Day 47: Sun Room [4th Shift]

[forgot_it_all]

[For Yuna!Fish and chips weren't his favorite thing ever, but he did make sure to eat it all. He just liked to think of the fish as the Filet'o Fish without the bun and it made it easier to eat. The french fries had been pretty well cleaned off and he'd even managed a bit of fruit, although he avoided the oranges and other sour things his nurse

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[jouer_sans_voir]

It seemed that all she'd done today was move back and forth between two rooms, but honestly, Nunnally wasn't certain that she would be able to do much more than that unassisted. Even those short trips had left her tired and sore, but she still refused to accept any help from the ever-present hovering staff. She could do this on her own. She would not allow herself to be a burden on anyone, now that she had the ability to do this on her own, though not without difficulty.

It was getting later in the day, and the schedule on the bulletin indicated that after this period would be the dinner hour. Would it be back to the cafeteria again, then? Thankfully it would be the last such trip for today: despite the worries she had about the approaching night, she would still be glad to return to her room. The exhilaration of walking was wearing off, leaving just the weariness, added to the mental exhaustion from everyone she'd talked to and everything she'd learned that day.

As she made her careful way toward the closest sofa she paused a moment to glance around, wondering where the kitten that had kept her company earlier had wandered off to. There was no sign of it at the moment, though there was quite a bit a furniture behind which he could be hiding. When the orderly stepped forward, apparently thinking that her pause indicated a need for his help, Nunnally shook her head slightly and continued onward, carefully lowering herself into a seat without any indication of how glad she was to take a rest.

She did allow the orderly to set her crutches aside where they wouldn't be in the way, and then went back to looking around for the friendly kitten. He wasn't behind her sofa, not as far as she could see. Maybe if she just sat still long enough he'd come find her? She wouldn't mind the company at the moment.

[Honey]

[host_club_honey]

Cloud did seem like a nice person. And it was good that he didn't have to worry so much since he already had friends here who could help him. After this morning though, the nurses weren't so keen on letting him go outside again. They were kind about it, but told him he would have a lot more fun in the Sun Room playing with some of the other children.

Honey nodded, looking forward to the end of this shift when he could go back and have another piece of cake in his room anyway. There were still plenty of people to talk to and no creepy robot guys or bullies picking on his friends. After a few moments of scanning the room, his plush bunny hugged tightly in front of him, Honey saw a few new faces. And making new friends was one of the best things about being in new places, even if they weren't very good places.

The girl had really pretty hair that ran long and she seemed like she was looking for something, but what it might be, he wasn't sure.

"Hi!" he called out as he walked over. His large brown eyes flicked over the area around her as if to follow where she'd been looking. "Did you lose something?"

[jouer_sans_voir]

Kittens weren't the only cheerful creatures wandering the room, it seemed, for Nunnally hadn't been sitting there long before she was joined by another. She glanced back to face the newcomer, offering a smile as she took in his appearance. Younger, maybe? Small, certainly, and carrying a pink stuffed bunny like a security blanket. More importantly, though, he seemed a lot happier than most people here, and she welcomed that, especially after the day she'd had.

"Oh, no. Not really." She tilted her head a little, her smile turning from merely polite to more friendly as she spoke. "I just had a kitten visit me earlier today, and I was hoping he'd stop by again. But he's probably busy now." Cats tended to have their own priorities, after all: they'd come and go as they pleased, and there was little a human could do about it.

Had this boy been here long, though? If so, what made him so happy? Everything she'd heard so far said this was a horrible place. "I'm Nunnally," she offered, pushing down her curiosity. It wasn't polite to ask too many questions when they'd just met. "What's your name?"

[host_club_honey]

Oh good, the girl was friendly! Honey favored her with one of his sweetest smiles as he jumped up onto the seat next to her, then set Usa-chan on his lap. He and Takashi and Soubi came and played with the kittens often enough, but he was glad they helped other people too.

"Mm, they're fun, but sometimes they like to hide," he explained, settling into his seat.

"I'm Honey! It's nice to meet you Nunnally-chan!" he nodded, adding another charming smile. "Are you new? Lots of new people came in today I think."

[jouer_sans_voir]

Something about the boy's cheer was infectious, and Nunnally felt her own smile widening a little in response. How old was he, anyway? The plush bunny and his general stature implied a child, but would they really bring children into a place like this? Hopefully not. Hopefully he was older than he looked.

"Yes, I just woke up here this morning." How often did new people arrive here? Likely not often, if it was something worth noting like he had. Or so she could hope, for others' sake. "It's nice to meet you too, Honey. You're from Japan, aren't you?"

[host_club_honey]

Newly arrived? She didn't seem terribly upset, which was good. It was important to stay optimistic. Nunally smiled back though, and she seemed genuine and really sweet.

"I'm sorry you got stuck here," he told her, "did someone already tell you a little bit about this place?"

As for his nationality, he nodded, "Eheh! You noticed? Honey is short for Haninozuka Mitsukuni. But Honey is a lot easier to say and it's sweet too! Have you been to Japan before?"

[jouer_sans_voir]

"Oh, yes, I...know some people who are here already. Although it's strange, they don't remember some of the things that I do, from back home." If he'd been here for a while, maybe he knew something as well? Knowing Lelouch, he might very well have neglected to mention something if he thought it would only upset her. "Does that sort of thing...well, happen often? It seems very strange."

But he was from Japan. Nunnally had suspected it, with the use of the "chan" suffix, but didn't want to assume anything in this place. Especially not since he recognized Japan as Japan and not Area 11, which meant that either the history of his world was different from what she knew, or...he was from around the same time as she, or after. Or well before, which for his sake she hoped wasn't true.

"I used to live there," she replied, and as she did her gaze slid away from him for a moment in an effort to hide her discomfort; she paused as it fell upon Lelouch sitting not too far away and blinked with the surprise of recognition. He really was still there, a fact that was both comforting and confusing. Nunnally caught herself and quickly pulled her attention back to Honey again, putting the smile back into place. "But now I live in Britannia." Would he even know what Britannia was? A place where it didn't exist was...almost as confusing as her brother's presence.

[host_club_honey]

Honey sat up a little straighter, leaning forward in surprise when Nunally mentioned that the times for her were different too. It hadn't come up much before and the few times it had, Kaoru and Hikaru had been hesitant to talk about it. He nodded his understanding though, "Mm! That happened to me too! I don't know if it happens a lot, but it turned out okay I think. We still got along and Hika-chan and Kao-chan were still Hika-chan and Kao-chan."

He nodded sagely. Even if it made little sense to Nunally, it made enough sense to him. Sometimes dwelling too much on the details just didn't matter. They were his friends, even if they remembered things a little bit differently than before.

Honey kept careful track of how the girl reacted to the conversation though. Even if he appeared to be childish, being able to read some of people's emotions was a big part of being a good host. If he didn't know what to do or say to make his guest feel at ease, he wasn't doing his job right. He followed her gaze to a boy talking with Takashi. Well, if his cousin was making new friends, that was great too! It was a big step for the other boy, someone who'd been close to him since they were just little children. This place was terrible in a lot of ways, but the people they'd met here still helped each other grow.

Rather than focus on Japan, which seemed to cause the girl unrest, he tried talking about her home. "Britannia? What part? I've visited there a few times! It's a really pretty island too. My mama has family in Europe, and our family travels a lot for work and things like that, so maybe I've been there!"

He tilted his head curiously, glancing up at her over the stuffed toy. Hopefully talking about her home a little would put her in better spirits. "What's Nana-chan's favorite place to visit?" he asked, shortening the name almost unintentionally.

[jouer_sans_voir]

It sounded so simple, but was it really? Lelouch was Lelouch, certainly, but -- she wasn't the same person that he'd known at that time. So much had happened, so much had changed, and Nunnally simply wasn't the sheltered girl she had once been. That much had been shown already, at breakfast, when her brother had automatically started to reach for her tray, most likely intending to cut up her food for her as he always had before. Could she just ignore that and act as though everything was normal?

She would have to consider that later, though; it would be unfair to Honey, not to mention impolite, to sit and worry about it instead of focusing on her conversation at the moment. He'd also given her a puzzle to confuse her as well, and she welcomed the change in topic. "An island?" she echoed, sounding distinctly puzzled. "It's...a little large to be called that, isn't it?"

It was a little unusual to be addressed in such a familiar fashion, and she blinked once in surprise at the nickname, but then only smiled and shook her head. "It isn't the place so much as the people who are there with me," she replied softly. After all, until recently she couldn't see where they were. Most of her good memories were from the people she was with at the time.

[host_club_honey]

Honey giggled at her response and the apparent confusion he'd caused. While he hadn't meant it that way, Nunally's reaction was cute in a way too, "It's okay, it's the same for Japan too. Actually Japan is made up of lots of islands!"

Maybe she just hadn't studied a lot of geography? It was easy to assume that your home was the largest place imaginable until you actually got outside of the country and traveled. Besides, off the top of his head, he honestly couldn't recall which country was larger in size between the two.

He nodded at her other statement though. Sometimes with all the places they visited, it was a lot easier to remember the things he'd done with his friends over where it was they'd gone. Tamaki loved to travel and sight-see, even if it meant dragging everyone else along for the ride.

"I think I know what you mean," he agreed, "it doesn't matter so much where you are as long as you're with the people you care about and making great memories together, right?"

[jouer_sans_voir]

Britannia was significantly larger than Japan, even if it was made up of several islands, but -- wait, hadn't Lelouch said something earlier about a different reality? A world where Washington's Rebellion succeeded, leaving a country called "America" in the middle of what she knew as Britannia? Maybe...something like that had happened in the world where Honey was from.

This was really starting to get confusing, though. Just the idea of different worlds and diverging timelines and -- well, it was fine in a story, but to actually live it? Nunnally decided to just leave that alone for now rather than pressing the point.

She just nodded slightly in agreement with the other statement instead, her smile turning a little wistful. "Yes, exactly. That was the really important part for me." She paused briefly, then shrugged a little, dismissing the pensive moment. "I suppose that's why I'm glad there are people I know here already. And I can make new friends, right?"

[host_club_honey]

"Mm!" Honey smiled encouragingly, "there's a lot of really nice people here, so I'm sure you'll make lots of friends."

Despite the few bullies he'd seen, most of the people were friendly or at the very least sociable. So hopefully Nunally wouldn't have trouble finding people to be around. If he didn't have his friends, it would be a lot more difficult to keep his spirits up, he was sure.

"So tell me more about Nana-chan!" he decided, smiling and giving her an inquisitive look. "What do you like to do most? Do you have a favorite color? Oh! Or your favorite game to play from home!" he'd given some thought to at least writing all of them down. Just because they were from different worlds didn't mean they couldn't all have fun together.