas, one having had a monster looming above it in past nights. Ultimately, neither was going to be safe. It was just as likely something would be outside.

Edgar had chanced the wall once already, so it seemed only fair to give the other path a go.

[To here.]

[from here and waiting for the opposite one.~]

The hall was as empty as she had seen it. Silence glistened as severe as any palpable source. Voices echoed in the distance, but here there was nothing. No one. No sounds, but the dull creaks of a settling building and shifting ghosts. Last night gave rise to a new awareness. She did not take the emptiness at face value, did not trust the lack of others for what it was. The one on the board had offered the possibility of a monster, but Rei knew the feel of another body against her.

No, her assailant had been human. This remained fact. Over the edge of her plug suit, the bandage felt heavy. Weighted. A reminder to be productive if nothing else. She needed no other reason to devalue her own worth.

[down to here]

Claude was all too relieved when the announcement signifying the end of lunch played over the intercom system. It gave him the perfect excuse to let his nurse collect his things and lead him out of the cafeteria. He wished he could have privately said something to Luke, at least -- that he appreciated him looking out for him, for one thing, and that he was sorry he'd had to even waste his breath dealing with the likes of Sync on his behalf. But that would probably have to wait for another day, preferably one where Claude could seek Luke out and actively avoid Sync on his own.

He was still pretty steamed, not to mention humiliated, over what had happened, though. As Claude's nurse took him into the sun room, his uninjured hand balled into a fist at his side. Just who the hell did Sync think he was, anyway? Considering he'd been a weeping, bloodied mess the last time Claude had seen him, it was amazing he even had the gall to keep messing with them like this. Maybe Sync had been brainwashed back then, but next time Claude was going to make sure he finished the job right. They'd be on equal terms, if he had anything to say about it, and he wouldn't be holding back.

In the meantime, there wasn't much for him to do except pass the time while he waited for the day to end. Normally arts and crafts would have sounded like a nice distraction, but that wouldn't work today for obvious reasons. Claude just had to keep telling himself that he couldn't give up on getting his sight back. Natalia was kind enough to offer her help tonight, so the least he could do was try not to let himself get too depressed right now.

After the nurse led him to a couch, Claude leaned back against the cushions, tucking one hand behind his head. So far it didn't sound like there were many people milling about the sun room yet, though no doubt that would change soon enough. Maybe he ought to take some time to just relax. He might need his strength tonight, after all.

[For Leon.]

Edward was glad to wake up to a period of respite. While he had been conscious during breakfast, he'd requested to remain in his room for extra "sleep", which had consisted waiting until the room was vacated to ingest the vial of Venom's blood. The vampire had lost his chance last night, but that might have been for the better; this way he wasn't in a rush to examine the flavor, as somewhat repulsive as that sounded. Even though he was primarily concerned with getting a meal instead of trying to divine what chemicals could be in the patient body as a whole - if any were at all - he was taking his job seriously, as he knew the risks Venom was already taking with him

He didn't like debts, after all. He was still trying to make up for his first transgression against the assassin.

The blood was familiar to him, but he could find no difference in it from the first time he had drank from Venom. Though his sense of taste was probably lacking compared to what it had once been, Edward couldn't sense any chemical that shouldn't have been a part of it. It was just... blood.

After the vial was emptied, he'd been sure to shove it back into the pillowcase stashed in the closet, as long as shoving the shotgun under his mattress. He was actually surprised the weapon was seemingly so easy to hide; unless the nurses never entered the rooms to search through them, there was no way it should still be here. In a way, he was beginning to think of the rooms as a safe haven.

Though that thought couldn't be necessarily true. After all, when he awoke, Bella's blood wasn't staining his fingertips, and the bandages on his face had been removed as the cuts slowly healed themselves. Someone was changing them, and if he assumed he hadn't gained the ability to sleepwalk as well as sleep, well...

Lunch had already passed for the vampire if Venom's blood was anything to show for it, so he took his usual route through the line, promptly pushing the tray of whatever-the-hell away from him as soon as he sat down. This time he'd brought his journal with him, and though his memory was perfection itself he wanted physical evidence of what he had found in the institute after all. Mostly he was making a note for Bella - a picture of the blond man, the not-Zato, and sketches showing the way its form had changed subtly to reveal the nature of the beast. Assuming it was a beast, of course.

[For his killer bff.]

Yuffie Kisaragi, indomitable bouncing ball of sunshine and unfathomable ebullience, was tired. It'd been a long night full of gibberish and getting nowhere fast.

"Can't I—"

Plucky, who had been busily loading a plate full of French toast and bacon, tittered. "I'm afraid not, Hanna, darling. A chat over a nice, hearty breakfast would do you a world of good, don't you think?"

"Aaaaactually—"

"Come on, let's find you a seat. Plenty to choose from this morning!"

For a long moment, Yuffie seriously considered doing something—anything—to act out. Punch her nurse, rub jam in an orderly's face, climb a wall and hang off the ceiling, jump on a table and parody Loveless… A ruckus like that would definitely jolt her back into gear, right? Sedation aside. And it'd turn Plucky's good day right on its head, which was always a bonus worth shooting for.

But, by the time she'd reached a decision—and it was an epic decision, a really awesome one; everybody'd appreciate the genius, she was sure—she was already alone. Her breakfast tray had been set down neatly by the nurse, who had left with an infuriatingly winsome smile.

"Wow," Yuffie muttered. Shaking her head, she picked a chair at random and threw herself into it. She kicked back, one arm slung across her eyes, to wait. For what, she wasn't totally sure. Some moron to decide that she looked like good company? That was how it usually went.

[from here]

It wasn't too long a while of walking through nothing but forest with no obvious landmarks that they came upon a clearing. Callisto had seen the break in the trees a ways back, setting their course for an area different from the one the group before them had taken. (She hadn't seen much of them besides their tracks, but they clearly hadn't been the first ones over the wall.)

There was a dirt road ahead of them, a much more familiar sight than whatever they used to get into town on. She followed where it led, noting the downed carts scattered around. It wasn't exactly what she was used to seeing and it took her a moment to make the connection, but even with centuries separating her time and whenever this was in use it didn't take too much effort to figure out what it was.

Now they were getting somewhere.

The blonde glanced over her shoulder at the other two, smiling again. "It's a mine," she said, even if they insisted on sticking to their own incomprehensible gibberish. Now what use would Landel have with a mine? It couldn't be anything too important, or he wouldn't have made it that easy for his patients to reach. Keeping the beam of her light-stick ahead of her, she walked toward the opening without another moment's hesitation.

[From here.]

Edgar landed heavily, waiting a moment for Gren before starting the trek north. He moved quickly, wanting to get some ground between them and the institute before stopping to consider their direction. He could only guess the distance of Landel's influence: it was likely that if he could control the town, the areas within walking distance of the institute were in his realm as well. They'd be easier targets if they stopped for too long.

"A few nights ago, a voice appeared on the radio," he explained as he walked. "It was a woman- the Jill we just heard of- claiming she was trying to aid us. She sent us directions that night, and again the next, trying to find something or someone. Judging by what we just heard, I'd say the latter."

The ground began to slope upward, growing rockier with each step as the grass died away. What was just outside the walls of the institution? "Until those nights, the devices remained silent and seemingly useless," he said as he pulled the jacket around him to ward off the cold. "I only happened to hear the message a few nights ago because I'd returned to my room to drop off a few items. It was fortunate timing, and while I'm not keen on trusting someone I can't see, I am interested in their motives for their 'help.'"

[from here]

He'd been prepared for the same uncomfortable disorientation from last night, but all Kirk stepped into was the cold, clean air of the recreational field. A considerable improvement, although he wasn't about to thank Landel for any small favours. Despite the dull throb of his injury, he kept a firm hold on the door, remembering the way the handles kept slipping out from under his hand yesterday. Not tonight. Even if the doors apparently weren't tossing them around anymore. Even if it didn't matter. He wasn't going to get separated from Bones.

Kirk realized that this ran contrary to his own orders for them to split up, but then, what was the point of being captain if you couldn't change your mind when you wanted to? Besides, he'd issued those orders in a fit of impulsiveness. Whatever it was his captors expected out of him with their constant torments, he was determined to fight back by staying as unpredictable as possible.

"Oh, and forget about what I wrote earlier, you're with me tonight," he said before Bones could think to point this out, and flashed one of his just-trust-me grins for good measure. There was a fifty-fifty chance of Bones being able to tell that he was faking that unflappable assurance — not bad odds. "You can tell me about the important part of what happened while we head to M108."

[from here]

A bigger hallway. Just how big was this place supposed to be, anyway? Not that it mattered since he'd find his way out regardless, but Sanctum facilities tended to be huge. He still wasn't seeing any signs of monsters. Wasn't seeing too many people either. ...Actually, Snow wasn't seeing much of anything with how dark it was. Not that he was going to let that handicap him.

Feeling along the wall for a moment, it wasn't too hard to find another door right next to him. Well, that was as good a direction as any.

[to here]

[from here]

This was where his skill with stalking people came in handy; Matt crept along as quietly as he could, relieved to see that the hallways still seemed to be pretty empty. He liked this turn of events. It put him at ease as he strode determinedly down the hall, images of his mental map of the ground floor of Landel's running through his head. He wasn't entirely sure still which room Mello was in, but he felt confident that he could find him before he ran off to do... whatever he had planned.

Which was probably crazy, knowing Mello.

[to here]

As soon as he heard the telltale click, Matt, despite still being a little out of it, got to his feet, deciding that it would be wise tonight to follow Mello's example from the night before. Glancing over at Claude every couple minutes, he grabbed the boots and coat out of the closet, slipping the coat on before starting on the boots. As soon they were on, he grabbed the flashlight from under his pillow and his keys out of the drawer. He wasn't sure if Claude was going to head out or not, with his condition, but it was always better to be prepared.

To his surprise, there was something beside the keys that hadn't been there before; it was a small ring. Picking it up, he looked it over for a moment before dropping it in his coat pocket. It probably wouldn't be long before he found out what it did, as quickly as that sadistic prick Landel seemed to move.

And what the hell, he grabbed the pillow too and shook it free of the pillowcase; it would come in handy sometime in the night, he was sure. Especially if it turned out anything like the last.

Walking straight to the door, Matt took one last look at his roommate. He didn't know what to say in that situation, so he said nothing at all. He just left.