Day 40: Sun Room [Fourth Shift]
Well, that was... special. No wonder he was losing respect for this place--the fearful Martin Landel was coming undone, most probably with boredom. So scary. Even Nursey seemed a little exasperated, though that most likely had more to do with X's constant insistence to stay in the Sun Room rather than go inside the Greenhouse
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Spending a little time in the Greenhouse had been calming, and lunch had been quiet for her, but in a small way, the calm was almost as difficult to deal with as the terrible danger that came around at night.
Were the staff really a part of it? Were Michiru, and Thursday Next, and Toph somewhere safe? What had happened to the souls of the slain shinigami? And what about the faceless people on the intercom, who could sound so amicable and silly? Were the people she’d met here and the people she’d tried to rescue doing all right? Was… Black☆Star all right? Her parents, her friends, her home? Did they even know she was gone?
So many questions she didn’t have answers to.
Tsubaki sighed softly, and reached up to place a note on the crowded face of the bulletin board. Before she was led out to the recreational field, she’d wanted to at least check it. As she’d come to expect, there was dozens of dozens of messages worth looking over, though too many only raised more questions in her mind. But it was one of the few ways to get in touch with others…
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He didn't feel like going to the Greenhouse - he'd never done much gardening and didn't really feel like learning now - so wound up in the Sun Room. Which was boring but maybe he could check the bulletin board and... do something.
Wandering discontentedly over to the board, he paused as he caught sight of a familiar face standing in front of it. He hadn't spoken to Tsubaki since they had lunch together, not that he didn't think she couldn't take care of herself but it was good to see she was doing alright. Coming up alongside her, Kon said as cheerfully as he could manage, "Hey, babe. How's it going?"
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He was... different, though. A little less bright. Something seemed to have him down, but the unfortunate thing was, there were so many things about Landel's, and everything else, that could make a person feel that way. Too many things. And maybe part of the reason why she could tell was because she had to force herself to push the bad aspects aside, too. What she sensed from Superboy only made her smile wider and more gentle, however.
The least she could do--the least she had always been able to do--was try and cheer someone else up.
"Superboy, hi! I'm glad to see you," she said earnestly. "It's been okay. What about you? We haven't talked in person for a while." A chance to get her blood pumping outside would have been nice, but she was just as happy to stay indoors and talk with Superboy.
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He shrugged off her question about him, not really wanting to talk about it. He'd been feeling great this morning but now, not so much. A distraction was always welcome though, if he started brooding and being all gloomy Robin would probably come beat him up for stealing his gig. And that would not be cool.
"A friend of mine from home showed up here the other day," he offered instead. It wasn't like anyone could've missed Bart's notices or not seen who they were addressed to so she should already know.
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She tipped her head, wondering about the boy in front of her. Was that the problem? She didn't think that was all of it. His lack of an answer alone would be hard for anyone not to notice.
"I'm sorry they showed up here," she continued, "but it's nice to have someone you know around, isn't it?" That there was someone familiar to rely on wasn't a bad thing in her mind. Still smiling, she reached out to touch his arm. "Are you doing anything before dinner? We could sit and catch up."
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"It is pretty cool having him around," Kon agreed, grinning as he thought about introducing Tsubaki to Impulse. Too bad Bart didn't have his costume here so he couldn't without giving away Imp's secret identity. Even though she came from a different world he couldn't just give it away like that. He did wonder what she might think of Bart, he could be a lot to cope with.
"He's one of my team mates from my world. And one of my best friends. Has anyone from your world showed up?" Even though he could totally deal with this place on his own, it was reassuring to have someone around to watch his back. It did kind of suck being on your own. Hopefully Tusbaki had someone she knew around for company too, though she could totally manage on her own as well.
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Even if the scales were pretty close to balancing, something his close friends would know more about than her.
"Thank you," Tsubaki played along, sitting down with room to spare for Superboy. It was good that his smiles seemed more natural now, though the talk of teammates only reminded her that if his friend had special powers, too, they were probably acting up like Superboy had found about his. Like her own, and everyone else's. "Does that mean he's a hero, too?" A friend of Superboy's had to be a good person, right? When it came to people from her own home, Tsubaki had to shake her head, although there wasn't anything sad in the action. "Ah, I think it's just me so far."
Since the first time she'd tried to find people familiar with Shibusen, she hadn't posted any other board notices like that, so she couldn't be sure. But of the faces she scanned every day, she never saw anyone familiar to her, and no one reacted to the clan name 'Nakatsukasa'. Sometimes she still tried to use the bathroom mirror to call Shinigami-sama if the bathroom was empty... It wasn't like she was an important person to kidnap all on her own; the possibility that there could be others wasn't unbelievable. The idea she was alone was a bit lonely, but... well...
She kept smiling.
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"There's no one you know here? That really bites," he said sympathetically. "But, hey, you've always got me. I'll watch your back any time babe." He winked suggestively at her, hoping to stop her dwelling on the fact that she was alone here.
Sure, having your friends in a dangerous place with you was bad for them but Tsubaki was like him and used to taking care of herself so her friends were probably the same. Nearly everyone he'd met here was a good person and all but it was different having his best friends around to back him up. That and it made it easier to deal with some of the other stuff that they did here to try and screw with you.
"Hey, have you ever been sent to one of their stupid 'therapy' sessions?" He hadn't bought this up with anyone besides Kurt really. Kon didn't know why he was bringing it up again now, he knew it was a lie and stuff but, well....
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If Superboy's idea of 'watching her back' involved touching her back like before, she could do without.
“You're a good friend, Superboy,” she said instead, keeping that thought to herself. “I'm here, too, if you need me. We can watch each other's like we promised. And maybe I can meet Impulse sometime and hear more about the place you guys come from.”
The question about therapy came unexpectedly, and the girl blinked in surprise. Therapy, as in talking with one of the doctors? She was shaking her head again before she even realized she was doing it. “My nurse hasn't said anything. Why, have you?” Was that what was bothering him?
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Tusbaki was pretty confident they were going to be out of here and home soon enough and while he knew it was true, especially with all the heroes here, it was good to hear someone else say it.
"Yeah, the other day they sent me to see this guy." Kon waved a hand about to dismiss it. He'd been thinking he could see what they said to Tsubaki, if they tried to pull something similar with her but if she hadn't had anything like that yet there wasn't much point talking about it. He didn't want to have to explain why it was bugging him. He'd told her about being a clone and all but the rest was kind of complicated.
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“Did something happen?” she asked.
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... But there was something dangerous in the new topic Superboy had jumped to.
She'd just been thinking he wasn't a bad person, so it wasn't like she was worried about her safety or anything like that, but being wary was something different. Tsubaki wasn't sure how to put the feeling into words--she just hadn't been in such close proximity to someone acting like that to know what to think about it yet.Yet. Considering this was the second time Superboy had gotten so close, she figured it was something he did a lot...
Her gaze flicked to where his hand rested over the curve of her shoulder and back again, unable to help the idea that despite the fact she wasn't outside to exercise, she might still break out into a sweat just sitting there.
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Besides, her near panic at having him so close did help lift his mood, even if it was a little cruel.
"You're really something, you know? How come you haven't got a guy following you around making sure no one else tries something? Not that I don't think you can take care of yourself, but surely no guy in his right mind wouldn't be possessive."
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“I don’t really think…” The hesitant protest trailed off, and instead Tsubaki laughed once under her breath. “You don’t have to say things like that.”
She was well aware the dismissal was a pathetic attempt to deter him. It was beyond her to consider whether his words were realistic or not--she just knew he liked to tease, probably for the sake of teasing, especially in this case. That left no good way to respond. Not to mention that Superboy was asking about a subject she had little to do with, and that… made her feel a little uneasy. Inexperienced.
And in the end, it was only Superboy who thought that way…
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