Day 43: Sun Room, Second Shift

[arc_wrench]

When the shift changed, HK stayed put. Even after a long night of zombie killing, he had no interest in meatbag fuel, especially after all the discussion of chocolate with that rather strange meatbag. It was just making him crave the stuff even more than he had previously, if that was possible

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[see_my_back]

At least Justice wasn't as slow as a lot of the other patients. He'd made some interesting points, enough to give her something to think about. Sakura's nurse didn't give her much time to talk though, and she'd only barely finished her meal when she was escorted off to the Sun Room

[slipperymagic]

Howl had opted to see a different location within the facility, but was disappointed to find that the security was vigilant. It was looking as though he would need to wait for nightfall in order to get some time to himself, and even then he was skeptical. At this point, he was expecting to be chained to his bed and stared at all night just to make sure he couldn't get his hands on a proper comb

[see_my_back]

Sakura hadn't expected company, but she seemed to attract it, both good and annoying. This one, at least, didn't seem too bad. He was polite and certainly easy on the eyes, even if he was closer to Kakashi's age than hers. She more or less ignored the nurse, but offered the man a friendly smile and sat a little straighter in her seat, glancing back to see the cat leap from the couch and out of her reach. Dammit.

Oh well.

"Go ahead," Sakura replied. Her experience with cats was limited to tracking them down for D and E rank missions. If the crazy old lady would quit tying ugly ribbons all over her cats, they'd be a lot less likely to run away.

"I'm Sakura," she offered, once the nurse was out of earshot. "I don't think I've seen you before, but I don't know a lot of people here. What's your name?"

[slipperymagic]

Howl took a seat next to the girl who was now calling herself Sakura. He pushed some of his hair out of his eyes by tucking it deliberately behind an ear, which he knew was a move that flattered his jawline nicely. Normally it would have also exposed an earring, but instead it only showed a naked, but pierced, earlobe.

"Howell," he answered pleasantly and held out a hand to his new acquaintance. "And likely you've never seen me because I only just arrived this morning. Sakura, is it? Not Courtney?" He couldn't stop himself from sounding a little curious. Beyond the fact that it did not match the nurse's introduction, it wasn't exactly a common sort of name in either of the places he came from.

[host_club_honey]

Just when they were having fun, the nurses had to go and separate everyone all over again! At least he knew they were all doing well. Honey's nurse was quick to hurry him on into the Sun Room for some reason. Maybe they were being too noisy in the chapel? But no one had seemed to mind very much.

He sighed and toted Usa-chan behind him. The room was almost empty and felt so lonely without any people in it! He decided to try sitting down near the kittens, setting Usa-chan beside him and reaching into the box to pick up one of the soft little animals. He wasn't quite as good with them as Takashi was, and ended up with a scratch on the back of his hand, but soon the kitten was settling into his lap, content to let him pet it.

[Tsubaki-chan~!]

[thecamellia]

She’d hoped having someone to talk to had helped Endrance in the end, if only to keep him from shedding tears without anyone around, but by the time they separated for a shift change and she got her chance to peruse the bulletin board, Tsubaki felt like she was the one who needed someone to keep her from weeping.

But there was no one to talk to, no one who could change the way of it and bring the two other shinigami who’d vanished back from wherever they’d gone. No one could do anything.

The nurse seemed not to notice a difference in Tsubaki’s demeanor if she happened to be quieter than usual, as she tried not to let the loss of Matsumoto show through. The woman was more concerned in getting Tsubaki something for brunch, though in truth, Tsubaki’s appetite was still mostly absent, like it‘d been for a few days already. That’s not good, a part of her said, the pragmatic tone of the ninja that stood apart from the grief and the wariness generated by the new intercom theme. You have to keep yourself healthy. You need all your strength.

[host_club_honey]

Honey turned when his name was called, but didn't budge too far with the kitten in his lap. He gave Tsubaki a big smile though; in spite of last night, the people he cared about seemed to be alright and that was all that mattered.

"Tsubaki-chan!" he chirped up at her. The kitten gave an irritated shake of its head before jumping from his lap and running back to play with the others. It left his hands free though, and he stood up to hug Tsubaki around the waist. "I'm glad to see you too!"

[thecamellia]

Such a different sight between then and the serene atmosphere now; a smile broke over Tsubaki’s face, and she happily returned the hug, bending enough so that she could put her arms around his shoulders, one hand still holding onto the pear.

“I was worried,” said the girl. “Blacking out like that doesn’t get any easier.”

At least he’s still here this morning…

[herr_inspektor]

Galvin’s testimony had been useful to him. From it (as well as the sources on the bulletin board) Lunge had been able to determine that there were scientific forces at worth here that he did not yet fully understand. For now, at least, the logical paradox that came with the existence of monsters had been resolved and he could move on to wrapping his head around the Institute and its inner workings- no mean feat, considering that he had neither a crime scene to inspect nor a witness to interview, let alone evidence or even a definite victim

[quarter_english]

As the nurse escorted him from brunch back to the Sun Room, L began to scan the people in it, looking for a tall, dark-haired man in his early fifties. Appearances might be deceiving, but in his own experience, that description, and the knowledge that Lunge claimed to be an inspector for Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office, made it seem unlikely that he would choose the wrong man to speak to by mistake

[herr_inspektor]

It wasn't long before a likely candidate entered the room- likely, at least, in that they seemed to look around before settling in a chair next to him. What Lunge hadn't expected was for said candidate to look so very... well. Not Japanese. Aside from the dark hair and eyes, there was little about the man to suggest anything but Western heritage. So, 'Ryuuzaki' was almost definitely a false name, then

[quarter_english]

L's first response was surprise: he heard Lunge claiming not to speak English in perfect English. The same realization that some unknown factor allowed the people trapped in Landel's to communicate followed on the heels of his surprise. For the moment, he elected not to question it; understanding why it was happening might be part of unraveling the greater mysteries of the place, but it would not help either of them at the moment.

"We are lucky. It seems not to matter." He spoke in English this time, relieved that comprehension wouldn't be a problem, but said the phrase We are lucky with a faint hint of irony: he would not describe anything else about their situation, as he understood it, as fortunate

[runner_up_robot]

Forte was wheeled back into the sun room, near the bulletin board, at his request. He'd always ignored the nurses as much as possible, and having to have one feed him was something he'd rather put behind him. Now he could at least read the bulletin board... well, the posts at the bottom. His right hand was held against his chest by the sling, and his left was hampered by the bandages (and pain), so he could pull a message down to read, but he couldn't write one of his own. He could barely write with his right hand, anyway.

[free, no limit, though people he knows would be nice]

[scalyfishman]

[If you don't mind? :3]

After that awkward conversation, Depth Charge was just about ready to curl up and drop into stasis lock for the rest of the day. Pit, make that the rest of the week. Once Scourge and Lugnut were gone he settled back into his armchair, sighing. This place was starting to get into his processor. Make him do stupid things. Maybe they put something in the painkillers that turned you into a mellow sap and shot your rear strut for scrap.

That was the trouble with the Institute; he couldn't get his head around the sudden changes. Every spark-pounding night warped into a sleepy day and back again, all without a moment's warning. He was lucky he hadn't started to see things ye-

In a wheelchair, by the bulletin board, was Forte.

Slowly, Depth Charge sat up. Forte didn't flicker, simply went on reading the notices. The younger bot was bandaged and bundled like a soldier after the final push.

He had a right to be. He was dead. Slag it, he'd seen him die, watched the light leave his eyes. This had to be a trick. Some

[runner_up_robot]

[what, he's not in the mood to see dead people walk sitting around?]

Forte had sent the nurse away, although of course she looked worried and simply moved into the background with the rest. He couldn't really get any privacy from them, but at least she wasn't hovering. From what he could see, something had happened last night, besides what he remembered. Of course, there were a few people, talking about what was happening, and what day it was, but Forte didn't even know what day it had been, so-

-and then someone touched his arm. As usual, he'd been completely unaware of his surroundings, and would have jumped if he could. As it was, he straightened immediately, then turned to see his attacker. When he recognized the face, through his foggy memory, Forte grinned widely.

"We won."

[scalyfishman]

Depth Charge's fingertips met rough bandage and then Forte moved. Automatically he jerked back, chest tightening. He may even have gasped. All he could think was that this was no illusion. This was reality.

What the Pit was going on?! Forte had died nearly three nights before and that was that. 'Getting better' wasn't an option. You didn't just come back from death. But come back he had, and now the Maximal found himself staring at him, aghast, wondering if he was on the brink of some kind of nervous breakdown. Primus only knew, he was long overdue as it was.

But Forte didn't seem to have noticed. He was actually smiling, as if he'd just been on some kind of vacation or something. Finally, he managed to speak. "You can't be serious."

[reallyshortfuse]

Before the nurse even got to ask her charge if she'd prefer the Sun Room or the chapel, the order to take her to the Sun Room had already been voiced. The nurse shook her head in response, but led the fireworks master through the doors into the lounge.

There were a few punks sitting around, but Kuukaku didn't pay them any mind. She walked straight over to the bulletin board to scribble a note in case her good-for-nothing brother might be around. If not, so be it. Only it throw a wrench into his training schedule (she didn't trust the lazy ass to take the initiative to go and train by himself, even when being useless during the second half of the whole Soul Society stuff proved he definitely needed it), but she figured she'd need to have him train extra hard to make up for it whenever she got back.

After that she began reading the other stuff. Most of it was asking if so and so was safe.

[Free!]

[guardiancomplex]

Touya wasn't particularly happy to leave Yukito in the Cafeteria, but he'd had all he was going to eat and he figured looking for Sakura was his next priority. He and Yukito would cover more ground if they split up.

Unfortunately, he didn't see Sakura yet, but maybe she'd just slept in. Maybe he should check the board to see if Sakura had posted anything...

The young man moved next to a woman he hadn't seen before (but given that he'd only arrived a few days ago, that wasn't terribly surprising). He scanned the bulletin for Sakura's sloppy writing, but didn't see it immediately.

He glanced over at the woman who seemed to be doing the same thing he was. "Looking for someone?" he asked.

[reallyshortfuse]

There was such a large amount of the "are you safe?"-stuff that most of the useful stuff seemed to be literally buried beneath it. Either way, it looked like she had missed out on quite some trouble tonight.

Suddenly, some punk that stood next to her spoke up. Kuukaku turned her head into the direction of the voice.

"I'm lookin' for one of my men," she answered, pointing to her own message. "Speak up, did you see some punk named Ganju?"

[guardiancomplex]

Woah. Tough lady. That was Touya's first impression of the stranger. Even the way she spoke said that she wasn't someone to pick a fight with. Not like Touya was adept at picking fights or anything. He was usually the one breaking them up by picking up damn shrimps by their collars and telling them to bug off before they really upset his sister and dammit that kid better stay away from her.

"Ganju?" Touya repeated, looking at the board and frowning. "I haven't heard of him, much less seen him. But I haven't been here very long. Only under a week."