Yet another intercom jingle sounded, and the nurses, anticipating the Head Doctor's orders, already began grouping around the patients as he began to speak
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The nurse had fussed over how dirty he'd managed to get in the greenhouse -- to hear her talk, he'd practically buried himself in one of the flowerbeds and tracked in a mountain of dirt. Even so she'd also been clearly pleased that he had showed some enthusiasm for the project, and complimented him on his efforts to recover as she had him stop to wash up at the bathroom on the way. Not that Hanatarou really cared that anyone thought it was a sign of his "recovery," really. He had no intention of recovering, if recovering meant he suddenly thought he was a human named John Smith and not a healer at all.
It was just that being in the greenhouse eased some of the homesickness that had dragged at him for the last several days: it wasn't quite the same, but it was close enough to feel sort of like home. The shihakushou helped a little, as did the fake Hisagomaru he carried at night, but...it still wasn't the same as actually doing something so familiar. In this place he couldn't heal well, and he certainly wasn't good at anything, but he could work with plants without complaining.
Once all cleaned up he returned to his room, finding that he'd arrived before Sora -- which thought reminded him of what he'd peripherally noticed in the greenhouse earlier. Was it possible that Sora had a brother or something? He'd never even thought to ask much about his roommate's life where he came from, out of worry that it might upset him or something. But now he was even more curious.
He kept one eye on the door as he settled down at his desk with his dinner tray, wondering if Sora would be there soon. Hopefully he could come up with something to say, some polite way to phrase the question. Outright asking, 'hey, do you have a twin brother?' didn't seem very nice at all.
Sora wasn't exactly sure how he felt about his meeting with Roxas. It could have gone better, but it also could have gone much, much worse. While it was odd that his Other remembered so little, that was the institute's fault. Maybe, with enough time, Sora would be able to explain all of it to him a little better. He was going to try his best to do so, at least.
It was a good thing that he had an exciting night to distract himself from the whole issue of his Nobody, though. While part of him was worried about heading down to the basement with his two closest friends because of how dangerous it was, Sora knew that he had to be better about trusting in them. He wasn't as worried about Riku, but when it came to Kairi... Well, he was just going to have to try and squash that overprotective urge. The girl understood how dangerous this place could get, so he was probably just overreacting.
As the boy walked into his room, he got the impression that Hanatarou had been waiting him. Well, more than usual, anyway. He tilted his head to the side for a moment in confusion, but decided that his roommate would say something if that was the case.
"Hey!" he said instead as he headed over to his desk. The spaghetti smelled delicious, so he was just going to have to try and not get it all over his face. It was a good thing they gave them napkins... "How've you been?" he asked as he started to slurp up some of the pasta with relish.
Why had Sora given him that look? Was there something wrong? Did he still have a smudge of dirt on his face? Hanatarou had spotted the one on his forehead when he went to clean up after the greenhouse, but what if he missed another? He smiled at Sora and then quickly turned back to his tray, trying to be subtle about it as he wiped a hand across his cheeks.
"Oh...good," he replied, absently nibbling at his piece of bread. No dirt that he could find. Maybe he just had had a funny look on his face when Sora walked in. "I think I, um, have a plan that might work at night. At least, er, Sakura-san didn't think it was stupid. A-and I liked the greenhouse." Which was evidenced by the fact that he still hadn't changed his clothing afterwards, despite his nurse's suggestion that he do so. He was going to change into his real clothing after dinner anyway, so he didn't really see the point.
Hanatarou hadn't given a very coherent answer, with Sora having to separate out the two points before he realized what his roommate meant. Still, he'd gotten pretty used to conversing with his slightly unsteady roommate over the past days, so that made it a lot easier.
Oh, and Hanatarou was mentioning Sakura again. Interesting... Sora felt his lips curl up into a smile as he took another big bite of the spaghetti, sucking it all up and then chewing happily. He wasn't being very good at eating politely, but he'd never done that best job of eating long noodles like this...
"What's the idea?" he asked once he'd finished chewing. Teasing the other boy about this girl he was working with hadn't gone over too well last time, so Sora decided to lay off. He was genuinely curious about the idea, though, since any sort of new plan was always worth hearing about. As for the greenhouse, Sora had been too distracted to do much with it, but he'd never been a fan of gardening in the first place. Plants just grew as they wanted on the islands, usually.
It was probably a good thing that Hanatarou was too busy with his dinner to notice that smile, else he might have started sputtering again like the last time. Instead he merely worked on eating his dinner, having discovered that he actually was hungry, after his lunch was interrupted and all earlier that day. He'd also started to realize just how little he had been eating at meals lately, and figured that maybe if he had food in him then healing wouldn't tire him out as much. It was worth a try, at least.
"Oh, I...well, I mean, there used to be a clinic in one of the rooms, right?" Hanatarou glanced over at Sora briefly to make sure he was still listening, making a vague gesture with the half-eaten bread as he continued. "Well, er, I saw someone's starting it again. But, you know, people don't usually get hurt around the rooms, so they have to be dragged all the way back here to get taken care of.
"So, um, I thought that, that if we had a mobile paramedic squad, maybe then we could get to people who needed help instead of making them come all the way back here. Or...or not get healed at all." He paused, blinked, and then turned back to stare at his plate. "There's...lots of people who need help and don't get it."
While it was kind of bad manners to just go on eating while Hanatarou was trying to explain something important to him, it wasn't like they had much time, and so Sora just did his best to keep his eyes on his roommate to show that he was paying attention.
And really, it was a good idea. Sora had dragged people to the clinic a few times in the past, and while he was glad that it was there in the case of an emergency, it wasn't all that convenient most of the time. Monster attacks around the hallways weren't very common, as his roommate had said.
"That sounds like it would be really helpful!" he agreed once he'd finished his current bite of food. "It'd probably be way better for them to not have to try and get all the way back to this area." There was one thing that stood out to the boy, though. "How are you going to find people? Just move around and hope that you come across someone who's hurt, or head for dangerous places like the Sun Room?" Either way, Sora got the feeling that it would be a big help, and so he was excited to hear more details.
"You...think so?" Hanatarou turned to stare at Sora for a moment, looking somewhat surprised. That was not only one, but two people who thought it would be a good idea, and Sora had been here for a long time, hadn't he? He should know what would work in this place and what wouldn't. After a moment he caught himself and glanced back down at his tray, pretending to be very interested in his dinner again.
"I mean, um, I'm not sure which would be better, though I know there's...almost always someone hurt around the Sun Room. But it'd be a problem if the healers got hurt, too." The healer absently chewed on a bite of spaghetti as he considered it. "We'd probably need someone who can fight to come with us. I'm not sure anyone would want to." To tag along with him all night, at least.
The healers getting hurt would be bad. Then there would be no one to heal them, which would put everyone in a lot of trouble. Sora could see how a group like that would definitely need a few fighters to help out (unless there were fighting healers, but it seemed like those were pretty rare).
"Well, you could ask!" he insisted as he took another bite of pasta. "I'd volunteer, but I'm already with Arts and Crafts, so..." Besides, after dragging Riku and Kairi into that with him, it wasn't like he could suddenly turn around and tell them that the plans had changed. He didn't imagine Riku had any healing power left, anyway.
"I hope it works out, though!" It would be a huge aid if it actually got off the ground, so hopefully Hanatarou would advertise about it on the board. And hopefully his notes wouldn't get taken down, either...
It was just that being in the greenhouse eased some of the homesickness that had dragged at him for the last several days: it wasn't quite the same, but it was close enough to feel sort of like home. The shihakushou helped a little, as did the fake Hisagomaru he carried at night, but...it still wasn't the same as actually doing something so familiar. In this place he couldn't heal well, and he certainly wasn't good at anything, but he could work with plants without complaining.
Once all cleaned up he returned to his room, finding that he'd arrived before Sora -- which thought reminded him of what he'd peripherally noticed in the greenhouse earlier. Was it possible that Sora had a brother or something? He'd never even thought to ask much about his roommate's life where he came from, out of worry that it might upset him or something. But now he was even more curious.
He kept one eye on the door as he settled down at his desk with his dinner tray, wondering if Sora would be there soon. Hopefully he could come up with something to say, some polite way to phrase the question. Outright asking, 'hey, do you have a twin brother?' didn't seem very nice at all.
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It was a good thing that he had an exciting night to distract himself from the whole issue of his Nobody, though. While part of him was worried about heading down to the basement with his two closest friends because of how dangerous it was, Sora knew that he had to be better about trusting in them. He wasn't as worried about Riku, but when it came to Kairi... Well, he was just going to have to try and squash that overprotective urge. The girl understood how dangerous this place could get, so he was probably just overreacting.
As the boy walked into his room, he got the impression that Hanatarou had been waiting him. Well, more than usual, anyway. He tilted his head to the side for a moment in confusion, but decided that his roommate would say something if that was the case.
"Hey!" he said instead as he headed over to his desk. The spaghetti smelled delicious, so he was just going to have to try and not get it all over his face. It was a good thing they gave them napkins... "How've you been?" he asked as he started to slurp up some of the pasta with relish.
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"Oh...good," he replied, absently nibbling at his piece of bread. No dirt that he could find. Maybe he just had had a funny look on his face when Sora walked in. "I think I, um, have a plan that might work at night. At least, er, Sakura-san didn't think it was stupid. A-and I liked the greenhouse." Which was evidenced by the fact that he still hadn't changed his clothing afterwards, despite his nurse's suggestion that he do so. He was going to change into his real clothing after dinner anyway, so he didn't really see the point.
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Oh, and Hanatarou was mentioning Sakura again. Interesting... Sora felt his lips curl up into a smile as he took another big bite of the spaghetti, sucking it all up and then chewing happily. He wasn't being very good at eating politely, but he'd never done that best job of eating long noodles like this...
"What's the idea?" he asked once he'd finished chewing. Teasing the other boy about this girl he was working with hadn't gone over too well last time, so Sora decided to lay off. He was genuinely curious about the idea, though, since any sort of new plan was always worth hearing about. As for the greenhouse, Sora had been too distracted to do much with it, but he'd never been a fan of gardening in the first place. Plants just grew as they wanted on the islands, usually.
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"Oh, I...well, I mean, there used to be a clinic in one of the rooms, right?" Hanatarou glanced over at Sora briefly to make sure he was still listening, making a vague gesture with the half-eaten bread as he continued. "Well, er, I saw someone's starting it again. But, you know, people don't usually get hurt around the rooms, so they have to be dragged all the way back here to get taken care of.
"So, um, I thought that, that if we had a mobile paramedic squad, maybe then we could get to people who needed help instead of making them come all the way back here. Or...or not get healed at all." He paused, blinked, and then turned back to stare at his plate. "There's...lots of people who need help and don't get it."
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And really, it was a good idea. Sora had dragged people to the clinic a few times in the past, and while he was glad that it was there in the case of an emergency, it wasn't all that convenient most of the time. Monster attacks around the hallways weren't very common, as his roommate had said.
"That sounds like it would be really helpful!" he agreed once he'd finished his current bite of food. "It'd probably be way better for them to not have to try and get all the way back to this area." There was one thing that stood out to the boy, though. "How are you going to find people? Just move around and hope that you come across someone who's hurt, or head for dangerous places like the Sun Room?" Either way, Sora got the feeling that it would be a big help, and so he was excited to hear more details.
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"I mean, um, I'm not sure which would be better, though I know there's...almost always someone hurt around the Sun Room. But it'd be a problem if the healers got hurt, too." The healer absently chewed on a bite of spaghetti as he considered it. "We'd probably need someone who can fight to come with us. I'm not sure anyone would want to." To tag along with him all night, at least.
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"Well, you could ask!" he insisted as he took another bite of pasta. "I'd volunteer, but I'm already with Arts and Crafts, so..." Besides, after dragging Riku and Kairi into that with him, it wasn't like he could suddenly turn around and tell them that the plans had changed. He didn't imagine Riku had any healing power left, anyway.
"I hope it works out, though!" It would be a huge aid if it actually got off the ground, so hopefully Hanatarou would advertise about it on the board. And hopefully his notes wouldn't get taken down, either...
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