Day 34: Intercom, Evening

[damned_intercom]

The intercom came on, and as it did, it seemed to carry a little more interference than usual for a daytime announcement, a little more static. While the patients might have thought for a moment that once again the elusive woman on the radio had hacked into the Head Doctor's system, the man himself soon proved that theory faulty as he laughed over

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[mitase]

Hanatarou remained completely oblivious to how he was baffling his roommate; this was all stuff that everyone in Soul Society was all too familiar with, and he hadn't even stopped to think that someone from outside wouldn't know about it. Especially not someone who was friends with Abarai-san and Rukia-san.

The answer to his question, though, did surprise the shinigami. Hanatarou froze in place for a second with one hand poised over his tray, then blinked and remembered to let go of the crumpled napkin he was holding. "Three weeks? Here?" His voice squeaked just a little as dismay flooded over his expression. People had been here for weeks and not just days?

"B-but...there's a captain and a couple of vice-captains and Ichigo-san was here and this place is still standing after all that time?" All right, so maybe they were having the same problems with their powers that he was, but still, they weren't just little 4th Division healers. How was this even possible? He'd thought it had been maybe a couple of days or so, maybe they'd just run into a little bit of difficulty. But this....

[scintillatingly]

Everyone always had a hard time accepting such a long amount of time, and Sora had to admit that it had felt like ages to him at this point. He never stuck around in one place for this long - not since he had left the Islands, anyway. Well, he had been encased in a weird pod and asleep for about a year, but he hadn't been aware of all that.

At Hanatarou's disbelief, Sora turned toward him, looking a little more serious now. "Everyone's powers are really weakened. No one told you about that? It makes getting things done a whole lot harder." He wondered how quickly he would have been able to get out of this place if he'd had all his abilities, but it probably wasn't worth it to dwell on something like that.

He finished off his ice cream (and without getting a brain freeze, even!) and then set down the spoon, sitting back in his chair with a sigh. Hopefully there was still enough time left before nightshift to digest all of that.

[mitase]

"Well, um. No?" Nobody had said anything about it, though Hanatarou guessed there was something going on after he'd tried to do something earlier and ended up with a nosebleed. But - he frowned slightly, trying to remember. Hadn't he read things on the bulletin board about people being weaker somehow? Maybe that's what they were talking about.

Did that mean he wouldn't be able to heal anymore? Hanatarou looked down at his hands, starting to feel mildly distressed. "Um, h-how much are they weakened?" What good would he be to Hitsugaya-taichou if he couldn't heal? He certainly wouldn't be helpful in any kind of a fight, not when he often had a hard time walking across a level floor.

[scintillatingly]

"It depends on the person," Sora said with a shrug. He could say how it worked for him, but the only person that was really going to apply to was Roxas. Come to think of it, he wondered if his Other was able to call the Keyblade here. He should be able to, by all means, but Landel's was a funny place.

As for the shinigami, he didn't know enough about how their powers worked normally to give Hanatarou much information. "Your best bet would be to try them out sooner rather than later so that you know your limits for when it's really important... If that makes sense." There was some risk in that, but Sora thought it was best to know what you were capable of so when things got really bad, you knew how to handle the situation with weakened abilities in mind.

[mitase]

Hanatarou drew in a deep breath and held it for a moment before letting it out again, slowly. It was all right, he wasn't going to panic. He could be calm. Very calm. Despite that, though, his hand still shook a little as he pushed the tray away from himself a little, deciding he didn't want to think about any more dinner.

"I...I'm just a, um. A h-healer. I don't...well." Hanatarou supposed he could ask someone to hurt themselves so he could test his powers, but that didn't seem entirely right, somehow. He caught his lower lip in his teeth and worried it for a moment before continuing. "I don't really have c-combat abilities, like, like Abarai-san and Rukia-san." He'd hoped a little that he might be able to help, but what if he really was just useless again?

[scintillatingly]

"Oh, a healer?" Sora sat up a little straighter in his seat when he heard that. "Well, we definitely need healers here!" he quickly assured the boy. "With all the monsters and stuff around, people are getting hurt all the time, and there aren't too many people who can actually heal very well, so I'm sure you'll be a great help!"

It might be hard on Hanatarou, though, since everyone was always going to want him to tire himself out, but Sora knew that most healers were more than willing to push themselves to the brink in order to keep others safe. On one hand, he could relate. On the other, he worried for his new roommate. "As for not being able to fight, there are a lot of people here who are in the same boat, so don't worry too much." Kairi wasn't all that used to fighting, for instance, and it was the same with Naminé, but they had both managed in one way or another. Sora was sure that if people like Renji were keeping an eye on Hanatarou, then he would be okay.