[Bother away~]

It was surprising how quickly the staff had lifted the lockdown, particularly for those who had a hand in this morning's "incident". Ken was certain they were going to be stuck in their rooms until nightfall and thus, felt wary of the intercom's announcement. Partly for possible ulterior motives, partly for the fact they were treating them as children.

This whole situation was one glorified time-out, when he thought about it.

Still, there were some benefits to the matter, which the nurse was now spelling out for him. "....choice of the Sun Room, the Music Room, the Game Room, or the Arts and Crafts Room--"

"Wait." Ken stopped short in the middle of the hallway. "Excuse me, but did you say Arts and Crafts Room?"

The nurse nodded and smiled. "Would you like to go there?" she asked. "You deserve it, considering you were so good during today's ordeal."

Perfect. He was hoping for a place to finish the copy of the map he had planned to give Yukari. This "Arts and Crafts" Room should have something more eye-catching than pens. (Blue and black ink were boring selections.) With a nod of approval, Ken allowed himself to be escorted.

In five minutes, the boy managed to assemble several choice markers and four sheets of white paper, which he took to one of the round tables in the room. There, he set to work, using the map within his journal pages as a reference.

Hitsugaya woke with a start.

His entire body ached, but the pain was nowhere near as bad as it had been the night before. His injuries had been tended two with clean gauze and bandages, and he found every movement wasn't agony. He wasn't in the best of shape, but thanks to the miracle of landel's strange time distortion, he had mostly recovered from the vile poison without having to waste anyone else's talents.

And in his hand, still...there was the key.

He dressed quickly, sliding the key onto the key ring from his desk drawer and stuck it into his pocket. Whether the key stood to gain them anything or not, it stood as a vital reminder that they could succeed in this place. There was hope, as insignificant as it often seemed. They could beat this place.

That small shred of hope made getting up worth it.

The nurse who escorted him to breakfast was cheerful, and commented idly about how wonderful it was to see young Tommy Winters up and about again after his unfortunate run-in with a bad case of food poisoning. He smirked slightly, knowing that any lies the institute forced into their heads were only that: lies. He wouldn't buy it for a second. And on top of that, the concept of muffins sounded almost appetizing. While he still preferred his authentic Japanese cuisine, the food here was slowly becoming more and more bearable. He would have preferred a warm bowl of sweet nattou over rice over the mufffins, but they would do. The plain yogurt and fruit, on the other hand, was excellent. He piled his plate high with fruit as usual, and got several small bowls of yogurt as well.

Finding the most convenient table to the end of the food line, he took a seat and scanned for the new arrivals. New arrivals meant people who would be lost and confused. Renji did a good job of making a bulliten post last time...he should recommend abarai-fukutaicho do the same again this time.

[Waiting for Angel]

Hiei easily grew sick of the same walls--not to mention the same idiots always within those walls--and while not perfect, the chance to go outside was better than lingering in the boundaries of that damned prison. So when the chance came, the demon was quick to leap on it, heading outside almost quick enough to make a nurse wonder if he was attempting escape.

Almost.

But there were things Hiei had to take care of before he left this place, and first came sorting through his thoughts. Kurama was gone; the demon was sure of it, even without the use of his Jagan. The fox was one of the people Hiei was closest to, one of the few Hiei would admit being close to, and his presence weighed heavily on the demon, nearly as heavy as his absence.

It made him angry, that Kurama had vanished. Be it by escape or some other circumstance (which Hiei barely considered possible, only by his own refusal), the fox should be there with him, fighting with him. That was how they worked, supposedly. As a team.

Now Hiei would have to do without. And he would be fine with that, eventually. For now it was annoying, but that would pass. Perhaps quicker with a nap, and the demon moved under one of the trees. He didn't care that it was colder in the shade; his contrasting origins mixed with his stubbornness kept the weather from bothering him too much. Closing his eyes, he relaxed against the bark, as much as he could given the circumstances, and hoped for a lack of bothering.

Tamaki propped his door open, turned on his flashlight for light, and sat himself down on his bed with the medical kit. He felt confident, and it felt good. He was doing something. And it was something good and important and needed.

It didn't matter that he wasn't a warrior. He could still help, and he could still do his part to help everyone. And that was what was important. For all of them.

Now he just needed to wait for the others to arrive.

It wasn't as if Phibrizzo didn't enjoy breakfast; he simply grew bored with it after awhile. Exchanging pleasantries with Haku only held his interest for so long and once the meal was finished, they lost all their charm. He was heading for the exit to go exploring on his own when a nurse put a hand on his shoulder and told him it was time to go somewhere else.

"Where are we going?" He asked, looking up at her with large eyes. She smiled back.

"The game room! You'll be able to find yourself a little playmate there."

A playmate? Probably not in the same sense Hellmaster was accustomed to playing, but it wouldn't be so bad to mingle with others his "age". If nothing else, it was a way to pass the time. And who knew- maybe a 'playmate' would present themselves. There was some fun to be had yet. Shuffling into the game room at the nurse's urging, Phibrizzo picked up the first game he could find and inspected it.

"Uno," he read back from the cover. Huh. He opened the box and pulled out a few cards of various colors and numbers. The small Mazoku cocked his head. How did this game work? Were you supposed to separate them and pile them in numerical order by color? It didn't seem like much of a game, but what did he know about the games children played?

Taking the deck in his hand, he meandered to a corner and sat down on the floor, making blue, red, green, yellow, and misc piles of cards as he waited for others to filter in.

Kuja was, in fact, quite surprised to suddenly find himself in bed. An odd turn of events, as he previously remembered investigating the contents of a closet. If the genome hadn't known any better, he would have thought he hadn't even left the room. However, the items he was still holding obviously proved such thoughts untrue; he had left his room.

This cage was a peculiar one.

In any case, unlike the night the day seemed the appropriate time to perhaps take a rest from all the danger lurking in the darkness. While he was resting his wings, perhaps it wouldn't hurt to "socialize" with the other patients, as allies would certainly be more useful during the night (and not merely to open doors for him). Perhaps he had made a fool out of himself tonight, but such wouldn't happen twice. Not everyone was fond of an encore, after all.

The sorcerer silently stepped out of bed, noticing his roommate was still asleep. The man didn't waste any time, however, as he hastily stored the items into his own closet, camouflaging it with clothes. Nurses finding his newly acquired items was the last thing Kuja needed, after all.

After he had closed the doors of said closet, another door opened as an extremely cheerful woman came in. Such contrast with the night, but the actors played their parts well.

Perhaps too well...

Kuja allowed himself to be escorted to the cafeteria, his attempt to gain more information from the nurse proving to be completely fruitless. Halfway, he had given up, as the staff seemed not as stupid as the Alexandrian court. Either they were acting, or they were unaware of the role they were playing. Regardless, they were mere pawns.

After he had filled his plate with some food, he seated himself at one of the tables, purposely choosing a place where he could easily watch the others patients entering. Blue eyes studying the various canaries flying within their cage as they were finally allowed an opportunity to rest their wings, he picked up a fork and began eating his breakfast.

(from here)

Renji kept them moving until they reached the bathroom. He never thought he'd be relieved to get into that dank, nasty room, but it was still better than the smell in the hall outside. All he could guess was that someone had killed at least one of those damn nasty cats. He could have lived his life happily without ever having to smell that again, and it was a nightly occurence here.

As soon as the girls were in the bathroom and the door was shut, he took out his own flashlight, so rarely used, and turned it on. He aimed it at the floor so no one would get blinded.

"Okay," he said. "You girls put your lights on too. If we put 'em on the floor in a couple places, we'll be able to see a lot better." He set his own light done where it could illuminate (if dimly) a good portion of the room. "The shower heads and knob things and the sink fixtures can be unscrewed. I'll... try something on the pipes."

He unwound the sheet from around his waist, laying it out on the floor as he'd done the previous night, ready for the metal they'd collect.

[From here ]

Usagi reached the end of her hall and looked around. No one was there yet, but she heard noises coming from the other hallways. Were they monsters or other patients? Stifling a yelp she bolted for what she hoped was the cell block's main door. She tried to remember what the outside had looked during the day, but her memory was failing her.

Please don't let me get lost...

Usagi peeked her head out into the hallway, her body completely tensed up. It was dark and creepy but there was no sign of monsters yet. Body plastered to the edge of the doorway she cautiously stepped out of the room. Where was she supposed to meet Naruto and Rock Lee... M2? She looked at the doors of her hallway, trying to get her bearings. There was definitely something different about the place during the night... The girl shivered and her legs became stiff as she thought about what might be lurking around.

Calm down, Usagi told herself, letting out a deep breath. She had to help her new friends and somehow get back to her world. With her goal in mind she raced down the hallway.

(starting at the end of the hall in F10)

At the strange cryptic message that came over the intercom and the quiet click of the locks coming undone, Max exchanged a glance with her roommate and slipped towards the door. She didn't bother with trying to find a makeshift weapon, she could handle herself well enough without one, but she'd tucked the small radio and the flashlight she'd found in the makeshift belt she'd made from a ripped pair of the ugly pants as they'd waited for nightfall.

Easing the door open, she peered out into the hallway beyond. It was dark and quiet, but her enhanced vision quickly adjusted as she scanned the corridor. All was silent and empty for the moment and she slipped out into the darkness, her stance stealthy and alert as she paused in the center of the hall, peering down the long corridor filled with doors leading to other patient rooms (she assumed). The joining corridor off to her right was the one she'd been led down earlier, she remembered, and that was the one they'd need to follow this time, to get out of the dormitory area.

She wondered if others would be slipping out soon as well, and hoped that the building itself did not change after dark. Then again, mutating buildings had to be a bit more difficult than mutating humanoids, if the rumors about the monsters lurking at night were really true...

The intercom jingle rang out both inside and outside the institute on speakers loud enough to broadcast clearly across the recreational field.

"It's been a busy day, hasn't it? Well, fortunately for all of us, it's nearly over, and we can all look forward to some rejuvenating shut-eye--that is, after dinner, of course."

The Head Doctor chuckled.

"Supper for tonight is going to consist of individual servings of chicken pot pie, with mashed potatoes and peas as sides. You may ask your nurse about the usual selection of drinks, and... Oh! Some of you might find that you have some new guests in your rooms belonging to... Group 5, I believe...? Please see to it that our new patients spend their first night at Landel's Institute as peacefully as possible!"

He paused, then added:

"Oh, and Nurse Hondor? Could you please report to my office? Thank you."

The intercom clicked off.

[ OOC: Remember how dinner shift works--everyone posts to this post with individual threads for each room. New characters waking up during this shift will do so in their respective threads, though if your roommate's player is unable to play with you during your intro, feel free to work something out so that your roommate is taking a nap or something. XD; ]