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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[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.

Rukia. Wait. Rukia couldn't be here. It just wasn't possible. This had to be a dream. Considering the bizarre imagery his mind had been throwing at him up until now, he couldn't really be sure if he was even awake. But why would he be dreaming about Rukia? His sluggish thoughts began running in circles.

He took hold of her hand. He'd almost forgotten, somehow, how tiny she really was in comparison to him. It felt real enough. But he didn't want it to be real, because that meant she was here, and life had just become that much worse. Even so... it was good to see her like this, not about to be killed by Aizen. Dream or no, it was a better memory.

"Hey," he said, his voice soft and still rough from last night's trauma, "I miss you."

It wasn't something he would have ever said if he'd been in full control of his faculties, but all the same, it just felt good to say, to see her.

[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."

He looked at her, hoping that he'd managed to make sense. He almost wanted to touch her again, just to make certain that this nightmare really was happening, and because... he carefully squashed that thought, like putting his thumb on an ant. Just in case, to keep himself still, he clenched his hands into fists. Even that felt rather weak and distant.

[haiiro_no_chou]

Rukia almost laughed at Renji's attempt to speak clearly. In any other situation it would have been funny, and she probably would have given him a friendly slap upside the head. She didn't laugh, though. She listened intently to what he managed to say, her scowl growing. Traitor? Does he mean...? Drugged him?? Well, that explains the slur and slow reflexes.

Rukia stood up from where she had been crouched, and looked around her with contempt. What kind of place was this? Why had Renji been drugged, and how did he get into such a pitiful state? She didn't think she'd ever seen her friend look so utterly miserable. Even when he'd nearly been killed by Aizen, he'd had a fighting spirit to the end.

Rukia crossed her arms, looking at Renji again. She figured she would address the more immediate concern first. "Who drugged you? Why?"

[stray_shinigami]

Renji thought back over what he'd said, because he thought he'd already answered the question. Oh, apparently not. Or not very well. Time to try again. He took his time getting his thoughts organized. He was starting to get very frustrated with this whole process, and he imagined he looked like a complete fucking moron, which just frustrated him more.

"The nurses. Drugged me," he said. "Because I tried to kill Ichimaru." He grinned briefly. "And I bit him." And there was so much more that had gone wrong with just the morning, and then the previous night, and fuck, he just didn't want to think about it. Which was just as well, because he was having a hell of a time just staying mostly upright.

And Rukia was here. "I'm... really glad you're okay," he said. "I..." ...miss you. Because even when you were nearby, we were still far apart. He shut his mouth with an audible click.

Shut up, moron. He was going to kill those nurses, for this. Oh yeah.

[haiiro_no_chou]

At Renji's mention of the nurses, Rukia directed a withering at the nearest one, tempted to go throttle the woman then and there. Renji's next statement knocked that thought right out of her mind. She stared at Renji in horror.

"Ichimaru??" she hissed, looking around as though he might slither up right then. How could he be here? Had they really been captured by Aizen? And Renji bit Ichimaru??

He continued for a moment, though, and she was again confused by his next statement. In a more gentle tone, she said, "Of course I'm all right. I was just with you before I found myself here. Don't you remember?"

This was starting to feel like some horrible nightmare, and made about as little sense as one.

[stray_shinigami]

Renji shook his head. He wondered if this was like with Ichigo... she was somehow further ahead than him? That thought was unpleasant. He felt like he was the only one that didn't know what was going on. And it felt unfair. But yeah, life was goddamn unfair.

"No." He said. "No. Last I remember... Aizen. The..." He shut his mouth again, clenching his fists a little tighter. When I failed you. When I betrayed you. When they beat me down and I couldn't do anything but watch. "The execution."

He didn't want to look at her any longer, so he stared at his knees. "Ichimaru is a prisoner, too. Showed up at breakfast."

Maybe it was just the thought of what passed for breakfast here, but he kind of felt like throwing up. "I..." I'm sorry. Forgive me.

[haiiro_no_chou]

How could that be the last thing he remembered?? So much had happened since then, so much time had passed. Did he have amnesia? Her blood ran cold again when he confirmed her fears. Ichimaru was here. She had to suppress a shiver.

"Well, it's been a while since... the execution. I'm safe now, thanks to you, and Ichigo, and... my brother. Before I woke up here, I was with you, and we were going back to Soul Society from the real world."

For the third or fourth time since she had found him lying here, Renji stuttered out an, "I..." What was his problem? He was acting like Ichigo after the first Arrancar attack. Well, I'll worry about Ichimaru, and figuring out what exactly is going on, later.

Fixing her features into a stern glare again, Rukia tried to find a spot on Renji that didn't look too bruised or bandaged. She settled for his left foot, stomping on it with her own slippered foot. "Anyway, since when do you mope around like this, huh?

[dead_draven]

Eric had spent the entirety of Brunch sitting by himself and staring off into space.

He'd always kind of hated drugs.

Now, however, his healing was really kicking in and moving the toxins out. By the time the shift change came, he was much more coherent, and a slight sway to his walk was really one of the only indications that he'd been drugged at all. Thus, when he spotted Renji, he recognized him and walked over, noting the state he was in and the woman he was with. He vaguely remembered a fight during Brunch...which would certainly explain the glazed look in his friend's eye.

"Hello," he said, to them both, rather amiable considering his mood only an hour or so before. "Enjoying the house cocktail, Renji?" To the new woman beside him, he gave a friendly, if slightly over-the-top wave. Oh hooray for drugs. "Don't abuse him, he's been fighting already today. Nice to meet you, though. Eric Draven, and you are?"

[stray_shinigami]

Renji glared at her and tucked his left foot behind his right, so make it a harder target. "Ichimaru is also a prisoner," he repeated. "There's more of us than him." He collected his thoughts for a moment. "And he's as... weak as the rest of us. Kurosaki is here. Ran is here." That was the important stuff.

What the hell did she want from him, anyway? He felt like shit, he could barely see straight, and the fact that she was even here officially made this the fourth or fifth worst day of his life. He didn't have the energy to put on a good face. But he did his best to smile, since that was what she wanted, and... squashing that thought, too. The smile came out a bit bitter and half-assed, but it worked.

And then Eric showed up. He wasn't sure if he just wanted to give the guy a fucking kiss for rescuing him from... whatever this was. Or if he wanted to punch him in the face for interrupting his time with Rukia. Not that he'd been doing anything with it. He settled for vaguely annoyed but extremely grateful.

"Gonna try to throw up on another nurse, soon," he told Eric. "Let 'em know I appreciate their work." He rubbed at his eyes with one hand. "This is... Rukia."

He did his best to sound cheerful. His emotions could fuck off, because he had no right to feel the way that he did right now. But considering his current state, he wouldn't have been surprised if he failed miserably.

[haiiro_no_chou]

Rukia expected the usual squawk of indignation when she stomped his foot, but instead got a glare from Renji. He really must be having a bad day, she thought.

The appearance of the other man was somewhat irritating, as she wanted to ask Renji more about what was going on. She attempted to be civil though, taking in his very odd appearance. After Renji introduced her, she nodded her head at Eric. "And how is it you know Renji?" she asked

[dead_draven]

"Good plan," he approved. "I think there's a couple handy. Wait until they get close."

"How do I know him? Oh, he's a card-carrying member of our little 'Dead People Club' we've got running around here. I suppose 'People Who've Died' is more accurate, but..." he waved a hand dismissively. Then, rather belatedly, he added, "Am I interrupting anything?"

[stray_shinigami]

"Scored one this morning," Renji mumbled, before he remembered that gee, he really hadn't wanted to talk about that, at all. In fact, he'd been planning to pretend the throwing up on the nurse thing just hadn't happened at all. He rubbed his eyes again.

"We've talked about a... bunch of stuff," he said. "Little about the sort of police stuff you'n'me do." He figured Rukia would pick up that hint. That was about as subtle as he was currently equipped to get. "And his spirit thread looks real... weird." He stopped. There'd been something else he wanted to say, but it was gone. "Yeah, Eric... Rukia's from where I'm from."

He stared at the arm of the couch for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts. Because there was stuff Rukia needed to know. Finally, in frustration, he smacked his hand against the couch arm. He looked at Eric. "Could you tell her about the night... thingy." He pinched the bridge of his nose, his frown becoming more frustrated. "Having a hard time thinking right now."

[haiiro_no_chou]

So apparently Renji was vomiting on nurses? That was... odd. And now this Eric fellow was talking about being dead, and Renji was saying that they were police. Okay, so he probably hadn't told Eric the whole truth about what they do, but the pale-skinned man at least knew that they were not alive. At any rate, they seemed rather friendly with each other. For some reason Rukia found herself irritated by that.

"Spirit thread, hm?" Rukia murmured, looking Eric over. She concentrated, trying to dislodge whatever it was holding her powers back. She managed to get a brief glimpse of Eric's spirit thread, as well as Renji's, but even the other people in the room seemed too far away. As Rukia felt herself shifting back into the normal realm of vision, she realized she was swaying, and the room was spinning.

Trying to get the ground to be down and the roof to be up, Rukia stretched out one arm, grabbing onto the closest thing she could find. After the world righted itself, she found her hand on Renji's shoulder. She let go, rubbing her temples. "That was strange..." she glanced at Renji, then back to Eric. "Your spririt thread is... different. Like ours, but darker. What are you?"

She was also curious to hear about this "Night thingy" Renji had mentioned, and perhaps Eric would tell her.

[dead_draven]

He raised an eyebrow. "Well, one you, zero nurses, I guess."

He waited her out, figuring that, after what Renji had said, she'd want to see for herself. "Don't try too hard. Things are tougher here." He cocked his head to the side, a distinct, avian movement. "Not sure. For a while I thought maybe Renji could tell me, but he seems about as confused as you or I. I wish I did know..." He trailed off for a moment, his thoughts continuing beyond what he would say aloud. He brought his concentration back to the conversation with a difficulty. Damn drugs.

"As for the 'night thingy'? When night falls, you'll be freed to wander about the building, but also chased by horrific monsters...abominations...they're difficult to describe. When morning comes again you'll be back in your bed with no clue as to how you got there, usually bandaged up if you've been injured. Dangerous time, night is. I rather like it." His smile widened, and, contradicting his description of the horrors of nightshift, he seemed to be telling the truth when he said he liked it.

[stray_shinigami]

Renji wanted to warn Rukia against trying to look, but he knew he wouldn't listen to himself, given the situation. They were equally stubborn. That was part of how they'd made it.

He almost jumped when Rukia grabbed him. He also almost reached up to touch her hand, but he managed to wrestle that idea into submission. Concentrate. He needed to concentrate. His hand made a small movement, little more than a twitch, but that was all.

"Most of the thingies... monsters... they're easy." He grinned. "Been killing 'em with ballpoint pens. But some of 'em... all you can do is run." He tapped his fingers, gathering up more thoughts. "Sometimes, they set other prisoners... set them against us. Sometimes they take people and... and... do things to them. Things." He was getting frustrated again. "Just doing my best to watch the kids."