The dinner announcement came as something utterly unexpected. Rather than Harrington's excited tones, the calm accented voice of the General drifted through the intercom speakers
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Re: F15: The Room Where Cuteness Knows No BoundshairraisingSeptember 6 2011, 08:49:43 UTC
Rapunzel watched eagerly as Tsubaki made her way over to the bed, and savoured every single change in the other girl's expression, every little movement she made. She followed Tsubaki's fingers as they traced the grass and moon, and felt her cheeks glow more red from smiling with every passing moment.
She likes it! She likes iiiiit!
Rapunzel gave a mental cheer, lightly balling her hand and pulling it down in what more modern types would have called a "boo yah" motion.
"Of course you deserve it! For everything last night, you deserve a lot more than that," said Rapunzel, positively beaming. Then she laughed, noting that Tsubaki was avoiding the "dreams" question for now. Tsubaki had to know that Rapunzel was going to keep poking at her about this now. For now, at least, Rapunzel decided to let it be, but she made a mental note to come back to the subject for sure later on. "See, look! You're even helping people during the daytime. It's totally overwhelming to be new here - heck, I'm still pretty 'new' myself. So it's great that you'd offer that kind of help to someone!"
It would have been an effort not to appreciate Rapunzel's effort, but then Rapunzel herself had admitted she had spent most of her life sheltered in a tower. How many people could she have been able to share her hobbies with during that time? The blonde's laser-like focus probably had something to do with that, but underneath her smile Tsubaki was the tiniest bit bemused by the impact her approval had.
Who wouldn't have liked such a sweet picture? She couldn't think why someone would say bad things and cast a shadow over Rapunzel's gesture.
"At any rate, it really is lovely. We look so animated," she said before the other girl's high praises put her on the spot.
She made Tsubaki sound a lot more incredible than she was. To be honest, Tsubaki would have bet someone more experienced would have suspected some kind of trap like a landmine and been able to avoid it...
With a self-conscious blush, she stuck her tongue out. "Trying to help other people settle in doesn't require special training," she denied. "It's the least any person would do. But I've been here... oh, over three weeks now... so if that can make a difference, I'm glad. Actually, I haven't thanked you properly yet, either, for healing me. If not for you I wouldn't be doing a lot of this for a while," she added, turning the picture around to face Rapunzel.
Still riding on the high of Tsubaki's compliments, Rapunzel answered the other girl's thanks with a bit of a blush, but no less of a smile: "Well, you have your way of helping, and I have mine, right?" She laughed, adding, "I'd be a pretty horrible friend if I'd just left you there."
And then a moment later, the figure of "three weeks" finally sunk in, and Rapunzel's eyes widened. "Wait, you've been here that long? Oh my gosh, I can't even imagine- Wow, that can't have been the only bad thing to have happened to you in all that time, then..." said the princess, her expression finally falling somewhat. As soon as she caught herself, however, she shook her head and nudged herself back into optimism. "But I guess that also means you're a really strong person if you can still be smiling and helping people after all that time. The patients here are lucky to have someone like you around." And so am I.
After a little while, Rapunzel (finally) finished with her dinner (somehow, ugh). With that out of the way, she got up and headed for her possessions box. "Oh hey, I should probably ask: what are we going to do about you-know-what?" she asked, making a faint circular motion with her pointer finger in the air, about the size of a disc. "I can't really do anything about that tonight; I'm helping someone get supplies. But maybe tomorrow we can..."
Rapunzel faltered as she opened up her metal box, a glint of gleaming metal catching her eye. "...work something out."
She had only been expecting to pull the box open and retrieve her dress and frying pan as usual. Tonight, however, something new sat on top of both. "Huh? Why is...?" Rapunzel gingerly lifted the item out of the box with both hands, looking it over with semi-disbelieving eyes. It was a silver dagger, not that unlike the one Mother Gothel sometimes took with her on long trips. The one she had used on...
Now Rapunzel's expression really was starting to fall.
"It worked out and that's all that matters," replied Tsubaki, nodding. For working together for the first time, they'd pulled through with no lasting casualties, and considering the odds, that was a huge success! Rapunzel didn't just have skills in healing and the arts, though--she was also a pretty observant person. She knew what having been around for three weeks probably meant. Letting out a small laugh, Tsubaki waved off the sombre tones surrounding the subject of her stay. "Everyone has to try and be a strong person in their own way. It helps knowing there are so many people you can rely on here. No one's really alone--that's a big source of strength. Things like the art you posted to the bulletin, that puts people at ease, seeing others still enjoying themselves."
Rapunzel might not have consciously recognized it about herself, but Tsubaki wasn't the only one who could exert a good influence on people. The other girl was sure to offer a lot of support just by being herself. Though hopefully it wouldn't require her to be stuck at the Institute for as long of a time.
Tsubaki was still deciding whether she should leave her painting out in the open or try to store it away in her storage box when Rapunzel spoke again. Right, the disc. She'd wanted to bring that up with Rapunzel, too, though Rapunzel already knew better than to talk about it in the open. But even pantomiming about was a bit...
She had been reaching for her pen and journal, and turned around with them in her hands as Rapunzel suddenly broke off.
For a moment, Rapunzel was tempted to hide the dagger from Tsubaki. Even after the night they'd shared, she wasn't sure the feelings called up by the dagger's familiar shape were ones she wanted to talk about with her roommate (or anyone else) right then. It was too late to put the weapon away once Tsubaki looked up, however. And besides, Rapunzel told herself, Tsubaki seemed like a good person to have as a friend; she could trust her, she thought, even as her stomach looped up in knots.
"This was in my box just now," Rapunzel explained after her hesitation, lifting the dagger to an angle Tsubaki could better see it from. "I've never seen this particular one before, but it really looks a lot like..." She ran her teeth over her bottom lip, then sighed softly. "It looks a lot like one my Mother has."
There was a beat, then Rapunzel corrected herself, unable to help the dull bite in her tone as she set the dagger down on the desk: "Had."
She shook her head. Her messed-up past wasn't the important part of this, she was sure. "Is there something in your box too?" she asked, indicating the metal box on Tsubaki's desk. "If there is, maybe it's something they gave us for 'helping' last night."
It obviously meant something, the weapon, but just what Tsubaki couldn't say. The way Rapunzel looked at it didn't point to a simple bout of homesickness or sadness, even though when somebody used the past tense like Rapunzel did, it wasn't usually in a pleasant sense. Asking just what she meant by "had" likely wouldn't summon the most pleasant of memories, at that.
She blinked, watching the other girl's face, before absently turning to face her own box. It wasn't her place to comment on a matter that had come about because of a reluctant surprise.
"Let's see..." Putting her journal down, she lifted the lid. "When new things show up in the rooms, it has to be because they put them there..." There was indeed something mixed in with Tsubaki's things that hadn't been there before--a box of some unknown substance. She picked it up and shook it. Unlike the dagger, it wasn't something that pinged a personal memory for her. In fact, what was it? She had the idea to sniff the contents, but as she read over the small label, she realized what it was.
Oh. Poison for some kind of vermin, it looked like.
If it was a reward for a successful mission, rat poison was a bit…
“This wasn’t there before,” she said for Rapunzel’s benefit, stopping herself before she wrinkled her nose. “It’s a box of, um, poison.”
"Huh..." Whatever kind of poison it was, it didn't seem to hold the kind of significance for Tsubaki that the dagger held for Rapunzel. That was strange. Were they just random rewards that the military had pulled out of a junk drawer, then? She wouldn't have been surprised.
Probably better to get their minds back on more important things, she thought. "Who knows? Maybe it'll come in handy sometime, like tomorrow night. We could go out together and... take care of that thing we have to take care of," said Rapunzel, subtly nodding her head toward her bed, where the stolen disc hid sandwiched between mattress and box spring.
"Think there's anything we can do about that?" she asked, pulling her dress and frying pan out of her box and leaving the dagger where it was for the moment.
"Huh" was a good way to put it. Tsubaki wasn't opposed to using poisons on people if the circumstances called for it, if the vermin poison was indeed the reward for making it through the mission, it was a morbid gift for an already morbid system of forcing people into dangerous labour.
She didn't know what to do with the box, either, and settled for putting back inside her storage container along with Rapunzel's painting. They would be relatively safe inside there. The poision just wasn't something she was ready to try and take out of the room with her. She wondered if Rapunzel was going to leave the dagger behind, too; it obviously hadn't invoked good feelings.
Tsubaki looked over as Rapunzel brought up their plans and straightened up. Right, the other item they were storing in their room. "Yeah... hey, before we worry about that, maybe you could give me an opinion on something else I'm working on. You have an eye for art." Shielding her journal from view, she scribbled out a quick message and moved closer to show it to Rapunzel, who had taken out a long, pink dress from her box in the time that Tsubaki had had her back turned. Was that also a... frying pan?
On the page read:
Let's keep being careful about what we say and do over that. They have ways of watching us, and probably listening, too. I have an idea for when things die down, but I think we should keep it with us as much as possible so there's less chance of it being found.
There were only so many angles a camera could get of a room, and Tsubaki positioned herself and the journal to block as many as she could think of within reason. Avoiding the Institute's invisible eyes and ears was likely a futile cause, but the only other option was to become paranoid of all forms of communication, and that was... well, that was kind of impossible given the situation.
To keep the flow of conversation natural, she added, "Um, how come you have a frying pan?"
"Oh?" Rapunzel was confused. What did wanting an opinion on art have to do with the disc? It wasn't until Rapunzel carried her things over to Tsubaki and her journal that she realized what her friend was doing. Ohhhh. Duhh. She shouldn't have been surprised. She had been half-doing the same thing herself, if only out of vague paranoia. Now that she knew that yes, the Institute did have ways of watching and listening, she knew that she had to be extra careful to keep up that kind of talk.
"Looks good to me! I think you should keep it up," she answered, eyes shifting back and forth for a moment over the paper to make it look as though she were appraising it.
And then the conversation turned to her choice of weaponry. "Oh, this?" She had to grin a bit, thinking back to Eugene and his "daring" duel with Maximus. "Only one of the most underrated weapons in history," she answered, striking a "Flynn Rider"-like pose with the pan in hand. The movement just happened to create a curtain of hair hanging off her outstretched arm, which just happened to provide Tsubaki with an opportunity to either add to the note or slip it away, whatever she wanted to do next with it.
Not the most covert operation in history, but unless all eyes were rooted on their cell and what they were doing in it, the message would do the trick. Realistically, it was likely they were being watched extra closely because of the mission, but the entire day had passed without so much as an out of place look from the soldiers. Tsubaki thought there was no immediate reprisal in store, at least.
“Thanks. I’m glad for the input,” she said, folding the paper closed with one hand. Even if Rapunzel didn’t have firsthand experience with the security cameras like Tsubaki did, the other girl had an idea now. Time and secrecy would let the heat surrounding their theft die down a little, if nothing else.
Rapunzel was clever, though! Watching her display her “weapon,” Tsubaki almost missed what the blonde was up to until there was already a veil of hair shielding their secondary exchange. For someone who had spent so much of her life in isolation, Rapunzel wasn’t somebody to be underestimated under pressure! Not wanting to push their luck too much more, Tsubaki just used the opportunity to give a concealed thumbs up, and slip it into her clothing with a little sleight of hand of her own. She gave a small laugh where the posing was concerned. “Is that so? I’ve never tried. It’s useful for you?”
A frying pan was kind of a blunt force weapon, she supposed. Enough to distract an enemy and get away quickly.
She likes it! She likes iiiiit!
Rapunzel gave a mental cheer, lightly balling her hand and pulling it down in what more modern types would have called a "boo yah" motion.
"Of course you deserve it! For everything last night, you deserve a lot more than that," said Rapunzel, positively beaming. Then she laughed, noting that Tsubaki was avoiding the "dreams" question for now. Tsubaki had to know that Rapunzel was going to keep poking at her about this now. For now, at least, Rapunzel decided to let it be, but she made a mental note to come back to the subject for sure later on. "See, look! You're even helping people during the daytime. It's totally overwhelming to be new here - heck, I'm still pretty 'new' myself. So it's great that you'd offer that kind of help to someone!"
Reply
Who wouldn't have liked such a sweet picture? She couldn't think why someone would say bad things and cast a shadow over Rapunzel's gesture.
"At any rate, it really is lovely. We look so animated," she said before the other girl's high praises put her on the spot.
She made Tsubaki sound a lot more incredible than she was. To be honest, Tsubaki would have bet someone more experienced would have suspected some kind of trap like a landmine and been able to avoid it...
With a self-conscious blush, she stuck her tongue out. "Trying to help other people settle in doesn't require special training," she denied. "It's the least any person would do. But I've been here... oh, over three weeks now... so if that can make a difference, I'm glad. Actually, I haven't thanked you properly yet, either, for healing me. If not for you I wouldn't be doing a lot of this for a while," she added, turning the picture around to face Rapunzel.
Reply
And then a moment later, the figure of "three weeks" finally sunk in, and Rapunzel's eyes widened. "Wait, you've been here that long? Oh my gosh, I can't even imagine- Wow, that can't have been the only bad thing to have happened to you in all that time, then..." said the princess, her expression finally falling somewhat. As soon as she caught herself, however, she shook her head and nudged herself back into optimism. "But I guess that also means you're a really strong person if you can still be smiling and helping people after all that time. The patients here are lucky to have someone like you around." And so am I.
After a little while, Rapunzel (finally) finished with her dinner (somehow, ugh). With that out of the way, she got up and headed for her possessions box. "Oh hey, I should probably ask: what are we going to do about you-know-what?" she asked, making a faint circular motion with her pointer finger in the air, about the size of a disc. "I can't really do anything about that tonight; I'm helping someone get supplies. But maybe tomorrow we can..."
Rapunzel faltered as she opened up her metal box, a glint of gleaming metal catching her eye. "...work something out."
She had only been expecting to pull the box open and retrieve her dress and frying pan as usual. Tonight, however, something new sat on top of both. "Huh? Why is...?" Rapunzel gingerly lifted the item out of the box with both hands, looking it over with semi-disbelieving eyes. It was a silver dagger, not that unlike the one Mother Gothel sometimes took with her on long trips. The one she had used on...
Now Rapunzel's expression really was starting to fall.
Reply
Rapunzel might not have consciously recognized it about herself, but Tsubaki wasn't the only one who could exert a good influence on people. The other girl was sure to offer a lot of support just by being herself. Though hopefully it wouldn't require her to be stuck at the Institute for as long of a time.
Tsubaki was still deciding whether she should leave her painting out in the open or try to store it away in her storage box when Rapunzel spoke again. Right, the disc. She'd wanted to bring that up with Rapunzel, too, though Rapunzel already knew better than to talk about it in the open. But even pantomiming about was a bit...
She had been reaching for her pen and journal, and turned around with them in her hands as Rapunzel suddenly broke off.
"What is it?"
Reply
"This was in my box just now," Rapunzel explained after her hesitation, lifting the dagger to an angle Tsubaki could better see it from. "I've never seen this particular one before, but it really looks a lot like..." She ran her teeth over her bottom lip, then sighed softly. "It looks a lot like one my Mother has."
There was a beat, then Rapunzel corrected herself, unable to help the dull bite in her tone as she set the dagger down on the desk: "Had."
She shook her head. Her messed-up past wasn't the important part of this, she was sure. "Is there something in your box too?" she asked, indicating the metal box on Tsubaki's desk. "If there is, maybe it's something they gave us for 'helping' last night."
Reply
She blinked, watching the other girl's face, before absently turning to face her own box. It wasn't her place to comment on a matter that had come about because of a reluctant surprise.
"Let's see..." Putting her journal down, she lifted the lid. "When new things show up in the rooms, it has to be because they put them there..." There was indeed something mixed in with Tsubaki's things that hadn't been there before--a box of some unknown substance. She picked it up and shook it. Unlike the dagger, it wasn't something that pinged a personal memory for her. In fact, what was it? She had the idea to sniff the contents, but as she read over the small label, she realized what it was.
Oh. Poison for some kind of vermin, it looked like.
If it was a reward for a successful mission, rat poison was a bit…
“This wasn’t there before,” she said for Rapunzel’s benefit, stopping herself before she wrinkled her nose. “It’s a box of, um, poison.”
Reply
Probably better to get their minds back on more important things, she thought. "Who knows? Maybe it'll come in handy sometime, like tomorrow night. We could go out together and... take care of that thing we have to take care of," said Rapunzel, subtly nodding her head toward her bed, where the stolen disc hid sandwiched between mattress and box spring.
"Think there's anything we can do about that?" she asked, pulling her dress and frying pan out of her box and leaving the dagger where it was for the moment.
Reply
She didn't know what to do with the box, either, and settled for putting back inside her storage container along with Rapunzel's painting. They would be relatively safe inside there. The poision just wasn't something she was ready to try and take out of the room with her. She wondered if Rapunzel was going to leave the dagger behind, too; it obviously hadn't invoked good feelings.
Tsubaki looked over as Rapunzel brought up their plans and straightened up. Right, the other item they were storing in their room. "Yeah... hey, before we worry about that, maybe you could give me an opinion on something else I'm working on. You have an eye for art." Shielding her journal from view, she scribbled out a quick message and moved closer to show it to Rapunzel, who had taken out a long, pink dress from her box in the time that Tsubaki had had her back turned. Was that also a... frying pan?
On the page read:
Let's keep being careful about what we say and do over that. They have ways of watching us, and probably listening, too. I have an idea for when things die down, but I think we should keep it with us as much as possible so there's less chance of it being found.
There were only so many angles a camera could get of a room, and Tsubaki positioned herself and the journal to block as many as she could think of within reason. Avoiding the Institute's invisible eyes and ears was likely a futile cause, but the only other option was to become paranoid of all forms of communication, and that was... well, that was kind of impossible given the situation.
To keep the flow of conversation natural, she added, "Um, how come you have a frying pan?"
Reply
"Looks good to me! I think you should keep it up," she answered, eyes shifting back and forth for a moment over the paper to make it look as though she were appraising it.
And then the conversation turned to her choice of weaponry. "Oh, this?" She had to grin a bit, thinking back to Eugene and his "daring" duel with Maximus. "Only one of the most underrated weapons in history," she answered, striking a "Flynn Rider"-like pose with the pan in hand. The movement just happened to create a curtain of hair hanging off her outstretched arm, which just happened to provide Tsubaki with an opportunity to either add to the note or slip it away, whatever she wanted to do next with it.
Reply
“Thanks. I’m glad for the input,” she said, folding the paper closed with one hand. Even if Rapunzel didn’t have firsthand experience with the security cameras like Tsubaki did, the other girl had an idea now. Time and secrecy would let the heat surrounding their theft die down a little, if nothing else.
Rapunzel was clever, though! Watching her display her “weapon,” Tsubaki almost missed what the blonde was up to until there was already a veil of hair shielding their secondary exchange. For someone who had spent so much of her life in isolation, Rapunzel wasn’t somebody to be underestimated under pressure! Not wanting to push their luck too much more, Tsubaki just used the opportunity to give a concealed thumbs up, and slip it into her clothing with a little sleight of hand of her own. She gave a small laugh where the posing was concerned. “Is that so? I’ve never tried. It’s useful for you?”
A frying pan was kind of a blunt force weapon, she supposed. Enough to distract an enemy and get away quickly.
Reply
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