Day 57: Intercom, Evening

[damned_intercom]

Varying opinions aside about the new caretakers, the efficiency of the military was worthy of some admiration. The Great Escape ended with minutes to spare, and the staff wasted no time in dismantling the equipment in the Sun Room. Visitors were kindly informed that visiting hours were over while patients were ushered to their rooms

Comments

Re: F15

[thecamellia]

Tsubaki had mixed feelings about the day. Where efforts to dig deeper into the hospital were concerned, not much had been accomplished other than adding questions to her already overflowing pile, and she hadn’t had much luck contacting her friends, either. But seeing her parents again…

Despite the nervousness that came with talk of Masamune, there was a comfort in seeing them. Talking to them, sitting with them… the normal things she was used to. There were moments when she didn’t feel like she had to pretend with them. Long moments, actually. Tsubaki was grateful for the resonance visits had with the time she spent with her family under normal circumstances. It was a calming resemblance. Having a military jump in and talk about them in terms of pass/fail complicated the issue of who Miyu and the other alternate identities might be in this world, but she hoped that when it was all over (because this system certainly couldn’t carry on like this), it worked out for everyone. It was an outcome she really wanted to see.

At the moment, resolution felt pretty far away, but for now there wasn’t much to do but follow her soldier back to her room for dinner. It’d been a surprise to find out that both Kurogane and Fai had known about Sakura, but now that the girl had been “released” there was a chance someone else was going to be moved into F15 in her stead. That would make four roommates in just over three weeks. Almost a roommate every six days.

She tried to prepare herself for whatever might come her way, but as they entered the corridor, at once she could hear someone beating on a door--and before she was even in reach of it, she could definitely tell it was coming from F15. Uneasily, she shot a glance at her escort to gauge the woman’s reaction, but the soldier looked unmoved and merely nodded Tsubaki forward. After unlocking the door, the woman moved behind Tsubaki to “encourage” her inside--and likely to block the other girl from getting out, at that.

“If you don’t be quiet, there will be consequences,” the soldier said to the blonde. “This will be your new roommate. Now go on and eat your dinner.” This last part Tsubaki thought was addressed mostly to her, since when she looked over her shoulder, the woman gave her a nod and started to close the door without further ado.

“Oh--” Tsubaki had to jump aside before the door was sealed on top of her.

Rank business again? Was the other girl being treated more coldly because she was newer?

Re: F15

[hairraising]

Rapunzel was quiet when warned, but that didn't mean her demeanour had improved much. She glowered at the soldier-nurse (nurse-soldier?), arms stuffed petulantly across her chest. At this point, she could only assume that Lenalee had been "released", whatever that entailed. That just wasn't fair, to Lenalee or to Rapunzel. The two of them had barely gotten to get to know one another that first night, and after that, Lenalee had just been asleep during the nights. Was that a condition brought on by the Institute? If it was, Rapunzel would be all the more incensed.

"Sorry," said the angry blonde after a few moments, still panting in the wake of her protests. She felt a little bad for being snippy with her new roommate, but the emotional high was hard to come down from. "I just was so not expecting that at all. And last shift was really bizarre and kind of hard to deal with as it was, so...! Yeah. Disappearing roommate? New room? Not helping much," she explained, dropping her arms and balling her hands into fists as she tromped back over to the bed.

She plunked her butt down onto the mattress with a dull "thwump" and blew a sharp puff of air past her lips. After a few moments of stewing, she finally added: "I'm Rapunzel, by the way. Again, sorry for the mood. I'm not usually like this, really."

Re: F15

[thecamellia]

The lock clicked into place, leaving them alone. "Is there anything I can do…?" Just like with the regular staff, fighting with the soldiers didn't serve a good purpose, but the other girl was still obviously holding back. There was a lot about Landel's Institute to be angry with. Tsubaki just shook her head at the apology. "You don’t have to apologize. I’m sorry about the suddenness of everything. I wasn’t moved into this room that long ago, either…" she explained. "I’m also not sure where my roommate went."

Room changes could come out of the blue; it wasn’t like Tsubaki couldn’t understand the shock of it. She couldn't fault the girl for anything. It almost sounded like she might have had a visitor at the same time as Tsubaki, too, which wasn’t… any better, really.

After Rapunzel had sat down, Tsubaki followed suit so that they were facing each other. Given that she was a stranger, she didn’t want to interrupt until the other girl was ready, but she also couldn’t just ignore her.

When the girl gave her name, it struck Tsubaki as incredibly familiar. Rapunzel. Was that…? "Oh, no, it’s really okay. I understand." She paused there before venturing, "Um, would you happen to be the same Rapunzel taking an assignment from the Arts and Crafts Club, though?"

[hairraising]

Even more reason why Rapunzel felt guilty for snapping. She should have guessed that the other girl would be upset about a change in roommates too, and maybe a possible move, too. She let her bottom sink into the mattress a bit, unclenching her fists, but leaving her fingers still balled up somewhat at her sides.. The mattress wasn't the softest in the world, but it was soft enough to help her calm down, even just a little.

Then Tsubaki sat down, and asked Rapunzel a question. She blinked, looking up from her lap. "Uh, yeah. Why do you ask?" It took a second more for it to click in her mind. "Oh wait! Are you Tesuba- Tuhsubackee...? Thss-" She shook her head. "The other person with me and Soma tonight?"

[thecamellia]

Tsubaki didn’t know who Lenalee was, but when you were spending the mornings and sunsets with each other every day, it was hard not to make friends and worry about the other person, wasn’t it? She felt badly that Rapunzel had to lose a roommate right after having a visitor shift. It hadn’t seemed like the soldiers had been willing to answer many of her questions.

"She could still be in the building, just in another room. Your roommate, I mean. Why not try asking tomorrow morning on the bulletin?" As for the rest, Tsubaki would’ve liked to offer more console if she could’ve and help Rapunzel work off her "mood," but there was probably enough going through Rapunzel’s head already. "If I can do anything, just let me know."

It was a pretty big coincidence that this Rapunzel happened to be the Arts and Crafts’ Rapunzel, considering that they were scheduled to work together for the first time. 'Coincidence' might not have been the best word for it, though. It was still a weird case of serendipity. Sora’s list of assignments had to have come out after roommates had already been decided by whoever was in charge of them, right?

Rapunzel had already jumped to a similar conclusion, and Tsubaki gave a pleasant smile as the other girl tried to work out the phonetics of her first name. "Tsubaki," she helped. "I am. Who would’ve guessed we’d end up sharing a room. It’s nice to meet you, even if it’s not during the best circumstances."

[hairraising]

Tsubaki had a good point about Lenalee maybe being in another room, and nodded that she would ask about her on the bulletin the next day. The other girl's attitude in general was helping Rapunzel to calm down more, too, thank goodness. She had a feeling that she and Tsubaki were going to get along fine tonight - and hopefully in the days to come, too, if the Institute let them.

She couldn't wait to introduce Tsubaki to Soma once they moved out, Rapunzel thought as the two of them sat down to eat. At the rate things were going, Rapunzel figured she would have a really solid, interconnected circle of friends in the Institute very soon. Already, she had about a million times more friends than she had ever had in her tower (unless she counted Pascal for a million, which, to be fair, she often did), and she couldn't see any downside to making even more of them. The more friends she had on her side, the more force she would have on her side to help her break Eugene out of whatever spell the Institute had on him.

The girls didn't get to talk for much longer, however. "By the way, there's something I have to tell you about before tonight! It's a little freaky, so I just want to warn you before it happens," said Rapunzel between reluctant bites of gruel, not noticing the footsteps drawing nearer in the hallway. "I have this gift. I don't know what kind of gifts you have, but mine is in my hair. At the beginning of night, it kind of-"

They didn't even knock before entering.