Day 54: Sun Room
[From here. All your top posts shall be mine.]Peter entered the Sun Room with a dour expression. Goody, he was the first one here. Fancy that. Pick of the couches was his then. Eeeny meeny miney...moe. Peter stalked over to what he knew from experience was the fluffiest couch in the room and eased himself into its downy soft embrace. Ordinarily he
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Poor bastards.
She had gotten off with a light sentence. A simple sedation and then she had been free to wait in the Sun Room until breakfast was over. The eva pilot declined her nurse's invitation to garden, saying that she was just too woozy for manual labor at the moment. The woman relented, but gave her one last skeptical look before freeing the redhead from her constant scrutiny.
She checked the bulletin board first, but nothing useful had been posted. Entertaining, yes. But nothing that she could involve herself in, so she decided to find a seat before they were all taken. Most of the patients that came in from outside were strangers to her, except for one tall man that she immediately recognized. Asuka hadn't talked with him in awhile, and perhaps Mr. Gant had some good information to share. Unfortunately, she had none to report, but that wasn't her fault! She kept getting distracted and--it simply wasn't her fault.
She watched as he took a seat on one of the plush couches and then followed after. Standing behind back of the couch, the eva pilot put on a smile despite the apathy she felt from the sedative and leaned over to catch the older man's attention.
"Ha~ll--Oh no--" Asuka could see the irritation immediately in Gant's red eyes. "Did you get stuck in the gas?"
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What had she asked again? Oh, right. "No, no!" He forced a smile, though it was rather weak compared to his usual cheery grin. Damn drugs. "I'm one of the 'lucky' ones who only managed to get sedated. No worries on that account." Though now that he thought about it, his eyes had started to smart a bit before he had been escorted to the rec field. He must have caught some of the fumes that had escaped from the cafeteria. That, or his rage had taken over not only his thoughts but his features, too. He really had to cool it. He was going to lose his good impression with another potential ally at this rate.
"Er, you didn't happen to fall prey to that yourself, did you, Miss Asuka?" She seemed a little too cheerful to be recovering from anything like that, but no harm in asking out of politeness! "I would hate to hear a young lady such as yourself was subject to such a cruel punishment! Really, what could the Head Lunatic have been thinking?"
Oooh, he'd have to thank Manny for that little nickname! It really suited him in times like this. And to think! Gant had once thought ol' Manfred von Karma had no sense of humor!
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Come on, Asuka! Get it together!
The smile inevitably faded once she had sat down beside Mr. Gant, but the second child fixed that. It fell back in place, bright as always, but it was rather hard to keep, actually. All she wanted to do was lay back into the couch and veg like she had never vegged before. But that was just what they wanted, so Asuka refused to play into their hand, of course! She would be upbeat and chipper. She would show the dregs of the institute that shuffled like slugs through the Sun Room how to be defiant.
"Sounds like Landel isn't playing around anymore..." But as to why the sudden change, Asuka had no clue. He had seemed happy enough to pretend, and, for all she knew, the patients had been behaving as they always had. What could have triggered such a change in mood? Her only hypothesis was that Marc may have been getting too close for comfort. However, his influence and resources paled in comparison to Landel's, so what would the head doctor have to be afraid of?
It was just too unclear right now. The sedative didn't help either.
"Unfortunately--" Asuka began slowly, having difficulty being able to articulate every syllable. "--I was sedated too." She looked up at the older man and shrugged, more irritated by the fact her nurse had the gall to think she could corral her than the side effects of the tranquilizer. "I have to say, though, it's a refreshing change of scenery." Even if the new additions threw tear gas, but Asuka hadn't gotten caught in that so she had no reason to really fear them. She wasn't stupid enough to attack staff, and they weren't going to punish her for sitting on the sidelines.
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The nurse had insisted on escorting him the entire way to the Sun Room in silence. It was a slow walk, but at least he started to feel a little better on the way. His throat and nose hadn't stopped burning and his eyes still stung badly, but it didn't feel so hard to breath now.
When they finally arrived at the Sun Room, the nurse didn't go away. She seemed content to hover nearby as Izaya stopped at the bulletin board-a wasted effort, really; he'd only glanced over two or three notes before resolving that reading would have to wait. She followed as he headed away from the board, too, and only scurried off once he'd finally sunk into the first chair that looked promising, across from an old man with a young girl next to him.
The thought that maybe he was interrupting something occurred to him, but he brushed it off. The pair could keep talking just as easily with added company as without. For good measure, however, Izaya gave a half-hearted smile; he could at least try to look friendly instead of like the mess that he felt.
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No no! Can't let himself seem too down either! "I wouldn't say refreshing, but I like to see this had even Landel on his toes." The military officers here were certainly an odd accessory to add to a mental hospital. It started to make him wonder if Landel really was the person he wanted to meet up with, or if there was someone else higher up. Hmm...
"Anyway, been busy lately Miss Asuka? Found out anything--" And then a stranger sat at a chair in rather close proximity of them, killing the tail end of Gant's question. Dammit, there wasn't any privacy anywhere. Well, maybe he couldn't blame the man. He looked pretty wrecked and probably just needed to find an empty seat.
Gant cleared his throat and offered a small wave. "Ehe, hey there." He really wasn't in the mood to be social. If little Asuka wasn't here, he wouldn't have even tried.
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The redhead stood up a little straighter, smoothing a few wrinkles out of her pants. She looked at Mr. Gant from the corner of her eyes, who was giving in to the man's sudden appearance. Asuka supposed she would to since nothing of a serious nature would be discussed further.
"And you are?" The eva pilot asked with a bit more frost than necessary. It was hard enough smiling for the older man, Asuka didn't have it in her to pretend for a total stranger who would probably give her nothing useful in the long run.
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Izaya opened his mouth to answer the girl's question, but didn't get any further than "Oriha" before he had to cough. He cleared his throat and tried again, "Orihara Izaya. I hope I wasn't interrupting anything."
Despite his words, he actually hoped the opposite, just to find out whether they would be accommodating or confrontational or something in between since he'd brought it up. To add another variable, he continued, "I just needed to sit for a while..."
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"Chief of Police, Damon Gant. L.A.P.D." He responded cheerfully as possible in his condition. "Nice to meet you there, Mister Izaya." Yeah, that wouldn't do. He'd have to have a nickname. Izzy didn't seem to suit him, so maybe something from the other half of his name. Orihara. Harry? Nah. Ori? Too obvious.
Oreo. Yes. Oreo would do nicely for this one.
But seriously, Gant didn't think sharing a little information would be too much to ask. Who knew? Maybe this man would be more helpful than Asuka in the long run, but first he just had to test the waters. "We were actually just about to swap some information about this place. Would you like to contribute?"
He couldn't imagine why the man would refuse, unless he happened to be the mistrusting type like Baddo. But if this man was smart, and Asuka didn't plan to drive him away, then he would join them. The key to survival in this place was information. Keeping one secret may give one a monopoly over one area here, but without trading that information for something else one risked walking blindly into danger. It might have made a fun mystery game if it didn't involve actual danger and potential death.
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So, as promised, Asuka lightened up and untucked her arms from around her chest. She was too tired to attempt a smile, but she doubted either of them expected one. Scooting forward on the couch to get closer to the little pow wow they had going on, the second child introduced herself as well. "I'm Asuka Langley Soryu!" She was about to ask where and when this man came from in Japan, but she would wait. She didn't want to be the one who looked insane. Asuka would bide her time and hope that the information revealed itself naturally.
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Izaya's mind instantly latched onto the word, though he didn't give any outward sign of his interest. Information was something he unfortunately lacked since he'd found himself here, but it was something he needed to work on. He wasn't going to turn down an offer to participate in an exchange, even if he had very little to bring to the table.
"I can try to contribute," Izaya said, looking at the girl-Asuka, she said?-and then at the Chief of Police. He gave the man another small smile, fighting past how terrible he felt. Appearances were important. "Unfortunately I'm rather... new, but I've picked up on a few things so far. Information seems pretty vital for survival around here, after all."
He hoped that would be enough promise to keep him in the game, but he could always keep these two in mind for later on if it wasn't. It really all depended on how much their information was worth.
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