Day 22: Shift 3, Sun Room

[stray_shinigami]

Renji probably would have just kept sleeping at the table in the cafeteria if someone had let him. He was just so tired (thanks to the drugs) and really didn't feel good either (thanks to the drugs?). But, as was inevitable, a nurse showed up and shook him, none-too-gently, into a state that resembled wakefulness if not closely inspected

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[tartaros_avatar]

The 'sun room' was just as painfully bright as expected, and unhelpfully empty. Wonderful. At least he might be given time to think. He found a chair and sat, keeping his gaze tilted down to avoid starring at the brightly lit windows in the ceiling.
He hadn't ruled out many possibilities yet. Devices such as the Malta Group's Orestes Rifle could easily be the cause of his current weakness. It might even have been an Arachnos creation. Dimensional travel had been known to strangely affect meta-human powers as well. And then there was the possibility that this was all an illusion within his own mind, created by some powerful psychic.
It never crossed his thoughts that it might be a self-made delusion, or he really was just a mentally impaired human who had been committed to an honest hospital. It just wasn't a possibility.

[sanguinarily]

Another choice at random brought him to the Sun Room. It wasn't that he didn't want to be in the library or didn't want to be in the Courtyard... but ah well, he was here now. Soujirou cast a look about, but seeing as he was one of the earlier patients he wandered the perimeter of the room.

One time around and he found a chair to sit in. Soujirou leaned back and thought. Not too much, of course, because thinking too much was always a dangerous thing. You never knew what kind of thoughts your tricky mind would come up with.

So he thought about stupid things and waited. Soujirou was very good at waiting.

[tartaros_avatar]

((From here. I hope you don't mind!))

Recluse had been reading other prisoner's notes on the message board, but unfortunately it seemed he wouldn't be able to gain any useful information without human interaction.
Oh, joy beyond comprehension.
He stood, stumbling slightly. Without his eight spider limbs, his center of ballance had shifted. No matter. I will adapt.
Regaining his composure, he approached the only person who was awake and unoccupied.
"What do you know about this place?"

Politeness wasn't exactly Recluse's strong point.

[sanguinarily]

((not at all!))

Soujirou's attention was grabbed by another patient. He looked over as he was addressed and flashed a quick smile. Demanding, wasn't he? Not that Soujirou was unused to dealing with demanding people, but so far the people at Landels had not been so forward.

"It's Landels," He offered, not necessarily evasively, but certainly not helpful. It wasn't in his nature to open or helpful to anyone, much less a stranger.

[tartaros_avatar]

tsk. Recluse had forgotten how troublesome things could be when trying to actually talk to people. Being the tyrant ruler of the Rouge Isles meant people's fear made them listen to him.
Let's try this again. He feigned an apologetic look.
"Ah... sorry. I haven't had the best morning. Sunlight's giving me an awful headache..." That much was true, at least. His red eyes were less sensitive than normal, but he had no control over their natural reaction to light.
"My name is--" Which name should he give? He loathed the thought of giving his old human name. He had taken so long to rid himself of that identity, but...
"--Stefan."

[haiiro_no_chou]

Rukia followed the young nurse down a few hallways, taking careful note of her surroundings. There were a number of other people dressed as she was, which was quite disconcerting. Shortly they arrived in a large room full of couches and chairs. The nurse turned to her, saying, "This is the sun room, so you're free to take a rest in here, makes some new friends. You can also go to--"

The rest of the nurse's words faded away, though, as Rukia caught sight of a bright red shock of hair. Renji? Ignoring the nurse, she ran over to where he was laying on a couch and squatted down next to him. He looked terrible! How could he have gotten so injured in such a short time? What had happened? Rukia reached up to shake his shoulder. "Renji. Wake up."

[stray_shinigami]

It took longer for Renji to wake up than it really should have. For someone that tended to be as on edge as him, the fact that someone had even gotten so close was rather odd.

After a few shakes, Renji managed to pry his eyes open, if only so he could tell whoever it was to go away. Their shaking him was just making him feel sick and even dizzier.

He looked at Rukia for a moment; he knew her, he knew that he knew her, but thinking was like trying to walk through thick mud, and this time it really pissed him off because he knew this was important

[haiiro_no_chou]

Rukia was really starting to get concerned when Renji didn't wake immediately. That wasn't like him at all. As kids in Rukongai they'd had to live by their wits alone, and the same was often true of Shinigami. She started to smile when he opened his eyes, but the look of confusion in them, added to the faint bruising (had his nose been broken?), had her eyebrows knitted together. What the hell was going on??

She started to jerk away when he took her hand, but his skin felt too cool, and he just looked so miserable that she let him. His voice sounded about as bad as the rest of him, gravelly and a little wet. She could barely even feel his reiatsu, even from here.

Something was very wrong.

Fixing her features into a scowl, Rukia nudged him with the hand he was holding. "What do you mean, you miss me? Renji, what happened to you?" There were a few other people around, including the nurse who had brought her here, but no real clues as to what was going on.

[stray_shinigami]

She was asking too many questions for this to be just the product of his imagination. Which also meant he'd just done something very stupid. Renji made himself let go of her hand - why had he thought he could do that, to begin with? - and slowly sat up. He leaned against the arm of the couch, one hand pressed on the ache on his side...

Oh yeah. Ichimaru had hit him there. Really hard.

"You... shouldn't be here," he said, enunciating carefully so that he wouldn't slur. The fact that she was here left him feeling shaken and ill. I don't want you to be here... "Had a bad night," he offered, as an answer to her question. "Then... got in a fight with the... traitor." Yes. The traitor. Good, he was making sense. At least more than he had before his nap. He hoped. "They..." He paused, slogging back through his recent memory, through the fight with Gin, then the nurses, then, ah, yes. The swift prick of a needle. "They drugged me

[theheirshinra]

When his name wasn't called Rufus was more than happy to keep to his usual schedule and head for the Sun Room. It tended to be quieter there, someplace that he could get some sleep. Given the damage he'd taken the past two Nightshifts, the idea of relaxing looked all the more enticing.

Moving around the others, he claimed one of the couches for himself and settled into it. Closing his eyes, Rufus let his head rest against the back of it. A light doze would probably be the best he could manage for now, but it was better than nothing.

[beloved_lives]

For no particular reason, Seimei found the patch of sunlight falling across Rufus' couch to be most pleasing. He sat down and rested back against it, his head level with the other man's waist, leaning against the edge of the cushion. Legs splayed out in front of him, hands folded across his abdomen, his catlike ears flattened back as he closed his eyes.

[theheirshinra]

Rufus blinked awake as he felt the cushion pushed in slightly. Eyes open, he glanced down and fully expected to find Reno there rather than some stranger. The ears threw him almost immediately. He'd seen quite a few odd things in his time, but not a person like this.

"I must be dreaming," he muttered to himself, laying his head back again. People avoided him on general principle, not flopped down beside him. That was the only thing that explained it.

[beloved_lives]

Seimei turned his head. "I don't doubt that you would dream up such a creature as I, but I assure you, you are awake." He half-smiled, glancing over the blond.

"Hello there." He said, by way of belated greeting. "I do not believe we have met."

[ontheabyss]

Brunch had been completely uneventful. Lyta hadn't found herself called for a visitor, and with some free time...

She didn't see any reason to try a new room. The Sun Room suited her fine, so the Sun Room was where she ended up. She found it relatively empty, a pleasant change. Instead of an irritating buzzing, the minds sounded like light white noise. Just a low hum in the back of her mind.

Taking advantage of the quiet and the lack of other people, the red haired telepath stretched out to get some rest.