A...visitor?

After the therapy session had ended, the nurse cheerfully announced that this mysterious person was waiting for him. Puzzled, he had to wonder how far their insistence to keep up appearances extended. Keep up appearances for whom, exactly?

Nonetheless, Seishin was led to the front of the building into some sort of waiting room. It was still empty when he entered, and after he had sat down in a chair the nurse left to collect his visitor -- or so he assumed.

He frowned. A visitor, was it? He had no idea what exactly to expect... Would it be someone he knew? That would be...impossible, wouldn't it? The fact that he alone had been dragged away from such a bloodbath was absurd enough as it was, after all. Surely, no one from Sotoba would be casually visiting a place like this, convinced their former village priest -- who had betrayed them, no less -- was simply 'mentally ill'. Not after such a mess...

Still, he had a bad feeling about this...

The idea that a friend from home would be coming to visit him today was something that had never crossed Zero's mind before now. For one thing, everyone he knew was definitely in another world as far as he was concerned, and he'd long since accepted that he'd probably never see his home or his friends again. (Or at least, not for awhile.) A familiar face suddenly showing up out of the blue was highly unlikely, if not downright impossible, to him. For another, he'd never heard of this 'visitor time' before to begin with, so how could he expect it to happen? No prisoner had ever told him that sometimes recognizable people might show up at the Institute on a certain day of the week to completely shatter one's understanding of this place and the way it worked.

(...Although. Knowing how Landel loved to screw with people's heads, it probably wasn't such a shocking idea. But still.)

So when the time to change shifts came and Zero was suddenly taken away from the other patients by his nurse, being led to a room he'd never been in before while being told in that damned cheery voice that Someone's coming to see you today! Aren't you excited?, the once-Reploid felt tense and confused by the whole thing. And understandably so. Who in the world could be coming to visit him? Why in the world would someone be visiting him? And how, if this really turned out to be someone he knew?

Moreover, would Landel really allow someone from his home world to just waltz right into this place without holding them hostage, too? That seemed kind of strange for a guy who got a laugh out of torturing people on a daily basis. Then again, said familiar face was probably brainwashed like everyone else. No harm done in that case...

...Well. Whoever it was that was supposed to be meeting him (brainwashed or not), they weren't present when Zero arrived at the designated waiting room. His nurse wasn't fazed by this, though, and she gave her patient an encouraging nudge toward some chairs. "They'll be here shortly," she said, as if trying to reassure him. (Was she seriously expecting him to be thrilled about this?) "Why don't you take a seat while you wait, Mr. Suzuki?"

Zero stood perfectly still and frowned at her. "No."

"Oh, this is not the time for one of your moods. Please sit down."

"I refuse."

"Mr. Suzuki--!"

He was defiant. There was no way he was going to sit while feeling so uneasy, especially if his nurse was going to complain about it. Why should he give this obnoxious woman any breaks, anyway? If he didn't stick up for himself like a stubborn old man, then she wouldn't stop bothering him. And the less she bothered him, the better.

Thankfully, she wasn't in the mood to press him about this. She opened her mouth as if to go off on another one of her scolding sprees, but then decided against it and shook her head. "Suit yourself," she sighed, then turned and walked out of the room, leaving him alone. (Finally.) Now he could wait anxiously in peace, without that bothersome woman pestering him every second. He moved off to one side of the room but stayed standing, subconsciously clenching his fists out of habit, watching other people (prisoners, nurses, outsiders) enter the room. No one he recognized yet.

He kind of hoped no one would show for him.

Since her talk with Soma in the morning, Rapunzel had been afraid this moment might come. Even as she distracted herself with other things, there was a tightness knotting up inside her stomach. Even as she assured herself that she would be prepared if it happened, the feeling wouldn't pass. And now, she felt a firm hand on her shoulder, and the word "visitor" passed from the lips of a disguised soldier to her ear. She hadn't thought that knot could get any tighter, or heavier.

She forced herself to breathe as the soldier led her to a room full of chairs. Okay. You can do this. Just take it like Soma said. Whoever this is, or looks like, or whatever — it's not the end of the world.

She drew a deep breathe in. Let it back out. Then lowered herself into a seat. She was glad for that seat, at least; it made the shaking of her legs harder to see.

By some stroke of luck, Harvey hadn't been bothered while he'd been in the library, allowing him to lose himself in a random book for at least a little while. Even so, he'd gone through all of his possible options for who might be visiting, from Gordon (in which case he'd probably end up sedated by the end of it) to his mother to Bruce Wayne to even the Joker.

He knew the latter couldn't be possible, not when he had to be rotting in a cell of his own by now. He'd better be, anyway. If Batman was going to be making a nuisance of himself, the least he could do was get the insane clown behind bars.

In other words, the book hadn't completely prevented him from working himself up about this whole visitor thing. It was the last thing he wanted, but as the shift ended and a soldier came to collect him, it became clear that resistance would not be tolerated.

And so he was shoved into one of the rooms, watching as the patients from the previous shift exited out, some looking relieved and others looking crushed. It only made the knot in his stomach pull tighter, but Harvey forced himself to breathe and calm down. No one he recognized was here yet, so he'd have a moment to compose himself at least.

Taking a seat off in the corner, Harvey considered grabbing one of the outdated magazines to read over while he waited, but he couldn't relax quite that much. Instead, he pulled up one leg to rest on the opposite thigh and made subtle glances towards the door every few seconds.

Anise wasn't sure what to think when she was escorted to the waiting room. It was disturbing enough that Landel mixed up her family - and Ion! - in his stupid schemes, but the military was going to do it too? While it looked like they were pretending to follow the Head Doctor's schedule, she still felt uneasy, like they might do something unexpected and horrible to her loved ones.

Well, more horrible than what was already done to them, that was...

Despite that uneasiness, though, Anise really wanted to see Ion or her parents, even if they'd still be brainwashed. After getting no visitors the previous week, she was worried about how they were doing. Even if it hurt to hear them say all those crazy things, it meant a lot just to see their faces.

She wished they would at least tell her who was coming beforehand, so she didn't have to get all anxious while wondering... Anise didn't even have Tokunaga to comfort herself right now. All she could do was clench and tug at the gray fabric at her knees as she sat waiting in a chair, her feet dangling just above the floor.

Somehow, he'd managed to eat all of his food, and grudgingly, Niikura had to admit that he felt a lot better after brunch. That pink stuff tasted like crap, but it did its job, which was to keep him alive. Still...what did he have to do around here to get some food, short of raiding the kitchen at night? Not that he couldn't do that, it was just that he liked to reserve his evenings for more productive things...

...food was productive.

Niikura growled under his breath and shook his head. He really needed something to take his mind off things right now before he started daydreaming about burgers or something. Maybe a nap or...a movie sounded nice. He'd seen the suggestion box at the board, but hadn't really been in the right state of mind to answer it, too caught up with some other conversations. But really, the more he thought about it, the better it sounded. Alright then, off to the Sun Room--

--or not. The soldier pushed him straight through toward one of the lobbies, calmly explaining that today, he had a visitor. The news was so stunning that Niikura couldn't find it in himself to complain until he was already sitting down in one of the chairs by himself - at which point, it was kind of useless to complain.

A visitor, huh? Had Hazama or Takasugi or someone figured out where he was? He wouldn't put it past them, although he would've liked it more if they'd managed to swoop down for the rescue a little earlier - like, say, a whole week earlier. Other than that, he couldn't think of anyone who'd actually take out the effort to visit him. Some cop? A classmate? This was almost getting nerve-wracking. Niikura's foot tapped as he stared anxiously at the door. Who was it going to be...?

Visitors? The hell was that supposed to mean?

Heat's curiosity allowed him to be led from the courtyard (and his riveting conversation with that woman) back inside to the front of the building. This wasn't one of the usual activity rooms, but something that resembled a sort of lounge where the only 'activity' seemed to involve sitting around. The demon was instantly annoyed and asking to be taken somewhere else. He'd done enough talking for the day. He just wanted to wait out the rest of the day in peace.

Someone was coming to see him, the nurse said, but there weren't any members of his tribe remaining in the Institute. Was it possible they'd brought back Argilla?

Their continued use of that other name wasn't unusual, but that and an offhand mention of someone 'from home' had a familiar face flashing in his mind's eye. He went quiet. Satisfied that he was going to behave himself, the nurse left him to sit alone in the uncomfortable chair, his eyes trained on the doorway.

When the nurse came to tell him he had a visitor, Indy's immediate response was to retreat into the bathroom, briefly contemplate being sick to his stomach, decide against it, and hurry instead to the mirror to try to finger-comb his hair into some semblance of respectable neatness. Then he squared his shoulders and marched out to take whatever was about to happen like a man. However unpleasant (and painful, he could admit privately) another visit was likely to be, it was that much worse for Dad, actually being the one brainwashed. He needed to knock it off with all the damn fretting and figure out some way to do something.

Actually, he'd been assuming all this time that it would be Dad who would visit him if anyone did, but after last night Indy wasn't sure anymore. Landel had demonstrated that he had some kind of control over Marcus, Irene, the kids in his Archaeology 101 sections--maybe even Marion, if that photo wasn't faked somehow. He wasn't sure whether to hope that his father would come again so Indy would at least know he was alive and all right, or that it'd be anyone other than Dad.

He took a seat in the waiting room and concentrated on sitting up straight and trying not to fiddle with the two photographs in his pocket. At the same time, he was running back over what he knew about his "real life": he was Harry Lucas, Jr. ex-janitor, who'd stabbed a "Nazi" professor in the arm in the middle of class and whose delusions of archaeological grandeur had been prompted by books from his father; Marcus was his uncle "Lodi" and Sallah was "Shakkah" the car salesman. And he was supposed to like being called "Junior."

Well, if the nickname was the worst thing he had to endure this afternoon, he'd count himself lucky.

When they told him he would have a visitor, Nigredo could not even feign surprise. He had, after all, asked the one who looked like Citrine to visit again. Despite the falsity of her presence, the child had liked her in the sense that out of all his siblings, she had been the most forgiving on his sanity. Not to mention, a part of him wanted to ensure her health. That her death was a faraway prophecy.

He followed the nurse to the lobby and as directed, found a seat by the other entrance. While the part that loathed the visit tugged restlessly at the wrappings on his injured hand, the rest remained dead calm. Prepared. Every part of him was ready for this instant, for the first time in days. It was disgraceful how he had let his concentration and constitution fall in the past week; it didn't matter what the circumstances had become, it had all been uncharacteristic of his usual demeanor. The fact he could hold every thought in limbo now was a miracle, something like a blessing.

Green eyes gazed unwavering at his hands. Hopefully, she would arrive soon, before the calm he held broke under unseen tension.

Prussia wouldn't admit it out loud, but it had been nice to see his brother this morning. West had obviously been doing well before he ended up here; he must have recovered from the war some time in the gap between Prussia's own time and his, and kept on surviving, no matter what rules and restrictions and laws the Control Council had put in place. Heck, maybe the Control Council had even butted out of German business during that time. It was something to ask later.

He'd spent a quiet brunch alone, seeking out a corner where he could eat and think without interruption. After seeing West here, he'd wanted some time alone. No matter how much he'd enjoyed seeing his brother, he couldn't help but wish West weren't here in the first place.

He may have suggested that Germany was probably fine without them there, but there was no way of knowing that for sure. In fact, the idea that their disappearances might not have even been noticed (even if it was because they would only be gone for a few days maximum) was downright disturbing. The disappearance of a Nation should have drawn the attention of the rest of their kind.

When he was finally disturbed, it was by the intercom and his ever-annoying nurse.

"You have a visitor today, Gilbert!" she said cheerily, taking his arm to coax him out of the mess hall. "Isn't that nice?"

'Nice' wasn't exactly the word he would have used for it. He was reminded of that 'family and friends' thing mentioned this morning, but West was his family, and West was already here. He couldn't exactly think of who might come visit him—or why someone would visit him. Breaking him and his brother out would have been time better spent.

"Who is it?" he asked the woman as she led him swiftly through the sun room.

She smiled at him. "Now, now, I don't want to ruin the surprise!"

The nurse would have found herself surprised by an assault, but by the time he'd finally freed his arm from her iron grip, they had already arrived at their destination. It looked like some kind of lobby; there were chairs and the occasional table, and some magazine racks.

"Your visitor will be here soon, Gilbert. Why don't you just sit tight, hmm?" With that, the nurse hurried off.

Prussia made straight for the periodicals, grabbing two—one National Geographic and one New York Times—to look through before taking a seat. There was no point in just sitting around wondering who was supposed to be visiting him; his time would be much better spent looking for information... even if these did look old.

"Now you just have a seat and wait for your visitor like everyone else."

As the nurse went away from him, Kurogane huffed out some agitation but refused to have a seat. Hearing that he had a visitor had been one of the last things he'd expected. It was always the magician who got one, not him. And who the hell would want to visit him anyway?

During his first protests, the nurse had been telling him to behave since it wasn't nice to be sour to girls, so he knew it had to be a girl that was visiting. There were a few of those Kurogane knew could show up as a "visitor" for him, all of which were annoying. Some were worse than others too. He could probably handle if Sohma showed up, and maybe Amaterasu, but when it came to Tomoyo-hime... she was already hard to handle normally, no matter what world she came from. The Piffle version had been pretty much the same, just raised differently. If he saw her, even a fake her, she would probably be just the same and he'd have to at put up with it no matter what.

Eventually he chose to take a seat, knowing that he would not be leaving any time soon. Of course, he picked the one that was furthest into the corner to avoid unwanted conversations. He would already have to deal with a visitor; he shouldn't have to deal with anything more.

It'd been nice to talk with Subaru, if only to see that the young man was faring a little better than before.  He seemed to have the worst luck and unfortunately, there wasn't always someone there to protect those that needed it the most.  As he passed the Sun Room, there was still no sign of a post from Ururu either.  Things didn't look promising.  But the nurse didn't stop there, she led him out and into the waiting room, empty now, but she promised his visitor would be along shortly. 

He thanked her and nodded, taking the seat provided and folding his hands quietly in his lap.  Would today be the day that he would get to leave this place with Ashura?  He'd done everything he could.  Followed the nurse's and doctor's orders, taken his medicine, even though it was causing havoc with his magic and his health, he'd tried to keep from causing any major fusses.  Would that be enough?  If he didn't get out soon, well... he didn't want to think about what might happen.

So he continued to sit, looking up anxiously every time the door opened, wringing his hands in his lap.  There was a mixed feeling of dread and happiness that seemed to be at war within him.  It would be a relief to see him again, but at what cost?  How long could he keep trying to balance two different lives?

Well, today was certainly turning out to be... interesting. A few things seemed to be going as planned, for once! Soon, he might not have to deal with so many actual meatbags quite so often! It made his personality core very nearly glow with excitement.

And the latest comms message was intriguing. So, he was going to be meeting a 'graduate' of this wretched place? This all confirmed the theory he'd had within his first minutes trapped within this facility: brainwashing was one of the goals of this place.

Well, whoever he was supposed to meet, he would make sure they'd leave trailing shattered pieces of their composure and sanity! HK settled down in one of the chairs in the lobby to wait expectantly.

It would have been impossible not to see this coming, but after the night he'd had and seeing Euphy in the cafeteria-- hadn't the past twenty-four hours been enough? He couldn't do this anymore, not after seeing her walking around as if nothing had happened and knowing that Suzaku was going through a similar ordeal. His knight-- no, former knight now-- had been so transformed by her death, and having to behave now as if none of that had occurred had to be-- but it was out of Lelouch's hands now. Both of them were, and although he would have liked nothing more than to speak to her again or tell Suzaku why he couldn't tell him what had happened, he couldn't do that to either of them. It would be easier for them this way.

For him, however, the torment was just beginning. There was a wide variety of people the institute staff could have chosen from that would have a deep impact on him, but when the most obvious choice would have the worst-- he couldn't do this! He had spent almost all of his time here carefully shutting out thoughts of Nunnally after Suzaku had told him what would happen to her, but if he had to come face to face with her-- the walls were already beginning to crumble, and if it hadn't been for the fact that he knew his nurse would have grabbed and probably sedated him the instant he tried to bolt, he would have done so immediately.

As things were, he allowed himself to be led placidly through the Sun Room and the main hall, eyes downcast and shoulders beginning to quake ever so slightly with barely contained emotion. Nunnally-- he hadn't had a conversation with her-- a real conversation, not something rushed over the phone that hid more from her than he ever wanted and not something filled with lies and false reassurances, but a real conversation where he could ask how her day had been and lightly cradle her hand in his as she excitedly told him about the latest tidbit Sayoko had told her about Japanese culture or expressed worry about something in class she hadn't fully understood or sweetly smiled at him as she--

Lelouch shut his eyes tightly, barely hearing the nurse as she left him in the lobby to find a seat and somehow keep himself preoccupied while he waited and tried his hardest not to remember what the rest of his conversation with Suzaku had held that night. If he did...

Slowly, he began to walk over to one of the chairs, all but collapsing into it once he'd reached it and sagging forwards so that his elbows rested on his knees and only barely kept him seated upright. He didn't know how much more he could take, and if his visitor was Nunnally, then-- then what? He wasn't sure. And Nunnally-- what was he supposed to tell her? What could he even say? How could anyone expect him to talk to her now as if everything was normal when he had to-- when there was no way he could--

He stared down at the floor and waited, face blank. He would just have to get through this somehow, and after that-- he would deal with that later. He had to.

Okita hadn't been expecting it when his nurse suddenly appeared in the Game Room. He'd expected to be left alone like last week, but instead she gently took him by the arm and told him he needed to say goodbye to Kaden for now. Okita assumed it was time for his visitor and waved goodbye to him, only to be led off himself. The swordsman had followed obediently into the Sun Room, but when he tried to go off to another room, she stopped him. "Not today, Julian."

Not today? Something about his nurse's demeanor seemed off, almost as if she were worried about something. It wasn't until she led him out of the Sun Room that he understood what was going on. He had a visitor. There were only so many people that would come to visit him in a place like this. His sisters, Tetsu, Kondou or... Okita didn't want to think about the last option.

Taking a step into the waiting room, he stopped at the door and turned to look at his nurse. "Are you sure you're not mistaken?" he asked, feeling actual fear for the first time in a long while. If this wasn't some strange punishment/joke for behaving poorly in the chapel, he didn't know what to do. Badou's graffiti was still on his hand and he quickly slipped that hand into his pocket. He could feel the pen there, clipped to the inside of his waistband. The nurse shook her head and moved to the side of the room, keeping a close watch on him as he stayed by the door, trying to hide his anxiety by feigning interest in the strange magazines on a table nearby.

Oh yeah. This was bad. Grabbing a chair and ignoring the woman who had brought him in, Takaya crossed his arms and glared at the wall. He wasn't going to participate in this bullshit. Being told he had 'company' and that he should he happy about it had ruined what was otherwise an okay day.

The nurse had called it one of his "good days" and had gone on to inform him that, maybe if he had more "good days", he would be allowed more privileges.

He'd informed her on his opinions regarding such an idea. She'd told him to watch his language.

Besides, who the fuck would visit him? Who would they get to fuck with him now? Shit... if his sister walked through those doors, he didn't think he could face her at all. Not like this.

Bidding farewell to his brunchmates, Zelnick headed into the sunroom, pausing to consider which of the other rooms to spend his time in--

-- only to find his arm caught by a nurse. "Come on, Caleb, time to see your visitor!"

He couldn't have heard that right. "Visitor?" he echoed, and she nodded, guiding through the sun room.

"Yes, visitor. Come on, you don't want to keep her waiting, do you?" The nurse took him into an unfamiliar room, settling him into a chair, and left him to wait.

Celes had actually relaxed enough, speaking to Naminé during lunch, to allow herself a small smile. It thinned into a line, of course when her nurse materialized from nowhere and swept her off, giggling over her 'surprise.'

"Oh won't it be nice?" she chirped as they walked into the waiting room. "You'll be so happy, I am absolutely sure of it." Celes's small smile thinned itself into a line and she was plunked into a chair to await her visitor. Perhaps I shall be lucky, she thought, looking at some ridiculous motivational poster. It won't be anyone I know, not really. Her nurse wandered away and Celes folded her hands on the table, the picture of impatient waiting.

Yuuhi was probably one of the few people to arrive in the waiting room who wasn't surprised to have a visitor.  It had to happen sooner or later, they always found one another in whatever new world they arrived in.  Sometimes it took longer than others, minutes, hours, weeks, even months, but it was almost inevitable (Hitsuzen as Yuuko-han might say...) that they would find one another all over again. 

So who would it be?  The monsters only came out at night, so it wouldn't be the same creature... thing like before, would it?  The people leaving the waiting room weren't bleeding anywhere, so maybe they really were real live visitors.  Maybe it would be Syaoran or Sakura, come with a sneaky escape plan.  Maybe while he'd been sitting around here, they'd gotten everything figured out!  Then again, he thought with a smile, maybe they expected him to have something like that prepared.  Either way, he'd be relieved to see them. 

After all, it wasn't like anyone outside of that small circle of friends would know he was here.  So who else would it be?  With any luck, perhaps they'd found Mokona by now too.  Then that would just leave the matter of the feathers to be resolved.  If there were any here in the first place.

The nurse pulled him along and left him in an empty chair.  He folded his hands in his lap and waited, a relaxed smile on his lips.

As always, Rukia felt a chill of apprehension when the Head Doctor announced that new patients would be arriving. Would it be anyone else she knew? What if Ichigo was back...?

Before she could linger on those thoughts for too long, though, the nurse who had brought her to the showers looked up something on her chart and said, "Shiori, it looks like you've got a visitor this shift!" The woman smiled brightly. "Aren't you excited!?"

Rukia paled at the announcement. Who could possibly be visiting her? Captain Ukitake's face flashed in her mind. No. Don't think about it. It won't be the real person, anyway.

Trying not to look like a cornered animal, Rukia ran a hand through her damp hair and put on a fake smile. "Oh, uh, th-that's nice," she mumbled as the nurse showed her to the visiting room. Rukia took a seat, hands folded in her lap, and focused intently on the floor by her feet. She didn't want to deal with more of Martin Landel's sick jokes.