As friendly as Leela had been, Rita was glad to be escorted away from her, for fear that some of that crazy might have been contagious. Abducted by aliens. Yeah, right
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Not only did the nurse-woman refuse to respond to any attempts at friendly conversation, she persisted in using that weirdly wrong name every time she addressed Minako. As if the entire situation wasn't strange enough, being called "Annabel" made her distinctly uncomfortable. Who exactly was this Annabel person who was supposed to be sick, and why did this supposed hospital seem more like a...a kindergarten with dormitories? And was she really expected to make something out of the construction paper and glitter that the nurse had set on the table in front of her
( ... )
As he passed through the Sun Room - which, to be honest, was not all that sunny - it hit Matt that he hadn't had a single cigarette since waking up in that sanitized room. The fact that this didn't wholly agree with the chainsmoker was becoming more and more obvious as he made it through the day; he was tired already, lethargic, and his right pinky had developed a weird tic. There was also a thin sheen of sweat along his forehead, matting his bangs to his skin a little. All in all, he felt like total and complete shit, and he honestly wasn't sure how much longer he could go until he finally collapsed from nicotine deprivation.
...Okay, collapse was probably too strong a term, but who could blame him for being a bit overdramatic? This was pretty much the worst day of his life- er, deathSighing as he shrugged the nurse away, Matt decided that maybe it was time to move on from that subject, lest he get all doubtful and mopey again
( ... )
There were other people wandering into the room, people dressed in the same clothing that Minako had found herself wearing earlier. A uniform of some kind, maybe? But why would they need a uniform? She was starting to consider another attempt at getting the nurse to talk (because the last one had gone so well) when one of the newcomers came and took a seat at her table.
"Hi," she said in return, glancing up from the food she had yet to touch...well, eat, given that she'd sort of mauled the sandwich a little before the nurse made her stop earlier. A little older than she was, glasses, kind of cute, and apparently ordinary. Probably. At least, he didn't feel like one of the enemy did, which was a good enough beginning for her.
Minako flashed him a bright grin, hoping that he would be inclined to talk unlike the Starch Brigade over there. "Have you been here long?"
"Nah," he answered. "Seems like everyone here right now arrived today."
Blinking, Matt offered a small smile back; that bright grin both intimidated and intrigued him. Either she hadn't started to figure out that there was something wrong with the facility they were currently being navigated through - which he obviously didn't approve, but seemed to continue anyway - or she was just being very upbeat about the entire thing. Both were entirely plausible.
The nurse brought over a sandwich of some kind, which he stared down at for a moment before deciding that he was going to just ignore it; his stomach was starting to clench a little, which he chalked up to the withdrawal that was hitting him hard and with no mercy.
Matt looked up at the girl. "This is gonna sound weird - but what year is it?" Please don't let me fall into another conversation with a chick who thinks she's from the future, he thought.
Oh. So maybe that's why the nurse had mentioned "new" patients. If he was telling the truth about that part, and if all the staff were as talkative as that nurse had been, Minako was going to have to find some way other than asking people to learn what was going on. That was...not exactly her strong suit. There weren't many other people in the room with them, which made it pretty obvious that none of her friends were among them. Why would she be the only one kidnapped or, well, whatever had happened? And where was Artemis when she needed help?
"That's strange," she replied with a puzzled blink. "I mean, I don't even know where 'here' is or how I got to...here. I haven't been sick in ages, no matter what they say." And she noted that he wasn't touching his food, either, so maybe that was a sign that it wasn't good to eat. Except other people were. So who was right?
Minako idly poked at her unopened juice box with one finger, pushing it over onto its side. Probably best not to take the chance-- wait what did he just ask? "What year
( ... )
"As far as some of us have been able to figure out, this isn't your usual hospital," he replied, more than a little disappointed by her reaction; she obviously knew even less than he did about the situation, the possibility of which surprised him. His smile faltered a tiny bit; some weird sense of chivalry was suddenly trying to spring up, in the form of as detailed an explanation as he could give of what he'd figured out about the place so far.
...and then her answer to his question sunk in, and Matt just sat there a moment, blinking at her. He opened his mouth, then closed it when he realized that he couldn't very well tell her that was crazy - given the circumstances and all.
He leaned forward, ignoring the food completely; if it spilled onto the floor, oh well. He'd be interested to see how the nurses reacted, of course, but such an experiment was small and petty, and he simply refused to stoop that low just yet. Looking her directly in the eye, Matt said, in a low tone, "Because there's something wrong with this place. Last I
( ... )
"Most hospitals don't need to kidnap their patients, so it seems a fair guess." Or had something happened that she simply didn't remember? The idea made Minako more than a little uncomfortable. What could possibly have made her forget something as important as leaving home and coming to a weird hospital with stodgy staff and grey pajamas? No, as weird as it was, the more plausible explanation was that she'd somehow been brought here while asleep. Hopefully whoever it was hadn't hurt Artemis....
But Glasses Guy's reaction to the year was a bit more dramatic than she might have expected. She drew back a little in surprise, blinking several times at the conspiratorial tone before the actual words sank in. 2010? 2010? That wasn't even possible.
Okay, well, she'd been to the thirtieth century before, but that had a purpose behind it and she'd kind of noticed the trip and all. And it had looked like future. This? Didn't look like anything weird, apart from the craft supplies and lurking so-called hospital staff. "No it isn't," she replied
( ... )
Her reaction made Matt chuckle softly, though it made his stomach lurch slightly to do it. Fighting back a sigh, his mind started to race, wondering who he had to knock out in this place to get a smoke. The nurses didn't seem like the type - perky people rarely smoked, he'd noticed throughout the years - but maybe some of the veteran patients?
Shit, he thought, they won't be back 'til tomorrow. An inward grimace at the mere thought of going that long without sweet nicotine.
But this is supposed to be an insane asylum, of sorts, Matt continued in his head. And where there're delusional people, there's normally violence, to some degree. And where there're violent "patients," there have to be orderlies. He started to try to force himself away from that train of thought - There's no guarantee the damn orderlies smoke! - and looked back at the blonde.
"Well, I'm jus' sayin'." Smooth, Matty. "And there's a guy here who's from the late 21st century - 2070s, if I remember right - and a chick who claims to be from the year 3004." Yeah, that
( ... )
Minako perked up visibly at the mention of the year 3004 but restrained her questions for the moment. She idly pulled a lock of hair free from the rest and began toying with it as she considered: could it be Chibiusa? Given the way she popped back in time whenever she needed to, it wasn't out of the question, even if she was supposed to have returned for good this time. It could be Pluto, too, since there was that whole weird time thing that Minako tried not to think about too hard.
(She'd asked Setsuna about how time worked at the Door she guarded, once, and only once. At this point she just figured that it did work and Pluto understood it. Any more than that wasn't vital to her duties as a senshi, so she didn't worry about it.)
"Sixteen," she replied, the cheerful smile back in place. "First year of high school. You?" He was probably out of high school, maybe in college. She'd heard college boys were fun to date, but that was entirely not important right now so she pushed that thought aside and moved on.
"Twenty," he replied, without much thought at all; his birthday was, in fact, just six days away. He couldn't help the slightly shocked look that crossed his face at the realization that he'd died just seven days shy of twenty.
Refusing to let himself be caught in the storm of depression that now seemed perfectly probable and quite threatening, Matt licked his lips and popped open the juice box, hoping the drink could help sate his thirst. Probably not; he had the gut feeling that only a smoke could cure that.
Instead, he chose to focus on her. "High school, huh?" He had honestly always wondered what a regular high school was like; now was his chance to find out, maybe? Secondhand experiences were still experiences, after all. "What's your high school like?" Matt tried not to look near as curious as he actually was.
Twenty would make him college age, though why his age would startle him Minako had no idea. It wasn't her business, though, so she let it go.
"Oh, it's...well, it's high school." She wrinkled her nose a bit and shrugged, not sure exactly what he wanted to know. He didn't really look Japanese, even if he spoke the language like a native, so maybe school was different where he was from. How different could it really be, though? There were classes and there was homework and that couldn't change much by location, could it?
And then she realized that she'd left out something important and gave a mildly embarrassed laugh. "Oh, my. I'm sorry, I'm Minako. Aino Minako. It's nice to meet you." As much as it could be in these circumstances went unspoken, and she looked at him expectantly for his response.
Swallowing, Matt just nodded when she didn't go into detail about the school; better if he didn't find out what he'd missed out on, really. Not like he could go back and change any of it.
A smile snuck its way past his defenses, and he chuckled lightly at her. She seemed so naive and sweet; it was slightly troubling, really, to know that there were still people like that in the world - people who had no real clue of what went on behind closed doors, in dark apartments and abandoned warehouses.
Aino Minako? he thought. So she's Japanese. His smile broadened just a little, this time with permission. Another cute Japanese girl. Let's just hope she's not secretly a mass murderer following orders from an evil genius. That would be disappointing.
"I'm Mason," he replied, resolving that it would be wise to stick to the alias until he was sure of what was going on in Landel's. "It's nice to meet you too - not really the ideal place or time, but... what can we do, huh?" He watched her closely; her reactions so far had been interesting.
He was kind of cute when he smiled. Minako's smile widened a little in response as though to encourage him, and she nodded to acknowledge the introduction. "I didn't exactly choose to be here, but it's better to make friends than enemies, right?" But from the way he'd been talking earlier, it sounded like he'd been here a little longer than she had, given that she'd just barely woken up and he was the first real person she'd talked to. (The nurse didn't count, because she didn't talk. At least, not about stuff Minako wanted to hear.)
"So, Mason," Minako began, absently poking at the juice box she'd tipped over, pushing it across the table's surface. "I just got here. Or woke up here, however I got here. But it sounds like you've already talked to some other people so do you maybe know where we are? And why?" The look she gave him as she finished wasn't quite puppy eyes, but it was close. If he knew anything she wanted to know it too.
Matt's smile broadened as well; he was actually enjoying this little conversation they were having, and it was a little surprising. He rarely enjoyed talking to people, but this girl seemed bright and intelligent, though sweetly innocent, in a way.
Plus she was just plain cute. That seemed to work in her favor quite a bit.
He chuckled at the all-too-familiar doe-eyed look she was giving him; he'd seen it too many times back at Wammy's to not recognize it almost instantly. So she's turning her adorableness to her advantage, huh? Trying to trade bright smiles and sparkling eyes for info? The girl had moxie, he had to admit.
"I'm really not all too sure," he found himself replying, though he hated to think that it was true. "I've just basically come to the conclusion that we're not crazy, but they keep telling us that we are. There're... too many inconsistencies for this place to be your average loony bin
( ... )
"So it's not just me, then?" That came out with a sigh of mingled annoyance and relief -- being called by the wrong name was just plain weird, like they'd mixed her up with someone else who was actually supposed to be here. If they actually did mean her when they said "Annabel," though, that meant there wasn't some kind of easily fixed mix-up in here somewhere. Not that it had been a very strong possibility anyway, what with the whole being kidnapped while asleep and brought to a weird hospital place, but there had at least been a chance.
Minako leaned back in her chair and sighed, just a little overdramatically. "They keep calling me 'Annabel.' I don't even look like an Annabel, do I?" It was a foreign name, first of all. She didn't look American at all. What were they thinking? "So I'm guessing you don't remember getting here, either? I know I went to sleep at home last night, and now I'm here. Nothing in between."
Matt chuckled again. "No, no. It's definitely not just you. Apparently, I'm someone named 'Marcus.'" He shook his head at her question, smiling at her. "And, no, you sure don't. Minako works pretty well for you." I wonder if this is going to become a trend, he thought, hunching forward and poking at the juicebox again. Cute Japanese girls everywhere; hopefully, meeting this one won't mean trouble for me, like the last.
He hesitated at her last question. He wasn't sure whether or not he should answer; on one hand, it might be helpful to have someone around here who he could fully talk to, confide in, even. He wasn't sure how long it would be before Mello actually came back- or if he was coming at all. The more he thought about it, the less likely it seemed; the nurse had gotten his name totally wrong, so maybe there was some other skinny, leather-clad, half-scarred blond guy with a shitty attitude running around the place?
Heh. Sure there is, Matty.
"My case is kind of... complicated, I think." Matt looked her right in the eye as he
( ... )
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...Okay, collapse was probably too strong a term, but who could blame him for being a bit overdramatic? This was pretty much the worst day of his life- er, deathSighing as he shrugged the nurse away, Matt decided that maybe it was time to move on from that subject, lest he get all doubtful and mopey again ( ... )
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"Hi," she said in return, glancing up from the food she had yet to touch...well, eat, given that she'd sort of mauled the sandwich a little before the nurse made her stop earlier. A little older than she was, glasses, kind of cute, and apparently ordinary. Probably. At least, he didn't feel like one of the enemy did, which was a good enough beginning for her.
Minako flashed him a bright grin, hoping that he would be inclined to talk unlike the Starch Brigade over there. "Have you been here long?"
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Blinking, Matt offered a small smile back; that bright grin both intimidated and intrigued him. Either she hadn't started to figure out that there was something wrong with the facility they were currently being navigated through - which he obviously didn't approve, but seemed to continue anyway - or she was just being very upbeat about the entire thing. Both were entirely plausible.
The nurse brought over a sandwich of some kind, which he stared down at for a moment before deciding that he was going to just ignore it; his stomach was starting to clench a little, which he chalked up to the withdrawal that was hitting him hard and with no mercy.
Matt looked up at the girl. "This is gonna sound weird - but what year is it?" Please don't let me fall into another conversation with a chick who thinks she's from the future, he thought.
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"That's strange," she replied with a puzzled blink. "I mean, I don't even know where 'here' is or how I got to...here. I haven't been sick in ages, no matter what they say." And she noted that he wasn't touching his food, either, so maybe that was a sign that it wasn't good to eat. Except other people were. So who was right?
Minako idly poked at her unopened juice box with one finger, pushing it over onto its side. Probably best not to take the chance-- wait what did he just ask? "What year ( ... )
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...and then her answer to his question sunk in, and Matt just sat there a moment, blinking at her. He opened his mouth, then closed it when he realized that he couldn't very well tell her that was crazy - given the circumstances and all.
He leaned forward, ignoring the food completely; if it spilled onto the floor, oh well. He'd be interested to see how the nurses reacted, of course, but such an experiment was small and petty, and he simply refused to stoop that low just yet. Looking her directly in the eye, Matt said, in a low tone, "Because there's something wrong with this place. Last I ( ... )
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But Glasses Guy's reaction to the year was a bit more dramatic than she might have expected. She drew back a little in surprise, blinking several times at the conspiratorial tone before the actual words sank in. 2010? 2010? That wasn't even possible.
Okay, well, she'd been to the thirtieth century before, but that had a purpose behind it and she'd kind of noticed the trip and all. And it had looked like future. This? Didn't look like anything weird, apart from the craft supplies and lurking so-called hospital staff. "No it isn't," she replied ( ... )
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Shit, he thought, they won't be back 'til tomorrow. An inward grimace at the mere thought of going that long without sweet nicotine.
But this is supposed to be an insane asylum, of sorts, Matt continued in his head. And where there're delusional people, there's normally violence, to some degree. And where there're violent "patients," there have to be orderlies. He started to try to force himself away from that train of thought - There's no guarantee the damn orderlies smoke! - and looked back at the blonde.
"Well, I'm jus' sayin'." Smooth, Matty. "And there's a guy here who's from the late 21st century - 2070s, if I remember right - and a chick who claims to be from the year 3004." Yeah, that ( ... )
Reply
(She'd asked Setsuna about how time worked at the Door she guarded, once, and only once. At this point she just figured that it did work and Pluto understood it. Any more than that wasn't vital to her duties as a senshi, so she didn't worry about it.)
"Sixteen," she replied, the cheerful smile back in place. "First year of high school. You?" He was probably out of high school, maybe in college. She'd heard college boys were fun to date, but that was entirely not important right now so she pushed that thought aside and moved on.
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Refusing to let himself be caught in the storm of depression that now seemed perfectly probable and quite threatening, Matt licked his lips and popped open the juice box, hoping the drink could help sate his thirst. Probably not; he had the gut feeling that only a smoke could cure that.
Instead, he chose to focus on her. "High school, huh?" He had honestly always wondered what a regular high school was like; now was his chance to find out, maybe? Secondhand experiences were still experiences, after all. "What's your high school like?" Matt tried not to look near as curious as he actually was.
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"Oh, it's...well, it's high school." She wrinkled her nose a bit and shrugged, not sure exactly what he wanted to know. He didn't really look Japanese, even if he spoke the language like a native, so maybe school was different where he was from. How different could it really be, though? There were classes and there was homework and that couldn't change much by location, could it?
And then she realized that she'd left out something important and gave a mildly embarrassed laugh. "Oh, my. I'm sorry, I'm Minako. Aino Minako. It's nice to meet you." As much as it could be in these circumstances went unspoken, and she looked at him expectantly for his response.
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A smile snuck its way past his defenses, and he chuckled lightly at her. She seemed so naive and sweet; it was slightly troubling, really, to know that there were still people like that in the world - people who had no real clue of what went on behind closed doors, in dark apartments and abandoned warehouses.
Aino Minako? he thought. So she's Japanese. His smile broadened just a little, this time with permission. Another cute Japanese girl. Let's just hope she's not secretly a mass murderer following orders from an evil genius. That would be disappointing.
"I'm Mason," he replied, resolving that it would be wise to stick to the alias until he was sure of what was going on in Landel's. "It's nice to meet you too - not really the ideal place or time, but... what can we do, huh?" He watched her closely; her reactions so far had been interesting.
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"So, Mason," Minako began, absently poking at the juice box she'd tipped over, pushing it across the table's surface. "I just got here. Or woke up here, however I got here. But it sounds like you've already talked to some other people so do you maybe know where we are? And why?" The look she gave him as she finished wasn't quite puppy eyes, but it was close. If he knew anything she wanted to know it too.
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Plus she was just plain cute. That seemed to work in her favor quite a bit.
He chuckled at the all-too-familiar doe-eyed look she was giving him; he'd seen it too many times back at Wammy's to not recognize it almost instantly. So she's turning her adorableness to her advantage, huh? Trying to trade bright smiles and sparkling eyes for info? The girl had moxie, he had to admit.
"I'm really not all too sure," he found himself replying, though he hated to think that it was true. "I've just basically come to the conclusion that we're not crazy, but they keep telling us that we are. There're... too many inconsistencies for this place to be your average loony bin ( ... )
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Minako leaned back in her chair and sighed, just a little overdramatically. "They keep calling me 'Annabel.' I don't even look like an Annabel, do I?" It was a foreign name, first of all. She didn't look American at all. What were they thinking? "So I'm guessing you don't remember getting here, either? I know I went to sleep at home last night, and now I'm here. Nothing in between."
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He hesitated at her last question. He wasn't sure whether or not he should answer; on one hand, it might be helpful to have someone around here who he could fully talk to, confide in, even. He wasn't sure how long it would be before Mello actually came back- or if he was coming at all. The more he thought about it, the less likely it seemed; the nurse had gotten his name totally wrong, so maybe there was some other skinny, leather-clad, half-scarred blond guy with a shitty attitude running around the place?
Heh. Sure there is, Matty.
"My case is kind of... complicated, I think." Matt looked her right in the eye as he ( ... )
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