With sigh that toed the ambiguous no-mans-land between soft and explosive, Yuffie collected a plateful of waffles with all the toppings. She was sure that, if nothing else, it'd making a pretty satisfying splat if—when?—she launched it at somebody's face, and that was all that counted.

"Hanna, isn't that a little much?" Plucky asked, doubtfully.

"Uhhm. No. About, like... a little while ago, I managed five caramel apple pies with ice cream and berries and, y'know, I think there was a gallon of soda involved at some point." It wasn't the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. There really had been five caramel apple pies, but Cloud had ended up wearing two and a half and the third had taken a vacation to Boobsville (Tifa had loved it. Really. Really). The moral of the story (as she'd told Marlene and Denzel later) was that anything was game, just as long as you could run fast enough afterwards.

The nurse nodded slowly. "I… suppose. Well, I'll leave you to it. See that you behave, won't you, dear? You need to set a good example for the new batch of patients."

"My examples are the best examples," Yuffie proclaimed, with the dark-bright grin that still came so easily, no matter how little she felt really felt it. It lingered even when the nurse had flitted off to deal with another charge, but there was an edge to it. What the edge was, Yuffie couldn't say. Didn't want to say, after what'd gone down last night. Nah, she had better things to do; things like sitting down and waiting, just waiting, for Cloud or some other sucker of an easy target to walk through the door.

[HARLEY HARTWELL o/]

Although the day was sunny and warm, there seemed to be a strange tension within the walls of Landel's Institute. The nurses seemed a little more on-edge than usual, and they were already bustling to-and-fro in the hallways before the Head Doctor even made his announcement. It seemed that they'd all been roused early today by Nurse Lydia – but for what reason? The Head Doctor had been making calls all morning, it seemed, regarding a situation that he himself had not anticipated.

Finally, the intercom jingle sounded.

"Hello, everyone!" his voice finally said through the intercom. Although trying very hard for a cheery tone, it was clear he was under some kind of great stress. "Today, we'll be having waffles – the usual toppings are available: syrup, butter, whipped cream, powdered sugar, cinnamon, jam, and fresh fruits. We also have cereal and assorted drinks, along with coff– wait..." He murmured: "No, no, not coffee, he'll..."

After a moment of contemplation, he continued: "Ah! Anyway, I believe that's all for now. Just... go on with everything and stay behaved! Yes!"

The intercom clicked on without his usual farewell.

[ Any newly accepted character can be introduced in response to this post, waking up in their assigned room. Put the room number in the subject line. ]