Day 50: Chapel

[full_score]

The last thing Claude heard was the Head Doctor's voice faintly filtering into the corridors of the ship before he found himself tucked beneath the sheets of his bed. It took a moment to register he'd even changed locations, but then he he abruptly sat up, fought the wave of nausea that washed over him, and felt the blankets beneath his fingers.

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[stringless_doll]

It was bright when Nataku opened his eyes. He'd slept too long again but it had been a quiet, dreamless night. He had never gone so long without a nightmare. He wondered sometimes, when he had too much time to himself, if this place was just a dream of sorts while his body slept in the heavens somewhere between life and death. Maybe it wasn't a good dream, but it was better than what he had left behind. There were friends and second chances here. There were people so much like him.

He sat up, shaking off the final traces of sleep, and glanced over at the other bed. Then again, maybe he was thinking too much. He'd alway slept peacefully when Goku snuck into his room. Though Ritsuka was nothing like him, at the least he was a friend. His presence was comforting, and it was as simple as that. Most of his friendships were.

It was Homura that always complicated things. It was novel to be able to voice his disagreement and still remain close with those he cared about the most. He knew, somehow, without really knowing the outcome of this fight, that he and Homura would eventually be on opposite sides. Homura who had been his friend and confidant from the start, who trusted him with something as dangerous as the truth. Their ideologies were too different - or maybe just too similar. Homura would fight with everything he had to be with that woman again, and to be free, and Nataku... Had only a vague idea of what he was fighting for. On second thought, maybe this was a bit premature. Finding a purpose wasn't nearly as simple as losing one.

He let his nurse lead him out of the room without complaint. He told himself not to worry if he didn't see Jason hanging around the church, and it would be sort of nice if it worked.

Eventually, he gave up looking and settled for the closest pew...which was currently occupied by some kind of sulky hair creature. Nataku stopped just out of arms' reach. "Hey, are you trying to mop the bench with your head or something?"

[anemptydecapo]

It was becoming more and more difficult to achieve any sort of meditation here, even in a silenced room like this. The quiet was doing nothing, not when surrounded by other bodies with their own stresses. He should have opted to stay in his room this morning, if only to be alone and refocus his scattered thoughts.

Last night had been torturous enough, but placed on top of the night before--

...mopping the... what?

The assassin dropped his hands and leaned back into the pew, straightening himself in response to the words that had brought him out of his thoughts.

There were no words to properly describe the indignation and shame he had already been feeling as a result of idiotically believing false information and wasting enough time to achieve nothing of what he had planned to. He was angry and disappointed enough in himself to last several weeks worth of bad moods. To say this comment came at a bad time was to say the weather was only a bit unfavorable yesterday.

His head turned slowly like something out of a horror movie, white hair following the movement and parting enough to leave one blue eye in sight. There was no sound, no expression, just a menacingly cold aura that surrounded him as he watched the boy at his side.

A teenager. Asian descent, most likely Chinese. Diamond marking on his forehead.

Venom didn't narrow his eyes. He didn't raise his voice or show any outward signs that he had been vaguely insulted. He only stared quietly and calmly.

"What is it that you want?"

[stringless_doll]

Oh, he had eyes. Nataku wondered if all of them were blue.

Most of the greetings he'd received so far had been fairly superficial regardless of what he chose to say. The silence, though relatively brief, was sort of unnerving. He was being watched, and judged. Though the man's expression didn't change - at least, not as far as he could tell through all of that hair - his negativity was almost palatable. He couldn't say there was no reason for it, but getting worked up over a silly thing like that? Come on.

"I didn't...think that far ahead." Nataku admitted, somewhat sheepish. "I was sort of hoping you'd fallen asleep. But since you're just sulking, can I stick around here? I don't really have anywhere else to go."

[anemptydecapo]

He hadn't considered that far ahead? That was his excuse? "Then maybe you should consider your actions further before greeting someone that way." Unhappy words, but the tone was more corrective than threatening; he was too tired for it to come out as anything other than cold indifference.

He turned his head away from the boy with another sigh, lacing his fingers together in his lap and staring at the podium ahead while he attempted to relax (key word being "attempted". The minute he forgot about them, the forming bruises on his muscles began to remind him of their presence like a pack of clingy dogs). Being upset wasn't going to get him anywhere. He knew that - he kept telling himself that. The obnoxious comment may have not helped his mood any, but he shouldn't be letting anything get the better of him in the first place.

'You're stronger than that, Venom.'

He unlaced his fingers and gestured to the side, giving permission for the stranger to sit where he wanted. "I'm not going to stop you."

[stringless_doll]

"Yeah, I probably should." Nataku replied, waving it off. He clearly wouldn't be re-considering his actions any time soon. At least the man didn't fly into a prissy self-righteous rage about it. He was a little (very) grumpy, but Nataku didn't particularly mind being scolded. He'd been getting away with a whole lot around here anyway.

He let the man gather himself without interruption, glancing around the room again for familiar faces. He was grateful for the few he caught sight of but... Jason, when I find you again, I'm beating some sense into your stupid thick head. If he'd gotten himself killed in that stupid fight, it would be entirely his own fault. He shouldn't have tried it. Nataku could have stopped him. It would have been an irrevocable betrayal but he might have done it anyway if he knew this would be the outcome.

"I'm not going to stop you." His attention snapped back to the man in front of him.

"Thanks." He replied, bowing his head politely before he sat. He took the pew in front of the man and turned, sitting up on his knees with his arms resting against the back of it. Though he didn't slouch, he was clearly relaxed, his expression soft and thoughtful. "I'm Nataku by the way. Why so sulky? Did you have a really bad night?"

[anemptydecapo]

It looked like the boy was finally going to be silent and take a seat. That was fine. Venom closed his eyes and attempted to calm his frayed nerves again, focusing on the silence and meditating through the emotions he should not be feeling in the first place. Assassins didn't feel - they acted. No matter what his captors did, no matter how they injured him, slowed him down, or took his Magic away, he would act and find a way around it. There was a reason he was the Guild Head, a reason he had resuscitated it from near-extinction despite everything and everyone trying to stop him. There was a reason Master Zato always believed in him when no one else would, a reason he was still alive and everyone who had crossed him was dead.

He didn't give up. He would never give up. He could die taking these bastards out, but so long as he still had breath left in him, they would learn why they should have chosen Millia instead. At least she was guaranteed to run like the cowardly bitch she was.

The sound of rustling in front of him caused him to open his eyes again, only finding a face-full mystery child bearing down on him. Was this... something all children did? And why it that the only ones willing to speak with him where those under the age of eighteen? Was it the shirt? Everyone was wearing the shirt. It didn't mean he was smiling with it under the veil. As a point of fact, he was still frowning.

"Venom," he introduced himself, watching Nataku with even more of a tired air than before. "And don't concern yourself with me."

[stringless_doll]

"Venom." Nataku repeated, trying it on his tongue. It was a little strange, but he supposed it made more sense than 'Peter'.

The words sort of surprised him. He'd expected a blunt dismissal a while ago, if not for his lack of tact, then because Venom wanted to be alone with his Miasma of Despair. If the man had asked, he would have gone away. He understood the need for space better than he understood the necessity of manners. Maybe he was just too polite to ask? Loath to teach Nataku any more bad habits?

"Why not? You seem ok," He replied with a small shrug. "You know, for a mop." He grinned, just in case there was any doubt about his intentions. If he got punched in the face or anything, he hoped Homura wouldn't see it. "Ah, your hair is pretty cool, but I think it's mad at me now."

[anemptydecapo]

The teasing, the insistence on staying with him... It was like speaking with Alkaid again (where was she?).

Venom had never been a very social creature. He was raised to be a murderer and a professional one at that. All he ever spoke of was business, and to entertain relationships with individuals both outside the Guild and in was fiercely punished. The very few discussions he had outside of his duty were...

Well, they weren't with children. He never knew what to say to them. Inside they Guild, they were never treated as children, just adults who were going to be taught better and he knew that bled through now when around Sora. Outside, they would either be civilians who were to be ignored, pawns for blackmail, or, in the worst cases, marks. Speaking to them in such a casual manner was out of the question a majority of the time.

He should tell the boy to go away, that he wasn't in the mood for any of this. He wasn't a friendly person. He didn't like to talk to those with nothing to say. But the teasing wasn't meant in ill will or to be condescending, and he let the comments slide despite himself. Besides, as much as the idea of picking up the boy with sentient hair and dropping him elsewhere was entertaining, it wasn't going to happen. He wasn't Millia.

If Nataku was going to stay, the least he could do was be helpful in between his commentary. In that regard, it was time to ask him what Venom eventually asked everyone. "How long have you been here?"

[stringless_doll]

Truth be told, Nataku was no expert at this social thing either. He obeyed orders and, when he wasn't being a brat, he said what was expected of him or nothing at all. Before Goku had managed to whirlwind into his life, his only consistent conversation partner had been Shien, and that didn't often stray into friendly territory. They both had roles to fulfil after all. Shien wasn't the sort of man who spent a great deal of time on frivolous conversation.

Come to think of it, Venom was just like him when it came to enduring Nataku's teasing. He swallowed it and let it slide... but he still wasn't much of a conversation partner. Was that just the way he was? Or did it have something to do with his mood?

Nataku let him change the topic again, frowning silently for a moment before he answered. "Ten...Maybe eleven days if you count the one I slept though. Have you been here a long time?"

[anemptydecapo]

He was going along with it. Good. If the boy could be steered to a more important discussion, Venom couldn't claim annoyance, at least not without a stronger reason. "Just over a week," he answered back, shifting one leg over the other and crossing his arms over his chest (every one of those limbs gave various degrees of protest at the movements. They were swiftly ignored) as he spoke. "Or only a week, discounting the day I slept through."

So he wasn't alone on that. Maybe it was a phase everyone found themselves going through when placed here. Prisoners of the Guild usually displayed disrupted sleeping habits when held for too long - it could have been the same thing: the mind desperately searching for escape from the constant stresses of imprisonment.

But the information given also meant he couldn't pull seniority on Nataku. Why was it that everyone had either been here the same length of time as him or longer? Alkaid, Spock, Sora, Kagura, Brainiac 5, Edward, now Nataku... It may have been another onset of homesickness, but the Guild and its practices just kept flashing in front of his mind. This was back to being at the bottom of the totem pole and he had to admit, he hadn't enjoyed it then. Now was no different.

Not that that was going to stop him from getting all the information he could out of these people. If Nataku proved useful, he could ask for his assistance. But only if then.

"And how much progress would you say you've made here?"

[stringless_doll]

"It feels like it's been longer, doesn't it?" Nataku replied, shifting restlessly. He glanced sideways, noting people and faces without really seeing them, then turned back to Venom. He looked uncomfortable.

"It's all business with you, huh? You're going to give yourself wrinkles even your hair can't hide. To answer your question - some, but not enough." Though some of the playfulness melted out of his his tone between one statement and the next, his expression was neutral, voice even as if he was delivering a report. "It depends on what you mean by progress. We might not have the same goals. Are you one of the people who only want to go back home?"

It was as truthful as he could really be without going into detail. All of his progress here had been personal and, despite his friendliness, not something he wanted to share with a relative stranger who wouldn't have much interest in it anyway. Most likely, the kind of progress Venom wanted to know about was the the kind Nataku favoured least.

[anemptydecapo]

It was strange. He wouldn't have blinked at Nataku's mannerisms and uncomfortable air a week ago - that was all he was ever used to, all the experience he had with younger Guild members. But in the short span of being here, every child he met so far prided themselves on being a blundering optimist and while Nataku was half-way there, something was off with it. The comparison made it easier for him to notice it, really.

Nataku was used to being spoken to this way. Child of a military family, maybe. Maybe something worse, something Venom was more familiar with. It didn't matter. He didn't have room to care about it right now. So long as he wasn't talking to a wall, it was fine.

He wasn't going to bother with that comment about his priorities either (the mission was all that mattered. It was all that would ever matter). Instead, the Guild Head focused on that answer, disappointed but not entirely surprised. It was the same answer everyone else had. "There is no 'only' going back home," he answered in kind, fingers trying to rub away the sudden cold in his arms to no avail. "Martin Landel brought us here and can take us back should we manage to get out. I don't plan on leaving until it's made sure he can't.

"Is that relevant to your goals?"

[stringless_doll]

Venom had a fair point. Landel had influence over the institute and much of the area around it, not to mention the worlds he'd stolen them from, so any escape that didn't begin with his death would only be temporary at best. Nataku had no real interest in going back home, and to say he had another goal would be a bit of a stretch, but he couldn't imagine the sum of his life being the movement from one prison to another. They did have a little bit in common.

"I don't plan on returning to my world." He replied. "So in a way, I'm thankful that he brought me here. But I think getting rid of Landel and no longer being confined is relevant to everyone's goals. What he's doing here goes way beyond arrogant. It might even impress the gods." If anything, it sounded more like disdain than irritation, and a little bit of black humour edged the words.

In a way, he was still avoiding the question of what he really wanted. A part of him rebelled against the idea of destroying the place entirely, but only because he knew Homura's reasons for needing it in tact. Either way, one of his friends was going to lose something valuable, but personally... Nataku sighed. "Beyond that, I'm not sure what I want to accomplish here. I've been working for the History Club and some others, but you're better off asking about their progress as a whole... Unless you've made more progress your own way?" It was a real question. Venom seemed intelligent, and he didn't know the man well enough to know how resourceful he might be.