Day 50: Arts & Crafts Room (3rd Shift)

[tsunagari]

Sai's nurse had tried to usher him toward the music room, but the ninja had very little interest in spending a shift there (not to mention that the off-tune sounds currently coming from that direction were sure to give him at least the beginning of a headache), and chose instead to head toward an activity that he was more familiar with

Comments

[host_club_honey]

Honey was always in a fairly good mood after cake. Even if pancakes weren't real cake, they were the next best thing. And he'd even managed to keep his Usa-chan free from any syrup. Though arts and crafts might be tricky too.

When he walked in, the room wasn't too crowded just yet and it looked like Sai was sitting all by himself. His roommate was usually fairly quiet, but lately even Honey had noticed a change. Something was definitely bothering him, though what it might be he could hardly guess. There were an awful lot of things that someone could be upset about here.

"Sai-chan!" he called out as he hurried over to the table and took a seat next to the other boy, settling Usa-chan into his lap. He peered up over the table at the painting and could hardly keep an awe-filled squeak from slipping out.

"You're so good at this! Can I watch?"

[tsunagari]

Speaking of those he might be putting in danger... Sai blinked at Honey as the young boy trapped in a not-so-teen body sat down next to him. That was right - if Okita ever found out where his room was, and Honey ever got in the way... Perhaps he should ask a nurse to be relocated somewhere without a roommate.

He smiled at the boy somewhat awkwardly. Having an audience when he painted bothered him on occasion, but he'd practically come to expect it here. Since he was just passing the time, it hardly mattered. The ninja nodded. "I don't mind."

Brushing his fingers off on a damp napkin, Sai switched to yellow, blending it a bit with the orange to create a color like goldenrod rather than the bland, nearly green hue it had been before. The image he was painting wasn't much more than a field of flowers with a small skyline, but if Honey was curious he was free to watch.

[host_club_honey]

He didn't think Sai would refuse him, but the nod gave him excuse to scoot his chair closer so that he could see a bit better. It was fingerpaints, yes, but done with a skill far beyond what Honey's little hands and fingers could manage. He caught a lot more though in the expressions Sai made as he painted. The smile that didn't quite fit and the way he'd been acting the last few nights... it was more than enough to worry him.

"It's so pretty! How did you learn to do it so well Sai-chan?" he asked, entranced for a few moments at least, as the other painted.

[tsunagari]

"Ah? Practice, I suppose. I'm self-taught, have been painting and doing inkwork for years." Sai switched the color to red now, but paused just as his hand was hovering above the paper. The ninja stared at the color on his fingertips, only pulling himself back into reality as a drop nearly fell onto the paper. He kept it from falling, returning to the flowers with a blank expression.

The painting was quickly finished, and he slid it in front of Honey before getting a second piece of paper and starting on something new. The red was still on his fingers, and he used the rest to mark the outline of a twisted female figure. Then he changed color to black, and was soon covering most of the paper with it, leaving nothing uncovered save some of the red and the woman's pale skin. The walls merged with her hair, spread out from it, rather.

"What about you, Honey-kun?" he asked quietly, saying nothing about the subject matter of his current painting. "What are your hobbies?"

[yin_yang_fox]

There were some potential people to speak with on the board. She checked the replies and added her own, and when given the option of where to move to this shift, she settled on the arts and crafts room at whim. She had seen Jiraiya there before, after all, and from now seeing the man in days, she was curious if she would find him there again. His replies had been sparse in the past few days, and she had to wonder... if another was succumbing to the losses of time.

So had she, though. So it meant nothing. Still, inside the room, there was only a pair of boys. The Digimon moved to a table, tracing fingertips over the paper that was piled there. After a moment, Renamon sat, and pulling a paper to her, began to add the broad stokes for her talisman spells once again. It was something that was her, even as that self did not exist in this place.

[Nataku]

[stringless_doll]

He shouldn't have let it get to him. Nataku clutched the broken pen in one hand, the sharp edge hidden under his sleeve, resting lightly against the skin of his wrist. His awareness of it seemed to block out all else. He had taken it from the bulletin board with every intension of burying it in the throat of Jason's roommate. If they had managed to meet before the nurses intervened, he knew he could, and would, kill the man for his words. He could do it quickly. Even with his power diminished, they wouldn't be able to stop him until it was too late

[yin_yang_fox]

The boy moving closer under the watchful eye of the nurse was noted, and though the Digimon continued the motions, widening the strokes (useless as it was), she continued an awareness of the apparent child. When Nataku sat, Renamon laid the brush horizontal against her knuckles and raised her eyes.

The hesitation gave, motive unknown, was noticed. Renamon nodded slightly in response. "Hello." She might have paused in asking--she did not know how he would react to concern, after all--but Nataku had already made himself a solid presence in her life here. "What's wrong?"

[stringless_doll]

Both hands shifted to his lap, closed around the broken pen as if it were a talisman. He had been wrong about losing friends. He had been naive. He could see why it might eat one up inside and leave them hollow. Nataku dropped his gaze and bowed his head.

"I'm sorry. What I said to you before was harsh. I passed judgment on you for something I didn't fully understand." His words were steady and even, authentic despite their lack of intonation. "I'm sorry," He repeated. "Now I'm starting to understand."

[36_24_35]

"Rachel, why don--Oh dear, your nose is bleeding again..." From whatever pocket in her uniform, the nurse brought out a tissue and gently dabbed the skin under her nose

[cigarettes_plz]

Arts and Crafts was still fairly empty when Badou arrived. Sure, that meant he might not be able to steal any glitter, but if that was the worst that happened today, he wouldn't even complain about it. Much. At least he had no real worries about visitor shift. Most of the people he knew were already locked in with him, and after that first visit from Haine... well, not much could surprise him. Might as well take it easy for the day.

The first familiar face he noticed just happened to belong to the cute brunette from the bus. Badou headed over, waving once with his uninjured hand. Maybe the sling would earn him some pity points. "'Sup. Is that supposed to be a... Abstract art? It's got - flow. Sort of." He settled into the chair across from her. "Rough night?"

[36_24_35]

Tifa hadn't realized she had become so absorbed in drawing until someone sat down in front of her before she even noticed. Brown eyes unhinged from the paper and met Badou with a tired look. Truly, the brunette was happy to see someone she knew, and this boy had a good sense of humor, but it was hard to show her appreciation. Those pills had some weird side effects!

"It's supposed to be people--Hey, what happened to your arm?" She pulled her chair closer to hear this story. From what she had seen of others and on the bulletin board, quite a few people had taken quite a beating this past night. The young woman was surprised none of them had died, if her own experience was any kind of general model. "I went back to my home, did you too?"

[cigarettes_plz]

Well, actually, he'd gotten worse responses from women in the past. He liked to think of anything non-violent as positive enough. Besides, from what Alle had told him, last night must have been rough on a lot of people.

"What happened to you?" Badou countered. "I slept in. Kinda glad I did for once." This was why he hadn't wanted to bother with the sling. While it was nice to whine, telling virtually everyone he met that his doctor was out to brutally maim him and kill all of his friends got kinda old. And, well, most people really didn't want to be friends with someone who might get them murdered for the sake of angst.

As for the other thing, he shook his head, reaching for a piece of paper and a crayon. "You know they were just fucking with you, right?"