Endrance turned his head to look at the intercom, giving it a look that would wither an entire rose garden in an instant. He would never get used to ending up in his room again from somewhere else in the Institute.

He brushed his bangs out of his eyes, not sitting up just yet. He could tell already that his torso had been heavily bandaged, even more so than it had been the night before. The cuts on his arms were covered with fresh bandages, and the one on his cheek seemed to no longer be there at all.

Endrance had been expecting to wake up in a lot of pain, but even that seemed numbed. "They must have given me something," he murmured quietly, as he slowly sat up.

At that moment, his nurse came to get him, pushing a wheelchair along with her. "Peyton, dear, good morning. I've come to take you to breakfast, so..." He shook his head. "I'm fine. There's no need for that...I can walk perfectly well."

She sighed. Well, if he insisted, she wasn't going to stop him. She motioned for an orderly to take the chair away, and walked him to the cafeteria. Once they had gotten there, she pointed him toward a seat, then set a full tray of pancakes covered with syrup, a bowl of fruit, and a glass of orange juice in front of him. "Now eat all of that, Peyton, or else you won't be strong enough to keep walking like that."

He glared at her back as she walked away, then stopped suddenly. There was that faint pulse he'd felt the night before...it was exactly the same.

And so he completely ignored his food in favor of staring at the cafeteria doors, looking at every patient that came in.

[thread will be closed to Haseo. ♥]

[from here]

There was no need to tarry long here, Endrance thought, as he quickly made his way over to the nearest door leading outside. He put his hand on the handle, pushed it...and it didn't move. "That's odd," he said, trying it a second time. When it didn't move, then, he sighed huffily. He couldn't pick the lock, so there was only one other option.

He moved back a few steps and charged at the lock in an all-too-familiar motion, one so reminiscent of doing battle that he almost felt the urge to shout an attack name as he did so. The pipe struck the lock, breaking it.

Endrance nodded once, then moved on.

[to here]

[from here]

Endrance took one slow step inside the Sun Room, then another. He stood just beyond the doorway for a moment, sweeping his flashlight from side to side. There were too many shadows for him to scan them all; if he did that, he would be there all night. That was the last thing that he wanted.

He didn't see the false Mia lurking behind a couch or under a table, and that would have to do. He couldn't dwell on it too much. I can't...I have to let her go. It's the only way to move forward.

With one last, resolute nod, he moved through the room and through the cafeteria doors.

[to here.]

[from here]

This was boring. They needed to install like teleporters or warp points or something all sci-fi-like if they were going to be doing creepy experiments and shit. And then they'd make weird ass keys to make the transport things work and then they'd just have to hide them all over the fucking place because, clearly, the people running this place were never game testers, just game developers that actually remembered to disable the cheats.

On second thought, Junpei decided he'd rather walk.

[to here]

[from here]

Junpei glanced to the left, just in case there was a three-headed inside-out zombie waiting there to do something really horrible to him when he was fresh out of a lawnmower to mow them down with like in that one horror flick, he was relieved to see said potential thing to run away from wasn't anywhere in sight. Oh good. Maybe he wasn't going to chased around this night by something that belong in a video game.

With a whistle - if he could whistle, that is - Junpei headed toward the other half of the patient blocks.

[to here]

[Geass is now under effect]

It wasn't the intercom that jolted Dean awake. Or, at least, he didn't think it was, 'cause it wasn't that same start you got when you were surprised by some egomaniac suddenly running his mouth off on the intercom who loved the sound of his voice and made sure you did too. Or, that was usually how it went, except Martin Landel - or whoever it was, the raspy croak made it hard to tell this time - for once kept it short. No, it was something else. Not just getting startled awake. Dean couldn't describe it, only that it was like a switch had flipped and suddenly...suddenly he just knew he had work to do. How else to explain it? It was like a hunch, but way, way stronger. Rolling out of bed, he found there was no room for any lingering memories of his nightmares or the constant cold sweats or waking up and just needing to know where Sammy was as he groped about like a blind man in those first few terrified seconds, as if he was a kid again. Not when everything was Okay with a capital O. There was a job to do and Dean Winchester knew he was the man to do it.

Hell, he was the best man, the most qualified. The only man.

Not that Dean could say where he got this sudden boost of confidence. Any other time, he would've thought it weird but now? The hunter instead just headed straight for the closet after turning on his flashlight so he could see, pulling on his clothes. M31. Had to report to M31. That thought kept circling in his head and though Dean dressed as fast as humanly possibly, practically throwing on his necklace and his favorite old leather jacket, it didn't seem fast enough. Dean had just enough time to snag his bowie knife before that compulsion to move and move faster kicked him in the ass and got him into gear. Dean didn't even spare Angel another look, didn't care he'd seen where he'd stashed his own weapon - sure it wasn't as big as Angel's ax, but still - and instead just left the room with a single-minded intent. A man on a mission.

Dean liked feeling like this. He liked it a lot.

Thinking about how he was going to get the M31 and do whatever he was supposed to do there made him feel good, like he had a purpose and it wasn't gonna blow up in his face like everything else did these days. Dean had a new spring in his step as he navigated the dark halls; spring or not, though, he also kept focused, listening for any signs of anything out to kill him in the darkness even as he moved quickly. Couldn't do his job if he got tagged, after all. Despite having this mission, it wasn't like he'd lost his sense of self-preservation - sure, that was kind of a moot point for him these days, but he didn't really want to die if he could help it. He'd make that year last, dammit. Get his money's (or soul's) worth.

As for Sammy...Dean just felt somehow he'd be okay. For all they knew, whatever he was gonna do at M31 would help his little brother with their ghost problem.

Even if it didn't, there was no changing the fact he absolutely had to get to M31, no questions asked.

[To here]

Kio's breakfast ended on a much happier note than it had started. However, for once the announcement truly surprised him. He blinked as his nurse came to pick him up. Recreational Field? But.. but if they had a greenhouse, he wanted to go there. The prospect of gardening was a truly liberating one, an island of joy in this hellhole. He thought about going to the Sun Room and lying down, but it occurred to him that he hadn't had proper fresh air since being here. With a cheery goodbye wave to Honey, he followed his torturer outside.

It was much better than he had expected. The sun wasn't too hot (what time of the year were they in, anyway?), so he walked slowly along the walls, fascinated by the size of the field. He wondered if Sou-chan was alright. He hadn't even checked the board. Well, if Soubi wanted to apologize, Kio would be willing to listen. The place was so crisp and clean. He had to think if anyone had ever gone over the walls. What was out there? Freedom? Or a different sort of monster?

Leaning against one of the walls, Kio took as much advantage of the sun as he could. He desperately wanted a lollipop. One was quietly nestled in his pocket, but he would need to wait until the nurses were busy with other patients before he tried anything. Soubi had gone to some trouble to get them, the least he could do was make sure they didn't get confiscated. So with bated breath, Kio waited for a shift in the mood. He was, for once, content. Not happy, but not going crazy either.

[Sou-chan! Team Loveless deploy!]

Utena's second night seemed to have ended even sooner than the first had, which greatly disappointed her. She had been hoping that at some point, she could have coaxed her friend into telling her what was so horrible that happened in her future. Then again, curiosity aside, she was also somewhat relieved that she didn't have to hear it just yet. She half-wondered if Landel had ended both of their previous nights early on purpose, too, just to make certain that Utena didn't spend enough time with her friend to potentially hear of that future.

Almost as soon as she thought of Landel, Utena heard his voice crackle over the intercom again. Hearing him yawn through his announcement almost made her sleepy as well; she'd had no idea that yawns could be contagious over speaker systems. Physically, she did feel rested, though she certainly couldn't remember sleeping or dreaming between the end of night and her waking up.

As her nurse came to collect her for breakfast, Utena felt conflicted over whether she ought to see Himemiya again that night. On the one hand, she wanted to be there for her friend and try to coax some of the girl's old self out of her. Either that or at least try to console her about whatever was troubling her. On the other hand, she knew that it would be stupid to waste too many nights on talk. She could be helping Seiya or the clubs or finding metal to store for whenever Skuld was ready for her, something that would help her and Himemiya break out faster.

Maybe I'll post a message for her later if I don't see her again during the day. It's not perfect, but at least it'll let us talk and then leave me an opening to go out and do . . . whatever it is that might need doing, she thought as she was escorted into the cafeteria to pick up breakfast (english muffins that morning). Remembering the clubs again, Utena thought about the message exchange she had had with that girl from Arts & Crafts, Momo Hinamori. They were supposed to be meeting over breakfast, right? Utena didn't see anyone who matched Hinamori's description yet, but then, the girl had said that it would be easier for her to find Utena than the other way around. She sat down at a nearby table for the time being and waited, running the previous night's short conversation in her head over and over.

[For Momo]

((From here.))

It was still dark, and unnaturally quiet, when they slipped out of the stairwell. Kira checked the grip on his sword and slipped the map from his pocket, the flashlight making it all very awkward. The pharmacy ... it was to the east of where they were, provided this place didn't shift unnaturally when people needed to go somewhere. He glanced to the east and saw only darkness and silence leading away.

"Are you ready?" he asked. Everything seemed too still for there not to be something lying in wait, but then again, he'd expected something on the stairwell, too. Carefully putting the map back in his pocket, Kira aimed the flashlight down the hall they needed to go through and glanced at Hanatarou.

[from here]

Although he'd been to the second floor on previous nights, Hanatarou had stayed on the west end of the building both times, and never gone very far into that either. Not that he really wanted to think too much about the last time he'd been up there, of course.

So here he was, in an area unfamiliar to him, trying to find a room he'd never visited before. At least Kira had his maps with them if they managed to get lost, so they wouldn't have to rely on the healer's own memory, but that wasn't too much reassurance. Hanatarou glanced around a little nervously, noting what had to be the area above the Sun Room below - their destination would be over that direction, then.

He made certain to stay close to Kira, though, just in case something decided to jump out at them from the shadows. There were an awful lot of them tonight, with the hallways so empty.

Even when he shut the door behind him as he stepped into the still deserted hallway, Tyki didn't really know what to do for tonight. Going after Miss Shinigami again could have been something interesting to do, considering their fight hadn't gotten much further than getting scorched by some spell she did. She was still very much alive. Maybe Signum had succeeded in a sense, though killing her had been fun enough. It had been some time since he had enjoyed some proper killing after all.

But maybe it'd be more entertaining to bother her another time, when the death of Lady Knight had sunk in properly. That, and the Noah simply couldn't be bothered with searching the whole building anyway.

Tonight, he decided, was going to be free of things he had to do. Because obligations were usually quite the pain, and the Millennium Earl wasn't here to give him orders anyway.

Now, what to do? Maybe he should go and see what's in the basement. Hopefully, it'd be something entertaining.

[To here]

The Head Doctor seemed a little rushed as he spoke on the intercom, not taking as much pleasure as he usually did in describing the delicious food that would soon be served.

"Hello, everyone! Tonight is turkey night, which means turkey breast in a great turkey gravy with some nice turkey sides: peas, herb potatoes, a small garden salad, and for dessert, a slice of pumpkin pie. We of course have vegetarian substitutes available, as well as our usual assortment of drinks.

"...I believe that's it! I'll talk to you soon!"

The intercom clicked off abruptly.

[ If you are introducing your character during this shift, you may either choose for them character to wake up before their roommate gets back, or after.

All room threads go in response to this post; please post your character's room number as the subject line of the initial post. Thank you! ]

Lunch had been fruitful. Celes had chosen not to eat, but that was fine enough for her; she’d eaten plenty at breakfast and it was not very good manners to eat while discussing war (for Celes, it’d always given her a bit of a stomachache), or plotting. Especially if one was in mixed company. Her nurse escorted her to the Music room, citing that her ‘sister’ had suggested that musical therapy would be good for her. Celes rolled her eyes. This was no music room, with their ‘electronic’ instruments; where were the violas and the harpsichords and phonographs? She’d been past this room before, but had never been interested enough to go into it.

The general sat down at the keyboard, staring at the odd device before prodding the buttons with a nail. On, off, rumba, tango, Caribbean (what in the world was ‘Caribbean?’), little numbers that changed the tone. It was the first time Celes wished that there was a real instrument before her, instead of this ridiculous thing. Still, it didn’t stop her from curiously stringing notes together with one hand, and the only song she could bring to mind was the Aria di Mezzo Carattere.

How dreadfully delightful.

[for Adel~]

That had been a very interesting shift, Miku decided as she was wheeled around. Not only for making a new friend in Endrance (well, perhaps not friend, but very kind acquaintance), but for the overload of unwanted information from the bulletin. It was enough to make her want to hide until there was no chance of a blush ever forming on her face (and ears, and neck and anywhere else a blush might decide to raise its wily head).

Her nurse was oddly quiet for once, as she gathered her meal (vegetable pizza and milk) and wheeled Miku away from the crush of other patients being herded in. Well, then it would be a quiet lunch, she decided.

"Now, Alice, I expect not to see a crumb of food left, do you hear? Not a crumb," her nurse chastised her gently and Miku winced. So, they were noticing. She'd have to be more careful to eat a little more.

"Ah... yes. I'm sorry," Miku ducked her head and started picking at her meal with her knife and fork. "I'll eat." Even if the nurse was really a monster at night, she hated that tone of disappointment. She sighed and picked at what appeared to be a piece of broccoli on her pizza.

[For Sousuke]

That really hadn't been the breakfast she'd been expecting, but Yuffie couldn't bring herself to complain. The kid made for good company, and was, if nothing else, pretty entertaining. She could've just done without the whole choking thing. That… That had been embarrassing. A bit. Okay, a lot. Yuffie was starting to get a feeling that this day was -- for once-- actually going to ping on her ‘interesting!’ meter.

Whether or not that was a good thing, she didn’t know.

By the time she’d reached the Sun Room's bulletin board, a kitten on her shoulder and a pen twirling between her fingers, Yuffie was starting to put her finger on why she had that weird, nagging feeling. Though on second thought, it was less like putting her finger on it and more like it had jumped up and punched her right in the nose; the feeling wasn’t just about waffles, magicians, or tricky candy thieves. Sagara hadn't answered her bulletin post; he hadn't answered any bulletin posts. She hadn't seen that stupid, spiky head of his all morning. It was like radio silence without a radio.

Agai-- No, Yuffie cut herself off sharply, frowning. She was just jumping to conclusions. It wouldn't be the first time, right? Right! And yet… instincts were instincts for a reason, and in a dump like this, who knew what could happen?

[for Okita?]

This time, just after the intercom's jingle, the faint sound of a radio or a television could be heard in the background as the Head Doctor began to speak.

"I hope everyone enjoyed their meals this fine morning! In fact, it looks like the whole day is going to be beautiful, which is part of the reason why I think you all should enjoy some rays of sunshine in... well, the Sun Room!

"Of course, mental health – unfortunately – cannot only be cured by an uplifting atmosphere, which is why some of you will be seeing your doctors this coming shift. Our nurses will escort all patients scheduled for therapy as they leave the cafeteria, and..."

He paused and then laughed.

"Well, I think you all know the drill by now. As (almost) always, we have some new patients coming in, so please treat them with the utmost kindness and understanding. Thank you!"

The intercom clicked off.

[ All introduction posts for this shift's group of new characters should be made in response to this post. Please abide by the room assignments listed there.

Post your character's room number as the subject line of the initial post. Thank you! ]