Bidding farewell to his brunchmates, Zelnick headed into the sunroom, pausing to consider which of the other rooms to spend his time in
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Beatrix remembered what Adelheid had said about visitors all those days ago when she'd talked to him. She was not amused to find herself waiting for one of her own. Who could she possibly be getting a visitor from? Martin Landel would be a fool to bring her daughter here to see her. So far, the man didn't come across as quite that foolish.
Even so, she positioned herself near the door to the main lobby, ready to just grab her daughter and make for the front door if they did bring BB to see her. She leaned against the wall, not wanting to sit, and crossed her arms as she waited.
The door opened once more, allowing yet another visitor in. A tall, slender woman with blond hair and a black patch over one eye. Dressed in a plain gray suit, she held herself with a sense of purpose and determination. When her eyes rested upon the patient she'd come to see, at the direction of a kind nurse, her lips turned in a thin smile.
Beatrix had been watching people come into the room and the various reactions. This was not making her wait any easier. When the door opened this time, the Bride shifted her eyes over.
What the fuck?
Oh hell no. She'd plucked that bitch's other eye out and left her thrashing around in Budd's trailer at the mercy of the agitated black mamba. That bitch should be dead. It did not escape her that Elle apparently still had her one eye. She'd never heard of a full eye transplant working before but that didn't mean it couldn't be done. After all, the bitch had millions to spare.
If it wasn't for the staff nearby and her curiosity about Elle's intentions for showing up, other than to gloat, she would have killed her right there on the spot. That bitch deserved worse than death and she'd thought she delivered it.
Her eyes narrowed a fraction, hatred clear in them. "You."
The woman seemed unfazed by the look of hate she received from the woman she'd come to visit.
"Jessica," she said mildly, nodding her head in greeting. She seemed to be giving the woman a once over, as though taking stock of her. "I guess that answers the question of 'how are you?', doesn't it?"
Javert wasn't entirely certain what to expect as his nurse ushered him into the waiting room. He'd been here for two weeks already; if anyone in his 'real life' had wanted to see him, why hadn't they visited sooner
( ... )
No one would call them good friends, but they had been close. There was a relationship between the two of them that was not civil, but it was there nonetheless.
He hesitated before entering the room, unsure of what to say or how to greet the man, or if he should be here at all. There was a part of his nature that always wanted to run, to keep himself quiet and anonymous. What he was doing was risky, especially knowing Philip's condition. On the other hand, in all cases of ethics between his goals to preserve his safety and preserve his soul, he always favored towards preserving his soul.
So it was that taking a deep breath, Jean Valjean entered the room. "Thank you," he said to the nurse who escorted him. "We'll be fine now."
He approached quietly and took a seat across from Javert. "Phillip," he said awkwardly, unsure of what to say next. "I'm sorry you're here."
Javert froze abruptly at the sound of that voice. For what seemed an eternity, he kept his eyes fixed on the ground, almost forgetting to breathe.
It was pointless to try and convince himself he'd heard wrong. What was the use? He knew it like he knew his own. He should have thought of it - a gross oversight in his own estimation - there really would have been only one man they would have brought in, and he was sitting in front of Javert now.
"Valjean." The name escaped his lips in a strangled whisper before he was entirely aware of it, before he realized somewhat belatedly that he would almost certainly have another name here.
He looked up slowly then, ignoring for now the strange, clean-cut clothing this Valjean was wearing, focusing with not-quite-resignation on the other man's face. Exactly the same. Of course.
"Of course," he said out loud, letting out his usual half-bark of a laugh. "It would be you, wouldn't it..."
Valjean sighed softly, ignoring the man's use of a false name but instead pressing the issue of why he came. The nurses had warned him the truth might be too much for him to bear, but the weight of his conscience said that he had to offer the truth, pure and simple. "Phillip, I never wanted it to end like this," he said remorsefully. "I didn't come here for any reason but to apologize. I feel that it is my fault that you are here now."
Yohji felt a little better after spending brunch with Schuldig. The sting wouldn't go away, not for a long time he was sure, but he felt like he had some solid ground beneath him. He was planning on heading outside, into the rec field for a while, wanting a little bit of fresh air rather than being cooped up inside all day, but then a nurse caught his arm, tutting and asking if he didn't want to see his visitor
( ... )
"...not much better, sorry Adam. You might want to take it slow." He shook his head, offering the woman a smile. He'd been lucky enough to get one of the nurses he was familar with escorting him inside.
"I'll handle it, don't worry." He knew how he would have felt if the situations were reversed but it didn't make things any easier. He'd left the morning after promising Yohji he'd be around for a while and he hadn't even gotten the chance to explain things until now. It had only been a few days, but a time that had been short to him must have felt like an eternity in the institute.
He wore a pair of jeans and a plain t-shirt, nothing fancy like when Mirage had come to visit him after work. Spotting Yohji - Ryou, now he reminded himself - he crossed over to the other man. No use beating around the bush. "Hey, kid."
He was expecting a painfully familiar feminine voice, maybe a few teasing words about how he'd left her with all of the work. He'd expected that and so that was what he'd prepared himself for, braced himself to experience and ultimately reject.
He hadn't expected the very masculine voice that he did hear.
Yohji looked up sharply, thrown completely off guard by the unexpectedness of the voice, and just stared for a long moment at the familiar face. "Cliff..." he said when he'd finally found his voice, all of his strong thoughts about ignoring his visitor and staying together dissolving. He was...
Adam almost protested the use of that name but it wasn't worth the effort. What would it accomplish? They'd just spend the whole shift arguing over it and he hadn't come here to do that.
"Yeah, it's me." He replied, moving to sit down across from Yohji. "I'm gone for a few days and this is what happens to you? I thought for sure you'd be pissed off at me."
Ken felt at least a little bit better now that he knew Yue and Yukito were alright--a bit screwed up, but in one piece and with no extra limbs. He hadn't been able to stop the experimentation last night, but hey...had to look on the bright side.
Ken fully intended to go outside to the rec field. He needed desperately to move, to do something. He didn't expect to be intercepted by a nurse, guiding him off toward the waiting rooms as she prattled on about...visitors. Fuck, seeing that fake Kase again was the absolute last thing he needed. Maybe he could fake that he was sick again...
Before he got the opportunity, she guided him into the room and into a chair. Yohji was already there, waiting for his own visitor. Ken glanced over, trying to make eye contact, offer support...he'd probably get Asuka, or some approximation of her.
It had taken a lot of work (and the influence of his father's name) to get him back into the very place he'd left just the day before. It was sort of silly, he thought in retrospect, to visit someone you'd only met while you were crazy, but his brother had understood that they were friends, even if friends of an odd sort, and helped him argue his case to his father.
Not that any of his family were happy about his being here. Exactly the opposite. But they had agreed to give him this little bit of closure, considering how quickly they'd come to collect him before the field trip. He smiled back at his brother, who'd said he'd wait outside the door, before slipping into the already filling room.
He twisted the sleeves of his shirt as he cautiously approached Ke-.... Andrew. That was what the nurse had said his real name was. Could anyone really blame him for being nervous? "Hi."
Of all the people Ken might have been expecting...Omi wasn't one of them. Oh God. Suddenly he felt very small, and very lost, like he hadn't for years.
Omi and he had been the first. Omi was his leader, and one of the reasons he was trying to stay sane. One of the reasons he hadn't let this place get to him. And there he was, standing in front of him, but not Omi anymore.
"...Michael..." he managed. That was his name now, wasn't it? Hadn't they been able to convince Omi that he was himself? Apparently not.
Michael blinked, frozen for just a second before he smiled widely and happily settled into the chair next to Andrew's. He remembered him! And more importantly, he remembered the real him! Maybe...
"I was so worried you'd hate me. I'm sorry I had to leave so quickly, but they didn't give me any warning before they came to get me so I couldn't say goodbye." He sounded very much like a normal, if overly intelligent, 16-year-old. "You're not mad, are you?"
Being escorted by a nurse to where the visitors were supposed to be was the last thing Nny expected. He didn't have any relatives (that he knew of anyway), and nobody he could call a friend. There was Squee, but he was just a kid, and he was dead sure she wouldn't come. The nurse ignored him when he tried to explain to her that they'd made a mistake, that nobody would show up for him. He had things to check, he couldn't afford to waste any time.
Wait, wasn't the waiting room close to the entrance? Maybe he could make a run for it when the nurses began to escort the visitors in. Then there would be no need to check or plan. The front doors couldn't be completely locked, there had to be someway to let the visitors in. If all else failed, he could just knock a nurse out and take her key.
He sat in the seat second closest to the main lobby door (the closest being taken by some blond woman). He scooted to the edge of the cushion and watched the nurses closely. The moment they stopped staring at him...
Sad to say, she did come. Devi walked in the door, accompanied by one of the nurses (who was apparently giving her something of a debriefing of his current diagnosis). She caught sight of him, but her expression remained neutral; once the nurse had finished escorting her, she sat down across from Johnny and was silent.
She looked as she ever did - hair up, black clothes, a slight quirking of one eyebrow as she gave Johnny's institute-uniform a once-over.
"So," she said after a while, "the food here shit, or what?"
Nny couldn't, wouldn't, believe his eyes. Not Devi, no, no, she couldn't be here! She hated him. He'd heard the venom in her voice himself. The rage, the disgust...what the hell was she doing visiting him!?
Knuckles turned white as Nny clenched the edges of his seat, eyes wide. Even if she did care about him, he'd told her he was done, that he wouldn't bother her anymore, hurt her, love her...fuck.
She was beautiful, and it hurt.
"You're not real, Devi," he replied, but his voice was weak. He'd heard something about the visitors being fake on the bulletin board, and her being there proved it! Now he just had to convince himself...
"I'm not real?" She raised her eyebrow higher and poked her arm with one long, painted fingernail. "I dunno. I feel pretty real to me." Then she scowled at Johnny. "And I know I've been having to pick up all your slack down at the art studio - which is a major pain in the ass, by the way - so the fact that I haven't gotten any sleep in, what, four days? Yeah, that's feeling pretty real right about now."
She sighed and rested her chin in her palm. She wasn't supposed to get angry this quickly, especially since he'd been here for some pretty damn good reasons, but she just couldn't help it.
"It was hard enough getting the time off to come in here and see you, so don't try and tell me I'm not real. Now, answer my question - how's the food?"
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Even so, she positioned herself near the door to the main lobby, ready to just grab her daughter and make for the front door if they did bring BB to see her. She leaned against the wall, not wanting to sit, and crossed her arms as she waited.
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What the fuck?
Oh hell no. She'd plucked that bitch's other eye out and left her thrashing around in Budd's trailer at the mercy of the agitated black mamba. That bitch should be dead. It did not escape her that Elle apparently still had her one eye. She'd never heard of a full eye transplant working before but that didn't mean it couldn't be done. After all, the bitch had millions to spare.
If it wasn't for the staff nearby and her curiosity about Elle's intentions for showing up, other than to gloat, she would have killed her right there on the spot. That bitch deserved worse than death and she'd thought she delivered it.
Her eyes narrowed a fraction, hatred clear in them. "You."
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"Jessica," she said mildly, nodding her head in greeting. She seemed to be giving the woman a once over, as though taking stock of her. "I guess that answers the question of 'how are you?', doesn't it?"
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He hesitated before entering the room, unsure of what to say or how to greet the man, or if he should be here at all. There was a part of his nature that always wanted to run, to keep himself quiet and anonymous. What he was doing was risky, especially knowing Philip's condition. On the other hand, in all cases of ethics between his goals to preserve his safety and preserve his soul, he always favored towards preserving his soul.
So it was that taking a deep breath, Jean Valjean entered the room. "Thank you," he said to the nurse who escorted him. "We'll be fine now."
He approached quietly and took a seat across from Javert. "Phillip," he said awkwardly, unsure of what to say next. "I'm sorry you're here."
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It was pointless to try and convince himself he'd heard wrong. What was the use? He knew it like he knew his own. He should have thought of it - a gross oversight in his own estimation - there really would have been only one man they would have brought in, and he was sitting in front of Javert now.
"Valjean." The name escaped his lips in a strangled whisper before he was entirely aware of it, before he realized somewhat belatedly that he would almost certainly have another name here.
He looked up slowly then, ignoring for now the strange, clean-cut clothing this Valjean was wearing, focusing with not-quite-resignation on the other man's face. Exactly the same. Of course.
"Of course," he said out loud, letting out his usual half-bark of a laugh. "It would be you, wouldn't it..."
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"I'll handle it, don't worry." He knew how he would have felt if the situations were reversed but it didn't make things any easier. He'd left the morning after promising Yohji he'd be around for a while and he hadn't even gotten the chance to explain things until now. It had only been a few days, but a time that had been short to him must have felt like an eternity in the institute.
He wore a pair of jeans and a plain t-shirt, nothing fancy like when Mirage had come to visit him after work. Spotting Yohji - Ryou, now he reminded himself - he crossed over to the other man. No use beating around the bush. "Hey, kid."
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He hadn't expected the very masculine voice that he did hear.
Yohji looked up sharply, thrown completely off guard by the unexpectedness of the voice, and just stared for a long moment at the familiar face. "Cliff..." he said when he'd finally found his voice, all of his strong thoughts about ignoring his visitor and staying together dissolving. He was...
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"Yeah, it's me." He replied, moving to sit down across from Yohji. "I'm gone for a few days and this is what happens to you? I thought for sure you'd be pissed off at me."
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Ken fully intended to go outside to the rec field. He needed desperately to move, to do something. He didn't expect to be intercepted by a nurse, guiding him off toward the waiting rooms as she prattled on about...visitors. Fuck, seeing that fake Kase again was the absolute last thing he needed. Maybe he could fake that he was sick again...
Before he got the opportunity, she guided him into the room and into a chair. Yohji was already there, waiting for his own visitor. Ken glanced over, trying to make eye contact, offer support...he'd probably get Asuka, or some approximation of her.
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Not that any of his family were happy about his being here. Exactly the opposite. But they had agreed to give him this little bit of closure, considering how quickly they'd come to collect him before the field trip. He smiled back at his brother, who'd said he'd wait outside the door, before slipping into the already filling room.
He twisted the sleeves of his shirt as he cautiously approached Ke-.... Andrew. That was what the nurse had said his real name was. Could anyone really blame him for being nervous? "Hi."
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Omi and he had been the first. Omi was his leader, and one of the reasons he was trying to stay sane. One of the reasons he hadn't let this place get to him. And there he was, standing in front of him, but not Omi anymore.
"...Michael..." he managed. That was his name now, wasn't it? Hadn't they been able to convince Omi that he was himself? Apparently not.
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"I was so worried you'd hate me. I'm sorry I had to leave so quickly, but they didn't give me any warning before they came to get me so I couldn't say goodbye." He sounded very much like a normal, if overly intelligent, 16-year-old. "You're not mad, are you?"
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Wait, wasn't the waiting room close to the entrance? Maybe he could make a run for it when the nurses began to escort the visitors in. Then there would be no need to check or plan. The front doors couldn't be completely locked, there had to be someway to let the visitors in. If all else failed, he could just knock a nurse out and take her key.
He sat in the seat second closest to the main lobby door (the closest being taken by some blond woman). He scooted to the edge of the cushion and watched the nurses closely. The moment they stopped staring at him...
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She looked as she ever did - hair up, black clothes, a slight quirking of one eyebrow as she gave Johnny's institute-uniform a once-over.
"So," she said after a while, "the food here shit, or what?"
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Knuckles turned white as Nny clenched the edges of his seat, eyes wide. Even if she did care about him, he'd told her he was done, that he wouldn't bother her anymore, hurt her, love her...fuck.
She was beautiful, and it hurt.
"You're not real, Devi," he replied, but his voice was weak. He'd heard something about the visitors being fake on the bulletin board, and her being there proved it! Now he just had to convince himself...
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She sighed and rested her chin in her palm. She wasn't supposed to get angry this quickly, especially since he'd been here for some pretty damn good reasons, but she just couldn't help it.
"It was hard enough getting the time off to come in here and see you, so don't try and tell me I'm not real. Now, answer my question - how's the food?"
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