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.

It was fine with her, really. Much easier to check the bulletin in here. It was more or less empty now, but that just meant she ought to be able to spot Naruto or Jiraiya should they appear. Or Sai or Shikamaru or of course, Sasuke, for that matter. She had to check up on that strange wound from last night. The fact that she hadn't seen the cranky ninja yet was troubling, to say the least.

And then there was the drama on the bulletin board itself. Seemed like there was only a handful of people with any sort of handle on the situation. She'd made mental note of the ones that appeared competent. Lelouch, Edgeworth, Lunge, and maybe a couple others. It wasn't a bad start though, while their information network was lacking, at least there was one.

She sighed and sat back on one of the couches, cooing at one of the cats and wiggling her fingers as she tried to lure it close enough to pull into her lap.

[One narcissistic wizard?]

[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.

As the nurse escorted him into the sun room, she kept a close eye on him while Howl looked extremely put upon. His nurse was immune to every explanation of why this situation was patently ridiculous, and Howl was growing aware that his voice had turned into a whine. Unfortunately, it wasn't merely his vanity taking a toll on his nerves. 'Bob' from earlier had left Howl feeling uncomfortable, and a cursory glance at the bulletin board showed an eerily elaborate story that every single one of the patients apparently subscribed to.

"I think it'll really help you to form some new friendships," his American nurse told him. The more Howl whined, the more she sounded as though she were addressing a child. "Look, Courtney is by herself. Courtney, Howell is new and in need of a friendly face."

Howl tensed very slightly. There was far too much socialization going on today. A part of him desperately just wanted to be left alone to sort himself out... but Courtney was a very pretty girl. She looked athletic and graceful, and reminded him a bit of the women that ran track back at his university. (Of course, it was apparent that Courtney was not of university age.) Either way, none of those girls had a wash of bright pink hair like hers. Courtney's dye job was absolutely impeccable from root to tip. It made Howl more jealous than he'd like to admit, that she was able to keep (and upkeep) her color while he was not.

Still, he smiled his best smile, and remained politely standing. "I've always had a fondness for cats," he said, watching the feline. Cats were an excellent shape to imitate for a quick escape. "Though I've never owned one. May I join you?"

[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.

[see_my_back]

Odd, Sakura thought, that this man would actually go by the name given him by the nurses. She saw no need to buy in to their little facade, but if he was new, maybe he didn't know any better. And with how polite (and admittedly, good-looking) her conversation-mate was, she couldn't find much to complain about.

"Not Courtney," she said, frowning briefly before shaking his hand. The sour look disappeared just as fast as the nurses left though, in case he might be worried it was meant for him. "You really are new."

Sakura sat back in her seat, trying not to stare too long at Howell's seemingly flawless features. It was a little unsettling how many gorgeous people were in this place. Even moreso how many of them actually came up and spoke with her. "I don't mind filling you in, so long as you promise not to think I'm completely insane. Because I'm certain it'll sound like it. This place is... well, weird is putting it mildly."

[slipperymagic]

Howl's eyebrows knit together in elegant concern. He hadn't gotten the time to carefully inspect the messaged posted all over the the wall, but he suspected she was going to give him more details regarding the mass belief that there were monsters at night. Including, but not limited to, zombies. Howl realized he was a true citizen of Ingary when his first reaction was to consider the theoretical magical makeup of animated corpses. Nasty, dark magic.

However, she was correct on one point already: this place was truly weird. Howl thrummed one set of fingers on his knee thoughtfully, and remembered the dozens of notes filled with words from worried people checking to make sure their loves ones were safe. He risked a wary glance at the nearest nurse.

"I promise to keep an open mind, Sakura," he assured her. "Why do you believe it will make you sound insane?"

[see_my_back]

"Well," she began, "it is a mental health facility. Just that seems like enough to cast some doubt on anyone's story." She might have had her own suspicions if not for the others from her own world that were here.

"At any rate, you may have noticed," she explained, "that most of the people here aren't who the nurses tell us we are. Most of the people here will tell you they're from different places or times or worlds even. It sounds impossible and I would be the first to tell you so, but... On your first day it's hard to believe, but after night falls, I think you'll be fairly convinced."

Howell seemed like a nice enough guy, so she hoped he would at least give it some consideration. Then again, if he was like most of the patients here, he probably had at least some kind of power to fall back on. Maybe she didn't have to worry after all.

"No one knows why we've been brought here or to what end," she scratched her head, annoyed that even Shikamaru hadn't been able to come up with much of anything. "But for now it all seems to come down to survival. If you're not strong or you're alone, I wouldn't go far at night. There's some pretty nasty stuff that lurks in this place."

[slipperymagic]

Howl kept his face interested in a most general manner, but the points regarding different worlds or times were all too plausible. Of course, this young lady, as pretty as she was, could have been genuinely insane. Likewise, Howl had to admit, there was a possibility he himself could be considered mentally unstable if he divulged his life story to the wrong person. He folded his arms and tapped one well-tended nail against his lip, which was only mildly choreographed.

Periodically it became difficult to reconcile his two lives. Howell saw a rather bland hospital setting in an unremarkable world in which things were straightforward and plain. But Howl was scared by how very, very possible some of the elements of such a scenario could be. Was he being paranoid and cowardly, or simply acknowledging the warning signs?

"I did see an assortment of notes mentioning, ah, threats at night," he conceded as a strand of dark hair slipped and fell back in front of his glassy eyes. He paused to fix it. "But what exactly do you mean by different worlds?"

[see_my_back]

Howell appeared to be listening and concentrating on what she was saying. A plus in her book. At least he hadn't completely disregarded it all as lies or insanity. And he'd read some small amount of the bulletin board.

"I recommend you read the primer for more significant details," she said, once again finding herself staring for a bit too long at the man's handsome features. His strangely empty eyes didn't bother her at all, many ninja had unique ones which were given to this ability or that, though his were a nice color.

She ran a hand through her short pink hair with a sigh, "it's just as it sounds. This place is completely different from where I was originally from. But it's not just my world, there's others from stranger places. Places with superheroes or talking beasts or anything else you could imagine. I don't know why they're all collected here, but that's just... the truth of it."

It was a horrific mess and it frustrated her to no end, plenty of which was evident on her face. "I'm a ninja, medical specialist, from a village in the Fire Country. A few of my friends are here too. But I'd guess that's all unfamiliar to you. I can't place your accent for one thing. I mean- sorry, I tend to over-analyze things just a bit." Sakura's cheeks turned a slightly pinkish shade as she caught herself doing so, even in casual conversation.

[slipperymagic]

"No, please." Howl held up one hand and grinned. His voice and face lit up with amusement, particularly to notice the blush spreading across her cheeks. Her hair certainly highlighted the matching pink flush. Conversing with Sakura had done wonders to make him feel better about his hair and lack of cosmetic spells.

"If what you say is true, Miss Ninja, then I can only benefit from hearing you talk more," he explained. "If anything, I should feel quite lucky to have ran into someone interested in over-analysis."

Under the surface, Howl considered her words. He felt somewhat as though he were in the middle of putting together a jigsaw, only to realize that the pieces were from many different puzzles. People all across hundreds of different existences were falling through the cracks and landing... here? He didn't want to believe it.

Howl was not shocked to find that he wanted to run very, very far away from this place, whether Sakura's story was true or not.

[see_my_back]

It was rare that she received compliments from someone outside of her work or studies. Tsunade didn't give them out very often, and she'd long since graduated the academy. A proud little smile made its way onto her face.

"I'm glad to help," she replied, "especially when someone is so willing to listen. Was there anything you had specific questions about? Or did you just want more general information? I'll admit, there's not a lot out there to be found just yet, but hopefully we'll have a better information network for the patients here running soon."

[sorry for being so slow! Busy weekend :S]