It was stranger this time around. Sure, she wasn't tripping out and getting yanked back and forth between "realities," but there weren't doctors constantly pushing her and trying to convince her she was off her nut. Just a whole lotta other "crazies" (Rose ranked in the normal column, but that still didn't mean everyone was all happy sane fun time around here) and milling about all schedule-y like.
That was probably the weirdest part. It was … normal. Well, ish. Normal as it could be. There was routine, sense of community, patients interacting. It was more … real. Maybe that was what made it more unsettling.
She looked around with pursed lips, confused as she moved with the group into what one of the nurses informed her was the sun room. She gave a grateful, tight-lipped smile, nodding her appreciation at the exposition, and stepped inside. Comfy chairs, couches. Hang out space. Like one great big living room of psychosis -- and, on the wall near the front, a bulletin board. That was what drew her attention.
Bulletin board? They had an intercom, why did they need bulletins? Brow furrowing, she moved closer to examine it, thumbing through a few notes posted on it. It looked like it wasn't staff bulletins, but rather patient ones. Something called a Team Abyss, some weird drawings, and personalnotes to other patients. All vague, but one in particular caught her attention. 'Be careful tonight.' What was happening tonight? She chewed the inside of her cheek, mulling it over, then stepped away from the board, going back to what she was finding to be a very familiar activity: standing around, looking displaced and awkward.
If there was one thing in the world that could make up for a night filled with blood, guts, and about a thousand killer dragonflies nipping at one's heels, it was probably waffles. Warm, buttered waffles with lots and lots of syrup.
Considering the night before, Rapunzel was kind of amazed at how, well, sunny she felt this morning. Maybe it was the little bit of extra sleep; she hadn't gone to breakfast right away, too comfortable in her cozy grey clothing to get out of bed right at dawn. And then the clothing itself had been a nice surprise when she had finally been awake enough to appreciate it. She hadn't worn this outfit since her first day, and that had been... five days ago now, was it? It wasn't exactly the most cheerful-looking ensemble (yellow face notwithstanding), but goodness if it wasn't an improvement over the stiff things the patients had been forced to wear while the military had been around.
This was the first day Rapunzel had never seen a soldier around, either. Soma had told her on the first day that their presence around the Institute wasn't normal, but after this long, that idea had been hard for Rapunzel to believe. Actually seeing the so-called "normal" state of things after the chaos of the night before felt a little weird to say the least. Not that Rapunzel was complaining, though. The nurse who had taken her to breakfast had been cheerful and chatty, and she and Rapunzel had even talked a little about the weather on the way to the cafeteria. She was tons better than the dour soldier escort Rapunzel had had before. The only thing that bothered her was the woman's insistence on calling her "Amanda", but hey, if it meant no rotten pink mush for breakfast, she was pretty okay dealing with that.
Though, by the time the voice from the ceiling sounded again, she ended up feeling a bit guilty about basking in her relief. She barely knew Landel outside of vague mentions of his name, and at first she found herself glad for his cheerful tones overhead; she could have sworn someone up there cared for the patients all of a sudden. After a little while, however, Rapunzel realized that she of all people ought to know better than to trust a person who seemed cheerful and caring. And from what she gathered, Landel wasn't supposed to be any better than Aguilar. He just put on a better face was all.
Still, reservations about Landel and his act aside, this morning was definitely one of the most comfortable Rapunzel had had in the Institute thus far, and so her mood stayed relatively unspoiled. She made her way to the bulletin after breakfast, checking for notes from friends and looking for anything that might have been important. As she read, however, she noticed another girl (maybe just a few years older than her) hanging around near the board and looking awkward and uncertain. Was she new, Rapunzel wondered?
After a moment or two, her curiosity got the better of her. "Hey, were you around last night?" Rapunzel decided to just straight-up ask. "For all that craziness, I mean?"
The voice caught her off guard, and Buffy had to whip her head around to realize that the blonde girl was talking to her. Oops. Score one for awareness, Summers. She seemed friendly enough, all things considered. So much so that it took Buffy a moment to process what she'd said, expression blank while she sorted it out.
Last night? Craziness? What kind of craziness was going on last night -- and tonight, for that matter? It was an asylum. Shouldn't that entail the nights be, y'know, providing asylum? Quiet? Sleeping patients, patrolling orderlies, the stuff of a normal asylum. Her blank look mingled into confusion which hung for a moment as she worked through this. But, then, something snapped.
Right. Speaking. Words. Responses.
"Uh. No. No, I just got here." She could have lied, but it didn't really seem necessary. By the looks of it, this girl was friendly enough to help her figure that out all on her own without Buffy sneaking it out of her. Her brow furrowed. "What do you mean craziness? What happened?" She gave a nod to the bulletin board. "I thought this place was an asylum. Aren't most of those, y'know. Anti-night time activities?"
"Nooot this one. Oh my gosh, not this one," said Rapunzel with a shake of her head. She wasn't sure how much she wanted to tell this girl right now, especially when her mood was just improving, but it was clear that she had to say something. What was the other alternative? Playing cryptic and just telling her to be careful? Not really an option. "The doors here open at night. They won't tell you that, but they do. And once they do, well..."
Rapunzel took a breath, considering how to put things. "...How much do you know about fighting?" she asked. If there was one thing she had learned about the Institute so far, it was that the more experience a patient had fighting or the more fighters they could ally with, the better their chances in the Institute.
Doors open. That was more than enough to set off alarm bells in Buffy's brain. Hello, bad idea. A bunch of questionably sane types set loose in the middle of the night? She was amazed the Institute was still standing. Her eyes briefly widened, but she controlled it quickly, nodding her understanding until --
When the girl asked about Buffy's fighting experience, she had to stop. It had been a while since she'd gotten that one. She raised her eyebrows, expectant and caught off guard, like she couldn't understand why she even had to ask that. And then she started laughing, quietly at first, but then little more. When she realized, well, she looked more and more like she belonged here, she let it die off, coughing and clearing her throat and reaching up to scratch the back of her head.
Right. Not as funny to other people.
"I--I mean, you know. A little. Just a--a thing, here and there," she dismissed, bringing her hand out of her hair to wave it dismissively. "But, I don't understand." Her expression grows more serious. "Why are they opening the doors? The goal's keeping us in, isn't it? Free reign of the place, kinda seems counterproductive."
By the time the other girl was done laughing, Rapunzel was more than a little weirded out. Oooookay then, she thought, lips pulled to the side slightly and eyebrow quirked.
The whole laughter thing got a little easier to understand once she started to get an actual answer out of the girl, thankfully. A little. Either way, though, the answer turned into more questions, and so Rapunzel decided to focus on those for now. "Oh they can keep us in pretty much however they want," she answered, a roll of her eyes glancing in the direction of the nearest intercom speaker. "But they don't want to just keep us in our rooms or anything, that's for sure. It doesn't really matter where we go to them. I mean, everyone just ends up back in their beds by the end of the night anyway."
She realized she wasn't being very clear right now, and so she backed up a bit after that. "But, uh, yeah. So this is not an institute. I'm really not sure what a real one would be like, but whatever it is, it's not like this," Rapunzel started to explain, leaning back against the wall with arms folded across her chest as she looked over at the older girl. "Because up until yesterday? There were soldiers here. Like, everywhere. And as far as everyone could figure, they all expected the patients to act like soldiers too. We had uniforms like theirs and everything, and they forced some of us to go on missions for them at night." She cringed then, still able to feel herself in the exploded wreck of the hummer a few nights back. "So whatever this place is for, it has something to do with whatever army is in charge of those soldiers. And the stuff that goes on at night is like some kind of survival test or training or - or I don't even know!"
Rapunzel sighed, shaking her head and causing a faint wave to travel down the length of her hair. "Something happened last night, though. They lost control or something. Everything was really chaotic and weird and..." And there was blood everywhere, she thought with a shiver, but refrained from saying aloud. "Anyway, then all of a sudden, this place was back to 'normal' in the morning. Now they're acting like we're supposed to believe we weren't right in the head or something, like that whole 'five days with the military' thing never even happened. Someone told me that's how this place always was before, but I never saw much of it that way. I got her right when they did, I think."
After a long pause, Rapunzel gave the other girl a slightly embarrassed smile. "Sorry. That probably all makes no sense, does it? You probably don't even believe half of it, huh?" she said with a short, faint laugh. "Oh, and I'm Rapunzel, by the way. I don't think I said."
[ s'ok! it's readings week for me so i'm not top of my game either. ]
While Rapunzel explained, Buffy's expression remained pretty much neutral and attentive. All things considered? Far from the weirdest thing she'd encountered. After all, no one was bursting out into song; she'd call that a good week. And, honestly, the whole thing sounded pretty Initiative levels of sketchy. Which at least was an evil she knew, all things considered. And, on the bright side, no one was crazy and living in the basement. Also an improvement.
Though, when she actually considered it, if the Initiative had grabbed her … okay. Scary thought. Surely Riley wouldn't let the government pull that off, though. He'd -- Well. Do something heroic. Possibly manly. And their containment cages weren't as nice as the one Buffy had woken up in. Which also hopefully meant that Adam wasn't hanging around the corners waiting to kick her while she was down.
When Rapunzel finished and introduced herself, though, the attentive and casual demeanor snapped away.
"Actually?" Buffy's eyes bugged a little, eyebrows raising. "I believed you right up until the last part." Rapunzel? Seriously? Of all the -- Oh boy. She purses her lips, blowing air between them and causing them to make a motor-y kind of noise. This was gonna be a weird one, even by Adventures on the Hellmouth standards. She shook her head. Chances were, Rapunzel wouldn't be introducing herself that way if she realized just what kind of wiggins it inspired, which meant not pointing out was probably best. Maybe asking around, but not flat out questioning her Disney princess status.
"I -- Sorry, that was rudesville. Buffy. I'm Buffy." She cleared her throat and let the spazzy look fade. "So, when you say chaotic and weird … how weird are we talking? 'Cause I know weird. I'm an expert on weird. I'm like a - a weirdologist."
The last part? Really? That's what she has a problem with...?
Okay, that did it: Rapunzel had to ask someone about the name thing. ...Someone she wasn't supposed to be introducing to the Institute at the moment. Either way! It had to be soon. This was really, really bugging her now. What was it about the name "Rapunzel" that caught so many people off-guard?
At least the girl - Buffy - was polite about it. Rapunzel appreciated that. "Well, weirder than my name, I'll tell you that much," she answered, raising a blonde eyebrow briefly before continuing: "I mean like monsters. Monsters absolutely everywhere. I mean, there are always monsters here at night, but last night was insane! Never mind that everyone's magic and abilities and stuff came back all of a sudden. That would've been surprising enough!" She had to wonder how Buffy would react to the bit about magic. So far, from what Rapunzel had seen, everyone in Landel's had a "gift" of some sort or another. If that's true, then Buffy should have something too, right?
Monsters were supposed to be weirder than a living, breathing fairytale? Yeah, right. Well, sure, it was all Hellmouth material, but still. Actually, yeah, she was gonna blame this one on the school re-opening. Had to be. Hellmouth shenanigans abound.
She was stuck in an insane asylum with fairytales. Snow White was probably around there somewhere too, and -- ooh. Maybe, when this was all over and done with, she could keep the prince. After her tragic track record of badness, she deserved a prince, right? She could pretend to be sleeping beauty. Well, minus the sleeping. She'd make a great princess! What with the dresses and the -- Okay. Maybe not the best princess. But, it could happen. And she deserved it.
Which meant it was never gonna happen. Oi.
"Okay, slow down. Monsters like what kind of monsters? Are we talking scaly for furry or spiky or --" She cringed unwittingly. Spiky. Of course she had to go for spiky. She quickly got herself over that slip which totally wasn't a slip at all and was, in fact, actually a total viable interrogation suggestion. Not that she was leading Rapunzel or anything. "Gimme some kinda general characteristic-y idea, 'cause otherwise, I'm going in blind and weapon-free and nobody wants that."
Rapunzel wasn't sure why Buffy had cringed there (crippling fear of spikes?), but let the girl finish before answering. The extra time let her calm down a little bit anyway. "There's tons of different kinds, so it's hard to say. But last night, a friend and I were being chased by giant killer dragonflies, for one thing. And one of the big ones I remember from my first night here looked like it was... I dunno, cobbled together from a bunch of different parts. It had a wing and half a face and a black wolf's head or something growing out of its stomach..." Ugh, when she described it out loud like that, she almost felt like puking, or at least turning a lovely shade of green.
"But yeah, people tell me there are tons of types around. The bodies we saw in the halls last night tell me they're probably right." Hlghk. There was that queasiness getting worse again, she thought. She had to move the conversation forward to something else. "Just any kind of weapon's better than no weapon at all with that much around, I think. Especially since weapons are kinda hard to find here."
That was probably the weirdest part. It was … normal. Well, ish. Normal as it could be. There was routine, sense of community, patients interacting. It was more … real. Maybe that was what made it more unsettling.
She looked around with pursed lips, confused as she moved with the group into what one of the nurses informed her was the sun room. She gave a grateful, tight-lipped smile, nodding her appreciation at the exposition, and stepped inside. Comfy chairs, couches. Hang out space. Like one great big living room of psychosis -- and, on the wall near the front, a bulletin board. That was what drew her attention.
Bulletin board? They had an intercom, why did they need bulletins? Brow furrowing, she moved closer to examine it, thumbing through a few notes posted on it. It looked like it wasn't staff bulletins, but rather patient ones. Something called a Team Abyss, some weird drawings, and personal notes to other patients. All vague, but one in particular caught her attention. 'Be careful tonight.' What was happening tonight? She chewed the inside of her cheek, mulling it over, then stepped away from the board, going back to what she was finding to be a very familiar activity: standing around, looking displaced and awkward.
[ free ]
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If there was one thing in the world that could make up for a night filled with blood, guts, and about a thousand killer dragonflies nipping at one's heels, it was probably waffles. Warm, buttered waffles with lots and lots of syrup.
Considering the night before, Rapunzel was kind of amazed at how, well, sunny she felt this morning. Maybe it was the little bit of extra sleep; she hadn't gone to breakfast right away, too comfortable in her cozy grey clothing to get out of bed right at dawn. And then the clothing itself had been a nice surprise when she had finally been awake enough to appreciate it. She hadn't worn this outfit since her first day, and that had been... five days ago now, was it? It wasn't exactly the most cheerful-looking ensemble (yellow face notwithstanding), but goodness if it wasn't an improvement over the stiff things the patients had been forced to wear while the military had been around.
This was the first day Rapunzel had never seen a soldier around, either. Soma had told her on the first day that their presence around the Institute wasn't normal, but after this long, that idea had been hard for Rapunzel to believe. Actually seeing the so-called "normal" state of things after the chaos of the night before felt a little weird to say the least. Not that Rapunzel was complaining, though. The nurse who had taken her to breakfast had been cheerful and chatty, and she and Rapunzel had even talked a little about the weather on the way to the cafeteria. She was tons better than the dour soldier escort Rapunzel had had before. The only thing that bothered her was the woman's insistence on calling her "Amanda", but hey, if it meant no rotten pink mush for breakfast, she was pretty okay dealing with that.
Though, by the time the voice from the ceiling sounded again, she ended up feeling a bit guilty about basking in her relief. She barely knew Landel outside of vague mentions of his name, and at first she found herself glad for his cheerful tones overhead; she could have sworn someone up there cared for the patients all of a sudden. After a little while, however, Rapunzel realized that she of all people ought to know better than to trust a person who seemed cheerful and caring. And from what she gathered, Landel wasn't supposed to be any better than Aguilar. He just put on a better face was all.
Still, reservations about Landel and his act aside, this morning was definitely one of the most comfortable Rapunzel had had in the Institute thus far, and so her mood stayed relatively unspoiled. She made her way to the bulletin after breakfast, checking for notes from friends and looking for anything that might have been important. As she read, however, she noticed another girl (maybe just a few years older than her) hanging around near the board and looking awkward and uncertain. Was she new, Rapunzel wondered?
After a moment or two, her curiosity got the better of her. "Hey, were you around last night?" Rapunzel decided to just straight-up ask. "For all that craziness, I mean?"
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The voice caught her off guard, and Buffy had to whip her head around to realize that the blonde girl was talking to her. Oops. Score one for awareness, Summers. She seemed friendly enough, all things considered. So much so that it took Buffy a moment to process what she'd said, expression blank while she sorted it out.
Last night? Craziness? What kind of craziness was going on last night -- and tonight, for that matter? It was an asylum. Shouldn't that entail the nights be, y'know, providing asylum? Quiet? Sleeping patients, patrolling orderlies, the stuff of a normal asylum. Her blank look mingled into confusion which hung for a moment as she worked through this. But, then, something snapped.
Right. Speaking. Words. Responses.
"Uh. No. No, I just got here." She could have lied, but it didn't really seem necessary. By the looks of it, this girl was friendly enough to help her figure that out all on her own without Buffy sneaking it out of her. Her brow furrowed. "What do you mean craziness? What happened?" She gave a nod to the bulletin board. "I thought this place was an asylum. Aren't most of those, y'know. Anti-night time activities?"
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"Nooot this one. Oh my gosh, not this one," said Rapunzel with a shake of her head. She wasn't sure how much she wanted to tell this girl right now, especially when her mood was just improving, but it was clear that she had to say something. What was the other alternative? Playing cryptic and just telling her to be careful? Not really an option. "The doors here open at night. They won't tell you that, but they do. And once they do, well..."
Rapunzel took a breath, considering how to put things. "...How much do you know about fighting?" she asked. If there was one thing she had learned about the Institute so far, it was that the more experience a patient had fighting or the more fighters they could ally with, the better their chances in the Institute.
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When the girl asked about Buffy's fighting experience, she had to stop. It had been a while since she'd gotten that one. She raised her eyebrows, expectant and caught off guard, like she couldn't understand why she even had to ask that. And then she started laughing, quietly at first, but then little more. When she realized, well, she looked more and more like she belonged here, she let it die off, coughing and clearing her throat and reaching up to scratch the back of her head.
Right. Not as funny to other people.
"I--I mean, you know. A little. Just a--a thing, here and there," she dismissed, bringing her hand out of her hair to wave it dismissively. "But, I don't understand." Her expression grows more serious. "Why are they opening the doors? The goal's keeping us in, isn't it? Free reign of the place, kinda seems counterproductive."
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By the time the other girl was done laughing, Rapunzel was more than a little weirded out. Oooookay then, she thought, lips pulled to the side slightly and eyebrow quirked.
The whole laughter thing got a little easier to understand once she started to get an actual answer out of the girl, thankfully. A little. Either way, though, the answer turned into more questions, and so Rapunzel decided to focus on those for now. "Oh they can keep us in pretty much however they want," she answered, a roll of her eyes glancing in the direction of the nearest intercom speaker. "But they don't want to just keep us in our rooms or anything, that's for sure. It doesn't really matter where we go to them. I mean, everyone just ends up back in their beds by the end of the night anyway."
She realized she wasn't being very clear right now, and so she backed up a bit after that. "But, uh, yeah. So this is not an institute. I'm really not sure what a real one would be like, but whatever it is, it's not like this," Rapunzel started to explain, leaning back against the wall with arms folded across her chest as she looked over at the older girl. "Because up until yesterday? There were soldiers here. Like, everywhere. And as far as everyone could figure, they all expected the patients to act like soldiers too. We had uniforms like theirs and everything, and they forced some of us to go on missions for them at night." She cringed then, still able to feel herself in the exploded wreck of the hummer a few nights back. "So whatever this place is for, it has something to do with whatever army is in charge of those soldiers. And the stuff that goes on at night is like some kind of survival test or training or - or I don't even know!"
Rapunzel sighed, shaking her head and causing a faint wave to travel down the length of her hair. "Something happened last night, though. They lost control or something. Everything was really chaotic and weird and..." And there was blood everywhere, she thought with a shiver, but refrained from saying aloud. "Anyway, then all of a sudden, this place was back to 'normal' in the morning. Now they're acting like we're supposed to believe we weren't right in the head or something, like that whole 'five days with the military' thing never even happened. Someone told me that's how this place always was before, but I never saw much of it that way. I got her right when they did, I think."
After a long pause, Rapunzel gave the other girl a slightly embarrassed smile. "Sorry. That probably all makes no sense, does it? You probably don't even believe half of it, huh?" she said with a short, faint laugh. "Oh, and I'm Rapunzel, by the way. I don't think I said."
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While Rapunzel explained, Buffy's expression remained pretty much neutral and attentive. All things considered? Far from the weirdest thing she'd encountered. After all, no one was bursting out into song; she'd call that a good week. And, honestly, the whole thing sounded pretty Initiative levels of sketchy. Which at least was an evil she knew, all things considered. And, on the bright side, no one was crazy and living in the basement. Also an improvement.
Though, when she actually considered it, if the Initiative had grabbed her … okay. Scary thought. Surely Riley wouldn't let the government pull that off, though. He'd -- Well. Do something heroic. Possibly manly. And their containment cages weren't as nice as the one Buffy had woken up in. Which also hopefully meant that Adam wasn't hanging around the corners waiting to kick her while she was down.
When Rapunzel finished and introduced herself, though, the attentive and casual demeanor snapped away.
"Actually?" Buffy's eyes bugged a little, eyebrows raising. "I believed you right up until the last part." Rapunzel? Seriously? Of all the -- Oh boy. She purses her lips, blowing air between them and causing them to make a motor-y kind of noise. This was gonna be a weird one, even by Adventures on the Hellmouth standards. She shook her head. Chances were, Rapunzel wouldn't be introducing herself that way if she realized just what kind of wiggins it inspired, which meant not pointing out was probably best. Maybe asking around, but not flat out questioning her Disney princess status.
"I -- Sorry, that was rudesville. Buffy. I'm Buffy." She cleared her throat and let the spazzy look fade. "So, when you say chaotic and weird … how weird are we talking? 'Cause I know weird. I'm an expert on weird. I'm like a - a weirdologist."
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Okay, that did it: Rapunzel had to ask someone about the name thing. ...Someone she wasn't supposed to be introducing to the Institute at the moment. Either way! It had to be soon. This was really, really bugging her now. What was it about the name "Rapunzel" that caught so many people off-guard?
At least the girl - Buffy - was polite about it. Rapunzel appreciated that. "Well, weirder than my name, I'll tell you that much," she answered, raising a blonde eyebrow briefly before continuing: "I mean like monsters. Monsters absolutely everywhere. I mean, there are always monsters here at night, but last night was insane! Never mind that everyone's magic and abilities and stuff came back all of a sudden. That would've been surprising enough!" She had to wonder how Buffy would react to the bit about magic. So far, from what Rapunzel had seen, everyone in Landel's had a "gift" of some sort or another. If that's true, then Buffy should have something too, right?
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She was stuck in an insane asylum with fairytales. Snow White was probably around there somewhere too, and -- ooh. Maybe, when this was all over and done with, she could keep the prince. After her tragic track record of badness, she deserved a prince, right? She could pretend to be sleeping beauty. Well, minus the sleeping. She'd make a great princess! What with the dresses and the -- Okay. Maybe not the best princess. But, it could happen. And she deserved it.
Which meant it was never gonna happen. Oi.
"Okay, slow down. Monsters like what kind of monsters? Are we talking scaly for furry or spiky or --" She cringed unwittingly. Spiky. Of course she had to go for spiky. She quickly got herself over that slip which totally wasn't a slip at all and was, in fact, actually a total viable interrogation suggestion. Not that she was leading Rapunzel or anything. "Gimme some kinda general characteristic-y idea, 'cause otherwise, I'm going in blind and weapon-free and nobody wants that."
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"But yeah, people tell me there are tons of types around. The bodies we saw in the halls last night tell me they're probably right." Hlghk. There was that queasiness getting worse again, she thought. She had to move the conversation forward to something else. "Just any kind of weapon's better than no weapon at all with that much around, I think. Especially since weapons are kinda hard to find here."
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